Hello, everyone!
With the dungeons slowly aproaching their re-introduction to the game, guess it's a good time to provide some feedback on the model used in the Java Version, and how it can be better done in Unity Version, to keep up with the high standards the new version is providing us:
Starting with the "classic" underground ones, the key word is balance. In the old game, the main issue with these dungeons is that things were too randomly distributed, and therefore completely unfair for several times. There is a memorable case I witnessed: In my last playthrough of the Java Version, I found one of these dungeons in a cave not far from my starting point, and not very deep in it either. That dungeon was not a big one, just a few rooms and corridors, with few skeletons. And yet... I found almost every rare item of the game in that place! Game-breaking, to say the least. Also, found others much bigger, that were completely devoided of unique loot or something more rewarding.
So, what is proposed to fix this issue is the following: Force dungeons to only appear at a deeper depth, encouraging exploration of caves (the upcoming cave revamp will probably make this less of a burden); Make the dungeon generation more detailed and oriented, such as creating "special loot rooms", distinct from the common loot rooms, where the former are only generated at the deepest rooms of the dungeon, only one per structure, maybe also guarded by a powerful "boss" mob, and will hold the valuable treasures of the game (the unique weapons, clothes, armour, etc...), while the latter will act like the ones we have in Java, appearing in more quantities and anywhere in the dungeon, but now holding only basic items, such as materials and supplies (like POIs usually do). There could also be a restriction to only create the major loot room in bigger dungeons, preventing "easy catches".
The surface temples could also use a revamp: The pyramids were a great addition to the barren deserts of the legacy game. However, after exploring their chambers, we found out they were more pretty than challenging: A short maze, than free valuable loot, and nothing more. No foes, no traps.
With this in mind, it's also suggested to apply to these estructures a tweak similar to the one of the dungeons: Make the treasure chest (or similar) to be protected by a powerful mob, and introduce enemies and traps to the rest of the place, so then there will be a good feeling of challenge and reward when venturing there. If possible, also make the maze to be procedural and random at each pyramid. And of course, what was said here is also valid for every other temple or surface ruin that may be introduced eventually, such as mesoamerican, hindu, ruined bastions, etc...
And naturally, the said master mobs and their "minions" should all be removable in the game world settings, so then the less adventurous players can also enjoy dungeons and temples in their own way.
That's all I had to say on the topic. If you have more ideas on how to make dungeons better in the new Unity Version, feel free to contribute!
And before you ask, the abandoned shacks and underwater ruins are more fit for POIs in the new version, so we should not discuss them here.
