What to do with levels

[FoxBat]

Well... my closed beta has hit an unexpected halt, but I've gotten alot done since then. Still, I think there still needs to be some more character balancing, so I'm thinking of releasing an open beta this week. In the interrum though, I've been wondering about doing some more with level editing. It's alot of fun, and I've already done quite a bit for it for QFG project and am thinking of transferring some to this one.

Now keep in mind that the story is still standard Diablo II and so are the quests. So I'm not thinking of changing the quests or superuniques too much, and I definitely want them to still be in the same order.

Making them "non-linear" means that the acts are roughly set up so you can play mostly overworld, mostly underworld, or a mix of both, depending upon what paths you take. There may also be multiple ways to complete a quest. You might actually find yourself thinking "I wonder which way I should go...?" The undergound levels are mostly expanded so the acts "feel" bigger, but not necessarily longer as waypoints are evenly positioned and you only have to take one path. Heck Act3 tends to be a bit shorter with this setup. The only problem might be making it "fit" the D2 quests and storyline, I had originally done this for a QFG world. Act 2 has a huge underground city beneath the palace... what to do with that?

Making hard side-levels means something like Ancients mod, where the side areas few people go into are filled with monsters that can challenge a high-level player and offer good drops/xp. So theres some areas in the early acts that people can return to when they are high level. This feature might apply only to hell difficulty.

Doing nothing means leaving well enough alone. The only radical overt changes are to items, everything else is just behind-the-scenes balance tweaks. Non-linear levels can feel a bit "off" as you step into a palace stairwell and end up in a maggot lair, and it isn't too fun to stumble into ultra-hard monsters at a low level.

[Alkalund]

In my opinion, keep the levels layout the way it originally is (well, except for Act 3 maybe), and make hard side-levels, this is a good idea.

[MikeTheGreat]

I would definitely prefer you change the areas, as playing too much of the original Expansion has made me so damn sick of it. That's why I try to change as many things as I possibly can.

Map editing, I believe, is a key feature in a mod, as it can take the player by surprise, or just be plain different from the original Expansion. This is my opinion: If you can change it, and you want to, then do it. Best of luck to ya, and by the way your mod is cool, but I haven't had much time to play it, being flooded with homework and school and all.

EDIT: Hah, didn't realize that this was my 666th post.

[airbornflght]

Ok, i do give you credit this is a kick mod but the thing i dont like is that im a hardcore gamer i need raw har cold power to blow people away not a "balanced game" with "balanced stats". othe than that the mods cool. so maybe you could make another version of this mod with higher stat gaining and skills with more damage.

[Logan]

Gotta throw in my voice for non-linear areas. One of the greatest things a mod maker can do, IMHO, is cut act III as much as possible. I HATE ACT THREE!!! I loathe it with all my spirit. And yet I'm addicted to the monster density. What can I say? Once I manage to get the areas mapped out, running about slaughtering thousands of flayers is great fun (to say nothing of xp). If one could bypass the ridiculous amount of dashing about fruitlessly, either through certain programs whose name rhymes with "Cap Lack" or, the far superior choice, through an alternate method of navigating the dungeons, then Act III quickly becomes the best part of the game. Nonlinear, linking, underground areas are spectacularly fun.