Why are most dungeon entrances on the south?

[Bagpuss]

Properties with a good south facing aspect get a better sale price. Seems to me you have a sensible developer aware of what the market wants.

 

[PatrickLawinger]

Hmmm

Dungeon Feng Shui?

Really, I would guess it is just the way the maps are drawn. I know that I confused a cartographer once by having the outdoor map showing a mansion at an angle and then the mansion map the front door was at the bottom (south) of the page.

 

[Stalker0]

Legend of Zelda did it to me

 

[bento]

According to my Wikipedia-fu, its due to Feng Shui and Wu Xing.

The South, in these ancient Chinese systems, is associated with the element Fire. Other associations include the planet Mars, over-excitement, bitter taste, sheep/goats, and the middle finger.

How's that?

 

[Thornir Alekeg]

Man in the Funny Hat pretty much got it. For many people, North is up on a map (I assume this is probably not true for our southern hemisphere friends). Start at the top of the map and have the party move south 40 feet. There is a door on the west side of the corridor - the left side on the map to the viewer, but the right side to the adventurers moving south.

By starting at the bottom and working up the map, left and right are the same more often.

 

[Gez]

It's to get more sun. When you only have one entrance, you have to maximize the light intake as much as possible.

Note that for dungeons situated in the southern hemisphere, then the entrance is, logically, on the north.

 

[Delta]

It probably has to do more with how people just design things. You start a design from the base (bottom of something) up.

Well you see, actually, as a computer scientist I've specifically been taught to "design top-down", but to "develop bottom-up". So why I bring this up is it's specifically opposite to all top-down design methodologies that I've been trained in.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Top-down_design

 

[Olgar Shiverstone]

Well you see, actually, as a computer scientist I've specifically been taught to "design top-down", but to "develop bottom-up". So why I bring this up is it's specifically opposite to all top-down design methodologies that I've been trained in.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Top-down_design

That's the standard systems engineering approach, too (design top-down, develop bottom up ... the SE "V" development).

As to dungeons ... I don't care where the entrance is, but the top of the map better damn well be north!

 

[fba827]

Mind you, I am not an architect, but any blue prints I've ever seen have also had the entrance at the bottom edge of the paper.

So I'm guessing it is more a general design informal-standard, advocated by (as mentioend above) that if you were standing there, you would be looking forward to the stuff and the paper would be picked up and turned whichever way the building was to be situated. Now put that on a map where you start the regular design way and then after the fact have to stick on compass points to the page ...

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

Properties with a good south facing aspect get a better sale price. Seems to me you have a sensible developer aware of what the market wants.

Real estate flippers: The true evil!