'DK2 Wishes' - old text document circa late 90s

DK2 Wishes.txt (aka Dungeon Keeper 2 Wishlist)
Pantalaimon note: I think this document was being passed around on Usenet after the release of Dungeon Keeper in 1997. It is a long list of wishes people online had for the sequel (which at that time seemed a very remote possibility). Either that, or I compiled this myself back then and forgot about it. Almost none of these actually found their way into DK2, although a few have appeared in other games since. Uploaded for posterity/nostalgia! (and maybe a few developers might find some inspiration here!)

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Marky

Just 1 - a door to the outside world. I want to see an heroes attempt to steal my gold or destroy my dungeon. They should turn up from time to time & keep things interesting (I don't like the way hero gates "dry up"). I also like the idea sent in by Ashley Smith about invading the outside world.

Jacko Andrews

My wish list for this awesome, but flawed gem of a game:

* 3DFX!!!!!!

* Follow cam option when you are in possession mode

* The option to set one of a group of creatures to 'captain' status, who will auto-slap & command for you as per your instructions (and reduce the groups moral maybe if killed)

* A quick key to pick up all creatures of the same race at once

* AI improvements to make creatures lazy, or fight amongst themselves even when happy

* Dungeon inhabitants that are not controllable, and can be hunted - I.E.: Rats, bats etc...

* Natural disasters, like floods or quakes

* The biggie: Levels that have more then one dungeon level, so you can have stairs to them (hehe, imagine some of the battles that could occur!)

* 3DFX!!!

* And finally, how about heroes that don't stay and fight to the death, but work out they are out numbered, and run away, only to return a level or so later in bigger numbers with better weapons.

Ummm....Aside from that, I think DK is one of then most addictive and playable games I've seen for a long long time - All praise to the team at Bullfrog!

Daemon

I think that if you could mark certain areas for your creatures to stay away from that would be cool.

Diverian

There's not much that I would like to add that hasn't already but the one thing that no one has mentioned was being able to attract certain creatures. For instance, if I don't want more beetles but instead I want more demon spawn I want to be able to choose more demon spawn. In just about any other strategy game, the player can choose what units to create and how many as long as the resources hold out but not in Dungeon Keeper.

Another useful option would be to issue your minions commands that they could follow without having to drop them or possess them, such as "patrol this corridor" or "stay put".

I agree with ousting the hand of evil's ability to pick up units and drop them where needed. Maybe instead, leave the option with the imps but only the imps. Because now there is no more dropping monsters on 'suspecting' prey the option to select a group (possibly the group in the barracks) to move to a specific position without having to possess one. Even go as far as making a separate barracks for each group of minions to be sent to different places. Of course, dropping the cost of the barracks a bit and allowing a certain barracks group to be selected. Then the group travels to that point and does what is needed...defending or attacking.

nikolai

* more creatures, particularly creatures that don't get on with each other. preferrably not the traditional AD&D beasties (although that seems to cover almost everything). for example, tigers? Ants? Bees? Giant squid? Ninjas (who would fight with the Mistresses AND the Samurai)?

* a new type of room: the classroom. you stick one creature in the middle, and any other creatures who wander in - and who are less experienced - will gradually acquire any spells that the 'teacher' has. for example, have a level ten Mistress teach a bunch of Bile Demons how to teleport.

* a way of controlling what gets made in the workshop beyond putting different creatures in there.

* a Penetrate Doors Spell.

* a better system for integrating new levels, particularly those created by us mere mortals.

* some different, more realistic taunting messages from the AI keeper. Perhaps tied to the current game play; if you have only two level one creatures left and the AI player has twenty level ten creatures, it could inform you of this in a derisive manner.

* some new traps which only affect certain creatures. Spiked Pit (which could make getting bodies out rather difficult), Quicksand, a Freeze Spell trap,

* some named Heroes, with fixed characteristics, ie great strength but low intelligence, cowardice and rapid speed (for running away), dislikes for particular creatures.

