Microdungeons

Today we are microdungeoning - Addng a few little POIs that might be sidequest or just places to discover. 

The main learning here is how fast I can whip these up now - I have some of my own "map templates" like "Cave" etc so that helps.

Things I liked/figured out doing this map:

1. Trying to make maps less "boxy"- Without getting into parallax stuff.  Although it's just a bunch of jaggy triangles and rounded shapes, I feel like the wall decorations help make things feel more interesting.
2. Floor damage- I hadn't used floor spikes in a bit so thought I'd mix some in.
3. Secret Path- Oh no, I'm spoiling a secret. Well, this path is cool, because it should SPARKLE if you have certain "Detection" buffs active, but even without detection there's a couple hints (the rock markers). The player can walk thru the wall as a secret path. 
4. Environmental storytelling- This isn't going to be some major part of the story, so I had fun using the decorative tiles (Bones, blood, etc) to try and let the player know what they're walking into. I think it turned out OK!
5. One symbol encounter, rest random- In contrast to the last post about the bandit camp, This time it's almost all random encounters here, except the miniboss at the end. Variety, yeah?

And y'know, Minibosses. He'll be a bit tough, do some things, drop some things.  Maybe even some unique things.

I do rather like making weird items that make you go "Hmm". 

That's it for this dlog, Hope you've enjoyed the discussion on the design decisions.