View source for Tutorial:Creating Dungeons from Scratch

This article is a manual on how to create a dungeon with its appropriate generation steps from scratch, without using other dungeons as a template.

== Notes About This Guide ==
If details about how to configure particular steps are not included, assume that you are free to customize them based on what options you'd like for your dungeon. The specific steps are what is required as a baseline in order to configure everything with the default settings for PMDO. If you would like to learn more about the options available, please check out the pages on those steps.

'''Format Note:''' Most steps have priorities that they want set typically to certain values. These will be noted beside the step's name like [1], to avoid repetition.

== Dungeon Initialization ==
In PMDO, all dungeons are contained within a '''zone'''. Zones themselves have their own configuration which will not be covered in this tutorial, but more information about them can be found on the [[zone]] page. 

Each zone can contain any number of '''segments'''. Segments are essentially different dungeons, with their own unique floor generation and rules.

To start creating your dungeon, go to '''Segments''' and press '''Add'''.

There's two main parts of the segment editor: '''Floors''' and '''[[Zone Steps]]'''. "Floors" contain generation parameters (or "[[Gen Steps]]") for each individual floor, while "Zone Steps" contain generation parameters for the entire segment. Let's start with configuring the zone steps.

== Zone Steps Overview ==
Zone steps are generation steps that apply to ''all'' floors present inside the segment. This includes certain tasks that are needed to make all floors in the segment function, which we would want in all dungeons. This can also save a lot of time by reducing duplication. For example, the step that is responsible for showing the floor name is usually done as a zone step, as in most cases the name is always shown in the same format. While this could be done with a gen step on each floor, it requires us to remember to include that step on every floor, and if we wanted to change something for all floors, which would require us to edit every floor by hand to make the change. Instead, we can use a single zone step for the entire segment, and it will handle all of that for us.

If you ''would'' like to customize something by floor, you will have to use floor gen steps. Otherwise, it's recommended that you use zone steps where possible.

=== Essential Zone Steps ===
The '''[[Show Floor Name]]''' [-6] zone step is responsible for showing the floor's name when you enter it. You can put the name within the "Name" field, using the placeholder <code>{0}</code> for the floor number.

If you plan on allowing rescues in your dungeon, you must also add the '''[[Handle Rescues]]''' [2.1] step. 

=== Spawn Tables ===
We can add money, item, NPC, and [[effect tile]] spawn tables to zone steps. This is where all of the information about those things will be kept, which the floor steps will later reference.

The names of each spawn table are, respectively, [[Money Spawn Zone Step]] [1], [[Item Spawn Zone Step]] [1.1], [[Team Spawn Zone Step]] [1.2], and [[Tile Spawn Zone Step]] [1.3]. Each will allow you to add individual entries to them, giving them a weight that modifies their percent chance of spawning and a range of floors they can appear on.

'''Sanity Check:''' When editing the Team Spawn Zone Step, make sure you add a team size of at least 1 that covers all floors! If you don't, nothing will be able to spawn.

=== Spawn & Spread ===
{{Main|Using SpreadPlans}}
Spread plans are a kind of zone step that spawns a particular feature at a regular floor interval. This is often used in the demo game to guarantee the player will have certain resources as they progress through a dungeon. For example, in many longer dungeons, a spread plan is used to guarantee that certain essential items like [[Apples]] and [[Leppa Berries]] will spawn every 3-4 floors. This way, even if a player gets unlucky and get no random Apples spawn, they still have enough food to complete the dungeon.

The step responsible for this, [[Spread Step Zone Step]] [6.1], can spread features across the dungeon in general. It can perform almost any floor step spread across the floors based on its [[Spread Plan|spread plan]].

==== Spreading Items ====
If we just want a certain item to appear like in those dungeons, you select the Spawn List for your Spawns. Then, you add the [[Random Spawn Step]], specing the spawn as a Picker Spawner with args <code><List Map Gen Context, Map Item></code> to spawn an item. Then, adding to the '''To Spawn''' list, you select the Present Picker with args <code><Map Item></code> and pick the item you'd like to appear.

