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Let me say well done to everyone!! Even if you don't like the score I gave you I did appreciate that you entered a hold and enjoyed playing them, at least as far as I could get.
Festive Fortress-(7) I liked it at first, but got frustrated with how hard it was. I never got past level 2.
Whats the real Sand Tar?- (7) Was simple and the trick was a little obvious. What I didn't like was exits that went no where. I think you should have added the pits where you didn't have rooms rather than having the sand go to the edge.What I did like was the uselessness of the puzzles. I may have been the only one who did but it was funny.
Imperial Santa's diversion-(9) I didn't finish but I wanted to so this was my favorite. It had all the RPG features with a good story line. I really liked the way you made the player choose what they wanted by the use of pressure plates. I also felt the game was the right hardness. Even with the errors that beta testing would have prevented, it was fun. I would like to see more like this one.
Sand Tar Tale-(8) A nice storyline once I caught on that the tar was the player. I spent alot of time trying to get what I needed to get the sword but never got there. I thought it was to focused on conserving HPs. This is typical RPG but it was too hard which made it frustrating.
The Sand Tar Clause-(6) While I thought the graphics for the SandTar was great that was all I liked. This was a DROD:TCB type game rather than a DROD:RPG including the moving sandtar babies (a feature that others seem to like but which I didn't see as a real RPG feature, more about that later). I didn't score this down for that reason (the rules were to use RPG not that it had to be a RPG style). I scored it down because I couldn't get very far and I thought rather than scrolls you could have used scripting to introduce your new creation. Having the term Sand Tar first appear in the scroll was a disappointment.
The Drain- was my entry. I really enjoyed making it. I also enjoyed all the entries and was glad for everyone efforts. There were some general things I noticed from the comments made about this contest.
If you care:
Click here to view the secret text
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First, I did notice I was not the only one who suffered from the lack of beta testing inherent in the contest format. While I wanted players nervous about taking stuff because you really only needed your wits to defeat the SandTar Mother, I see that I went too far by not explaining it only affects that room. Beta testing here would have helped here. Also, it would have caught the error I already posted about and I might have made it not possible to use Blondbeards solution. Others faced this issue as well. I didn't score anyone down for errors that would have been fixed with beta testing.
Second, I noticed there was a range of difficulty, like in hold contest before some like it hard some like it not. As I have said before I am one who doesn't like it too hard so the holds that were too hard got lower scores.The Sand Tar Clause was the hardest of them all, I never got past the second puzzle. I made my hold with difficulty in mind, some thought that this made it just an exploration hold. The real goal was to make it not to hard to get stuff but to actually tempt you to take things you didn't need yet and could get with something else easier (flippers) later. I thought that was a typical RPG style thing to do. Killing the Sand Tar Mother was not about getting the right sword,but about being cleaver. Getting out on the other hand did require getting the right stuff.
Third, I noticed that most seem to like the old game style more than the new. The Sand Tar Clause score and comments really shows this well. While it was popular as the polling shows it was more like an old TCB style puzzle layout then a RPG style. While the RPG has scripting that lets you make your monsters attack, this feature is not the focus of the the RPG style like it is in previous DROD game. I found this very interesting. It seems that the transition to a new style of puzzle has many wanting the old style. Do I see a change in the next generation game where monsters movements are more easily included? Some seem to really miss that feature.
Fourthly, "Sand Tar" the term was to be used in the game in that order. I never saw the "Santa" theme idea until I saw the submitted holds. Call me dense if you want but that would be why mine had nothing to do with Christmas, except I spent most of the day snowed in on Christmas making the water scripting. (I did have a great Christmas so don't worry, I was snowed in, in Big Bear, on vacation.) I focused on making a Sand Tar creature, some have said that just because it "was on sand didn't make it sand tar", but I disagree the rules focused on the use of the words not on what you made. My "Sand Tar" was a real as some of those Santa's. I focused on getting the word to appear as you played and to appear in the right order.
Finally, I learned that even though my score doesn't show it the comments tell me I was on the right track for my first RPG. I really enjoyed making this type of hold more then any of the previous game engines. I like the bigness of the puzzle, hold wide rather than just one room. I like the ability to retrieve items and take them with you, something you could not do in TCB or earlier. I have always desired this feature but couldn't see it in that engine. I look forward to making more holds and refining my skills with beta testers. In fact I want to adapt this hold itself and develop it into a real hold. I plan to develop more levels and develop the Sand Tar Creature more as a genetic abnormality which can only live on sand. I may ask Nuntar the creator of the Sand Tar graphic to make it public domain so we can all use it. I sure would like to. I want any suggestions you have please PM me.
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I have been continually playing contest on the forum since Dec 2004. Having often been addressed as a he my new avatar shows that I am a "
Lady"
. And one with a very sharp sword, too.
I love the monthly contests but it took me a long while before I even placed. 21 contests in fact.
Virtual Burning Man was the first contest I took any place in and I got 1st, wow!. Yes, I have received my prize, a sweatshirt from the DROD store, and I love it.
It took 14 more contest but next I took 1st prize in Media of the Eighth Nov07, followed by a win in the Secret Santa 2007. Check out my entry:
http://www.gailswebplace.com/NightSky/index.html
Suddenly I was a winner but, still the goal of a winning hold based contest eludes me....
I keep trying so come and join me.
http://forum.caravelgames.com/viewboard.php?BoardID=83
When/if I release a version of this hold for the general public, (I don't mean the compilation) then I will make it harder to get enough to leave with out dealing with the Sand Tar Mother.
).
