What's in a Remaster?
[p align="start"]This is actually something we've been debating internally when applying the term to RuneScape - A remaster traditionally would refer to taking an original file (usually visual or audio), and re-exporting that original file with modern standards in mind. But how does that apply to something gameplay specific like a skill in a game? "Overhauling" or "Reworking" the skill has connotations that the entire identity is changing. Refreshing could be more apt, but may not be applicable in all cases, especially when a Remaster does include elements of re-exporting original aspects at modern standards.[/p][p][img src="https://clan.akamai.steamstatic.com/images/38802315/3831f09c36beafacd1aa79f18766eae86aa9f09c.jpg"][/img][/p]So what's the focus of this project?
[p align="start"]The foundational gameplay loops of Daemonheim Dungeoneering are already solid. Repeatedly delving into the unknown to explore an ancient area of the world of Gielinor, all while needing to make do with the resources you're presented with, rather than relying on what you've otherwise amassed in the overworld. This skill is fundamentally about challenging you and your skills, without the backup of a mountain of wealth. While this promise still holds true today, the reality is that the skill itself feels a bit tired and outdated. As simple as this statement sounds, it is hugely important: Dungeoneering is a skill. It's a core part of the backbone of RuneScape as a whole, and should be revitalised with the proper care and attention deserving of that. We want to modernise those Dungeoneering fundamentals we mentioned above, so that it is more enjoyable to play and more rewarding to engage with over longer periods of time. We want to prepare it for a future where it can be occasionally tweaked without feeling that those changes are not far reaching enough because the foundations have not been adjusted.[/p][p align="start"]With that in mind, the Dungeoneering Remaster project is focused primarily on improving the skill's gameplay, balance and mechanics without changing the core identity of the skill. We are also looking to improve some of the visual clarity in select art aspects such as lighting and VFX or improvements to textures, but the lion's share of our time is spent on that "coding" and gameplay aspect while the majority of our art team continues to focus on other projects that affect RuneScape on a broad scale (such as the Player Avatar project).[/p][p align="start"]We're generally looking to remove unnecessary complexity, to make the skill more intuitive to understand and jump into. The intent here is to modernize and better set the skill up for the future, rather than add a slew of brand spanking new content to it now. That also means that we are not focusing on adding new floors, puzzle rooms, bosses or dungeons as part of this project.[/p][p][/p]How can you get involved?
[p align="start"]We're previewing our design intentions in this blog today. We've know what we want to do, but we want to take this opportunity to check in with you and see if there are things you feel more or less strongly about.[/p][p align="start"]This project is still in its early stages, and certain ideas mentioned here need to be properly investigated. While probable that not all of the "nice-to-haves" we cover today may be feasible or released with this update, the majority of what we're presenting today should be implemented.[/p][p align="start"]With that in mind, please do join in the discussions this week and let us know:[/p]- [p]Which of the features we've covered are you most excited about?[/p][/*]
- [p]Which of the features we've covered do you have questions about?[/p][/*]
- [p]What do you think is a nice to have, but you wouldn't want us to prioritize it over others?[/p][/*]
The Details
[p align="start"]Currently, Dungeoneering is a skill that we've observed many players primarily training using methods outside of Daemonheim dungeons - that includes Elite Dungeons, Tokens, Sinkholes, The Beach hole and (prior to their removal) XP lamps. To us this is a strong signal that the core balancing of the Daemonheim dungeons is in need of improving so that players have a greater desire to train this skill through its original vision, with any alternative methods being a "nice to have" that you occasionally switch to. Rebalancing Dungeoneering across multiple aspects, improving quality of life for the different communities that engage with Dungeoneering as well as implementing improved and more modern systems are just some of the ways we want to revitalize this skill.[/p][p align="start"]Now that we've set some expectations, lets take a deeper look into the specifics![/p][p][/p]Rebalancing Output (XP / GP / EFFICIENCY)
[p align="start"]This is about improving the XP / GP / Efficiency ratios to make the skill more satisfying to engage with.[/p]- [p]The end-of-floor XP differs greatly across all 60 floors, with lower-level floors (e.g. 35 and lower) usually getting rushed or skipped as they don't give worthwhile XP at higher levels.[/p][list]
- [p]We will rebalance floor XP to make all floors worth doing across all levels, decreasing the gap between the lowest and the highest floors. We will be mindful not to unbalance the early game for low level players, and we will still aim to maintain a feeling of progression across floor themes. This ties into our plans for the Prestige System, detailed further down.[/p][/*]
- [p]Solo players don't always feel like they gain rewarding amounts of XP compared to when playing in a group.[/p][list]
- [p]We will make solo play much less punishing.[/p][/*]
