A lot of time passed since the last update, so we have a lot of news to share. So much has happened to both the game and our team.
One of the most intriguing internal change is related to two new programmers. Their huge experience will help us in further development and has significantly speed up our work with UnDungeon.
One of the most interesting updates we’d like to share with you today is the global map of the game world. Since the world of UnDungeon was distorted by the Shift and combines 7 parallel dimensions, the map is divided into 7 sector types, each of which is related to an appropriate world, has a unique geography, and offers a set of special places and events. When you start the game, the map is divided into a plethora of small sectors, each of which may belong to one of the seven worlds involved in the Shift.
Below you can see a final version of world map layout:
The aforementioned approach lets us convey the impression caused by a chaotic nature of the world disfigured by the Shift.
When the process of dividing the surface into sectors and the formation of their geography is completed, the algorithm processes the map once again to create a network of game levels. The network looks lake a graph tree with vertices that play a role of game locations and edges that are available routes. Depending on a sector where a level was generated, it gets an appropriate inhabitants and appearance.
The Herald is free to decide how to get from one location to another, but due to strict limitation in resources and time, each new attempt to complete the game becomes not only unique but also memorable. It is impossible to visit all local attractions within a single passage; furthermore, there are so many objects available in the game that locating them on a map simultaneously is out of the question.
The aforementioned approach lets us convey the impression caused by a chaotic nature of the world disfigured by the Shift.
Below you can see an original version of world map layout:
On a first GIF you can see that each location is highlighted with different colours depending on a world it belongs to. Our goal was to create a minimalist map that does not clutter up the screen, but at the same time stays informative. After trying several different variations, we decided not to cover the whole sectors with a single color and came to the current decision.
Although the upgrades system has been already mentioned in previous updates; today, we’d like to share another example that illustrates it. Below, you can see how one of the characters, Dharma, transforms after getting just a single upgrade (there are dozens more available):
With 4 new limbs, Dharma gets an essential boost when it comes to battles. Each new arm can attack independently, so the potential of the character is increased in several times:
