Graphical map

[ektemple]

The output of the REMEMBER and TROPHIES commands could be entirely encapsulated in a visual map, e.g.:

This tells us where we've been, which exits we have and haven't explored, who we've seen and where we've seen them, and who we've killed--all at a glance. (Note that the map also shows a player-carved tunnel connecting the Entrance Hall to the auto-generated tunnel that connects the Library with Phantasmagoria.)

This would be relatively easy to implement. The map itself is simple, since Kerkerkruip already generates rooms with XYZ coordinates. The hardest things will be:

1. Multiple levels--need to be sure that different floors are always placed on separated grid zones;
2. Placing tokens for monsters.

...and neither of these are very hard, just a bit fussy.

[VictorGijsbers]

This would be absolutely awesome.

(We need to ensure that the original remember / trophies commands are kept for players using screen readers, by the way. Kerkerkruip seems to be a minor hit among blind players, judging from the number of mentions we have on audiogames,net.)

[ektemple]

I think it might be best to offer two versions for download: graphics and no graphics. (I am trying to implement things so that commenting out a single line in the story file would allow compilation of the latter.) This is because the graphical main menu won't be accessible to screen readers.

[curiousdannii]

No need for multiple releases, I'm sure we can make it all work in the one file.

I have ideas for changing how the dungeon is generated. The size of the dungeon might increase considerably. But don't let this stop you, I think this map idea is great, and my idea might suck!

Don't forget that some rooms are off the grid too.

[ektemple]

I'm not sure that increasing the size of the dungeon is a good idea. It doesn't need more rooms, and it certainly doesn't need more tunnels... It will be interesting to hear what you're planning.

When you say that there are rooms that are off the grid, do you mean that they have no coordinates, or that they are not connected to the main room/tunnel network?

[curiousdannii]

I think both the labyrinth and the plane of smoke have no coordinates.

If you have the ability to sense things, perhaps hidden rooms could be shown in the map too?

[VictorGijsbers]

Some rooms are indeed off the grid in the sense of having no coordinates -- the maze, the elemental plane of smoke -- but they shouldn't be mapped anyway. So this is not a particular problem.

I'm also curious about your idea, Dannii; like Erik, I'm sceptical about the idea of having a larger dungeon, but I'd love to hear what you're thinking of.

[ektemple]

No feedback needed, just posting a design document for the map:

• The isometric grid is composed of diamonds twice as wide as they are high. The grid squares are numbered from the upper left corner, with x and y increasing toward the right and down.
• Each room proper is a 3x3 block of tiles.
• Each room block will need to be surrounded by a 1-tile wide buffer for entrances/exits, giving a 5x5 block.
• However, for the purposes of converting the room grid to the tile grid, a room can be considered to be a 4x4 block of tiles, with the fourth row and fourth column dedicated to the south and east exits/entrances. The entrances on the north and west, if any, will be considered to belong to the room tiles to the north and west. Thus, room grid position (2,3) could be described in two ways, on a tile grid numbered from 1 upwards:
  • the origin tile grid position would be (5,9), or tile x = ( (x - 1) * 4 ) + 1
  • the centroid of the core 3x3 room block would be (7, 11), or tile x = ( (x - 1) * 4 ) + 2
• For speed, rooms may be drawn as units rather than as individual tiles, with only corridors drawn as individual tiles. If so, the screen coordinates of the origin of a room will be the upper left of the 4x4 partial room described above, or potentially the 3x3 block.
• Tunnels are described by the same 3x3 core/5x5 buffer used for rooms. Each tunnel will have a single central tile (this central tile is the minimal graphic definition of a "room"), with an exit/entrance tile in each appropriate cardinal direction. A second exit/entrance tile will also be placed in the buffer band as with all other rooms. Here is an L-shaped tunnel, with entrances to N and E:

  1 2 3 4 5
  1 · · % · ·        # = Tiles that are part of room block
  2 · · # · ·        % = Tiles that are part of room "buffers"
  3 · · # # %
  4 . . . . .
  5 . . . . .
  

