Dungeon Runner is a WIP custom map inspired by various procedurally generated games, with a large inspiration being drawn from The Binding of Isaac and the minigame "When in Rogue" which is a premium-only minigame on the Shotbow servers.
The aim is simple: Survive. Each time you start, the map will generate itself, meaning that you will never get the same map twice. As you move through the rooms, you will find new items and power ups, fight enemies with unique abilities and, eventually, fight the boss of the level.
Here is an in-depth description of the various mechanics of the game.
Floor Generation:
Each floor is, as stated earlier, procedurally generated. Each floor is set around a theme, some themes being generic, such as Stronghold and Nether, and some being far more unique, such as The Glitch. There are 255 possible 'base' rooms (normal rooms which are part of the random generation) per floor, which are randomly chosen and then put into place. These base rooms will almost always have monsters in them, but some will also have more useful things as well, such as loot chests or paces to cook food. Each floor has two guaranteed rooms: a trader and a boss room. The trader will trade coins for items and (sometimes) take your items and give you coins in exchange. The boss room is the only way to get to the next level, but you need to go through the boss to get there.
The way that the floors are generated is fairly complicated. A starting room is placed at set co-ordinates (this room is always safe). A direction is randomly chosen (north, south, east or west) and a random room is placed there. There is then a 50% chance* that the starting room will select another direction. If it chooses another direction, a room is placed there and there is a 25%* chance that a third direction is chosen. If a third direction is chosen, then there is a 5% chance that a fourth and final direction is chosen. This process is then repeated for each of the rooms that were placed adjacent to the starting room, and then again with the next rooms, and it continues until the randomizer stops, or the maximum level size is reached. After all of this, the Boss room and Trader are both added in random places adjacent to at least one room.
*these numbers change floor to floor, and reduce as more and more rooms are added to the level.
Traders:
Traders are a special variety of room which you can use to both buy and sell items. Sometimes they will sell armor and weapons, sometimes they will sell power-ups and sometimes they will sell utility items such as single-use spells or food and healing items.They will usually accept coins as payment, but sometimes they will want to permanently lower your health in exchange for far more powerful items. Traders may also sell you perks which will stay with you until you die, such as damage resistance, damage or movement speed upgrades or even the ability to return to full health when you are about to die.
The items the Trader is selling are random each time it generates, as is whether or not it contains a Mythic Forge, which you can use to break your items down into essence, which the Trader is more than happy to buy off you for a reasonable price, however it also has another use. Using the Trader is recommended as you loose all of your coins when you die (unless you are lucky enough to find an ender chest to store your valuables in).
Essence:
Essence is the secondary currency of Dungeon Runner. Essence can be dropped by all mobs, with each mob having a different chance to drop some, or it can be obtained by breaking items down in a Mythic Forge. Bosses are all guaranteed to drop a set amount of essence when they die and, unlike coins, your essence counter is permanent and will continue to increase between games. As mentioned earlier, Traders will give you coins in exchange for essence (which is good if you want the cash), however it has another use. Essence can be used to upgrade yourself in the hub where you spawn after you die. There are all sorts of upgrades you can buy in the hub, including permanent health increases, better starting gear and warp doors which instantly teleport you to a certain level (provided you have been there before).
Starting Item Upgrade System:
When you start your first run, you will start with a weaker-than-average wooden sword and only three hearts. You will not beat the map on this run. You will need to earn essence (which is fairly common on the first level) so that you can upgrade yourself. But this upgrade system is different to some other maps, you don't just buy yourself better items, you can customize your own starting items to make them exactly the way that you want them. Want more damage and don't mind a small swing speed decrease? Get yourself a diamond sword blade. Want much higher swing speed and increased movement speed, but don't care about damage as much? Switch your sword blade for a knife blade. Want more health and damage, but really don't care about movement speed? Get yourself a set of Gladiator armor.
You can pick and choose not only the weapons and armor that you start with, but also the exact stats that these items have. Get to the later upgrade levels, and you can buy yourself magical upgrades which imbue your weapons and armor with special powers. There are even secret upgrades which can only be unlocked by completing each level.
