Dungeon Building

Introduction

Welcome

Welcome to the world of IVAN dungeon building. It is a part of game development that is as interesting and intricate as the game itself. Designing and building a dungeon for IVAN presents many challenges and it can feel like a steep learning curve, however, the satisfaction of creating a world in which many enthusiastic IVANers can play in and feel part of is very rewarding. This guide is aimed at those with little or no coding skills, but who are comfortably computer literate. Those who are already familiar with C++ (or any other language) will be advantaged by their programming experience, and will hopefully find the collection of examples on dungeon building suitably novel and interesting.

Tools

A suitable text editor and font

When editing the dungeon file, it pays to have a good text editor. A nice program in Windows might be, for example, Programmer’s Notepad 2, but any program with suitable syntax highlighting will do. The script file text is based on C/C++ syntax, so you can set the syntax highlighting to this language. It is also highly prudent to select a mono-space typeface. A mono-space typeface means each character has the same horizontal length in the editor. Because we are also going to “draw” with ASCII characters in the script files, it would be good if the characters can properly align in a grid-like fashion, making it easy to identify the geometrical patterns. This is indispensable when it comes to laying out large rooms and even particular dungeons, helping to avoid confusion along the way. Suitable typefaces to consider for this purpose might include Consolas, Courier New or Lucida Console fonts.

Backing up your work

This is really the most important step, and should be the first thing you organize. Make a copy of your dungeon file and store the copy somewhere else, that way, you can always revert to the original if you make changes all over the place. No matter if you lose original files, you can usually pick up an old file from a repository somewhere and revert back to it.

A more guru way to do this, would be to set up your own IVAN development branch, by cloning the attnam/ivan git repository and making changes in your own branch. You can make pull requests to merge you work into the main line of IVAN development! By using a version control system like GIT, you enable for yourself a great tool for maintaining your dungeon script file.

Philosophy

Order and Chaos

IVAN has the possibility for building both persistently generated content (order) and procedurally generated content (chaos). It is possible to create very rigidly designed places, with every terrain and item having its proper place. The city of Attnam might be considered a highly persistently generated place. Some places are also generated in a way that produces unique dungeon areas - never before visited - with random layout and loot. The Gloomy Caves might be considered such a place. This is only partly true, however, since we can also find things in the Gloomy Caves that can be encountered in each game, like the Gloomy Caves shop or the Enner Beast. We will examine both philosphies in detail, using the Gloomy Caves as an example of a balance between the tools for producing persistent elements and procedural elements in a dungeon.

Dungeon script hierarchy

The dungeon script file follows a definite structure. However, this may be hard to see since certain keywords can be used over and over again. For example to re-define default values in a certain portion of the script, the keyword RoomDefault might be encountered at the LevelDefault stage or simply the Level stage. Each dungeon has default parameters specified within LevelDefault and RoomDefault. This is where the general look and feel of the dungeon can be uniformly specified with only a few commands. These defaults can be overridden at any point in the script, within that dungeon. Each level is explicitly catalogued by level number. LevelDefault can be overridden to change the look and feel of just one particular level if desired. Rooms are described in the Level portion of the script, since rooms are contained on levels in the same way levels are contained in dungeons. Default specs for rooms (RoomDefault) can be overridden. This can either be done within each level, affecting only the specifications for rooms generated on that level, or it may be done on a per-room basis. Rooms can be rigidly specified, with special "script maps" GTerrainMap, OTerrainMap, ItemMap and CharacterMap listed, showing which types to be generated. Squares can be defined within rooms, or within a level somewhere. On a square may be placed any amount of items, or a particular ground-terrain or over-terrain, such as stairs or a fountain. Each room and square can be made to appear randomly within a level, in a random position, and/or within a random sub-area of a level (handled by BoundedRandom), and/or on a random member of a subset of levels (handled by RandomLevel).

Examples from the original game

Gloomy Caves Shop

As a start, let's have a look at what is going on with the Gloomy Caves Shop.

