In this chapter, we'll be updating our game to get more difficult as the player goes deeper into the dungeon. Each successive floor will have a chance of having more monsters per room and spawning more difficult monsters. We'll balance this with an increased chance for strong items.
Currently, when we generate a new dungeon, we have a fixed maximum number of monsters and items that we could spawn into
a map. We'll start by adding functionality to allow for a variable maximum that will get higher as the player goes
deeper into the dungeon. We'll start by adding some new constants at the top of procgen.ts:
type FloorValue = [number, number][];
const MAX_ITEMS_BY_FLOOR: FloorValue = [
[1, 1],
[4, 2],
];
const MAX_MONSTERS_BY_FLOOR: FloorValue = [
[1, 2],
[4, 3],
[6, 5],
];
The FloorValue type is a list of tuples. Each tuple represents a minimum floor number, and a maximum number of something
for that floor. So in the above, from floors one through three, there would be a maximum of one item per room. Once
the player reaches the fourth floor, that maximum will go up to two. We can then update placeEntities to use
these new constants:
function placeEntities(
room: RectangularRoom,
dungeon: GameMap,
floorNumber: number,
) {
const numberOfMonstersToAdd = generateRandomNumber(
0,
getMaxValueForFloor(MAX_MONSTERS_BY_FLOOR, floorNumber),
);
const numberOfItemsToAdd = generateRandomNumber(
0,
getMaxValueForFloor(MAX_ITEMS_BY_FLOOR, floorNumber),
);
We no longer take in the maximums for monsters and items as parameters, and instead get them from our new constants. The
getMaxValueForFloor function will look at a given FloorValue and return the maximum for that floor. Let's implement
that function:
function getMaxValueForFloor(
maxValueByFloor: FloorValue,
floor: number,
): number {
let current = 0;
for (let [min, value] of maxValueByFloor) {
if (min > floor) break;
current = value;
}
return current;
}
We loop over each of the entries in the FloorValue array, and check if the current floor is under the minimum or not.
If it is, we break from the loop and return the new max that we found. If it isn't, then we continue the loop, increasing
the maximum value we'll return.
Next let's update generateDungeon to take in the current floor that it's generating for, and pass that to the placeEntities
function call:
export function generateDungeon(
mapWidth: number,
mapHeight: number,
maxRooms: number,
minSize: number,
maxSize: number,
player: Entity,
display: Display,
currentFloor: number,
): GameMap {
//omitted rest of function for brevity
placeEntities(newRoom, dungeon, currentFloor);
Now we need to open game-screen.ts and update our call to generateDungeon to pass the current floor:
generateFloor(): void {
this.currentFloor += 1;
this.gameMap = generateDungeon(
GameScreen.MAP_WIDTH,
GameScreen.MAP_HEIGHT,
GameScreen.MAX_ROOMS,
GameScreen.MIN_ROOM_SIZE,
GameScreen.MAX_ROOM_SIZE,
this.player,
this.display,
this.currentFloor,
);
}
Run the game, and you should see monster and item counts within the new maximums we set.
We've changed how many entities we spawn into a map, but not which kind of entities. If the player gets a bunch of over-powered lightning scrolls on the first level it would be too easy. If they ran into rooms with all trolls, it would be too hard. We need a way to gradually increase the difficulty as the player progresses. To do this we'll use a function from ROT.js that takes a weighted set of options, and chooses them at random based on the weights.
First let's open up entity.ts and add a new type and an export at the bottom of the file:
type SPAWNMAP = {
[key: string]: (gameMap: GameMap, x: number, y: number) => Entity;
};
export const spawnMap: SPAWNMAP = {
spawnOrc,
spawnTroll,
spawnHealthPotion,
spawnConfusionScroll,
spawnLightningScroll,
spawnFireballScroll,
};
We'll be using the spawnMap as a dynamic way to spawn entities instead of explicitly referencing the functions. This
will make more sense when we implement the weighted choices. Jump back over to procgen.ts and update our imports:
import { GameMap } from './game-map';
import { FLOOR_TILE, WALL_TILE, Tile, STAIRS_DOWN_TILE } from './tile-types';
import { Display, RNG } from 'rot-js';
import { Entity, spawnMap } from './entity';
We import the RNG module from ROT.js for the weighted choices, and we bring in our new spawnMap.
