Mod Idea - Dungeon Blocks categorised and expanded

Talk about the mods you'd like to see in Daggerfall Unity. Give mod creators some ideas!
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Arneb
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Re: Mod Idea - Dungeon Blocks categorised and expanded

Post by Arneb »

Done. And yes, border blocks are...let's say functional. As expected, I played enough Daggerfall to know what was going to be in there. But I learnt that border blocks have rooms and corridors to connect each of the four sides, that I didn't know. Useful info? Hardly, but never say never.

What struck me as singular is the fact that they don't have any kind of decoration: no flat, no furniture.

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BadLuckBurt
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Re: Mod Idea - Dungeon Blocks categorised and expanded

Post by BadLuckBurt »

Arneb wrote: Sat Jun 04, 2022 3:30 pm Done. And yes, border blocks are...let's say functional. As expected, I played enough Daggerfall to know what was going to be in there. But I learnt that border blocks have rooms and corridors to connect each of the four sides, that I didn't know. Useful info? Hardly, but never say never.

What struck me as singular is the fact that they don't have any kind of decoration: no flat, no furniture.
They are as neutral as can be. The four sides thing is so they 'just work' no matter where you put them. In theory you could create a bunch of blocks for each side separately and then have the dungeon generator assign them to the proper slots. Hell, you could make unique ones for each dungeon type etc. It's just a question of how much you value your sanity, the RDB and RMB blocks have so much potential and we have so little time :lol:
DFU on UESP: https://en.uesp.net/w/index.php?title=T ... fall_Unity
DFU Nexus Mods: https://www.nexusmods.com/daggerfallunity
My github repositories with mostly DFU related stuff: https://github.com/BadLuckBurt

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Arneb
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Re: Mod Idea - Dungeon Blocks categorised and expanded

Post by Arneb »

BadLuckBurt wrote: Sat Jun 04, 2022 3:54 pm They are as neutral as can be. The four sides thing is so they 'just work' no matter where you put them. In theory you could create a bunch of blocks for each side separately and then have the dungeon generator assign them to the proper slots. Hell, you could make unique ones for each dungeon type etc. It's just a question of how much you value your sanity, the RDB and RMB blocks have so much potential and we have so little time :lol:
Tell me. I can't quite grasp if it was intentional or it just "happened", but sometimes Daggerfall seems made with the exact purpose of creating a sort of blank slab to build on, rather than a proper game.

Regarding this:
I really think there is more to be gained from creating new blocks from scratch but I am partly biased because I enjoy that part :)
So, can I expect a substantial contribution from you? :D

Jokes apart, since you know much more than I do regarding dungeon generation, can I expect that, in a future mod involving it, integrating new dungeon blocks would be as simple putting a .RDB file in the relevant, dungeon-type directory?

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BadLuckBurt
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Re: Mod Idea - Dungeon Blocks categorised and expanded

Post by BadLuckBurt »

Arneb wrote: Sat Jun 04, 2022 4:40 pm Tell me. I can't quite grasp if it was intentional or it just "happened", but sometimes Daggerfall seems made with the exact purpose of creating a sort of blank slab to build on, rather than a proper game.
Nowadays, Daggerfall would be tagged as Early Access, back then it was just sold as a complete game :D
Arneb wrote: Sat Jun 04, 2022 4:40 pm So, can I expect a substantial contribution from you? :D
At my own pace, sure :) I have a half-finished guide for dungeon block creation where I touch on most of the technical stuff to keep in mind, that should make it easier for anyone to join in. I will finish that up once the PR has been taken care of.
Arneb wrote: Sat Jun 04, 2022 4:40 pm Jokes apart, since you know much more than I do regarding dungeon generation, can I expect that, in a future mod involving it, integrating new dungeon blocks would be as simple putting a .RDB file in the relevant, dungeon-type directory?
That really depends on the generation process being used. In very general terms, as long as the new dungeon block(s) adhere to the rules laid out by the generation process, it 'just works'. You can make the generation itself as complicated as you'd like it to be so that determines how easy it is to plug and play with new blocks.
DFU on UESP: https://en.uesp.net/w/index.php?title=T ... fall_Unity
DFU Nexus Mods: https://www.nexusmods.com/daggerfallunity
My github repositories with mostly DFU related stuff: https://github.com/BadLuckBurt

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Arneb
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Re: Mod Idea - Dungeon Blocks categorised and expanded

Post by Arneb »

I have a half-finished guide for dungeon block creation where I touch on most of the technical stuff to keep in mind, that should make it easier for anyone to join in. I will finish that up once the PR has been taken care of.
Damn, I need that badly. Ok, while waiting for it to be completed I'll keep experimenting with the existing blocks. Maybe something half-good will come out of it, and I'll make experience, if nothing else.

I would have a billion questions regarding dungeon design, but I'm sure I can filter a good number of those out with a bit more of practice. In the meantime, thanks for the suggestions and the support.

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BadLuckBurt
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Re: Mod Idea - Dungeon Blocks categorised and expanded

Post by BadLuckBurt »

Arneb wrote: Sat Jun 04, 2022 5:29 pm Damn, I need that badly. Ok, while waiting for it to be completed I'll keep experimenting with the existing blocks. Maybe something half-good will come out of it, and I'll make experience, if nothing else.

I would have a billion questions regarding dungeon design, but I'm sure I can filter a good number of those out with a bit more of practice. In the meantime, thanks for the suggestions and the support.
Well, I don't mind sharing it in it's current state. It's just missing a lot with the biggest thing being information about the actions since that's ground I haven't really covered myself yet. It'll also have a proper layout once I finish it, this is just my raw Notepad version.

https://pastebin.com/XVMYWQcV

Feel free to pick my brain with your questions though, it might save you some time and headaches.
DFU on UESP: https://en.uesp.net/w/index.php?title=T ... fall_Unity
DFU Nexus Mods: https://www.nexusmods.com/daggerfallunity
My github repositories with mostly DFU related stuff: https://github.com/BadLuckBurt

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Arneb
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Re: Mod Idea - Dungeon Blocks categorised and expanded

Post by Arneb »

First, thank you for your guide, it will really help.

Regarding the questions, remember that you asked for it :D

Ok, let’s start: can you confirm me that those models I see in the editor that are seemingly randomly placed (like half stuck in the wall) appear correctly in game because of that problem with rotation you talk about in your guide?

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BadLuckBurt
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Re: Mod Idea - Dungeon Blocks categorised and expanded

Post by BadLuckBurt »

Arneb wrote: Sat Jun 04, 2022 6:25 pm First, thank you for your guide, it will really help.

Regarding the questions, remember that you asked for it :D

Ok, let’s start: can you confirm me that those models I see in the editor that are seemingly randomly placed (like half stuck in the wall) appear correctly in game because of that problem with rotation you talk about in your guide?
Sharing knowledge is key and I don't mind a challenge of my own knowledge so it goes both ways.

Can you make a screenshot of the issue you're describing? It's kinda hard to judge from the text description, if the model was rotated around two or more axis when you imported it then there's a good possibility you ran into the rotation issue. An example of a block that has this issue would be the King of Worms block where there are several coffins that are screwed when imported into World Data Editor.
DFU on UESP: https://en.uesp.net/w/index.php?title=T ... fall_Unity
DFU Nexus Mods: https://www.nexusmods.com/daggerfallunity
My github repositories with mostly DFU related stuff: https://github.com/BadLuckBurt

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Arneb
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Re: Mod Idea - Dungeon Blocks categorised and expanded

Post by Arneb »

Image

This isn't what I was talking about, but it's very similar.

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Arneb
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Re: Mod Idea - Dungeon Blocks categorised and expanded

Post by Arneb »

Good day sir Burt, another question:
What is the easiest way to test ingame a custom dungeon block?

Edit: one more: what's about RdbObjectList-#? Has some kind of effect gameplay wise?

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