Mobs and Bosses:
This map contains many custom mobs and bosses. Vanilla mobs are used as standard enemies in all levels, however each level also has many custom mobs and bosses, each with unique styles and attacks. I won't spoil too much about the new mobs, but I will say that every mob has a legendary version, a rare and extremely tough version of the mob which is guaranteed to drop items.
The bosses in Dungeon Runner all have unique battles and attacks, ranging from AOE spells to arena battles to just running at you with a stick. Each boss battle will challenge the player significantly, but also reward them once the fight is done with a key to the next level and a chance at many pieces or powerful loot.
Custom Items:
This map contains many custom items, each with their own new custom models and some with special abilities.
The custom items will have varying rarity ranging from Common items which are pretty basic, all the way to Legendary items, the rarest and best pieces of gear a player can get. These legendary items usually have some kind of special ability of some description, setting them well ahead of all other items in the map. But be careful, if you die, you loose all the items you have on you, and need to go back to your starting gear at the beginning of the next run.
Spells and Rituals:
Spells and rituals are customizable things the player can use to give themself an edge over the map. Spells are scrolls which can be purchased from the Trader or found in loot chests within the Dungeon. These spell scrolls can be activated to do all sorts of things, including teleporting the player back to the starting room, giving the player a speed boost, giving the player various buffs, or even instantly killing all the monsters in the room. However, there can only be one kind of spell in the Dungeon at a time. You need to choose which spell you want to have and unlock new ones in the hub.
Rituals are more advanced spells which you can activate in the hub. As you travel through the Dungeon, you will find Ritual Components; items which have been imbued with magical energy which you can use in the hub to do rituals which alter the Dungeon. These rituals are not cheap, however they are certainly powerful. The rituals can give you regeneration or strength for a run, or slow down all the mobs in the dungeon, or make them deal less damage. The only problem is that you can only have one ritual active at a time, and they last for a limited number of runs, so you want to make the most of them once you cast them.
Difficulty:
Just a warning, this map is not made to be easy. You are not supposed to rush through it and beat every level on your second or third try. It would take a very good player to even beat the first level on their first try. This map is meant to be a challenge, something with a large end goal which you slowly work towards, upgrading and preparing yourself as you go. This is the kind of map where you will want to go and boast to other players 'I beat the final level!'
As I mentioned, this map is inspired by The Binding of Isaac, so for anyone who has played that game, think back to when you first started playing the game. That's what this map will be like. Those first small steps into something that will show little mercy, but has a definite ease once you have played for a while.
Multiplayer Support:
I know I will get asked this eventually, so I will cover it here. The map is going to work in multiplayer at the current time, however it may not work perfectly and therefore there will probably be certain things that will be altered for multiplayer. I am considering modifying the map and having a multiplayer 'race' version where two identical dungeons are created, one for each person, and they race to see who can get the farthest, or reach a certain point fastest.
But that is a plan for the distant future. For the time being, this map is being created with single player in mind, and with multiplayer being more of an optional thing. If there is a feature which is added later which is a single player only thing, I'll update this.
Computer Requirements:
A map like this is bound to be a bit intensive, however I am doing my best to have the map built in a way that it will work for just about anyone. I am trying to build the map in sections based on when and where the player will need certain things, and then compress those sections into two chunks around where the player will be when needing the certain contraptions; eg. all of the commands for the rituals are situated almost entirely within the same chunk as the ritual area itself, meaning that even players with their render distance at 2 chunks will be able to use it. I am building this map on a pretty terrible laptop, so I know the struggle of not being able to run certain things, especially large or complex custom maps like this one.
Want to help the project?
As you can probably tell, this is an absolutely huge project for me to take on solo (which is what I am doing currently). If you would like to help this project, I am looking for room designs. As I said before, there are going to be around 4,000 completely unique rooms, based around 13 different themes. I am not very good at building and interior design, so I am open to contributions for room interiors. If you would like to contribute rooms, please feel free to message me and I will give you more information. I am also offering various rewards for the people who contribute rooms; the more rooms you contribute, the better the reward.
