Work on dungeon layouts continues, and I’d like to show off some of the blueprints I’ve been working with to help keep the layouts unique and interesting. There’s a vast overworld to explore, but one of the development risks is that if areas are too similar, the game will begin to feel like a grind through a procedural wasteland. I don’t want to see that happen.
Today, I’ll show layouts of the Dungeons, Warrens, Graveyard Ruins, and Crypts. There’s a fifth type currently, the Cave, but it’s not quite ready for prime time. The overall goals remain:
* Keep areas varied and interesting.
* Provide different levels of danger and challenge, separate from the strength of enemies.
* Encourage players to adopt multiple strategies across their career.
Am I close? Take a look:
Roughly how many hand crafted rooms will you be making?
I do like there will be a variety of dungeon types.
For the crypt levels, I haven’t settled on exactly how many I need. While it’s fun to make them all crazy, I’m trying to keep with a theme of alcoves and hallways that sometimes open into expansive areas with statues or columns. In the “Regular Dungeon” type maps, sometimes there will be special rooms with a special purpose, similar to tension rooms in ADOM or the treasure vaults in Brogue. I want these to be uncommon enough that seeing one is a pleasant surprise. How many will there be? Right now I’ve got 5 of them working and plans for a few more. I am thinking about doing one of these weekly updates on Special Rooms, but I’m not sure when.