BerserkedFrenzy

Room scaling.

This is a concept that is *not* new to Nightmist, left largely unused except in cases which we can see in the following areas:
- Bone Garden (prime example)
- Mandrake's Coliseum
- Dank Crypt
- Castle Darksparrow
- Abandoned Mines

The last four being less pronounced but encountered one way or the other. In discussing with Nighthawk about the consistency of the maps of the entire game, we both concluded that the overworld map was quite nicely done in that most of the time the areas matched up & did not overlap each other if too much at all. Exceptions are, of course, in cases involving areas that are said to be a dungeon or of similar attribution; for instance, the Spider Nest Tunnels, Gnoll Catacombs, Underground Barracks, Necromancer Tower & the Sewers in its entirety do not quite match up if we were to apply them to the overworld map. That is because they are considered dungeon, so they have a different scaling. It is just as well that we can observe the same to be true for Derelict Mansion. I shall expand upon that, but first let us take a look at some areas of the overworld.

We can see that there are plenty of forests all about & for instance, the Barrier Forest is quite large with parts of it exposed due to the death that is spreading from the Necromancer Tower. Thus, the tower seems quite small on the overworld but when it is entered it would appear to be of a good size if not much larger than the Tower of Crafting which sits in the middle of a supposedly vast field of grass that is the Grassy Meadow. The Tower of Crafting is said to be immense, yet it bears less space than the Necromancer Tower but is it due to the actual presence of accessible, usable rooms with NPCs in them whether they be friendly or monster as opposed to uncreated rooms yet to be? Perhaps, yet as one enters the Tower of Crafting one might hardly realize its size in comparsion to the size of the Necromancer Tower & come to the conclusion that the Necromancer Tower must, indeed, be larger when it probably is not. That is not to say that it is larger. Never mind the secret passages that exist, though these would also give size to the overall size of the area. Now, with these two towers in mind we can observe the Spider Nest Tunnels as existing beneath the locations of Grassy Meadow & Barrier Forest. This would give us a much better idea of how far apart the two towers are since there is a way to access the nest in the Barrier Forest. How far is it, then? Is it then that the Necromancer Tower is even farther now from the Grassy Meadow or close enough? What about the distance between the Tower of Crafting to the entry point in the Grassy Meadow into the spider tunnels? Do they add up? If we were to point this out on the overworld map, it might be a hard fit. More so now we know of other ways to access the spider tunnels & in this respect we might gauge the approximate location of these areas in relation to the overworld map yet must not ignore that these areas also have their connections elsewhere in the overworld map as well - namely the Sewers. How big are the forests now, the Large, Royal, Wattling, etc? How big are the paths between them as well as the cities? How big is the desert, the mountains? After all, we are to understand that we can travel between Arilin & Resthaven via the sewers as well as from Nightmist to Blackthorn, so on. Does it all fit? It would make the distinction between the overworld areas and dungeon areas.

Now, if we were to take a look at the Ercule Swamp & compare it to the Derelict Mansion we might conclude that the swamps seem like a hopscotch in its driveway, like a patch of marshy lawn in the mansion grounds. In other words, it would appear that the mansion is titanic while the swamp is tiny. It would give the impression to the player who has actually gone to the mansion that the hydras are just as big as adult swine & no larger than an ox. Maybe the impression of a big plush dragon doll some kid won in a carnival game. One of the rooms in the mansion is as big as the space which the body & head of the Hydra occupies yet we are given the idea by its description that the body & head of the Hydra are massive & stretches out long, very long. Have we been able to come to understand the appropriate size of the swamp in comparison to the mansion? Hardly. I can hardly imagine that a full grown Hydra would be able to nestle in one of the beds in the mansion unless it was the one in the master bedroom perhaps but that also asks one to beind their brains into impossible shape. One might entertain the idea that a full-grown Hydra would fit the entire master bedroom, if the Hydra is willing to bundle up & remain docilely still as not to break through the floor it would still be a tight fit.

Thus, I arrive finally at the point of writing here: Room scaling. Again, not a new concept but largely left unused except in the cases mentioned above & possibly others that I have forgotten. Just as how experience points "drops" which are larger experience points bonus acquired by a character upon landing the kill shot on a monster, had been disregarded for a long time until recently. Perhaps, it would do well to give regard to room scaling & give more life to the areas that are considered dungeon.