- [p]As part of this change we may consider removing the Dungeoneering Party Simulator item, as these have been largely obsolete since 2022 and the planned overall rebalancing should address the issues that the Dungeoneering Party Simulator was intended to address.[/p][/*]
- [p]We will keep rewarding highest efficiency and will consider reducing the penalty of guide mode (or removing it outright but improving critical path readability)[/p][/*]
- [p]Dungeoneering XP will be gained from actions taken within the dungeon. For example, opening doors, gathering from resource nodes or exploring optional paths should provide Dungeoneering XP. When this change is implemented it would likely leave the Scroll of Daemonheim in an odd spot, rendering it largely obsolete. With that in mind, we will likely be removing the Scroll of Daemonheim.[/p][/*]
- [p]We want to look into adding resource bags as a reward for completing floors (Perhaps using similar items to Motherload Maw).[/p][/*]
- [p]We will be looking over the stats of bosses and mobs, though we will need to be mindful of those instances when low level players are grouped together with high level players.[/p][/*]
- [p]An important note to make here is that we don't want to drastically change the current flow of Dungeoneering that largely works - we're not planning to make changes towards an exhausting grind. What we're keen to achieve is that bosses feel like bosses once more, rather than mobs with a bit more health. Players should need to gear up for a boss fight and put effort into it. Conversely, mobs should not become so strong that they greatly slow down the pace of Dungeoneering.[/p][/*]
- [p]A prospective change here might be increasing mob lifepoints while reducing their defence at the same time to even things out.[/p][/*]
- [p]Mobs should also take the potential addition of Necromancy into account.[/p][/*]
- [p]One consideration is to reduce the tokens gained from Archaeology and Elite Dungeons, primarily by reducing the moments at which they are received for the latter.[/p][/*]
- [p]We may, however, feel that it's best to remove Token acquisition entirely from these activities.[/p][/*]
- [p]We are investigating removing XP-Based Gorajo cards, but may remove the entire Gorajo Card system as many of the non-XP based cards have been found to not be particularly valuable.[/p][/*]
Quality of Life
[p align="start"]This is about removing undesirable friction or general clunkiness currently present in the skill - that includes removing unwanted timegates and addressing clunky aspects of puzzle and boss rooms. We've got a good grasp of what's important to you here already from previous discussions, but prioritization is still an important area that you could help us with for this set of notes.[/p]- [p]No longer needing to have to bank before starting a dungeon - Instead, items would be automatically banked for you.[/p][/*]
- [p]Relevant Keys and skills to be shown on the dungeon map.[/p][/*]
- [p]Going from two clicks to open a Skill or a Key door down to one click.[/p][/*]
- [p]Allowing Ironmen and mains to dungeoneer together (add right-click invite for ironmen).[/p][list]
- [p]Note: Our thinking here is that it should be easier for Ironmen to jump into Dungeoneering, instead of having to find a group of other Ironmen. This change would also make this system consistent with group bossing.[/p][/*]
- [p]The likely change here: Move away from skill doors having a hard requirement ("You need a skill level of X to do that"). Instead, players could attempt to open the skill door, but at a greater fail chance of failure if you're of a lower level. The intended direction here is to enable low level players to get through a Dungeon, rather than slow high level players down.[/p][/*]
Prestige System Overhaul
[p align="start"]The Prestige System in its current form is not very intuitive, as well as being very punishing to floor XP if it's not followed. Our plans here tie into the floor XP point detailed further up in the Rebalancing section - we want all 60 floors to feel worth doing at all levels, without punishing you if you don't follow the system to a T.[/p][p][img src="https://clan.akamai.steamstatic.com/images/38802315/0a92bf9dda9ff209935b757b5dafb8238086a8c9.png"][/img][/p][p align="start"]We will be fully removing the Prestige System in its current state, and replacing it with an end-of-floor buff system.[/p]- [p]Floor XP will no longer be penalised by this system.[/p][/*]
- [p]Completing a unique floor will give you a buff.[/p][list]
- [p]Buffs will be along the lines of XP boosts, Resource boosts, Token boosts, Damage reduction, etc.[/p][/*]
- [p]There will be around 5-10 different buffs in total. These will stack up.[/p][/*]
- [p]Buffs will be set relative to the amount of floors you have done, not assigned to each floor. For example, the buff for your first completed floor will be X% resource boost, regardless of if that floor is floor 3, or floor 55.[/p][/*]
- [p]So, ticking off floors will instead mean that you have gained the buff from that floor.[/p][/*]
- [p]As with the existing Prestige System, if you have already completed the floor but there is an uncompleted floor in the same theme, this will instead tick off and provide the buff from that floor instead.[/p][/*]
- [p]This does not refer to unique floors, but is instead a count that increases with any floor you complete.[/p][/*]
- [p]These carry over between sessions, so there's no pressure to do as many floors as you can in a single session.[/p][/*]
- [p]These reset automatically to avoid creating a meta of stacking 59 buffs and then simply repeating a completed high-level floor.[/p][/*]
