Kalin
Level: Master Delver

Rank Points: 194
Registered: 01-25-2016
IP: Logged

It seems at least three of us are currently playing The Second Sky:

1. surrealcanine just started it as part of his All the DRODs streams.

2. I've been trying to stay ahead of his videos, and because he spent so long Finding the First Truth, I'm now at the end of TSS (I've seen the credits but not the good ending).

3. King Louie just posted to a H&S thread for a room about halfway through the hold.

Anyone else playing TSS right now?

Nuntar
Level: Smitemaster

Rank Points: 4592
Registered: 02-20-2007
IP: Logged

I'm also replaying TSS in an effort to stay ahead of surrealcanine, since my first playthrough stopped a little shy of 100% completion (I got all secrets, but not all the optional levels such as Darts). Also, this time round I'm solving all secrets, challenges and optional levels as soon as they become available; it will be nice to have a perfect player file when I'm done (although it only really matters for the missable secrets in Chapters 4 and 5).

Right now I'm in Eye of the Storm with 302 rooms cleared. It's gone pretty much as expected; the early game is at a difficulty level that's very comfortable for me and most rooms go by fast. A few are still major roadblocks even on a replay:

* The Oubliette 6N3E (the challenge)
* Tar Recycling Annex 3N1E (again, difficult because of the challenge)
* Forbidden Underpass 2N4E (surprisingly subtle)
* Shattered Mine 1S3E

One thing that surprised me was just how much easier some levels have become, especially Tar Recycling Annex, Shattered Mine and Temporal Anomaly (except for the standout rooms listed above). Of course this is partly because I know the linchpins now; but these are levels where most of the challenge is in execution. I think I've just become a lot more familiar with the techniques and set of moves available, so that it's a lot easier to look at a room like Shattered Mine 1S5E and see what can be done and mentally shade out dead ends.

But the main thing is that it's a really fun hold to replay (with just a few nasty rough patches), whereas KDD, JtRH and TCB, while all very good, have a higher proportion of rooms and levels that don't hold up quite as much.

(I also have a lot of other unfinished holds that I need to get back to....)

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50th Skywatcher

Nuntar
Level: Smitemaster

Rank Points: 4592
Registered: 02-20-2007
IP: Logged

Just reached Chapter 11, which seems like a good point to pause and take stock. I completed Darts in 2 hours 44 minutes. It wasn't as hard as I had been expecting based on my first impressions nine years ago -- and indeed some rooms, scattered throughout the level, seemed outright trivial, although maybe they would be stumpers if you don't get the right insight. A lot of genuinely interesting and difficult rooms, though. Maybe a bit more square-counting and diagonal-tracking than I would have liked, but never to a frustrating extent. Overall I'd say it was a fun level, not quite up there with TSS's best.

As for other levels: I mentioned before how some levels felt a lot easier now, but by far the biggest difference was on Experiment of Ages and Rapid Fortifications. I suppose this is because gentryii have very deep emergent behaviour, and constructs force you to think several cycles ahead when deciding where to kill them. On a first playthrough, this means that every room trains you on a different aspect, and what you learn is only a little help when you go on to the next room. Which is not to say that these levels are bad, but they felt overwhelming. I remember that completing EoA for the first time was one of the best feelings DROD has ever given me. And I got into a bit of a fight in chat over my negativity towards RF... I should probably apologise for that, because the level is honestly pretty fun

So, just the green and purple levels to go now. I've beaten all the green levels before (50th Skywatcher, after all), but never finished the purple levels, so this is new territory

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50th Skywatcher