----------------------------------------------- How to make levels for Dungeon Crawl Stone Soup ----------------------------------------------- Part I: INTRODUCTION ============ Contents: A. Introduction B. Sample map C. The .des files D. Kinds of vaults E. Hints for level makers F. Principles of vault making G. How vaults are picked This document explains some basics of vault making. For actual vault work, you will need to look at syntax.txt. However, by simply looking at the example provided here and looking through arrival.des, you should be able to make changes or small vaults on your own. A. Introduction ================= A game like Crawl generally uses random content. This also applies to maps, which are made in various ways, but all with a large random component. However, for several reasons, it is also useful to have handmade maps: they can provide challenges random levels would rarely come up with; they can be especially thematic, for example on branch ends. Simple pre-made pieces of maps are called "vaults", these can provide challenge, loot, flavour or just make the rather big levels of Crawl more interesting. These vaults come in all sizes, from mere 3x3 to level encompassing maps. Section B contains an example vault (not to be used somewhere), giving you an idea of how vaults are defined. Since predefined and fixed content clashes with the philosophy of randomly generated content, vaults can be randomised in many ways. The other way to help lessen the effect of deja vu is by having lots of vaults. Therefore, new vaults are always appreciated. B. Sample Map =============== Before going into the technical details of the level-file syntax, it might be a good idea to look at an example - a branch entry for the Ecumenical Temple - to see what a map definition looks like. # name below: NAME: useless_temple_entry # header section below: TAGS: temple_entry ORIENT: float # "ORIENT: float" tells the level builder that # this entry can be anywhere on the level. MONS: butterfly, plant ITEM: stone q:1 KFEAT: O = enter_temple # actual map below: # The symbols on the map: MAP # x - rock wall xx.d.xx # . - floor x..1..x # @ - entry point ( @d2O2d. # O - stairs to the Temple x..1..x # 1 - first monster from list (here butterfly) xx.d.xx # 2 - second monster from list (here plant) ENDMAP # d - first item from the list (here stones) Every map consists of a name, a header and the actual map (the order is not important as long as the name comes first, but try to stick to this order for consistency). Lines starting with # are comments. The keywords available are explained in detail in the syntax.txt file. C. The .des files =================== All fixed level information resides in various .des files to be found inside folders of the dat/des directory. If you are interested in adding some vaults, say, start with the existing ones and modify them. If you are new to vault making, look at the following files: dat/des/arrival simple.des - particularly simple arrival vaults; they are ordered with learning the map syntax in mind (all games use a premade map like these for the vicinity of the entrance) dat/des/variable float.des - floating vaults large_abstract.des - all regular vaults which have large_themed.des - ORIENT:encompass/northwest etc mini_monsters.des - minivaults with monsters (no ORIENT line at all) mini_features.des - minivaults without monsters (still no ORIENT line) There are also the following other directories: dat/des/branches - contains vaults for specific branches dat/des/portals - contains all maps and lua for portal vaults dat/des/builder - layouts, uniques, etc.; only touch shops.des! If you feel comfortable with vault making in general, you may want to turn to branch ends or even portal vaults. Poke into the relevant files to get an impression, or to find examples of how lua is applied. D. Kinds of Vaults ==================== The different kinds of vaults used by Crawl are described below. Arrival vault: A map designed for D:1, which (usually) contains the primary upstair { and is always tagged "arrival". A player starting a new game will usually land in an entry vault. Branch entry vault, or branch portal vault: A map containing the entry to a branch - either a branch stair (such as the stair to the Orcish Mines), or a branch portal (a portal to Hell, say). Always tagged "_entry". Special level: A map for a location of significance in the game, such as the Ecumenical Temple, or the end of branches such as level 5 of the Snake Pit (Snake:5). Special level maps usually have a PLACE: attribute. Random vaults: Random vaults may be randomly generated at any level in the dungeon. Random vault maps are selected by the dungeon builder based on their DEPTH: attributes. Random minivaults: Random minivaults are small maps that are placed onto a level that the dungeon builder has already constructed fully otherwise (the level may include other vaults). Minivaults are distinguished from normal vaults by the absence of an ORIENT: declaration. Any map without a specified ORIENT: is a minivault. Minivaults are handled like floating vaults (ORIENT: float vaults) in most respects. The differences are: 1. Floating vaults may be placed before the rest of the level layout is generated, and the rest of the level may be built around the floating vault. This is never the case for minivaults. 2. Floating vaults may be placed anywhere in the map, including places completely separated from the rest of the level by rock. The dungeon builder will then connect the exits from the floating vault to the rest of the level, readily producing obvious "passages" from the floating vault to the main body of the level. In contrast, minivaults are placed such that at least one square of the minivault overlaps with an existing part of the level, and are thus more likely to look like part of the level. E. Hints for level makers =========================== Stairs ------ You do not have to place all of the stairs unless the level is full screen, in which case you must place all except the extra stairs (these are glyphs > and < and produce escape hatches). Any of the other stairs which are not present in the vault will be randomly placed outside it. Also generally try to avoid rooms with no exit (you can use > or < to make it possible for players to get away, although there are