Kornél Vajsz

1. New rooms:

Rewarding Room: Rewards your creatures.
Manual torture room: Tortures yours or the enemy's creatures, but one of your creature tortures it.
Manual rewarding room: One of your creatures rewards another one.
Scavenger prison: Like prison, but the prisoner does not returnas a skeleton... He (or She) joins jour team.
Friendshipping room: This make friendship between your creatures.
Mixing room: You can mix some creatures in this (Warlock+Horned Reaper=A Horned Reaper, what clever, and wear's the Wizzard's clothes.

2. New actions:

Friendship: If a creature befriends a Horned Reaper, the Reaper won't kill, or attack him(As in Fly+Spider, Mistress+Ninja, Warlock+Vampire, Skeleton+Bile demon, Demon spawn+Hound), and if a friendship in formed between two (or more) creatures, usually in pairs (Except Vampire,Ghost,Skeleton). Big friendship between the Dark Mistress+ Dark Knight, Archer+Archer, Demon spawn+Dragon, Thief+Knight, Avatar+Knight, Avatar+Thief, Orc+Troll, Ghost+Vampire, Ghost+Skeleton, Vampire+Skeleton, Witch+Wizzard, Fairy+Fly, Spider+Beetle.

Extra lair: Creatures, what between big friendship they have 1 lair where the two creatures sleeping. This sleep makes your creatures happy.

Give magic: Copy one magic, what have your creature to another creature, what don't have it (It costs 100 if that spell learned in level 1 1000 if that learned in level 2 ect.

3. New Dungeon specials:

Half costs: All things half price for about 5 minutes.

Kill creature: Kills one of your creatures, returns as another creature (You select all).

Kill monster: Like kill creature, but it returns as a hero.

New creatures:
Extra imp: He can also heal, or destroy the room, or he can destroy the enemy's walls, for lots of time
Learning thing at level 1. Hand to Hand
Learning thing at level 1. Working
Learning thing at level 6. Speed
Learning thing at level 7. Invisible
Learning thing at level 8. Cure
Learning thing at level 9. Heal
Learning thing at level 10. Teleport
The other things as the normal Imp
Dark Knight: He is a very good fighter! He kicks the Horned Reaper!
Learning thing at level 1. Hand to Hand
Learning thing at level 2. Lightning
Learning thing at level 2. Drain
Learning thing at level 3. Gas bomb
Learning thing at level 4. Cure
Learning thing at level 4. Heal
Learning thing at level 5. Fliing
Learning thing at level 6. Freeze
Learning thing at level 6. Slow
Learning thing at level 7. Meteor
Learning thing at level 8. Fireball
Learning thing at level 9. Haste
Learning thing at level 10. Navigation rocket
Learning thing at level 10. Armour
Learning thing at level 10. Teleport
Pay Money: (Level 1) 4000 (Level 10) 40,000
Cost in Training room: 150
Cost in scavenger room: 100
Chickens eat: 4/eating
Anoyance: same as Knight
Primary job: Training Room
Secondary job: Friendshipping Room
Strenght: as Giant
Anim: Like a Thief, Knight, but his armour is back, and he haven't got a helm.
Luck: 25
Sight: Normal
Armour: as Dragon
Skill: as Horned Reaper
Dexterity: as Bile Demon
Health: 2500
Lair: like the Reaper's
Eating chickens: like a Warlock
Fight with: Nothing, just help fight to the Dark Misstress, Fly, Skeleton, Warlock, Hound (if their fight with your other creatures.)
Needs to get out of the portal: 10x10 Friendship room, 5x5 Training room, 2x2 hatchery, 1 Dark Mistress, or 1 Skeleton.
Things, what never get out of the portal 5 Ninja, 15x15 Torturing room, 10 Bile demon. (If 1 has in your dungeon he is won't go out of the portal!)
Lots of new monsters for just some ideas: Zombie, Lich, Bone Dragon, Red Dragon, Scorpion (GIANT), Dark Alchemist
heros: Peseant, Titan, Alchemist, Spy