Contributor Rewards:
(Each tier of reward also gets the rewards of all previous tiers)
1+ room - Have a sign on the top of all the rooms you designed to credit you for your work and a special thanks on the forum thread
5+ rooms - Have your name in the hub thanking you for your help
10+ rooms - Be listed as a room creator on the forum thread and get closed beta access
25+ rooms - Have your own item in the map (let me know what you want it to look like and what you would like the name to be) and have your head in the hub thanking you for your generous contribution
50+ rooms - Have yourself as a monster in one of the levels
70+ rooms - Have your own set of legendary items (full set armor and weapon)
100+ rooms - have your Twitter/Youtube/MC Forums/Tumblr/whatever account linked in the forum thread and in the map
500+ rooms - Be the boss of level 13
1000+ rooms - You've done so much. Have a game on Steam (to the value of $40 USD) or a new minecraft account
2000+ rooms - Be credited as the Ultimate Grand Builder Extreme
These are a few screenshots I took of the first level. The last image is all of the possible rooms in the first level.
I would love to hear feedback on this idea and I will continue updating this thread as more work is done on the map. If you have any suggestions of anything you think needs changing, adding or clarifying, please let me know, and if you would like to see this map completely finished and released, your support will really help motivate me to keep working on this. I may also start doing a few Youtube videos showing off the map in the near future, so let me know what you would like to see there. Thanks all.
This project is still in production and I am working on it pretty much daily. If you want to help in any way, feel free to send me a message and we can se what we can do
I'm curious, how far have you gotten? And what kind of rooms do you want, what sizes, how do you want me to send it, etc. I'd like to help. I'm not a great designer, but I can always try.
13 Levels
14 bosses
Nearly 4,000 unique room possibilities
Loads of custom items
Over 100,000,000 possible level layouts
Dungeon Runner is a WIP custom map inspired by various procedurally generated games, with a large inspiration being drawn from The Binding of Isaac and the minigame "When in Rogue" which is a premium-only minigame on the Shotbow servers.
The aim is simple: Survive. Each time you start, the map will generate itself, meaning that you will never get the same map twice. As you move through the rooms, you will find new items and power ups, fight enemies with unique abilities and, eventually, fight the boss of the level.
Here is an in-depth description of the various mechanics of the game.
Floor Generation:
Each floor is, as stated earlier, procedurally generated. Each floor is set around a theme, some themes being generic, such as Stronghold and Nether, and some being far more unique, such as The Glitch. There are 255 possible 'base' rooms (normal rooms which are part of the random generation) per floor, which are randomly chosen and then put into place. These base rooms will almost always have monsters in them, but some will also have more useful things as well, such as loot chests or paces to cook food. Each floor has two guaranteed rooms: a trader and a boss room. The trader will trade coins for items and (sometimes) take your items and give you coins in exchange. The boss room is the only way to get to the next level, but you need to go through the boss to get there.
The way that the floors are generated is fairly complicated. A starting room is placed at set co-ordinates (this room is always safe). A direction is randomly chosen (north, south, east or west) and a random room is placed there. There is then a 50% chance* that the starting room will select another direction. If it chooses another direction, a room is placed there and there is a 25%* chance that a third direction is chosen. If a third direction is chosen, then there is a 5% chance that a fourth and final direction is chosen. This process is then repeated for each of the rooms that were placed adjacent to the starting room, and then again with the next rooms, and it continues until the randomizer stops, or the maximum level size is reached. After all of this, the Boss room and Trader are both added in random places adjacent to at least one room.
*these numbers change floor to floor, and reduce as more and more rooms are added to the level.
Traders:
Traders are a special variety of room which you can use to both buy and sell items. Sometimes they will sell armor and weapons, sometimes they will sell power-ups and sometimes they will sell utility items such as single-use spells or food and healing items.They will usually accept coins as payment, but sometimes they will want to permanently lower your health in exchange for far more powerful items. Traders may also sell you perks which will stay with you until you die, such as damage resistance, damage or movement speed upgrades or even the ability to return to full health when you are about to die.
