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ErikH2000
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icon Cheap Trick (+3)  
Ever glued a quarter to the pavement and watched people try to pick it up? Or put a thumbtack on a chair? Or gave somebody a laxative under the pretense it was a normal candy bar?

"Maybe I did things like that when I was ten, but these days I'm above mean pranks."

Awwwww, come on. Quit acting all holier-than-thou! It's time to play cheap tricks! With what I have in mind, nobody will get hurt. Well, no permanent damage, anyhow. Err... no permanent physical damage, that is to say.

In this contest, you will make a hold that has a cheap trick in it. The hapless player will set out dutifully to solve your hold and come across some nasty problem that isn't at all fair or sportsmanlike. You could leave a few hundred red herrings laying about. You could blanket terrible mazes in tar. You could make the player go all the way back to the beginning of a challenge after a small mistake. Or the player might even discover through some painful process that your hold is not even solvable.

Rules

1. Each contestant must post his hold as an attachment in a reply to this topic before the deadline, which is...

Local Time:08-06-2007 at 01:00 AM

2. When posting your hold as an attachment, you should specify the right licensing option for your hold. If you don't care how other people may use it later, (i.e. to add a copy of it to a compilation) then you can just leave the default selection of "Public Domain". If you're confused about the licensing options, please just ask, and someone will help.

3. Your hold can be of any size, small or large, and contain any combination of elements.

4. You can embed custom graphics and sound into the hold, but no permission will be given for use of graphics/sound/other media from any of Caravel's commerical products. All of the media from DROD: Architects' Edition is available for your use. You must create or gain permission for any other media you use in the hold.

5. No setup steps other than importing the hold are allowed. You can't require the player to install modded graphics, for example. No instructions for playing the hold can be given outside of the hold. In general, anything that requires the player to reference information or do something outside of the game isn't allowed.

6. If your hold has a solution, there should be instructions inside of the hold that the player can use to reach a solution. These can be given in the form of a victory demo, a series of scrolls, a character speech, or other ways. But whatever method, it should be easy to discover and understand. And if the player doesn't want to cheat, it should also be easy to avoid reading the solution accidentally. The judgment of how well you've given the solution will be left to voters.

7. If your hold doesn't have a solution, there should be an explanation of this for the player inside of the hold (i.e. "Since you can't ever reach the northwest chamber in 1N2E, that room can't be conquered"). The same guidelines for describing a hold solution apply to a non-solution explanations--make it easy to discover, easy to avoid.

8. Each contestant can submit from 1 to 3 holds.

9. You can update a submitted hold with a newer version as long as you do it before the submission deadline. You can replace an existing attachment or make a new reply post with the new version. For the latter method, be sure to remove the obsolete attachment. If you leave multiple versions laying around, voters may be confused and vote based on the wrong version.

10. After the submission deadline passes, we'll have a poll where all submitted holds are rated. Voters will be asked to rate how much they "appreciated" each hold with a focus on the trick itself. Originality will probably be a factor here in voting, but I know that it is about impossible to know every authoring trick that has been used in previous DROD holds. I don't know if the trick I used in my example hold has already been done, because I've only played a small subset of the holds.

Winners

The author of the highest-rated hold will receive 100 rank points and any item of his choosing from the Prize Pile. The author of the second-highest-rated hold will receive 50 rank points, and third-highest will receive 25 rank points. If you have more than one submitted hold, only your highest-rated hold will be considered for placement.

Anyone who hasn't participated in a CaravelNet contest before will get a "rookie" bonus of 10 rank points.

Strategy Considerations

You want to be mean, but also you want to be clever. It's no good to just run up and punch somebody in the face. But if you build a devious face-punching machine, then the guy that gets his face punched will surely admire your work! I've attached a hold I made that is perhaps somewhat clever so you can have a concrete example. I think the classic cheap trick hold is probably The Fool's Errand by Ricky. Here the trick is so good, that you don't even mind how evil it is.