other, more elaborate options like teleportation traps, etc.). However, unless needed for the purpose, escape hatches are generally not interesting. If you do use them, > is almost always better than <. Entry points ------------ The entry point '@' must be present for all vaults (except for full-screen vaults where it must not, and for floating vaults and minivaults where it is optional). All @ will be connected to floor space in the rest of the map (multiple @ close together may merge into the same exit corridor). Make sure that no part of your entry level can be cut off! If no @ is present in a floating vault (and there are no doors on the edge of the map, see below), the level builder will use one or more random floor spaces '.' or doors at the circumference as exits. Note that it is not possible to predict which spaces the level builder will choose to connect; if you need predictability, use explicit @ exits on the edge. The level-builder will also implicitly treat doors and runed doors on the edge of a map as explicit exits (the same as using @) and connect them to the rest of the level. Not using @ will cause the level builder to pick exits randomly from non-solid squares on the edge of your vault. You should always either have explicit exits or accessible squares; if the vault is completely inaccessible (by exits, non-solid squares that can act as exits, or by stair), it will fail to load - so don't do that. Minivaults vs. random vaults ---------------------------- Minivaults are handled very differently from regular vaults and special levels. They're placed *after* normal map generation, whereas normal vaults are placed before generating the rest of the level. There's no way to guarantee generation of a minivault on a particular level, although using a PLACE: attribute makes the dungeon builder try very hard to place the minivault on the specified level. Regular vaults can always be forced to appear using a PLACE: attribute. Technically, you make a minivault like a normal floating vault but without an ORIENT: line. Note that minivaults used to be exclusively of size 12x12 but this restriction is gone. Still, the smaller the better. Where possible, use minivaults instead of regular vaults, because the dungeon builder has greater freedom with the rest of the level layout when using minivaults. levdes.vim ---------- If you use vim, the levdes.vim syntax highlighting script (provided in the dat directory) can make level-editing far more pleasant by colouring different features in maps and syntax-highlighting .des-file syntax. vim is available for nearly all operating systems, including Windows. F. Principles of vault making =============================== Small is good! -------------- This applies mostly to arrival vaults and minivaults. Especially arrival vaults should be rather small. Their intention is to provide some atmosphere for the starting room, not to get a grip on the whole of D:1. Minivaults should be rather small, as well, in order to increase the chances they may actually be chosen during level generation. Randomise! ---------- The level making syntax is very supportive for making a single map appear in many versions. Use the SHUFFLE:, SUBST:, and NSUBST: directives, and look at the existing arrival vaults. Besides reducing tedium, this avoids giving veterans a spoiled edge. As an example, if a chamber with loot, the staircase to another level, or a good chokepoint to fight in are always put in the same place, it's a no-brainer for those who know. This is much less so if there are several places for such to exist and also if there's even a chance such doesn't exist. If you can't use SHUFFLE and CLEAR to merge map shapes together, you may also rarely use WEIGHT to create modified versions of the same map. In order to do this, make several maps and endow each with a weight such that the sum of weight add up to the default 10. Randomisation does not just apply to layout: you could also have different monster population sets (for example make a larger vault skewed for either melee or ranged opponents), or perhaps couple variable difficulty to variable loot. Not too much loot! ------------------ For example, arrival vaults should in general have very little loot - in particular no good_xxx or '*' items lest they might give incentive for start-scumming. For random minivaults, there needn't be loot at all and, in any case, there shouldn't be too much of it. (A small amount of gold, or a few random floor items, can manage to give off the appearance of some loot without handing out much power - contrast with the branch ends rich in treasure like Vaults:5 and Tomb:3 to get a feeling for this.) It is very easy to fall into the power spiral trap: making newer vaults harder than the old ones, but handing out more loot. Be strong, don't give in to that temptation. Later on in the game (post Lair branches), sheer volume of some item categories (e.g. any weapon, any armour, gold) can provide some of the spectacle of a large reward pile without actually powering up the player too much, though some amount of less specific items should still be capable of providing random genuine loot. Have a theme (or even two!) --------------------------- It is often worthwhile to have a theme in mind before making the actual level. For arrival vaults, something simple like 'forest' or 'fortress' may be a cliché, but also function fine as potentially some of the first forests and fortresses a new player may see in the game. Combinations of themes in particular can help to stand out versus the thousands of vaults already in Crawl and countless other video games. "A forest's overgrown fortress", "a flooded library", "a burned-down prison", so on and so forth can imply a story and history that can sell vaults as more than boxes of monsters and loot. For later and larger maps, try to think of distinguishing features your map may have, or a combination of uncommon terrain tiles and cogent monster sets. Being cool can be good enough, but possessing notable gameplay differences (like threatening multiple resists, directly helping out support monsters, or giving big terrain advantages to monsters instead of players) is also quite valuable. However, while a vault theme can instantly distinguish itself from both other vaults and the branch it's in to invite monsters from