Well, here are my ideas. Hopefully they're worthy.
1. I only do this idea every so often, but you can try it. I take a screen completely filled with wall, and I draw random rectangular spaces out of it. Spastically. Eventually some sort of pretty shape results, and I smooth it out and fill it with monsters and elements. Silly, I know, but it might help you.
2. There's always the puzzle that involves "
monster cells."
You can have individual monster containers with orbs that open them. This is commonly used, especially in rooms with brains. You need to be careful that this doesn't turn into an orb puzzle.
3. On the same note as the last one, have several unconnected areas in one room. Then, strategically place broken (not secret) walls between the chambers. Make it so that the chambers all have monsters, but so that the contents of one chamber might help in solving the other.
4. Have a mud/tar maze where if a player breaks a broken wall too early, they won't be able to complete the room.
5. Eye puzzles are somewhat interesting, but you can make them really cool by adding another monster to the mix.
6. There are many ways for a player to do something within a room, but a certain order MUST be followed for the player to defeat all of its monsters. This is useful with seeps on broken walls, unpassable eye combinations, and mimic placement.
7. Throw 1000 roaches in a single room and call it a day.
8. It's really hard for me to provide multiple solutions for a player. Most of the time, I want them to do it my way! If that's the case, any alternate solutions must be discarded. You might choose a different tactic: instead of designing a room with only one solution, design it from the beginning to have several. It's really painful to do this, though, because your audience can't fully appreciate your architrectural genius. In this case, you might want to have two rooms that are barely different but radically different in solving.
9. If you have a really really good plot line that's specific to the puzzles, it probably will work out well. Themed levels can work out too, as long as you don't get too specific.
10. Overall, there are two types of holds you can build:
a. Holds that require a mastery of DROD. These holds have rooms where you're trying to hide something from the player.
b. Learning holds. These holds have rooms where you're trying to have the player learn something.
11. Which type of DROD logic are you going to use? There are 4 main types:
a. Hack 'n' Slash. This element is unique to DROD, so don't totally discard it. It involved killing monsters, usually in large quantities. Remember, there is power in the crowd! For most of KDD Level 21, you needed to get your priorities straight. What are you going to kill first: the roach queens or the brains? You should note that holds that only use this aren't particularly memorable.
b. The Correct Order. With this element, there are many ways to solve a room. The player has to figure out the correct order. This is my favorite element. The most masterful use of this element might be in KDD, Level 11,
1W. Orb puzzles would be considered part of this element. DON'T USE TOO MANY ORB PUZZLES! Ahhh. I feel better.
c. Here's the most important element: DROD Theory, like any theory, takes simple concepts and expands them into something masterful. For example, you know that tar is cuttable on its edges. A 2 by 2 section of tar, therefore, would be uncuttable because it has no edges. You also might say that a rattlesnake can only be cut by its tail. Thus, if the tail is unexposed, the rattlesnake cannot killed normally.
d. The fourth and final element is timers. There's not much to say about timers. Timers cause Beethro to have to hurry to do something, either from the start of the room or from a certain player-controlled time (like hitting an orb or stepping on a fuse). Play DROD and you'll come across some good timers. Scripting is barely okay for timers, though, because it doesn't fit into a "
visible concept"
of DROD.
A mix of all of the above is good. Check out the
Entrance room in The Final Confrontation; it's a great example.
12. Finally, be fluent in common forms. For example, an passage of tar with a width of two squares is a common form. Another form can be seen in KDD, Level 1,
1N1W. It involves four yellow doors that form a sort of lift bridge.
As you read though the list, you might think that I'm just typing every random whim that enters my mind. Of course not!
*carpal tunnel*
