Grimrock

Well, if we go for up to 9x9 rooms, it fits 3x3 such spaces in one level (3x9 = 27, leaves 5 spaces for intermediate walls/connector corridors), so 8 per level + the central hub. 3x8 = 24, I suggest we clip at 24 designers, each with a 9x9x3 maximum space. The whole dungeon will thus be 9 levels high, not a big deal, and if people don't use the space above/below, again, no big deal I think.

Here's a concept of how 9x9 areas fit in one 32x32 grimrock level:

Good explanation Diarmuid, nice layout.

Might be a tad bit restrictive to some, but as long as the rules are clear up front it should work.

Nice layout Diarmuid, I like this.

and for the stairs between levels, have the stairs go down into "nothing" (black space) where you have a silent invisible teleporter that takes you infront of the stairs on level 3, thats the easiest way to make stairs "jump" over one floor with out any scripting or timers.

Ryeath_Greystalk wrote:Good explanation Diarmuid, nice layout.

Might be a tad bit restrictive to some, but as long as the rules are clear up front it should work.

And, of course, people don't need to keep them perfectly square.

Skuggasveinn wrote:Nice layout Diarmuid, I like this.

and for the stairs between levels, have the stairs go down into "nothing" (black space) where you have a silent invisible teleporter that takes you infront of the stairs on level 3, thats the easiest way to make stairs "jump" over one floor with out any scripting or timers.

Don't worry, I'll make "special" stairs like in the castle tileset.

Hooray! I hoped you would say that, SpiderFighter (and thanks also to Skugg... and everyone.)

I like the keys idea a lot. It keeps the player on track. It allows the player to skip rooms that they find too difficult or just dislike, but it provides an incentive to finish as much as they can. It minimizes the problem that I had suggested earlier about skipping early fights and coming back after leveling up. If sufficient rewards are dangled in front of the player (say, behind a portcullis so they can see them but not quite touch,) then I think that most players will try every room, even if they don't finish every room.

I think allocating room space beforehand is a great idea. Restrictions may breed creativity. It also gives each designer the same starting point. Without pre-allocated spaces, would you think 5x5x1 was a good size, or 4x32x2, or 15x15x4? I don't think any of those is necessarily "bad", but I like knowing roughly what I have to work with before I begin. Diarmuid's 9x9x3 is more than enough for the ideas I'm playing with right now. Pre-allocation could also make it easier for people to add their submissions out of order.

The "themes" or "alignments" are definitely an interesting idea. After thinking about this a bit, it seems to me like this would probably be more appropriate for a mod with a single designer or small group of designers. My ideas for themes, I would want to introduce them slowly and consistently across many levels. Trying to keep ~20 designers on theme sounds a lot like trying to herd cats.

72 hours sounds fair. Ideally, everyone would have their room (mostly) built ahead of time and just fit it into the mod when their turn came up. Obviously, rooms which require more debugging would benefit that much more from pre-building and testing.

@Ryeath_Greystalk I disagree with the specific layout that you offered, but not with the idea of planning a general floor layout. I actually think we would want a variety of puzzle, combat, and mini-games on each floor, so much as the submissions allow. As a player, that would hold my interest more effectively. I think it would be best to communicate planned room content privately, to minimize spoilers.

Oooo this is exciting. Whatever gameplan we settle on, this is going to be a lot of fun.

I'll start working on adapting the multi-level script to the temple tileset and preparing a central hub space template. I'll model a bunch of architecture, but will use all existing textures to keep size small.

EDIT: May I also suggest we set up a git hub for the project, and maybe a skype channel? Both proved to be incredibly effective for streamlining cooperation and creativity for the LotNR team.

EDIT2: Here's a quick concept shot of the central hub space with what the multi-level script can do: (those who wish to keep the surprise, don't look)

Looking down: Looking up: That's with only 1 wall model, 1 floor model and 1 ceiling model. And of course I didn't place them manually 1 by 1...

Of course, imagine some stairs in there, as well as some models with more depth (not just a 0mm plane for the floor...). Pillars are missing too for now, but I wanted to give people a quick draft so that non-LotNR people can see what we're talking about with this multi-level stuff. Notice how you can also see torches across 3-4 levels above/below...

Three levels of depth.. Wow, Diamuid!
I too recommend a github and skype channel.

Neikun wrote:Three levels of depth.. Wow, Diamuid!

The whole nine levels are actually there .

Since the "Projectiles" architectural breakthrough, there's no limit of how many levels you can compile together. You still have the renderer limit, though, which is about 7 levels/tiles. In the looking up screenshot for example, I'm on level 8, and see all the way up to the ceiling of level 3. With some more light it could probably go a bit higher.

Marble Mouth wrote:
@Ryeath_Greystalk I disagree with the specific layout that you offered, but not with the idea of planning a general floor layout. I actually think we would want a variety of puzzle, combat, and mini-games on each floor, so much as the submissions allow. As a player, that would hold my interest more effectively. I think it would be best to communicate planned room content privately, to minimize spoilers.

The specific layout I mentioned wasn't meant to be anything more than a example to point our that spiderfighter would have an easier time organizing if he had advance notice on what was coming.

I started woking on a room tonight and it's about 40% done, will fit right into a 9x9x1 slot. Biggest problem I think I'll face is I don't know anything about skype or dropbox and such.
(I know I'm putting the cart before the horse and may not get picked, but this has really got me excited.)