Towards Requirements for Mixed-Initiative Content Orchestration Tools for Game Development
Resumo
Introduction: Mixed-initiative tools enable collaboration between human designers and computational agents, while procedural content orchestration proposes to coordinate multiple facets of procedurally generated game content. Despite advances in both areas, their integration remains underexplored, particularly regarding the requirements needed to support effective human-AI collaboration. Objective: This paper identifies the functional and non-functional requirements for mixed-initiative content orchestration tools to support game development. Methodology: Requirements were derived through the triangulation of four evidence sources: interviews with game developers, a heuristic evaluation of the Overlord content orchestrator, literature analysis, and feedback from the Overlord development team. Results: We present a structured set of requirements organized into five key dimensions: user control and agency, iterative and exploratory workflows, feedback and transparency, multi-content support, and usability. These findings provide design implications for the development of future mixed-initiative tools with content orchestration.
Palavras-chave:
Mixed-initiative interaction, Procedural Content Generation, Software Requirements, Content Orchestration, Human-AI Collaboration
Referências
Aliaga, C., Vidal, C., Sepulveda, G. K., Romero, N., González, F., e Barriga, N. A. (2023). Level building sidekick: An ai-assisted level editor package for unity. In Proceedings of the AAAI Conference on Artificial Intelligence and Interactive Digital Entertainment (AIIDE), volume 19, pages 392–399. AAAI Press.
Baldwin, A., Dahlskog, S., Font, J. M., e Holmberg, J. (2017). Mixed-initiative procedural generation of dungeons using game design patterns. In 2017 IEEE Conference on Computational Intelligence and Games (CIG), pages 25–32.
Braun, V. e Clarke, V. (2021). Thematic Analysis: A Practical Guide. SAGE Publications.
Charity, M., Dave, I., Khalifa, A., e Togelius, J. (2024). Baba is y’all 2.0: Design and investigation of a collaborative mixed-initiative system. IEEE Transactions on Games, 16(1):75–89.
Granollers, T. (2018). Usability evaluation with heuristics, beyond nielsen’s list. In ACHI 2018, The Eleventh International Conference on Advances in Computer-Human Interactions, pages 60–65.
Guzdial, M., Chen, J., Chen, S.-Y., e Riedl, M. (2021). A general level design editor for co-creative level design. Proceedings of the AAAI Conference on Artificial Intelligence and Interactive Digital Entertainment, 13(2):81–83.
Horvitz, E. (1999). Principles of mixed-initiative user interfaces. In International Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems.
Karavolos, D., Liapis, A., e Yannakakis, G. (2021). A multifaceted surrogate model for search-based procedural content generation. IEEE Transactions on Games, 13(1):11–22.
Lai, G., Latham, W., e Leymarie, F. F. (2020). Towards friendly mixed initiative procedural content generation: Three pillars of industry. In Proceedings of the 2020 IEEE Conference on Games (CoG), pages 1–8. IEEE.
Lai, G., Leymarie, F. F., e Latham, W. (2022). On mixed-initiative content creation for video games. IEEE Transactions on Games, 14(4):543–556.
Liapis, A., Yannakakis, G. N., Nelson, M. J., Preuss, M., e Bidarra, R. (2019). Orchestrating game generation. IEEE Transactions on Games, 11(1):48–68.
Liapis, A., Yannakakis, G. N., e Togelius, J. (2013). Sentient sketchbook: Computer-aided game level authoring. In Proceedings of the 8th Conference on the Foundations of Digital Games, pages 213–220.
Migkotzidis, P. e Liapis, A. (2022). Susketch: Surrogate models of gameplay as a design assistant. IEEE Transactions on Games, 14(2):273–283.
Murturi, S., Pellicone, T., Yee-King, M., e Gillies, M. (2025). Melete: Exploring the components of mixed-initiative artificial intelligence pipelines for level design. In Proceedings of the Fourth International Conference on Hybrid Human-Artificial Intelligence, volume 4074, pages 427–447. CEUR-WS.
