[General] Instanced Dungeon Idea

[Nestharus]

Let's say that you have a map, and on that map are blank squares that are cut off from the rest of the map. Would it no then be viable to place destructables and units into that square as well as modify terrain via cliffs and deformations?

Furthermore, let's say that each square is of a uniform size (all the same). Could placement of these things then not be based upon the origin of that square? (center).

If this idea is applied to maps, then those maps could have a greater amount of dungeons as well as a greater amount of terrain (dungeon size would be equivalent to the JASS script generating it).

So, could have a set of maps with 1 dungeon each (units pre-placed, all code that applies to specific areas of the dungeon (like traps or bosses) relative to dungeon origin (in dungeon map case 0)). The JASS script can be ripped out of the map and modified (pre-placed units) so that each placed unit is relative to the origin and so that it can be instanced. From here, management and editing of dungeons becomes easy, but importing them into a map is still pretty difficult.

Could not a tool be created that parses over a map script, making all coordinates in it relative to an arbitrary origin? Yes : ), which then makes dungeon creation (from management to editing to importing) a breeze while allowing the map to have massive amounts of dungeons in it (hundreds).

The only problem then is the terrain deformations and cliff levels. Perhaps it is possible to parse over the terrain map and then apply deformations and cliff levels as needed =o, but that would be a pretty hardcore tool : (.

So? Maybe this idea can also be applied to SC2 (since it also has a limited map size).

 

[defskull]

Are you trying to create a multiple scene/terrains in the map by using the same base place/point ?

IF I understood you correctly, you can take a look on this map, The Chronovyx Campaign and check it out
Just throwing some opinion, lol.

 

[Dr Super Good]

Nestharus, you can not alter cliff levels ingame via triggers in both SC2 and WC3.

Could not a tool be created that parses over a map script, making all coordinates in it relative to an arbitrary origin? Yes : ), which then makes dungeon creation (from management to editing to importing) a breeze while allowing the map to have massive amounts of dungeons in it (hundreds).

Yes, I even think units and and destructables are saved in separate files (unless trigger referenced) so you can just load those files to get the data.

The only problem then is the terrain deformations and cliff levels. Perhaps it is possible to parse over the terrain map and then apply deformations and cliff levels as needed =o, but that would be a pretty hardcore tool : (.

Like I said, cliffs can not be modified via triggers. You can however emulate them with a sort of cliff destructable (lets call it wall). Terrain height is also no problem as that can be extracted from the mesh file (I am even thinking of a java interface for this as an unrelated project).

There are other problems with this idea.
What if 2 players enter 2 different dungeons? Unless you break the whole thing up into dungeon areas which has already been done years ago and generally mimics old RPGS. Think LoZ a link to the past.
Setting up of a dungeon will consume a lot of computational resources.
Complex trigger systems to drive dungeons could be hard to import as they would have to fuse with the object generation code.

It could however be interesting as you could create different types of room. For example large rooms for center hubs of dungeons. These then lead to different floors (dungeons) which you need to do something in. Dungeons could also be semi randomly generated (using different blocks or with different objectives).

 

[Nestharus]

Well, the idea was a number of spaces for dungeons equal to the possible dungeons that could be started at once in the map (for example, 12 players). Really, these spaces could be used for anything, for example a single room could be loaded into a space and when a player advances to the next room, it either loads in the current space or a new one (depending on what spaces are free and if players are in the current one or not). Room states could also be saved upon leaving them so that they aren't reset if a player were to die and run back.

Furthermore, I don't believe the dungeons would be difficult to import. It's simply a matter of modifying all of the JASS code having anything to do with coordinates to place relative to an origin: the center of the room/dungeon.

 

[Dr Super Good]

Yes and so we bring up an idea that was already considered and done in the past. A room system where everything is stored in vast sets of arrays and function calls.

The idea is that all room generation is a funtion per room which gets passed all generation parameters.
Loaded rooms are cached so if 2 players enter the same room it then moves them to the already loaded room instead of a parallel load.