Middle Floors Preview (Patreon)

After some testing, I finally reached a look I am happy for the Middle Floors (13 to 17), also known as "Cave Labyrinth"; As the name suggests, these floors will look like caves and not flat and "artificial looking" like the previous floors you have visited.

From tight corridors and low ceiling like the first floors, to big opening and really high ceiling like the last upper floors, these floors will feature many changes in look and no longer keep consistent to the general layout, which makes navigating these floors easier despite containing many dead ends.

To avoid making the middle floors too frustrating for the player while keeping them lore friendly, many parts of the floor won't be accessible and will serve only as "view", something you would see from a bridge, for example.
In short, while these floors will look big, the walkable area will be about the same as the sixth floor.

Another feature of these floors will be the various holes scattered around which will allow you to easily go down, but not up.
To add an extra layer of difficulty, even if you were to find the stairs leading up, you won't be able to automatically exit unless you are fully rested, so stocking up on potions will become essential.
However, in the next release only the 13th floor will exist, so none of the holes or stairs leading down will work.

If you watched the anime, you should recognize those crystals which look very similar to what you would find on the 18th floor, but much more scattered around.
This gives a more intense light on a specific spot, but at the same time make the rest of the cave much darker than the 8th and 9th floors with their much consistent lighting.
I also tried to make the air moisty, which will be noticeable if you look near a point of light (should be wavy like a mini fog).

The next step is finishing the rest of the cave (only a few rooms and corridors exist right now to test the various effects and lights), then create all the monsters roaming that floor and test their power.