Infinite procedural dungeons

[GrimyBunyip]

 

 

I'm not so sure about this, personally. The world is fairly static. Landscape doesn't change that much without intervention such as earthquakes and other natural disasters. Skyrim doesn't change either.

 

I would prefer to see the same layout but the enemies could be different and in different locations. Traps could be placed in different spots and not all set to be triggerable the first time thru. There could be room for such changes as made by earthquakes, the one dungeon for the Aetherium Forge quest does that. But the base layout needs to remain recognizable on future visits.

 

Those ever changing dungeon things only work for me when the game is first started and the layout is changed from the previous game. Think Diablo.

I always think Left 4 dead when I think procedural dungeons, because I think that game executes it the best.

 

They just block off paths and force players to find the proper path.

Additional enemies are also generated as the player progresses, instead of making it static.

Gah can't recover my post from the accidental edit delete.

 

Look: Support for a string of smaller cells also supports one big mega transforming cell.

 

Smaller cells can generate enemies as the player progresses and not be static. They too can have randomly chosen spawn points for things. They too can have randomly enabled terrain features.

 

When you force a path from A to B in a giant cell that has to respect the spacial geometry for other, you will get a lot of "seen the room twice" as there are only so many paths possible unless you can make an infinitely large single cell.

 

When you force giant cells, its harder to implement a few key dungeoncrawler features. Deleting dropped loot by loading a new cell, and losing out on special loot from a boss encounter by forcing a new cell on autosave reload.

 

If you supported a string of cells, people could more easily submit their own, and they could be packaged in "map-packs" of sorts to be enabled/disabled as desired.

 

There is literally no reason to only make one mega-transforming cell. Support a string of cells. Everyone wins.

Well I never said there should be one transforming cell.

I just thought you were against the idea of transforming cells in general.

 

Also while we're on the topic, you can mess with player recognition of cells by randomizing the initial spawn location.

[ihatebugs]

Well I never said there should be one transforming cell.

 

I just thought you were against the idea of transforming cells in general.

 

Also while we're on the topic, you can mess with player recognition of cells by randomizing the initial spawn location.

I thought I mentioned placements of things and features being randomized in the first few posts...? But no, I don't like the idea of it all being self-contained within a singular mega-dungeon and emulating independent "rooms" with limited transformation alone. We need good modularity support.

 

Yes, player spawn would be a another good way to screw with people.

 

I wonder if we could add some zelda-like elements? Remember getting the horn of the wind-caller? You needed a dragon shout to "solve" the puzzle to progress to another part of the dungeon. You could have the chance of encountering features that require certain powers and/or spells to solve, but aren't required to progress. Lots of little things could be done with that, from thuum freezing an enemy in an unreachable location onto a button so you can stand on another, to requiring a fireball hitting a certain thing.

 

Also important, again with the no-backtracking and loot being lost between cells. High-level locks. High-level locks everywhere. Not required to leave a cell and progress, but required for more loot. Puts more importance on the otherwise underused lockpicking skill when you can run out of picks more easily and actually lose out on the loot because you can't go back for it. Just like actually putting importance on carry-weight.

[IsharaMeradin]

Unless there is something or someone like Shegorath controlling it, it doesn't make sense to walk into a cave and each time it be different. You'd really have to pull off the reasoning behind why the place changes for it to be believable. Just to have a randomly changing dungeon isn't enough. I couldn't buy into that.

 

That said, I still believe that there should be some recognition that you've been there before at least at the beginning. But rather than the normal always the same path, perhaps your previous passage triggered rockfalls and other blockages. Thus the next time thru you need to find a new way around which can bring you into other locations etc...

[unuroboros]

You can call it: Shalidor's Real Maze Not That Cheap Knockoff In Labyrinthian. ;)

[MilesTeg81]

A dungeon maze that gets deeper and deeper - best with no way to go back - sounds interesting.... Maybe you could even add some merchants, shrines etc.

 

A labyrinth where your main objective is to escape alive. Perhaps soften the pure dungeon crawl with some books and side quest. It could be a (under)world of it's own -reminds me of planescapes maze!

[moistnuggests]

Was about to suggest infinite dungeon but found this topic, so +1 for hoping someone actually does this

 

Also, would it be possible to add some 'competition' or potential followers? Adventurers, treasure hunters, thalmor. I can imagine a dungeon full of treasure would attract large groups,

so it could be possible to run into an encampment full of adventurers who cleared out the cell and might be willing to trade or a thalmor/imperial/stormcloak exploration party that are trying to find powerful weapons, bandits, scholars researching ruins or looking for artifacts or lost magics, some veterans of the dungeon who have been wondering around for decades.

 

Theres a huge potential for this concept

[Spartanhero613]

You are in a maze of twisty little passages, all alike.

[NexusComa]

I worked on a mod for a few years on and off. In the end the over all home ended up being to much. But in the home I completed a random dungeon.

Edited January 5, 2020 by NexusComa