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File: Empires power The slayer vats.hold (691.2 KB)
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This is my first real hold that isn't just a level with places that you can't get killed. I'm also looking for testers to. The original name of my hold is slayer's menace: the guards castle. I invited some of the previos testers that appointed stuff. I thank Chaco for appointing the guard situation in "the hold". I also finished the next part of the Empire's power sereis: and beethro comes along and will be posting it later today. I'm still working on the third hold of the series: The great stalwart battle witch will take another 4 weeks or something.

zex20913
Level: Smitemaster

Rank Points: 1723
Registered: 02-04-2003
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This is the first hold by Chaosgamer. Although it has some smattering of "first hold-itis", the style has reminded some of King Pilchard's holds. There is definitely a bit of a quest-y feel to this hold, and that's a plus in my eyes.

I realized playing this hold just how much fun it is to kill guards as a slayer. If for no other reason, you should play this hold because of that.

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Chaosgamer
Level: Delver
Rank Points: 88
Registered: 04-08-2009
IP: Logged

And the feeling of finally being able to kill monsters when stepping on them. Or killen 2 monsters at a time.

EDIT: Wow! 10 points?

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[Last edited by Chaosgamer at 07-16-2009 10:04 PM]

Chaco
Level: Smitemaster
Rank Points: 3665
Registered: 10-06-2005
IP: Logged

This hold is actually quite nice for a first hold. It does suffer from problems such as sparse, rectangular rooms and tediousness in puzzle solution and horde management, but it is interesting and does have a plot of sorts, which help tie the rooms together a bit more in theme and in tone.

Some problems with the hold:

*It's quite clear more time was spent polishing the later levels than the earlier levels
*Some rooms and levels may not be aesthetically pleasing, and fog or darkness can obscure room judgement
*There is a pretty nasty difficulty spike upon hitting the Artiminy, the last "content" level

Some good elements about the hold:

*Secrets are not always hidden in the traditional manner
*Some of the rooms are actually clever puzzles
*Plenty of optimization potential
*The story adds to the hold instead of clashing with it

Stuff to watch out for:

*Suddenly teleporting-in enemies and reinforcements
*Lunacy of the particularly noisy kind (orb noises)
*Slayer manipulation and killing

Overall, this is a pretty good first hold. This represents a good hold, and although I wish Chaosgamer had allowed the hold to be beta-tested by more people, this represents a completed project of reasonably good quality and I think it should be met with encouragement instead of resentment.

The architect has room to improve and polish, but I have confidence that his next productions will be even more interesting and clever.

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Quick links to my stuff (in case you forgot where it was):

Dischorran
Level: Smitemaster

Rank Points: 3414
Registered: 09-10-2005
IP: Logged

Usually, a hold's history in Architecture is a good sign of its quality. Holds that spend a while there getting tested and having bugs removed tend to be good and fun to play (or, alternatively, way too hard). On the other hand, holds like this one that touch down in Architecture for the minimum amount of time and are immediately submitted without testing tend to be utter train wrecks.

I was expecting to play this, see a train wreck, and have a good time mocking the architect. As it turns out, this hold is actually not that bad. It's plot-heavy, and as such is heavily weighted towards scripted fights and wading through hordes, with a bunch of slayer evasion thrown in, but for everyone disappointed that holds lately have tended towards brain-breaking linchpins, this is a decent enough way to spend some time. The visual design (at least so far) is adequate to good, albeit unpolished, and yes, stepping on guards as a slayer is fun.

There are, of course, some traits that would be nice to fix up for the sequel. The spelling is horrendous, the rooms are not made with any eye to optimization, and the scripting is incomplete in many cases, but all can be fixed and there actually is a decent hold underlying these problems for once. With a good amount of extra revision in Architecture to bring it in line with typical expectations, the next hold is likely to be worth looking forward to!

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noma
Level: Smitemaster

Rank Points: 1594
Registered: 11-22-2006
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Just a quick note for now: I believe there is a problem in The Trap: 1N. You can pass through the (required) room without solving, but because of the scripting it cannot be solved later unless you restore to the beginning of the level. Can this be fixed?

zex20913
Level: Smitemaster

Rank Points: 1723
Registered: 02-04-2003
IP: Logged

I'm not experiencing this problem--I seem to be able to solve it after passing through.

