Atch wrote:
In the history of DROD the Bridge of Khazaddum is an absolute classic of construction.
Um, thanks. I really appreciate this -- though I do certainly feel a bit embarrassed, given how I think you are praising me far more than I or my hold deserves... :-)
Check out Dugan's Dungeon Revisited which mrimer also mentioned in this thread -- I hadn't seen it when I wrote the hold but afterwards I checked it out -- and there's a couple fun "
running for your life"
type of puzzles there also...
Contrary to orders, Aris, I cleared Balin’s Tomb to give time to look for an access to the adjacent room. I take it that this inaccessible and impossible room is just another part of the parody.
Just an unfinished room, which I originally entertained including, but the more I worked on it and the more elaborate it became, the more possible it became for the player to kill off the "
Balrog"
prematurely; or the opposite if the player entered the room using the wrong orientation, making the room impossible to escape from.... Neither of these choices was acceptable to me, and as I said I didn't (still don't) have the time to polish it up and fix it.... So I just sealed it off, replaced the exit at Balin's tomb with a staircase, etc. *g* I left the room itself in (though unreachable), just as an easter egg of sorts for anyone who might care to see it after conquering the whole thing...
The bit in the story it was supposed to represent is the part where Gandalf briefly closes a door using a "
Word of Command"
to trap the Balrog on the other side, just before the fellowship heads for the bridge of Khazad-dum. Not very exciting, and it didn't really add much to the parody -- so probably not much of a loss, IMO.
*g* Thanks again for the very nice comments!
--
And, btw, I finally understand what StuartK meant when he praised the difficulty and subtlety of the Left Path room! Heh... this may have been the first time where a room is more difficult and subtle than its architect initially thought it to be -- I had *not* figured out the trickiness with the tar babies that would be spawned in the SE side -- that was entirely created by accident!
Ah well... It's the ABA principle at work - "
Art By Accident"
...