Restrict dungeons by monster type

[ronarscorruption]

type monsters by species (undead, goblinoid, humanoid, etc)

Wouldn't it make more sense not to have goblins, fire bugs, human raiders, bugbears and ghosts all on the same floor at once? This is the sort of thing that only really happens in roguelikes and really weird DnD sessions. I'd much rather have different dungeons contain only one class of monster like undead (skeletons, zombies, ghuls, ghosts, etc) or greenskins (goblins, orcs, ogres)

Asides from making a little more sense, it'd also be easier for a player to gauge how much danger they want to go in: "I want to play it safe, let's go fight some orcs" versus "I'm a risk-taker, I'm going to brave the ghuls and ghosts!"

[JellySlayer]

It might make more sense, but the way it is currently implemented is much more fun, IMHO. The odd themed level or themed area (eg. vaults) are fine, but having every dungeon themed like this would get pretty dull, I think. Part of what makes RLs challenging and interesting is that you have to be prepared for anything at all times.

[Al-Khwarizmi]

Fully agree with JellySlayer.

[ronarscorruption]

Well, then, a compromise - have one type of monster more prolific in a particular dungeon, or even on a particular dungeon floor.

[Aielyn]

While I agree that all dungeon levels being themed would get annoying after awhile, I also feel that there must be a way to have it both ways.

One option might be to have different rooms given themes, and then the set of themes that appear on the level decide which types of monsters show up. Tension rooms would contain monsters suiting the theme, of course. And then, within any particular room, monsters generated in that room would be more likely to match the theme. All other monsters would have a small chance of appearing, even if no appropriate theme is present.

The same theme patterns could also inform "basic" dungeon features, as well as specialty monster generation. For instance, an undead-themed room has some chance of containing one or two graves. If an undead-themed room and an orc-themed room are both generated on the same map, there would be a greater chance of orc skeletons, for instance.

Also, some rooms would just be generic rooms, which, among other things, would result in mixed tension rooms if a tension room is created in one.

These would be just like room properties in ADoM, in that they're inherent to the room. In fact, I think that rooms should have a variety of properties like this. I'd love to see "chaotic" rooms that are non-rectangular, for instance. If all rooms had "alignment", then that could influence altar generation, foe generation rates and types, corruption rates, etc.

Dungeon and floor themes could then also be included, to further alter the properties of the level. Using a variety of factors like that should ensure that the game feels more "real" without sacrificing variation and interest.

[Dervi]

Well when you enter the "dark fortress of demons", you should expect to find demons no? At least semi-specific dungeon levels would be nice...

[ronarscorruption]

Exactly my point, Dervi, maybe not for every dungeon, but it would be nice if a particular type of monster was 'common' within dungeons with a certain name. Fortress of demons should contain demons - temple of bones should have undead, and so on.

[KyoShinda]

Hah, I remember in the first adom when I ran into the first cave and ran into a pixie dragon at a low level. >_>

I think the randomness is fun but I agree that some mobs should spawn more frequent than others based on the dungeon or based on room properties so that the certain mob type can take full advantage of the room right away to make more difficult battles.