Fafnir
Level: Smiter

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On conquering a hold in DROD, the Restore screen changes to show the number of secrets remaining on each level. In DROD RPG, it instead changes to show the number of secrets remaining in the entire hold, which is slightly harder to work with! Is this a conscious design decision, or would it be possible to get something more informative added (like the number of secrets remaining on the current level of the save file)?

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RoboBob3000
Level: Smitemaster

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I second this in a big way, though I realize it's probably a design choice.

One question I was struck with after completing the game: Am I going to have to start over entirely if there were secrets I missed? That's a bummer for the player.

If so, are HA's going to enforce that all secrets in a quest be accessible in a single play-through? That's going to be a bummer for the architect.

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zex20913
Level: Smitemaster

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I would assume (and this IS pure stipulation) that the official hold will be the base of most, if not all, of gameplay decisions that affect the HA.

Backtracking has already been discussed, and I'm sure this will too. Right now, based upon what I've seen of Tendry's Tale, I'd personally be leaning toward your player-bummer. Again, not an official decision, mind you.

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RoboBob3000
Level: Smitemaster

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Well, I didn't pose it as an either/or thing. If all secrets need to be found in a single playthrough (as opposed to the count being managed TCB-style), that will be tough on players (who have no way of knowing when they've rendered a secret impossible) and tough on architects (who will have to design the quest in such a way that includes no choice between collecting secret A or collecting secret B).

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[Last edited by RoboBob3000 at 09-17-2008 04:52 PM]

mrimer
Level: Legendary Smitemaster

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RoboBob3000 wrote:
One question I was struck with after completing the game: Am I going to have to start over entirely if there were secrets I missed? That's a bummer for the player.

I don't get it. Why would you have to start over if you missed a hidden room?

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TFMurphy
Level: Smitemaster
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mrimer wrote:
I don't get it. Why would you have to start over if you missed a hidden room?

As far as I can tell, if a hold is marked "You and Masters", you must do one of two things to earn access rights:

1) Find all hidden rooms in a *single* playthrough and then conquer the hold. This opens the hold for editing permenantly, until the hold itself is updated with any new secrets.
2) Conquer the hold, and then save a game that has all secrets explored. So long as you possess this save game, you are allowed to edit the hold. If the save game is deleted before you conquer the hold with it, then you will lose access rights.

This is a markedly different system from TCB in being considered to have *mastered* a hold. I do realise that RPG Hidden Rooms are essentially a different mechanic to TCB Secret Rooms, but this is what's being discussed here.

EDIT: I made a few mistakes when experimenting with this: for one thing, I wasn't making sure I left Hidden Rooms to 'conquer' them, since I was reasoning that 'conquering' didn't have much meaning in DROD RPG.

So, as long as all Hidden Rooms are *conquered* in your saves, you gain editing rights. But if you delete those saves, you lose editing rights. You couldn't really delete saves in TCB, but here, cleaning up save games can lead to unhappy accidents.

Also, 1) isn't quite right - it seems that conquering the hold is its own autosave, so it counts in the "all hidden rooms in your saved games" thing. You can't delete this hidden autosave yourself, but if you conquer the hold *again*, it's overwritten with your new autosave. So if you conquer it with less than 100% secrets, you'd lose editing rights unless you have the missing hidden rooms in your other saves.

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[Last edited by TFMurphy at 09-24-2008 02:49 AM]

halyavin
Level: Delver
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Registered: 02-20-2006
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Interesting investigation. I prefer third option to obtain access rights though .