Paradox's upcoming post-apocalyptic grand strategy game, Afterworld, will feature a dynamically generated history for North America that changes with each new campaign. This approach ensures a unique experience for every player, as the virtual world's past is rewritten before and during gameplay.
When a new game begins, a procedural system generates a 200-year history detailing the outcomes of the great war. This includes the locations of nuclear missile strikes, nanite deployments, chemical weapon releases, and ultimately, which factions survived and perished. These changes are crucial for maintaining player engagement with exploration, according to game director Dan Lind. Without this variability, Lind explained, players might find themselves repeating the same strategies or discoveries.
To illustrate the impact of this system, Lind pointed to the city of Las Vegas. In one playthrough, it might be a thriving hub of valuable goods for a struggling tribe to discover, making the perilous journey through the Nevada desert worthwhile. In another, the same location could be a giant crater, a stark reminder of a devastating nuclear strike. This unpredictability is intended to make exploration consistently exciting and essential to survival.
While the history generation is dynamic, it will not be entirely random. The development team plans to "hedge" the outcomes, guiding the virtual historian to favor certain historical paths more frequently. This prevents scenarios where iconic locations might be absent too often, ensuring that familiar elements can still appear while allowing for diverse possibilities, such as a mutant-infested Las Vegas.
Beyond the initial map generation, the world of Afterworld continues to evolve. The presence of remaining doomsday devices offers opportunities for area denial, and the developers plan to implement content related to these weapons, alongside other "interesting missile weapons" left by ancients. Conversely, players can also discover terraforming technology capable of transforming blighted areas into fertile land, adding another layer of environmental change.
Some elements, however, will remain more consistent to provide a sense of place and logic. Factions like a knightly order will be tied to specific geographical features, such as castles in New England, and are unlikely to spawn in regions where their presence would not make sense. This blend of procedural generation and fixed elements aims to create a world that is both surprising and grounded.
Lind has envisioned Afterworld for over a decade, aiming to create a game that is as much a society builder as it is a grand strategy title. The post-apocalyptic setting, he believes, offers a unique lens through which to examine human nature, morality, and the formation of societies under duress. The game prompts players to consider difficult questions about what constitutes a 'good' society when survival itself is a constant struggle, and whether softer, more democratic ideals can endure without sufficient power to protect them. This thematic depth, Lind suggests, is often overlooked in modern contexts.
For example, the player might be forced to make morally compromising decisions, such as adopting cannibalism to sustain their tribe, in order to secure a valuable location like a city. This drive for survival and expansion, Lind implies, is a raw reflection of human potential when civilization's veneer is stripped away.