da rogu3
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File: Perplexing Puzzles v9.hold (6 KB)
Downloaded 54 times.
License: Public Domain

This hold has been published!

Play it here

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[Last edited by da rogu3 at 08-08-2012 10:51 PM]

west.logan
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Apparently I don't know how to get serpents to do what I want. I've tried pinning the serpents between the goblin and a corner and tried getting it into the cubby but can't seem to. Quite frustrating. I don't feel like it's a puzzle that's stumping me, it's just trying to get some creature to move in a pattern I want it to. Personally I don't care for that. One of these days I'm going to find time to go through the Advanced Concepts and maybe that will help.


____________________________
-Logan

Shendy
Level: Master Delver
Rank Points: 132
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There's an error in 1: 1S.
If you conquer the room and leave the room to the entrance(Northern exit), you're stuck as the adder which opens the door is now gone. A way to prevent this happening is by adding a force arrow.

Oh, and there is an unintended solution in 1:2S2W.
You could just put the mimic on the square with the conquer token as the mimic can be placed there. Perhaps you could add an open yellow door on the square with the conquer token as you can't put mimics on open yellow doors.

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[Last edited by Shendy at 05-17-2011 05:15 AM : Add more]

da rogu3
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New update!

I've removed the nasty entrance room from the first version, so now the hold is fully non-linear.

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[Last edited by da rogu3 at 05-18-2011 08:35 AM]

west.logan
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I got a chance to look into it finally. It's got a lot of variety but doesn't seem to have a coherent theme. Is this just a collection of various puzzles? I appreciated you giving your opinion of the difficulty of the puzzle.

Personally, I prefer a straight-forward puzzle every few rooms or so just to give me a chance to relax and enjoy myself. Otherwise I feel fried after finishing. I feel old since mentally I still compare everything to AE.

____________________________
-Logan

da rogu3
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Yes, I haven't really stuck to a specific theme, it's just a variety of puzzles.

I've also tried to make this one of the more difficult holds around. Which rooms were you able to solve?

I'll probably make a few more 5-6 brain puzzles to balance the difficulty out a bit.

west.logan
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da rogu3 wrote:
I've also tried to make this one of the more difficult holds around. Which rooms were you able to solve?

Ah, that makes more sense. I haven't played some of the more difficult holds on the site. I'll try to play through this completely when it's released.

I just ran through some of the floor puzzle rooms with the mimics (Maybe it's my 2D Zelda background but I like those). I'm at work so I took a quick break to look at the rooms. Some do indeed look a bit difficult and I'm eager to try a few (when I have time, too many holds!)

On a side note, perhaps it's just me but sometimes the colors clash, e.g., of the long, horizontal hallway with all the statues and the surrounding walls/flooring. Perhaps there are reasons but having dirt floors, green and yellow floors, water, stone, and regular tile floors seems a bit surreal. If there is one thing Elfstone is good at, it's aesthetically pleasing holds.

____________________________
-Logan

west.logan
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Oh, and I was going to say that I think there might be an unintended solution to once south, thrice west (lower left extremity). At least I think it's unintended.

____________________________
-Logan

west.logan
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I feel silly commenting on things like this. I'm certainly not as experienced as most of the other folks here, and certainly not clever enough to make puzzles like this myself. Hopefully the comments are of some use though.

____________________________
-Logan

da rogu3
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Yup, that's certainly a US, thanks. I've fixed it for the next version.

I feel silly commenting on things like this. I'm certainly not as experienced as most of the other folks here, and certainly not clever enough to make puzzles like this myself. Hopefully the comments are of some use though.

No worries, everyone's comments are welcome and appreciated

As for the floor design, I agree the mosaic pattern might be a bit too striking. I think all floor types might work better together in Deep Spaces, Iceworks or City; rather than Foundation. As such, aesthetics is something I'll work on after all the puzzles are fully complete.

Edit: 1S2W and 1S3W are being removed in the next update, so don't bother with them.

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[Last edited by da rogu3 at 05-24-2011 04:03 PM]

da rogu3
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So many people have downloaded the hold and not one even wanted to post a little comment? Please, even if you've only solved 1 or 2 rooms, do say something about them

Edit: @West.Logan below
That's probably because of guests, or people downloading twice.

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[Last edited by da rogu3 at 05-24-2011 04:40 PM]

west.logan
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2/14 isn't so bad. Sometimes I wonder if bots are downloading things, because an image I posted had 8 downloads within the hour and I'm not sure 8 people even logged on during that time.

____________________________
-Logan

Rat Man
Level: Master Delver
Rank Points: 121
Registered: 07-10-2010
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I downloaded it but I'm so bad at DROD that I haven't gotten far enough with it to post any comments

____________________________
I'M IN SPACE!

mxvladi
Level: Smitemaster
Rank Points: 2505
Registered: 02-11-2008
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Some comments(6/10 rooms solved so far):

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[Last edited by mxvladi at 05-28-2011 09:15 PM]

da rogu3
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Thanks for the comments

Replies:

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[Last edited by da rogu3 at 05-28-2011 09:21 PM]

mxvladi
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Here're demos for 2W and 1S 1E

EDIT: removed

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[Last edited by mxvladi at 05-28-2011 11:52 PM]

da rogu3
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Thanks, your solution for 1S1E was a little simpler than mine, which involves the adder eating the golems clockwise then turning back around, rather than making one trip anticlockwise like you did.

As for 2W, I see what you did with the roach eggs to block the queen. In my solution, I have the rattlesnake at (16,2) acting as a wall, so that when you destroy the crumbly walls the queen doesn't go into the arrow. Your method however doesn't look much easier, depending on how easy the US is to fix I may or may not change this room.

da rogu3
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Okay, v3 should be up either later today or tommorow. I'm planning on splitting the hold into three main levels - easy, medium, and hard; and there will be a hub level, allowing access to any of the levels.

I'm also considering removing 1E - it requires a bit too much trial and error to get the solution.

I'm also reducing the number of puzzles the hold will have, I think 10 should be enough.

da rogu3
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v3 is finally here. Massive, massive changes in this version.

I finally decided on a name: Perplexing Puzzles

All the rooms have been moved around:
1S2W,1S3W,1E ---> removed
1W ---> Easy:1W
1S2E ---> Easy:1N
New puzzle Easy:1E
2W ---> Moderate:1S1W
1S ---> Moderate:1W
1S1E ---> Moderate:1S
2E ---> Moderate:1E
1S1W ---> Hard:1N1E
New puzzle Hard:1E

The unintended solution in 2W (now Moderate:1S1W) has been fixed by adding hot tiles. Hopefully it should require the rattlesnake now. Also, I've changed 1S1E (now Moderate:1S) a little bit.

I've also changed the checkpoint placement in some of the rooms.

I think that's everything

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[Last edited by da rogu3 at 05-31-2011 01:29 PM]

mxvladi
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Unintended solution in "Easy: 1E" -> I used adder to kill serpent instead of goblin. Demo attached

EDIT: removed

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[Last edited by mxvladi at 05-31-2011 07:47 PM]

da rogu3
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Thanks, fixed in next version by adding a trapdoor at 19,14 and moving the yellow doors.

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[Last edited by da rogu3 at 05-31-2011 07:34 PM]

da rogu3
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Just found a US in Hard:1E, fixed by moving the doors passage one square down.

I'm also considering removing the hub, renaming the levels to 1,2 and 3 and using a similar system to Museum of Ooze for the levels.

Also, I've yet to receive feedback on about 4 of the rooms. If it's due to the difficulty, I'm willing to give hints via PM. Please please comment, people.

Jacob
Level: Smitemaster
Rank Points: 3746
Registered: 10-01-2004
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Wish I could help - most rooms look pretty ingenious but
I've only completed the Easy level.


____________________________
New to DROD? You may want to read this.
My Holds and Levels:

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[Last edited by Jacob at 06-03-2011 10:57 PM]

da rogu3
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File: r302 Easy 1W.demo (1 KB)
Downloaded 43 times.
License: Public Domain

Thanks so much for the comments Jacob!

1E: I haven't updated it yet, but I think this should be fixed by adding a trapdoor at 19,14 (and moving the yellow doors as an escape), so you only have that small space to move in (which shouldn't be enough to manipulate the adder into the space since it won't turn west)

1W: aww, no one seems to like the room. It was removed from my previous hold for the same reasons, people found it frustrating. I really like it though, but you're right, the queens and goblin aren't really needed. It's one of the rooms which get annoying if you don't do it the *exact* way. You might be interested in seeing my demo for it. I'm not sure yet whether I'll remove the room, or make it optional

1N:

Medium 1E:

Oh, and medium:1W might be very frustrating to people, it's a room which I really like but I'm not sure whether others will.

As for the hub, after playing holds like museum of ooze, the level switching seems much more intuitive there, and I've changed to a similar system, removing the hub completely. I've also changed the level names to 1, 2 and 3.

I'm fairly busy over the weekend, so the next update will probably come around Monday.

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[Last edited by da rogu3 at 06-03-2011 11:15 PM]

Jacob
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File: PP Easy 1E Victory.demo (1.3 KB)
Downloaded 46 times.
License: Public Domain

Interesting ...

____________________________
New to DROD? You may want to read this.
My Holds and Levels:

da rogu3
Level: Smiter

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1E - oops, exactly the solution I wanted to avoid

1W - hmm, mabye, your suggestion seems sensible

1N - 1 potion I thought it required 3. Where did you place it (and what sword orientation?)

Jacob
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File: PP Easy 1N Victory.demo (1.3 KB)
Downloaded 49 times.
License: Public Domain

I'm awful at snake manipulation - which is why I won't be able to complete your holds, but here's a 300-odd move demo (lots of trial and error) with only one decoy on the adder side.

____________________________
New to DROD? You may want to read this.
My Holds and Levels:

da rogu3
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Thanks, in the intended solution there are three decoys in the top right corner, which kills the adders in one hit, before they can eat them. I think because the intended solution is more optimal, and there isn't any easy way to fix the US, I'll probably just leave it in.

Blondbeard
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Your view of moderate puzzles makes me think my brain has retired. I managed to solve one, and it wasn't easy (1S1W). Quite ingenious with the ww and the queen. I didn't realy need the rattlesnake though...

da rogu3
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Yeah sorry :/, the level names are totally inaccurate (better would be easy-medium, very hard, insane). I'm switching back to numbers for the next update.

Can I see your demo for 1S1W? In my solution the rattlesnake is needed, I can't do it without the snake.

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[Last edited by da rogu3 at 06-04-2011 10:17 PM]