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Ah, dungeons. Who doesn't love em? The musty smell of dank stone walls, the dismal dim lighting, the brain-sucking monsters popping out every ten feet to say hello..the concept of a dungeon may well be the centerpiece of any and all RPGs on the planet (After all, it's half of the "D"s in D&D, which is arguably the inspiration for 99% of modern role-playing games in some form or another). Running around fighting evil is all well and good, but every game should remember the "three Ls": location, location, location! A pitched battle against the forces of evil is nowhere near as exciting or intense on some sunny prairie or quiet forest as it is in a ancient temple of a Dark God or the Mad Baron's castle. Dungeons can make or break a game. You can have the best graphics in the world, or the coolest combat system, but put it in a dull, repetitive series of corridors and you might as well have the little square guy from Atari's "Adventure" and his 6-pixel sword. So what makes a good dungeon? Let's go do a little exploring of our own, shall we?
Location!
I've already mentioned this one, but it seems important enough to repeat. Location is king! A great dungeon location should inspire just as much awe, suspense, and excitement as the plotline it revolves around. It should be a towering bastion of evil, a secret temple lost in the ancient cataclysm, a shadowy passageway through the impassable mountain range, or some such. Also, where the dungeon is is vitally important. Placing your Dragon's lair right next to the starting town sure is convenient, but kind of silly sometimes. And making it so far away it takes 20 minutes to reach it (while fighting waves of pathetic random battles along the way) is just irritating. A good dungeon should be just far enough away that there's a sense of journey and adventure involved in getting there; but not so far you wish you had an airship.
What's in a name?
It's not enough to have a dark evil castle or a spooky cave. No, you need the Dark Fortress of Sum'evolguy or the Forbidden Cave of Horribly Deadly Disaster. The name of the dungeon is vital, as it not only clues the player in to the type of atmosphere, but it makes the place memorable. Even those who dislike Final Fantasy VIII propbably couldn't forget a place with a name like Lunatic Pandora, after all.
Rooms with a view
Graphics are important. You can talk all you want about gameplay or storytelling and I'd probably agree with you in spirit, but it still has to look nice. A mysterious high-tech relic from a forgotten people should be full of odd glowing lines or weird gizmos. A vampire's mansion should be dark and creepy with cobwebs, huge suits of armor, shifty-eyed paintings, and other fun stuff. Ambiance is vital for any dungeon, to set the mood and give the player something new and exciting to gape over at every turn.
This is the song that never ends...
Music is probably one of the things that gets neglected most in dungeon design, and it's a pity. Developers often spend fortunes on fantastic opening and ending themes, battle music, etc...but forget that trekking through long dusty tunnels for hours requires a little good traveling music. And length of the song is important, too. In some games a dungeon can be quite long and you might spend a great deal of time hacking your way through. A song that repeats every 50-60 seconds will probably get on anyone's nerves in no time.
Everlasting Gobstobber
Much like a jawbreaker, a dungeon that goes on too long can be a real teeth-grinder. If there's nothing I hate more, it's winding through the exact same corridor for hours and getting nowhere. First off, length is a big deal. Obviously you don't want it to be two tiny rooms, but miles of winding passages is too much! And once again graphics come into play. A nice overall design is good, but a really well-made dungeon breaks up the monotony by changing the shape and design of the rooms, adding little touches like decorations, windows, rooms full of dancing zombies doing the Macarena, whatever.
So that's what I think makes a good dungeon. I've seen so many games ruined by having terrific systems otherwise, great plots, beautiful stunning graphics..and here I am plodding down some long stupid tunnel that looks like the last 5 long stupid tunnels listening to the same stupid twanging dungeon song and wishing it would just end Dungeons shouldn't be that way. They should be a place you want to explore, to feel a sense of adventure suspense. Hopefully a few developers I known will keep that in mind next time they make an RPG.
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