so the backrooms

how many levels would yall actually explore / want?

cause im trying to do a canon, or some are "fanon" but popular, and then i wanna make my own levels called echo levels.

sooo think of it like this

while the- im calling the canon and fanon levels "static" from now on-
anyways, while static levels are still wild and unknowing, they have a consistency of a kind of route to at least get there.

Echo levels are moreso routes on a whim, the entrance you took wont be the same one it'll take you too

i was also planning on making a base Layer called "The Cradle", kinda like how the backrooms has a base layer to the other levels called "The Lobby" (y'know the yellow infinite office building walls, level 0 thing.)

this is what the Cradle will be like, let me know if it sounds decent:

Soft rain falls in a constant, gentle drizzle. Not hard enough to soak you, but enough to keep the ground damp and the air smelling like petrichor and distant flowers. The sky is neither day nor night - a perpetual overcast twilight, warm but dim.

Trees dot the landscape. Old oaks with sprawling canopies. Twisted birches with white bark that seems to glow faintly. Weeping willows whose branches brush the ground like curtains. Under each tree, the ground is dry and surprisingly warm, protected from the rain by dense leaves.

Between the trees, mist rolls in shallow waves, never rising higher than your knees. You can't see the horizon. There's always another tree just at the edge of visibility.

The ground is damp earth scattered with leaves. The dirt is soft but solid - no mud, no sinking. Your footsteps are muffled. The rain muffles everything else.

Properties

The Cradle is safe. Not in a clinical "no entities" way, but in an emotional way. Wanderers report feeling calmer here. Less afraid. The rain washes away some of the tension carried from other levels.

The trees are true safe zones. Entities cannot touch you under the canopy. But they can wait at the edge, watching. The rain and mist outside the canopy are harmless but disorienting. Stay in it too long and you'll lose your sense of direction, walking in circles until you stumble back under a tree or find something else.

Structures spawn between trees when you're not looking. A door standing alone in a field. A hole in the ground with stairs leading down. A telephone booth that wasn't there a moment ago. An empty swimming pool. A bus stop with no buses. A staircase going up to nothing.

The longer you wander without resting under a tree, the more likely something spawns. The structures are exits - to Logged levels, to Echo levels, sometimes back to the Frontrooms. You never know which until you go through.

The Rain

The rain is the Cradle's heartbeat. It's always there, always soft, always warm. It tastes faintly sweet. Some wanderers say it tastes like a memory - fresh baked bread, or a specific summer rain from childhood. Everyone tastes something different.

Staying in the rain too long causes disorientation. Not danger, just... confusion. You start walking without meaning to. The trees look further away. The mist gets thicker. If you don't find a canopy soon, you'll eventually walk through a door without realizing you chose to.

Miss Hatty

She rests under the largest oaks, lying on her side, her body curved around the base of the trunk like a mother watching over a sleeping child. She is large but not threatening - ample, soft, with a texture that shifts between smooth flesh and something almost like liquid. Pink, iridescent, with a quality that reminds you of bathwater catching light or the inside of a seashell.

Her face is gentle. Almost human but not quite. Eyes maybe a touch too large, pupils that dilate and contract like she's constantly studying you. Her smile is wide but warm, never showing teeth. She looks at you with genuine curiosity, not hunger.

Her hands and feet are the giveaway. Too many joints. Fingers that bend in directions they shouldn't. But they're folded neatly beneath her, resting, harmless.

Miss Hatty does not speak. But you can feel what she wants to communicate: Are you lost? Are you hurt? Are you lonely?

She will approach from behind. You won't hear her coming through the rain. You'll just look to your side, and there she will be, her face from yours, those large eyes studying you.

Do not run. She means no harm.

If you stay near her, she will shield you from the rain with her body. She feels warm. Safe. Many wanderers have fallen asleep against her side, waking up hours later feeling more rested than they have in days.

If you talk to her, she cannot respond verbally. But she understands. She can nod or shake her head. She can point. She is an excellent listener.

If you ask her for help, she might point toward a tree that has a door. Or nudge you away from a path that leads somewhere dangerous. She knows things about the Echoes that no wanderer has ever learned.

If you try to hurt her, she will simply... leave. Melt back into the mist. You might hear a soft, sad sound before she disappears. You won't be the first to try. You probably won't be the last.

Exits

The Cradle is the hub. Almost any door, hole, or structure can appear here, leading anywhere. But there are consistent patterns:

• If you focus on wanting to go "home" - the Frontrooms - you might find a door that looks like your childhood bedroom's. Go through it carefully.

• If you focus on wanting to explore, the Cradle will give you doors to Logged levels. Level 0 doors look like office doors. Level 4 doors look like office doors but cleaner. Level 5 doors look like hotel room doors.

• If you're afraid or lost, the Cradle might give you doors to Echoes instead. These look wrong. A door in a tree trunk. A hole in the ground. A mirror.

Miss Hatty may guide you if you ask.

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i was wondering if with echo levels, should they be more random in the case of being anything? or reactive to emotion.

Option 1: Random Echoes (Original Idea)

The Echo level you get is random. You walk through a door, and the bot rolls a dice. Office building. School hallway. Forest at night. Infinite pool. You never know what you're going to get, and it has nothing to do with how your character is feeling. It's pure chaos. Unpredictable. Anything can happen.

Option 2: Reactive Echoes (Emotion-Based)

The Echo level responds to your character's emotional state. If you're scared, the level becomes scary - tailored to YOUR fears. If you're nostalgic, the level becomes a faded, wrong version of somewhere you used to love. If you're lonely, you end up in spaces meant for multiple people where you're the only one. The Backrooms is listening to you and building spaces based on what you feel.

Option 3:
idk, yall are welcome to talk about it im open to suggestions
- how many levels
- how we feeling about my custom levels
- anything else