Patchlantis

**Patchlantis** is the island *Patch Quest* takes place on. As a member of the Explorer's Guild, the player is tasked to find the Treasures of the king who once ruled this land.

## Island Layout

Patchlantis features a labyrinthine layout following a grid-like pattern of rooms and corridors. The general shape of the island does not change, but the contents of rooms and corridors are randomly generated every run.

The island is a combination of 3 different types of compartments: **Rooms**, **Corridors** and **Alcoves**.

### Corridors

Corridors connect rooms and alcoves together. A corridor is seven patches long and three patches large (horizontally or vertically). They are filled with hazardous terrain, Patch Pins, obstacles, and critters. Monsters will spawn when the player has advanced far enough into a corridor. The number and level of monsters depends of the current difficulty level.

**Obstacles** are exclusive to corridors. They block traversal for the player and monsters, but still allow bullets to pass through.

### Rooms

Rooms are typically connected to at least two corridors. A room is three by three patches in size. Rooms contain unique events or objects that a player can interact with, and they may also house dungeons and shortcuts.

After completing at least one dungeon, the player will be able to find empty plots in random rooms, where they can plant a captured pin to make a garden.

Rooms count towards a third of the Pin Press progress bar. There is also a chance of stats or a charm dropping if the room includes a monster battle.

### Alcoves

Alcoves are connected to only one corridor. An alcove is the same size as a room. Each run, they will randomly connect to one of four adjacent rooms (with a few exceptions). Alcoves do not appear in the Undersea, but they do in the Overground and Deep Patchlantis.

Alcoves copy the zone or sub-zone of the corridor they are connected to. A fast travel vent is always available to allow the player to return to any previously entered room. Monsters do not spawn, making alcoves a safe area for the player to rest.

There are three types of Alcoves, each providing a help or buff to the player:

* **Altar Alcoves:** Despite sharing the same map icon, Altar Alcoves work differently to altars in ordinary rooms. Instead of trading stats, they offer a choice of three charms similar to the starting rooms in the inner zones.
* **Great Tree Alcoves:** Great Tree Alcoves house a large tree in the centre, containing a random charm. Around this tree, four stat drops spawn and every single type of Ammo Fruit is available, giving the player the chance to reload and choose their preferred ammo.
* **Health Alcoves:** Health Alcoves contain a large heart tree in the centre that bears a Big Heal, giving twenty health points when collected and removing all negative ailments. It also has two normal hearts that heal five health points and four stat drops, as well as a cleanser pin and two random ammo bushes.

The buffs are always available as long as the player has not collected them yet.

## Room Types

###  Danger Rooms

This version consists of three waves of monsters:

* **Wave 1:** About four bronze crowned and two silver crowned monsters appear at once. Mounts also level up after this wave.
* **Wave 2:** About ten bronze crown monsters gradually enter the room, and there can only be a maximum of four at a time. Mounts do not level up after this wave.
* **Wave 3:** This wave is similar to the first wave , but has a chance to spawn a gold crown monster depending on the current difficulty level. Mounts don't level up after this wave.

**Golem Fights:**

A random Golem miniboss fight begins. The fight is over once the Golem is defeated.

**Notes:**

* Danger rooms are empty. No pins or terrain spawn in the room, with the exception of decorative pins.
* Once a danger room is completed, the player is rewarded with one big heal, one energy drop and three stat drops.
* Danger room exits are blocked until all waves are cleared. The player cannot escape and must complete a danger room before continuing progress.

###  Altar Rooms

An altar appears on the center of the room. There are three different types of altars:

* **Skull Altar:** Health points can be exchanged for 3 points of any stat, the player can choose the desired stat in every trade. The altar accepts a total of 10 trades before being emptied. The cost starts at 1 HP and increases by 1 HP every 2 trades, therefore the last trade costs 6 HP. The player can get 30 stat points in exchange for 35 HP.
* **Stat Altar:** the lowest non empty stat can be exchanged with the presented stat in increments of 5 points. If the lowest stat has less that 5 points, the remaining is collected from the second lowest, and so on. The trade is not possible if there are no stat points left to trade.
* **Health altar:** 5 stat points of any stat can be exchanged for health points. The altar accepts a total of 10 trades before being emptied. The first 4 trades give 3 HP, the second 4 trades give 2 HP, and the last 2 give 1 HP, taking a maximum of 50 stat points in exchange for 22 HP.

