Is it possible to Randomise Dungeons?

krailov · March 2017

I know many players have mentioned this before, but Dungeons in the game are so static, you repeat the same run over and over again mindlessly - to the point where bots can run them!

Is it possible to randomise some dungeon corridors and rooms to get to the end instead of having the same layout each time? I know this would not work in every case, so some 'sections' would have to remain the same for story purposes, but surely going from A to C can be through a randomised B section.

Can the mobs be varied? Have random encounters - mobs/ trap sections / using toon skills - clerics have to pray/cleanse a certain monument, theives disarm, tanks hold up a falling beam... Teams that do not have that toon type could use equivalent kits (at a worse rate/lost health). The total effort (XP in gaming terms) would still be the same at the end, but varied in how it was achieved.

I think that having a truly random set for each party would tax the poor servers, but if say every 60 or 90 minutes or so all the dungeons of that type (like VT or Kessells) were made into the same random one, that would allow for variety without as much of a hit on the servers. All the parties entering in that time would have the same dungeon.

I think some dungeons (like Clockwork Tower) cannot be changed much if at all, but CN and others definitely have areas that could use this mechanism, and would make it an experience, rather than a run...

beckylunatic · March 2017

It is possible, and already done in Lostmauth, and further experimented with in the Illusionist's Gambit skirmish, so who knows what the future may hold.

tripsofthrymr · March 2017

If I recall correctly, @mimicking#6533 mentioned in the dev stream that the original concept was to include more random elements, but that design decision was pulled back.

I would love to see more randomization. Currently, after you have run a dungeon once or twice for atmosphere, every run becomes a speed run. There's no incentive to explore. What if there were branching passageways (like the secondary bosses from some early dungeons) that could have really nice loot. Instead of the one, well-known branch, have several alternative routes that the party can select from (rather than the random-then-fixed choice in LOL). Drop clues for the observant indicating which route(s) might have what kind of secondary boss encounter(s). Hide loot in 0-2 of a dozen possible hard-to-reach places. Randomly place tough traps on the loot or spawn tough encounters when the loot is disturbed. Create multiple paths to the boss that the party can select from, and drop clues as to what might currently inhabit those paths. Put different, random obstacles on the paths (monsters, meaningful traps, environmental challenges).

In short, make a dungeon run an event where the party communicates to decide whether and where they want to explore (invest time for the possibility of additional loot commensurate with that investment) rather than an exercise in reaching the boss in the shortest amount of time.

On an Evil DM note, once you have a large dungeon, it could be fun to randomly teleport a character or two far away from the party...

Such content is certainly more difficult to develop. It takes more development and QA time. If done well, the result could be something far more entertaining than the current dungeons.

Is it possible to Randomise Dungeons?

Might is not always right - the powerful sometimes forget that.

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