I would not be sure if that the Ercule Swamp is a dungeon by any means, I might consider it an overworld area though there might be a bit of blending together - whether it is a dungeon or an overworld area  is not up to the players but to staff especially the ones who designed the areas as well as who maintain them. But, I am fairly sure that the Derelict Mansion is a dungeon-type area. Exactly what to attribute it with whatever synonym of dungeon matters not, the general concept remains the same. Thus, it follows that it would do well to give scaling to the Derelict Mansion not necessarily in respect to the swamp but rather in respect to the overworld map. To what standard room scaling would follow is also up to staff, though I might entertain the idea that there is necessarily a limit to how many characters can stand within a dense forest or jungle, on a single segment of a mountain path or desert trail, or wherever else which would sensibly allow the player to approximate the size of areas they find their presence in. It could be that the overworld might allow for as many as 100 characters on any given square at any given time, though would a hundred characters be able to fit on a single mountain path, for instance? It might work if they were organized in a formation such as lines of two or three from shoulder to shoulder for the narrow paths to lines of ten from shoulder to shoulder for the more wider, secure paths. What about forests? Jungles? Swamp? Tunnels?

But, in the case of Derelict Mansion, it would easily be as many as two to three characters per square & now we have a more accurate "room scaling". Of course, the numbers I arbitrarily chose to suggest examples & by no means demand that the mansion be scaled in that fashion. It is to help the reader to understand the meaning of "room scaling" & the intended audience are the staff members who give attention to Nightmist namely those who concern themselves with area development & maintenance thereof.

Allow us to expand our imagination a bit further. A party has gathered in Tirantek, with the appropriate key to enter that mansion. The party may be as large as 100 characters. Let us not disregard the possibility that this concept could be applied to the 1-alt server though I imagine that the cases in which the 1-alt server might find themselves with difficulty far less likely than those on the Multi-alt server but it would still give the impression of the size of the dungeon either way & 2 or 3 characters per square in the mansion would work just as well. So, with the supposed 100 character party entering the driveway they might be a band of men & women who are about to raid the mansion. Upon entry to the area, by using up the key, they are now left with the dilemma of challenging the guardians. Perhaps there is just enough room for five, ten characters to move forward to fight the guardians at a time. There is room in the driveway as well as all about the mansion grounds. Upon approaching the doors they retain the same number but until they enter the mansion. Upon entry, we are given a more approximate scale of the area so as a result there might be only two or three allowed in the same space in the foyer at a time & from that point onward in the mansion. They certainly would have the same freedom to explore. What this means is that, also, when they come across important things in the mansion the numbers remain just as small because that is how the mansion might be scaled. So only a few at time might crack open a safe, for example, or even to pass through a door or any other furniture. It would also follow that only two or three at a time would slip through the floor that they should fall through wherever there is a hole instead of a hundred characters at a time. Because, if a hundred characters fell through at the same time, how big of a hole would we now think it was in comparsion to the Ercule Swamp? Titanic. 2 or 3 at a time & it is appropriate in size to allow us to think, oh that was a small hole enough that we missed and slipped through, darn it. One might argue that a hundred characters might lose only two or three to these holes as it is possible to select a single character or few as we can observe with bear traps in the overgrowth. The room scaling would still be way off.

The Bone Garden is an excellent demonstration; the tunnels are limited to five characters at a time. This gave the area a scaling that actually seems much smaller than the Ercule Swamp despite the map size. The map size of Bone Garden is large compared to the swamp, but because of the room scaling we get the impression that the area is much smaller than the swamp albeit with many rooms more than the swamp.

So it is possible to use room scaling, setting character limits per room, to help accentuate the illusion of size in dungeons namely those with tunneled or corridored passages. Notable mentions are those such as Scarlet Daggers Guild, Harabec Dungeon, Spider Nest Tunnel, Sewers, Mausoleum, Icy Caverns, Museum, Temples of Sun & Shadow, Underground Barracks, Gnoll Catacombs, Orc Caves. What this would do is not only to accentuate the size of the dungeon but also to bring out the challenges of the dungeon especially for the Multi-alt server where it is so common to simply bunch up a party of 20 or more characters to be chaffeured to a single point usually a boss to overpower it before logging off effectively ending the run within ten, fifteen minutes no challenge. Maybe the Inquisitor Tower do the same, perhaps the chamber where the Grande Inquisitor is is much larger & allows for as many as 20 or 40 but the trek up would allow only as many as 10 at a time? This way that a single player does not think that they can simply waltz in & take the warrants but multiple players feel more inclined to work together to help make the run happen. Especially so in other dungeon areas. It would mean less that a player might simply whiz past everything but more of a challenge in that they must overcome adversaries in the conditions presented by the designer of the area via strategies rather than sheer number. The point is the challenge that is presented, not simply a game where one just logs on to grind & level up. A game where there is strategy involved as already can be observed in respect to the 1-alt server.

