goldenferret
Level: Delver

Rank Points: 57
Registered: 10-08-2006
IP: Logged

File: The Long Quest Part 1 A mysterious threat emerges.hold (47.3 KB)
Downloaded 77 times.
License: Public Domain

I've been working on this hold on and off for about a month. I hope you enjoy it.
It's got 10 levels, a secret level, and I'm not sure how many rooms it's got.
Final version complete! Thanks to all the people on this thread who tested, especially jbluestein who found all the bugs.

____________________________
Smiles are a universal language.

Would you like to listen to some music?

---

[Last edited by goldenferret at 07-12-2007 01:36 AM : attached final version]

jbluestein
Level: Smitemaster

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

Well, I played until I hit Tar Storage: 1 West. This is a room desperately in need of a checkpoint or two. It also seems to be dependent on some trick of Slayer manipulation where you make him lose your trail. Not sure what's up with that, but it seems kind of trial-and-error. Did that part a few times, died trying to dispatch the roach queens and brain.

Other than that it seems OK.

Josh

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

goldenferret
Level: Delver

Rank Points: 57
Registered: 10-08-2006
IP: Logged

Yeah, I got the idea from a room in TCB. It's tricky.
What exactly should I do with this room, besides add the checkpoints?


____________________________
Smiles are a universal language.

Would you like to listen to some music?

---

[Last edited by goldenferret at 06-23-2007 01:40 AM]

jbluestein
Level: Smitemaster

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

goldenferret wrote:
Yeah, I got the idea from a room in TCB. It's tricky.
What exactly should I do with this room, besides add the checkpoints?

Actually, it's not really all that bad. A couple of checkpoints and it should be fine.

However, I did find a more serious problem: The gateway to the Arctic Highway (Tar Complex: 1E) doesn't actually contain an exit. The guard lets me onto the bridge, but when I get to the other side, nothing happens. Checking in the editor I see no sign of an exit in place.

Josh

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

goldenferret
Level: Delver

Rank Points: 57
Registered: 10-08-2006
IP: Logged

D'oh...

____________________________
Smiles are a universal language.

Would you like to listen to some music?

---

[Last edited by goldenferret at 06-30-2007 03:16 PM]

Geiler Hengst
Level: Delver
Rank Points: 64
Registered: 03-15-2006
IP: Logged

just one general hint before i start playing... Please allways attach the newest version of your hold at the first post, then its easier to keep track and find it!

goldenferret
Level: Delver

Rank Points: 57
Registered: 10-08-2006
IP: Logged

Done.

____________________________
Smiles are a universal language.

Would you like to listen to some music?

jbluestein
Level: Smitemaster

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

Arctic Freeway: 2E is currently a required room, but it's behind the blue door.

Josh

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

goldenferret
Level: Delver

Rank Points: 57
Registered: 10-08-2006
IP: Logged

D'oh again.


____________________________
Smiles are a universal language.

Would you like to listen to some music?

jbluestein
Level: Smitemaster

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

goldenferret wrote:
D'oh again.

The newly uploaded hold doesn't seem to be any different from the old one (at least, not as far as the hold loader can tell).

Josh

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

goldenferret
Level: Delver

Rank Points: 57
Registered: 10-08-2006
IP: Logged

OK, I'll try again...


____________________________
Smiles are a universal language.

Would you like to listen to some music?

jbluestein
Level: Smitemaster

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

goldenferret wrote:
OK, I'll try again...

Hmmm. Well, I don't get it. When I try to import the new hold, it just pops up a message that says 'this hold is the same as a hold already installed and was ignored.' Are you sure you changed the room to not required? Maybe you can make some other, more substantial change somewhere just so we can see if that will change things?

(If it does and the other change was already in there, this may be a bug worth posting on the bugs board.)

Josh

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

goldenferret
Level: Delver

Rank Points: 57
Registered: 10-08-2006
IP: Logged

Ummm... You are downloading it from the first post, right? It's where I put the latest versions.

____________________________
Smiles are a universal language.

Would you like to listen to some music?

jbluestein
Level: Smitemaster

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

goldenferret wrote:
Ummm... You are downloading it from the first post, right? It's where I put the latest versions.

Yes indeed. Either the hold attached hasn't actually been changed, or there's a bug of some sort in the hold import facility that isn't recognizing the change.

Josh

[EDIT: Although you may wish to delete the attachment that isn't in the first post to eliminate confusion...]

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

---

[Last edited by jbluestein at 06-27-2007 07:26 PM]

jbluestein
Level: Smitemaster

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

OK, downloaded the hold into a fresh installation and was able to confirm that the room in question (Arctic Freeway: 2E) was no longer required. I'll retest later and report a bug if need be.

Now, however, the stairs in Arctic Freeway: 2E end the hold.

Josh

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

Neathro
Level: Delver

Rank Points: 41
Registered: 04-24-2007
IP: Logged

jbluestein, just so you know...


TRY DELETING THE OLD HOLD VERSION!!!

Secreted not needed part


____________________________
This is not a signature, it is a
collection of randomly selected
words. Teaspoon.

jbluestein
Level: Smitemaster

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

Neathro wrote:
jbluestein, just so you know...

TRY DELETING THE OLD HOLD VERSION!!!

Secreted not needed part

Yes, I could do that, but it's still a bug worth reporting. And I didn't particularly relish replaying through as much of the hold as I had already played.

If the next update doesn't solve the problem for me, I'll have to go that route.