**Notes:**

* Pins and Terrain can spawn in altar rooms.
* It is not possible to revert a trade once it is made.
* The player cannot interact with an altar once it has been emptied.

###  Launchers

Launchers allow the player to directly jump to any adjacent room, regardless of whether they are connected by a corridor or not.

**Notes:**

* Pins spawn next to launchers.
* The fast travel balloon cannot be used after using a Launcher.

###  Dungeon Entrances

These rooms house the entrance to a Dungeon in its center. One cleanser and an ammo bush spawn near a dungeon entrance, as well as four copies of a deliberately placed pin and some decorative pins.

Before the player enters a dungeon room, the map landmark for it is an  exclamation mark icon.

###  Whirlpools

Whirlpools act as portals to the Undersea. Whirlpool rooms contains a small lake at the center, one cleanser, and an ammo bush. Random pins also spawn nearby.

###  Weather Rooms

Weather events are exclusive to their sub-zones. Each weather room has several phases:

* In the first phase, a series of projectiles is launched at the player. The duration of this phase varies depending on the weather.
* A standard monster battle starts after the first phase is over.
* Some weather events have a third phase, which is similar to the first one.

Once the room is cleared, the player is rewarded with one normal heart and three stat drops.

**Notes:**

* Weather rooms are empty. No pins or terrain spawns in the room.
* Exits are blocked until the room is cleared.

###  Critter Rooms

A swarm of critters moves towards the player. Each critter type has its own movement pattern. Once the battle is cleared, the player is rewarded with two stat drops.

**Notes:**

* Critter rooms are empty. No pins or terrain spawns in the room.
* Exits are blocked until the room is cleared.

###  Boss fights

Boss fights present one main goal to the player where a single stronger enemy is the focus of the battle. Boss fights might reward the player with a Trinket at the end. They come in various types.

**Notes:**

* The rooms for boss fights are empty. No interactable pins or terrain spawns here, though decorative pins may spawn depending on the fight.
* Some boss fight locations are fixed, while others are randomly chosen each run. But there is always one of the same boss fight.
* Exits are blocked until the boss fight is cleared.

###  Microboss fights

Microbosses present an easier challenge than boss fights, usually including a wave of monsters and series of bullets or critters. Microboss fights do not reward the player with a Trinket at the end.

**Notes:**

* The rooms for microboss fights are generally empty. Pins do not spawn, but terrain does.
* The locations for microboss fight are randomly chosen every run, and there can be more than one of each per run.
* Exits are blocked until the microboss fight is cleared.

###  Switches

These rooms contain one large switch in the center. The switch generally includes a crystal in its design, and is activated to trigger an event by melee blasting it. The switch will remain active in next runs.

**Notes:**

* Pins and hazardous terrain spawn in this room. There is also always a random ammo bush as well.
* Before the switch is activated, the room's landmark in the map is a  question mark. Once the switch is activated, the landmark becomes a  check mark.
* Normal switches look like large crystals and are used to open doors. In the Swamp Zone, there are three switches in the form of pillars that are necessary to open the Musholeum. In the Volcanic Zone, there is a dragon head shaped switch used to deactivate the fire weather in Meteor Mountain.

###  Shortcuts

These rooms house a shortcut in its center with a cleanser and ammo bush. They are either  Dungeon shortcuts or  Cave shortcuts.

Dungeon shortcuts are unlocked after a major dungeon is cleared, while cave shortcuts connect to other caves or a minor dungeon. The room is considered a monster battle room until the shortcut is unlocked.

Shortcut rooms are considered safe rooms, meaning monsters do not usually spawn inside them, but in some cases (commonly in the Misty Caverns), shortcut rooms can include a monster battle. Similarly to the first wave of a Danger room, the exits and shortcut are blocked until the battle is over.

