Hi Phil,

Phil wrote:

I am not sure why you can not have random monsters and specific monsters.

In the Sarah game, I decide which monsters show up on each level and
how many of them. Then I also adjust the number and type plus
adjusting their capabilities
before the level starts depending on your difficulty setting.

My reply:

Two reasons.

To begin with I never wrote the game or game engine specifically  with
random items and monsters in mind. That was added well after the game
and engine was in development.

For one thing, instead of randomly placing items at the start of the
level as you do in Sarah everything is randomly created right on the
spot. If you leave room 1 and enter room 2 it automatically randomly
places a monster and/or items in the room at the same time. As a
result I can't limit the number of items, monsters, or anything else
because all of this needs to be handled before the level starts not
after. It's a pretty poor design and I know it. As I said, it was
suppose to be a quick fix not a long term solution.

This poor design is the cause of various other problems with the game.
One, I can't limit the number of items or monsters per level. Two, you
can't hear items as soon as you open the door because they aren't
there until you actually enter the room. Third if you save and reload
from your checkpoint everything will be totally different making it
easier or harder than it would have been before just because not all
of the rooms were filled with items and enemies.

Of course, all of these issues can be fixed. However, what it takes is
ripping out the temp random code and creating a better solution. This
will take time to do, and if I'm going to rewrite the random
monster/item code to do it right I want to be sure this is a serious
issue for people or not.

Cheers!

---
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