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File: The Puzzle Catacombs.hold (7.8 KB)
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This is my second hold, which was made in AE like my first hold, Nanfro Budkin's First Dungeon. It is not a sequel to my first hold, and is instead simply a single level collection of assorted puzzles.

Enjoy!

-Noah

jbluestein
Level: Smitemaster

Rank Points: 1670
Registered: 12-23-2005
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It's been a long time since Nanfro Budkin's First Dungeon was published, and it's a pleasure to see Noah come out with a brand new hold.

This one is smaller, but no less difficult. Eighteen puzzles, ranging from fairly easy to quite difficult, and more heavily weighted to the latter.

It has a nice open design so that you can look around and solve in the order that appeals to you.

Overall, a very nice hold, one that should provide a challenge to all but the most seasoned DROD players.

I give this hold an 8 for fun and 7.5 brains.

Josh

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"Rings and knots of joy and grief, all interlaced and locking." --William Buck

mxvladi
Level: Smitemaster
Rank Points: 2505
Registered: 02-11-2008
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Nice hold. There were quite tough rooms here, although mostly rooms were of medium difficulty.

5,5 brains, 8 fun

larrymurk
Level: Smitemaster

Rank Points: 1916
Registered: 12-09-2004
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Very nice hold. I liked pretty much all the rooms other than the entrance and 1 South.

I really liked 1E and 1W though I'm still mad I just couldn't get 1W without help.

Tx for the nice hold.

Blondbeard
Level: Smitemaster

Rank Points: 1486
Registered: 03-31-2005
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This hold is great. It has a nice, overall feeling to it. The rooms are a bit work-heavy, but not too much (most of the time). Somehow that adds to the atmosphere.

CuriousShyRabbit
Level: Smitemaster
Rank Points: 3170
Registered: 10-14-2006
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*Kicks this hold back up to the top.*

I have to say it was just as enjoyable playing The Puzzle Catacombs this year (to replace some lost demos) as it was last year. And passing the test of time is the sign of a very good hold.

Here are widely varied and fairly tricky puzzles, some quite complex, where the successful player will need a reasonable grasp of brained and unbrained movement rules for all the AE monsters.

It's hard to pick favorites, but I guess I'll say I liked 1W, 2S1W, and 1S1E the best.

martz
Level: Smiter
Rank Points: 416
Registered: 08-19-2005
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This is a very nice little hold, created in AE, so no scripting. There are some very tricky rooms in here, some not too bad. Aside from the entrance, you can visit and clear the rooms at your leisure. I would highly recommend for the more experienced player who has a few hours to fill.

My Rating:

Difficulty: 7
Fun: 7

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Without struggle, there is no progress, so get up, get out, and go make the rest of your life the best of your life; you deserve to live the life that YOU want to live...

Progress - Gavin G

Insoluble
Level: Smitemaster

Rank Points: 1639
Registered: 09-04-2014
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I picked this one up on a whim after seeing some H&S posts on it a while back and just finally got around to finishing it. Boy am I glad I did! This was an outstanding hold. Made in the A.E. engine after 3.0 had been out for a while, this hold shows you don't need fancy scripting or newer elements to keep DROD fresh. There's a ton of puzzle space that is still yet to be explored with the original DROD elements.

And the emphasis here is on puzzles. Other than the entrance, just about every room in this hold is full of beautiful linchpin puzzles. It feels very much like a modern hold in that way. Somehow Noah manages to enforce them very cleanly using just A.E. elements too which is very impressive. This is worth checking out just as an architect to see the clever ways you can require players to do things without using pressure plates and the like.

The only negative I can say about my experience is that the entrance room didn't feel like the best introduction to the hold. It was much more execution heavy than the rest of the rooms, and I can see players being put off by this. All the other rooms were great though. Some very tricky puzzles, often requiring multiple insights to get the clear. I would heartily recommend this one to DRODers who are up for some good tricky linchpin puzzles and to architects who want to see some cleaver room design with restricted elements. I'd also love to see a new hold by NoahT some day!

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