• Graphic tiles are "diamond shaped", but graphic files are rectangular and their origin is given from the upper left corner of the image. A tile image need not fit within the diamond-shaped bounds of the tile, but any overflow must be on the right and bottom of the tile, due to the origin. (This could be revisited--images could also be placed based on centroid, though this is more math-intensive. In particular, it might be easiest to show a dual/up down stair as an oversized tile at the room centroid.)
• Tiles will probably measure 28 x 14px.
• The map will not zoom or resize itself. It will always be displayed at the same size, centered at/near the player's location. Buttons for panning will appear if necessary (arrow keys will also work). This will be the only interaction possible--clicking on rooms and text will have no effect.
• Each floor of the dungeon will be drawn on an independently placed x-y grid, with the squares corresponding to its up staircases placed directly below the squares of the down staircases of the floor above visually, that is, according to screen coordinates.
• A (dotted?) line will connect each staircase to the corresponding staircase on the floor above.
• Lower levels will be drawn before higher. Once each level is drawn, lines connecting the staircases will be drawn so that they overlay the lower level and underlie the upper. In Glimmr, ordering might be managed by using separate graphic elements for drawing to each different layer. Higher levels are now drawn before lower.
• Map text will likely be in a bitmap font, for readability at small size and because this would allow for Glimmr to dynamically draw type as needed if rendered type slugs could not be immediately prepared (e.g., when new rooms or monsters are added). However, bitmap fonts don't fit with the rest of the aesthetic, so it may be best to use antialiased type slugs even so.

[ektemple]

Symbols for monsters on map The original mockup of the map (https://dl.dropbox.com/u/947038/Kerkerkruip%20Art/Map_Mockup.png) included a numbered list of enemies that the player had encountered or killed. This would be really fussy to implement. It would be simpler to tie each enemy to a specific symbol. Given Kerkerkruip's roguelike roots, it would be natural for these symbols to be letters. So here's a first pass at symbolism:

s   swarm of daggers
b    blood ape; could show as B when he's large (just kidding, B is for Bodmall)
m    Miranda
a    armadillo
w    wisps of pain

g    chain golem
o    jumping bomb
r    reaper
d    demon of rage
h    hound

S    mindslug
L    giant tentacle
T    minotaur

H    Healer of Aite
D    Defender of Aite
R    Tormentor of Aite
B    Bodmall

M    Malygris

Note that only enemies with a soul (i.e. a level) are planned for inclusion on the map. Level 1 & 2 enemies get lowercase, levels 3 to 5 get capitals.

Any comments, ideas, bones to pick?

[VictorGijsbers]

Why "o" instead of "j" for the jumping bomb?

Since the Reaper is capitalised in the game (right?) it might make more sense if he were "R", though I can also see the logic of having capitals denote more powerful monsters. I don't really have an opinion either way.

If soulless monsters are not mentioned, that means that the map doesn't cover all information of the "remember" command. I'm not sure whether that is a good idea.

[ektemple]

Why "o" instead of "j" for the jumping bomb?

Because o is round like a ball of flesh! Similar considerations led to the tentacle as L and the minotaur as T.

If soulless monsters are not mentioned, that means that the map doesn't cover all information of the "remember" command. I'm not sure whether that is a good idea.

Yeah, I've been wrestling with this one, and you're right. I'm just worried about running out of space on a room tile for all the letters, and I'm also worried about all the letters to choose from. It also muddies up the lowercase-uppercase scheme a bit, but maybe that's no biggie.

By the way, I am still planning a legend as in the original--no one will have to memorize these letters.

Another idea might be to create small icons for each monster, e.g. maximum 8x8 pixels in size. A surprising amount can be done with just 8x8 pixels (see below; note that I'm not thinking of monster tiles like these, more like iconic stand-ins, e.g. a scythe for the reaper). But that would be a lot more work, and possibly pull us too far from the aesthetic of the intro and main menu.

[ektemple]

OK, new plan. Capitalization will not follow a strict level-based scheme, instead level will be more of a rough guideline. The numerical level will be shown next to the monster's name in the legend, so absolutely no information will be lost in doing this.

The levelless enemies will be shown in a different color from the soul-granting enemies, so we can reuse some letters if need be. There may also be some thematic groupings among the levelless that could be distinguished by color, including undead, humans, demons, and cosmic beasts. If I can find five colors, that is!

[level 1]
m   Miranda
s   swarm of daggers
a   ravenous armadillo
w   wisps of pain
A   blood ape

[level 2]
g   chain golem
R   reaper
j   jumping bomb
h   hound
d   demon of rage

[level 3]
S   mindslug
t   minotaur
L   giant tentacle

[level 4]
B   Bodmall
O   overmind
H   healer of Aite
T   tormentor of Aite
D   defender of Aite

[level 5]
M   Malygris

[levelless humans]
f   Fafhrd
r   Mouser

[Cosmic beasts]
N   Nameless Horror

[undead]
c   rotting corpse
n   aswang
p   mummified priest
Y   abyss of the soul

[demons]
o   demonic assassin
k   smoke demon
i   imp
s   demonic mistress

[VictorGijsbers]

Looks good! Let me notice that the abyss of the soul is an undead creature.

[ektemple]

Ah, with a name like Abyss of the Soul I just naturally assumed it had to be a Lovecraftian monster... Fixed above.

[ektemple]

Closed via https://github.com/i7/kerkerkruip/commit/fc71fd89f2adda21aa80ea67ea3817f0d36ab0c7.