The maximum characters per player for the 1-alt and the Multi-alt server is 1 & 20 respectively; in the case of Multi-alt server 20 characters is not required yet it is hardly true that players would play with less because often they feel like 20 is the most efficient way to do things. So, with the application & implementation of room scaling the strategies would change dramatically & now the prospect of driving around with 20 character would seem a lot less favorable but perhaps to average to about 10 if not less per player though it would not be forbidden to have 20 on at the same time as perhaps one player might participate in a run that has somehow stalled for one reason or another the same player might log on a small party to go out & train for a few minutes while monitoring the progression of their current run or to make a detour or quick errand to meet up with the run for something such as to deliver a key they forgot or something like that.

It is possible that some players might see fit to abuse the game mechanics to overcome other player or players, whatever the circumstances might be. It could be that one player might block the entire dungeon off to the rest of the game & hog it. Of course, nobody can hog an area forever. However, if the same dungeon remains blocked & it appears to be by the same player or players then it would do well for staff to warn them not to do that. Character limitation is not meant to be used as a barricade for warring clans, for instance. It is meant to give size & shape as well as definition to strategy of completing a run of the area. This way, it would make players feel more inclined to work together to make a run happen rather than the one with 20 characters going straight to a thing to slay it. It would be the strategy in accomplishing the run to arrive to the boss with which the same idea of sheerly overpowering the boss might still be present but in much more moderate amounts than an absurd number such as 100 or 200 at a time if it ever does happen.

On the 1-alt server, the biggest run I have ever seen was a party of about 15 characters heading for a boss which I should like to think would qualify as an equivalent to one of the warrant bosses on the Multi-alt server, the 1-alt run was a grand one that the rare number of more than ten came together to accomplish a single task for a few drops so coveted because the runs are seldom done. Then, there are "general" runs where four to six, possibly eight if the occasion ever arises, get together to kill a boss usually those that are self-healing.

So, on the Multi-alt server, a player with 20 character party would easily flatten most everything & the warrant runs are a significant challenge but only significant enough that they are distinguished from the rest of the game which, unfortunately, has become "boring" because hardly anyone thinks of logging on only 10 - there is hardly a reason to log on only 10. So if there is room scaling then there is less inclination for a player to simply log on all 20 or even a party of five players logging on all 100 to, say, run to Demonic General & finish it in two minutes. Besides, how could 100 characters fit through these narrow tunnels? How could 100 characters fit even in the quarter of the General? The same question could be applied elsewhere in the game, wherever applicable.

So, it is not to discriminate against the Multi-alt server seeing as, yes, the idea of room scaling would be applied to both servers & not exclusively the Multi-alt server. Room scaling is *not* a new concept & *has* been used enough times that such concept is fairly well understood. It is simply, largely, left unused. To apply room scaling would finally make dungeons actually seem like a part of the overworld map rather than impossibly huge or dwarf the overworld areas. Room scaling would also encourage players to *pay attention* to where they are going lest they inadverently leave behind members of their party because they ran past a player who had two or three characters less than the maximum allowed. So, it is possible that areas such as those forested or mountainous areas of the overworld map might allow for as many as 20 or 40 whereas an open expanses like Faravar or Jahanna Desert allows 80 or 100 while in dungeons they might be as limited as 2, 3, 5, 10, 15 at a time up until a larger chamber to regroup or rendezvous.

I think that I have discussed adequately the idea of room scaling, so I hope that the staff members may find it intriguing & consider application of such concept to a wide range of areas but of course it is a lot of work to accomplish so I do not expect that it would be done within the year or next. At least, over the time & years as staff find it fit & time to make room scaling a factor in the strategy of runs. I wrote this topic merely to mention it to staff so that hopefully ideas will dawn on them in their development & maintenance of areas. Thank you for reading.