Today we bring to you a super interesting topic that has been discussed by the entire community on all the different platforms, which is the pacing of ENDLESS™ Dungeon and more specifically the Real-Time Waves.
To talk about the topic we will host Arthur, co-lead game designer on Endless Dungeon, who was also the designer of Dungeon of the Endless back in the day.
He will be the best to explain how this system was on Dungeon of the Endless (DotE), the innovation on Endless Dungeon, the challenges we are facing with the new system, and the improvements the team is making.
Spoiler alert, it is going to be a big but interesting blog.
Hello everyone,
Today I want to discuss a very important topic with you: the iterations regarding the pace of the game and how to trigger the waves.
Dungeon of the Endless (DotE)
In this title, the control of the heroes was indirect (RTS-like) and the time was only progressing when the player opened a door. Because you were able to parallelize the orders, move the camera instantly, build anywhere, etc. The time between the door openings was easy to optimize and not really relevant in the tweaking of the pacing of the game.
We quickly decided to tie the wave triggering to this door opening as it was our time unit. Because we didn’t want to have a wave each time, it was randomized. It created an element of surprise and tension which works with the spirit of the game. However, it also generated back and forth and forced the player to always prepare for a wave (check defenses, replace heroes etc.) which was a bit repetitive. But as it was easy to move and give indirect orders, it didn’t have too much impact on the pacing of the game.
Endless Dungeon: What we tried
During the first years of development, we had kept the same formula as in DotE. But the gameplay of Endless Dungeon is really different: the control of the heroes is now direct: you have to move your heroes to each position, one by one, to build and interact. It takes time, even if we tried to keep it short.
We had trouble finding a pace for the game that combines fun and tactics to keep the player involved and especially avoid monotonous times during exploration and preparation phases. We knew that the main component of the pace is how to trigger the waves and it was not easy to find a solution that:
- Creates surprise and tension
- Avoids tedious back and forth before each door opening to prepare for a possible wave
- Gives clear feedback about what triggers the wave and when
- Triggers enough waves to make the turrets useful
- Discourages the player from staying in the same zone for too long
We tried 2 ways of triggering the waves,
In the beginning, we first tried that waves triggered randomly after a door opening which gives a surprise effect to the player and keeps tension before opening a door (a legacy from DotE), but it has the downside of the “back and forth” before opening the next door, it wasn’t clear to players why the wave triggered and the room was left unexplored as the player was forced to turn back to manage the wave.
In another iteration, we tried a blackout mechanic. This time we saw that waves triggered more often and kept the surprise effect with a more “direct” connection with the lore of the station. Also, it reduced the back and forth from the first attempt. We noticed that it felt a bit weird this event for being the “normal” waves (when perhaps should be more of a “wow” effect). Finally, we observe that, in a way, the waves were too limited, and the rooms weren't unexplored as well.
We were not satisfied with the results of these, so we wondered: what if we have real-time wave spawner?
Endless Dungeon: Real-Time waves
We tried this formula that you may have already tested/seen during the previous Open Devs:
- Waves are regularly triggered after a countdown in seconds (with random interval)
- Opening door reduces this countdown
- Player needs to manage the exploration, preparation and action in parallel
- Some room events become real surprises (e.g. the blackout)
- Player can trigger special waves when ready for a bigger challenge
This system that evolved from all the previous ones allows us to keep the tension, it gives to player better control of the pace and the duration of the zone (level)l), there is always something to do, and the movement/action becomes a choice to the players, which is in line with the tactical part of the game. Also, it increases the importance of tower defense elements as there are more waves and therefore you will need more elements to protect the Crystal Bot and yourself.
Furthermore, it makes some features easier / more intuitive to players.
In the team, when we tested the game with these changes, it really changed the way we played it and we were way more involved and having more fun!
But it also created some disadvantages, and you shared your thoughts about them with us during the Open Dev.
Improvements thanks to your feedback
It was too stressful not to have any idea of when the next wave was going to come before the final countdown, so we added the “danger meter” (image below) that gives you a (general) idea and highlights another change: the impact of opening doors.
Indeed, we have increased the countdown time a lot but made the door opening way more impactful: it allows to create a better link between exploration and the number of waves and gives more time to think about their strategy to the players who want it.
Some events in the rooms can also slow down the countdown to give you time to interact with them.
We also added a “safe state” after completing a wave: as long as you don't open a door, no more waves will occur.
We globally reduced the frequency and the power of the real-time waves: they are here to create tension during exploration and test your defenses, not destroy your base randomly.
All the changes that we made from Dungeon of the Endless had cascading effects on the current gameplay of Endless Dungeon. In game design, we often have to “follow the fun” and find the right formula as we experiment with our game.
We think with real time waves we’ve found the right balance between dynamic pacing and the tactical aspect!
Hope you find it insightful, and it makes you want to give it a try after the changes we made based on the feedback, as we think (I especially like the first one) that it feels much better.
Let us know what you think about it.
Have a nice day ^-^
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