other branches, this should be done very sparingly depending on the branch. * Example branches and portals with many different monster themes: Dungeon, Depths, Abyss, Zot, Gauntlet, Necropolis, Wizlabs. * Example branches and portals with very narrow monster themes: Snake Pit, Spider Nest, Pits of Slime, Elven Halls, Ossuaries, Ice Caves. The former is less likely to get nearly as much suspicion than the latter; if every branch contains every monster, then no branch actually stands out on its own original themes and merits. Some connective themes to the monsters already available in the branch may help (e.g. other magical constructs in Elf), but it is better to try and avoid these questions in the first place. If you want for more ideas on monster fronts (beyond comprehensively checking the branch population charts in mon-pick-data.h), newer monsters for a branch tend to far less thoroughly explored than much older monsters - check out the more recent versions in the changelog to see potential better candidates. Testing your maps. ------------------ In wizmode, you can use the following commands: &L "map name" (creates that vault on the current level) &P "map name" (creates a level with that vault guaranteed to be in it) &~ (for jumping to a branch end). &{ (reveals level layout and items) &D (detects all monsters) &B (instantly teleports the player) For both &L and &P, you don't need to specify the full name of the vault, a substring which uniquely determines the vault is enough. Using &L is required for some levels, like Temple maps, but defaulting to &P is usually better for seeing how the vault mixes with the rest of the layout. In some contexts, or to rapidly regenerate levels and see how well the vault connects to the level, it is reasonable to temporarily introduce either WEIGHT: 50000 or PLACE: D:1 which will make your vault appear almost always. Be sure to remove this before submitting the vault. Minivaults can also be tested by adding a PLACE: to the definition, which makes it very likely that the minivault will appear in the chosen level. If the .des file syntax is incorrect, Crawl will tell you on which line of which des file it found the syntax error, making for easier debugging. Be fair! -------- Crawl is hard, but try to balance your monsters. For example, many characters will see branch entrances long before entering those branches, so it's rather awkward to place notable branch threats before the player would normally see them. Orc knights can be found on Orc:1, but orc knights in the entry to the Orcish Mines are notably much stronger than most other Orc entries. Phrased more generally, do not use OOD (out-of-depth) monsters unless you really know what you want. Try to find other vaults placing at the same level range and tune to around their threat levels. This also works in the opposite direction, as Crawl has regularly tried to reduce a fair bit of its previous high levels of weak monsters later in the game - if a monster is something one would expect to fight as an average threat ten or more floors ago, it is likely it is no longer much threatening afterwards for anything beyond flavour. See J. Conditionalising levels in advanced.txt to adjust a vault's contents versus branch and depth if you want the vault to play in multiple floors. Be especially fair when creating arrival vaults, as very few of them manually place monsters these days. If your vault is too hard, it might get just trashed. Keep in mind that your vault will be played very very often, so even small chances of something stupid happening (like creation of a really nasty monster, or a sudden ambush of too many monsters) will kick in often enough. Glass, grates, liquids, console recolouring, names: use sparingly! ------------------------------------------------------------------ It can be very tempting to use features with direct gameplay ramifications to have different gameplay within a vault, but their interruption of regular gameplay can allow a lot of cheesy luring back and forth that exposes oddities within Crawl's pathfinding. Many vaults putting decorative monsters behind glass have been done before, and don't really stand out in-and-of-themselves anymore. Also, sticking something on an island or behind grates that can't attack back can allow a player to tediously take them out slowly for free experience and loot - starting book spells can eventually take down even endgame threats if lucky enough. Console's limitations also strongly discourage changing the colours of most walls or floors. Rock can change between branches and does so regularly, but this makes it important to not miss if a wall is something else like transparent stone or crystal. Floor colours, meanwhile, can overlap with monsters with haloes or umbras. Tiles don't quite have these issues, though tiles used for other types of wall should always stick to their original wall type. A long time ago, Crawl had an extreme number of differently named monsters only used in one vault at a time. They were mostly expunged while we had a far worse means of finding out what a monster does in-game, but a few have held on for mostly legacy preservation purposes. Outside of Wizlabs and Sprint, incredibly few new monsters should threaten the player without being regularly integrated into the rest of Crawl, as it can add a lot of confusion to see hyper-rare monsters used in one-off circumstances and rarely warrants such a particular means of being done. G. How vaults are picked ========================== The dungeon builder selects vaults by: 1. PLACE: Before the dungeon builder starts building a level, it looks for non-minivaults that are marked for the same PLACE: and places them. After building the level, it looks for minivaults that are marked for the same PLACE: and attempts to place them. 2. TAGS: Branch entries, Pandemonium special levels, etc. are placed by looking for vaults with a particular tag, for instance "mnoleg". 3. DEPTH: When building a level, the dungeon builder looks for random vaults that are eligible to be placed in that DEPTH range. If you do not want a vault to be randomly generated, give it the "unrand" tag. This will let the vault still be selected for subvaults and other tag checks. Vaults without a DEPTH: should be eligible to be selected in some other way, either by PLACE: or by tag.