Trickster
Level: Smitemaster

Rank Points: 662
Registered: 07-03-2007
IP: Logged

UPDATE: Working on this again. I've removed the hold because I plan to beta this at some point.

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Here's what I've been working on for the past month. This is the latest iteration of several completely different RPG holds that failed to materialize.

Here's what I want to know.

Public comments sought:
Storyline. Believable? Interesting?
Style. Too crowded and busy? Not interesting enough?
Options. Too many? Not enough?
Difficulty. Too easy, too hard, or just right?
Bugs and unintended solutions--mention any of these.
Other. Anything related to general style or content.

Private comments sought:
Did you beat the level, or give up?
If you beat it, what were your stats?
If not, where and why did you quit?
What items and secrets did you find?
Any puzzles you loved or hated?

UPDATE: I moved a key and added a stronger hint to the mirror puzzle. The file attached is the newer version (12:17 am Friday, EDT).

UPDATE: Misread the mirror puzzle issue, an arrow was off (wrong mirror puzzle). Changed one arrow, which fixes the issue. Re-difficultated the hint to the other mirror. The file attached is the newer version (12:32 am Friday, EDT).

UPDATE: Fixed two unintended solutions to the second mirror puzzle (SE corner of 1E). The file attached is the newer version (12:52 am Friday, EDT).

UPDATE: Made the level harder to beat by moving a less sexy prize from 1E to the secret room to replace the old item there. Fixed some other minor errors. This is the last version of Level 1 I will upload, since I should have more than enough feedback if someone completes it. The file attached is the newer version (1:35 am Saturday, EDT).

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Trickster

Official Hold Progress
Favorite Unofficial Holds (I need to play more!)
My Holds

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[Last edited by Trickster at 04-23-2018 10:19 PM]

12th Archivist
Level: Smitemaster

Rank Points: 789
Registered: 12-07-2008
IP: Logged

Here are some comments on your hold.

Trickster asked for:
Storyline. Believable? Interesting?

This storyline looks quite interesting so far. I would like to see more of it.

Style. Too crowded and busy? Not interesting enough.

At first glance, the rooms look really crowded, though upon playthrough, they become just right.

Options. Too many? Not enough?

There are a lot of options, but the hold is forgiving enough to make the options fun. Still, it is quite difficult to find any course all the way through to the end, let alone the optimal one.

Difficulty. Too easy, too hard, or just right?

The mirror puzzle in Inside Plague Wall: 1E is really, really difficult. In fact, it is so hard, I am unable to solve it. I would appreciate some hints. Like I said before, the hold is forgiving enough to make the difficulty not too hard but not too easy.

Bugs and unintended solutions--mention any of these.

I already mentioned the name bug in chat. Pressing CMD just after you switch to Blattaras will make a beep but will not lead to any more bugs. The beep does not occur if the player waits a turn before pressing CMD. I did not observe any other bugs or unintended solutions in the hold, though I am admittedly not very far through it.

Other. Anything related to general style or content.

The architecture is pretty neat. It looks baroque at first glance but works well and certainly looks rather unlike anything I have seen before. The concept of the hold is quite nifty. Still speaking from about four-rooms of experience (meaning I do not know if this feature already exists), I think it would be neat if the player could pick up some form of skill points that could be spent on improving their combat skills in monster form, reducing the global monster DEF multiplier by a small amount per spent skill point.

Trickster also asked for:
Did you beat the level, or give up?

I gave up at the aforementioned mirror puzzle.

If you beat it, what were your stats?

Not applicable to me. I did, however, probably have enough to keep going if I had beaten the evil mirror trick.

If not, where and why did you quit?

To be honest, even if I had managed to finish the mirror puzzle, I would have likely been forced to stop since I need more keys to keep going. Players are certainly starved of keys so far in this hold! Yellow keys are quite rare, and I have yet to see any other type of key. Quite impressive, I must admit!

What items and secrets did you find?

Oh, the usual.

Any puzzles you loved or hated?

The mirror puzzle is just plain evil and, in my opinion, a bit too hard for the level. It is up to you, but it definitely prevented me from delving deeper into the hold. Which is sad, because I wanted to see more!

So, all in all, this is a very cool hold so far. One thing I suggest is that you set the editing privileges to "Anyone" to facilitate testing. If there is content you do not wish others to see, move it to separate, unreleasable hold so testers can play through the most relevant stuff: the puzzles of the hold.

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It was going well until it exploded.
~Scott Manley

Check out the DROD Wikia project here!

