agaricus5
Level: Smitemaster
Rank Points: 1838
Registered: 02-04-2003
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Hello to all DRODistic people out there!

If you do remember me, I'm agaricus5, also known as "Wesley Chua". I used to be a regular forum-member here and keen smitemaster/architect! However, certain personal arrangements, including the workload of my life at the University of Cambridge, meant I had to stop DRODing more or less completely for some two years and a bit.

However, I have finally managed to find my way back to the cave I used to call home in Erik's basement, and need some help finding my sword!

Can you help me fill in the two-year DROD gap I have? What did I miss, and what were the major highlights I should know about? What DROD games and stuff should I get down to purchasing?

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Resident Medic/Mycologist

mxvladi
Level: Smitemaster
Rank Points: 2505
Registered: 02-11-2008
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back.

What DROD games and stuff should I get down to purchasing?

1. The City Beneath

2. DROD RPG: Tendry's Tale(note: this is quite different from usual DROD)

3. New SMS called "Devilishly Dangerous Dungeon of Doom". Information about is here.

larrymurk
Level: Smitemaster

Rank Points: 1911
Registered: 12-09-2004
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Great to have you back Wesley.

1. Erik's pretty much gone Mike Rimer is our studly DROD king now. We love Mike and mourn losing Erik.

2. DROD:RPG is out now. Check it out if you like rpgs like Tower of the Sorcerer.

3. Of course you can go to the holds page to see all our fun new holds.

Blondbeard
Level: Smitemaster

Rank Points: 1486
Registered: 03-31-2005
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One architect (the poster above me) has been very active, and almost all of his holds are recomandable.

calamarain
Level: Smitemaster

Rank Points: 933
Registered: 03-25-2007
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Whoah! Another Cambridge University person. I'm also there... or was until I finished my PhD recently.

Hi!

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My Holds

Pinnacle
Level: Smitemaster

Rank Points: 1129
Registered: 06-10-2004
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Oh, and speaking of recommended architects, all of Calamarain's holds are varying degrees of awesome (if rather difficult).

____________________________
Once (adv.): Enough.
Twice (adv.): Once too often.
~Ambrose Bierce, The Devil's Dictionary

agaricus5
Level: Smitemaster
Rank Points: 1838
Registered: 02-04-2003
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calamarain wrote:
Whoah! Another Cambridge University person. I'm also there... or was until I finished my PhD recently.

Hi!

I'm pretty sure there were quite a number of Cantabrigians around, although my memory is quite foggy! I have three more years to go at clinical school, so that should be good fun (if not overly stressful)!

larrymurk wrote:
Erik's pretty much gone Mike Rimer is our studly DROD king now. We love Mike and mourn losing Erik.

How sad indeed; but Erik will still be around, even if he isn't going to be working on DROD, right?

mxvladi wrote:
1. The City Beneath

larrymurk wrote:
3. Of course you can go to the holds page to see all our fun new holds

I'm really excited by the amazing progress that DROD an the community have made; I only regret I haven't been around to see it for myself!

But I shall rectify that now. TCB harder than JtRH? I'm there!

Oh, wait. Does anyone have a sword I could borrow?

Edit: Ooo, but a Limited edition boxset? If I buy it, can I still download the full version to play while I wait for it to arrive?

____________________________
Resident Medic/Mycologist

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[Last edited by agaricus5 at 02-05-2009 06:23 PM]

slimm tom
Level: Smitemaster

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agaricus5 wrote:
Edit: Ooo, but a Limited edition boxset? If I buy it, can I still download the full version to play while I wait for it to arrive?

Yes, you sure can. Also, welcome back! I'm afraid I joined the community after you left, so I don't know you very well, but you're a very welcome addition to the community, which has gone through a lot lately.

Someone Else
Level: Smitemaster

Rank Points: 1300
Registered: 06-14-2005
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Wow! It's been a long time, and I didn't really expect to see you around here again. Anyways, I'm not very good at remembering when things happened, but I'd like to welcome you back anyways.

Jacob
Level: Smitemaster
Rank Points: 3746
Registered: 10-01-2004
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A couple of side points:

"Clinical years" - are you a medical student?

