bandit1200
Level: Master Delver
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Registered: 10-29-2003
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Aaaaaaaaarrgh!

That's better.

I was going to post this in the "Replaying DROD" thread but decided against it as it got so long. Hope no one minds.

I am playing DROD again, with Caravel 1.6, for the first time since DROD was originally released and reached level 15 today. Some of the rooms along the way I don't recollect at all and some I recognised instantly, usually the ones I hated. Level 13 was a breeze since I originally spent hours mapping it, before it was found that a goblin had built a one brick wall where there shouldn't be one. It seemed it only took about ten minutes this time, although I know how times flies when playing DROD.

BTW, does anyone else have DROD demo's behind their eyelids after a long evenings playing? It was so weird last night, laid in bed, to have Beethro was dashing around killing everything in sight in massive rooms, and I was still awake! Must have been the goblin stew I had for supper.

What are the main differences in gameplay between Webfoot DROD and the AE version? Apart from the most obvious one of the checkpoints, which made the 3 tar mothers on level 8 much easier for me this time, they were a complete nightmare first time around. I noticed a post somewhere saying that the baby roaches take an extra step to hatch, but I must admit I never noticed while playing.

The save games are a boon too. With webfoot I used the hidden room in level 12 to jump ahead and think I must have missed level 15 altogether as I'm just playing it and don't remember any of it. Mind you, memory isn't one of my strong points.

Last thing; have any of the rooms been changed at all since the original version, either in layout or number of monsters?

Umm, I lied, it wasn't the last, I have a question about mimics. ....ah, I just did a search and found the thread about mimic placement which answered my question, so my last thing was my last thing after all.

Martin.

krammer
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Whew. Welcome back to the DROD scene, then!

You've missed out completely on DROD 1.5 - the 1st caravel release. That added the checkpoints and the new Restore system. Other than that there were no real gameplay changes - only the fact that some rooms were modified slightly so that some very easy solutions were now impossible (eg Level 15 1S2W), and to prevent a nasty problem on level 8 where you couldn't get back past a certain point. Oh yeah - the ending is way cooler, I promise you.

Version 1.6 (Architect's) hasn't changed the gameplay apart from the fact we can all now build our own dungeons - there's plenty available to try out now - and that we have multiple players available. The extra turn for roach eggs has been made, but in Dugan's this makes little difference to most rooms at all. (It's so that some cool new features in 1.7 - like new monsters - will work much better.)

Anyway, as I said, welcome back. Not that I knew you before, but I'm gald some people who played Webfoot are able to see what Erik and co. have managed to do to improve this great game.



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agaricus5
Level: Smitemaster
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bandit1200 wrote:
Aaaaaaaaarrgh!

That's better.

I was going to post this in the "Replaying DROD" thread but decided against it as it got so long. Hope no one minds.

I don't think anyone minds at all that you have put it in a seperate thread, and I'm sure no-one would have minded if you had put it in the "Replaying DROD thread" anyway, even if it is long.

I am playing DROD again, with Caravel 1.6, for the first time since DROD was originally released and reached level 15 today. Some of the rooms along the way I don't recollect at all and some I recognised instantly, usually the ones I hated. Level 13 was a breeze since I originally spent hours mapping it, before it was found that a goblin had built a one brick wall where there shouldn't be one. It seemed it only took about ten minutes this time, although I know how times flies when playing DROD.

It's a special phenomena that the program exhibits on much of the time we have.

BTW, does anyone else have DROD demo's behind their eyelids after a long evenings playing? It was so weird last night, laid in bed, to have Beethro was dashing around killing everything in sight in massive rooms, and I was still awake! Must have been the goblin stew I had for supper.

It certainly must have been the goblin soup - I have to admit that I've never gone to bed dreaming or even day-dreaming about playing DROD demos in my head.

What are the main differences in gameplay between Webfoot DROD and the AE version? Apart from the most obvious one of the checkpoints, which made the 3 tar mothers on level 8 much easier for me this time, they were a complete nightmare first time around. I noticed a post somewhere saying that the baby roaches take an extra step to hatch, but I must admit I never noticed while playing.

I think that is one of the changes, but I'm not sure either as it has not affected me. Maybe one of the developers can tell you exactly what behavioral changes have happened between the releases. In addition, Tar now appears on maps, unlike in the Webfoot version, and so hides any walls beneath it, so Level 11, as you may have discovered, is that bit more tricky as you now don't know where all the walls are.

