LovaP48
Level: Master Delver
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File: Strategists Misunderstood Subselection v5.hold (6.6 MB)
Downloaded 8 times.
License: Public Domain

Hello to everyone.

I'm making a short hold of challenges from Treacle Stew, based on what I've seen Chaco do in his architect commentary.
Before I post any rooms, I do have a few scripting questions - these may have been discussed elsewhere but I'm not skilled enough in looking up non-obvious things here on the Forum.
Any answers and/or pointers to relevant discussion are appreciated!

Question 1:
I want a soldier-appearing character that is disarmed (is there a "disarm yourself" command that I missed or something?).
Moreover, I want him to be turning towards Beethro like a stationary guard would. I did come up with this:

Label Facing
Wait 0
Face towards like guard Player 1 [Single turn on]
Go to Facing

But then he has a delay in his turning, can I get rid of that?

Question 2:
One of the rooms will have some mimic-appearing scripting and so I thought having a "mimic horn" would be a neat addition.
I did do some pixel manipulation and I do have the tile, with some of the pixels transparent as I was making it in GIMP - But when I play the room, it has all black background.
Is it possible to have the transparency be transparent or do I need to colour it in all?
Currently, this is my appearing script:

Imperative 13 [Ghost Display]
Disappear
Wait for player to touch me
...

Secondly, since it's a "horn", I'd like it to make the horn sounding when it gets stepped on, is there such a feature?
Thirdly, when I right click on it, it doesn't give a description, just that there is a floor tile. (I assume this has something to do with the Disappear command, but even if I remove it, the description is missing).

Thank you for all the help!
EDIT (4th of February 2024): Hold file added. [Latest version from 9th of February 2025.]

- Pavol

---

[Last edited by LovaP48 at 02-09-2025 12:50 AM]

Kalin
Level: Master Delver

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1. I think you just need to move the "Wait" below the "Face".

2. DROD ignores the alpha channel in images. You need to set those pixels to color #C0C0C0 (192,192,192).

I've never done sounds before, but I think you need to record a sound, then use it in a Speech command.

Your item should have a name while it is visible. Did you create a custom character with your image, and assign your script to that character?


____________________________
he/him
~170th Skywatcher

LovaP48
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Thank you for your answers Kalin.

1. That unfortunately doesn't help. I suppose the more accurate description of the problem is that he refuses to turn in two consecutive turns, so when I'm close by, I can run circles around him.
Not that it matters since he's meant to be disarmed (which I'd still like some advice on, please), but I'd prefer that not to happen.

2. Noted, I'll colour the whole 22x22 properly.

3. Seems like I will record some then.

4. When I give the horn a type "None", I can't see its name/description at all.
When I give it a different type and give it a command to appear, now I see a Mimic Horn (#2), but I always bump it, because now there's something on the tile.
I need something to be walking onto and activating. For reference, this is the "default script" of my custom character with one 22x22 .png loaded in to be the tile.

Set var "horn_counter" = 0
Appear
Imperative 13 [Ghost Display]
Wait for player to touch me
Set var "horn_counter" + 1
Imperative 12 [No Ghost Display]

Cheers!

Chaco
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since it's a "horn", I'd like it to make the horn sounding when it gets stepped on, is there such a feature?

Normally I'd recommend using the command "Game Effect" in order to generate one of the game's built-in sound effects, but it looks like that's more for visual effects than for sound effects.

What you could do is use MetaKitExtract ( https://forum.caravelgames.com/viewtopic.php?TopicID=16601&page=0#193409 ) to extract all the game files, and then copy the horn_a.ogg, horn_c.ogg and horn_fail.ogg files. Then you can add them as a sound for your Speech command the same way you would other voice acting - leaving the actual speech text blank if you don't want a speech text rectangle to appear.

When I give it a different type and give it a command to appear, now I see a Mimic Horn (#2), but I always bump it, because now there's something on the tile.

You'll need to give it a different type, but _not_ give it the command to appear; Ghost Display works while the character is not visible.

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

LovaP48
Level: Master Delver
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Chaco wrote:

When I give it a different type and give it a command to appear, now I see a Mimic Horn (#2), but I always bump it, because now there's something on the tile.

You'll need to give it a different type, but _not_ give it the command to appear; Ghost Display works while the character is not visible.