If you and Roger are in Cambridge, we should try and meet up.
I am now in Manchester (more accessible than Edinburgh). Any other DRODders round these parts?

As an addendum to the above points: check out the recent winners of the Annual People's Choice Awards (Deadlies).

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New to DROD? You may want to read this.
My Holds and Levels:

agaricus5
Level: Smitemaster
Rank Points: 1838
Registered: 02-04-2003
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slimm tom wrote:

agaricus5 wrote:
Edit: Ooo, but a Limited edition boxset? If I buy it, can I still download the full version to play while I wait for it to arrive?

Yes, you sure can.

That's very good; I shall get TCB then. Ahahaha! Those monsters won't know what hit them!

Also, welcome back! I'm afraid I joined the community after you left, so I don't know you very well, but you're a very welcome addition to the community, which has gone through a lot lately.

Is this a good thing or a bad thing, I wonder?

Jacob wrote:
A couple of side points:

"Clinical years" - are you a medical student?

Yup. currently I'm a third year undergraduate, so I'm doing my intercalated year (some medical schools in England only have a 5 year course).

If you and Roger are in Cambridge, we should try and meet up. I am now in Manchester (more accessible than Edinburgh). Any other DRODders round these parts?

Well, I have a free-ish schedule, so yes, if anyone wants a DRODistic meeting, I'm definitely up for one!

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Resident Medic/Mycologist

larrymurk
Level: Smitemaster

Rank Points: 1911
Registered: 12-09-2004
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I'd be a little wary of ordering the TCB box set. I didn't order one, but I think Erik has been delinquent in sending them out thus far.

slimm tom
Level: Smitemaster

Rank Points: 1228
Registered: 10-14-2006
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Mailed him about it yesterday. Still waiting for a response though, but you can at least be sure that he will send them out eventually. (I know that's not helping people very much though )

Tim
Level: Smitemaster

Rank Points: 1979
Registered: 08-07-2004
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back!

Not much changed really.

There's a new generation of forumites, with lots of new people, but also lots of children (as usual) and PhDs. The focus of the forum also shifted quite a bit.

The Illumination board is/was still interesting to see what Caravel is heading to.

Download the latest games TCB and RPG, and play in that order. For holds you should definitely try the Deadlies.

Erik left the forum with many people doing his old job, and it's a bit bureaucratic out there. Even new holds will need to be approved before being published.

____________________________
The best way to lose customers is to let little kids running loose on a forum with too many mod points.

NiroZ
Level: Smitemaster
Rank Points: 1302
Registered: 02-12-2006
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Yay, agaricus5 is back.

larrymurk
Level: Smitemaster

Rank Points: 1911
Registered: 12-09-2004
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For those who don't know Wesley, he happens to be the architect who created Bavato's Dungeon which I believe is a classic and should be listed as such.

Try this hold if you dare!!

http://forum.caravelgames.com/viewtopic.php?TopicID=3292

Jacob
Level: Smitemaster
Rank Points: 3746
Registered: 10-01-2004
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agaricus5 wrote:
Yup. currently I'm a third year undergraduate, so I'm doing my intercalated year (some medical schools in England only have a 5 year course).

Cool. Another DRODding medic. Don't know if there are any others.
I also did a 5 year degree (in Edinburgh) and did an extra intercalated year (in Immunology) - what is your intercalated year in? Am now in first year of Core Medical Training (after doing my first 2 foundation years).

Are you planning to specialise in Mycotic diseases solely?

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New to DROD? You may want to read this.
My Holds and Levels:

zwetschenwasser
Level: Master Delver

Rank Points: 200
Registered: 05-22-2007
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Hi! I'm Mr. Unpronounceable around here!

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

agaricus5
Level: Smitemaster
Rank Points: 1838
Registered: 02-04-2003
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Jacob wrote:

agaricus5 wrote:
Yup. currently I'm a third year undergraduate, so I'm doing my intercalated year (some medical schools in England only have a 5 year course).

Cool. Another DRODding medic. Don't know if there are any others.
I also did a 5 year degree (in Edinburgh) and did an extra intercalated year (in Immunology) - what is your intercalated year in? Am now in first year of Core Medical Training (after doing my first 2 foundation years).

I am studying Pathology, with a focus on Microbiology/Parasitology and Immunology.

