The “Random Dungeon Generators Reviewed” article I wrote almost a weekend ago received some great feedback.  I’ve updated the article with the changes.  Below is a summary of the differences:

• Another impressive dungeon generator (the one from Wizards of the Coast–I can’t believe it wasn’t in my initial search results) was added.
• A few other dungeon generators that don’t entirely fit the focus of article were also added to an “Others” section.
• How well the maps print was added as another criteria for each dungeon generator.
• A couple of the other reviews were updated significantly.  One was updated positively because it did something that I did not see at first.  A different review noted how another generator could be improved, based on how it randomly creates dungeons.

Random dungeon generators go way back to the early days of computer games.  Text-based dungeon crawls like Hack and Moria randomly created their dungeon levels using ASCII characters, but even they have since been given graphics front-ends.

A dungeon generator can save you some time when you’re getting ready for your next game session.  Two of the generators below can save you even more time by listing the contents and some aspects of each room.  However, you may need to adjust these descriptions or throw them out completely to fit your needs.  One also lists the dungeon’s general description (type of rock, climb difficulty, lighting, etc.)

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Have I missed any good random dungeon generators?  What do you like about them or one in particular?  Please post a comment.

A simple example of counterchanging.

The coat of arms visual designer has moved to a new website at http://www.inkwellideas.com/coat_of_arms/ The new website allows for more interaction and other features.

A new version of the Coat of Arms Visual Designer has also just been released.

The major new feature is more robust support for counterchanging.  (Counterchanging is when a charge (symbol, creature or ordinary) is placed so it crosses over multiple areas of a division.  In these cases, the charge loses its color scheme and instead gets the color that is the opposite division area’s color.)

The handling of counterchanging isn’t perfect yet, but it should handle all colors and counterchanging ordinaries with furs.  Symbols and creatures that are partially over furs may not line up properly. This issue should be addressed in the next release, but hopefully it only is an issue for a small percentage of designs.

Other improvements:

• Added three new heraldic colors.  (These aren’t too common–which is why they weren’t in the software before–but they were used.)
• Added more options for placing groups of charges in patterns. (Three in Chief, Three in Pale, etc.)
• Fixed a bug with the Fleur De Lis graphic.
• Fixed an issue where deleting a division didn’t completely remove it.
• Fixed an issue where switching between divisions might not allow you to set part of the new division’s properties.
• A few other minor bugs were fixed.

The next version will have mostly bug fixes but it will also have some of the requested charges that have piled up.