kingpr
Level: Goblin
Rank Points: 29
Registered: 02-04-2003
IP: Logged

Just to say at the outset I really - REALLY - like this hold. I thought it very clever. However, I am now very frustrated. I got through to level 4 and then go round and round the stairs back to level 4. I've read through all the posts for hints and find mysterious discussions about "the secret place". Well it's so secret I can't find it. Please can someone help? Or am I missing something blindingly obvious. There is no need to be cryptic in your response. At this stage I am desparate enough for an outright cheat, direct email will be fine.

Many, many thanks!!!

Peter

Jacob
Level: Smitemaster
Rank Points: 3752
Registered: 10-01-2004
IP: Logged

Hey, I thought I'd corrected the level 4 stairs bug/slip-up in my updated version. If not, you're right in saying that you can get from level 4 to 5 via The Secret Place. The stairs to this level are hidden . Hope you get to level 5 one way or the other and continue to enjoy the hold.
If there's still a problem, get back to me.

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

kingpr
Level: Goblin
Rank Points: 29
Registered: 02-04-2003
IP: Logged

Maybe I have an old version. This sounds more fun anyway. Thanks for the help, if the rest is like the beginning I'm looking forward to it already!

jjohn7418
Level: Master Delver
Rank Points: 161
Registered: 08-24-2003
IP: Logged

Hi,
I am having a problem downloading this hold. I was able to download the other three parts, but when I try to inport this hold I get a message stating that the file is corupted.

I've tried downloading it about 4 times.

Any ideas?

Thanks, Jim

____________________________
"Know what I mean? Know what I mean? Nudge, nudge! Know what I mean? Say no more!" - Monty Python

Jacob
Level: Smitemaster
Rank Points: 3752
Registered: 10-01-2004
IP: Logged

Anyone else having this difficulty? It may have happened since my update, I don't know.
If people PM me their e-mails I can e-mail the file to them.


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

Someone Else
Level: Smitemaster

Rank Points: 2356
Registered: 06-14-2005
IP: Logged

In Fourth, if you exit the room from the north east corner, you can't get back.

jbluestein
Level: Smitemaster

Rank Points: 1670
Registered: 12-23-2005
IP: Logged

Out of curiosity, and in order to save myself any future headaches, let me propose a hypothetical:

Suppose I had this friend who was a big fan of DROD. Let's call him...umm...kbluestein.

Now, this friend went through and played a hold by Jacob called Labyrinthitis. And he was greatly pleased by the hold, finding the puzzles devious and challenging. Until, having conquered the hold, he set out to master it and discovered that he would have to redo 50% of the hold again due to some clever configurations of secrets.

This saddened my friend, and while his respect for Jacob's design skill and craftiness was not diminished, his fondness for the idea of encountering such a situation again was.

And so my friend asked me to post a little question here to this effect: Apparently, he's finished the first four levels of the hold and is staring at the fifth. He's pretty sure he missed a secret on the fourth level, and is willing to go back and hunt for it...but could also leave it for later.

Unless it turns out that it's now or never. So, the question is...are there any weird ordering issues in the gameplay that would prevent you from hunting for secrets after conquering the hold? I...umm, my friend was just wondering.

Thanks!

____________________________
"Rings and knots of joy and grief, all interlaced and locking." --William Buck

silver
Level: Smitemaster
Rank Points: 915
Registered: 01-18-2005
IP: Logged

I can think of no weird ordering issues.

But, then, I couldn't think of any in Labyrithitis, either - I'm not sure why you think you have to redo more than a room here and there to get into the secret room or rooms or level or levels.



____________________________

---

[Last edited by silver at 04-24-2006 07:25 PM]

Alneyan
Level: Smitemaster
Rank Points: 622
Registered: 07-06-2004
IP: Logged

silver wrote:
But, then, I couldn't think of any in Labyrithitis, either - I'm not sure why you think you have to redo more than a room here and there to get into the secret room or rooms or level or levels.