New Spell:
Summon Extra imp: Dobules of cost
New Sarcifice options: 3 Skeletons, 1 Bile demon, 1 Warlock, 1 Beetle, 1 Troll=A Dark Knight
2 Skeletons, 1 Bile demon, 1 Vampire, 1 Fly, 1 Orc, 1 Troll =An Avatar
1 Skeleton, 1 Bile demon, 1 Fly=A Dark Alchemist
1 Skeleton, 1 Bile demon, 1 Spider=An Alchemist
1 Bile demon, 1 Beetle=A Lich
5 Trolls= A Red Dragon
2 Orcs= A Scorpion
1 Orc, 4 Trolls= A Spy
1 Orc, 3 Trolls= A Zombie
1 Orc, 2 Trolls= A Peseant
1 Scorpion, 1 Dark Alchemist, 1 Spy, 2 Peseants= A Titan

Andy Marsh

My wish list is short & sweet:

No.1 Larger levels - obviously more area to explore & the possibility of multiple enemy keepers.

No.2 Larger levels etc. etc.

F. Jansson

It would make it to easy to have the option to rebuild stone walls and fortify them but why not make it possibly to make treewalls, just for the layout of the dungeons, these walls could as weak as a tree door but it would look much better and you could separate different species the walls, this would also make it possible to build doors in rooms that have a 2 square entrance.

Also a quite unimportant idea but it would be of great value to those who like to continue building their dungeons after victory, a possibility to switch workshop mode from battle to environment mode, battle mode would produce traps and doors for defense, environment would produce like gargoyle statues and furniture for the lairs, not very important but it would make the dungeons look better.

Butcher

1. I think it would be neat if creatures could have more then one melee attack. For example, take your typicl Bile Demon, all he does is hits an enemy with his right spikey thing on his horn. But if he had more then one melee attack for example, such as hitting an enemy with his left spikey thing also,
it would make it more instering.

2.  An armory would be neat also. It would provide your creatures with weapons and armor.

Just drop a wimpy little beetle for in it for example, and he will start working on plans for a suit of armor or a weapon desined for himself and other beetles. Then the worker creatures will get to work making the beetles' armor or weapon for them. Then a beetle will pick up somthing out of the armory when somthing is ready. It would also change the creatures appearance would change just like in Diablo when a charcture equips himself.

Mike Bieker

A random game generator as good as the one in the Warlords series by SSG.

R J Mcgee

I don't know about you guys, but I get so sick and tired of Possession sometimes. How about, you can click on of your monsters, then be able to change the cursor with a mouse button click or a key that changes it to a walking icon, then you can left click on the tile you want them to go, then you can watch them walk to that destination under your control without the need for Possession. Perhaps even have it so that the walk icon turns into a sword icon when over an enemy so you can single out an enemy for him to attack.

Azis Aryoso

I  Want the game just like this :

1. The game is easily to edit like Quake, (hey quake is wining cause people can edit all by aspect in the game easily you know).

2. New improved 3-D engine

3. Much-much units and kick the horned reaper asses from DK 2

4. Can edit our faces (the keeper class) like warlock = casting on unit improve, daemon = unit can win fighting easily, Skeleton = Unit re-carnation faster, etc.

5. Much more room, spell, enemy, unit etc.

6. A classical Process spell unit

7. Temple are the places to mix unit Fly + Spider = Flying Spider, captured Human + Demon = Large Red Burning Demon etc.etc.etc.etc..............

Stimpy

1. Cooperative play. A nice large map where two friends networked together can play as a team to defeat 1 or more enemies.

2. Difficulty setting. A way to increase or decrease the speed and shot frequency  of the enemy. Perhaps 1-5 or easy as killing chained up rabbits with a howitzer (1) to I eat reapers for breakfast(5).

3. Different speeds for different creatures not just different levels. (e.g. a level 1 dragon should be faster than a level 1 warlock.)

JMGG

Weapon improvements like level 5 and 10 reapers can make the weapon better from the knowledge for cash.............!

Make your own levels

A few knew creatures like the grim reaper mentioned there...... might be bad to fight against =:o((

And some raiding movies... between the missions.Maybe u could join the game in a grim reaper to have *fun* on the surface instead too.

Maybe 2 places above and below!!!.......... like the remains that ain't aware of the marvelous dungeon....that need to be ***** *** *****

I forgot one of the MOST IMPORTANT things ....... i dont like waiting locked in forever waiting for my units TO TRAIN.   Get a speed control!

Killing graphics! and so on..