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zex20913
Level: Smitemaster

Rank Points: 1723
Registered: 02-04-2003
IP: Logged

I'm apologizing for the double post, but this statement is enough to deserve it.

The only issue with this room is if you clear out the guards, exit north before defeating the second wave, then reentering and exiting south before you clear the room.

If you are simply reentering from the north, there is an orb that will open the gate.

Even if you cause the issue to occur, the restore is not terrible--the only room you would need to conquer would be 1N. You could restore to your most recent checkpoint, backtrack, not exit south, and be fine.

As such, if we had caught this before the hold was published, we would not have let it through. Since it escaped, and is difficult to activate, we will not be republishing this hold due to this issue. If another issue comes up, which is more severe, then we will fix this problem as well at that time.

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noma
Level: Smitemaster

Rank Points: 1594
Registered: 11-22-2006
IP: Logged

I'm glad you figured it out. I couldn't remember how I made it happen and, after unsuccessfully trying to get it to happen again, was starting to assume I had just missed the orb. You're right. It's probably not going to happen too often and anyone who comes here will figure out how to get around it pretty quickly. Thanks!

neveragain
Level: Goblin
Rank Points: 23
Registered: 07-08-2009
IP: Logged

Mastered.

5 Brains
5 Overall

First, some rooms really need checkpoints. (Specifically, some rooms in the Artiminy: 1S1W, 2S, 5S2E)

Secondly, and much more importantly, it's very long and quite repetitive. I had enough guard and slayer killing after The Trap. After The Courtyard, I was tired of it. I don't like doing the same boring type of room over and over again. There are a lot of rooms in this hold that feel like they were made in a minute or two.

As well, the scripting is very wacky and sometimes it is unclear exactly what you're supposed to do. Sometimes there are even strange glitches.

Though there were a lot of problems, overall this is quite a good hold.

Next time, the architect should remember that quality is much more important than quantity.

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[Last edited by neveragain at 07-12-2009 04:32 AM]

Chaosgamer
Level: Delver
Rank Points: 88
Registered: 04-08-2009
IP: Logged

Once again this is my first hold. The reason the role is a slayer is because of the body kill ability witch made fighting more easy. Since I was a noob back then, I usually made puzzles were you couldn't die. Like a room full of brains and etc. Then the gold stayed with me for a month until I decided to continue it. Then I had more experience and made the beater out of it. I was still a noob. Then I went through it with no knowledge of the proses. Then I thought you could only submit a hold when you are a member. I thought. So I got the city beneath and submitted it with still no knowledge. I asked them to reject it and started fixing it. By the time I was done, my 1 month free membership was gone. So I started my second hold until I had a chance to convince my parents to let me get it. So then I submitted both of my holds. I let my second get rejected because two holds in the HA process was to much to deal with. I only had minor and ruff knowledge of the proses. 1st hold published. I now have full knowledge of the proses and beta-testing.

Yes I know I have bad spelling but I am only 11. (please do not accuse me if you have to be a certain age)

Well, that was my architectural story. (I guess)

fratropea
Level: Delver
Rank Points: 87
Registered: 11-05-2005
IP: Logged

I love to play as slayer and I have appreciated a lot
this hold!
Ok, some rooms were repetitive and they had need more
cheakpoints, but overall it is a good hold.
Amusing also to optimize.

Also compliment for your young age

5 brains and 8 for fun

mxvladi
Level: Smitemaster
Rank Points: 2505
Registered: 02-11-2008
IP: Logged

Conquered(I should have done that a long while before, but I was solving GJL and besides, fratropea forced me to return to optimizing some earlier rooms in this hold by beating some of my topscores there )

I have mixed feeling about this hold.

The things that forced me to lower the fun rating I wanted to give:

1. Suddenly appearing enemies(heck, it was frustrating when I've completed the room and was expecting topscore and enemy suddenly appear, forcing me to go kill it )
2. Lack of checkpoints. It didn't bother me in most of rooms, but there were some rooms where checkpoints were NEEDED.
3. This hold is one of few holds which forced me to turn off Alpha Blending(in one of rooms in Artiminy, there's a trapdoor which is hidden by darkness tile )

The things that made me want to give it HIGH fun rating:

1. Amusing to optimize. Particulary some of Guard-horde and kill-the-Slayer rooms.
2. Well, a lot of rooms were actually fun and some of them were quite challenging!
3. This hold helped me to get 20th place in overall player rating(that's how I call it).
4. This is your first hold, and it's pretty fun!

