FeralRaptorius
Level: Roachling
Rank Points: 13
Registered: 11-23-2008
IP: Logged

I'd like to throw put down a few ideas.

1) An Ice Expander - A Stationary Enemy, does not attack. Every 15/30 Turns (can't decide which, you may take the best value you can think of), causes a covering of ice to form on the floor; this grows the same way tar grows. It can be stepped over (thus cannot be removed) and appears as part of the tiling, however Beethro cannot swing his sword while on it (blame the lack of friction). Thus all kills must be step only unless Beethro steps off the Ice.

2) A Potion with limited Area; a deployment screen shows up like with Decoys and Mimics but not full screen. The square The Icon is set on is where Beethro teleports to. Allows dead ends to have a way out without using trap doors. Also, bypasses walls; its more of an aid to Room Design and Pure Puzzle Ability but can also be used in chase sequences to get out of the way of a horde of roaches.

3) Standard Gate Fare -
Auto-locking Gates that allow only a one time use when you pass a straight line through the horizontal/vertical gate ends.
Timed Gates, opening and closing at regular 30 Turn Intervals.

4) When loading and/or viewing Demos, you can type in a turn number and you skip to that turn. I don't know how hard it'd be to implement but when viewing your less-than-optimal demos to analyze them, it'd help speed things along instead of having to wait.

Sorry if these have been done already, I'm new. This is my first post.

NiroZ
Level: Smitemaster
Rank Points: 1302
Registered: 02-12-2006
IP: Logged

2 and 3 can be done with scripting, and 2 is already used in the DROD RPG.

but I like 4.

FeralRaptorius
Level: Roachling
Rank Points: 13
Registered: 11-23-2008
IP: Logged

Thank you. I've only played JTRH though I'm planning on getting The City Beneath soon. What about 1 - Any good?

NiroZ
Level: Smitemaster
Rank Points: 1302
Registered: 02-12-2006
IP: Logged

You can do that partially with mimics, orbs and bombs. At least keep you stuck in one direction. A hold which does this is compass point.

Briareos
Level: Smitemaster

Rank Points: 3516
Registered: 08-07-2005
IP: Logged

NiroZ wrote:
You can do that partially with mimics, orbs and bombs. At least keep you stuck in one direction. A hold which does this is compass point.

Yeah, but doing it that way is like holding you at gunpoint to not, say, press two keys on your keyboard instead of simply disabling those keys without fear of Bad Things Happening(TM)...

Also, there's that "spreading" thing that a mimic just won't be able to mimic - pardon the pun.

And 2 sounds to me like a potion with a designated placement area - I don't think I've come across anything like that in DROD RPG.

4 would be very cool, but I'd even go as far as wanting a slider as well as an entry field...

np: The Year Of - There's Something About You (Slow Days)

____________________________
"I'm not anti-anything, I'm anti-everything, it fits better." - Sole
R.I.P. Robert Feldhoff (1962-2009)

Someone Else
Level: Smitemaster

Rank Points: 1305
Registered: 06-14-2005
IP: Logged

I think that bombs and fegundoes would be able to remove ice. I mean, it's very hot.

NiroZ
Level: Smitemaster
Rank Points: 1302
Registered: 02-12-2006
IP: Logged

As well as the gaze of the aumtlich. After all, it can ignite fuses.

FeralRaptorius
Level: Roachling
Rank Points: 13
Registered: 11-23-2008
IP: Logged

Yes, The Ice Expander does away with the need for bombs and mimics and orbs and gives a one square unit that can do it instead. You have much more freedom of movement, as long as your sword orientation was good on entry. For that reason, it also does not grow that fast BUT will mess you up if you just hang around and wait; you will not be able to complete sword orientation puzzles.

I meant for the ice to be non-removable. It will not grow after the expander is killed but is also permanent. I guess you could remove it with things; it's just an idea after all. Bombs are a good idea, I have not seen the other two elements.

zwetschenwasser
Level: Master Delver

Rank Points: 200
Registered: 05-22-2007
IP: Logged

Good ideas, Feral, and to the forums!

____________________________
Currently working on GaTEB and KDD (never finished the silly thing).

Briareos
Level: Smitemaster

Rank Points: 3516
Registered: 08-07-2005
IP: Logged

FeralRaptorius wrote:
I meant for the ice to be non-removable. It will not grow after the expander is killed but is also permanent. I guess you could remove it with things; it's just an idea after all. Bombs are a good idea, I have not seen the other two elements.

So did your idea encompass pre-placed ice, or only an expander that will grow it in turn?

np: Luomo - Robert's Reason (Convivial)

____________________________
"I'm not anti-anything, I'm anti-everything, it fits better." - Sole
R.I.P. Robert Feldhoff (1962-2009)

zwetschenwasser
Level: Master Delver

Rank Points: 200
Registered: 05-22-2007
IP: Logged

Probably all, including preplaced ice. (to make it more like tarstuff).

____________________________
Currently working on GaTEB and KDD (never finished the silly thing).

Monkey
Level: Master Delver

Rank Points: 190
Registered: 03-21-2006
IP: Logged

NiroZ wrote:
2 is already used in the DROD RPG.

Where?

