OP here.
I've been thinking a lot about procedural content, from maps, to level design, to assets. What seems to be missing are core mechanics around storytelling, narrative, tension/release, etc. Basically good storytelling.<p>Today, we do have frameworks for : the basic categories of movie plots, understanding game mechanics, understanding goal-seeking behavior (in terms of driving stories and plots forward), and recent developments in generative deep learning.<p>Seems like an area ripe for innovation. For example, while you can build a large proc gen game like No Man's Sky, it lacks a certain element of game play (which I distill down into: lack of compelling story and mechanics). As we get closer to metaverse-like worlds in VR, it is inevitable that we will need to innovate on compelling, procedurally-generated storylines. (Of course, these might shift based on modality... e.g. VR vs. 2d content)<p>Would love to hear any experience / research others have had in this area of procedurally-generated storytelling.