Finally, to spread it across floors, in '''Spread Plan''', you select <code>Spread Plan Spaced</code>, giving it the range and spacing you'd like it to have.

==== Other Features ====
We can also allow other features to appear with spread steps. These are a little bit more advanced to configure, but the list of features includes: Monster Houses, Item Houses, Move Tutors, and Mysteriosity. For more information, see [[Spread Step Zone Step]] and [[Spread Houses]].

== Generation Type Dependant Steps ==
There are two primary floor generation methods that see the most use in PMDO: Grid Floor Gen and Room Floor Gen. This article will focus primarily on those methods. The steps required in each method are different - as such, when creating a floor, the first thing you should do is decide what generation method should be utilized by the floor.

'''Grid Floor Gen''' creates a more classic dungeon where rooms are kept in different cells, while '''Room Floor Gen''' instead generates its rooms and hallways from a starting point, disregarding any cell structure.

If you want a floor to be a specific map, '''Load Gen''' will be utilized instead.

Although more uncommon, '''Chance Floor Gen''' and '''Stairs Floor Gen''' are also present.

'''Note:''' Most fields for rooms and halls use the <code>Spawn List<></code> type for their spawn tables.

=== Grid Floor Gen ===
[[Grid Floor Generation]] generates the dungeon using a grid based system, creating cells of a specified size and placing a grid of them with specified dimensions.

==== Initialization ====
Grids are initialized using [[Init Grid Plan Step]] [-5], where the inital dimensions of the grid are set up.

==== Room & Hall Generation ====
Once the grid is initialized, we must generate rooms on the floor with a [[Grid Path Steps|grid path step]] [-4]. This is a family of different generation steps that will put the floor together in different ways. The most common path step is <code>Grid Path Branch</code>, which creates a "standard" dungeon of rooms generating in cells with halls connecting them. It should be noted that which grid path step you select modifies the character of your floor quite a bit, and as such you should consider which one to use carefully.

==== Modifying Rooms After Generation ====
Once everything has been generated, there are a few post generation changes we can force to happen.

[[Connect Grid Branch Step]] [-4.1] will connect adjacent rooms together with halls.

[[Combine Grid Room Step]] [-4.2] based on the parameters you give it will merge cells into one single room. 

[[Set Grid Defaults Step]] [-4.3] transforms a random percentage of the rooms into "dummy" 1x1 hallways. These halls will still be connected to, but will have no rooms, resulting in creating these long hallways.

==== Completing Generation ====
After all of the other generation steps, we finalize the rooms based on all of our generation steps. This is done with the [[Draw Grid To Floor Step]] [-3].

=== Room Floor Gen ===
[[Room Floor Generation]] does not use a cell system, and instead merely generated the dungeon in the space it is given. 

==== Initialization ====
The initial settings of this generation type are initalized using the [[Init Floor Plan Step]] [-3], which sets the dimensions of the floor.

==== Room & Hall Generation ====
Rooms and hallways are defined in the [[Floor Path Branch]] [-2] step. This determines each possible room and hall, and their chance of appearing. 

=== Load Steps ===
Since we're loading a pre-existing map as the floor, there is only one step we need: The [[Mapped Room Step]] [-7]. This loads everything on that map into the floor.

=== Stairs Floor Steps ===
[[Stairs Floor Generation]] is usually not used in PMDO, since it's pretty hard to work with. I won't include much information about it here, since it's usecases are so uncommon.

=== Chance Floor Gen ===
[[Chance Floor Generation]] allows you to select a random, different generation schema that is selected based on a random chance. It can be used to make floors completely vary depending on chance. You simply add different floors and configure them like you would for any other floor.

=== Shared Steps For Grid & Room Gen ===
These steps are required for both Grid and Room gen.

We want to finalize our generated floor plans. We do this using [[Draw Floor To Tile Step]] [-1], which actually draws everything that has been generated to the floor. We also generate unbreakable tiles around the whole floor using [[Unbreakable Border Step]] [0.1]. 

Finally, we should make sure to place the start and end point down, so our player has somewhere to spawn and somewhere to exit. This is done with the [[Floor Stairs Step]] [2].