- [p]You complete 16 unique floors in total: floors 1-11 (all Frozen floors), 15, 23, 38, 45, and 60. This gains you 16 buffs (1 buff per unique floor), some of which will have stacked up.[/p][list]
- [p]Your buff reset count is now at 16.[/p][/*]
- [p]Your buff reset count is now at 17.[/p][/*]
- [p]Your buff reset count is now at 18.[/p][/*]
Adding New Skills
[p align="start"]Since Dungeoneering's release a number of new skills have been added to the game, but not all of them are included in the Dungeoneering experience. This section considers what we plan to do, though this would also be one of the most time-intensive aspects of this project.[/p]- [p]Necromancy[/p][list]
- [p]Player-Centric[/p][list]
- [p]Add Necromancy to the Ring of Kinship + Classes.[/p][/*]
- [p]Add ectoplasm, which you would receive from a small Ritual site added to the starting room.[/p][list]
- [p]The Ritual site would include one candle, one glyph spot, a platform and a pedestal.[/p][list]
- [p]Candles and Ink would be purchased from the Smuggler.[/p][/*]
- [p]Impure essence would be created by performing a ritual on normal essence.[/p][/*]
- [p]Crafting relevant armour would require ensouled cloth, ensouled thread and necromantic runes.[/p][/*]
- [p]Smithing relevant weapons would require ensouled bars and necromantic runes.[/p][/*]
- [p]10 different tiers of ensouled cloth and bars would be created by performing a ritual on regular cloths and bars and threads.[/p][/*]
- [p]Tier 11 armour should drop from bosses.[/p][/*]
- [p]Adds Forgotten Necromancer mobs to all floors while removing existing Necromancers.[/p][/*]
- [p]Update the Necrolord boss to use Necromancy.[/p][/*]
- [p]Update mobs to take players Necromancy level into account - this would likely be done as part of the wider mob and boss rebalancing task.[/p][/*]
- [p]Add Invention related doors.[/p][/*]
- [p]Adding Invention as an entire skill to Dungeoneering is currently considered beyond the scope of what is possible, given all the other changes that we want to focus on first.[/p][/*]
- [p]Add Archaeology related doors.[/p][/*]
- [p]Adding Archaeology as an entire skill to Dungeoneering is currently considered beyond the scope of what is possible, given all the other changes that we want to focus on first.[/p][/*]
Speedrunner Support
- [p]We will add dedicated Titles that will be acquired by completing floors in a certain time limit, as well as dedicated Ultimate tier titles for unlocking all titles:[/p][list]
- [p]We have a few early ideas for Titles, but wanted to hear your thoughts on what would make the most sense - what do you think the titles should be for following achievements?[/p][list]
- [p]Complete Frozen floor in timelimit[/p][/*]
- [p]Complete Abandoned 1 floor in timelimit[/p][/*]
- [p]Complete Furnished floor in timelimit[/p][/*]
- [p]Complete Abandoned 2 floor in timelimit[/p][/*]
- [p]Complete Occult floor in timelimit[/p][/*]
- [p]Complete Warped floor in timelimit[/p][/*]
- [p]Ultimate Tier Titles (Bronze, Silver, Gold) for completing all floors in timelimit[/p][/*]
- [p]What Dungeoneering statistics would be most important for you to show off with Quickchat?[/p][/*]
- [p]At a minimum this would be an in-game noticeboard, but ideally these would be displayed on a webpage - that is something we're investigating.[/p][/*]
Miscellaneous "Nice-to-Haves"
[p align="start"]The notes in this category have been earmarked as a nice-to-have. If we need to spend more time focusing on ensuring other aspects work, then these nice-to-haves will be deprioritized and may not be implemented. Hearing how you feel about these things is important, so do let us know if you agree or disagree with anything being listed as a nice-to-have.[/p]- [p]Improve tutorialisation[/p][list]
- [p]The Smuggler should provide more information.[/p][/*]
- [p]We should add Guide book items.[/p][/*]
- [p]We should add UI popup tutorials.[/p][/*]
- [p]Are there particular interfaces you find useful or that you struggle with? Any that are particularly outdated?[/p][/*]
- [p]We have found that very few players actually use this system, and it adds complexity to what is already one of the more difficult to onboard skills.[/p][list]
- [p]Do you agree with this assessment? Have you found that you use shared XP frequently?[/p][/*]
- [p]We have found that very few players choose options 2-5, creating a level of bloat that is unnecessary.[/p][list]
- [p]Do you agree with this assessment? Have you found that you use complexities 2-5 frequently?[/p][/*]
- [p]Move the guide mode to the starting a dungeon interface.[/p][/*]
- [p]Reduce the XP penalty of guide mode[/p][/*]
- [p]Improve the readability of the critical path (i.e. make it easier to identify where to go)[/p][/*]
- [p]Remove the Guide mode penalty and the always on toggle.[/p][/*]
- [p]Consider removing Guide mode entirely.[/p][list]
- [p]How do you currently use Guide mode? Should it be kept or potentially improved with the above?[/p][/*]
Rewards
- [p]Reward Shop & Reward Trader Shop (this task is currently earmarked as a nice-to-have depending on what is manageable).[/p][list]
- [p]Combine the Elite Dungeons Reward Shop with the Rewards Trader shop. The combined shop would mean that there is a single place to spend your tokens. This would also mean removing access to the Elite Dungeon Reward Shop from anywhere other than the Rewards Trader, which would also reduce world clutter.[/p][/*]
- [p]Update items bought from the Reward Shop so that they come with a 100% charge from the start, instead of their current 20%.[/p][/*]
