BoyBlue
Level: Smitemaster
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This is a puzzle-oriented hold, with 30+ rooms spread over one large level and two small levels.

JtRH version 2.0.11 or higher is required.

If you decide to playtest it, please let me know if you find any trivial solutions, ways to get trapped, bad checkpoint decisions, accidental plagiarism, or other apparent mistakes. Thanks.

I might still add a master area. I'm just running a little low on ideas.

(Edit: Removed hold file, because it has now been published.)

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[Last edited by BoyBlue at 07-22-2006 12:25 AM]

Chaco
Level: Smitemaster
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Hey, I'm here and might as well play through. If I find anything I'll tell you, though I might miss some super-advanced trivial solution.

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Ezlo
Level: Smitemaster

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Well, uh, I tried to play through it! The first two rooms stump me. Does that help?

BoyBlue
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(Of course, the problem with puzzle rooms is that you can't be sure that the super-advanced trivial solution you just found wasn't actually the intended one.)

The first two real rooms (2S1W and 2S1E) are more difficult than I'd like. My lame excuse is that aesthetically it seemed like the best place to put them. For 2S1W you have to know how to pin rock golems to corners

1S1E should be a little easier than that, once you figure out that you have to

Note that if you're playtesting, you can play any room from the editor.

Additional notes:

BR:1S1E has solutions that are a lot faster than the one I originally intended, but I'm okay with that.

BR:4N3W casts light on the slightly nonintuitive interaction between evil eyes, decoys, and invisibility. But I don't think it's actually a bug, and even if it is, the most likely fix wouldn't significantly affect the room.

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[Last edited by BoyBlue at 07-07-2006 04:20 AM]

TripleM
Level: Smitemaster
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So far I've only had time to do the golem room and look at the next room.. but I gotta say I'm loving it

Niccus
Level: Smiter
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Registered: 07-02-2006
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I'm browsing through the rooms, and I love all of them -- I can't solve most of them, but I adore this hold just from the rooms that I can actually solve...

Hikari
Level: Smiter

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You know... It's stupid, I know how to pin golems on corners, I think I know the trick for getting past the wubba... but I can't figure out how to pin the golem on the *one* corner it needs to get pinned to in order to solve 2S1W.

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Chaco
Level: Smitemaster
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That's my experience too... I know what to do for most rooms, but I just have a hard time doing it.

I like your movement-order based "lines of babies" rooms.

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Rabscuttle
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I was playing this on the weekend and I like what I've seen so far, but I have to say I'm impressed by Blue Rooms: 1N1W (Tar + decoy + seep on black door if I'm remembering incorrectly.)

Chaco
Level: Smitemaster
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I was too: very nice trick.

Your "OMG DECOY STORAGE" room has me beat, though. I just need one more place.

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Niccus
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Chaco wrote:
Your "OMG DECOY STORAGE" room has me beat, though. I just need one more place.

The nice part is, once you get the trick, you have one extra storage space in the end!



Lovely puzzle that was.

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[Last edited by Niccus at 07-10-2006 08:23 PM]

Chaco
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I ran out of space even using that trick. I need to kill two more decoys then...

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Niccus
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BoyBlue
Level: Smitemaster
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Reusing the mimic's space in the lots-of-decoy-potions room is by design, but I confess I didn't know you could still end up with an extra free space -- though I've figured it out now.


This room has been a problem child, and I wanted to publish it just to get it off my hands. It was originally supposed to be in Spare Rooms, but I gave up on it. Too many unwanted solutions, plus I already had another annoying too-many-potions room. I like the ideas, but I don't think I implemented them very well.

larrymurk
Level: Smitemaster

Rank Points: 1913
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I'm only part way through L2 so far.
Comments to this point.

I love your room creation style.

Problems/suggestions first.
1. L1:3S1E- Why does the orb toggle the door holding the roach? One can retrap the roach, kill the queens, then deal w/ the trapped roach last. I'd assume you could just have the orb open all the doors.

2. Blue theme. The whole first level I was wondering if the hold was titled Blue rooms just because of your username. I see you do use blue later on, but I think it'd be fun to see blue earlier and more. Maybe have at least some blue in every room?

Compliments.
1. L1:3S3E- It was fun to play the fixed version of this room.

2. L2:3N2W- My fav. Pretty. Simple, yet interesting. Then of course you throw in the final kicker, "Why am I off by one space?"

3. L2:1N1W- The tar blob and decoy. Again, I like the simplicity and yet you gotta think and play around a little.

Loving it so far!!

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[Last edited by larrymurk at 07-12-2006 01:10 AM]

Hikari
Level: Smiter

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:grumbles about still not being able to beat the stupid golem-stuck-on-a-corner room on the first floor...

