Informing players about bonus dungeon.

[Diamond Star]

My question is about Bonus Dungeon.
How to inform the player about it?
How to draw his attention to it?
Should I tell him clearly durind credit ? or prompt him to save after credit end or what.....?

 

[GoodSelf]

You can have an NPC that when you talk to him, tells the legend of a secret dungeon that can only be accessed after something happens.
A bonus dungeon shouldn't be directly told about to the player, but instead, the player should find it on their own, which instills that sense of discovery.

 

[Kes]

I can see 2 different ways of interpreting your question.  Bonus dungeon = something you can access after the game ends.  Chances are high that many players will not watch to the end of the credits.  Therefore, unless they already know that there is bonus content, they will never discover it.


Bonus dungeon = something during the game, which I think is what Goodself is referring to in the post above.  So a bit of clarity on what's being discussed would help.


However, this isn't really a mechanic, so...


I've moved this thread to General Discussion. Please be sure to post your threads in the correct forum next time. Thank you.

 

[Diamond Star]

What I am talking about is a bonus dungeon after end game.


@GoodSelf But if I make the bonus dungeon not clear for players they'll not know about it and will not bother themselves trying to search, because our games after all are not commercial. They will delete them after seeing credit.

 

[Diamond Star]

I am very sorry for posting in the wrong place.

 

[RHachicho]

... Honestly what is the purpose of the bonus dungeon? Please give us more information. What does the dungeon reward the player with?


There are many ways to reward the player you could either provide.


 - Hyper challenging boss battles/dungeons, For those people who want to be the best.


 - Extra story exposition at the end as a reward, For those completionists.


 - Better equipment for a new game + For the powergamers.


So what do you aim to provide with the bonus dungeon? If it's extra story then it's location should be heavily hinted at. Perhaps the player can find it easily and an npc says something like. (The lock on this place is powered by the dark lord's life force. Only when he is dead will it open.)


If you want to provide extra challenge then you had better be very sure that the player is enjoying your combat system. Otherwise almost no one will play it. Better equipment is the least effective lure. But regardless ...


If you really think people will delete your game right after the end credits without ever intending to play it again then you probably shouldn't bother with a bonus dungeon. If they don't even want to play it with the story again why would they want to grind through a bunch of battles just for the sake of it? Bonus dungeons are VERY hard to do well. And the game pretty much has to be super solid to merit them. I almost never complete them when they are there. Only even trying when there is some extra story to be found at the end. Or if they are integral to changing the ending. And even then .. I usually resent the grind.

 

[Diamond Star]

Ok. What I want is making bonus dungeon has challenging battles and bosses.
But from what I've heard I see that I should reconsider including a bonus dungeon.


I like extra battles and bosses that challenges players who like games' BS and even


puzzles. I won't make it require long grinding, instead, I can make it needs more thinking


and strategy.


I have an idea for my game but am not sure about.
I'll give hints via NPCs during playtime. And If player re-open the game he'll see new


option in title window says " ? Quest". this quest takes place after defeating final boss. It


include small extra story and  arch-boss relevant to game story.
So player don't have to re-fight the normal final boss, instead, a new ending rises.


What is your thoughts?

 

[Wavelength]

I love postgaming and endgaming in RPGs, but too often I don't even know about the bonus dungeon unless I read about it on a message board or an FAQ somewhere.  I'm of the belief that no player should ever need an FAQ to experience the coolest parts of your game.  I would personally suggest having a lot of NPCs or other environmental clues mention it as soon as it's available, adding it to the game's Map, and never "hiding" it from the player with obscure sidequests.

 

[TheTsunaru]

If you're set on making it a post-game bonus dungeon, I would recommend making the players aware of it during the cinematic involving the final boss. Perhaps you could have an area in the game like a mountain pass with a blocked off cave, or a shrine with a sealed door. Just make sure its in a place that the player will have seen throughout their journey through your game, and will be recognizable. Then when you encounter the boss, something happens, like maybe a giant storm surrounding the world resulting in a lightning bolt striking the blocked off cave, causing the barrier to burn off and allowing access. Or you defeat the boss, and it turns out that long ago, they were the guardian of the sealed shrine, and in defeating them, the seal has broken. Then credits roll and the final story based cinematics play, but the game itself doesn't end, and the player is able to return to that place where the dungeon is located and enter it.


However, I feel like bonus dungeons are better suited as a "during the game" kind of experience. Still make it something that's easily visible, but make it something that requires a quest to open. Something like "Blah blah blah great evil sealed behind this door only I can break the seal - *Insert name of old man you encountered early on in the game*". This way the player will have to remember some random (typically unmemorable) NPC, and run back to them in order to get it opened. Don't make it super easy though, have the old man give them a test to prove they can handle themselves in the dungeon, or have them need to find the key to open the chest containing the item that will break the seal because he lost it or something, get creative with it. And then throw in an additional thing where clearing the final dungeon makes the final boss even stronger.

 

[TheGamedawg]

Try eluding to it throughout the game.  Perhaps have some NPCs here and there mention the dungeon.  Mention how no one has ever come out alive or rumors surrounding the type of monsters you fight in there.  As you get farther into the game, NPCs will start to talk about where it was located, with clues becoming less vague the closer you get to an ideal level for it.

 

[Darkenro]

Speaking as a gamer, I would like (as other said) NPCs teasing about this secret area, maybe talking about legends and stuff regarding the place. Then, after beating the game, one charachter could drop an hint about a new road that has been created (for example) to reach the said place/dungeon.

 

[XIIIthHarbinger]

Perhaps it's just me, but I have to wonder why you would put it after the final battle? By doing this, after the player has already beaten the final boss, you kind of rob your ending of power I think.


I am making various "bonus dungeons" in my own game, namely dungeons that are there, but aren't part of the main story for a host of reasons. Some will be side quests, some will allow the player to pick up obscure bits of game world lore, & some will be there simply for the challenge of clearing them. However, each of them is there, only so that they player can enjoy them, if they so chose.


I am putting them in my own game, simply to provide the player with a reward for asking "What is down that other path". Maybe they find a bit of nice loot, maybe they get absolutely stomped by one of the nastiest monsters I put in my game. But when the credits roll, the credits roll.  

 

[bgillisp]

I second that. I've never understood this trend of bonus dungeons after the game is over. When the game's over, it's over as far as I'm concerned. So I also put my bonus dungeon in the game as something you can access while in the main game and can use it to grind if you find you can't beat the final boss at your current level. Or, go there if you wish to grind and/or find powerful items a little earlier than normal. It's up to you.

 

[Kes]

And I third that (if such a verb existed, which it doesn't, but you get my point.)


There was only one game that I've played where that didn't apply, and that was because more than half the game play was after the 'final' boss.  Weird, but it worked.