Dungeon Crawlers in Design Philosophy

ID:838605
 
Jun 27 2012, 3:28 pm (Edited on Jun 27 2012, 4:06 pm)
Keywords: crawler, dungeon
I am working through the blue book again to refresh my memory, in the past I made a few games but nothing really worth noting. I have decided to return and work on a dungeon crawler idea I have had in my head for some time. I was wondering if there are any decent ones on BYOND right now, and how popular you think they would be if done right and finished?

Also if I go ahead with this project, what's some opinions on how I might go about it? Should a server be persistent, in that new players can join along with old players? Or Should I add in some kind of lobby system like how Diablo works? My intent would be to have a persistent server that everyone plays on with a AH, however quests should have some kind of limit to a party size and be instanced to that party probably(kind of like how Guild Wars is setup, with central lobby areas but quests are party only).

Thanks on any feedback, just taking a small break from the massive guide lol.

*edit* Also glad to see the forums were finally updated to something more readable and modern lol. That old tree system was not very fun.
#1 Jun 27 2012, 4:17 pm
To be honest a lot of what makes mmo's fun is the situations players create when they meet each other in the game world. Ive always found the more instancing a game has, the less fun it is to me. Dungeons open to anyone allow for more social interaction, which is crucial in an mmo in my opinion.
#2 Jun 27 2012, 4:32 pm
I do agree that social interaction is a big deal in a game, but Diablo was a dungeon crawler/rogue-like that handled that very well. It had plenty of social activity and reasons to be social, yet it did a pretty fair amount of instancing. It's all about balance, if you ask me. Gotta make sure it's not too open and hard to control, but yet not too instanced and lacking in interaction.

I don't know if a game with a set up like Diablo II would work on BYOND, but I do know that I love Dungeon Crawlers; especially ones that change things up using Some instancing etc. Rogue-likes is more accurate, I guess.

The only game on BYOND I can think of that might be considered a Dungeon Crawler is Epic, and I cannot think of any Rogue-Likes.
#3 Jun 27 2012, 5:18 pm (Edited on Jun 27 2012, 5:28 pm)
In response to Boxcar (#1)
Boxcar wrote:
To be honest a lot of what makes mmo's fun is the situations players create when they meet each other in the game world. Ive always found the more instancing a game has, the less fun it is to me. Dungeons open to anyone allow for more social interaction, which is crucial in an mmo in my opinion.

The game I have been planning would be somewhat setup like Diablo II, minus the lobby with chat and finding a party. It would be more setup like GW in the fact people can still interact and socialize in the hub areas. This is where you would find guilds, RP, and generally just hang out with other players. Then to enter the dungeon you would grab a party(or even play by yourself on a low difficulty) and do quests. So this way it meets both worlds, social interaction with a MMO atmosphere in areas and instanced worlds with a set number of players. This stops a dungeon from being over-run with 10 players when it's designed for maybe 4-5, thus lowering difficulty to where it's too easy.

As far as the game being a rogue-like, that would be fun but unpractical probably. Most of those consisted of permanent death, random dungeons, and a turn-based combat system. Plus this would be hard to implement as a multi-player game(I am technically new, as I am re-learning a lot). That might be a fun second project to work on down the road however as I did love rogue games :D.

Also it's good to hear it would be a somewhat original idea here, since there are not many(if any) of such a game on BYOND. I will definitely pursue this project, just wondering how to do the instancing part of it and needing a few more opinions on if my idea seems good.
#4 Jun 27 2012, 6:12 pm
I would play this. Don't worry too much about what people say, bro. If you build it, they will come.
#5 Jun 27 2012, 7:57 pm
Map Instancing: http://www.byond.com/developer/Forum_account/MapInstancing

Turns, Lobbies, etc: http://www.byond.com/developer/?text=acwraith&sort=pop

Hopefully some of that helps you learn anything you may need to. This is basically my way of saying... Don't give up, you've got my interest enough for me to give it a try, and lets see what you can do cause this has potential.
#6 Jun 28 2012, 8:16 am
Thanks for the replies all and the links Toddab503 :D.
#7 Jun 28 2012, 8:36 am
Funny. I'm working on a dungeon crawler too. Basically single player though.
#8 Jun 28 2012, 2:46 pm
Funny. Me too. What is this, dungeon crawler month?

I haven't touched it in about a week now though because I was working on some video stuff. I might have some time tonight to dive back in.
#9 Jun 28 2012, 4:35 pm
Time for a race to see who finishes first! Lol, not really I am sure they will all be unique in some ways or some wont get finished :P.
#10 Jun 28 2012, 5:40 pm
Well mine is kinda complete already as far as gameplay goes. I just need to actually make some dungeons, more monsters, and more loot.
#11 Jun 28 2012, 5:42 pm
No programming for me. Got a list of items to draw, and a few monsters before I can get to the programming part. Mines 8-bit styled.
#12 Jun 28 2012, 6:49 pm
Tadaa!

Basically the idea is that you run around dungeons like this, fight monsters, and beat the boss. Each boss drops an item related to them. For example, that Dragon ( the red Charizard knockoff at the top ) drops "Dragonbone" which gives you stat bonuses and abilities. With this one in particular equipped, you have a 50% chance to do a regular attack, a 25% chance to breathe fire onto your opponent, and a 25% chance to make an attack that ignores your opponents resistance. You can only carry 3 items at a time and can toggle between them to suit any situation. Then you go through the door, loot the chests ( haven't decided what will be in chests yet ) and then go through a portal that warps you to the next dungeon.

Still clueless as to how I could incorporate some multiplayer into this.
#13 Jun 28 2012, 6:54 pm
I like the simple graphics. Are the dungeons randomly generated, or is it linear?
#14 Jun 28 2012, 8:20 pm
The dungeons aren't randomly generated but everything in it will be.
#15 Jun 28 2012, 10:10 pm
In response to EmpirezTeam (#12)
EmpirezTeam wrote:
Tadaa!

Gawd I love those graphics.
#16 Jun 28 2012, 11:16 pm
Aye looks great so far, I will check it out when you get done. But yea I will be leaning towards multiplayer, and incorporate that from the beginning(just started on it today :D).