Ok, so to get this out of the way and explain what each dungeon is supposed to be like, here's a blog on each dungeon's design! Perhaps this will help me out with figuring out what to do with various dungeons, or maybe ya'll can give me ideas! In any case, here's some groundwork rules that I kinda set for myself:
1) Generally try to avoid having dungeons span for more than 10 maps. Obviously, some dungeons are going to bypass this limit due to how they are (Hollowed Caverns hits around 20-30 some odd rooms, while Cave to Pandaemonium has 100 rooms, but all are tiny rooms). This is due in-part to A) Wanting the areas to be explorable, moreso than in some other games, and B) Encounter rate being set to 80 (meaning 1 in 80 chance of an encounter each step).
2) Maps tend to be less than 100x100. That's a general rule of thumb. Some dungeons DO exceed this though, but are generally 1-2 screens long and that's it for the dungeon. Various items and abilities (and a couple characters as well) help alleviate the tediousness of some of the dungeons.
3) After completing a dungeon, oftentimes an option to let the player skip past the dungeon entirely will be open. Not always will this be the case however!
4) Each dungeon tends to have 1 Notorious Monster (that being that one monster that'll wreck face if the player is not prepared).
With that out of the way, time to go over each of the dungeons/locations, in order of when you can visit them!
Beta1:Non-Dungeons
Hakurei Shrine: No dungeon gimmicks here, as it's the starting point of the game, and thus can be conceived as a "base" of sorts. I may do something to make it more of a homebase or the like. Not sure what though...does need to be sized down both on the outside and inside I feel. Moreso on the inside than outside.
Human Village: Split into two segments: North and South. North is more of the living center, with the School being there, while the South is more of the business center, with a couple homes there. Both sides need revamped significantly, and I may just relegate all homes in the south to the north. Not sure what all "shops" should be in the south, as after a certain point in the game, both villages are destroyed.
Kourindou: Only one or two boss fights ever happen here, but it's otherwise just a location. Needs revamped badly though...it looks terrible, is too big, and doesn't feel like Kourindou at all.
Marisa's House: Only one boss fight ever happens here, and thus nothing else. Would LIKE to do more with this area, but don't know what. Needs revamped badly I think...
Alice's House: One of the last few maps made before I got back into the game. Site of some sidequests that'll come later, but not sure what yet.
Myouren Temple: Some fights happen here only in the intro thus far. Otherwise, just another location. Needs to be sized down tremendously though, especially on the inside.
Sunflower Field: SUPPOSEDLY, but it's kinda destroyed and you only visit it once to fight Yuuka. So nothing needs to really be done here.
Mayohiga: Two boss fights happen here in the story, but other than that there's nothing else to this place. Supposed to be a deserted town really, but not run-down. Needs to be revamped badly but not sure HOW to go about doing so without making it too huge...
Dungeons
Misty Lake: Fully revamped. It's still a basic tutorial dungeon, introducing some aspects of the battle system as well as some of the dungeon gimmicks that'll appear later on. Most of it is paying attention to the surrounding area for suspicious things, which leads to either finding items or progressing in the dungeon (moving towards rocks will allow the player to jump across the rocks, looking for breaks in the lake edge to walk across the water, etc.). Nothing hard and is relatively short. Misty Lake is the first to feature two separate paths: Easy and Hard. Easy having easier enemies but is relatively longer, while Hard is generally shorter but has stronger enemies and sometimes better rewards.
Scarlet Devil Mansion: Currently being revamped at the moment. The mansion consists of the first floor, second floor, roof, library, and basement. During the first visit, there are no enemies, but from the second visit onwards, once the player has access to the library and basement, they can fight random encounters. Second visit also features the first touch encounters of the game, found only in the first and second floors of the mansion. After the second visit is completed, these encounters will disappear from the mansion.
The mansion layout is relatively smaller compared to before, but many more rooms have been added for flavor and exploration. In addition, the library will be still be a maze, but not sure if there'll be any other gimmicks. I have to make sure that the player doesn't accidentally walk off the top of bookshelves to other areas, meaning I may have to pull a Change Tileset like I do with bridges and the like. The basement...I'm not sure on what to do yet. It may still be an underground maze as well, but more dark-oriented. I don't know, any suggestions?
Forest of Magic: Technically the second dungeon of the game. It's still relatively basic and even shorter than Misty Lake, even moreso on the Hard Path. It introduces status effects with the various enemies. Slightly revamped from the original.