Chaco
Level: Smitemaster
Rank Points: 3626
Registered: 10-06-2005
IP: Logged

I'm still playing the hold and haven't finished yet, but right now I'm cruising along with appropriate statistics and resources.

I'd like to mention to the architect that the secret puzzle in Inside the Plague Wall using the briar hacker is an interesting and, in my opinion, good puzzle. I'd prefer it better if the architect included a scroll explaining explicitly that briar growth causes automatic failure of that puzzle. I also think it might be a little too much of a resource-bottleneck to people who can't solve it, since the reward for doing so is so great.

EDIT:

Actually, the reward for solving the briar puzzle is so awesome that it really trivializes the first level - I have no problem killing roach queens, spiders and even the mud mothers, which helps me get a ton of greckles and REP when combined with the lucky blade. Maybe you should tone down the DEF bonus to maybe +20 or +15 DEF instead of +30.

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

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[Last edited by Chaco at 02-04-2011 05:58 PM]

Blondbeard
Level: Smitemaster

Rank Points: 1486
Registered: 03-31-2005
IP: Logged

How do you use pipes (as I suppose you have to do in order to reach the sword)?

Edit: Nevermind!

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[Last edited by Blondbeard at 02-13-2011 11:58 AM]

Blondbeard
Level: Smitemaster

Rank Points: 1486
Registered: 03-31-2005
IP: Logged

Vert good! A couple of sugestions: Please tell the player about the special abilities. I missed them And please make backtracking easy. I'm thinking of 3S and 3S1W. Make it possible to backtrack once you've compleated it once (let the player open all doors in 3S, and make an extra tunnel, hidden behind doors which you open with an orb in 3S1W). My stats (as spider): 106/83/49/0/1/0/0 and 1810 Gr, and 1513 Rep. I have all three swords. I have some 1300 lives to pick up in potions as well.

Someone Else
Level: Smitemaster

Rank Points: 1304
Registered: 06-14-2005
IP: Logged

I quite enjoyed this level!
Score:

I had a problem with not enough keys, and couldn't get the fourth page of the formulary. Other than that, I found it fairly difficult, and very fun.

techant
Level: Smitemaster

Rank Points: 854
Registered: 06-08-2004
IP: Logged

I am stuck with the mirror puzzle too. Using the keys only makes me short on keys so I figure I have to solve it. Hints or demo please

____________________________
DROD RPG Released!! You must try it out it is Great!!

Trickster
Level: Smitemaster

Rank Points: 662
Registered: 07-03-2007
IP: Logged

techant wrote:
I am stuck with the mirror puzzle too. Using the keys only makes me short on keys so I figure I have to solve it. Hints or demo please

Ah! I'll try to get to it by Tuesday--I haven't opened RPG in months since I've put this one on the back burner.

As I recall, the primary move you have to master is a , which is exactly what that sounds like. But this is just on sketchy memory so I'll need to load it up again to check.

I'll be putting this into beta once I'm done with TT. There's a lot more to it than you currently can access.

____________________________
Trickster

Official Hold Progress
Favorite Unofficial Holds (I need to play more!)
My Holds

techant
Level: Smitemaster

Rank Points: 854
Registered: 06-08-2004
IP: Logged

Thanks.. I am enjoying it got a little further...but I have not figured out what the 3rd page creature does. I lay eggs but nothing happens . I think I have read every scroll but with so many I could have missed one.

edit> Solved




____________________________
DROD RPG Released!! You must try it out it is Great!!

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[Last edited by techant at 08-31-2011 07:31 AM]

techant
Level: Smitemaster

Rank Points: 854
Registered: 06-08-2004
IP: Logged

OK I made it to 3S...have I told you how much I hate toggle puzzles...No...then let me tell you I hate toggle puzzles. They are enough to make me give up on a hold. I think you should have a by pass that is costly but lets you know that it is worth figuring out the puzzle.

Oh could you PM me the solution...I hate toggle puzzles.

____________________________
DROD RPG Released!! You must try it out it is Great!!

Trickster
Level: Smitemaster

Rank Points: 662
Registered: 07-03-2007
IP: Logged

I'm starting this up again, just so y'all know it isn't dead. One of the biggest challenges is interpreting the super-complicated scripting of the magic book, because I'll need to extend that considerably.

I'll probably beta it eventually but I might wait until I have more completed first.

____________________________
Trickster

Official Hold Progress
Favorite Unofficial Holds (I need to play more!)
My Holds