See, but when my character script is this

Set var "horn_counter" = 0
Imperative 13 [Ghost Display]
Wait for player to touch me
Set var "horn_counter" + 1
Imperative 12 [No Ghost Display]

and I right click on the horn while playing, it just says
(22,7)
Floor
and nothing else.

Also, with regards to the disarmed soldier, Chaco, how did you do your 20th Strategist for the Stew?
That's what I'm trying to put in, to go along with the hold title

Chaco
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For right-clicking a tile with a Ghost Display character doesn't show the name of the character, there is an existing feature request https://forum.caravelgames.com/viewtopic.php?TopicID=44328 for this, that should be in 5.2 once that is released.

To disarm an NPC that would normally have a sword, have it set var _MyWeapon = -2 .

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

Nuntar
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LovaP48 wrote: 1. That unfortunately doesn't help. I suppose the more accurate description of the problem is that he refuses to turn in two consecutive turns, so when I'm close by, I can run circles around him.
Not that it matters since he's meant to be disarmed (which I'd still like some advice on, please), but I'd prefer that not to happen.

This is because Wait 0 will always halt processing for the current turn and resume next turn, and your script is doing this regardless of whether facing happened or not.

Correct version:

Label Facing
  Set var "_MyScriptX" = _X
  Set var "_MyScriptY" = _Y
  If ... 
        Face towards like guard 0,0,0
     Set var "_MyScriptX" = -9999
     Set var "_MyScriptY" = -9999
     Wait 0
     Go to Facing
  Else 
     Face towards like guard 0,0,1
  If End 
  Set var "_MyScriptX" = -9999
  Set var "_MyScriptY" = -9999
  Go to Facing

____________________________
50th Skywatcher

LovaP48
Level: Master Delver
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Chaco wrote:
To disarm an NPC that would normally have a sword, have it set var _MyWeapon = -2 .

Thanks, I only tried -1. Any reason for it to be specifically -2?

Nuntar wrote:
Correct version:

Label Facing
  ...

Many thanks for that!

Also, I've just uploaded the version 1 of the short hold to the root post.
Check it out, I'll be happy to hear your comments and feedback for these challenge-puzzles!

I'll be adding in some speech to explain what is going on as well as some hints, but that's for a later version.

Nuntar
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LovaP48 wrote: Thanks, I only tried -1. Any reason for it to be specifically -2?

0 through 5 are the specific weapons, -2 is Off and -1 is On.

____________________________
50th Skywatcher

LovaP48
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Nuntar wrote:

LovaP48 wrote: Thanks, I only tried -1. Any reason for it to be specifically -2?

0 through 5 are the specific weapons, -2 is Off and -1 is On.

Yeah, that does make sense. Thanks Nuntar!

Meanwhile, I made some updates and polishing to the level:

- 1S3E:

- 1S1E:

- Entrance, 1E, 1N1E, 1N2E:

I do intend to add voicework to this short level, is anyone willing to voice for me the Archivist's notes for the level's Entrance?
It'd be much appreciated!

The new version is attached in the root post, as usual.
It still needs further work, but I'll appreciate any given feedback in the meantime. Thanks!

Chaco
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File: builder_lines.wav (3.8 MB)
Downloaded 32 times.
License: Public Domain

Here's a few takes for the Builder's lines - they're in the same .wav format as was used as a basis for Treacle Stew sound asset editing, but let me know if you want them in a different format.

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

Chaco
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File: builder_hey_sigh.wav (4.6 MB)
Downloaded 31 times.
License: Public Domain

As well as me going "HEY!" and sighing, which occurs during the hint skit for that room.

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

LovaP48
Level: Master Delver
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Alright, after taking an unexpected break from the forum and the game, I'm back and I want to do this properly this time.

I have attached a brand new version to the root message of this thread, here are the updates:

- Everywhere:

I added my own voice lines into the Once East room - please let me know if I am hearable well enough or if I should increase the volume some more.
Thanks @Chaco for providing the Builder lines, I have downloaded those and will implement them in a future (possibly the next) version.
I'd once again like to ask if there's anyone who would like to contribute the level entrance speech of Archivist notes.
I'm also looking for a Beethro speaker, hopefully Logan, but if anyone else fancies, go for it - there aren't that many lines for him and this isn't an official release either.
For both of those, do get in touch with me via a PM, we'll arrange what lines need making.

The level is now ready to be playtested (again with the exception of Once South, that one is potentially getting tweaks) - please try the rooms and let me know how they are.