Bamboo Forest: Completely revamped from the original, losing the Hard Path (for now), as well as the sign puzzles, instant death pitfalls, and forest maze. Instead, it is two screens long and features a mini-maze in the first area, and a pitfall area where falling into the pits doesn't instantly game over you, and instead sends you back to the first area through a pit with a Tewi? enemy inside it.
Eientei: Needs revamped from scratch. I've no idea how to make this work, and I'd rather avoid the door maze, but it needs to not be the way it is right now. The first visit has 10 rooms, but they're all terribly done. However, I WANT to keep the escape sequence in, so it needs to be decently long for the dungeon for the escape sequence to matter, and the Tewi Boo Carousel room must stay as well.
For those curious, the following gimmicks are in this dungeon:
Room #1: 20 doors, all Trap Doors. Behind some doors are treasures, but entering a door and leaving will reset all Trap Doors. The real path forward is through a hidden path right by the entrance.
Room #2: Tewi Boo Carousel.
Room #3: 8 doors, 4 are Trap Doors and entering them will spit the player out into earlier parts of the dungeon. The other 4 are illusion doors, where the player must find the one thing that's "off" about certain scenarios, or navigate a forest maze. Nothing spectacular at all.
Room #4: Quiz hallway. First chest requires the player to answer 5 questions in a row, second requires 12 in a row. Last chest requires the player to give it a 1-Up to continue.
Room #5: Battle Gauntlet. Two/three chests with enemies. Nothing special as they're enemies from Bamboo Forest.
Room #6: Nothing! Break hallway essentially with a save point and teleporter.
Room #7: Infinite hallway. Wraps around horizontally and has a bunch of doors, all which spit the player out in earlier parts of the dungeon. Way forward is back the way the player entered.
Room #8: Two parts. First part is just a hallway maze, requiring the player to find the correct hallway to progress forward. Second part has instant death pitfalls (player can tell they're near one by the ground shaking when they step on a tile close to one). The MAIN gimmick, however, is the player has to find and bring an armed bomb to the exit within 2 minutes or else they instantly game over. Terribly executed all around.
Room #9: Mini-boss and save point/teleporter.
Room #10: Boss room.
Beta2:
Underschool: Revamped quite a bit, including treasures hidden by pathways and the first introduction of walking over lava (no random encounters happen in lava however). The dungeon has been sized down considerably in some areas as well. Enemies are quite dangerous however, in particular the Toxic Flowers due in-part to the Bio spells. May have to readjust the damage on those later...
Youkai Mountain: The main portion of beta2. Not sure if it really needs revamped TOO badly, but it could do with a slight makeover perhaps? There's no real gimmick to the area. It's just a long-winded path that just takes time to get through. Enemies aren't nothing special in any of the areas. First introduces split parties however!
Winter Forest: A straightforward dungeon with no real gimmicks. The vast majority of enemies are Ice-elemental and use Ice-elemental attacks however, so the player can plan around this a bit. Not too terribly long either. Already fully revamped.
Hakugyokurou: The main dungeon itself is in the second screen on the stairs, which is a massive 30x300 map with touch encounters. The gimmick here? The player cannot run from any fights they get into, and all enemies are Ghost-type enemies, meaning most physical attacks are useless against them. However, the player gets to use Youmu here who's strong against Ghosts, and Reimu (with Youkai Buster) and Sanae (with Falling Stars) can also easily defeat enemies in this area. In the actual Hakugyokurou, which needs a slight revamp on the inside, it's generally small (except for the Yojana Garden to a degree, which has hidden items). Nothing too special happens in the main area aside from a few storyline fights however. Yojana Garden is the only place revamped.
Eientei: Also needs revamped on the second visit. The player cannot return to the first visit locations as the way is sealed, but can now grab any treasures behind the doors in the first areas since Trap Doors are gone. Main bulk of second visit is just a door maze...nothing exciting, but several touch encounters in various rooms that drop rare and powerful items and equipment. Needs revamped.
Beta3:
Road of Reconsideration/Higan: Only the first visit is required to complete the dungeon, as any return trips will allow you to completely skip the main dungeon. Main bulk of the dungeon is 2 large screens, but nothing special about the dungeon itself. The enemies however are mirror images of the player's playable characters, with level 5 versions of several of the character's skills and oftentimes dropping a character-specific crafting item (as well as carrying a level 3 scroll to steal most of the time, with the exception of a couple characters carrying very rare scrolls). After the 2 screens, the screens are super tiny, and has 2 bosses as well as a shop area (mostly to buff up Komachi as she's required for a boss). Court of Hell has no special gimmicks, but is the site of where the player can obtain Advent Cirno (requires them to use Cirno solo). Road of Reconsideration has already been revamped.
