I’ve been doing some caving recently. No, not caving into peer pressure or my desire for a huge bowl of chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream! I’m talking about creating a cave dungeon for Shadows of Adam.

Caves are a mainstay of classic 16-bit JRPGs. They are basically omnipresent. Quick, in under 10 seconds, name a JRPG from the 90s without any caves! … Could you do it? If so, post the name of the game in the comments and color me impressed.

One thing that I’ve seen countless times when it comes to cave dungeons is a certain awkward boxiness. The graphics look like cave walls, but the environment is boxier than the breakfast cereal aisle at your grocery store.

To combat this, a variety of measures can be taken, but one of my favorites is the use of what I call “seams.” What’s a seam? A picture is worth a thousand words, so here you go.

The above could have easily been a flat wall. Notice the effect this creates. It broadens the extent of the cavern and gives it a more natural, gnarly form without increasing the playable area.

Using a system of seams can really enhance the look of cave level, and given the ubiquity of caves in RPGs, I want to do all I can to give such a level some extra flair.

See you next time!