Chaco wrote:
Some author notes on my entry (don't read if you don't want to) :
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I chose the Halph element as my puzzle theme for much the same reasons as I chose the waterskipper for my Elemental Showcase entry: I believe it's an underappreciated element, I would like to see more puzzles using him, and I think it's possible to do a lot of cool things with him (especially now that we have new TCB elements)
I thought it was an especially good idea to choose Halph seeing as Halph puzzles have historically been uncommon even in his heyday in JtRH, and I wanted to show that even though Halph isn't Beethro's friend in TCB, it's still possible and not too difficult to finegle a story together to get Beethro a helper.
As for the hold itself, a lot of people seemed to think it was too hard (like my entry last year) I tried to make the hold easier this time around - the tutorial is well-made in my opinion, and the nine rooms (in my intention) were made with specific lynchpins in mind (some regarding Halph, some not).
I think I also did a good job with the cutscenes and particularly giving the player opportunities to see or skip the beginning cutscenes, the tutorial, and the ending, and making most of the hold optional, thus stretching or squashing the hold to whoever's hour.
So, maybe I do make rooms that are too hard for people like Techant or bflatjeff, but I hope they at least found the hold enjoyable and well-made. Perhaps I'm an acquired taste
Also, Rheb, Blondbeard, I'm personally intrigued in why Palschkeep Thwettlebep didn't catch either of your interest. Did you not enjoy the Halph element, the puzzles of the hold, the cutscenes, or was it something else? I'm always trying to improve, but feedback like "I don't know why, but this really wasn't my type of puzzles..." doesn't give me much to go on... 
(Jeebus this post is a lot longer than I thought it would be)
I realize that. Hmm... I've given the issue quite some thought now, and have furthermore mastered the hold. Unfortunatly the rooms I liked best (1W, 2W and 3W) was among the rooms I didn't play last time. It doesn't matter though. I still would have given the hold a vote of seven.
I furthermore think that Halph is a bit of a cloggy element. It feels a bit tedius moving him around, especially if you have to restart the room several times.
Some more specific feedback: The first cutscene was a bit too long. You could have skipped the middle part without loosing any story elements, and it kind of bugged me when Ralph started speaking about the famous Chaco, whom I knew nothing about. Don't asume that the reader is well aquantained with your previous works (I think this is a mistak Tolkien did in LotR, where the book starts with a birthday party for a rather stiff, old man, unless you already know and love the character).
I really do like the freedom to choose though.
1S1W: Bleh! I was so tired of this room! I didn't like it in Magic Show 2, and I wasn't very happy to find it here. It's an elegant room, but I find it too tedius, and I had tried it out too many times in Magic Show 2 (the only room I didn't solve there). I solved it here though, and that was a plus
2S1W: This might be the worst room in the hold. Just kill the monsters and park Halph on the preasure plate. There might be some intended solution that is a bit trickier, but that's how I did it.
1S2W: Meh! Cool idea, but a bit bulky execution. It's so easy that the only element (for me) in playing a room like this is that you might press the wrong button some time, or miss movement priorities. I think this rooom would have been great as a qite fast cutscene though
1S3W: I like this room, but: it would have saved me much frustration if the entrance to the enclosed area had been as close as possible to an edge, and if there had been some more checkpoints. I had to redo the beginning some times.
2S3W: Cool room! I would have removed the westmost door, though. It only made the room a bit more tedius, and not more difficult.
1W: The room I liked best. I was a bit surprised by Halphs running algorithm though. It felt a bit unpredictable.
2W: Also cool. A bit tedius, though. I would have put an arrow pointing E on 7,16.
3W: Really nice idea, but a bit tedius. What's up with the really long fuse, for example? I might have done this room in an uninteded way. I used two golems, and Halph to block the guards from attacking me from behind.
All in all I liked the hold, but I like many things. It didn't catch my interest to stand out among the things I like to do, and I probably wouldn't have played it just to entertain myself. I'm quite picky when it comes to DROD holds nowdays.
[Last edited by Blondbeard at 03-25-2008 08:39 AM]
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