###  Lorestones

Lorestones tell the story of the ancient civilization in Patchlantis. Every zone contains one lorestone, which will disappear once the player interacts with it. Upon interaction PAC will decipher the lorestone's content and save it in the Notes. Lorestone rooms also contain a cleanser and a couple of pins.

**Notes:**

* Once a lorestone disappears, it becomes an unmarked room.

### Unmarked Rooms

These rooms present one single wave of monsters, one similar to the first or second wave in a Danger room. Once the wave is cleared, the player is rewarded with two stat drops, the mount also levels up.

There is a chance the room might present three charm altars horizontally aligned in the center; the player can choose one charm, which triggers the monster battle. This variant has a fast travel vent activated once the wave is cleared. A player can decide to not interact with the altars and instead exit the room. In that case, the altars will still be available if the player returns later in the same run.

**Notes:**

* Mounts level up after the battle is completed.
* Pins and terrain spawn in this room.
* The exits are blocked when the battle starts, the player must therefore defeat all monsters before continuing progress.

## Island Composition

### Base Camp

The Base Camp is located at the center of the island, this is where the player keeps their pets, store pins, and embark on quests.

### The Overground

The Overground covers the majority of Patchlantis. It is partitioned into multiple zones:

* **4 Inner Zones:** This is where the player can choose to start their quest from, they connect to the remaining 8 Outer Zones, These inner zones are: Jungle (Left), Hills (Up), Desert (Right) and Coast (Down).
* **8 Outer Zones:** In clockwise order, starting from the left of the Jungle zone: Swamp, Zen, Hive, Fossil, Volcanic, Crystal, Rust, Glacier.
* **4 Ruins:** Ruins are located at the the corners of the island, at their end, a Crystal Core Boss can be found. Ruins can be identified as: Sacred Ruins (Top Left), guarded by Omalon, Tectonic Ruins (Top Right), guarded by Aurobos, Rusting Ruins (Bottom Right), guarded by Hexiom, and Coral Ruins (Bottom Left), guarded by Matrinox.
* **Dungeons:** Dungeons present a set challenge for the player. Each dungeon has its own layout and process to reach the Jumbo monster at the end, guarding an Idol. Once a dungeon is cleared, a shortcut connecting to the entrance is opened.

### The Undersea

Located at the bottom left quarter of the map, the Undersea allows the player to access isolated zones or unlock new areas.

There are two sub-zones in the Undersea: Deep Swamp and Sea Floor.

### Secret Passage

The Cavern, or Secret Passage, is unlocked after collecting at least one Crystal Core. It is filled with shining treasure and gold. In the Cavern the player can find the entrance to Deep Patchlantis, their gameplay stats, and collect the King's Crown at the end.

**Deep Patchlantis** is the final challenge in the island that is unlocked after collecting all four Crystal Cores. Deep Patchlantis has a different layout every run: the player has to traverse five random overground zones before reaching the Control Chamber. Zones follow the same design:

* There are three main horizontal paths, which might be connected with vertical corridors or launchers.
* All forms of battle rooms can spawn, including Jumbo fights.
* Alcoves also appear in Deep Patchlantis, in addition, heart alcoves can spawn in normal rooms as well.
* Each zone always has at least one sub-zone. The map does not show the original sub-zone's color, but instead a darker color similar to the zone's.
* It is impossible to walk backwards: once the player enters a room, the left exit is permanently blocked, while the others remain open. This does not affect corridors.
* Fast travel via the map is not active in Deep Patchlantis, so the player can only travel along corridors one by one.

## Maps

* Overground
* Undersea
* Overground room spawns

This map shows locations for all fixed rooms in the Overgound. It also displays alcoves, semi-transparent corridors shows possible alcove connections, which are randomly chosen each run.

This map shows locations for all fixed rooms in the Undersea.

This Overground map displays all possible locations where launchers and mini bosses fights can occur.The game selects rooms at random every run, and designates the remaining ones to be danger, altar or unmarked rooms.