Nebeling, M., Wu, L., e Maddali, H. T. (2025). Xcam: Mixed-initiative virtual cinematography for live production of virtual reality experiences. In Proceedings of Edição the 2025 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, CHI ’25, New York, NY, USA. Association for Computing Machinery.
Nielsen, J. (1994). The theory behind heuristic evaluations.
Nielsen, J. (2024). 10 usability heuristics for user interface design.
Pereira, L. T. (2022). Arquitetura e desenvolvimento de um sistema de geração procedural de múltiplos conteúdos para jogos eletrônicos em tempo real. PhD thesis, Universidade de São Paulo.
Pereira, L. T., Viana, B. M. F., e Toledo, C. F. M. (2022). A system for orchestrating multiple procedurally generated content for different player profiles. IEEE Transactions on Games, pages 1–11.
Resnick, M., Myers, B., Nakakoji, K., Shneiderman, B., Pausch, R., e Eisenberg, M. (2005). Design principles for tools to support creative thinking. Report of Workshop on Creativity Support Tools, 20.
Shaker, N., Togelius, J., e Nelson, M. J. (2016). Procedural Content Generation in Games: A Textbook and an Overview of Current Research. Springer.
Shneiderman, B. (2002). Creativity support tools. Commun. ACM, 45(10):116–120.
Smith, G., Whitehead, J., e Mateas, M. (2011). Tanagra: Reactive planning and constraint solving for mixed-initiative level design. IEEE Transactions on Computational Intelligence and AI in Games, 3(3):201–215.
So, A., Souza, F., Souza, A., e Fabri, J. (2025). Software architecture requirements for procedural content generation in digital games: A systematic mapping. In Anais do XXIV Simpósio Brasileiro de Jogos e Entretenimento Digital, pages 668–679, Porto Alegre, RS, Brasil. SBC.
Teoi, T., Pereira, L., e Toledo, C. (2024). Towards adapting a content orchestrator to a different gamegenre: Generating levels, rules, and narrative for diverse player profiles from a top-down adventure to a 2d platformer. In Anais do XXIII Simpósio Brasileiro de Jogos e Entretenimento Digital, pages 396–415, Porto Alegre, RS, Brasil. SBC.
Teoi, T. Y., Pereira, L. T., e Toledo, C. F. M. (2026). Adapting a content orchestrator across game genres: From top-down adventure to 2d platformer. Entertainment Computing, 58:101148.
Yee, N. e Ducheneaut, N. (2018). 485Gamer motivation profiling: uses and applications. In Games User Research. Oxford University Press.
Baldwin, A., Dahlskog, S., Font, J. M., e Holmberg, J. (2017). Mixed-initiative procedural generation of dungeons using game design patterns. In 2017 IEEE Conference on Computational Intelligence and Games (CIG), pages 25–32.
Braun, V. e Clarke, V. (2021). Thematic Analysis: A Practical Guide. SAGE Publications.
Charity, M., Dave, I., Khalifa, A., e Togelius, J. (2024). Baba is y’all 2.0: Design and investigation of a collaborative mixed-initiative system. IEEE Transactions on Games, 16(1):75–89.
Granollers, T. (2018). Usability evaluation with heuristics, beyond nielsen’s list. In ACHI 2018, The Eleventh International Conference on Advances in Computer-Human Interactions, pages 60–65.
Guzdial, M., Chen, J., Chen, S.-Y., e Riedl, M. (2021). A general level design editor for co-creative level design. Proceedings of the AAAI Conference on Artificial Intelligence and Interactive Digital Entertainment, 13(2):81–83.
Horvitz, E. (1999). Principles of mixed-initiative user interfaces. In International Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems.
Karavolos, D., Liapis, A., e Yannakakis, G. (2021). A multifaceted surrogate model for search-based procedural content generation. IEEE Transactions on Games, 13(1):11–22.
Lai, G., Latham, W., e Leymarie, F. F. (2020). Towards friendly mixed initiative procedural content generation: Three pillars of industry. In Proceedings of the 2020 IEEE Conference on Games (CoG), pages 1–8. IEEE.
Lai, G., Leymarie, F. F., e Latham, W. (2022). On mixed-initiative content creation for video games. IEEE Transactions on Games, 14(4):543–556.