The items the Trader is selling are random each time it generates, as is whether or not it contains a Mythic Forge, which you can use to break your items down into essence, which the Trader is more than happy to buy off you for a reasonable price, however it also has another use. Using the Trader is recommended as you loose all of your coins when you die (unless you are lucky enough to find an ender chest to store your valuables in).
Essence:
Essence is the secondary currency of Dungeon Runner. Essence can be dropped by all mobs, with each mob having a different chance to drop some, or it can be obtained by breaking items down in a Mythic Forge. Bosses are all guaranteed to drop a set amount of essence when they die and, unlike coins, your essence counter is permanent and will continue to increase between games. As mentioned earlier, Traders will give you coins in exchange for essence (which is good if you want the cash), however it has another use. Essence can be used to upgrade yourself in the hub where you spawn after you die. There are all sorts of upgrades you can buy in the hub, including permanent health increases, better starting gear and warp doors which instantly teleport you to a certain level (provided you have been there before).
Starting Item Upgrade System:
When you start your first run, you will start with a weaker-than-average wooden sword and only three hearts. You will not beat the map on this run. You will need to earn essence (which is fairly common on the first level) so that you can upgrade yourself. But this upgrade system is different to some other maps, you don't just buy yourself better items, you can customize your own starting items to make them exactly the way that you want them. Want more damage and don't mind a small swing speed decrease? Get yourself a diamond sword blade. Want much higher swing speed and increased movement speed, but don't care about damage as much? Switch your sword blade for a knife blade. Want more health and damage, but really don't care about movement speed? Get yourself a set of Gladiator armor.
You can pick and choose not only the weapons and armor that you start with, but also the exact stats that these items have. Get to the later upgrade levels, and you can buy yourself magical upgrades which imbue your weapons and armor with special powers. There are even secret upgrades which can only be unlocked by completing each level.
Mobs and Bosses:
This map contains many custom mobs and bosses. Vanilla mobs are used as standard enemies in all levels, however each level also has many custom mobs and bosses, each with unique styles and attacks. I won't spoil too much about the new mobs, but I will say that every mob has a legendary version, a rare and extremely tough version of the mob which is guaranteed to drop items.
The bosses in Dungeon Runner all have unique battles and attacks, ranging from AOE spells to arena battles to just running at you with a stick. Each boss battle will challenge the player significantly, but also reward them once the fight is done with a key to the next level and a chance at many pieces or powerful loot.
Custom Items:
This map contains many custom items, each with their own new custom models and some with special abilities.
The custom items will have varying rarity ranging from Common items which are pretty basic, all the way to Legendary items, the rarest and best pieces of gear a player can get. These legendary items usually have some kind of special ability of some description, setting them well ahead of all other items in the map. But be careful, if you die, you loose all the items you have on you, and need to go back to your starting gear at the beginning of the next run.
Spells and Rituals:
Spells and rituals are customizable things the player can use to give themself an edge over the map. Spells are scrolls which can be purchased from the Trader or found in loot chests within the Dungeon. These spell scrolls can be activated to do all sorts of things, including teleporting the player back to the starting room, giving the player a speed boost, giving the player various buffs, or even instantly killing all the monsters in the room. However, there can only be one kind of spell in the Dungeon at a time. You need to choose which spell you want to have and unlock new ones in the hub.
Rituals are more advanced spells which you can activate in the hub. As you travel through the Dungeon, you will find Ritual Components; items which have been imbued with magical energy which you can use in the hub to do rituals which alter the Dungeon. These rituals are not cheap, however they are certainly powerful. The rituals can give you regeneration or strength for a run, or slow down all the mobs in the dungeon, or make them deal less damage. The only problem is that you can only have one ritual active at a time, and they last for a limited number of runs, so you want to make the most of them once you cast them.
Difficulty:
Just a warning, this map is not made to be easy. You are not supposed to rush through it and beat every level on your second or third try. It would take a very good player to even beat the first level on their first try. This map is meant to be a challenge, something with a large end goal which you slowly work towards, upgrading and preparing yourself as you go. This is the kind of map where you will want to go and boast to other players 'I beat the final level!'
