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Tag Archives: Level Design

Garrisons 2.0

Garrisons were originally added to Cogmind in the months after the first Alpha release in 2015 (see an overview here) as an optional location for players to visit, adding a unique extra dimension to the world to answer the question “what if I infiltrate these things where many enemy squads come from?” (More recently here […]

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Maps Between Maps, and DSFs

I’ve described a few times (most recently when introducing Cargo Convoys) how Cogmind’s world is divided into two primary types of maps: main areas and branches. There is technically a third category serving special purposes, one that after many years is once again growing as part of Beta 11. This other category is what I […]

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Spicing Up Primary Maps 2: Area Denial

Our first dose of spice last time leaned heavily on risk-reward potential in the form of dangerous cargo convoys, whereas our second dose here is more about introducing additional challenging situations and increasing overall difficulty–less reward, more risk (although as you’ll see this new feature might also involve rewards for some builds). Introducing the Heavy […]

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Spicing Up Primary Maps 1: Cargo Convoys

One of the core principles of Cogmind’s original level design was to split the world into two types of areas: the main complex vs. branches. I wrote about this concept here on the blog shortly before Cogmind’s first alpha release, but one function of this approach is to provide a tamer more predictable central route […]

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Roguelike Level Design Addendum: Static or Procedural?

Having walked through both static and procedural map design in the previous posts, this is a good opportunity to examine the qualities and value of each. Why use one over the other? Why not use both? Roguelikes tend to be associated with procedurally generated maps, so much so that we see mainstream non-roguelike games having […]

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