Liapis, A., Yannakakis, G. N., Nelson, M. J., Preuss, M., e Bidarra, R. (2019). Orchestrating game generation. IEEE Transactions on Games, 11(1):48–68.
Liapis, A., Yannakakis, G. N., e Togelius, J. (2013). Sentient sketchbook: Computer-aided game level authoring. In Proceedings of the 8th Conference on the Foundations of Digital Games, pages 213–220.
Migkotzidis, P. e Liapis, A. (2022). Susketch: Surrogate models of gameplay as a design assistant. IEEE Transactions on Games, 14(2):273–283.
Murturi, S., Pellicone, T., Yee-King, M., e Gillies, M. (2025). Melete: Exploring the components of mixed-initiative artificial intelligence pipelines for level design. In Proceedings of the Fourth International Conference on Hybrid Human-Artificial Intelligence, volume 4074, pages 427–447. CEUR-WS.
Nebeling, M., Wu, L., e Maddali, H. T. (2025). Xcam: Mixed-initiative virtual cinematography for live production of virtual reality experiences. In Proceedings of Edição the 2025 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, CHI ’25, New York, NY, USA. Association for Computing Machinery.
Nielsen, J. (1994). The theory behind heuristic evaluations.
Nielsen, J. (2024). 10 usability heuristics for user interface design.
Pereira, L. T. (2022). Arquitetura e desenvolvimento de um sistema de geração procedural de múltiplos conteúdos para jogos eletrônicos em tempo real. PhD thesis, Universidade de São Paulo.
Pereira, L. T., Viana, B. M. F., e Toledo, C. F. M. (2022). A system for orchestrating multiple procedurally generated content for different player profiles. IEEE Transactions on Games, pages 1–11.
Resnick, M., Myers, B., Nakakoji, K., Shneiderman, B., Pausch, R., e Eisenberg, M. (2005). Design principles for tools to support creative thinking. Report of Workshop on Creativity Support Tools, 20.
Shaker, N., Togelius, J., e Nelson, M. J. (2016). Procedural Content Generation in Games: A Textbook and an Overview of Current Research. Springer.
Shneiderman, B. (2002). Creativity support tools. Commun. ACM, 45(10):116–120.
Smith, G., Whitehead, J., e Mateas, M. (2011). Tanagra: Reactive planning and constraint solving for mixed-initiative level design. IEEE Transactions on Computational Intelligence and AI in Games, 3(3):201–215.
So, A., Souza, F., Souza, A., e Fabri, J. (2025). Software architecture requirements for procedural content generation in digital games: A systematic mapping. In Anais do XXIV Simpósio Brasileiro de Jogos e Entretenimento Digital, pages 668–679, Porto Alegre, RS, Brasil. SBC.
Teoi, T., Pereira, L., e Toledo, C. (2024). Towards adapting a content orchestrator to a different gamegenre: Generating levels, rules, and narrative for diverse player profiles from a top-down adventure to a 2d platformer. In Anais do XXIII Simpósio Brasileiro de Jogos e Entretenimento Digital, pages 396–415, Porto Alegre, RS, Brasil. SBC.
Teoi, T. Y., Pereira, L. T., e Toledo, C. F. M. (2026). Adapting a content orchestrator across game genres: From top-down adventure to 2d platformer. Entertainment Computing, 58:101148.
Yee, N. e Ducheneaut, N. (2018). 485Gamer motivation profiling: uses and applications. In Games User Research. Oxford University Press.
Publicado
29/09/2026
Como Citar
TEOI, Tyago Yuji; PEREIRA, Leonardo Tórtoro; TOLEDO, Claudio Fabiano Motta.
Towards Requirements for Mixed-Initiative Content Orchestration Tools for Game Development. In: SIMPÓSIO BRASILEIRO DE JOGOS E ENTRETENIMENTO DIGITAL (SBGAMES), 25. , 2026, Goiânia/GO.
Anais [...].
Porto Alegre: Sociedade Brasileira de Computação,
2026
.
p. 1104-1115.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.5753/sbgames.2026.26432.