Lastly, I have a few questions regarding Thrice East:

Thanks to everyone for their help as well as the patience for me disappearing.

Dragon Fogel
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File: SMS Secret Mischievous Sanctum 1N2E Victory.demo (27.9 KB)
Downloaded 8 times.
License: Public Domain

Since you've been so helpful with my hold in progress, and I'm not currently testing anything else, I decided to take a look at this.

I just did a quick overview and only managed to solve one room. The hold as a whole seems pretty tough at a glance, those hints definitely may see some use once implemented.

In response to your questions:

---

[Last edited by Dragon Fogel at 02-01-2025 04:03 AM]

LovaP48
Level: Master Delver
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Dragon Fogel wrote:
Since you've been so helpful with my hold in progress, and I'm not currently testing anything else, I decided to take a look at this.

I just did a quick overview and only managed to solve one room. The hold as a whole seems pretty tough at a glance, those hints definitely may see some use once implemented.

In response to your questions:

Click here to view the secret text

×1. There is, at present, no way to make a character cause monsters to be brained. I don't know if that's even planned for 5.2; while there are use cases for "custom brains", they also have the potential to be very confusing if the architect doesn't explain that's what they do.

2. Either make them invisible and only appear if the room is uncleared, or visible and they disappear if the room is cleared. It doesn't really matter which. This has issues if the monster starts on a pressure plate, as the respective command will make it either activate or raise the plate, but none of the Rooted Brains start on pressure plates so it's not an issue here.

Thanks for taking a look, I appreciate it.
I have made the Rooted Brains behave properly script-wise, but I will hold off on submitting newer versions until I get more feedback data.
I appreciate everyone who takes a look and solves some rooms; If you do, please let me know:
a) is it solvable, how is the difficulty, etc., and
b) if the room is too tough for you, does the hint help you?
The room that you did solve, while not looking like the solution I went for, is solved in the same spirit and you didn't significantly break anything.

I also wanna put in more voicework into each new version until it's all in there - I am still looking for a Beethro and an Archivist voice, please let me know if you're up for either.

---

[Last edited by LovaP48 at 02-02-2025 03:57 PM : late-night goofs between architect and archivist]

Dragon Fogel
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File: SMS more demos.demo (33.6 KB)
Downloaded 8 times.
License: Public Domain

Okay, I've done a few more rooms. The rest are looking pretty intimidating. I did at least make attempts at everything besides 1S.

Rooms I solved:

2E:



1S2E:



1S3E:



1S1E:



Rooms I didn't solve:

1E:



1N1E:



3E:



1S:

---

[Last edited by Dragon Fogel at 02-04-2025 05:28 PM]

LovaP48
Level: Master Delver
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Today I had some time to record and listen to myself, so I'm posting an updated version.
Changes:
- Deleted the placeholder levels that were present - Initially, I intended to split these "extra challenges" by levels, but I'm positive that this one level will suffice.
- Updated the Rooted Brain character in accordance with the previous response - thank you Fogel!
- Added/updated voicework to 1N1E, 1E, 1S1E, 3E.

Am I hearable well on the recording? On some of these I might have been too quiet.
Positions for the 87th Archivist and Beethro are open, volunteer today!

Also I'd like some feedback for the difficulty and even more crucially, how good the hints are.
The rooms are designed to be tough and I will probably not be changing them much, and I intend to compensate with good-written hints for those that need them.
So, especially if you cannot solve a room on the first glance, take a look at the hints and let me know if they help.

Thanks; the updated version has been attached to the root post, replacing the older.

LovaP48
Level: Master Delver
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Thank you Fogel for taking a look; I missed your message earlier when I was writing my own.

Dragon Fogel wrote:
2E:

Click here to view the secret text

×Took me a while to puzzle out, but the logic was clear enough. The fact that every gel baby makes one move as a tar baby caught me on what otherwise looked like a good setup, which was a little annoying but there's nothing that can really be done about it. Making Beethro invisible wouldn't help because they'd still be drawn to the decoys. And it's not that hard to adjust for, so just a mild nuisance.

Oh, I did not even initially consider the gel moving as an issue...
Still, this is a quite open-ended room and I'm glad your "configuration" is vastly different from mine, which means that there are probably plenty of possibilities for players to pick from.

Dragon Fogel wrote:
1S2E:

Click here to view the secret text

×It's nice that unlike the original there's a side passage for leading the babies into their final location, though move order can make it a pain to get the last few in. Maybe that could be mitigated with force arrows in every other column in the box?

