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[JasonPickering]

so you know what might work better for the level layout. something like this:



I can have the larger levels, but then the character wont get stuck by out of screen monsters. Although if that's the case though, the levels dont really need to be larger, because you would probably never backtrack.

[Sakar]

Heh, so



On the previous floor I went into the stairs, which began the transition to the next. However a rat took it's turn and killed me right before the level transition. I was still alive on the next level, but the You Have Died! banner stayed.

Oh also, not sure if this was mentioned but, you can move before the level start screen finishes fading. This has led to me accidentally killing myself because I clicked before I could see and moved into a spot where a rat could hit me.

[JasonPickering]

thank you, both those have been ixed, working on the rat killing you thing now.

[JackMenhorn]

You can accidentally click the screen and move during the black "Level" title card, which might cause a sticky situation.

[JasonPickering]

Yeah I fixed that with a quick line of code. should be in the next build.

so here is a question. should I stick with the larger levels, or go back to the single screen levels? and if I stick with the larger levels any ideas what I can do with enemies off screen that can kill you.

[JackMenhorn]

Larger levels def has a roguelike-dungeon feel to it.  It might slow down the feeling of progression, but not necessarily in a negative way.

[DustyDrake]

if you do keep the larger dungeons, you might consider making the enemies have an 'alert' radius, so that you don't get both A) a swarm of mobs heading for you, and B) a largely empty dungeon after you either kill or move through the mob.

[JasonPickering]

Yeah, I might change it and do the Floors similar to the way Rooms work in Zelda. so they are each only one screen. That way the player isn't killed by off screen enemies. This is Going to take a bit of work though Probably.

If I go with some of the smaller more designed Rooms I can possibly create some much crazier Enemies that don't path for you, but run their own specific path code, Like the Brown Rat in the Current Game.

[Swaggermuffin]

I haven't really run into any situations where off-screen enemies caught me off-guard. Most of the time, I know why I died, and it's always because I made a stupid mistake. This is just my own personal opinion, but if it were me, I wouldn't tone down the difficulty too much.

[JasonPickering]

I think I worry the most with the Ninjas. I haven't added them in yet, but they move the same way knights move in Chess. so they can be pretty far from the player and still get them and I hoped to build more guys like that.

Edit: I might try something like this tonight. Where the Rooms are self contained ala Zelda. We will see how it works

[JasonPickering]

well the Level building update I wanted to have done tonight might not be. I have hit a bit of a snag in figuring out how to build all the rooms. I will keep trying, but dont think I will have anything new.

[JasonPickering]

Well I got the new Level structure in and I updated the camera Movement. Next up is figuring out the enemies. the main problem is how to do enemies so they don't kill you as soon as you walk into a room. I think this is going to be pretty problematic. I need to figure out

A. How to spawn an enemy so that it doesn't kill you as soon as you walk in a door the first time.
B. How to make is so if an enemy is chasing you it doesnt stop in a place that will kill you the first time.

the most obvious answer is building the rooms very specifically so they have certain enemies. and giving these enemies specific spawn points. Also making it so the enemies don't path Right for the player, but just move around the level with deliberate AI and if they can kill the player they will. I worry that will make the game far to easy though. Any thoughts?

[eigenbom]

maybe it takes one turn for an enemy to notice you've entered the room? thus giving you an opportunity to back. away. slowly. from the nice, friendly demon..

[JasonPickering]

that could work. Like Enemies never notice you in a doorway.

[obsidian_golem]

Well I got the new Level structure in and I updated the camera Movement. Next up is figuring out the enemies. the main problem is how to do enemies so they don't kill you as soon as you walk into a room. I think this is going to be pretty problematic. I need to figure out

A. How to spawn an enemy so that it doesn't kill you as soon as you walk in a door the first time.
B. How to make is so if an enemy is chasing you it doesnt stop in a place that will kill you the first time.

the most obvious answer is building the rooms very specifically so they have certain enemies. and giving these enemies specific spawn points. Also making it so the enemies don't path Right for the player, but just move around the level with deliberate AI and if they can kill the player they will. I worry that will make the game far to easy though. Any thoughts?

Have you thought of using the methods in legends of yore? The generation and enemy ai works very well. I can not remember where, but kevglass outlines the code for dungeon generation and ai.

[JasonPickering]

No, but I will hit him up tomorrow and ask politely/demand to know how he handled it.

[JasonPickering]

So I probably wont be able to get much done for the rest of the week, as I am pretty busy, but we will see. My next goal is to get:

1. Monster generation in and working
2. 2 more Items
3. Randomly choosing your first Item
4. Final Goal For the Cave.

[JasonPickering]

You know I have been thinking about it, and I think I am going to go back to the single room model. It felt much tighter, and playing around with the larger floors, makes the game seem very sparse. I find myself going through entire rooms, without fighting any enemies. I could just add more enemies, but I think it makes the game feel a bit different then what I actually want.

[obsidian_golem]

You know I have been thinking about it, and I think I am going to go back to the single room model. It felt much tighter, and playing around with the larger floors, makes the game seem very sparse. I find myself going through entire rooms, without fighting any enemies. I could just add more enemies, but I think it makes the game feel a bit different then what I actually want.

Thats good. I enjoyed the single room model more.

[JasonPickering]

Yeah, But I am glad i tried it just so I know if it works or not.