I'm way late to this thread (thank you summer, my favorite time of year, for getting me outside camping), but I wanted to chime in on the OP's question.
I tend to be a very visual person, so for me, the most memorable dungeons were always visually unique/breathtaking. In addition, the layouts were always really interesting and fun.
I'll reference a few things that stick in my head to this day, remembering that everything is relative. What looked awesome 20 years ago looks pretty primitive today.
The dungeon that sticks out most in my brain is Cazic Thule, from the original Everquest game. It was an outdoor "dungeon" set on a series of temple ruins (think Mayan) that were overrun with lizardfolk. At the time, the design was pretty cool (Google a screenshot, however, and you are likely to be less than impressed by today's standards).
What I loved about that dungeon was several things. First, it was visually unique, and the layout was pretty cool (there was a small maze, but you didn't have to go there). But more than that, what got me hooked on it was that, at the time EQ was released, Cazic Thule was the hardest dungeon in the game for characters level 20-35. I mean... it had a reputation as a place that ate avatars. People were afraid to go there.
That intrigued me. That fear factor. And the very first time I zoned into that dungeon, I must have witnessed 20+ corpses laying on the ground. It was a deathtrap. Wasn't long until someone trained a mess of mobs to the zone.
I was determined, however, to own that place. I made friends there with the few brave souls my level who were also determined to own it. We logged in each day, went to CT and learned it. We learned that zone like the back of our hands. Every nook and cranny. I played a Shadowknight, and I learned how to pull a non-stop stream of mobs to my group. We were a well-oiled machine. We mowed through XP. My guildmates were in awe of how fast we leveled up there... And they were too scared to come join us.
Those weeks I played in Cazic Thule were what hooked me on EQ for five years. I was sold. And that dungeon, scary as it was, was something to be feared and respected. And we owned it. I loved that about it. It holds memories for me, and that's the mark of a great dungeon experience, I think. Doesn't matter if it's single player game or a MMO, if the dungeon has some element that causes you to build a lasting memory, then it's done it's job. Cazic Thule had an aura of fear and danger surrounding it, and for good reason, and when we learned how to tame that zone, it built a lasting memory.
Other dungeons I've enjoyed:
1) Solusek in Everquest 2. It was gigantic, had translucent walkways, and lots of lava. I love lava! It wasn't scary or hard, but visually it was breathtaking to me... I didn't get to spend nearly as much time exploring that dungeon as I wanted to.
2) Black Dragon dungeon in Baldur's Gate 2. This is the dungeon with the vampires and efreeti. A lot of the dungeons in BG2 were memorable as far as look and feel. That dungeon was just "interesting" to delve into. And then there's the great dragon battle at the end. I enjoyed that very much.
3) The Icy Dig in Everquest 2. This was one of my most favorite dungeons because it was a special encounter setup by the developers. I wrote a
lengthy walkthrough for it when I was submitting material for the Vault back in the day (yes, my avatar was a female... lessons learned). What I loved about this dugeon was that so few people knew about it, and there was a story and quest associated with it, so me and my fellow group members were some of the first people to ever venture into it, and we had to learn the whole thing by ourselves. Each time we'd log in and attempt to go further than the last time, learning new areas and how to defeat the monsters. There were a lot of named monsters and some scripted events that made it very cool. It was also the perfect level of challening for a group... We got our butts kicked at times, but we learned, and eventually we defeated the place.
Anyway... those are just some. On a more technical note: stuff I like and dislike about dungeon designs:
I really abhor mazes. Do I need to say why? They just suck. I try and avoid them.
I like lighting. I want the player to see the dungeon design. To me, part of the design fo the dungeon should focused on making it visually appealing or stunning. There are things you can do, even with NWN2 standard toolset tiles, to make a dungeon a bit more visually appealing. And with that, I want the player to see what's going on. I'd rather have lights and point lights and lots of use of color to build a "mood" or "aura" than just make it dark.
I hate traps. They annoy me. I don't understand dungeons where some evil overload is camped out having loads of traps all over the place. How is that practical for the minions living there? It seems, from a logical point of view, to be incredibly impractical to me. I've set about using a different strategy in my game: wandering monsters, guards, etc. Traps, to me, are for things that shouldn't be messed with (like the evil Overlord's private chest). But random floor traps... drive me insane. I'm just not a fan.
I'm not a big fan of puzzles either, unless they serve a story purpose (Durlag's Tower is one instance I can think of where the story facilitates the sheer amount of traps and puzzles that are installed). Puzzles for the sake of puzzles strikes me as something that gets put into a dungeon because a developer has ADHD. Listen - if I wanted to play puzzles I'd break out my smart phone.
What I do like in a dungeon is difficult encounters... Anything that tactically is challenging. I expect a dungeon to be full of monsters, minions, treasure, etc.
The biggest thing, to me, about a dungeon encounter, is atmosphere. A dungeon should set a certain kind of mood and exist for a certain kind of purpose in the story. A crypt that was overtaken by a necromancer... a catacomb that has been claimed by a dragon as a new lair... something like that. Story, purpose, astmosphere. The rest is details. Implementation details.
Modifié par ColorsFade, 23 août 2013 - 02:10 .
Retour en haut
