Endless runner theory

Unity Engine
1

Hi there

So I’m just mulling over the theory behind an endless runner like monster dash or zombie dash. The game is a 2d runner with platforms of varying lengths and widths, with spaces in between. And for some reason, the theory behind that boggles me. Would a game procedurally create each platform as it comes into view with a range of heights and lengths? Or would the game have several different kinds of prefab platforms in a pool that it cycles randomly through over and over? Which would make the most sense? The procedural option brings into conflict a potential art problem, as the game potentially creates a platform x units long, and randomly selects a texture for each unit? Then the second option seems better performance wise, unless the pool and constant recycling makes up for the texture consolidation. Thoughts?

2

My 2 cents: The pooling reuse of prefab platforms combined with an appearance list is how I’d do it.

Just had a quick look and found this on the Asset Store:

Never used it but it does list this as a bullet point “Basic level and obstacles generation system”.