James "the Nipper" Beeby aged 6

A creature called Foo-foo that is small and can bite people and shoot lightening bolts at people and has wind power.

Andy "lock up your bile demons" Beeby

Why are there no toilets in Dungeon Keeper ?. The creatures have somewhere to eat, somewhere to sleep, so why not somewhere for number 2's ? This could be an additional room. Perhaps a creature could be formed (and Bile Demons spring to mind) once the mass of material in the toilet has reached a critical mass and been cleaned out by an imp. The voice would announce something like: "Your toilet (or cesspit) has been emptied and a Bile Demon molded from the contents"

Fussy creatures (or perhaps captured heroes) might get annoyed if there aren't enough facilities. One can imagine that Bile Demon pooh could be pretty annoying (or even frankly dangerous)

Chuck Fox

1.  Art Workshop - This is where you can make your own monsters.

2.  MicDonelds - This will replace the Hatchery, your creatures can get anything from the Real MicckeyD.

3.  Bio-Library - This is where you can mix creatures.(Cool huh)?

4.  Monster - The Grim Reaper, you can only get this by sacrificing a Ghost, Dark Mistress, Horned Reaper, Spider &  Beetle. His Lair Is a Crack To Hell

Ashley Smith>

After writing the Unofficial Dungeon Keeper FAQ, I learned a great deal about the game, and gained some insight into what could be done to improve the sequel. Heed my words, else thou shalt spend your lives in a torture chamber, as punishment for a good (instead of evil) product.

1. More "random events/effects" = less boredom. In DK, you could easily fortify your base for a few hours, mine at gems at your pleasure, and train all your minions to level 10 without a worry in the world. What I'd like to see and hear is "Sire, giant beetles are attacking!" "We have disturbed a giant squid" "The iron doors have rusted shut" etc... Try to keep things interesting, to add a random element which keeps each game different and refreshing.

2. Creatures need to move faster. When sending your minions into battle, you had to watch as they casually strolled across the map. I want to see monsters deadly keen for battle, charging with swords raised.

3. Some traps can be manufactured and placed, others are only obtained by modifying naturally occuring objects. e.g. dropping a boulder into a pit of lava, splashing enemies

4. Making groups or teams of creatures needs to be much easier. I want to be able to select some creatures, pick them up and drop them somewhere, then possess one of them and get them to follow me. I should have other options while I am possessing a creature, like yelling for reinforcements, screaming retreat..

5. (Maybe) Special cameo creature appearances. Control medusa, dracula, frankenstein or the swamp thing. Make them need to accomplish a certain mission, or perhaps your creatures need to please them to avoid their wrath.

6. Monsters need to be smarter. If you have some guards at the front of your dungeon, and they see enemies approaching, they should blow a horn to warn of an attack, and other creatures should rush to support them.

7. Perhaps some monsters could lay eggs. Now if you steal some eggs before they are hatched, they will think you are their master, and they will fight for you. Or, just smash the eggs :)

8. Basically, monsters need: more speed, more personality (maybe grunting as they eat, screaming with delight as they bash and torture enemies, a life cycle(!?) so that a dragon would start off small and vulnerable, but with time grow to enormous (6 times the size of a DK creature for example) size, so it could wreak extreme havok.

9. Killing other DK's is fine, but we want to have other scenarios like:

* build a base, then defend it from a legion of heroes (they enter from above, no underground base)

* invade the world above, raiding castles and villages

* lead a legion of troops to rescue a captured monster of importance, or an ancient treasure/spell

* capture humans, convert them to vampires, then send them back to the heroes base. "All seemed fine until Sir George started biting the necks of the other knights". You could say, not have direct control over the vampire, but could tell it when to stop being friendly and start attacking its allies.

10. More cutscenes. A storyline *IS* important, but just make sure that the transitions between levels make sense and are smooth (take Quake2 for example. A major goal, accomplished by achieving several minor sequential goals).

***** Above all, provide a mechanism for player feedback, and take note of what they say. *****

That's all I can think of for now. I've said it before and I'll say it again, "Can I work for you guys?!". For free. Or at least let me be a beta tester. Please! :) And read my UDKFAQ and tell me what you think.

