How Would You Build A Dungeon?

[ShadowTiger]

You've all played The Revenge 2 and Hidden Duality. (And in some cased, DoY.) You've all seen the amazingly well built dungeons, in which nothing is really placed "randomly," but is very, very well thought out, and from start to finish, you will enter with -0- keys, and will finish with -0- keys. Am I right?

How would you construct such a dungeon?

[Raichu86]

I've not played Hidden Duality... at least not the one you all know and love. I did happen to play one of the earlier versions that DFW trashed and started over on.

How would I do such a dungeon is... well, exactly how I do my dungeons. I plan them all out very carefully. When I plan to make a dungeon, I print out an 8x8 grid I made and draw in notes about each room... doors, items, layout if it's critical. When you plan your dungeons before making them, it allows you to perfect how everything is going to be laid out so that the entire dungeon works together to create a challenge for the player.

A little bit of planning can do a lot.

[Tsukuru]

I found that playing a couple of the classic dungeons from lttp, OoT, or MM give me pretty good inspiration for making dungeons.

Most of the better dungeons in those games were ones in which you had to work and think about what to do next. After an hour or so you beat the dungeon and you feel like you accomplished something. That sort of challenge is what I would try to put in any dungeon I make.

For example in the Great Bay Temple of MM, it took me a little more than just a couple minutes to figure out to shoot the plumes of water with the ice/fire arrows to stop the gears. Heh, that may be just because I'm dense, but what the heck. :shrug:

[Petoe]

Originally posted by Britannianhero4
...from start to finish, you will enter with -0- keys, and will finish with -0- keys. Am I right?

How would you construct such a dungeon?

Just give the player as much keys as there are doors. :p

Okay, seriously, it's tough to say how I build a dungeon, because my quest is so "modern" that there aren't any dungeons anymore. The word "level" would be the right word to use.

So, what can I say...? Firts of all, I make my levels very complex, and I'm using lot of puzzles that have something to do with technology (because my quest is a MegaMan quest, block puzzles just don't work anymore. This means that in many cases the level ITSELF is the puzzle!). Another thing is that there are different paths that the player can take, meaning that you can get the 2nd key before the 1st, or you have 2 or more different routes to go through a certain section in the level. There's much more, but it's just too hard to explain with my poor English skills. But I can guarantee that the levels in my quest are very unique and so far the most well thought out. Wait 2 months and you'll see what I'm talking about...

[DarkFlameWolf]

well, at first, I place screens randomly once I decided on how many floors there are. Once done, I plan the entire dungeon around that random design of screens I made and I MAKE it work.

[ShadowTiger]

Thanks! :kawaii: So first, what I'll try to do, is just make rooms. Just random rooms. Then I'll make the boss close to the entrance, and ... draw.. random things.. wait. What?

OK. So.. I just make empty rooms, then kinda fill them out as I go. As I go, it'll all fall into place. I just need a good path.

My main problem, is I make the path before The paths need to go anywhere. I just have a map, (With nothing on it, except those black squares where rooms should be,) and then I go from there out. I just kinda fill in paths, like a paintbrush. It's all just.. random, kinda like a little disease. Whatever that one starter room touches, expands and expands, until the whole dungeon is no longer black. See what I mean? So it basically all turns out to be just one big... *sigh* ... path. :sweat:

So what I (we who have trouble with these.) should do, is first make a path, leading DIRECTLY to one dungeon item, and them make another slightly more obscure path, which requires the use of this new item. And it keeps going like that, getting more and more obscure, with lots of backtracking, etc.

And on a side note, (relatively) pits, and therefore multiple floors, can (and potentially, should,) be used for key collection. Right?

Any more suggestions? :)

[Knil]

when i decide to do a dungeon, i print out grid paper that corresponds to the "grid" used to put the tiles and combos on the screen. I made the grid to have eight rooms per page, tape them together, and draw in what i want the dungeon to look like. this way I know exactly how many keys i need to put into the dungeon, the items, and all else. it also helps me to remember if i put the right stuff in the right spot.

[Sephiroth]

I have a giant maze in one of my dungeons and it's a ice maze and the floor is ice (a slow walk combo) and there are two main things hidden in the maze.. the mirror shield and boss key.. the mirror shield is required to beat the boss of that very dungeon.. (mirror wizzie) and when I made it, it took me about an hour to plan the whole maze out then I translated it into zquest, then I put the items, then I tested it and it took me about 40 mins to get through the whole thing.. it's a 16 room maze and uses blocks to define where the paths are.. hehehehe (not that nay one likes mazes) hehehehe :p