admin
Level: Legendary Smitemaster
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File: Lone Soldier.hold (6.3 KB)
Downloaded 1996 times.
License: Other
From: Unspecified

You are an imprisoned soldier. Can you escape prison and defeat the enemy all by yourself?

WARNING: This hold contains mostly horde management problems intended for expert players.

UrAvgAzn
Level: Smiter

Rank Points: 468
Registered: 04-15-2006
IP: Logged

Awesome, another LarryMurk hold. I'm looking forward to getting past the first room. Probably one of my favorite architects, too. Great holds you've made. Mostly expert levels though, but not a big surprise. This has a great story, too. And I'm the first downloadee. Cool!

Keep posting,
-Jeremy

____________________________
"The leaf, still green, must someday fall.
Such grief, such joy, to live at all."
- T.A. Barron, The Lost Years of Merlin

Chaco
Level: Smitemaster
Rank Points: 3648
Registered: 10-06-2005
IP: Logged

Let me guess... a lot of guards?

Having played Guard Massacre, Renegades, and some of the War series I think I'm reasonably prepared.

____________________________
Quick links to my stuff (in case you forgot where it was):

UrAvgAzn
Level: Smiter

Rank Points: 468
Registered: 04-15-2006
IP: Logged

ARRRGGHH! Roaches!!! My total for the first room is 31 deaths, a lot of moves (and I mean A LOT!), and I dunno, I killed 8 queen roaches at the most in one try...

Keep posting,
-Jeremy

____________________________
"The leaf, still green, must someday fall.
Such grief, such joy, to live at all."
- T.A. Barron, The Lost Years of Merlin

Chaco
Level: Smitemaster
Rank Points: 3648
Registered: 10-06-2005
IP: Logged

I managed to solve that room, but *argh*, the others...

If you can't solve any rooms other than the entrance, I suggest you give up... these rooms are *seriously* hard, man. I am evidently not an expert.

O_o'

____________________________
Quick links to my stuff (in case you forgot where it was):

larrymurk
Level: Smitemaster

Rank Points: 1917
Registered: 12-09-2004
IP: Logged

Hey folks.

Thanks for the early votes of confidence.
It's good to have at least a "dummy vote" so people can download it ingame.

Please note as mentioned above, this is not a puzzle hold like I've usually made in the past. The rooms pretty much all deal with hordes of spawning monsters. They will take a great deal of skill, strategy, and patience.

I warn you because I believe this hold could easily have a very limited audience. If it isn't fun for you, by all means skip on it.

Rabscuttle
Level: Smitemaster

Rank Points: 2494
Registered: 09-10-2004
IP: Logged

aw, I can't see the rooms until I play it

Chaco
Level: Smitemaster
Rank Points: 3648
Registered: 10-06-2005
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Then play it. The first room is pretty indicative of the rest of them.

____________________________
Quick links to my stuff (in case you forgot where it was):

Rabscuttle
Level: Smitemaster

Rank Points: 2494
Registered: 09-10-2004
IP: Logged

I'm at work and can't.

UrAvgAzn
Level: Smiter

Rank Points: 468
Registered: 04-15-2006
IP: Logged

larrymurk wrote:
They will take a great deal of skill, strategy, and patience.

Ugh, some, some, and none.

Keep posting,
-Jeremy

P.S. Larry, you are allowed to make SS holds right?

EDIT: Duh, Perfection.

____________________________
"The leaf, still green, must someday fall.
Such grief, such joy, to live at all."
- T.A. Barron, The Lost Years of Merlin

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[Last edited by UrAvgAzn at 06-22-2006 01:42 AM]

larrymurk
Level: Smitemaster

Rank Points: 1917
Registered: 12-09-2004
IP: Logged

Rabscuttle wrote:
aw, I can't see the rooms until I play it

Yeah, I'm sort of doing a completely new thing with this hold.

Being that I felt this hold would have a limited audience, I actually asked for no testers. The theory is that you're a lone soldier "up against it" so I'm going to see if I can manage to not give hints. And I put that you can only see room images you've visited.

I'll try to replay the entire hold tomorrow to prove it is solveable.

Good luck to all those interested.

larrymurk
Level: Smitemaster

Rank Points: 1917
Registered: 12-09-2004
IP: Logged

Folks, I reitterate that I appreciate having a "dummy vote", but please refrain from voting on the hold until you're done with it. You might just find that it's not that fun to you.

Tahnan
Level: Smitemaster

Rank Points: 2460
Registered: 11-14-2005
IP: Logged

Good. Lord. Al. Mighty.

I've...well, I've got three rooms finished, anyway. The downside is that I therefore have no sense of whether my solution was remotely optimal. The upside is that, not knowing that Rabscuttle and Syntax and Doom beat me by 300 moves, I don't find myself saying, "You mean I have to play that room again?"

Don't get me wrong; this is certainly fun. But it's easy the way the Pacific is dry.

silver
Level: Smitemaster
Rank Points: 915
Registered: 01-18-2005
IP: Logged

Uh, small problem here. See, this hold is totally illogical.