Josh

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

schep
Level: Smitemaster

Rank Points: 865
Registered: 03-01-2005
IP: Logged

File: LongQuest_v3.hold (46 KB)
Downloaded 55 times.
License: Public Domain

Well, it's really simpler to just ask the author to go into the Room Editor and add then delete something and reexport the hold.

But since I already had this open for examination, I manually bumped the hold LastUpdated time, which should work too.

goldenferret
Level: Delver

Rank Points: 57
Registered: 10-08-2006
IP: Logged

Just so you know, there's a warp room in Dugan's New Dungeon: 1S. There's a secret wall in the south.

So... is it ready to be sent to the Holds board yet?

____________________________
Smiles are a universal language.

Would you like to listen to some music?

---

[Last edited by goldenferret at 07-01-2007 09:55 PM]

goldenferret
Level: Delver

Rank Points: 57
Registered: 10-08-2006
IP: Logged

Sorry for the double post, but I'd like to know if this is ready to be sent off to the holds board yet.

____________________________
Smiles are a universal language.

Would you like to listen to some music?

jbluestein
Level: Smitemaster

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

goldenferret wrote:
Sorry for the double post, but I'd like to know if this is ready to be sent off to the holds board yet.

Have you updated the hold since 6/27? Because as of then, the answer was no -- Arctic Freeway ends the hold.

Josh

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

goldenferret
Level: Delver

Rank Points: 57
Registered: 10-08-2006
IP: Logged

Whoops, forgot about that...

____________________________
Smiles are a universal language.

Would you like to listen to some music?

Neathro
Level: Delver

Rank Points: 41
Registered: 04-24-2007
IP: Logged

Have you fixed the bug in homeward descent where you can just wait on 1 of the 1st 2 spaces until the bombs go off then wander through?
Also the bug in the 1st room behind the blue door, the stalwart's script is missing an "End" command? also, it's a bit wierd that that other passage doesn't continue into the exit room...

Good hold though... liked the sanctum of the scroll!

____________________________
This is not a signature, it is a
collection of randomly selected
words. Teaspoon.

---

[Last edited by Neathro at 07-10-2007 09:37 AM]

jbluestein
Level: Smitemaster

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

goldenferret wrote:
Whoops, forgot about that...

Please attach the new version of your hold to the message at the top of the thread. Makes it easier for testers to know that they're testing the right hold...

Josh

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

jbluestein
Level: Smitemaster

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

In Beethro's Dream, the platform behind the blue door doesn't actually take you anywhere -- there's no exit in that room and no scripting to facilitate an exit.

Josh

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

goldenferret
Level: Delver

Rank Points: 57
Registered: 10-08-2006
IP: Logged

I think I got them all...

____________________________
Smiles are a universal language.

Would you like to listen to some music?

jbluestein
Level: Smitemaster

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

The stairs on the secret level end the hold as well.

[EDIT: Added...]

As do the exit stairs in Volcanic Hideout.

More general comments: Many rooms are badly in need of checkpoints. I'd recommend looking at any nontrivial room as well as all entrance and exit rooms and making sure that each of these has at least one checkpoint. It's possible that there may be some rooms for which you don't wish to do this, but I would suggest that this should be the exception rather than the rule.

Rooms in particularly desperate need of a checkpoint:
Volcanic Hideout: 1N
Underwater Fortress: 1N1W
Underwater Fortress: 1S2W
Dugandy Vault: 2N
Route 13: 1W

These are not necessarily difficult rooms, but they're rooms where a badly-placed key can force you to replay the entire room.

Josh
Josh

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

---

[Last edited by jbluestein at 07-10-2007 07:23 PM]

redfish
Level: Goblin

Rank Points: 19
Registered: 02-27-2004
IP: Logged

Overall, I think this is quite a good hold. The difficulty is medium (maybe 4 or 5 brains) but the puzzles are original and interesting. They are also fairly consistent and get a bit harder as the hold progresses. The story element is well done too: not too wordy or disruptive to game play, but enough to make you feel like you're on a quest.

A few notes:

1) Some others mentioned stairs that prematurely exit the hold. I'd like to add that the stairs at the end of the magnificent penthouse also ended the hold for me (in addition to the stairs at the end of the secret level and volcanic hideout that were mentioned by others in this post).

2) Volcanic hideout 1W caused my game to crash at unpredictable places (sometimes in the middle of monster killing, sometimes when I tried to exit). I had to kill a monster, save and exit, then load the program again to get through.

3) It would be nice if the secret door in dugandy vault led somewhere. It's a bit frustrating to work to drop that door and then find it leads nowhere.

Overall, a good hold! I look forward to the sequel.

goldenferret
Level: Delver

Rank Points: 57
Registered: 10-08-2006
IP: Logged

Just out of curiosity...
Why do the entrance and exit rooms need checkpoints?

Oh, yes, and thanks for the review, Redfish... I just caught the Magnificent Penthouse and am almost ready to post the latest version. I really thought it was a bit wordy. Nonetheless, I'm not sure what's up with the Volcanic Hideout thing. Maybe you should post on the Bugs board?

Yes... I'm working on part 2.
And making a nice, rewarding secret room for Dugandy vault...

Edit: Finished the updates.

____________________________
Smiles are a universal language.

Would you like to listen to some music?

---

[Last edited by goldenferret at 07-10-2007 08:50 PM]

jbluestein
Level: Smitemaster

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

goldenferret wrote:
Just out of curiosity...
Why do the entrance and exit rooms need checkpoints?

They're useful restore points so that someone can go back and search for secret rooms. They're not strictly necessary, but they're nice.

Josh

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