Hey guys, I’m currently developing a Dungeon Crawler game but was wondering if I should have dungeon drops scale with the player’s level, or have each dungeon drop at a set level. Basically, should I use a dungeon drop system like in World Zero (where the dungeon drop would be set to the player level so that they can use it right when they get it), or a system like in Dungeon Quest (must be a certain level to equip the item)?
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No one can really answer your question since it mostly depends on what your game is, so I’ll provide a few questions for you:
- How many dungeons do you have?
- Is there separate loot tables for each dungeons?
- Do you want the player to revisit that dungeon later on?
- Most important question: Do the dungeons feature their own unique themes with different loot?
The question I tagged as important determines the answer to your question… I realized that there’s no reason to ask the previous ones.
Yeah, each dungeon would have its own theme and set of loot. Also, I probably wouldn’t want players to revisit old dungeons because there would typically be better loot in the later dungeons. I also plan on having around 3 dungeons on release but eventually having at least more than 9.
Reading your design decisions … there’s no point between selecting from the two, either because you already decided, you are choosing option A because this:
Conversely, there’s an off chance that it doesn’t matter.
Let’s consider your options, you decided:
- A: Level Restriction:
When a loot drops, its power is based on a level, a player cannot utilize it until they meet the minimum level requirement. When entering a dungeon, they use their previous equipment. Sometimes players loot a weapon they cannot equip, so will then either save it until they reach the next level or dungeon.
- B: Scales with Player Level:
When a loot drops, it’s immediately useable by the player. When entering the dungeon they are able to quickly replace their old weapon, it is unknown how fast their previous weapon becomes obsolete.
If you still haven’t decided, here are more questions:
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How frequently do you want your players to change their equipment, does it happen multiple times in the same dungeon? Is old equipment quickly useless? Do you want your player to cycle their old equipment when they enter a new dungeon? Do you want them to do it?
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Are the levels linear? Does the player enter harder dungeons on their own volition? Is there a reason to and what do they gain? Do you want them to do it?
At this point I’ll just keep asking you question because games do it for a reason, and mostly depends on what gameplay you want your players to experience. At this point you might just have to post your entire game design document.
After some thought and looking at your response, I decided to go with the Level Restriction format. Thanks for giving such an insightful answer! 