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relee4:00pm - So today I've got my copy of Procedural Generation in Game Design and I'm going to re-look-over the chapter on Cyclic Level Generation and especially the part on key puzzles. I want to refresh myself on their ideas and see how they could work in my project.
Locks might be Conditional, Dangerous, or Uncertain.
The first type of lock is a Conditional lock, where you can bypass the lock if you have the key.
The second type of lock is a Dangerous lock, where you can bypass the danger if you have the key, or risk the danger if you don't.
The third type of lock is an Uncertain lock, where you don't know about the lock, but you can find it if you have the key. That could be a secret door, or perhaps a password lock?
Locks are Permanent, Reversible, Temporary or Collapsing.
You could unlock a door and it stays that way, or stays unlocked until you lock it again, or it might open with the key and close on its own, or it might only allow one passage though. I'm not sure I'd do the last one in a Zeldalike; normally you can backtrack always. But, it might work if it was a collapsing lock leading to a tool 'key' for another lock or otherwise reverse traversal.
Locks might be Valves or Asymmetrical.
Locks that only allow travel in one direction are called valves. Locks that can only be opened from one direction but passed through from both are asymmetrical.
Locks can be Safe or Unsafe.
An safe lock is guaranteed solvable, while an unsafe lock can be stymied. Maybe you teleport to the wrong side and you're stuck? I probably won't have random teleports like Unexplored does, though.
Keys can be Single Purpose or Multipurpose.
A single purpose key is a regular key that opens a lock and that's it. Multipurpose keys open many locks, and/or have another use. Like the hookshot for example, you can grab things from far away or attack enemies, or use it to pass a tool lock.
Keys are Particular or Nonparticular.
Typically in a Zelda game, there are Nonparticular 'small' keys and a particular 'boss' key in dungeons. The small keys can open any normal locked door and the boss key can only open the final door, and only the boss key can open that door.
Keys might be Consumed or Persistant.
Small keys are normally consumed by the lock. This lets you choose which of a branching path you want to take, while locking you out of the others, until you find more keys on that path.
Keys might be fixed in place.
A lever is an example of a fixed key. It unlocks a door but doesn't move. They advise to make sure lever doors are always permenant so they don't become unsafe, and to make sure the player knows the status of the door
Those are all of the key/lock ideas that they shared in the book. Zelda games like to seal the player in a room with a combat encounter until they finish, so that might be one more type of lock. On the other hand, if it's unavoidable and reversible, is it still a lock?
So, let's see... I'll have Small Key locks, a Big Key lock, and 'Key' Tool locks. What else? One way doors, bomb doors, secret doors connected to hint rooms, puzzle locks
5:03pm - So now I've got some ideas for rooms and locks written down. Now, do I first make a room assembler or do I make a dungeon generator that says what rooms go where first, and then use that to inform my room assembly?
I want to make it so that some rooms have two or more disconnected spaces, so the player can see things they can't get to yet. Given that, I might want to determine the paths through the dungeon before determining the structure of the individual rooms.
Yeah that makes sense. Alright. But to do that I'll have to hit the book again and figure out how to implement the cyclic level generation along with my designs.
All that will have to wait until after groceries, though, and possibly for another day.
Locks might be Conditional, Dangerous, or Uncertain.
The first type of lock is a Conditional lock, where you can bypass the lock if you have the key.
The second type of lock is a Dangerous lock, where you can bypass the danger if you have the key, or risk the danger if you don't.
The third type of lock is an Uncertain lock, where you don't know about the lock, but you can find it if you have the key. That could be a secret door, or perhaps a password lock?
Locks are Permanent, Reversible, Temporary or Collapsing.
You could unlock a door and it stays that way, or stays unlocked until you lock it again, or it might open with the key and close on its own, or it might only allow one passage though. I'm not sure I'd do the last one in a Zeldalike; normally you can backtrack always. But, it might work if it was a collapsing lock leading to a tool 'key' for another lock or otherwise reverse traversal.
Locks might be Valves or Asymmetrical.
Locks that only allow travel in one direction are called valves. Locks that can only be opened from one direction but passed through from both are asymmetrical.
Locks can be Safe or Unsafe.
An safe lock is guaranteed solvable, while an unsafe lock can be stymied. Maybe you teleport to the wrong side and you're stuck? I probably won't have random teleports like Unexplored does, though.
Keys can be Single Purpose or Multipurpose.
A single purpose key is a regular key that opens a lock and that's it. Multipurpose keys open many locks, and/or have another use. Like the hookshot for example, you can grab things from far away or attack enemies, or use it to pass a tool lock.
Keys are Particular or Nonparticular.
Typically in a Zelda game, there are Nonparticular 'small' keys and a particular 'boss' key in dungeons. The small keys can open any normal locked door and the boss key can only open the final door, and only the boss key can open that door.
Keys might be Consumed or Persistant.
Small keys are normally consumed by the lock. This lets you choose which of a branching path you want to take, while locking you out of the others, until you find more keys on that path.
Keys might be fixed in place.
A lever is an example of a fixed key. It unlocks a door but doesn't move. They advise to make sure lever doors are always permenant so they don't become unsafe, and to make sure the player knows the status of the door
Those are all of the key/lock ideas that they shared in the book. Zelda games like to seal the player in a room with a combat encounter until they finish, so that might be one more type of lock. On the other hand, if it's unavoidable and reversible, is it still a lock?
So, let's see... I'll have Small Key locks, a Big Key lock, and 'Key' Tool locks. What else? One way doors, bomb doors, secret doors connected to hint rooms, puzzle locks
5:03pm - So now I've got some ideas for rooms and locks written down. Now, do I first make a room assembler or do I make a dungeon generator that says what rooms go where first, and then use that to inform my room assembly?
I want to make it so that some rooms have two or more disconnected spaces, so the player can see things they can't get to yet. Given that, I might want to determine the paths through the dungeon before determining the structure of the individual rooms.
Yeah that makes sense. Alright. But to do that I'll have to hit the book again and figure out how to implement the cyclic level generation along with my designs.
All that will have to wait until after groceries, though, and possibly for another day.
