Mastered!
This is a really neat hold! Of course, that's largely thanks to its titular custom element. Fireballs are also really neat! They're a perfect example of an element done right: simple, intuitive, and versatile. Here, you'll explore ten similar-looking rooms, and solve ten wildly-different puzzles. No concept gets reused -- and that's
after Chaco limited himself to just a handful of elements (mostly roaches). I can see fireballs having a
lot of potential if mixed with other elements, especially fluff vents and time clones. Toss in some pushing mechanics and you've got a seriously baller element!
Mechanics aren't everything. What really ties this hold together is the atmosphere. Obstacles, pits, water, and floor types are all placed with terrifying exactitude. Fortunately, the aesthetics don't stop with decorations -- puzzle workings are given the same attention, and since the room style is so dark, the highlights really help make things clear. My only complaints are with the trapdoors in 4S that look too similar to the pits, and the floor type under the arrows in 5S 1W that totally look like walls. (Road or alternate floor would have been a better contrast.) Overall, this might be the most beautiful hold I've seen yet!
Onto the puzzles themselves: most were pretty good. 5S 1E and 4S 2E stand out as especially clever. The snake wrangling in 6S isn't
too bad, but I'd be content if I never tackled something like it again. 6S 1E is, unsurprisingly, quite difficult. It's the hardest room in the hold by a wide margin. I've been reading through
that difficulty rating thread, and after ramming my head against that puzzle for a solid hour, I think I have something to contribute now. At least none of the
required rooms are too hard. That's a win in my book.
The scroll-style tutorials do their job fine. I quite enjoyed the snarky tone in 5S -- I wish every scroll had that level of personality. But it's not a problem. As far as showcase holds go, this one is outstanding. I recommend playing it even if you aren't planning on throwing fireballs in your hold.
Good work!
6 brains
8 fun
Side note to architects who want to use this element in their holds:
Click here to view the secret text
×Create two new default characters and use this script for both:
Imperative 1
Imperative 7
Imperative 11
Label 1
Label Attempt to move in the direction you're facing, otherwise rotate CW twice
GoSub 2
If ...
Move 0,0,0,0
Else
Set var "_MyScriptX" = -9999
Face direction clockwise
Face direction clockwise
If End
Go to 1
Label 2
Label Convert the direction you're facing into (relative) coordinates, and return
Set var "_MyScriptX" = _MyO % 3 - 1
Set var "_MyScriptY" = _MyO / 3 - 1
Return
Make sure the default character type for the first character is Fegundo, and the default character type for the second character is Goblin. You can get the character graphics from
this post (red) and
this post (green).
[Last edited by Kaelyn at 03-03-2019 04:28 AM]
(Took hell lot of time to find, like 20 minutes)
