This discussion is meant to explain the overall design and mechanics of this dungeon. It should describe my design philosophy and the overall "rules" that I applied to this dungeon while making it. Hopefully this will give players a better idea what to expect, and inform them as to whether something is too easy, too hard, or not working properly. For the foreseeable future, I am dedicated to making this dungeon a complete, bug free, and enjoyable experience for all players.

1. The player should never be able to become "soft-locked", or permanently stuck with an unwinnable game or save file.
2. No item, secret, location, or anything else should become permanently inaccessible or locked out from the player.
3. Every puzzle and secret has a clue and solution within the game (most of the time within the same level). This can be in the form of decorations, environment, location, position, or shapes of areas on the map.
4. Levels that are above and below each other are for the most part, intertwined. There are at most two floors above and below in the entire dungeon.
5. Nearly all of the levels can be completed without traveling north-south-east-west to a different level. Any keys, clues, or items needed in a level are available in that level (taking into account floors above and below, like the Mine Key in the first level).
6. The levels are arranged in relation to each other so that the player usually has at least two different ways to go (after the first level, that is).
7. Everywhere that the player collects an item that can damage Air Elementals (Ethereal Blade of which there are two, a staff and the Dispel scroll), picking up the item or any item on the same surface spawns an Air Elemental nearby, but only once.
8. Every level except The Nexus has respawning monsters. The monsters respawn when the player leaves the level (most of the time), if there are about 5 or less monsters in that level. Most of the above-below transitions do not respawn monsters, but some levels are only accessible this way, and thus have some respawn triggers like this. Every level (above and below, every 32x32 square area) has a separate set of about 6 monsters that respawn. The number, type, and strength of monsters varies from level to level, but the respawns never change over time. This includes underwater monsters but does not include the Air Elemental. The respawns have about 2-3 times the HP of most enemies, both due to technical limitations and to discourage farming, but only a little. They are there to provide unlimited XP, food, and ammo for the players. If the player so chooses, they can leave an enemy or two alive in a corner of the level, and when the population exceeds the respawn threshold (which is usually around 5), the monsters should stop respawning in that level.