Automatic Creation of Tiled Maps in Two-Dimensional Top-Down Digital Role Playing Games

Game level maps are fundamental for modern Digital Role Playing Computer Games. Creating such maps by hand is a time-consuming process. We propose an approach that can be applied to create such maps automatically. The approach is explained with clearly defined steps. The map creation process divides a map into four distinct layers. First, we explain the idea of converting input in the form of a rough sketch of a layer into the suitable form — a colour grid. Next, the issue of map creation from the initial stage of the colour grid is presented. We then introduce methods used to correct the inputs in order to create layers without defects. We apply specific methods to each layer, explaining the method in detail in subsequent sections. The layers are then merged to create the final map. As the next step, we discuss the improvements applied to the process that we developed. The complete approach is then tested in practice with a questionnaire, which — following a careful analysis — has showed that there are no significant differences between handcrafted maps and the maps created using our approach.