So...

6 for fun

As for difficulty, most of rooms were easy.

3 for brains.

Keep building holds, Chaosgamer

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[Last edited by mxvladi at 07-14-2009 08:58 AM : typo]

Chaosgamer
Level: Delver
Rank Points: 88
Registered: 04-08-2009
IP: Logged

mxvladi wrote:
This hold helped me to get 20th place in overall player rating(that's how I call it).

Correction. 19th place

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[Last edited by Chaosgamer at 07-16-2009 10:13 PM]

slimm tom
Level: Smitemaster

Rank Points: 1240
Registered: 10-14-2006
IP: Logged

OK, I have mastered this hold last week, but for some reason the spider only accepts half of my scores. I've tried resubmitting my scores through the settings screen, the hold screen, and individually through the demo screen. Nothing has worked thus far.

When I upload my scores, the My Scores screen shows that there are unverified demos of mine on the server, and after a short while the number drops back to zero, so there isn't any problem with the uploading itself, but rather the verification of my scores.

Any tips on how to solve this?

Chaosgamer
Level: Delver
Rank Points: 88
Registered: 04-08-2009
IP: Logged

Strange because when I enter the demo screen it says at the bottom: This hold is not published on caravelnet and I have the version on this topic.

CuriousShyRabbit
Level: Smitemaster
Rank Points: 3170
Registered: 10-14-2006
IP: Logged

Slimm tom: no tips, sorry. The same thing happened to me when I tried to upload mine. Actually replaying the rooms while connected to CaravelNet works.

The spider probably does need a little tweak, but now is not a good time for that. Folks are really hard at work on the RPG highscore system.

Chaos: Sounds like something got messed up. To fix it, you may need to delete the hold and then reimport it.

slimm tom
Level: Smitemaster

Rank Points: 1240
Registered: 10-14-2006
IP: Logged

CuriousShyRabbit wrote:
Slimm tom: no tips, sorry. The same thing happened to me when I tried to upload mine. Actually replaying the rooms while connected to CaravelNet works.

Thanks for the tip, but I'm not going to replay 60 rooms just to get them to show up in the highscores. I'm going to wait for Schik to come around and fix it. (Or tell me what I'm doing wrong.)

By the way, I played this hold without an internet connection, along with Flibbit's Flourish and King Pilchard's dungeon, but those uploaded just fine when I connected to CaravelNet

CuriousShyRabbit
Level: Smitemaster
Rank Points: 3170
Registered: 10-14-2006
IP: Logged

Upload my scores usually does work, and that's what I usually use, after having played everything early. Something about the scripting in this particular hold is causing the problem.

Hikari
Level: Smiter

Rank Points: 438
Registered: 01-28-2006
IP: Logged

I'm not done with the hold yet, so I won't pass overall judgment, but...

I have to say, the utter lack of checkpoints in Artiminy 5S7E is starting to utterly infuriate me. I've lost track of how many times I've had to restart from scratch.

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Caravel Official Holds Progress:

Tahnan
Level: Smitemaster

Rank Points: 2460
Registered: 11-14-2005
IP: Logged

Having finished this hold, I'm attempting a "summon CSR" spell by rating it, as she would have us do. Additionally, as a few comments: there really were some interesting rooms in here. Sadly, they were somewhat buried in rooms that were either frustrating or tedious.

For instance, regarding the entire courtyard: it's nice that there's an NPC helping you kill things, that won't kill you. But in a room of 30 guards, have fun guessing which one is on your side. Rooms were all too frequent in which some extra monsters would suddenly appear, triggered by some bit of scripting or another. And when a room has too many guards, their swords start getting in each other's way, making it really hard to predict their movement. (As opposed to rooms with too many slayers, in which their wisps start to cover each other and you can't tell where they are any more.) Finally, in some rooms, the lighting was so bad I had to turn off alpha blending.

And oh, the agony of the spelling errors.

Still, it's not a bad hold to play through; there are a few gems in the rough.