Dark Carnival in Dota 2: new event with rooms, visual novel and interactive progression

After patch 7.41 was released, dataminers found details about the next big event in Dota 2, tentatively called Dark Carnival. According to the data, the event will include a more complex progression system, as well as new elements of a visual novel and story cutscenes.

Details about the new event were shared by a dataminer on the Dota Stepana Telegram channel.

New type of progression — Rooms

In addition to the usual Nodes and Paths, developers added a new type of progression — Rooms. Each room:

• has a unique identifier (m_unRoomID)

• includes nodes it is linked to

• becomes accessible only after a certain node is unlocked

• stores information about size and position in the 2D panel interface

• can be grouped (CDOTAOverworldRoomGroup) or associated with Tarot cards (CDOTAOverworldTarotCard) for additional logic

Notably, the files mention a train car, which may indicate visual theme or movement mechanics between rooms.

Updated visual novel and cutscenes

The event will feature animated dialogues with facial animations, similar to the first appearance in Largo:

• Cutscenes use objects like CChoreoActor, CChoreoScene and various animation events: ANIMGRAPH_CONTROLLER, EXPRESSION, GESTURE, LOOKAT, SPEAK and others

• Branching dialogues with conditions are supported: ConditionalIf, ConditionalElse, PopupText, Video and Comic

• Each scene will have parameters for face, gestures, gaze and emotions, creating an interactive visual novel effect

Interactive mechanics

• Players will explore rooms and room groups, unlocking new nodes and interacting with elements of the Tarot cards

• Progression will be flexible, allowing branching storylines depending on choices

• Camera and visual effects are adjusted for different distances to improve visibility and immersion

Dark Carnival may become more complex and interactive compared to last year’s Crownfall, combining the new room system, visual novel elements, and interactive progression with Tarot cards. Players can expect a rich story and unconventional mechanics for exploring and interacting with the environment.