Chapter 14 — Rooms and Zones

Part IV — Authoring Games

World structure.

Topics

• Room definitions — top-level spatial containers
• Zones — sub-areas within rooms
• Exits — connections between zones
• Hazards — environmental dangers
• Interactables — objects the player can examine or use

Example Zone

id: crypt_entry
name: Crypt Entrance
light: low
noise: echoing
hazards:
  - rot spores (condition: stability < 3)
exits:
  - chapel_nave (direction: up)
  - crypt_deep (direction: down)
interactables:
  - crumbling_altar
  - dust_covered_tome

Zone Properties

Zones have both static properties (defined in content) and dynamic properties (modified at runtime by the environment module). The environment system overlays dynamic values on top of base definitions, so a zone can start quiet and become noisy as events unfold.

Exits and Connectivity

Exits define how zones connect. Each exit specifies a target zone and an optional direction label. The traversal module validates movement against available exits before allowing zone transitions.