Remains of Hell: One of few dungeons that doesn't allow the player to warp throughout it, and thus is a slogfest. First visit forces the player to use a party of Reimu/Marisa/Momiji, and the dungeon is fairly long with some decently strong enemies. Also features walking on lava and the first to introduce passing under bridges. Has a gimmick of finding a fake wall in order to progress forward in the dungeon. After the Remains of Hell, the player will enter the Ancient City (which needs revamped) where the player can find a shop and some items. Next area is the Palace of Earth Spirits (needs sized down and revamped slightly), where the player must find their way to Satori (no actual gimmick to the dungeon, but a lot of paths to go down and several dead-ends). Several visits require the player to come to the Palace of Earth Spirits, but only the first visit doesn't warp the player back outside.
Second visit will unlock the Blazing Fires of Hell, which is relatively short and nothing spectacular. Needs revamped kinda.
Bamboo Forest Clearing: Only one screen, which is where Mokou is fought. Doesn't need revamped at all.
Poltergeist Mansion: Main gimmick is to find 4 books to get a key in a hidden basement. Mansion is home to several powerful enemies, all of various statuses. After defeating the Poltergeist Sisters, player is forced with a specific party of their choosing and are thus locked inside the mansion. Heading into the second area (needs revamped), the player will navigate a straightforward area but be forced into an enemy gauntlet. After defeating a couple bosses, player is forced with a specific party for the final boss of beta3. Main part of the mansion is already revamped.
Beta4:Misty Lake: Exactly the same as first visit, only with fog and stronger enemies.
Scarlet Devil Mansion: Same as all other visits, except stronger enemies in library and basement.
Remains of Hell: Player is forced to use Marisa/Momiji/Yuugi for a while, then Yuugi is replaced with Koishi, and finally Utsuho joins. Second half requires the player to find 4 hidden switches to progress forward into the dungeon. Map isn't terribly large, but features bats that will drain the player's HP upon contact and CAN fatally kill characters. This area has already been revamped.
Youkai Mountain: First part is forced party of Sanae/Hina/Minoriko/Shizuha and is pretty close to a reenactment of the first time Sanae's party was used. Afterwards, player must go to the Kappa Caves which is a straightforward dungeon. Afterwards, player is locked into Bhava-Agra and must defeat the bosses there to progress in the game.
Dream World: Player is forced to use only Yuuka. Relatively long scenario, but forces the player to decide whether to fight or run, and what to use with Yuuka in general. Features several 1v1 boss fights that need revamped.
Scarlet Devil Mansion Dimensional Rift: Forced party of Remilia and Koakuma. Simply a teleporter maze, but a very short one. Feel like I could do more with this but not sure.
Icicle Caverns: Forced party of Iku and Letty. VERY straightforward dungeon and boring. Main gimmick is all previous Notorious Monsters can be fought here.
Insect Forest: Main party is Mystia and Wriggle, later joined by Chen and Tewi. Decently long scenario, but easy enemies and no dungeon gimmicks. Meant as a way to gather items and yen without overleveling the main playable characters.
Eastern Forest: Straightforward dungeon. Needs revamped badly, though will take some time as mapping forests is a pain in the butt. Not sure if it should have any dungeon gimmicks. Enemy encounters are of various elemental fairies, meaning the player is forced to think of which party members to bring and what equipment to wear.
Cave to Makai: The longest dungeon in the game, up to 2-3 hours give or take depending on how players play. Features several bosses and many types of enemies, as well as various dungeon gimmicks (mazes, invisible paths, switches, pitfalls that spit the player back to the previous area, etc.). The dungeon could stand to be revamped slightly. Features various maps from other Final Fantasy games. Coming here too early forces the player to fight Omega, whom the player should not be able to defeat (and will ultimately lose to).
And that's the main bulk of this article! All of the beta1-4 dungeons, as well as the non-dungeon locations! Suzuran will more than likely appear later on as a library of sorts for the various character information, equipment, and the such. Any C&C, and/or ideas, will be much obliged. If needed, I can get a screenshot of each area in the game?