Other than that, this wasn't too bad. Protecting the Strategist isn't really relevant since the blobs are all closer to the root than he is, so you'll probably destroy the root once you're done gathering babies anyways.

Not sure what you mean with the "unlike the original", there hasn't been any significant change done to this room.
The force arrow idea is a neat one, will be included in version 5.
Should I put the Strategist closer to the root to make it a proper "threat" that needs accounting for, or does that sound like more of a hassle than something interesting?

Dragon Fogel wrote:
1S3E:

Click here to view the secret text

×Tough, but satisfying to puzzle out how to set up the mimics for each keg. I enjoyed this a lot.

I'm glad you enjoyed but uh, looking at your demo, you were doing a LOT more work than I intended.
In fact, there's a really elegant way of blowing up the northern three squares of gel - have you noticed the decoy and those two soldiers? Perhaps I should make that hint a little more overt?

Dragon Fogel wrote:
1S1E:

Click here to view the secret text

×Almost plays itself, except the third blob can go wrong if the second wave of mimics stuns the third and I had that happen a couple of times and had to adjust my movement a little to make it work. Still, more of a demonstration than a puzzle.

Yes, this is not really a puzzle, just me taking the multipush gelstabbing to a ridiculous degree.

The other rooms that you did not solve, could you send in your "best attempt" demos so I know better which part of the rooms are clear and which ones are not?

Dragon Fogel wrote:
1E:

Click here to view the secret text

×Best I've managed is a setup which works in theory but I can't actually get the mimics in a position where they'll end up in the right places at the right time.

Perhaps another hint could be in the spirit of
Does that help you?

Dragon Fogel wrote:
1N1E:

Click here to view the secret text

×It seems pretty clear that I have to do something that involves manipulating multiple gel babies so I can walk away from a plate while one gets caught on slower babies and thus lets me get out of range. I cannot figure out what that exact something is. I even decided to try skipping the challenge at first and got nowhere.

I think I should say this for the first hint and not the point about not needing movement order hacks...
Again I ask; Does that help you? (at least with the non-challenge)

Dragon Fogel wrote:
3E:

Click here to view the secret text

×I know I can use the middle brain to keep a baby locked on one plate, but I haven't hammered this out. Didn't try very hard compared to the above two rooms, though.

Edit: Tried some more just now. The above trick seems helpful, but eventually I end up needing to keep two babies in place on the side I'm on somehow while the real brain is on the other side. I suspect I have to do something trickier with the real brain, but heck if I know what.

It sounds to me like you nearly have it.
The hints that the Strategists says try to tell you that:

Dragon Fogel wrote:
1S:

Click here to view the secret text

×This room was rough to begin with and I'm not sure the solution is going to end up being very different. It seems this isn't set up yet, but I'm guessing the idea is not to drop the highlighted trapdoors? If so, the only part of my original solution that would be different is getting the tar across, so I can't say I'm particularly eager to go through this again just to do that.

Some things that could streamline this:
-Move the target blobs so they're closer to the trapdoors and you need fewer cycles to get the mothers there.
-Remove the mud mother entirely. Instead, put the initial tar and gel blobs behind doors, or mud if you want to be thematic. Then you can deal with them separately.
-Add a script to cycle weapons with special command. This would be more convenient than walking over to the weapon tokens.

This room is not finished quite yet, I haven't yet fully "chewed on it", but I really like your script idea to cycle weapons, that will definitely be included in the finished room.
In terms of your other two remarks, I'll think about them, but I am a little reserved about implementing them for now, because they go against my initial/main trick that I discovered when playing this in Treacle Stew.
With the instant weapon swapping in fact, my solution from there becomes, dare I say, nice.

Dragon Fogel
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3E: Hmm, I apparently did not notice the open passage to the east in the Treacle Stew room, or maybe I just didn't find it useful when I ran through so I forgot about it. I remember finding it annoying to wrangle the babies in while the briar was growing, but that gave me no real trouble here.

No opinion on whether saving the strategist should be an actual concern. I think it doesn't really matter, either way the solution is "kill the briar root once you don't need it any more". Moving him closer just means you have to clear more briar sooner, which is another thing to juggle but probably not more interesting.

I'll send partial demos next time I attempt the rooms if I don't make progress. And I guess I'll wait for a more complete version of 1S before trying that one out.

