Alneyan
Level: Smitemaster
Rank Points: 622
Registered: 07-06-2004
IP: Logged
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Re: The Tomb of Nomb (Special DVD Edition) (+2)
The bottom line: A very fun hold, with great tar rooms, and interesting mimic puzzles. I gave it a rating of 9, and 6 brains: I have found the mod to be harder than the average Dugan's level, but there was no room that truly annoyed me, unlike many rooms on levels 13, 15 and 23 in KDD.
A more thorought comment follows below: be warned there might be spoilers galore (depending on your own definition of a spoiler), so proceed at your own risks.
The mimic puzzles were rather fun, with some good ideas behind them (1N in particular). Their difficulty was adequate, with no hair-pulling room, but no truly easy rooms either (well, except the Entrance, but entrances are supposed to be easier than the rest of the level). If mimics could trigger waypoints in AE, an additional waypoint somewhere among the eyeballs would have been helpful; of course, now that DROD 2.0 is out, the current checkpoint is pretty much useless, but I was glad it was here when I played the hold under AE (though even then, it was fairly easy to get to the mimic potion).
The rooms from the "Nameless Hold" were among my favourites: more challenging than the ones before them, and quite original (2N, 2E springs to mind here). I found 2N, 1E to be pretty much enjoyable too, despite the lukewarm comment on the scroll about this room being the least popular. It makes for a very nice "race against the tar" room, something that's otherwise missing from the hold: though you do need to work quickly in other rooms, none of them has a "strict" timer.
The multi-part puzzle was a great idea, though I think the individual rooms themselves were a bit too easy compared to the tar rooms that you have faced just before. Still, those three rooms were fun, and the global puzzle worked very well. A checkpoint somewhere on a trapdoor in 3N, 1E may have been helpful though: perhaps I am just too quick to type before making a move, but I had a lot of trouble making the correct moves to remove all the trapdoors, even though I *knew* what had to be done to deal with each arrow.
The last three rooms, starting with 3N, 2E, were interesting, though I think they were somewhat easier than the Nameless rooms, and may have worked better before them, instead of closing the hold. 3N, 2E was my favourite of the three, with a very entertaining waltz 'round the level with babies in tow, and the race to find safety inside the tar. I cannot say I liked 4N, 2E nearly as much however: of all the tar rooms, it was the one that took least time to clear up, and by far. A brain and perhaps a few tar babies here and there would have helped spice up the room, I think: as it stands now, it is too easy to run for the Mother, with only a few babies standing in the way. I feel rather the same about 4N, 1E: the concept behind it was good, but the room was fairly easy once you got started (it did take me 1,000 moves to finish it, but it should be possible to improve that demo a lot).
Still, the hold was very good overall, being both fun and challenging at the same time; I don't think the difference in difficulty between the rooms was much of a problem, with easier rooms helping to get warmed up for those wicked rooms (swapping a few rooms around may result in a more even difficulty though).
Looking for Tomb of Nomb 2, and thanks for the hold.
[Last edited by Alneyan at 07-24-2005 06:12 PM]
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The all new Architect's Cut of Tomb of Nomb 
New Architect's Commentary - Learn the history of the hold, as you play it!
EXTRA SPECIAL BONUS SHORT FEATURE: The very first fan-made hold ever, The Old Sewers of Blorn - not available anywhere else!
Fully interactive Title Menu!
. But there were enough new puzzles and efficiency-requiring rooms that even if 2N 1E wasn't in there I would still give it a 6.5 in difficulty.