Room

   {
     Size = 5,9;
     AltarPossible = false;
     DivineMaster = MELLIS;
     Type = ROOM_SHOP;
     GenerateFountains = false;
     AllowLockedDoors = false;
     AllowBoobyTrappedDoors = false;

CharacterMap

     {
       Pos = 1, 1;
       Size = 3, 7;
       Types
       {
         g = guard(SHOP) { Team = 5; }
         s = shopkeeper(ELPURI_CAVE) { Team = 5; Flags = IS_MASTER; }
       }
     }
     {
       g.g
       ...
       ...
       .s.
       ...
       ...
       g.g
     }

ItemMap

     {
       Pos = 1,1;
       Size = 3,7;
       Types
       {
         g == Random { MinPrice = 100; MaxPrice = 10000; Category = GAUNTLET|BOOT; }
         b == Random { MinPrice = 100; MaxPrice = 10000; Category = GAUNTLET|BOOT; }
         a == Random { MinPrice = 500; MaxPrice = 10000; Category = HELMET|CLOAK|BODY_ARMOR|BELT; }
         d == Random { MinPrice = 200; MaxPrice = 10000; Category = RING|AMULET; }
         w == Random { MinPrice = 500; MaxPrice = 10000; Category = WEAPON|SHIELD; }
         e == Random { MinPrice = 50; MaxPrice = 10000; Category = FOOD|POTION; }
         u == Random { MinPrice = 200; MaxPrice = 10000; Category = WAND|TOOL; }
         r == Random { MinPrice = 200; MaxPrice = 10000; Category = SCROLL|BOOK; }
         s == wand(WAND_OF_STRIKING);
       }
     }
     {
       .g.
       ddb
       err
       e.w
       auw
       auw
       .s.
     }

Dungeon default control variables

Dungeon

Keyword	Values	Description
Dungeon	0, 1, 2, ... , 64	This is the dungeon enumerator variable. Enumerations 0 to 4 are occupied by the original dungeons with predefined variables like ATTNAM or ELPURI_CAVE.
Levels	0, 1, 2, ...	This determines the total number of levels in the dungeon.
Description	"string"	This is a short name for the dungeon that shows up in the high score list explaining which dungeon the player died in.
ShortDescription	"string"	This is an even shorter name for the dungeon usually limited to two or three characters, for example "GC" for gloomy caves. It shows up on the side bar.

LevelDefault

Keyword	Values	Description
Size	x, y;	This is the size of the level in squares. x and y are the horizontal and vertical size respectively with x, y ∈ {1, 2, 3, ... }.
Rooms	n; or p:q;	Total number of rooms possible on the level. Can be a fixed number, n, or a number of generic rooms between p and q with p < q. n, p and q ∈ {0, 1, 2, 3, ... }.
Items	n; or p:q;	Total number of items that will generate on the level. Can be a fixed number, n, or a random number of items between p and q with p < q. n, p and q ∈ {0, 1, 2, 3, ... }.
TunnelSquare	solidterrain(FLOOR_TYPE), 0;	TunnelSquare determines the appearance of the tunnel floor. First parameter determines the floor appearance, second parameter should be zero.
	FLOOR_TYPE	Choose from PARQUET, FLOOR, GROUND, GRASS_TERRAIN etcetera
	0;	To make a tunnel, this ought to remain zero. Non-zero will cause the tunnel to fill with material!
FillSquare	solidterrain(FLOOR_TYPE), MATERIAL earth	FillSquare determines what to fill the level's walls and filling material with, and what type of ground appears under those walls. First parameter determines the floor, second parameter determines the walls.
	FLOOR_TYPE	Choose from PARQUET, FLOOR, GROUND, GRASS_TERRAIN etcetera. Good to choose from the same type as TunnelSquare.
	MATERIAL	Choose from GRAVEL, MORAINE, GOLD etcetera
BackGroundType	m;	Defines the default background type. Not sure what it precisely affects. m can be GRAY_FRACTAL, RED_FRACTAL, GREEN_FRACTAL etcetera.
EarthquakesAffectTunnels	true or false	Tells the game whether an earthquake on the level can rearrange the layout of tunnels. Open levels will crash if this is not set to false (because there are no tunnels to shift). Set to true if the level has tunnels, set to false if it is open. See also IsOnGround.
IsOnGround	true or false	Tells the game whether the level is above ground. This prevents earthquakes from happening on the level. Silva will summon wolves instead.
IgnoreDefaultSpecialSquares	true or false	If specific squares containing items/traps etc are specified in LevelDefault, then setting this to true for a particular level will cause these random squares not to appear. Accordingly, in LevelDefault this should be set to false. See Square (DefaultSpecialSquares).
CanGenerateBone	true or false	Tells the game whether a bone file can be generated on this level, or not. Best to set the default value to true. Typically set this to false if the level will generate a shop, or a victory boss like Oree (not Enner).
LOSModifier	16, 24, 32, 48, ...	Line of sight modifier. Typical value for underwater tunnel or gloomy caves is 16. Zombie level is 24. Sumo area is 32. Towns are typically 48. Higher value means player character can see further.
DifficultyBase	0, 5, 10, ...	Sets the base difficulty for the level. In LevelDefault, this is the base difficulty for all the levels.
DifficultyDelta	0, 5, 10, ...	This sets the value added to the DifficultyBase for each consecutive level. In LevelDefault, this is the change in difficulty per level (dD), without needing to continually specify DifficultyBase (DB) for each level. The difficulty, D, is therefore set to D = DB + dD * L, where L is the current level number.
GenerateMonsters	true or false	Whether monsters can be generated on the level or not. Set to false in peaceful towns; typically set to true in caves.
TeamDefault	TEAM_NAME	Sets the team to which spawned monsters are aligned. Typically set to MONSTER_TEAM to generate hostile enemies.
MonsterAmountBase	0, 10, 20, ...	Sets the maximum number of monsters for the level for the generator. While the number of monsters is less than this value, the monster generator adds a new monster. Above this value, monsters are not generated.
MonsterAmountDelta	0, 5, 10, ...	This sets the value added to the MonsterAmountBase for each consecutive level. In LevelDefault, this is the change in monster setpoint per level (dM), without needing to continually specify MonsterAmountBase (MB) for each level. The number of monsters (M) setpoint for any given level, is set to M = MB + dM * L, where L is the current level number.
MonsterGenerationIntervalBase	100, 120, ...	The time taken between monster generations, in tens of ticks
MonsterGenerationIntervalDelta	..., -10, 0, 10, ...	The increment per level in the time taken between monster generations, in tens of ticks. A negative number means that that the generation interval becomes shorter by that amount, for each consecutive level. The implication being, negative numbers increase the frequency of monster generation with increasing level depth.
ItemMinPriceBase	0, 20, 40, ...	The minimum price for items generated on the level, in gold coins. Lower minimum price causes items to generate from low-value materials.
ItemMinPriceDelta	0, 10, 20, ...	Incremental increase or decrease in generated item value per level, in gold coins.
EnchantmentMinusChanceBase	0, 5, 10, ...	Make a finite chance that weapons generate with negative enchantment. High values increase the odds the player will come acrossterrible equipment.
EnchantmentMinusChanceDelta	..., -5, 0, 5, ...	Increments the EnchantmentMinusChance with increasing level depth.
EnchantmentPlusChanceBase	0, 5, 10, ...	Make a finite chance that weapons generate with positive enchantment. High values increase the odds the player will come across good equipment.
EnchantmentPlusChanceDelta	..., -5, 0, 5, ...	Increments the EnchantmentPlusChance with increasing level depth.
IsCatacomb	true or false	Normally set to false. This variable causes a level to spawn only ghosts, skeletons and zombies. Used in the Attnamese Catacombs.

