dead adventurers caught by traps? treasure chests with the gold missing but you later find the gold in the hands of an unlucky (ie. dead) adventurer. Obscenely bloody and distrubing statues worshipping the "gods" of whoever built the temple, ie. like a mayan tomb? (not sure that would communicate so well in basic sprite-work though).
Gods setting you challenges for their rewards / curses.
Favorite Dungeons
I like alot of the things presented in dungeons i explore, puzzles, traps, corpses of previous adventurers, etc. Design is important, but i also like environmental challenges, like their being a huge chasm in front of me cutting off my only path forward (or back), so instead i have to figure out a way to get down and into a different section, or region of the dungeon. Unusual forms of travel that require climbing, jumping, crawling, and traversing an area. This all fits into the atmosphere of being "old", with decaying passageways and equipment which help lend the dungeon feel. Mix in a little Evil (Silent Hill being a great example) and i'm in my happy place. :D
I also loved PSO's dungeons - I'm temped to buy the GC version just to play through it all again!
I loathed PSO dungeon design. You absolutely had to clear every room before moving on, they paths were linear, the monsters were repetitive, and it took at least an hour to make any semblance of progress that can be saved. I still play the dang thing, but it's because I'm a little bit addicted to the grind. The dungeon design is lousy.
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Quote:Original post by Anonymous Poster
What I think the world dungeon stands for is the idea of a set-piece location, which is of special interest due to challenging monster / traps-puzzles and rewards.
A dungeon doesn't have to be underground although most tend to constrain you in some way (a dinosaur filled plateau) because this adds to the psychological edge of the challenge.
A 'dungeon' could be the Mall in Dawn of the Dead films, likewise the mystical forest bit in Final Fantasy 7 which has eerie music, powerful rewards and a sense of mystery.
Ketch.
Ketch
Exactly. I tried to clarify this a bit by specifying 'dungeon/level', but yes, there's no reason it needs to be a building or an enclosed space. Level designers are fairly creative in the medium that they use for their puzzle, but as long as it's engaging, Im into it.
Im planning on implementing several "tools" to help players on their progress. Some form of jumping, maybe some climbing, and several forms of water transport (raft, canoe, whatever!)
Ultima Online's Dungeon Deceit. It was THE place to be.
Level One: Everyone hung out here and challenged eachother to duels.
Level Two: The noobs formed a wall in the doorway to the skeleton warriors. They'd work together, training up their skills. Get hit, step back and the wall would stop the skeleton from coming through. As long as you had enough players to keep 3 people in the wall, this was a wicked way to train.
Level Three: All the best mobs (and thus, best players) were here. Lots of PvP and PvE to be had. Everytime you went down to the third level you risked your life from either of the two. That's what made it so much fun.
The best areas (dungeons included) are ones that include something for everyone. So much so that they become mini-communities themselves.
Level One: Everyone hung out here and challenged eachother to duels.
Level Two: The noobs formed a wall in the doorway to the skeleton warriors. They'd work together, training up their skills. Get hit, step back and the wall would stop the skeleton from coming through. As long as you had enough players to keep 3 people in the wall, this was a wicked way to train.
Level Three: All the best mobs (and thus, best players) were here. Lots of PvP and PvE to be had. Everytime you went down to the third level you risked your life from either of the two. That's what made it so much fun.
The best areas (dungeons included) are ones that include something for everyone. So much so that they become mini-communities themselves.
You know thats an interesting point at the the end there Grozzler, i've noticed in other games (like Ragnarok online) where people tend to congregate and form mini-communities in dungeons, fighting monsters and hanging out on several levels. Something more to think about when designing them, since you could (theoretically) create safezones in dungeons were people would congregate, you'd get player merchants and you could end up with communities like those in Ultima Underworld. ;D
I agree with the UO dungeons mentioned; a lot of my most memorable experiences with MMORPGs are in UO. I remember being in one of the high end dungeons on the lowest floor and trying to fight dragons *and* be on the lookout for PK's all alone down there!
Here are some of my favorites:
Everquest - Velketor's Labyrinth: This one is pretty unique, for an MMORPG at least, in that it expands vertically instead of horizontally like most dungeons do. Not only do the monsters get stronger as you go higher, but also the chance that you will go splat 'cause you just slipped off the top level when looking for stuff to kill!
Zelda 2 - Death Mountain area: If you didn't know the 'trick' to getting through it, you could get stuck here for quite a while as many of the caves looped around or were dead ends.
Final Fantasy 9 - Ipsen's Castle: I was wondering why I wasn't doing much damage to the enemies in here. It was because this was supposed to be a 'reverse' area, with the castle being upside down and only the weakest weapons would actually work.
Phantasy Star 3 - Not really a 'dungeon' but I liked how all the worlds were interconnected in a way that made sense. i.e, a cave in the SE section of one world would lead to the NW section of the world you are travelling to.
Here are some of my favorites:
Everquest - Velketor's Labyrinth: This one is pretty unique, for an MMORPG at least, in that it expands vertically instead of horizontally like most dungeons do. Not only do the monsters get stronger as you go higher, but also the chance that you will go splat 'cause you just slipped off the top level when looking for stuff to kill!
Zelda 2 - Death Mountain area: If you didn't know the 'trick' to getting through it, you could get stuck here for quite a while as many of the caves looped around or were dead ends.
Final Fantasy 9 - Ipsen's Castle: I was wondering why I wasn't doing much damage to the enemies in here. It was because this was supposed to be a 'reverse' area, with the castle being upside down and only the weakest weapons would actually work.
Phantasy Star 3 - Not really a 'dungeon' but I liked how all the worlds were interconnected in a way that made sense. i.e, a cave in the SE section of one world would lead to the NW section of the world you are travelling to.
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Im not, in general, a big fan of MMORPG dungeons. The reason being, with most MMORPGs, the world is divided into 3 areas: towns, space between towns, and dungeons. Towns normally have no enemies, the space between towns have (for the most part) very weak enemies, and the dungeons have all the stronger enemies. Players then tend to think of the game in those terms.
The other problem with them is that the worlds there are static. There's obvious reasons for this (thousands of players, players coming and going periodically), you're never really going to be able to make a difference in it.
I do like the idea of underworld communities. If anyone here has played Final Fantasy V, there's a dungeon towards the end of the game where there's a mini-town part way through.
The other problem with them is that the worlds there are static. There's obvious reasons for this (thousands of players, players coming and going periodically), you're never really going to be able to make a difference in it.
I do like the idea of underworld communities. If anyone here has played Final Fantasy V, there's a dungeon towards the end of the game where there's a mini-town part way through.
Surprises are good, like when the giant statues become alive (except that this is done so often that people expect it) still fun though.
Horror game type techniques are also good, where you create tension that something horrible will appear from behind the next corner. Ie. Playing off the player's expectations.
Horror game type techniques are also good, where you create tension that something horrible will appear from behind the next corner. Ie. Playing off the player's expectations.
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