I'm not sure what the etiquette is regarding bumping Architecture threads to say "
hey, you got a new player"
... but since Jeff is still around, I thought he might appreciate some more feedback if he comes back to this hold (as he should; there's a lot of quality work here that shouldn't be wasted).
Levels 1-4
These levels seem to have a very nice difficulty and knowledge progression -- of course it's hard to judge as I'm not a beginner, but I didn't notice any major problems. There are also some excellent slightly harder puzzles in secret rooms.
My only complaint -- and it's something of a personal preference -- is that I find large golem hordes tedious, and I think rooms like 4:2N1W and 5:1E would be more enjoyable with reduced numbers. 4:1N is strange, because the first (southern) half is tricky and the second half is almost trivial. Reducing the numbers in the first half would balance this better.
I don't like the exposition in triplicate. Jeff, you mentioned that you put the scrolls there because you were worried about the player accidentally skipping the dialogue, but (1) you can review dialogue by double-clicking the player avatar in the top-left of the screen, and (2) you could script exposition dialogue so it repeats on re-entry unless the room is clear.
I am puzzled by Chaco's comment on (what is now) 3:1S, as I didn't find any use for the south-pointing force arrow.
Level 5
Agreed with Chaco that most of the roach queen rooms are easier than the previous two levels. I don't think it's a problem -- these rooms are fun and relaxing.
2N is much too tricky for a room teaching the concept of blocking queens with spawn, but it's a nice puzzle. I would replace this with an easier room, and keep the original as a secret room.
The invisibility rooms, after the first few, are where this really stops being a beginners' hold. Nice puzzles, but they require a good bit of thought. I don't think that matters hugely -- absolute beginners will always be recommended to start with the official holds, but holds like this and Dan's Dungeon (and my own work-in-progress
Bubble Wrap) that give additional practice focused on each element in turn will always be welcome.
2W: The invisibility potion makes me suspect I was meant to clear the room on my second visit (and I see that Chaco's notes agree), but it's possible on the first. If you continue the hold in the 5.0 engine, you could make that a scripted challenge.
Level 6
Some easy rooms to introduce wraithwings, then some much more difficult horde rooms. Again, this makes me unsure as to what level of player you're aiming at. I wish you introduced red doors with an easy trapdoor puzzle, rather than a large trapdoor rectangle, which is just tedious.
Move the checkpoint in 1S5W a square down, so if the player gets the timing of releasing the queen wrong, they don't have to do the bridge section again.
2S1W is horrible. After releasing the first queen, the arena fills up with roaches, and you have to continually guess how many turns it will take the roaches to move past the queen (which depends on move order, and there are too many roaches to work it out, so it's trial and error) so she can start moving on turn 29. And then if you get it wrong, there's a lot of smiting to do before you can have another try. I didn't find a good method on 2S either, I just kept trying until I got lucky.
I didn't drop any trapdoors in 3S1E. Were they a red herring?
3S2W: Move the checkpoint, so the player can try again with a different sword orientation.
4W: Nice easy room to finish with. My solution was different from Chaco's. I just ignored the WWs and went into the central room as fast as possible.
Level 7
Nice level, I find serpents a bit easier to handle than wraithwings
Didn't notice any problems.
Level 8
Another fun level, generally not too tough. Excellent linchpins in 4N and 4N2E. If you want to aim this at beginners, I'd suggest making 4N2E a secret room, and loosening the timer on 5N1E a little.
6N3E has no checkpoint.
I'd like 5N2E to have a green-door passage for easier travel through the completed room, particularly as cutting tar in a cleared room switches to Puzzle music.
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50th Skywatcher
[Last edited by Nuntar at 05-17-2014 06:26 PM]