Wow; I hadn't realised you were a doctor! I am impressed; on the one hand helping people through practicing medicine, on the other, protecting Eighthers through smiting evil dungeon creatures.

I am as yet lacking much clinical experience, but I am looking forward to clinical school.

Are you planning to specialise in Mycotic diseases solely?

Hmm... Probably not. I'm not sure I'm that interested in yeasts and invasive, spreading hyphae, although if you are immunocompromised, I did read once that you can be at risk from some common edible fungi, such as the oyster mushroom (Pleurotus ostreatus)! But if you're that immunocompromised, I guess oyster mushrooms won't be your biggest worries by quite a long way.

My field of interest in medicine is currently bioengineering as applied to foetal membranes, but I really don't know what I'd like to specialise in as a dctor. Hopefully it will be something research-oriented, though, as I am tending in that direction quite a bit.

Tim wrote:
For holds you should definitely try the Deadlies.

That I probably will (after TCB); thanks for letting me know about the contest. I almost feel a bit inadequate as an architect with all the architectural talent on offer.

But, I still have Golbar's Caves somewhere and I will probably send it to Architecture at some point. I am not sure I particularly want the hassle of Smitemasters' Selection, especially since I already have a storyline arc (I don't want to tread on the canon if I can avoid it!) and seriously want to avoid the disaster that was releasing Bavato's Dungeon. Watch this space!

____________________________
Resident Medic/Mycologist

Kwakstur
Level: Smiter

Rank Points: 385
Registered: 05-05-2006
IP: Logged

Hooray!

Here's some stuff about the current community:

I started posting right before you left, but I since I see so many of your posts in older topics, I didn't realize you actually weren't here any more until someone mentioned you a few months ago.
I don't always understand social situations or the proper actions to take... luckily, on an online forum, everyone frequently misinterprets others' posts, not just me, so at least I don't have to feel like the clueless high school reject I really am.

But you can count on this: I always make long posts, and I am always wordy, whether you like it or not. Every post I make takes forever (this took 1 hour 50 minutes). I also impulsively edit my posts because in such long posts I inevitably make mistakes, and I also see ways to better organize my posts.
You can bet I'll at some point add relavant links to just about everything in this post that could have one. By the time I'm done, it will look like a wikipedia article.


There are several great new contributors. Expect to see lots of posts from Lamkin, and zwetschenwasser, and Nuntar (though the last one deletes a lot of his posts, resulting in chronologically confusing discussions). Another new user, mxvladi, is churning out numerous great holds and is an active beta tester. 12th Archivist is quickly learning the workings of the game and forums and has contributed mainly to the RPG board. Gordius has been a great beta tester for RPG holds from the start (he deserves a lot more rank points than he has).
TFMurphy knows the DROD engine like the back of his hand, or at least appears to. He contributes a lot to Bugs posts.

A lot of us still share the same interests as we always did. Some changes: Blondbeard is a DROD RPG demigod. Snacko has cleaned up his act.


About holds:

MetDROiD Echoes came out just after you left. It's for JtRH. The Witherwood and Grinfidel series have also both concluded.

And as already stated by those before me, larrymurk has made TCB holds, and they're great. My favorite is Museum of Ooze.
Actually, no, wait. Magic Show 2 FTW!!!

The highly acclaimed Tar Gate Stronghold (which is even harder than larrymurk holds) has a TCB sequel, Dungeon of Broken Orbs. I'm not even sure if you were around for Tar Gate Stronghold... I highly recommend you try both of these holds out. They're great.


TCB has been out for a while, and lots of great holds are out for it. What I've been playing lately is Beethro's Brain and Entropy, both by dischorran (I think). Also to check out are Floor 33 (fun, not-too-hard rooms with a tight spaces theme), Val Unrich (an interesting, if temperamental, hold with a custom, flying player role), RPG 3.0 (an RPG made in TCB. Not one of my favorite holds, but it clearly was one hell of a project), and Flibbit's Flourish (lots of lynchpins and, IMO, funny dialogue).

But for getting back into DROD and learning TCB elements, I highly recommend Advanced Concepts, more than anything else. It's great.


