Randomness

[wisper]

If I can throw in a wish..

Imagine if every time you went into that cave or dungeon or forest it was a whole new experience. Not the exact same set of orcs that you fought a thousand times before, but something unpredictable. Maybe ogres moved in while you were away, or maybe the orcs got stronger, or maybe you run into a group of orc clerics or rogues or wolf handlers or even slavers using innocent prisoners as shields. Or maybe there's an evil human bandit organization who's also raiding the cave and wants you out.

And imagine if that cave was a different map every time, so you couldn't count on following your standard path. You don't know when you'll find a safe place to rest or what's around the corner and truly don't know what those foggy unexplored areas of the map have in store.

I don't know how possible any of this is, but that's what I'd like to see in a new game. Not following the same path killing the same monsters the same way you did a hundred times before every time you leave town, but instead make it feel like a living and changing world where you truly have to be prepared for anything.

[Marswipp]

Random maps: No. (This uses too many resources.)
Random encounters: Likely. (Still used lots of resources.)

[Nehetsrev]

There is also a premium module made for NWN that you can buy from the bioware website called Infinite Dungeons. It uses a system that creates random maps and fills them with randomized encounters and even a few puzzles (though once you've solved a puzzle once it's usually easy to remember how you did so the next time you encounter it).

The biggest disappointment I have with Infinite Dungeons is that I feel there is simply way too much loot dropped and there doesn't seem to be a way to reduce that.

Another con is that the 'storyline' is relatively the same, using the same bosses each time you play.

The buyable/hirable creatures/NPC's also tend to die far too easilly in my opinion. Having not been able to keep any alive long enough, I'm not sure whether they are able to level-up along with your character or not either.

The load times when starting up the module can be long, and the first NPC you encounter before you actually enter the dungeons is a bit too long-winded, and becomes annoying after you've had to talk to him more than a few times just to get started.

It also tends to crash out or freeze up a bit more often than I'd like.

One pro that I do like about the Infinite Dungeons module is the ability to somewhat tailor the type of dungeons you'll be facing based upon your character's class. You can choose to play through a dungeon tailored more toward fighters, with mostly lots of tougher monsters, or you can opt for one tailored for rogues with fewer monsters but more secret passages, locked chests/doors and traps.

All in all, I found Infinite Dungeons to be a good concept, with some neat features, but with pretty poor execution. It is good mostly only for the occasional play just to get a change of pace once in a while. Still probably worth the $9.99 I payed for it I guess, but only just barely.