{Anarchy} - More Traps - spiked pit traps, falling rock traps, whirling blade traps, teleportation traps, viper and creature pits, collapsing ceiling traps, cement traps that turn creatures into statues you can use as warnings for the enemy, and traps you can impart spells into.

{Eric} -  I keep my fingers crossed that Bullfrog will eventually start looking at some of the more successful methods that companies are using to keep their games on the cutting edge rather than the bleeding edge of technology. The two that come to mind almost immediately are Bungie and Id. Both companies release their recompiled code to the public in the form of beta patches. People are invited to download the patches, try them, and report back what happens. If they work, then the test is considered a success and the patch is sent out to all the usual sites. If it fails, then you restore your old files and wait for the next attempt. The advantage here is that all parties involved know that this is a beta test. There is no stamp of approval to tarnish if the damn thing fails. There is no wait for the in house folks to try to run the thing through every simulated contingency and configuration before it sees the light of day (if it indeed EVER sees the light of day). And the most important factor, even if the test is a failure, chances are someone out there can figure out a way to "make it work" even if you don't immediately see how. Chances are, hours...even minutes after a game hits the market, people have already torn into the code and reverse engineered every little programming secret out of it.

Want to play a "Cooperative" game of "Quake II" over the Internet? You can, thanks to the players. Want to deathmatch against 32 AI enhanced computer opponents? You will, thanks to the players. Id knows the people who play their games are clever and willing to share for the good of the game...I had a player supplied solution to the server crashing problem 23 hours before Id began the mass release of their new executable. Why? Because when problems came up, and the solution wasn't immediately apparent, John Carmack reached for the telephone -- contacted the people who discovered the problems -- and sent them new utilities and patch files until the problem could be identified and solved. As he states in his periodic updates, many of the problems "Quake II" encountered could not have been found without this kind of treatment. Not everything can be recreated in a sealed testing lab.

"Myth: The Fallen Lords" worked from day one, but had the added advantage of shipping WITH an open testing lab...bungie.net. While the game worked out of the box it could still use a few tweaks to make it smarter and easier to play. How did they identify this? By inviting over a few thousand folks all day every day to battle it out on their server. I believe this technique started with Blizzard (and continues with the newest public alpha of Starcraft...a game which THANKFULLY wasn't pushed out the door this Christmas in it's current state). Why does this seem to work for Myth, when it failed for "Diablo" and "Ultima Online"? Because they have the resources to keep on top of all the reports and suggestions that pour in, and play the game enough to implement changes on a near daily basis. Most are server side, but when the occasional client side changes come in, we are known where to get it and what it does. It isn't mandatory until enough folks try it and give it the thumbs up.

Where are the Dungeon Keeper betas?

The map editor was written by players.
The character editor was written by players.
The stat editor was written by players.

They aren't perfect, but they exist and we use them gladly. Even if Bullfrog never finishes any of the things on their "To Do" list with regards to the game, I hope they eventually decide to share rather than continue to wait.

More wishes here

{Gray} - Multi-level dungeons, like have some levels with 3 stories or 5, and be able to switch off views of them, and you can build stairs, etc.

- Get rid of the hand of evil, it is way too powerful, or perhaps keep it but only be able to move imps.

- Being able to place your own torches, and maybe make the mouse cursor not light everything up, so you have to place torches to be able to see your dungeon? So the first thing you would have to build is a Torch making factory (make it small, perhaps 3 x 3).

- On multiplayer levels, don't expose the enemy's portals, just the one nearest to you. I know that it would be much more fun, to just "come across" portals. Also don't mirror where the dungeon heart is in multiplay levels either. Wouldn't it be more to accidentally discover the other keeper's heart?

- Include a Map editor, like C&C red alert.

- Make some of the bigger creatures take up more than one tile. This would make dungeon design much more difficult (and fun) to have the level 10 bile demons take up a 2x2 space!

- Add fogger machines, that could be manufactured in the workshop, so they would constantly produce fog in an area to make it so they can't see the ambush you are preparing.

... the list goes on, but these are the things I would like to see most.

{Azis Aryoso} - 1. Diablo's graphics, 2. Can attack outside the Dungeons, 3. Ability to mix magic, 4. Create a creature from scratch.

