The planets of Elite: Dangerous are procedurally generated, like most of the game. But how does the game pull that trick off? How can the developers plant you on a random planet and have it feel like it’s an actual place instead of just a collection of resource nodes? That question is what’s answered in an hour-long video from the development team showing off how the game creates real planets.
Obviously, said team is not actually spinning matter together; rather, the game generates planets via tectonic models that mimic real planetary behavior, complete with geological events from outside like meteor strikes. It’s a lot of work, and all of it creates a place that might just look lifeless when your boots crunch against extraterrestrial dirt, but the video shows how much attention to detail goes into spinning realistic planets into being.