You have to redo a whole level or more if you miss certain secrets, like some of us did. Said series of secrets need to be conquered in the same setting, as they allow to drop a blue door at the end, and reach the last secret. If you conquer all these secrets in sequence, you'll be fine, even if you miss all the others. If not, you'll need to redo a fair share of the hold.

It only applies to Labyrinthis in its JtRH incarnation, of course, and assuming our line of "nope, not mastered" players hasn't been overlooking something like a staircase or three.

jbluestein
Level: Smitemaster

Rank Points: 1670
Registered: 12-23-2005
IP: Logged

silver wrote:
I think your friend needs to find out about how "mastering a hold" can be done one secret at a time from restore, and you don't have to also be able to exit the hold from your "mastered" position. once you've conquered a hold, your percentage goes up for each secret you conquer, even though those may well be "discontinuous time lines"

example: a hold consists of rooms A, B, C, and Secret.

You start in room A, but miss the path to Secret. you move on to B and C and exit the hold in C. You have now conquered the hold.

Now you restore to a save point in A and enter Secret and conquer it and return to A. No futher action (such as re-doing B and C) is required to count as "mastering" the hold. If there were a master wall in C, you could now restore to a save point in C and pass through it, _even though no 'path' exists between your exiting the secret room and your save game in C_.

Ah, well, my friend does understand this, but Labyrinthitis was somewhat unique in this respect:



____________________________
"Rings and knots of joy and grief, all interlaced and locking." --William Buck

silver
Level: Smitemaster
Rank Points: 915
Registered: 01-18-2005
IP: Logged

jbluestein wrote:
Ah, well, my friend does understand this, but Labyrinthitis was somewhat unique in this respect...

to be clear, I edited because after re-reading, I realized the last sentence of your post implied that you did understand this.

I'm confident you can find secrets "after" in Domain of the Grinfindel.

I'm also confident that I could work up a list of rooms to visit in Lab-J which would comprise far less than 50% and allow you to access the secrets, but I'm at work.
EDIT: come to think of it. I'm not so confident anymore. I see what you mean about the blue door thing. I think that's a new innovation of his in Lab-J, though.



____________________________

---

[Last edited by silver at 04-24-2006 08:23 PM]

jbluestein
Level: Smitemaster

Rank Points: 1670
Registered: 12-23-2005
IP: Logged

silver wrote:

jbluestein wrote:
Ah, well, my friend does understand this, but Labyrinthitis was somewhat unique in this respect...

to be clear, I edited because after re-reading, I realized the last sentence of your post implied that you did understand this.

I'm confident you can find secrets "after" in Domain of the Grinfindel.

I'm also confident that I could work up a list of rooms to visit in Lab-J which would comprise far less than 50% and allow you to access the secrets, but I'm at work.
EDIT: come to think of it. I'm not so confident anymore. I see what you mean about the blue door thing. I think that's a new innovation of his in Lab-J, though.

Ah...looks like I caught your response before it was edited. So, you understand, I understand that you understand, and you understand that I understand that you understand...understand?

____________________________
"Rings and knots of joy and grief, all interlaced and locking." --William Buck

Jacob
Level: Smitemaster
Rank Points: 3752
Registered: 10-01-2004
IP: Logged

The interlinked secret idea was used in Labyrinthitis and .
I like the idea, but regret that it's caused such hassle and back-tracking.
It's not used in any of my other holds, e.g. this one, so enjoy.

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

jbluestein
Level: Smitemaster

Rank Points: 1670
Registered: 12-23-2005
IP: Logged

OK, I've mastered this hold now, and...wow!

Great design, great puzzles.

I think that Jacob fits the definition of 'genre-stretcher' with his hold design -- the spiral, the seventh level, all really well done.

OK, I don't much care for orb puzzles, and even with all the in-game hints I was still stumped for quite a while on some of it. But still...a seriously great hold.