LovaP48
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Dragon Fogel wrote:
No opinion on whether saving the strategist should be an actual concern. I think it doesn't really matter, either way the solution is "kill the briar root once you don't need it any more". Moving him closer just means you have to clear more briar sooner, which is another thing to juggle but probably not more interesting.

Yeah, it's probably not worth it.
In the spot where he is now, he shouldn't cause any additional worries if you're going quick enough, so he stays where he is.
The arrows in the chamber should help deal with the other annoyance.

Dragon Fogel wrote:
I'll send partial demos next time I attempt the rooms if I don't make progress.

Thanks, that'll be helpful!
And good luck on tackling the remaining ones.

Dragon Fogel wrote:
And I guess I'll wait for a more complete version of 1S before trying that one out.

Yes, for now wait with 1S.
I'll see if I can include a doable revision of the room in v5 of the hold.

---

[Last edited by LovaP48 at 02-05-2025 12:19 AM]

Dragon Fogel
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File: SMS Secret Mischievous Sanctum further demos.demo (28.6 KB)
Downloaded 7 times.
License: Public Domain

The hint got me through 1E, mostly because I had the right idea already but was using sword directions that didn't work out. It's actually a very strong hint, hard for me to evaluate it because it didn't so much get me unstuck in my thinking as much as it filled most of the gap between what I was trying and what I needed to actually do. Basically it's hard for me to tell if "figure out the sword positions" is a minor part of the puzzle or a major one, because I didn't do it.

I haven't gotten anywhere with the other two rooms. I've pulled up checkpoints from past attempts to get partial demos, but my most recent attempts were basically just "stare at the rooms and see no way of getting past the seeming impossibilities".

In particular, your hint on 1N1E gave me no ideas whatsoever. I will explain my current thought process.



Meanwhile, your hint for 3E is translating to me as "solve the room by doing something completely impossible", so I'm not getting much out of it.

LovaP48
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First of all, thanks a lot for the further feedback, Fogel!

Dragon Fogel wrote:
The hint got me through 1E, mostly because I had the right idea already but was using sword directions that didn't work out. It's actually a very strong hint, hard for me to evaluate it because it didn't so much get me unstuck in my thinking as much as it filled most of the gap between what I was trying and what I needed to actually do. Basically it's hard for me to tell if "figure out the sword positions" is a minor part of the puzzle or a major one, because I didn't do it.

It is meant to be the main part of the puzzle, because you aren't really doing anything else (as your demo shows - by the way, yours is pretty much a copy of the "intended fastest solution").
However, I did not realise that "figuring out sword directions" would be so much of a stumbling block.
Perhaps with the first Strategist's hint, I should emphasize
With that said, I probably won't be including the hint I gave here about the specific directions, as that is what I consider the essence of it.

Dragon Fogel wrote:
In particular, your hint on 1N1E gave me no ideas whatsoever. I will explain my current thought process.

Click here to view the secret text

×At some point, challenge or no challenge, I have to leave a baby on a corner plate without using a tunnel.

This means that the baby has to move onto the plate. It has to be within five tiles of me to do this, and after moving, it will be within four tiles. Therefore, wherever I move, it will still be in smell range, and will attempt to move.

The only thing that can possibly prevent this is another gel baby which stops it from moving, leaving it five tiles away so I can get it out of smell range the next turn. No other obstacle is mobile except Beethro's sword, which requires getting to even closer range.

The only thing I can even imagine your hint referring to is somehow using that trapdoor to set up the gel baby collision. But I can't see whatever would make that work.

Meanwhile, your hint for 3E is translating to me as "solve the room by doing something completely impossible", so I'm not getting much out of it.

I think this mainly means - especially in 1N1E - that my hinting is bad, so I've rewritten those and included that in the newest version.

Changes:
- 1S3E was mildly redecorated to better hint to a setup.
- 1S is now playable, but without any introduction or hints yet (I wanted to get the version out today before I sleep); it is equipped with using [Tab] to skip growth and Special Command to cycle through weapons - at the bottom there's also a very visual representation of the weapon cycling.
- 1N1E and 3E have rewritten (but now unspoken) hints - let me know if they are now better/more helpful for you.

The updated version has been attached to the root post, replacing the older.

Dragon Fogel
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For clarity, what I was trying on 1E before getting the hint was:

Dragon Fogel
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1N1E: The hints are currently not adequate.