The new elements in TCB include:
(Edit: Yeah, I agree that list is a bit spoilery. Secreted)



TCB can have user-made styles published and downloaded in a format called ".drh". Don't forget to get the great new Styles by vycycylin (Volcano and SanctumTwo) and Jutt (Basalt and Sandstone). There's also two styles whose creators I can't remember: Undersea and Voids3.0.


We also have a bureaucracy! Hold Admins and Board Mods are no longer the only non-administrator users that get special treatment.



And we have a FACEPALM SMILEY!

Yeah, it looks weird, but all that matters is that we have one.

____________________________
Also known as ExpHP everywhere else.

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[Last edited by Kwakstur at 02-06-2009 08:45 PM]

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

Oh, and Curious Shy Rabbit is the goddess of the forum, frequently blessing posts with her presence.

Tim
Level: Smitemaster

Rank Points: 1979
Registered: 08-07-2004
IP: Logged

agaricus5 wrote:

Tim wrote:
For holds you should definitely try the Deadlies.

That I probably will (after TCB); thanks for letting me know about the contest. I almost feel a bit inadequate as an architect with all the architectural talent on offer.

I think you misinterpreted what I said there. I'm trying to say that you should try some of the Drodlies winners. Although I expect you to win one this year

But, I still have Golbar's Caves somewhere and I will probably send it to Architecture at some point. I am not sure I particularly want the hassle of Smitemasters' Selection, especially since I already have a storyline arc (I don't want to tread on the canon if I can avoid it!) and seriously want to avoid the disaster that was releasing Bavato's Dungeon. Watch this space!

A canonical arc isn't required for a Smitemasters' Selection. Quality is everything (as you should know). The main hassle is that you will have to wait a lot of time before an SmS is released. If you have the patience you should set up a beta board again and let some of the Hold Administrators testing it. The "disaster" you've mentioned is minimized with the HA's, since the hold will be tested completely before it is published.

____________________________
The best way to lose customers is to let little kids running loose on a forum with too many mod points.

Kwakstur
Level: Smiter

Rank Points: 385
Registered: 05-05-2006
IP: Logged

File: drodtcb ish.ogg (1.2 MB)
Downloaded 66 times.
License: Public Domain

You said you would prefer people not post directly in your music thread, so here's a response to that:

Your music reminds me more of Final Fantasy (and, at some point in Score 7, Touhou) than DROD, but I still like it. And I actually haven't yet played the exact game that inspired it (Webfoot DROD), so I can't say there's no resemblance.

Lately, I have been working on some music inspired mostly by TCB and somewhat by JtRH. But at only 12 measures, it's FAR from complete, and the instrumentation right now is questionable. But I thought I'd share it in response to yours.

A rather long description for what is right now a rather short work-in-progress:

____________________________
Also known as ExpHP everywhere else.

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[Last edited by Kwakstur at 02-06-2009 11:02 PM]

Pinnacle
Level: Smitemaster

Rank Points: 1129
Registered: 06-10-2004
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IANAC*, but I wouldn't be too worried about 'cliches', seeing as all the progressions of notes that sound somewhat decent have already been written a long time ago. Just focus on what sounds good.

*I am not a composer**
**Doesn't this kind of defeat the purpose of the acronym in the first place?

____________________________
Once (adv.): Enough.
Twice (adv.): Once too often.
~Ambrose Bierce, The Devil's Dictionary

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[Last edited by Pinnacle at 02-06-2009 04:03 AM]

Snacko
Level: Smiter
Rank Points: 448
Registered: 06-08-2006
IP: Logged

I am offended that you said I cleaned up my act. I have simply been subtler, more devious, less willing to plant disturbances in my own name.

____________________________
Director of the Department of Orderly Disruptions

Chaco
Level: Smitemaster
Rank Points: 3624
Registered: 10-06-2005
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Snacko wrote:
I am offended that you said I cleaned up my act. I have simply been subtler, more devious, less willing to plant disturbances in my own name.