I give it a 10.

Josh (moving on to The Hunt for the Grinfidel...arrrggh!)


____________________________
"Rings and knots of joy and grief, all interlaced and locking." --William Buck

jbluestein
Level: Smitemaster

Rank Points: 1670
Registered: 12-23-2005
IP: Logged

Just a followup note that I was surprised at the variation of difficulty in some of the rooms in this hold. Second, Third and Fourth were good, tough levels. Fifth was, for the most part, quite easy, and a lot of Sixth was quite manageable as well.

Not a complaint -- it was nice because my brain stopped hurting for long enough for me to admire the design. I was just surprised at the relative ease with which I was able to complete some of the rooms.

Suffice it to say that, so far, The Hunt for the Grinfidel does not appear to have the same problem, as I have yet to solve the first room.

____________________________
"Rings and knots of joy and grief, all interlaced and locking." --William Buck

Jacob
Level: Smitemaster
Rank Points: 3752
Registered: 10-01-2004
IP: Logged

Thanks for the comments. It's good to hear that new people are playing and enjoying my holds. I don't think I was aiming for any great increases in difficulty; just for different types of puzzles and themes for each level.
Just a warning: The 2nd room in the Hunt for the Grinfidel (1S)is a little evil.

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

jbluestein
Level: Smitemaster

Rank Points: 1670
Registered: 12-23-2005
IP: Logged

Jacob wrote:
Thanks for the comments. It's good to hear that new people are playing and enjoying my holds. I don't think I was aiming for any great increases in difficulty; just for different types of puzzles and themes for each level.
Just a warning: The 2nd room in the Hunt for the Grinfidel (1S)is a little evil.

I see what you mean. Fortunately, I think I'm familiar with this particular trick now.

Josh

____________________________
"Rings and knots of joy and grief, all interlaced and locking." --William Buck

Nuntar
Level: Smitemaster

Rank Points: 4842
Registered: 02-20-2007
IP: Logged

Mastered a Jacob hold. I feel awesome

Sorry to bump this all the way from the last page of Holds, but I felt I had to share my thoughts. This is a really well-crafted hold: the theme of multi-entrance puzzles gives the whole thing a sense of exploration, so that every inch of progression feels like an achievement. The first level is almost a pure labyrinth (and a very cunning one) with some roaches thrown in, but later levels blend the exploration with excellent puzzles. One recurring theme is mimic puzzles where Beethro has very restricted movement; it's a testament to how well-designed these puzzles are that I found them much more fun than frustrating, even though mimics are one of my least favourite elements

This hold also has something that seems pretty rare in DROD -- a real sense of humour in some of the puzzle solutions. I particularly liked Secret Place : Entrance, which is honestly not difficult to figure out (there's not much else you can do), but it's just hilariously funny that such a silly idea actually works.

Overall verdict:
5 brains
9 fun/quality

____________________________
50th Skywatcher

---

[Last edited by Nuntar at 05-13-2014 05:23 PM]

azb
Level: Smiter
Rank Points: 494
Registered: 03-08-2014
IP: Logged

I'd just like to state that this hold has one of the best uses of room-to-room puzzles starting as early as the first level. Though it has a labyrinth feel, it has actual puzzles within the labyrinth as opposed to the tedious treks that are KDD level 13 or a handful of the entries in the RPG "Amazing Maze" contest.

Be warned of puzzles involving serpent manipulation and wraithwing coaxing, however.

Overall, highly recommended for its original concept and brilliant execution!

8 Fun
4 Brains

____________________________
Please feel free to test the ultimate JtRH tribute: Journey to the Fabled Kingdom today!

mauvebutterfly
Level: Smitemaster

Rank Points: 774
Registered: 05-03-2015
IP: Logged

I just played through the hold and had a good time with it, so I want to recommend it. In particular, if you like multi-room puzzles there are some good ones here.

____________________________
106th Skywatcher