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west.logan
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icon Re: Beginner's Guide to DROD (+2)  
By the way Jacob, I was trying to place (in your spambot post) where I'd seen your name before. Then remembered this thread and thought I really should go back and say something.

This was really helpful for me as I was trying to decide which game to buy. I started DROD with AE about five or six years ago and when I finally went to look it up, discovered that there had been more games made. This FAQ helped me make decisions on what to get started on as well as (through Ezlo's comments in one of your links) what user holds to try as a "beginner" (I only made it to level 14 or so on AE before I lost my data).

So thank you for taking the time to write this up, this has been very much appreciated and I've referred back to it multiple times.

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05-17-2011 at 09:01 PM
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Jacob
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I've updated this with a link to a Let's Play (which seems to be written by one of the dev team?) and links for each of the architect's list of holds, among other things.

Edit: So who is Merus??

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[Last edited by Jacob at 07-31-2011 08:20 PM]
07-31-2011 at 08:09 PM
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Rabscuttle
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Jacob wrote:
I've updated this with a link to a Let's Play (which seems to be written by one of the dev team?) and links for each of the architect's list of holds, among other things.

Edit: So who is Merus??

Mattcrampy
08-01-2011 at 01:27 AM
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Jacob
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Have added Spider Well, Dan's Dungeon, Aurora's Palace and a few tutorial holds to the recommendations.

Anyone think there are others that need including? (West Logan may be the best person to advise, seeing how he's speeding through the easier holds).

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12-30-2011 at 04:57 PM
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west.logan
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Thanks for the thought, I would have suggested Aurora's Palace and Dan's Dungeon but you've already got those in addition to Mysteries of the Deep. It's a really good list as it is.

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12-30-2011 at 05:06 PM
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west.logan
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Actually, I remembered that I do have one suggestion: Chaco's Hold.

I'm not finished with it yet (I've been savouring it in spare moments on weekends) but the difficulty is not bad, it steps up through difficulty and new items fairly nicely, and each of the puzzles is carefully crafted and unique. It's probably been my favourite non-official hold so far. I would place it above Aurora's Palace for beginners, personally.

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-Logan
01-01-2012 at 11:07 PM
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Kill0byte
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Hey everyone!

I'm totally new to playing DROD (although I have heard mention of it from time to time over the years, always spoken of quite highly.) I recently picked up all of the DROD games from Shiny Loot's sale ($1 a piece, how can you go wrong?) and I've been reading this thread trying to figure out which ones I should play first.

But, as I was reading I noticed the trend is to recommend holds based on difficulty... but I'm a little OCD and really want to play them in chronological order in terms of the story of the games, so is there a list somewhere that indicates in which order the games (or holds, I'm a little confused on the interchangeability of the terms) should be played story-wise rather than difficulty-wise? Thanks!
12-03-2013 at 05:01 AM
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ErikH2000
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* GatEB
* KDD
* JtRH
* TCB
* The Truthlock Method
* TSS

If you hurry, you can finish the first five before The Second Sky is released!

There are some more Smitemaster's Selections too, which are smaller games that tend to tie in less to the story. However, the Truthlock Method has a lot of story in it, so I included it above.

-Erik


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12-03-2013 at 05:08 AM
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Kulko
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I am almost done with the AE and so i am planing to spend some real money and I wonder what to buy next?

If I buy JTRH and TCBcan I then play JTRH under the newer (hopefully better) interface? Or do I need to buy it via smitemaster selections for that?


03-09-2014 at 03:41 PM
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Vike91
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Kulko wrote:
I am almost done with the AE and so i am planing to spend some real money and I wonder what to buy next?

If I buy JTRH and TCBcan I then play JTRH under the newer (hopefully better) interface? Or do I need to buy it via smitemaster selections for that?


When you buy TCB or JtRH, you get a month of CaravelNet time. With CaravelNet you can download all the purchased versions as holds into one game via CaravelNet.

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03-09-2014 at 03:48 PM
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Jacob
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Updated (after a 2 year gap apparently).

This should now be much clearer regarding the different official holds and engines (including which SmSes are canonical etc).

I also added some links to Let's Plays to the help section.

Please let me know what you think and I will upload it to the official fansite.

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06-27-2014 at 01:20 PM
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KevG
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Jacob wrote:
What you can get for free.

Astute readers will have realised there's a lot you can get for free.
- DROD Architect's Edition (including the original KDD)
- KDD, as a standalone hold file
-The Flash remake of KDD (called KDD Lite, or Flash DROD) which you can play in your browser.
- Journey to Rooted/KDD 2.0 (comes with the DROD2 engine)
- The City Beneath demo (comes with the DROD3 engine)
- Gunthro and the Epic Blunder demo (comes with the DROD4 engine)
- The Second Sky Demo (comes with the DROD5 engine)
The demo versions of the engines come with limited graphical styles and music, but are otherwise completely unlimited.
- With the DROD5 engine you can then play every single usermade hold (currently 477 and counting) and make your own holds using all the available monsters and elements.

Good job. Just wanted to point out a small typo. You missed the word "demo" after "Journey to Rooted/KDD 2.0".
The actual content though is great.

