Shadowbane Lore Archives

Collection of Shadowbane Lore includes rare documents

Roleplaying: Random Map Generation

Roleplaying: Random Map Generation

Oiriginal: This is my main concern: How good can a random generated map be? I mean, by having it randomly generated, it removes all the possible historical aspects of the lands, unless someone drastically changes the land manually, in which case, I think it'd be better just to have it made entirely manually. In every RPGs Ive played, the map, its locations were very important and gave alot of deepness to the game. (Im thinking of Chrono trigger right now. It could never have been what it has been if the map was randomly generated) If the map isnt build upon the lore of the land, its history, it removes alot of immersiveness potential. Why are there strange rocks formation here? Are these the remnants of a lost civilisation? NO! It was just randomly generated. The possibilities for roleplaying are endless and with such a good lore, itd be such a waste.

The only game I can think of right now that had randomly generated lands and dungeons is Diablo. (I know its a oneplayer game, but ill just use taht as an example) IMO, diablo is one of the most superficial game ive played. NO HISTORY WHATSOEVER RELATED TO THOSE LANDS. Youll come across a shrine in the middle of nowhere and wonder who could have build that. Any reasons? No, it was randomly generated.

Any thoughts?

By- Keldon

Answer: I have a few responses to this.

First off, I've run around some of our randomly created worlds, and I can tell you that they're really cool.

Also, bear in mind that EVERYTHING in the entire world isn't going to be randomly generated. That'd just be foolish. Once the basic contours of the terrain are laid down, we will go through and add distinct regional variations and adventuring areas. This will give us a lot of control over the final landscape. Those rock formations ARE ancient ruins, and the fact that they're on this fragment instead of that one over there tells me that they're Elvish ruins and not Ardani. Build dungeon accordingly.

Yes, adventuring areas will definitely be tied to the history of the game. Making sure they jive will be one of my primary tasks once the game goes gold. The story board and I will be responsible for looking at every world, deciding whereabouts it originally was on the intact Aerynth, and then assigning GM city names and points of interest to them, conforming to the history of the world as we've established it.

Geography often shapes history, tho here we have both - bear in mind that most of Aerynth's pre-Turning geography was altered beyond easy recognition on the day of the Turning. This makes it easy to keep the two in line.

This is also one of the reasons why, despite many requests, I haven't had a map of pre-Turning Aerynth drawn up. A little vagueness in the backstory allows us to easily fit it to the worlds as they are created.

How far was Kierhaven or the Chaos Gate from Cambruin's capital at Mellissar? Who cares! Once all three places are on different fragments, the question will become moot anyhow.

Finally, bear in mind that Aerynth has had more than 5,000 years of recorded history (and as much stuff as that happened before time ever started). You may run across ancient shrines in the middle of nowhere and wonder who built them. If you quest long enough, you may even find an answer. Many civilizations have come and gone, more than we've even mentioned yet.
We want to evoke the kind of awe you find in Ozymandias (the poem, by Shelley). The weight of history should sometimes weigh on you in the remote spaces. We'll have lots of reminders that the world is an ancient place. Your characters weren't the first to change it.

So please, don't worry. One of our goals is to make the game world as rich as we can, however we lay its foundations.