RoomDefault

Keyword	Values	Description
Size	x, y; or m:n, p:q;
Pos	x, y; or a:XSize-b, c:YSize-d;
	XSize, YSize	These are special keywords that return the horizontal length (XSize) and vertical length (YSize) of the level, in squares.
Type	ROOM_TYPE	Tells IVAN what type of room. Choose from ROOM_NORMAL, ROOM_SHOP, ROOM_CATHEDRAL, ROOM_LIBRARY, ROOM_BANANA_DROP_AREA or ROOM_SUMO_ARENA. Most common are ROOM_NORMAL and ROOM_SHOP.
Shape	1, 2	Determines whether room has rounded corners, or rectangular corners. Choose from either RECTANGLE or ROUND_CORNERS.
GenerateTunnel	true or false	Determines whether the room is to be connected to the rest of the level via a tunnel. Normally set to true. Set to false to create a secret vault...
UseFillSquareWalls	true or false
WallSquare
FloorSquare
DoorSquare
GenerateDoor	true or false	Tell IVAN whether to generate doors for this room.
GenerateWindows	true or false	Tell IVAN whether to generate windows for this room. Normally set to true in cities above ground. Normally false underground.
GenerateLanterns	true or false	Whether lanterns are to be generated in the room.
GenerateFountains	true or false	Whether to generate fountains in the room.
AllowLockedDoors	true or false	Allows the possibility for doors to be spawned in a locked state. Only makes sense if doors can be generated for the room.
AllowBoobyTrappedDoors	true or false	Allows the possibility for doors to spawn with booby traps. A door does not need to be locked in order to be booby trapped.
DivineMaster	0, 1, ... , 15, 16(?)	Restricts range of gods player can pray to, to only this god. Select from VALPURUS, LEGIFER etc. 0 (zero) is all gods, so set this as the default value for your rooms in general.
AltarPossible	true or false	Allows the possibility of spawning an altar. If DivineMaster is set to zero, then it will be an arbitrary god. If DivineMaster is non-zero up to the number of gods, then it will spawn an altar of that deity. If DivineMaster is ATHEIST then it spawns a blank altar (???)
IsInside	true or false
Flags