06-27-2014 at 02:38 PM
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Dragon Fogel
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Another minor thing: you note that "DROD 2, 3, and 4 come with tutorials"; 5 does as well, presumably you overlooked updating that line.

It also seems worth mentioning the starter pack included with Second Sky, which includes a number of the holds on your recommended list anyways.
06-27-2014 at 04:46 PM
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rman
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In DROD 5, you can click on doors to see what orbs and pressure plates are connected to them. Perhaps that should be mentioned in the If you need help... (in-game) section.

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06-27-2014 at 04:51 PM
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elfbutt
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The Palace of Puzzles hold thread you link to tells the reader to go get an different, updated version instead.
06-27-2014 at 05:27 PM
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Jacob
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Thanks, I have made these 4 changes (to the version - will update the site one later).

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New to DROD? You may want to read this.
My Holds and Levels:
Click here to view the secret text

06-27-2014 at 05:57 PM
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azb
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*Danforth Stout accent*

Did you know, that the DROD 5 starter pack also has the same holds on the DROD 4 starter pack?



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[Last edited by azb at 06-27-2014 08:42 PM]
06-27-2014 at 08:42 PM
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Sawelios
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Hi to all!

Maybe I'm too dumb (especially to play DROD:D) but I need some clarification about playing previous DROD games under DROD 5 engine. I have all the five ones (plus RPG) bought on GOG. So what should I do to run DROD 1-4 in DROD 5?

Thanks in advance.

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Sumata Sukta Suvartana
08-22-2015 at 07:20 PM
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RabidChild
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You can download the earlier games into the 5.0 engine, but you need an active CaravelNet account to do it. You also need to have your purchases linked to your forum account, which is not automatic if you purchased them on GOG. If you email support@caravelgames.com with your receipt, they should be able to help you out.
08-22-2015 at 08:21 PM
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Pinnacle
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You can also PM email Schik to get a temporary key to import the holds into 5.0, the CaravelNet requirement is more of a technical limitation than a feature, so that's the workaround.

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[Last edited by Pinnacle at 08-23-2015 01:28 AM]
08-22-2015 at 09:17 PM
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Sawelios
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Pinnacle wrote:
You can also PM Schik to get a temporary key to import the holds into 5.0, the CaravelNet requirement is more of a technical limitation than a feature, so that's the workaround.

Thanks a lot, I have followed your advice and PM'd Shick.

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Sumata Sukta Suvartana
08-22-2015 at 09:39 PM
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Schik
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For future reference, these requests should go to the support email, not a PM to me. Particularly if people need to forward us receipts from other sellers.


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08-23-2015 at 01:21 AM
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Sawelios
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Well, I'm yet more dumber than I look :D. So now I have all the DROD installers in my temporary CaravelNet account. But how do these installers differ from those of GOG? And do I need to install them all into one folder? (I only started KDD a day ago so my progress is minimal and I won't bother with character export).

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Sumata Sukta Suvartana
08-23-2015 at 03:12 PM
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blorx1
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Schik wrote:
For future reference, these requests should go to the support email, not a PM to me. Particularly if people need to forward us receipts from other sellers.

Of course, if he sent an email to support it wouldn't get answered so this is probably best.

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08-23-2015 at 04:54 PM
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Pinnacle
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Sawelios wrote:
Well, I'm yet more dumber than I look :D. So now I have all the DROD installers in my temporary CaravelNet account. But how do these installers differ from those of GOG? And do I need to install them all into one folder? (I only started KDD a day ago so my progress is minimal and I won't bother with character export).

No worries, it's a bit of a process, but thankfully you only have to do it once.

1 - On the forum, click Profile -> CaravelNet -> Request a new key

2 - Copy the key, open TSS.

3 - In the settings screen, enter your forum username (case-sensitive) and paste the key you just copied.

4 - Open the Change Location screen, then filter by official holds.

5 - Highlight all the holds, click Download. Now they're merged.

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08-23-2015 at 06:12 PM
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Sawelios
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Pinnacle wrote: No worries, it's a bit of a process, but thankfully you only have to do it once

Thank you for your detailed roadmap, it was easier than it seemed.
I only has two last questions left:):

1) As I can see, RPG is playable only under its own engine, is it?
2) Due to temporary state of my CaravelNet account, in the future I will lose the convenience of downloading user-made holds right from the in-game menu, but it still will be possible to install them manually from Download site section, is it right?

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Sumata Sukta Suvartana
08-23-2015 at 07:27 PM
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kieranmillar
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Sawelios wrote:
1) As I can see, RPG is playable only under its own engine, is it?
2) Due to temporary state of my CaravelNet account, in the future I will lose the convenience of downloading user-made holds right from the in-game menu, but it still will be possible to install them manually from Download site section, is it right?
Yes to both. You can always download holds from the site and manually import them.
08-23-2015 at 09:24 PM
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Sawelios
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Thank you all for your assistance and patience.

Have a nice hold!;)

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Sumata Sukta Suvartana
08-24-2015 at 06:57 AM
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LucreciaThompson
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Thanks for this information!

06-08-2020 at 04:55 AM
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