Daggerfall:Dungeon Layout

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Contents 1 Dungeon blocks 2 Navigating Complex Dungeons 3 Categories of Internal Blocks 3.1 Throne Room

[edit] Dungeon blocks

Daggerfall dungeons are built from dungeon blocks assembled together side by side on a grid form. There are two types of blocks, internal blocks and external blocks.

Internal blocks provide the meat of the dungeon, where most rooms and corridors are placed. Every internal dungeon has two door openings in each one of it's fours sides, one above the other. Each door opening is used to link to a nearby internal block or to an external block when it leads no where. External blocks are used when it's necessary to close the side of an internal block. These are composed of a single corridor with a very step inclination which connects the upper door to the lower door.

Each block is approximately 8 levels. I will considering a level as the height of a room plus a little extra. Level 0 is where we find the bottom most corridors and rooms in the dungeon and level 7 (or 8 counting from 1) the top most. In some dungeons the normal number of levels may exceed 8 or even be less than 8 but not by more than 2 levels above and bellow. The following image illustrates this idea.

An internal block is the size of Privateers Hold and an external block is normally a single long corridor with a very step inclination, going from and back to the same block but above or bellow.

The dungeon layout as illustrated above is actually shown in the local map inside a dungeon. This is an image of Privateers Hold local map showing the dungeon layout as a small diagram to the left of the screen.

Here marked with an arrow.

The position of the player is shown within this layout as a red dot and the exit as a blue dot (not visible in the screenshot because the red dot overlaps it).

[edit] Navigating Complex Dungeons

There are many techniques to navigate complex dungeons but the best one is to use the knowledge of how Daggerfall dungeons are assembled with the dungeon layout diagram in the dungeon local map.

I will list a few useful tips to help navigate complex dungeons:

• Check your position (red dot) and the exit position (blue dot) in the dungeon layout diagram.
• When crossing to a new internal block the texture style changes but not always. Sometimes there is a small pause in the game. Checking the dungeon layout diagram is sure to see when a new block is crossed.
• Always explore one block fully before going to the next block. Start from the bottom to the top before going to the next block.
• Mark the fastest path to exit on each block with junk.
• Corridors with a very step inclination are usually external blocks that will connect to the same block.

[edit] Categories of Internal Blocks

Daggerfall dungeon block design will range from the horrible chaotic dungeon with very difficult orientation to something elaborate and mysterious like Privateer's Hold throne room or the Rift in Scourg Barrow.

In this section i will mention only the most elaborate blocks as the other are only chaotic assemblies of corridors and rooms used only for the purpose of crating a labyrinth for the player.

[edit] Throne Room

This is the block that composes the initial dungeon, Privateers Hold. It's an elaborate block featuring what looks like a throne room with a big stairway and with left and right wing sections. It has an interesting puzzle which is how to reach the passage above the throne room and there are several ways to do this. On the top rooms above there is a secret stash that can be activated by clicking a control mechanism.

Player who find other instances of the throne room in other dungeons should seek for these mechanisms.

Images of the throne room: