I’m currently having a bit of a dilemma with how proceed with an important game decision.
Currently the game only has one room and the player leaves and re-enters indefintely, going into the shop to purchase upgrades between each wave. Just enough to have a fully playable, endless gameplay loop.
But now I’m at the point where I should consider adding the “rest” of the game world, and there’s so many ways to proceed that would fit with the roguelike gameplay that I’m not quite sure what I want to do.
I’m considering 3 types of game world/level systems.
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Endless, random rooms.
Let the player choose between a few doors to pick a room type each time the player clears a room, then proceed to the next, etc.
Pros: Endless “exploration” and progress
Cons: Player will probably not feel very connected to the world and the layout -
Metroidvania / Zelda dungeon style
Preset world that that the player can explore with secrets, potentially a map etc, where the player then can choose paths to take to desired destinations, like shops, upgrade areas etc.
They still progress difficulty with each room clear, rooms reset on entry, and the player has to consider if they want to check a new area, go back to a previous store to pick up new items etc.
Pros: Can make the world feel realistic, “making sense”, multiple paths to same goal and connected, give the player the ability to plan ahead and real choices.
Cons: Need to develop lots of invidual, unique and sensible rooms causing long development time, need to spend a lot of time making the world interesting and fun to explore in of itself rather than just a platform for the gameplay. -
Single area/room?
Focus on 1 main area like the game is now, but instead make that area more interesting. Maybe the player can unlock more areas of the room by gaining access to bridges, breaking down walls, etc over time? Maybe placeables like turrets could play a role? (I haven’t played these much, but I believe something like CoD Zombies?)
Pros: Shorter, more focused development time.
Cons: Might get stale very quickly?