== General Floor Steps ==
These steps are universal and not exclusive to certain generation types.

=== Essential Steps ===
The [[Map Data Step]] [-6] sets all of the basic data of the floor up. Note that the typical '''Time Limit''' is 15000 for most dungeons.

The [[Mob Spawn Settings Step]] [1.2] sets up basic settings for mob respawns. Note that the separate '''Priority''' field here should be set to 15. Then, you should select <code>Respawn From Eligible Event</code> in the '''Respawn''' field, configuring '''Max Foes''' and '''Respawn Time''' to your liking.

=== Post-Room Terrain Steps===
These steps make additional modifications to the terrain.

[[Perlin Water Step]] [3] will spawn the specified terrain in valid areas (depending on its filters) using perlin noise, spreading it randomly.

Similarly, [[Blob Water Step]] [3] spawns the specified terrain in valid areas, but in the style of blobs.

Since perlin noise can be rather messy sometimes, there are a few steps that are used to clean it up. The [[Drop Diagonal Block Step]] [3.1] and [[Erase Isolated Step]] [3.2] are used to fill in adjacent diagonal tiles and remove isolated ones respectively.

=== Texture Steps ===
There are two different texturing steps that are available.

[[Map Texture Step]] [4] is for maps that only have floor, walls, and one other secondary tile.

[[Map Dict Texture Step]] [4] is for maps that have extra tiles, such as floors that have grass, or floors with lava and water.

=== Spawning Steps ===
Spawning steps may be used in a variety of ways. This section will include the methods that are standard across most dungeons.

Note that, unless specified otherwise, the '''Spawn''' field will be set as <code>Context Spawner<,></code>. Then, you select the amount range of how much will spawn. This allows it to reference the tables we set up in the Zone Steps.

It is also typical to just add <code>RoomFilterConnectivity: Main</code> to the '''Filters''', but this may change depending where you would like things to spawn.

==== Wonder Tiles ====
Wonder tiles are currently spawned in a bit of a unconventional way, as we don't want them to be included within the pool of traps. 

Selecting the [[Spaced Room Spawn Step]] [5], choose the args <code><Map Gen Context, Effect Tile</code>. Then, to spawn them, select the <code>Picker Spawner<,></code>, with the <code>Looped Rand</code> picker and the <code>Spawn List</code> spawner. Add the Wonder Tile to this.

Finally, choose how many wonder tiles you'd like to spawn. In the Amount Spawner, select <code>Rand Range</code> and set the range to what you'd like the range of Wonder Tile amounts to be.

==== Traps ====
Traps are spawned using the [[Random Room Spawn Step]] [5]. Choose the args <code><Map Gen Context, Effect Tile</code>. Set '''Success Percent''' to 100, so that way all the traps specified in the range will spawn.

==== Money ====
Money is typically spawned in dead end rooms, which uses the [[Terminal Spawn Step]] [6]. Set the args to <code><Map Gen Context, Money Spawn></code>.

==== Items ====
Items are set to spawn depending how far they are from the player's position by default. This is done with the [[Due Spawn Step]] (6.1). Set '''Success Percent''' to 25, which is the chance that items will be more likely to spawn depending on the distance from the player.

==== Initial Mob Spawning ====
We want the map to start with some mobs being spawned on it, using the [[Place Random Mobs Step]] [6.2]. Set '''Spawn''' to the <code>Team Context Spawaner</code> to use the tables, and then select the amount of mobs we'd like to spawn. Modify '''Clump Factor''' depending on how much you want mobs to clump - Smaller values means they spread out more evenly, while larger means they clump together more.

=== Other Steps ===
These are steps that are useful to know about for certain tasks, but not necessarily universal.

[[Default Map Status Step]] [-6] sets default weather in the dungeon.

[[Terrain Spawn Step]] [6.1] is often used to spawn items in certain tiles, such as tall grass or walls.

[[Detect Isolated Stairs Step]] [7] is a debug step, but is useful to remember to include as it'll notify you if your stairs ever end up isolated.

[[Category:Dungeon Generation]]