{Eric Fate} - In response to Dungeon Keeper losing out the Total Annihilation in the Games Domain awards.  DK would have got his vote if:

- Dungeon Keeper worked fresh from the install rather than randomly dumping me to windows until I pulled all the level data off the CD.

- Dungeon Keeper ever allowed me to play a single multiplayer game without crashing after the map selection phase.

- Dungeon Keeper meeting any of their stated deadlines for the 1.5 patch, the D3D patch, or the addition of the hero units which to my previous recollection were initially billed to be released in November with the expansion disc.

- Dungeon Keeper giving the expansion disc as involved in storyline as the original game rather than just having it be a pile of levels to sift through and get trounced at.

- I still enjoy it, but while Bullfrog gets the marks for making an original and stunning game, they shot themselves in the foot when it came to the final spit and polish before setting it out for display.

- Total Annihilation worked out of the box, and every couple weeks there is an update available which, rather than patch bugs, adds gameplay.

There is a lessen to be learned here.

{Random} - The following notes are taken from a DK style game I have been writing since I first heard of DK!

- The original concept was a world with the City in the middle, and 8 Dungeons surrounding it in various terrains (e.g. a Fallen Temple in a Swamp, a Haunted Tower in a Forest, etc.)

- All 9 places would be active after you choose which you will settle in, but you had to clear out the Dungeon first before taking over :) All 9 Domains would then have to fight each other for Resources and Power. Now read on:

- Dungeon should be multi-level like EOB and other such games, so that you can flip between levels. There should be an entrance where the Adventurers will come in, and an outside city/forest.

- Monsters must be "set" at certain points (Lairs/Guard Posts) from the entrance to encounter the party and wear them down so that they can't reach the lowest level of the dungeon (where your Dungeon Heart is).

- The Dungeon Heart should be your power source for spells (instead of gold) and monster attraction. It should grow as you gain more followers and destroy Adventurers.

- Above ground, there should be a forest which is a sort of neutral territory (i.e. battleground) and then the City. The City is run by the Lord as an upside-down dungeon, i.e. his Castle-heart is in the highest tower. He is the anti-Dungeon Keeper :)

- Both sides need resources in order to create Rooms in their Domains. Metal, Stone and Gems are available in the Dungeon; Wood, Herbs and Food are in the Forest; People/Slaves, Weapons and Spells are in the City.

- As can be seen, both sides will need to plunder their own Domains as well as the other, and the Forest in order to expand. Instead of Imps, the dungeon is run on Slaves, captured from above ground. Slaves are also sources of food. However the Slaves can get organised and revolt unless you keep them terrorised and under control with Overseers.

Hope this is of some help to you. If you want some help designing this game, let me know, ok? ;)

{Keith Fung} - Here is something that will cause a lot of controversy. I want to get rid of the ability to pick up creatures with the hand of evil, and make the call to arms a "free" spell. This will change the mechanics of the game completely from a "death from above" drop fest to a more strategic game.  It will also make the alarm trap extremely valuable. I have not found a good use for this trap up to now.

- Another modification would be to bind the barracks enhanced creatures to respond to alarms, call to arms, and must obey spells at a much faster rate than non barracks creatures.

 {Rafa Agundo} - I would like it if I could carry traps with the Hand of Evil.  I can do it with money but not traps.  This will mean that it is not necessary to command an imp to go to the workshop to actually pick the trap up himself.

{Zom} - 1.   Make the Dungeon Heart play a larger part in the game. Instead of just   shrinking when attacked it should act as a repository for your evil power.

It starts off quite small and the more creatures you attract the larger it gets. Also the more evil acts you do cause it to grow like slapping creatures, torturing the enemy, killing the enemies creatures and gaining more land. It would also get depleted when you cast spells, your creatures die, the enemy takes over your rooms etc.

2. It would be nice to have a true 3D underground environment with tunnels going above and below one another. With this you could have Water falls, Lava flows and the boulder trap would keep going down hill until it was stopped.

{Ryan Fenton} 1. No hard-to-get/surf-city style resources, only gold, stone (everywhere that's not gold) and things your creatures can make out of them go into making certain traps/objects. This means that no one has got to go traipsing about the underworld looking for a special tree root just to make their gas trap.