____________________________
lurking

FeralRaptorius
Level: Roachling
Rank Points: 13
Registered: 11-23-2008
IP: Logged

Actually, I didn't think of Ice as a separate element, only that it grew outwards from The Ice Expander (with the Expander as Ground Zero with no beginning Ice) but I guess it could stand alone as a separate element too. While I thought of it, I thought of The Expander Monster as the main idea, not The Ice itself so I think your ideas about Ice Destruction, Pre-Planning and anything else would most likely be more in-depth than mine.

I thought of The Ice Expander originally for Efficiency Rooms but it needn't only be that way. It could also perform those battle sequences where you're facing down a horde of roaches in confined spaces, except here you have more space but also a little more planning. Safe areas for quick adjustment, that sort-of thing. Also, Adder Puzzles.

Teleportation Potions, if it hasn't already been done yet, was intended for Battle Sequences (quick entrances and exits), Timed Sequences where you had to walk into an area, clean out a roach queen and enter another enclosed area. It also acts as a goal since in some cases, successfully solving a puzzle will put you right next to it to get out. Also, it aids dungeon design by not needing to put in a way out of a trap, giving you slightly more space to use in your room since you can use it to skip over any force arrows, walls, pits or anything else that you had used (for example, the 'correct' solution to a serpent puzzle might involve you blocking yourself into a corner with Rock Golem Rubble. Normally, you'd have to expend space to create a way out through green doors, force arrows, corridors and things. A Teleportation Potion can skip over all this at the cost of MAYBE revealing the solution; I mean if you see Rock Golems and Serpents and haven't figured out what to do, either you're new or the designer really messed you up with the previous rooms).


Now you know as much as I do about it, heh. Almost anything else mentioned right now will be new.

NiroZ
Level: Smitemaster
Rank Points: 1302
Registered: 02-12-2006
IP: Logged

Monkey wrote:

NiroZ wrote:
2 is already used in the DROD RPG.

Where?

haven't you come across the tunnels that don't line up?

FeralRaptorius
Level: Roachling
Rank Points: 13
Registered: 11-23-2008
IP: Logged

There are a few differences that will hopefully warrant the inclusion. I'm assuming that tunnels work the same as in JTRH except that they don't need to line up anymore -

1) A Tunnel can only be used in one direction, making that direction inaccessible on that square. A Potion can be stepped on from any direction, using up the turn the teleport takes place.

2) A Tunnel has a fixed point of entry and exit. A Teleportation Potion has a normal Square of Deployment centred on The Potion itself, allowing you to teleport anywhere within it, thus not only preventing 'one solution only' cases but also making the puzzles a little more intricate (do I go down this corridor or fight that spwan first?).

3) Tunnels are continuous. Potions are one-time things. You may be able to script the tunnel to destroy itself after a use, I wouldn't know but a) it isn't an in-built feature of the tunnel itself and b) it doesn't do away with the other aspects.

Sorry if it seemed argumentative, I just wished to post a rebuttal.

Briareos
Level: Smitemaster

Rank Points: 3516
Registered: 08-07-2005
IP: Logged

FeralRaptorius wrote:
2) A Tunnel has a fixed point of entry and exit. A Teleportation Potion has a normal Square of Deployment centred on The Potion itself, allowing you to teleport anywhere within it, thus not only preventing 'one solution only' cases but also making the puzzles a little more intricate (do I go down this corridor or fight that spwan first?).

Hmmm... by your first description I had imagined that the architect got to decide on a rectangular area where the player could teleport to, anywhere in the room, and clicking on the potion would highlight said area.

That would allow a one way trip all over the room, once.

____________________________
"I'm not anti-anything, I'm anti-everything, it fits better." - Sole
R.I.P. Robert Feldhoff (1962-2009)

Someone Else
Level: Smitemaster

Rank Points: 1305
Registered: 06-14-2005
IP: Logged

Actually, it's scripting that makes the tunnels work like that.

FeralRaptorius
Level: Roachling
Rank Points: 13
Registered: 11-23-2008
IP: Logged

That wasn't my idea but i recognize how it'd work and how good an idea it could be. I just prefer a sleeker and simpler design. To me, DROD is a game that is incredibly complex from very simple components. Also, putting down an exact area would also give away a large part of the solution too. While I'm all for sharing the info., I prefer if they figure it out genuinely on there own, rather than check for their general goal and work backwards - even if I've said the potion provides a goal, you just know you have to get there. You can't reverse engineer it as much.

While having individual potions would be more engaging and more complex, I personally prefer a simple centralized potion. It's silly so I'm not really going to enforce it; your original impression is far better, roll with that instead.

I tend to word things badly. Sorry.

ellwilll
Level: Roachling
Rank Points: 11
Registered: 10-14-2008
IP: Logged

sorry for the bvump but i love the ice idea. think of the posssibilities. it would make for interesting-er puzzles. great idea/

____________________________
KDD- completed demo
TCB-
JTRH-

Syntax
Level: Smitemaster
Rank Points: 1218
Registered: 05-12-2005
IP: Logged

FeralRaptorius wrote:
4) When loading and/or viewing Demos, you can type in a turn number and you skip to that turn. I don't know how hard it'd be to implement but when viewing your less-than-optimal demos to analyze them, it'd help speed things along instead of having to wait.

You can speed up demo playbacks using the left/right arrow keys, and space to trigger playing from any point. Sorry if you already knew this, but that usually suffices for me so wanted to pass it on.

I've seen posts before where the poster was not aware of this functionality so worth repeating. "Guessing" a turn number seems impractical.