Bit Kid

Assuming that you are going to keep the plot pretty much the same as the demo, it might be interesting to have "rescuable" townspeople in the mines that would then contribute by bolstering the number of different shop keepers.

i.e. a lost miner becomes a jeweler, captain of the guard a weapon shop etc

this would provide tangible benefit point as the players progress and an opportunity for exposition of the plot

i.e. you rescue the miner from the boss on lvl 3 mine and he explains a portion of what happened

just my 2 cents

We've actually been thinking about this

The hard thing is figuring out what useful duties they could perform for you. We've got a few ideas so far..

glad you guys have thought about this too.

I hope that you do find some way to implement this.

Well, an alternate option, instead of having them add new shops, they provide upgrades to already established shops. Rescue the master sword smith and more/better sword weapons appear in the weapon shop.

I am DEFINITELY in favor of that idea. A great explanation for why the items would scale as the hero descends the dungeon!

They should give some side quests. Like:

- find my pouch, my children.
- Travel with me (and don't gem me being hurt) to XXX.
- Find me YYY. Bring me ZZZ, ZXY and YXX, and I will make You a recycle bin soup.
- Using this camera make a photo of Yeti...
- Using this recorder record me a sound of...
- There's a hidden room somewhere in which there's a suicidal skeleton. Kill him before he will kill himself by rushing at the wall, and bring me his skull.
- There's a special altar in the dungeon. Sacrifice there a super great relic worth at least UUU value.
- There are two mirror rooms. Travel to them, then back to me...

Just to name a few questions from Castlevanias and Zeldas