Here's an idea that I've had for a long time that I just want to throw out for discussion:
We could have more than one town. That is, on the world map, there could be distinct, geographically separated towns. For instance, there could be a town north of the current one, on an island or island chain. Maybe to the northeast there could be a town dug into the mountains. Somewhere way out there, a desert town filled with brown dirt tiles and scattered rocks and granite pillars could serve as another alternative to Mangband's normal town.
Obviously, multiple towns would have to be reconciled with the single dungeon in the game, but I have a possible solution: each town has a down staircase leading to the same dungeon, and going up on 50ft places the player in the town they were in last.
To move from town to town, players would have to either walk (or swim) through the wilderness, or there might be some kind of more expedient transportation, like a scroll that teleported players from town to town.
The monster sets in the towns could be different too. For instance, a jungle town deep in a forest might have large numbers of fruit bats that spawn periodically, sweep through town, and disappear into the wilderness. The aforementioned distant desert town could have orcs and low leveled fire monsters in it. Some towns might have a different collection of town-dwellers. For instance, the desert town might have mostly aimless looking merchants, mean looking mercenaries, and battle scarred veterans (along with the occasional hill orc or snaga), to reflect the harsher environment of the desert.
Obviously, some towns would be less welcoming to new players. This could be a good thing, and some towns could have shops that catered to different levels and kinds of player. Maybe there could be a town that had a higher frequency of the "tough" raced shopkeepers (half trolls, etc) and sold large inventories of weapons, but had understocked magic shops. Something like this might be a good chance to bring in kobold shopkeepers: a mountain-built town could have exclusively kobold shopkeepers, for instance.
Although I don't think that this could realistically be implemented without a lot of work, I think it is an interesting idea worthy of some contemplation.
Discuss.
Multiple Towns
Re: Multiple Towns
I believe there are multiple towns (and dungeons) in TOME.net
Re: Multiple Towns
Well, I dont like ToME, so I think this might be a cool change. The only real issue is for the game to remember what town you were in before. I'm not sure if that would break anything.
I think a "teleport tower" or some-such would be a good addition to this. It would be expensive so only lvl 40+s use it without caring. Going to towns with different quantities of shops might be good for certain characters, but you'd be removed from the other players, so player to player trading might be hampered if teleport towers wern't there.
This also might mitigate the housing crunch if these other towns have small houses around them. Perhaps an option to start in different towns would be added with this? That way you can be in a different town at lvl 1, where it will matter most.
I think a "teleport tower" or some-such would be a good addition to this. It would be expensive so only lvl 40+s use it without caring. Going to towns with different quantities of shops might be good for certain characters, but you'd be removed from the other players, so player to player trading might be hampered if teleport towers wern't there.
This also might mitigate the housing crunch if these other towns have small houses around them. Perhaps an option to start in different towns would be added with this? That way you can be in a different town at lvl 1, where it will matter most.
Re: Multiple Towns
Yeah, I just tried ToME. I don't really think it's for me.
Anyway, I think those are really awesome ideas. Different starting towns would be really awesome, maybe with some race/class combinations being unable to start in certain towns. The idea of a teleport tower is perfect, in my opinion. I really love that idea.
Maybe different towns could have unique buildings, like maybe one could have a PvP-arena where players of similar levels and equipment values could fight, or a building where advertisements can be posted.
About that Arena, maybe there could be different types of fight, like one where neither player can gain or lose anything (and the fight is therefore simply for enjoyment), or a mode where the loser loses half of their exp, and the winner gets their equipment. Maybe it could incorporate monster fighting, where players are pitted against monsters in return for paying some sort of fee that increases with the monsters exp value.
Really, though, if there are multiple towns, teleport towers would be a great way of linking them.
Anyway, I think those are really awesome ideas. Different starting towns would be really awesome, maybe with some race/class combinations being unable to start in certain towns. The idea of a teleport tower is perfect, in my opinion. I really love that idea.
Maybe different towns could have unique buildings, like maybe one could have a PvP-arena where players of similar levels and equipment values could fight, or a building where advertisements can be posted.
About that Arena, maybe there could be different types of fight, like one where neither player can gain or lose anything (and the fight is therefore simply for enjoyment), or a mode where the loser loses half of their exp, and the winner gets their equipment. Maybe it could incorporate monster fighting, where players are pitted against monsters in return for paying some sort of fee that increases with the monsters exp value.
Really, though, if there are multiple towns, teleport towers would be a great way of linking them.
Re: Multiple Towns
Woah, might want to put the Arena Suggestion into a different post, since the Teleport tower is connected with the idea of multiple towns, but an Arena could be implemented as it is now.
A PvE arena could be used to powerlevel people. Eg. lvl 1 with a +9+9 longbow vs a F = easy levels. If you could "buy" whatever you wanted to fight, this would make powerleveling really easy. I disagree with that idea, but i've actually been itching for a PvP arena where you wouldn't lose levels from dying. It would like, just teleport you out and your opponent gets some gold from you or something.
Possibly you could make it give a random equipment item to them instead to raise the stakes?
A PvE arena could be used to powerlevel people. Eg. lvl 1 with a +9+9 longbow vs a F = easy levels. If you could "buy" whatever you wanted to fight, this would make powerleveling really easy. I disagree with that idea, but i've actually been itching for a PvP arena where you wouldn't lose levels from dying. It would like, just teleport you out and your opponent gets some gold from you or something.
Possibly you could make it give a random equipment item to them instead to raise the stakes?
Re: Multiple Towns
We can already static build wilderness levels, and if running Ironman, static build dungeon levels (used for towns deeper in the dungeon). It'd be theoretically possible to have both dungeons and towers in the wilderness, but that's not planned any time soon. Perhaps for 2.0? :-)
Mangband Project Team Member
Re: Multiple Towns
i'd be sure to make some sort of pathways in the wilderness, and/or make the areas connecting towns a little less monster-filled.