The mysterious crop-circle looking things in the image below are a new feature we’re experimenting with that generates randomized scenery. Levels that use these won’t be totally randomized as the heightmap terrain currently remains fixed but these “setpieces” can allow us to more significantly randomize the location of important things within the level as well as the general scenery. For example, in the level below, I’m using setpieces to generate natural scenery, enemy spawn locations, human camps, and loot chests. So far, this seems to be a nice blend between hand-crafted and randomized. You get the visual quality and uniqueness of hand-crafted terrain but some of the fun of exploring a level each time and never knowing quite what you might find or where.
We’re also investigating methods of randomizing the path through the level by creating a bunch of different possible routes and then randomly closing some of them off with dynamically generated obstacles.
Awesome. I seriously can not wait to use this editor. I already enjoy the TQ one and this will be so much better! No random crashing, magnet pieces, new lighting and randomization! awesome!
So far, this seems to be a nice blend between hand-crafted and randomized.
I’d have to experience it first hand to say for sure, but I’d be inclined to agree.
Question - are the ‘setpieces’ a group of pre-defined objects or do you plop them on the map and then select them to manually edit what appears inside?
Sounds very interesting and very promising what replayability goes. I hope you manage to get it working as intended. I guess it’s not that easy to implement.
The pathing would be really awesome, but even this is something I didn’t expect. Great news!
Will the set pieces be randomized each time you start a new game, or will they remain the same for the same character? I’m assuming the former, but you never know (Diablo 2 used the latter in single player for some reason).
Here is a peak at the way they are configured in the editor. Basically you created a database file for each setpiece that you want to place and it contains a bunch of fields where you can specify different arrays of objects and then set a chance to spawn, number limit, size variation, rotation, and placement algorithm. Using these we can spawn scenery objects, enemy spawn proxies, loot proxies, merchants, NPCs, etc. So, for example, this human camp can currently spawn a tent or two, a wagon, a cookstand, campfire, various barrels and crates, a merchant, and NPCs. We’re thinking we could possibly use this to spawn randomly appearing quest givers / objectives.
They currently randomize each time you enter the game. I’m not sure if we’ll be using these throughout the game or just in certain randomized “wilderness” regions, which is how we have it set up currently.
I have some ideas as to how we could use this tech along with new randomized portal tech (more about that later) to possibly add a cool new twist to the way that you progress in the game. Still have some thinking to do on that though before I make any decisions.
Absolutely awesome! I think that’s a pretty cool compromise. Having a hand-crafted area with randomized placements is pretty great. Combine that with a possible dungeon randomizer… and you’ve increased the replay-ability tenfold.
Unfortunately when it comes to a dungeon randomizer, you either make your dungeons square and blocky, or round and organic. But because most dungeons are “manmade” one expects the square and blocky model.
Although if you ask me it doesn’t matter either way as long as it follows the theme of the game.
I was kinda hoping they’d be creatable in the editor so its a bit quicker to do on the fly, as you are building the level, but the way you have it set up also seems clearly laid out. It also lets you easily make repeatable variations of camps that you can place over and over.
Hoipefully all this awesome accessibility to modders will help people make new mods which increase the replayability or Grim Dawn. Actually… is the GD toolset going to be available with the alpha?
Just keeps getting better and better, and even harder to wait for!
This made me think of all the talk about random quests in HG:L before it came out. Never really turned out well there, but I have no doubt that if you guys decide to do it, it will actually work! Would certainly help take the edge off things being too repetitive.
Shudder The placement of quest objectives was terrible. They were supposed to be random, but there would inevitably be 3 out 4 whatevers right noext to one another, with the 4th placed in some back corner you never felt like exploring.
I think what Crate is doing will work out very well if they can get it just right. But randomization without everything looking goofy is hard to accomplish. I’m sure they’ll get it just right before release, and this gives me yet another reason to be excited about Grim Dawn.
My team and I are trying something similar with our game. UDK uses fixed spawn points by default. They are easily modified via their associated scripts. We are going to write one for every monster type, and for certain other objects, such as loot chests. We will then place them around the maps in various locations, and give them a chance to spawn their assigned entity. This will give some controlled randomization to our maps, which will be (for the most part) static.
I really like what I’m reading and I hope it will please some of the critics who weren’t happy with the handcrafted, static world.
The way I am reading part of the post, it sounds a little bit like in Diablo where not all of the side quests were available to the player in the one game playthrough. Starting out, Diablo might have the wounded townsman, or the poisoned well, but not necessarily both available.
If I am reading it right*, and a similar potential exists for Grim Dawn, then colour me excited. This can only boost replayability, and make going back through already visited areas a little more rewarding, picking up side quests that may not have been available.
*If I have misinterpreted, I’m blaming beer and beer alone…
I think this solution is the perfect middle ground to go with. If it does retain the handcrafted feel of TQ while being somewhat randomized, it will be a win-win situation.
I’m also all in for quests/event that doesn’t appear at every playthrough. It will give nice replay value in itself as well.
I think you’ve hit a very nice in-between with the partial randomization. Secondly I’m getting all excited to try out the editor once all your ideas are implemented.
To me, it seems that a lot of these ideas can really help breed a large active community due to the large amount of customization most likely becoming available.
My 10 thumbs up for you guys, keep up the good work!