As I mentioned, this map is inspired by The Binding of Isaac, so for anyone who has played that game, think back to when you first started playing the game. That's what this map will be like. Those first small steps into something that will show little mercy, but has a definite ease once you have played for a while.
Multiplayer Support:
I know I will get asked this eventually, so I will cover it here. The map is going to work in multiplayer at the current time, however it may not work perfectly and therefore there will probably be certain things that will be altered for multiplayer. I am considering modifying the map and having a multiplayer 'race' version where two identical dungeons are created, one for each person, and they race to see who can get the farthest, or reach a certain point fastest.
But that is a plan for the distant future. For the time being, this map is being created with single player in mind, and with multiplayer being more of an optional thing. If there is a feature which is added later which is a single player only thing, I'll update this.
Computer Requirements:
A map like this is bound to be a bit intensive, however I am doing my best to have the map built in a way that it will work for just about anyone. I am trying to build the map in sections based on when and where the player will need certain things, and then compress those sections into two chunks around where the player will be when needing the certain contraptions; eg. all of the commands for the rituals are situated almost entirely within the same chunk as the ritual area itself, meaning that even players with their render distance at 2 chunks will be able to use it. I am building this map on a pretty terrible laptop, so I know the struggle of not being able to run certain things, especially large or complex custom maps like this one.
Want to help the project?
As you can probably tell, this is an absolutely huge project for me to take on solo (which is what I am doing currently). If you would like to help this project, I am looking for room designs. As I said before, there are going to be around 4,000 completely unique rooms, based around 13 different themes. I am not very good at building and interior design, so I am open to contributions for room interiors. If you would like to contribute rooms, please feel free to message me and I will give you more information. I am also offering various rewards for the people who contribute rooms; the more rooms you contribute, the better the reward.
Contributor Rewards:
(Each tier of reward also gets the rewards of all previous tiers)
1+ room - Have a sign on the top of all the rooms you designed to credit you for your work and a special thanks on the forum thread
5+ rooms - Have your name in the hub thanking you for your help
10+ rooms - Be listed as a room creator on the forum thread and get closed beta access
25+ rooms - Have your own item in the map (let me know what you want it to look like and what you would like the name to be) and have your head in the hub thanking you for your generous contribution
50+ rooms - Have yourself as a monster in one of the levels
70+ rooms - Have your own set of legendary items (full set armor and weapon)
100+ rooms - have your Twitter/Youtube/MC Forums/Tumblr/whatever account linked in the forum thread and in the map
500+ rooms - Be the boss of level 13
1000+ rooms - You've done so much. Have a game on Steam (to the value of $40 USD) or a new minecraft account
2000+ rooms - Be credited as the Ultimate Grand Builder Extreme
Screenshots (progress so far):
http://imgur.com/vgMH63J&5kb5GmH&1rounZ0&zBr93oE&UBuxV9p
These are a few screenshots I took of the first level. The last image is all of the possible rooms in the first level.
I would love to hear feedback on this idea and I will continue updating this thread as more work is done on the map. If you have any suggestions of anything you think needs changing, adding or clarifying, please let me know, and if you would like to see this map completely finished and released, your support will really help motivate me to keep working on this. I may also start doing a few Youtube videos showing off the map in the near future, so let me know what you would like to see there. Thanks all.
Hello. I literally made this account because of this page. I read tons on the forum but never actually have I wanted to comment.
Is this still in production? It sounds like a fantastic idea and I would like to help out if possible.
Thanks for the support!
This project is still in production and I am working on it pretty much daily. If you want to help in any way, feel free to send me a message and we can se what we can do
I'm curious, how far have you gotten? And what kind of rooms do you want, what sizes, how do you want me to send it, etc. I'd like to help. I'm not a great designer, but I can always try.
One of my favorite gaming genre are rogue likes. Will you edit the rooms to be the same so it won't look like a cluttered mess.