We'll need some new types to represent our weighted options. Add them underneath where we declared our maximum values:
type Choice = {
value: string;
weight: number;
};
type WeightedChoices = {
floor: number;
weights: Choice[];
};
A Choice object is a key-value map. The key is a string that will be the name of one of our spawn functions. The value
is a weight that will govern how likely the RNG module is to choose that spawn function for us to use. WeightedChoices
objects represent a minimum floor and the possible options for that floor.
const ITEM_CHANCES: WeightedChoices[] = [
{
floor: 0,
weights: [{ value: 'spawnHealthPotion', weight: 35 }],
},
{
floor: 2,
weights: [{ value: 'spawnConfusionScroll', weight: 10 }],
},
{
floor: 4,
weights: [{ value: 'spawnLightningScroll', weight: 25 }],
},
{
floor: 6,
weights: [{ value: 'spawnFireballScroll', weight: 25 }],
},
];
const MONSTER_CHANCES: WeightedChoices[] = [
{
floor: 0,
weights: [{ value: 'spawnOrc', weight: 80 }],
},
{
floor: 3,
weights: [{ value: 'spawnTroll', weight: 15 }],
},
{
floor: 5,
weights: [{ value: 'spawnTroll', weight: 30 }],
},
{
floor: 7,
weights: [{ value: 'spawnTroll', weight: 60 }],
},
];
The RNG module uses the weights given to determine how likely a choice is. The numbers are arbitrary, but a higher
number means a higher likelihood of that choice being picked. To use these weights we'll implement a utility function
that will give us just the weights for a given a floor. Add this function to the bottom of the file:
type WeightMap = {
[key: string]: number;
};
function getWeights(
chancesByFloor: WeightedChoices[],
floorNumber: number,
): WeightMap {
let current: WeightMap = {};
for (let { floor, weights } of chancesByFloor) {
if (floor > floorNumber) break;
for (let { value, weight } of weights) {
current[value] = weight;
}
}
return current;
}
Much like getMaxValueForFloor we loop over a given set of options and build up the map of weights that apply to a given
floor. With this function in place, we just need to update placeEntities to use it. First we'll update the loop where
we add monsters to the map:
for (let i = 0; i < numberOfMonstersToAdd; i++) {
const x = generateRandomNumber(bounds.x1 + 1, bounds.x2 - 1);
const y = generateRandomNumber(bounds.y1 + 1, bounds.y2 - 1);
if (!dungeon.entities.some((e) => e.x == x && e.y == y)) {
const weights = getWeights(MONSTER_CHANCES, floorNumber);
const spawnType = RNG.getWeightedValue(weights);
if (spawnType) {
spawnMap[spawnType](dungeon, x, y);
}
}
}
We get the weighted options for the current floor, and then use the getWeightedValue function from ROT.js to get
a type of monster to spawn. We then use that spawn type as a key into our map of spawn functions to dynamically spawn
a monster of that type.
Lastly, we need to update the loop where we add items:
for (let i = 0; i < numberOfItemsToAdd; i++) {
const x = generateRandomNumber(bounds.x1 + 1, bounds.x2 - 1);
const y = generateRandomNumber(bounds.y1 + 1, bounds.y2 - 1);
if (!dungeon.entities.some((e) => e.x == x && e.y == y)) {
const weights = getWeights(ITEM_CHANCES, floorNumber);
const spawnType = RNG.getWeightedValue(weights);
if (spawnType) {
spawnMap[spawnType](dungeon, x, y);
}
}
}
The item loop works just like the monster loop, using the ITEM_CHANCES options instead of MONSTER_CHANCES. Run the
game and progress through the dungeon. On floor one you should only see orcs and health potions, but as you go deeper
you should start running into more enemies per room, start seeing trolls more often, and see different items. You
can find the complete code for this chapter here.