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BoyBlue
Level: Smitemaster
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File: BR Prologue 2S1W Victory.demo (903 bytes)
Downloaded 52 times.
License: Public Domain

It's hard to think of a good hint for level1 2S1W. I'm just going to post a demo.

Hikari
Level: Smiter

Rank Points: 438
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Oh, much better now ^^ I was going about it completely wrong. :X

But now I can't get the roach behind the WW in 2S1E, so I'm still not getting to the meat of the hold. >_<

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[Last edited by Hikari at 07-12-2006 05:56 AM]

Ezlo
Level: Smitemaster

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Use the editor!

Banjooie
Level: Smitemaster

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3S1E confuses me, it only looks doable from the west? And I can't get in there.

Hikari
Level: Smiter

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Ezlo wrote:
Use the editor!

But I don't *want* to use the editor for playtesting a hold! I feel bad if I skip a room that I can't solve for playtesting purposes, because if I do that, then I'm not testing *properly*... If I can't solve the room, I'll feel bad if I skip over it by changing things myself.

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Kevin_P86
Level: Smitemaster

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The point isn't to change the hold so it is solvable. From the editor, you can start playing from any point in any room by pressing F5 (while in the screen to edit the room) and clicking where you would like to start.

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+++++[>+++++<-]>[>+++>++++>+++++<<<-]>.>+.>-------.<++++.+++++.

Hikari
Level: Smiter

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True, but...

Um...

I got nothing.

I just prefer to play in the normal way so that it saves progress, I guess. Easier to make sure the hold as a whole works that way, plus I can continue later.

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BoyBlue
Level: Smitemaster
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I've replaced the hold with a slightly-updated version:

- Fixed the orb in L1:3S1W (thanks Larry).
- Added numbers to the level names.
- A couple of trivial things.
- If I did this right, it now contains embedded demos for two of the early rooms (after you Change Location, return to the main menu and select Watch Demo).

In reply to Larry's theme comment, it doesn't have much of a theme. I was going to leave it ambiguous as to whether it was named for the architect's username, or the color. I think I prefer having the first level be oddly nonblue, but I did add one small new blue decoration, for the sake of mysteriousness.

Niccus
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larrymurk
Level: Smitemaster

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File: LarryMurks Blue Rooms.hold (14.5 KB)
Downloaded 43 times.
License: Public Domain

I've now solved all rooms except L2:4N3W.

I edited 2 rooms. If you like the changes, you may use them as you wish, no need to credit me.

I put arrows in place of some walls on L1:3S1E. This made it a lot harder than I thought it would.

I replaced the mimic potion with a third decoy in L2:4N2W.

All in all, another great hold!!

larrymurk
Level: Smitemaster

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One more comment.

L2:4N3W
This is the only room I haven't solved.
You mention that you are exploiting a very non-intuitive interaction between items that might even be changed some day.
Well. If the trick is that tricky it might be easier if you make the room easier so one can focus on this more easily. Maybe make this room not required.

BoyBlue
Level: Smitemaster
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Larry - First, thanks for your earlier suggestions. I'm going to use the one for L2:4N2W. It makes a hard room harder, but then, that's a good thing, right? I like the new L1:3S1E too, but for various reasons, I don't plan to use it.

I was making final preparations to publish the hold tonight, and am reluctant to go back and change 4N3W. (Well, that's maybe not the real reason. I probably wouldn't change it anyway.)

Consider the following DROD rules:

1. An evil eye can be activated by a decoy at any distance. (This is inconsistent with everything else, but isn't a bug or a secret.)

2. An evil eye cannot be activated when Beethro is invisible, and Beethro or a decoy is not within 5 tiles of the eye.

When these two rules conflict, which one wins? Does it make any practical difference? Does it make a practical difference in 4N3W?



On another topic, the next version of the hold will have a small puzzle added to the final exit room, and one not-really-worth-it "master" room.

BoyBlue
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File: Blue Rooms.hold (15.7 KB)
Downloaded 44 times.
License: Public Domain

The hold submission form doesn't seem to be working at the moment, at least not for me. I'll try again later. The possibly-final version is attached here.

Danzig
Level: Roachling
Rank Points: 11
Registered: 09-13-2004
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Argh.... love the challenge, but am lost on three rooms now, please help.

Level 2
1 West: how can I drop that last Trapdoor? Seems impossible to me
2 South: I am exactly 1 step shy of getting past the bomb/door and can't find how to remove 1 movement (switching blade from SE to S seems to be what I believe I gotta remove
4 North/3 West: 100% impossible for me

I would love to see some solutions for these. It took me many times to figure out the solutions on the other rooms so far, and I love the challenge, but sometimes you just gotta know what your missing.

Congrats on a wonderful hold (so far anyway).