azb
Level: Smiter
Rank Points: 489
Registered: 03-08-2014
IP: Logged

File: From the Other Side Level 1 Re-Fixed.drh (4.4 KB)
Downloaded 15 times.
License: Public Domain

Hello everyone,

I know I have made my Twenty Five Levels of Tendry, but I remember recieving feedback that it was too many levels for the simple Goblin Hollow style hold I was making, and that it was boring in terms of decorations/aesthetics and story, as well as too many scorepoints where it is not necessary, so I made sure to address all of those things in this hold.

You will play as a Gray man/Citizen from the Empire's perspective rather than Tendry's side, and you will encounter story dialogue during the bosses for each level - I only want to make 5 to keep it short and sweet rather than dragging on forever, and currently there are 2 levels.

Please feel free to let me know if it feels still too much like speed architecture/war style holds or if it feels like a genuine DROD RPG hold.

07/08/2024 UPDATE:

Fixed level 1 to have harder to fight monsters.

____________________________
Please feel free to test the ultimate arena: King Azb's Arena today!

---

[Last edited by azb at 07-08-2024 09:26 PM : 07/08/2024 Update, fixing level 1 to have harder to defeat monsters]

Gordius
Level: Delver
Rank Points: 95
Registered: 12-16-2008
IP: Logged

I like the premise of this, but I think the first floor needs some balance considerations. If you kill the WW in the first room, and then the two roaches and brain to get the blue key, and then the neather, you can use your key to buy the wooden sword and then everything left on the first floor (and also the antlions and the stuff you need a sword to get from the goblin) is free. I don't see any amount of work you could do with the gems/keys/health on the first floor that would improve on that.

And then, once you're on the second floor, I think there's only one monster that it is beneficial to consider getting the short sword for. Nothing else seems within the 20-point ATK window. And because of the strongly ATK-weighted starting stats of the Grey Man, DEF is always going to be relatively low value unless you can get a lot of it. It's possible that the Wooden Shield might be worthwhile, but I honestly think the same general approach here as on the first floor (What's the absolute simplest way to get enough greckles to buy the blue key and then see where that leaves me with the Goblin King?) is the only real option. But I decided to write this feedback in the hopes that you'll make the first floor more interesting rather than give too much thought to the second floor.

azb
Level: Smiter
Rank Points: 489
Registered: 03-08-2014
IP: Logged

Yeah. I used weak monsters that you could one-shot intentionally at first, but I can definitely see how it would make the gameplay off-balanced if I used nothing but weak monsters - I will use stronger monsters to guard the gems and blue key, using a custom monster for the blue key like I did for the second level guard, but the stuff like being able to kill the wraithwing easily is intentional for only the first level.

I also intentionally gave the player a choice between spending their green key on a short sword or wooden shield, but not both, in that they would see the wooden shield is suppsed to be the easier pick.

____________________________
Please feel free to test the ultimate arena: King Azb's Arena today!

Gordius
Level: Delver
Rank Points: 95
Registered: 12-16-2008
IP: Logged

I don't think that made it better. If anything, it's a lot more obvious now that there's nothing on the first floor I would really call a decision. Take the DEF gem in the first room. Before, it cost you 15 HP and would save a total of 10 HP if you killed everything else on the first floor. Now it costs 110 HP and saves you 12 HP on everything else on the first floor. So clearly we should ignore that until some undefined "later" when the tradeoff is less lopsided. But the same argument applies to pretty much everything but getting the yellow key, now spending it on 200 HP and killing the sub boss and boss to get out. It's a little costlier, but it's no more difficult or interesting.

azb
Level: Smiter
Rank Points: 489
Registered: 03-08-2014
IP: Logged

It is intentional the first level is very straightforward in terms of what decisions you should make, but I suppose I could make the decisions a little more complex by tweaking some more monsters further, but I won't go crazy with custom monsters, I will just use different default monsters.

____________________________
Please feel free to test the ultimate arena: King Azb's Arena today!

azb
Level: Smiter
Rank Points: 489
Registered: 03-08-2014
IP: Logged

Okay, now it's fixed again - note it is 100% intentional you can one-shot the monsters after you have gotten the wooden sword, as that is what the intended idea is this early in the hold - I want the decisions to be easy and not super tricky mind melting madness.

____________________________
Please feel free to test the ultimate arena: King Azb's Arena today!

---

[Last edited by azb at 07-08-2024 09:28 PM : Typo: "Mind", not "Mend"]

azb
Level: Smiter
Rank Points: 489
Registered: 03-08-2014
IP: Logged

Does anyone have feedback on level 2 in more detail, before I make level 3?

It is intentional there is that one room where you dodge the goblin in the correct direction and get free goodies, just like in other easy holds.

____________________________
Please feel free to test the ultimate arena: King Azb's Arena today!