Great ideas Plotinus! That does make more sense...! I never liked just aimlessly running around in those dungeons, looking for more arse to stomp, and then get my arse handed to me, by a creature that looked harmless from the picture-- never could tell what that was...
Logical layouts are a great way to make the 'dungeon' more believable. All too often, even playing randomly generated dungeon crawlers, there's no rhyme or reason to the levels, but to venture deeper, and pray you don't encounter the Yeti or the Wampus, or the Dreaded Most-Evil-Creature-You'll-Ever-See (MECYES)...!
Don't get me wrong, this is a great idea-- banding creatures of said type to fight, using appropriate tactics-- but even this kind of thing, being more of a hassle for most, and more fun (like Chess) for others, can eventually become a trudge-fest. Here's an example:
Mikey decides to enter the dungeon and encounters four Trolls and four Goblins.
The Trolls rush Mikey, hoping to eat his fleshy bits, while the Goblins vie
for a way to shoot at poor Mikey's rather tallish body. Too bad the Trolls
are blocking any really good shots, and the Goblins are bad shots to begin with..!
Mikey survives, barely, by offing the last Troll, pierced like a pin-cushion
from the Goblins' arrows, and mad-rushing the Goblins with shield bashes.
What poor Mikey's efforts land him is a relatively safe area, a few trinkets,
broken bows and spears, and about a 12-hour rest. Mikey was definitely
not in a position to actively adventure after that encounter...
Plotinus, I completely agree with you. More variety in these games is always the way to go-- the only issues I can see:
the 'floors' are fully pre-generated with names, furnishings and such -or-
the 'floors' are generated using pre-created rooms with pathways linking them in a meaningful way.
I could see, using a lighting algorithm, to name the rooms as the player would venture either near an entrance (there's a placard on the wall/door that reads ...), or by placing the name of the room on the floor inside the room. If your avatar found a datacube that contained the current floor map, it would list the rooms and label them, too. (i.e. Computer Lab VI, F-Lavatory, M-Lavatory, Lounge, etc.) This could work, at least, fundamentally...
Here's the stuff I think can be worked:
I) the tactics issue I could work in using a set style or two, like for an AI accomplice: Patrol, Scout, Protect, etc. depending on whether the enemy has some kind of intelligence.
II) the room layouts would be more work than I think necessary, but an option to consider. I don't necessarily think it's out of the question, just additional planning and work...
III) having enemies either work together or kill each other off. It's been done in other games, requires a bit more planning and a form of active AI algorithm, and some kind of 'natural enemies' tag/flag in the Enemies type...
IV) another idea came to mind: using a computerized player-programmable drone. If the player uses it for scouting or patrolling, it'll go out to a set number of paces, and return... What if it encountered an enemy or enemy group? If there's an enemy intelligence, then it may decide to follow the drone, right to the player!... (It's a thought...)
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