Dungeon Generators are strange creatures.

I’m discovering, since I haven’t attempted one in several years, that the older a programmer you are and the more strange tools in your belt, the more fun dungeon generators are to write. Back in the day, it seemed like a huge and painful task. Now that modularity is second nature, it’s turning into a joy to write. This is sort of a surprise to me; last time I wrote a Roguelike, the monster system was by far and away the most entertaining, and the level system something of a chore. I kind of wonder whether the new monster system is going to be as much fun.

Anyway, one of the greatest joys of the new way I’m doing things is the distribution method for rooms. It’s a little memory hungry, but on the bright side I can just snap new room types into place, and bang, they’re used appropriately throughout the whole game, according to depth, theme, and several things I’m not yet discussing. I’ve only snapped in a few kinds of room so far, but already I can play around with the probabilities, and I’m getting results I really like. This generator is both much easier to extend and to balance than the old one. It’s going to be quite a bit more entertaining for me, I think.

After that, I think it’s time to put my foot down about how the character system actually works. It’s changed too many times in my head. I need an implementation. I have a really weird idea, though, and if it pans out, you guys are going to give me total horizon stare. (Teh awesumm.)

In the meantime, besides the daily image, I have a neat link which someone handed to me on IRC. It’s weird – half the people who watch it think it’s gross, and the other half think it’s hawt. I find myself in the latter camp.