For example, Snacko here has been appointed Caravel's new voice of Beethro after the previous guy (Sten Ryason?) became unavailable. Snacko's voice shows up in the DDDD Smitemasters' Selection, and he's done a great job.

agaricus5
Level: Smitemaster
Rank Points: 1838
Registered: 02-04-2003
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Kwakstur wrote:
But you can count on this: I always make long posts, and I am always wordy, whether you like it or not. Every post I make takes forever (this took 1 hour 50 minutes). I also impulsively edit my posts because in such long posts I inevitably make mistakes, and I also see ways to better organize my posts.
You can bet I'll at some point add relavant links to just about everything in this post that could have one. By the time I'm done, it will look like a wikipedia article.

I've been there too, mostly in pre-2004 posts (but please don't look! ); I too have a compulsion to double-check my posts a lot, which is partially why it became a drain on my time when I left! But it's probably easier to write in fewer words than to write loads and re-check it frequently. I crawl along at 2 sentences per minute at times!

The new elements in TCB include:

I, too am excited, but I can't help but wonder if that should have been secreted? In any case, I am looking forward to playing around with some of these things; variable scripting sounds like fun, although I am a bit unsure I will actually rely on it too much.

We also have a bureaucracy! Hold Admins and Board Mods are no longer the only non-administrator users that get special treatment.

I am a bit confused by the system, but I think I get the general picture about what it is supposed to do. If people do it well, I think it sounds like a great idea!

I won't poke my nose in the Bureau, though; I don't want to upset anyone if things change again for me. And anyway, I have site stuff that I might get back to editing, so that should keep me busy.

Tim wrote:

agaricus5 wrote:

Tim wrote:
For holds you should definitely try the Deadlies.

That I probably will (after TCB); thanks for letting me know about the contest. I almost feel a bit inadequate as an architect with all the architectural talent on offer.

I think you misinterpreted what I said there. I'm trying to say that you should try some of the Drodlies winners. Although I expect you to win one this year

Ah, right. Thanks for clarifying the point for me.

But, I still have Golbar's Caves somewhere and I will probably send it to Architecture at some point. I am not sure I particularly want the hassle of Smitemasters' Selection, especially since I already have a storyline arc (I don't want to tread on the canon if I can avoid it!) and seriously want to avoid the disaster that was releasing Bavato's Dungeon. Watch this space!

A canonical arc isn't required for a Smitemasters' Selection. Quality is everything (as you should know). The main hassle is that you will have to wait a lot of time before an SmS is released.

Well, yes, that is true. I do hold the necessary criteria for SS submission, but I am still not sure about what to do with it.

After all, the SS FAQ appears to be quite different compared to the last time I saw it, and the requirements for a story are definitely new. Much of Golbar's Caves will be designed around its story, so having the constraint of not being able to develop it would be a problem.

SS would also limit the potential player-base, which might be a problem as only CaravelNet subscribers will be able to play it. But then again, if Golbar's Caves is good (with the added Bavato's dungeon reputation), maybe it would entice people to buy CaravelNet with all the other SS holds, which is definitely a good thing. Hmm...

If you have the patience you should set up a beta board again and let some of the Hold Administrators testing it.

Yes, maybe I should hold off releasing anything for now. After all, I don't really know what I should do and releasing the hold will be irreversible. Plus, I have some revamping to do, so it will be a while before I can release anything anyway.

The "disaster" you've mentioned is minimized with the HA's, since the hold will be tested completely before it is published.

Ahem. Yes. I have learnt my lesson this time. I will make sure it has all the demos intact and not edit it after testing.

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Resident Medic/Mycologist

eb0ny
Level: Smiter

Rank Points: 484
Registered: 09-12-2007
IP: Logged

Hello.

____________________________

slimm tom
Level: Smitemaster

Rank Points: 1228
Registered: 10-14-2006
IP: Logged

agaricus5 wrote:
SS would also limit the potential player-base, which might be a problem as only CaravelNet subscribers will be able to play it. But then again, if Golbar's Caves is good (with the added Bavato's dungeon reputation), maybe it would entice people to buy CaravelNet with all the other SS holds, which is definitely a good thing. Hmm...

Ah, I see you're from the period before the standalone SMS rule. Now all SMSes must be paid for separately, as a downloadable for $9 or as a CD for a little more. People who order CaravelNet do not get any SMS, old or new, and people don't need CaravelNet to buy and play any SMS.

Hope you're clear on the current situation now.

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

Welcome back Wesley!! Great to have you back...