6 Chapter 6 (1/2)
Chapter 6
”Are you really telling me, in DCO, the Dungeon Core has to draw out their dungeon, by hand?” James glanced from the pencil to the paper on the table.
”Too Dungeons and Dragons for you?” Rue's reference made James smile. If he had to guess, someone on the DCO development team was a fan of the original table top games. James had played a few virtual versions of D&D, and even took part in a forum campaign every once in a while when he was bored at school. However, every dungeon master he had come across had resorted to using random dungeon generators, instead of drawing them out. His generation had gotten a bit lazy in that aspect.
”Well no, but there are a few issues I see here.”
”Such as?” Rue was twirling the pencil playfully atop her fingers. How cool was his pixie?
”Well, first, that seems a bit, 2d.” If he was going to create a massive dungeon expanse for players, he was certain just drawing it wouldn't properly create what he was imagining. ”Second, and more importantly, I don't have any hands.” He was a floating orb with an eye. Unless he grew tentacles, there was no way he was going to be drawing anything. And he really wanted to avoid becoming like a beholder.
”Well, have you thought about tentacles? I've heard those are quite, handy.” She shot him a wink as she spoke, and James felt his nonexistent face flush. She had hit the nerve of his teenage mind, and he was suddenly stuttering.
”I, well, um.” James cleared his throat. ”I'm not going to grow tentacles.” Rue started laughing so hard at his reaction that she dropped the pencil.
”Don't worry Glyax, you can't grow tentacles.” She steadied her gaze at him and rose a single eyebrow. ”Even if you wanted to.” Was this how it was going to be? James suddenly wasn't sure if he could survive being paired with this pixie. She seemed to know how to hit all his nerves. That put him at a huge disadvantage.
”Can we just move on from the tentacles? How do I really design my room?”
Rue laughed, and the table disappeared. With a wave of her hand, the room around them completely vanished and James was suddenly outside, staring at a vast expanse of land. He could see sprawling fields, a massive forest, a mighty mountain range, complete with a volcano, and even in the distance an ocean.
”First, you have to choose where your dungeon is going to be located.” She motioned with her hand, and pulled up another screen for him to view. This one had a variety of different terrain options, and at the top, he noted, it said Dungeon Creator.
”So, I get to choose any of these options?” He was shifting through, waiting for one to catch his eye. Where did he want his dungeon?
”Correct. Usually, Dungeon Cores will know their mob type by now, so could choose a location that made logical sense for that type of dungeon.” She shot him a smirk. ”But since the mighty Glyax felt like being vague and mysterious, we don't know what type of mobs you will have.” He was starting to marvel at how much his mob choice was already affecting his life.
”I get it, Random makes things difficult.” He finished flipping through his options, and finally found one he liked. Given how random his mob types could potentially become, he needed something that would make sense. The closest thing he could justify, was a cave at the edge of the forest, leading into the mountain range. From there, he felt he could justify and work around any mob type he got, as long as he didn't get water mobs for his first floor. He really didn't want water mobs right away. No one liked water dungeons.
”Well, I'm glad you understand how much more difficult you our making our lives.” She crossed her arms and motioned towards the timer, which had followed them. He was almost down to 22 hours remaining. ”So, time's a ticking. What's your choice?”
”I'm going to choose the cave.” With his acknowledgement, they were teleported directly in front of the cave. It was a massive expanse of rock, a gaping maw leading into darkness. He instantly loved it.