Level Design
A large part of the enjoyment in dungeon crawler games is the dungeon itself. As a result, Gob & Co. wanted to make sure that the dungeon we made was fun and challenging. Early in development, we split our final vision into two main parts: the “tutorial” part of the dungeon and the main dungeon itself. Up to this point, our builds have consisted of just the one dungeon portion. By the beta release, we’re aiming to have our original vision of what we wanted our dungeon to look like actually in the game!
The First Floor
We wanted to make sure the first floor of the dungeon was brief but informative. The players would spawn in the bottom-most room with no threats to help them get adjusted to the controls and the general feel of the game. After the players decide to move forward, they’ll enter a room with only a few goblins to get them used to combat. The top room will be locked, requiring the players to go left, where the key room is. Here, they’ll be introduced to the fact that the key takes the place of their weapon and can use it to open the locked door in the previous room. In reality, this information is all the player needs to successfully complete the main dungeon, so there’s no point in dragging out the tutorial any longer past this.
The Main Dungeon
The aim with the main dungeon is to provide a large place for the players to explore. As the players progress throughout the dungeon, there are two sections of interest, and both of these are marked by an increase of environmental hazards and goblins per room. The key room, which was once an easy find, is now found at the bottom right of the map, requiring traversal through harder rooms to get access to. If the players haven’t figured it out, the key can also be used as a weapon, and the fact that the key is out of the way means that the player who has the key has time to get used to it as their new weapon. Additionally, the top area of the map contains a lot of hazards and enemies, signaling another difficulty increase. Players who make it past this section are presented with the locked door that leads to the boss room. A small thing to note is that there is a minecart that runs through the middle of the map; this is to signal a change of difficulty as well as provide the players with a sense of groundedness as they explore the vast reaches of the dungeon.
-Olivia LaValley | Level Designer & Programmer
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