The save games are a boon too. With webfoot I used the hidden room in level 12 to jump ahead and think I must have missed level 15 altogether as I'm just playing it and don't remember any of it. Mind you, memory isn't one of my strong points.

It is possible that you...



...which would explain it if you had missed level 15 when you first did it.

Last thing; have any of the rooms been changed at all since the original version, either in layout or number of monsters?

As far as I know, apart from minor changes with checkpoints and removing squares of Tar to show checkpoints beneath it, I think all the rooms are the same as in the original.

Umm, I lied, it wasn't the last, I have a question about mimics. ....ah, I just did a search and found the thread about mimic placement which answered my question, so my last thing was my last thing after all.

Martin.

Hmm... I see.

Anyway, good luck with the rest of the game!

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eytanz
Level: Smitemaster

Rank Points: 2708
Registered: 02-05-2003
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What are the main differences in gameplay between Webfoot DROD and the AE version? Apart from the most obvious one of the checkpoints, which made the 3 tar mothers on level 8 much easier for me this time, they were a complete nightmare first time around. I noticed a post somewhere saying that the baby roaches take an extra step to hatch, but I must admit I never noticed while playing.

As far as I know, the differences (that have any effect on Dugan's Dungeon) are:

- Roaches take an extra turn to hatch.
- Tar mothers and roach queens spawn at the same turn (they used to be one turn apart).
- If a mimic and Beethro both attack tar at the same time, their attacks are calculated simultaneously; previous they were sequential; so if Beethro's sword created a corner where the mimic's sword is, the mimic's sword would have no effect.
- All of level 15 is now required (some of it was previously optional - I know that it was in DROD 1.5, and I'm pretty sure that it also was in Webfoot). That might explain why you don't remember it all.
- Tar appears on maps.
- Checkpoints.

Note that the rooms in Dugan's Dungeon are such that the first three changes above only amount to very minor differences.

Anyway, I think that's it though I may of course be forgetting stuff.

[Edited by eytanz on 10-29-2003 at 09:43 PM GMT]

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mrimer
Level: Legendary Smitemaster

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Also, brain-directed roach queens behave slightly differently (they tend to run away from you, but toward the center of the room edges rather than the corners), and this made at least one room in level 21 impossible until it was fixed during the 1.5 testing phase.

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eytanz
Level: Smitemaster

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Oh yeah, I forgot about that. Do you mind revealing what was changed in the room?

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Mattcrampy
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As mentioned, 1.7 is the major change release. I've heard, through my secret Budkin channel, that there might be two releases, so that the 1.x numbering continues to refer to free versions.

I've been considering raiding the source code and seeing what secrets I can find, as Erik, Gerry, Matt and Mike are all bragging over the Budkin channel about the new monsters they just checked in, as I'm just as curious as you. That is, after I can get this damn work out of the way...

Matt

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bandit1200
Level: Master Delver
Rank Points: 290
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Well, I was wrong about missing level 15. I was looking through some old CD's this morning and found I'd archived all the posts about DROD in rec.games.computer.puzzle from May 1997 until August that year. It seems I might have been the first to notice the shortcut in L15:1S2W, or 48 1551 as it was known when it was young. Seems I jumped back and forth to levels a couple of times. My last post was about level 24 and I have a saved game from level 25 but I don't recall actually finishing the game. Maybe I'll have better success this time around. BTW, I noticed a couple of names from the past - Matthew Daly, who I believe was the first to kill the 'neather outside the final room and won some sort of prize, and Brandon Freels. I wonder if they know about Caravel DROD.

A question about level 15. I went into the exit room inadvertently, obviously not knowing it was the exit, only to find I couldn't get back. I went to restore the previous room and I'm told other rooms will have to be played again if I do. I thought level 8 was the only one like that?

agaricus5
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bandit1200 wrote:
Well, I was wrong about missing level 15. I was looking through some old CD's this morning and found I'd archived all the posts about DROD in rec.games.computer.puzzle from May 1997 until August that year. It seems I might have been the first to notice the shortcut in L15:1S2W, or 48 1551 as it was known when it was young.

What shortcut?

A question about level 15. I went into the exit room inadvertently, obviously not knowing it was the exit, only to find I couldn't get back. I went to restore the previous room and I'm told other rooms will have to be played again if I do. I thought level 8 was the only one like that?

Level 8 is the only level like that, I assure you.



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bandit1200
Level: Master Delver
Rank Points: 290
Registered: 10-29-2003
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What shortcut?

Level 8 is the only level like that, I assure you.


I restored and went on my way, but yeah, I missed that. Sometimes I think having two good eyes must be a boon.