Grimrock

A Random Map Generator.
Would make this game rock, look at other games like Minecraft, Settlers etc.. The benefit is replayability any game that has this will last.

A Map Editor.
Websites will spring up with the top ten maps in no time.

Texture Packs and of course the SDK What do you guys think

Sounds great, actually. The guys should definitely look into this after the release.

... Fingers crossed.

From what I understand (which admittedly isn't all that much) procedural generation doesn't lend itself overly too well to things like involved puzzles and other complicated and imaginative role-playing elements.

Aren't the levels already procedurally generated? Or maybe I'm mixing this info up with Malevolence?

EDIT: oh, we posted at the same time

Alaric wrote:From what I understand (which admittedly isn't all that much) procedural generation doesn't lend itself overly too well to things like involved puzzles and other complicated and imaginative role-playing elements.

I personally prefer hand crafted stuff in games like this. I mean, I do enjoy rogue-likes and stuff like that too, but I think when a game is really hand crafted the developers can really give a better feeling of atmosphere, exploration, and delving into a real dungeon.

Renevent wrote:

Alaric wrote:From what I understand (which admittedly isn't all that much) procedural generation doesn't lend itself overly too well to things like involved puzzles and other complicated and imaginative role-playing elements.

I personally prefer hand crafted stuff in games like this. I mean, I do enjoy rogue-likes and stuff like that too, but I think when a game is really hand crafted the developers can really give a better feeling of atmosphere, exploration, and delving into a real dungeon.

I wholeheartedly agree.

Seconded on what Renevent said.

However, mapmaking/modding tools are very, very important as well.

Just wanted to share some points of view.

Random dungeons does not necessarily mean that everything has to be randomly generated. It's more of a matter of design. Some parts of a dungeon can be generated with random parameters while leaving important things like puzzles untouched. It gets really technical, and hard to pull off. If not done well, randomization can ruin a games balance, thus interrupting players overall experience.

I don't mind random if its pulled off well. A fairly recent roguelike title, Dungeons of Dredmor, pulled it off exceptionally. I personally prefer replayability to linearity, and random adds to replay value.

Not to say LoG is linear by any means, nor that is has low replay value. I'm sure it will deliver in both categories.

I'm in favor of this, but only if it's implemented well. The puzzles might still work, but if it doesn't preserve the mood (as in, go from a spooky Lovecraftian altar to a brightly lit area right off), then I vote down.

We already have a random map generator, but it's really crude version from way back when we tested various things like random maps. But that didn't work that well with handcrafted puzzles. Random map generator and level editor are definitely something we'll look into in the future.