2. Everyone's got their own trap idea, I don't need to provide any more.

3. Keep gem blocks with unlimited gold - just make 'em harder to get to in a level, and in fewer levels...it'd be sad to lose those levels that you could just dink around in, dig in, and feel free to run your dungeon to your deprived heart's content without that sickening 'limited resources' felling.

4. Possible replacement of above...a cash setting for the workshop to directly 'make' money, and other revenue generating activities that can actually end up being profitable enough to still compete once your infrastructure is built up enough without having to go through the monotony of making a trap, placing it and THEN selling it.

5. May not be worth the effort, but possibly letting some creatures create tools give other creatures some minor extra abilities. EX: Give your reaper a shovel, it can't fight as well, but it can now dig tunnels as a pretty quick rate, and can fight earth elementals with greater effectiveness...in this way you could have some levels without imps (you still wouldn't be able to "take over" enemy rooms however.) Certain powerful tools for creatures CAN require hard-to-get items, like a tree branch from the above world to make a lighting staff for a 7+ level mage or 11+ (remember levels can go to 20) level vamp.

6. On some dungeons built under islands, next to the ocean, or next to some other body of water, cutting through the edge wall will begin flooding/submerging the dungeon beginning at that point and ending with lava/door/walls. Only tentacles or some other water creatures will avoid damage. The same thing with areas near volcanoes, or way deep under the earth, ending with water/doors/walls, and dragons & other fire based creatures would be immune. Sunlight wouldn't be as bad, but would harm vamps/fungus creatures/whatever.

{Nikolai the troll} - 1. Some way of making the imps do a particular task, like "reinforce that wall and don't stop until you've finished the whole thing".  Mark such imps as "working", so you don't accidentally pick them up to do something else.

2. Make the creatures in the workshop build a specific item.   "Yes, that's a very nice gas trap, but I really needed a door."

3. Give the class 10 Knight some ranged weapons!

4. Torture chickens? Only kidding.

{Ryan Fenton} - 1. Male & female varieties of all monsters that the denotation can be attributed to: A female bile daemon would make an awesome war-lard! No male mistresses-that'd be a vamp.

2. Remove general scavenging and lure enemies' troops on an individual basis. No warnings about "your creatures are being scavenged" until it's done. Allow a period of "dual ownership" where creatures can be used on one side for sabotage/spying, but still be picked up as normal by original owner and do the token workshop/butcher work when dropped, but no research. If a mistress is accosted to join the other side, she'll tell the keeper - no getting mistresses outside of battles & gates (so you can at least "trust" someone.)

3. To compliment above make 2 new forms of "loyalty tests." One would be a drop into the suspect into the torture room where a less harsh form of mistress torture will divulge what has/has not been offered to the creature to be followed by some heavy reindoctrination. The other would be a drop into the temple, and if they're loyalties are less than they should be they are destroyed in some very interesting way (the gods are pleased with your sacrifice:)) The former would be a standard practice in the course of gameplay, the latter would be used in the midst of battle when there just in not enough time to deal with it, and to deal a harsh blow to would-be defectors (general morale increases temporarily.)

Again, that's all I've got for now...everyone else pipe in with your own insidious plots! I liked the idea about the outside excursions, it'd be a nice way to introduce werewolves. Possibly make possible excursions two or three to a level that has access to the outside world...could be way better than just naked bonus boxes...maybe make 'em 3-d only trips!

 {Keith Fung} - How about the ability to go to the surface to raid/attack towns, villages, and castles. Let us take the fight to the enemy as well. These "levels" could be bonuses for defeating the Lord of that Realm.

The creatures you get to attack the surface would be those creatures that still survive in your dungeon. You can build nothing on the surface. Surface mission goals could be but not limited to raids, capture the prize, storm the castle or search & destroy.

Creatures could also be restricted/aided from surface missions due to other conditions (i.e. no vampires in daylight, or bonuses to undead at night with full moons).

{Ryan Fenton} -  1. A SC2k style drag-to-select a rectangle to dig/place room/guard area.

