Chapter 4.8 Monster Dungeons

Dungeons
Dungeons are formed from different contexts, or through world events such as:

• Monster has nested undefeated for long enough, and their radius has met a certain size threshold

• A throned monster has summoned an ecosystem meteor, and the meteor's influence has met a certain size threshold

• Overgrowth has perpetuated without enough resource collection, and their radius has met a certain size threshold

• Warfare and/or cultish NPC settlements have gone unopposed or are supported for a long period of time, and their radius of influence has met a certain size threshold

Dungeon Creation
Dungeons will have a summoning circle similar to monster summoning circles, except they can't be moved. Players need to move out of the way before the timer runs out. Being within near and in proximity for the building to appear, will cause a red timer to appear on the player's screen to get out of the way, or recieve damage upon the summon as it slowly rises out of the ground, or falls from the sky. Players will turn into fireflies and be set outside of the radius in a random location and receive severe damage, and can die and will need to be resurrected, or rescued.

Procedural Dungeon Design
Some dungeons will have preset layouts for procedural room sections. With other sections having specific designs unique to the monster's dungeon context (based on the 4 dungeon creation contexts.) Room sections may include the following, and generating rules will be designed to ensure some level of balance:

• Looked Door Rooms

  • Will generate secondary features to a different room, leaving puzzles and hints for doors to be unlocked

• Platforming Rooms

  • Rooms that require jumping, movement, or construction to clear gaps, or avoid traps

• Puzzle Rooms

  • Button placements, switch sequences, visible traps, hidden traps, unique dungeon features

• Sacrificial Rooms

  • Allows players to offer sacrifices to appease or oppose presence if influenceable by such means

• Empty Rooms

  • Allows players to set up camps and resurrection points

• Resources Rooms

  • Allows players to collect resources unique to the dungeon

Handcrafted Dungeon Design
In other instances, there are whole dungeons that are handcrafted. While this takes longer time to create, it is important to not rely solely on procedural and pattern based dungeons alone. Doing so would make dungeons feel shallow.

Allowing the Dungeon to Persist
Monsters will often exit the dungeon, and the dungeon itself will gain controls similar to a land claim based on how long it perpetuates. It will affect player's meteor choices upon creating a new character, weather controls, and more. Once it obtains enough culture points, it will send monsters to attack claims or to create new nests, in hopes of more dungeons of its type to sprout for world domination.

Clearing the Dungeon
After a monster is defeated, the dungeon will either slowly rot and fall into ruin, or players can hasten the destruction by now collecting the unprotected walls themselves as resources or merely destroying it. Players can also choose to maintain them by doing maintenance, or by setting up a land claim. However, players will need to make frequent sacrifices to the fallen monster, to keep the monster from returning, or else the spirit and value on the land can re-summon that monster to the location.