3E:

orimer
Level: Master Delver
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Congratulations on your progress with your hold, Mr. Lova!

____________________________
With care

Dragon Fogel
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File: SMS Secret Mischievous Sanctum 3E Victory.demo (28.3 KB)
Downloaded 7 times.
License: Public Domain

Solved 3E.

What I was missing:



Thoughts on hints:



I'm still stuck on 1N1E, and if anything the current hints leave me feeling more confused. I'm probably going to need stronger hints to get anywhere with that.

Dragon Fogel
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File: SMS Secret Mischievous Sanctum 1N1E - getting stuck.demo (28 KB)
Downloaded 7 times.
License: Public Domain

Here is my latest attempt at the challenge in 1N1E. I'm not having any luck after getting a baby stuck on the southeast wall.

LovaP48
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File: 1N1E_intermediate states.png (858.6 KB)
Downloaded 8 times.
License: Public Domain

Dragon Fogel wrote:
Here is my latest attempt at the challenge in 1N1E. I'm not having any luck after getting a baby stuck on the southeast wall.

Hm, note that you cannot drop the trapdoor at (19,20) ahead of time, that makes the later stage impossible, which is why I prefer to drop the two southernmost trapdoors before moving any gel babies.
Other than that, your position at the south trapdoors looks promising and is an intermediate state in my solution (see the left side of attached picture).
What you want to do now is to get them into that "First-Third-Second" congo line and lead them to the wall, ending up in a position like on the right side of the picture.
From there, you should be able to get them into a vertical congo line to leave one behind at the plate.
Hope that helps!

---

[Last edited by LovaP48 at 02-23-2025 02:01 PM : Forgot to attach the pictures...]

Dragon Fogel
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File: SMS Secret Mischievous Sanctum 1N1E Victory.demo (28.4 KB)
Downloaded 6 times.
License: Public Domain

Got it. I'm not even sure how I feel about the room at this point. It will be doable with a hint thread, though, so if you're okay with it being at that level of difficulty then feel free to go ahead.

For 1S, some minor tweaks you may want to make to the scripting:

-Prevent weapon swapping while controlling the clone - this doesn't break anything per se, but it changes the indicators and can potentially result in them being desynced with the actual weapon.
-Prevent weapon swapping when on trapdoors, since you wouldn't be able to freely go and get a weapon in the original room and it would definitely allow some breaks.

Technically, being surrounded by tarstuff while armed with a caber would normally be inescapable (and some other situations too) but I don't think that's worth trying to block considering how hard it would be to check. I doubt there's anything you could do with that which would allow skipping any of the room's linchpins, it just might allow doing something silly to save time.

I'll post a demo if I'm still stuck after the next time I try it.

LovaP48
Level: Master Delver
Rank Points: 159
Registered: 05-31-2019
IP: Logged

Dragon Fogel wrote:
Got it. I'm not even sure how I feel about the room at this point. It will be doable with a hint thread, though, so if you're okay with it being at that level of difficulty then feel free to go ahead.

Well done!
My goal with the level is for it to be generally difficult, especially this challenge, so I am more or less fine with this.
However, I still would like to give some general idea to the player with the Hint Guy and then the precise implementation would be for H&S threads.
Any suggestions beyond the ones you've said already?

Dragon Fogel wrote:
For 1S, some minor tweaks you may want to make to the scripting:

-Prevent weapon swapping while controlling the clone - this doesn't break anything per se, but it changes the indicators and can potentially result in them being desynced with the actual weapon.
-Prevent weapon swapping when on trapdoors, since you wouldn't be able to freely go and get a weapon in the original room and it would definitely allow some breaks.

Technically, being surrounded by tarstuff while armed with a caber would normally be inescapable (and some other situations too) but I don't think that's worth trying to block considering how hard it would be to check. I doubt there's anything you could do with that which would allow skipping any of the room's linchpins, it just might allow doing something silly to save time.

I'll post a demo if I'm still stuck after the next time I try it.

I thought about the trapdoors, but I didn't think about the clone and both are good points!
Both of those (I think!) should be resolvable: upon Special command being pressed, the script checks if there is "floor" underneath the player and only if it is does the weapon swap.
Yes indeed, it works, I've now implemented it like that. Yeah, there's that one bridge tile, but whatever... On a second thought, I'll probably remove it and make it a floor tile to avoid confusion.