2. "Missions" (special commands) you can give your creatures, or perhaps specialized, quest-based creatures - like "assassinate" to that thief-mage mercenary you've hired, where it will, on it's own, sneak into the midst of the enemy compound, dispatch some opponent (of sufficient power worthy of it's talents of course - it can refuse), and sneak away, doing things like picking locks and putting guards that spot 'im to sleep along the way - teleporting away if something goes wrong. Other missions: kamikaze, spy, sabotage, and play sides(force computer opponent into harsher conflict with another opponent).

3. A side VDU that can be used to keep track of the progress of a minion, or with a spell, a view through the eyes of an opponent creature - far more interesting than a "sight of evil"

4. More diverse food variety (many evil thoughts) ... a "butcher" room would be nice and cannibalism would be an interesting way to deal with a trapped opponent without a "gate" for his creatures to flee out of - it'd be cute to see a reaper with some imp feet hanging out of his mouth. Some creatures might only eat certain things, and fungus troops would be an interesting addition - self replicating on dead bodies, but watch out for fire - they'd make a nice living torch for a time, then poof!

5. More diverse "item" placement - you get to choose torture implements, training tools, wall decorations, and imps with nothing more to do could create some interesting things.

6. Have monsters and imps, etc. have more "fun" actions and effects...imps playing tag, and run around laughing until they are slapped or "tag" a reaper or whatever, vampires not show up in mirrors or water, mistresses do random acrobatics as they run from place to place, orcs/trolls playing cards(and getting mad), and other fun stuff.

7. A more stratified wall progression - certain level imps can break down certain walls, certain walls require certain resources, although ultimately the strongest wall cannot be breached.

8. Vampire lairs can be placed in walls, like at the morgue, where the gurney slides out and he pops out...just for the cool effect. Each lair must have resources to be built.

9. Level range to be increased to 20 - to go along with the sequel numbering and to make the process of character building a potentially more involved process.

That's what I've got so far...now everyone else offer your suggestions!

{Kyle} - There should be more traps like vats of boiling oil that you set above doors or in halls and when your imps see the enemy they dump it on them . A interactive torture room that lets you choose the torture that works best and a multi level dungeon would be fun or at least have a way to dig down and create pits or hidden rooms .

{Leann} - Not as many 'training' levels as there were in Dungeon Keeper I. Save option in multiplayer games

{Mark} - Hand of Evil too powerful. Ruins the strategy of a battle as you can transport  creatures 8 at a time. Need to adapt it someway. Limit the number of creatures it can transport at one time i.e. 2. Maybe have a timer on it so it can only be used every few minutes.

{Matt} - Speed walking pace up for creatures.

{Vagabond} - In multiplayer you can pre-set creatures/game features are to be enabled. Similar to the C&C setup where you set a technical difficulty, number of bonus boxes, start units etc.

{Duane} - No infinite wealth i.e. gems. This makes any game where you've got access to a gem a piece of cake for the patient player - build up a minimal dungeon, dig out a few hundred thousand gold, and just sit patiently until you train all of your creatures (including the dozens of imps you'll be sure to make) to level 10, and still have plenty of gold left

{Duane} - There should be more levels with various limitations thrown in. For instance, a level where there is no library, so you never get any spells. Or one without a training room, or one where only a certain type of creature shows up (i.e. do the whole level with nothing but 25 bile demons).

- Transfer creature should be limited somehow, as well. What level *can't* be beat if you start by bringing a level 10 vampire with you?

- Give us a little bit more control over imps. I would have liked a "follow enemy wall" command to use for my imp to dig a path around the enemy's fortified dungeon.

- How about a "fill" command to complement "dig"? Many times I would have liked to fill in areas that I accidentally dug, or that would be strategic places for doors, etc

{Commander} - They could give you the option to place lights around your Dungeon, so it wouldn't be dark? I know, if you have a 2x2 Treasure room it adds lights, but maybe you could set up your own lights and make them?

- Maybe manufacture and research at a specific order? Maybe every creature can train in his Strength, Dexterity, etc, and learn spells? Such as, you could have a Horned Reaper knowing every spell, but only for a non-magic using creature it would take 3 hours for him to learn all the game's spells, and 100,000 Gold? Specific details.