I know from watching movies that the bad guys always leave it so their backside is unprotected and once the hero springs from prison, it's a cakewalk to get to the final battle.

This hold is, like, the exact opposite of that. Totally unrealistic.


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[Last edited by silver at 06-22-2006 04:53 AM]

Rabscuttle
Level: Smitemaster

Rank Points: 2494
Registered: 09-10-2004
IP: Logged

larrymurk wrote:
And I put that you can only see room images you've visited.

Well, I don't mind too much, it's just I've been playing a bit offline and I've found that quite a few of the (non SS) rooms and holds that I've been looking at recently have been hidden away.

Doom
Level: Smitemaster

Rank Points: 3303
Registered: 07-05-2004
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4 votes and average difficulty of ten? I guess this is another "must-try" case. *Downloads*

silver
Level: Smitemaster
Rank Points: 915
Registered: 01-18-2005
IP: Logged

on a more serious note - I understand your desire not to post specific hints for these rooms, but I'm thinking its time there was a Strategy Guide post about horde management, and you're one of the people most likely to be qualified to write it


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Pilchard VIII
Level: Smiter
Rank Points: 392
Registered: 01-21-2006
IP: Logged

Erm... Wow... That's Difficult...

And i thought Perfection was tricky

____________________________
The DROD Dragon

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[Last edited by Pilchard VIII at 06-22-2006 10:42 AM]

Rabscuttle
Level: Smitemaster

Rank Points: 2494
Registered: 09-10-2004
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That was fun. I'd describe it as "like the horde rooms in 'Fun Park', but harder."


One bad thing ->

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[Last edited by Rabscuttle at 10-06-2006 02:14 AM : correcting the name of the hold]

Doom
Level: Smitemaster

Rank Points: 3303
Registered: 07-05-2004
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Agrees with Rabscuttle. A few rooms were kind of repeating (compare 2W/2E and 2S1W/2S1E), but it was mostly Ok.

Also, 2N1W was a joke compared to the other rooms in the level.

As for the bad thing,

larrymurk
Level: Smitemaster

Rank Points: 1917
Registered: 12-09-2004
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Doom wrote:
As for the bad thing,

Click here to view the secret text

×I didn't get the point of that room either. The exact same solution worked.

Teaches me to not have it play tested.

Unfortunately, I can not even see the demos on this computer so I'll have to wait a day or 2 to see if they work on my other computer. If you were able to use the same method (and I believe you when you say you did), I should replace the version on the 1st floor entirely. We'll see.

larrymurk
Level: Smitemaster

Rank Points: 1917
Registered: 12-09-2004
IP: Logged

UPDATE:

Sorry folks, I have updated this hold on 6/22/2006.

The only change was in the final battle room so I hope people will not lose any progress up to that point.

michthro
Level: Smitemaestro
Rank Points: 679
Registered: 05-01-2005
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Woohoo! That was fun! I think people are a bit hasty with the 10 brains thing. It's tough, but not much tougher than Beethro's Teacher. For different reasons, of course.

Yeah, 2W and 2E are similar, but I found 2W a lot harder. 2S1W and 2S1E are a bit too similar.
The final battle:

silver
Level: Smitemaster
Rank Points: 915
Registered: 01-18-2005
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michthro wrote:
I think people are a bit hasty with the 10 brains thing. It's tough, but not much tougher than Beethro's Teacher. For different reasons, of course.

but I gave BT 10 brains (I haven't rated this hold yet)


____________________________

michthro
Level: Smitemaestro
Rank Points: 679
Registered: 05-01-2005
IP: Logged

Ahhh... So you were too hasty with the 10 brains thing when rating BT.

jbluestein
Level: Smitemaster

Rank Points: 1670
Registered: 12-23-2005
IP: Logged

michthro wrote:
Ahhh... So you were too hasty with the 10 brains thing when rating BT.

Hey, if BT doesn't deserve 10 brains, or at least 9, I'd hate to see something that does.



____________________________
"Rings and knots of joy and grief, all interlaced and locking." --William Buck

Doom
Level: Smitemaster

Rank Points: 3303
Registered: 07-05-2004
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larrymurk wrote:
UPDATE:

Sorry folks, I have updated this hold on 6/22/2006.

The only change was in the final battle room so I hope people will not lose any progress up to that point.

That seems to work now

Makes Perfection : Perfect 4 : 1 South, 1 East look like child's play.

jbluestein
Level: Smitemaster

Rank Points: 1670
Registered: 12-23-2005
IP: Logged

Aaaand...finished! With the entrance.

OK, now on to the next room. Hmmm...1N, 2W, or 2N, 1W? (ulp)



____________________________
"Rings and knots of joy and grief, all interlaced and locking." --William Buck

Banjooie
Level: Smitemaster

Rank Points: 1645
Registered: 12-12-2004
IP: Logged

Scarily, I'm actually doing alright in this hold.

Curzon
Level: Delver

Rank Points: 92
Registered: 01-09-2006
IP: Logged

Wonderful!

When I have this feeling of greatness rising I just have to download a hold from Larry and voila - I feel perfectly humble again.

After having solved the first room the greatness came back.
After seeing the other rooms ... well, you know.