I personally think that the hold should be centered around the trick, and you shouldn't attempt to gain favor with voters by including a lot of story or puzzle content that isn't integral to the trick. It may take one room or one hundred rooms to pull it off, but don't add non-essential content.

You run a risk of confusing voters by posting multiple versions of one hold. Or you might "spoil the punchline" by an earlier version not carrying the trick as you'd intended. Test well, then submit your hold.

-Erik

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[Last edited by ErikH2000 at 08-05-2007 08:32 PM]
07-07-2007 at 01:19 AM
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ErikH2000
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icon Re: Cheap Trick (0)  
Anybody solve my hold yet, without using the solution?

-Erik

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07-07-2007 at 02:08 AM
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silver
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just did. though there's probably no way to verify as much :)
basically, I just used a little logic to figure out the one place where a smurf could be hiding.


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07-07-2007 at 02:24 AM
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Chaco
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I also did. It might be more convincing had you had Beethro not use speech and include the "Ha!" sound clip from room conquering. Then some people might not notice that the room was still unconquered.

Anyway, this is a fantastic contest idea. Erik, you just seem to have a knack for simple themes that make contests fun.

I think I will probably enter. Now that we all know what elements are capable of per the previous contest, we can exploit their cheapness to maximum effect.

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07-07-2007 at 02:40 AM
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ErikH2000
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Chaco wrote:
I also did. It might be more convincing had you had Beethro not use speech and include the "Ha!" sound clip from room conquering. Then some people might not notice that the room was still unconquered.
Oh! Now I wish I had! That would have been extra cheap.

-Erik

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dev journals | twitch stream | youtube archive (NSFW)
07-07-2007 at 02:42 AM
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schep
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Now that was a groaner. But then it just took me
Click here to view the secret text

07-07-2007 at 03:43 AM
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Rabscuttle
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Not too hard considering
Click here to view the secret text
Click here to view the secret text
Click here to view the secret text


Hmm....
07-07-2007 at 05:40 AM
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Rabscuttle
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... I think I've used up all my cheap tricks already. :/
07-07-2007 at 05:52 AM
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Rabscuttle
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Wait, I've thought of something just plain nasty.

tweeheehee.

I mean, muahaha.
07-07-2007 at 06:00 AM
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Pilchard VIII
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Although I'm having a break from DROD at the moment (been playing too many GameCube games on my Wii), I'll try to submit something. And the good thing is, I get to be so, so evil... :evil:

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07-07-2007 at 07:03 AM
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Tahnan
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I may have to give this a shot. I did, incidentally, solve the sample hold, or at least I would have if DROD hadn't crashed when I tried to place the fifth potion, with the error

Assertion error in line 4500 of .\DbRooms.cpp: "wX < this->wRoomCols"
07-07-2007 at 07:40 AM
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Rabscuttle
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File: Hide and Seek.hold (2 KB)
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Half hour effort: A cheap and nasty entry with a cheap and nasty trick.

I may change it later to make it less obvious that something is wrong.
07-07-2007 at 08:21 AM
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Kevin_P86
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Rabscuttle wrote:
A cheap and nasty entry with a cheap and nasty trick.
He's not kidding! That is cheap and nasty! :)

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+++++[>+++++<-]>[>+++>++++>+++++<<<-]>.>+.>-------.<++++.+++++.
07-07-2007 at 09:47 AM
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Jason
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File: The Cheapest Puzzle in the World.hold (1.3 KB)
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That's pretty nasty!

This is just the first cheap thing I thought of, so here it is. I probably will make a better one once I get an better idea.

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07-07-2007 at 11:15 AM
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Doom
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File: Traditionality.hold (5 KB)
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Something quick'n'simple.
07-07-2007 at 01:23 PM
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Golfdinger
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File: El Cheapos hold.hold (1.7 KB)
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Here you have it: the El Cheapo's Entry(tm)!

Don't try this at home, kids. It was really annoying to get it to work properly.

