#weapon generation

Borderlands 2

The really interesting thing about the guns in the Borderlands series is that they aren’t completely random.

Their procedural generation has a structure. Moreover, that structure is reflected visibly in the 3d models and invisibly in the properties of the weapon. You can, if you’re familiar with the system, tell what properties a gun has by looking at it.

Each weapon is assembled out of a set of parts, has a manufacturer (each with unique effects), a title (selected by the combination of the the body and barrel), and so on. Each manufacturer has weapon types that they don’t produce, breaking the symmetry of the pattern.

The manufacturers, by the way, are a great way to introduce lore to your procedurally generated items. It gives a really strong flavor to the different categories of the generator and gives the player a narrative hook that you can hang a mechanical effect on.