EDIT: Fine tuned the hint room and the starting corridor. Get it while it's hot!

[Last edited by Golfdinger at 08-06-2007 08:40 AM : updated]
07-07-2007 at 01:32 PM
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tokyokid
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File: Dirty Trick.hold (1.7 KB)
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Here's my entry.



[Last edited by tokyokid at 07-07-2007 04:52 PM]
07-07-2007 at 04:47 PM
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Chaco
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To all of you who decided to abuse darkness in your holds: Please note that your darkness can be completely nullified by turning off Alpha Blending and Environmental Effects in the Options menu, and then note that this might make your holds rather easy.

:)

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07-07-2007 at 04:59 PM
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Jason
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Chaco wrote:
To all of you who decided to abuse darkness in your holds: Please note that your darkness can be completely nullified by turning off Alpha Blending and Environmental Effects in the Options menu, and then note that this might make your holds rather easy.

:)

Oh.

...

Oops.

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07-07-2007 at 05:36 PM
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tokyokid
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Chaco wrote:
To all of you who decided to abuse darkness in your holds: Please note that your darkness can be completely nullified by turning off Alpha Blending and Environmental Effects in the Options menu, and then note that this might make your holds rather easy.

:)
But... that's cheating! Hm... cheater vs. trickster... :)
07-07-2007 at 05:40 PM
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jdyer
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Chaco wrote:
To all of you who decided to abuse darkness in your holds: Please note that your darkness can be completely nullified by turning off Alpha Blending and Environmental Effects in the Options menu, and then note that this might make your holds rather easy.

Also note that some of us have slow computers, and have those off by default (and so we wouldn't even realize there's a trick).
07-07-2007 at 07:05 PM
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jdyer
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File: Strange Loops.hold (3.2 KB)
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icon Re: Cheap Trick (+2)  
Here is my entry.
07-07-2007 at 07:10 PM
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Jeff_Ray...
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I'll join! I must raise my count! :)

Can we use NPC's for the holds?

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07-07-2007 at 07:22 PM
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Monkey
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How do you think Dirty Trick worked?

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07-07-2007 at 07:24 PM
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Monkey
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File: A-Maze-ing Trick_300.hold (4.8 KB)
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Oh, and here's mine.
Oh, this is my first contest.
Edit: 3.0.0 compatible(I think).
Edit: New version attached. Checkpoints added. Harder to reach the solution. Removed that stick figure head and "HELLO" made out of darkness.

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[Last edited by Monkey at 07-08-2007 11:08 PM]
07-07-2007 at 07:27 PM
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Pinnacle
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I present to you: The Abyss!
One simple puzzle. Shouldn't be too hard to clear. :devil

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07-07-2007 at 07:43 PM
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Jeff_Ray...
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File: The Fracking Bugger.hold (12.1 KB)
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icon Re: Cheap Trick (+1)  
Here it is: The Fracking Bugger.

Ok, my trick may be not good enough, but you can't say I didn't try!

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I make Let's Plays too!
Click here to find out my LPs' progress, and find out what I plan to tackle next!

Currently playing:
Click here to view the secret text


My Holds:
-Completed:
Click here to view the secret text

-Work in Progress:
Click here to view the secret text


[Last edited by Jeff_Ray... at 07-09-2007 06:48 PM]
07-07-2007 at 08:24 PM
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Jacob
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File: Flawlessly consistent logic.hold (3.5 KB)
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Flawlessly consistent logic.

Trust me.

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My Holds and Levels:
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[Last edited by Jacob at 07-10-2007 05:16 PM : Altered text in one scroll]
07-08-2007 at 12:57 AM
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Tahnan
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Dear Lord these things are popping up like weeds. Curses for the lack of submission topic! I feel like I should keep up, but can't.
07-08-2007 at 08:17 AM
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Mazer
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File: A Cheap Chap.hold (1.7 KB)
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Just a quick effort at making an entry.
07-08-2007 at 08:57 AM
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