bibelot
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File: Rickys Dungeon.hold (8.5 KB)
Downloaded 160 times.
License: Other
From: Unspecified

7/21
I added a modest second level to my dungeon. When I was first thinking up rooms, they started pretty easy. But now that I look at the rooms I've got now, I'd have to say that even with the easy rooms, this level is still pretty hard. Ah well. Again, all the rooms should be possible, but I may have inadvertently made some small changes which make them impossible or trivial. We shall see, I suppose.

7/14
I took a short break from designing rooms, but I couldn't pull myself away in the end. Attached is the latest version of level 1. Most of it is the same, you'll notice, except some of the rooms are moved around with small changes here and there. Also, I added a couple new rooms, 1N1E and 1N2E. I don't know how hard they are compared with the others, so let me know what you think. (I'm beginning to think that this level is getting way too hard.) Hopefully all the other rooms still work as well...

7/11
So I thought I'd try out this new messageboard thing. I've actually been playing DROD for a few years, so when the possibility to make my own levels came out, I thought to myself, why not?

I spent the last couple days coming up with a modest first level to my dungeon. I haven't played it through in this version, but I am fairly certain that every room is possible, and I hope that the intended solution is basically the only one. If you find that a room has a solution that's clearly unintended, or if, gadzooks, a room is impossible, please let me know. Other than that, try it out and let me know what you think.

(There's a second level that's empty; I needed this so that Build 27 would actually play the level.)

[Edited by bibelot on 07-15-2003 at 04:43 AM]

[Edited by bibelot on 07-21-2003 at 10:01 PM]

[Edited by bibelot on 07-22-2003 at 03:52 PM]

billbuckner
Level: Delver
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1w and 1w1s are both well done. Overall, a 8.5/10

Scott
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1N1W is messing with my head. I know there must be some way to do it but I just can't see it as yet.

1N seemed a little tedious.

The other rooms very well done.

Snicker
Level: Delver
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Is this level solvable? Maybe I'm just tired, but I've not been able to solve about half of them - and it's frustrating me to the point of not coming back to Ricky's Dungeon


Also,

And finally,

On the high side, 1N, while tedious, is an excellent example of simplicity in puzzle design.

eytanz
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Excellent, excellent dungeon. 1N stands out as the sole exception - it doesn't actually contain a puzzle. You always have exactly one choice as to which orb to hit next - as it is, it is solely an excersize in moving left and right. It's cool to look at, but it belongs in a "look at what I can do with doors" demo hold, not actually in a playability hold IMO.

Also, I don't get 2N; it was totally obvious and easy what to do there. Not bad on its own, but doesn't match the brilliance of some of the others.

1N1W, though, is probably my favourite room yet in a user-made hold. It's elegant and utterly devious - it took me a while to figure out what has to be done, and even longer to actually do it. It is definitely possible, as I can attest.

Okay, now I've solved the entire hold. It's all solvable - I have to say, Snicker, your post is a prime example of putting your foot in your mouth by calling all the puzzles flaws.

Some hints (not solutions):

1N1W:
1S1W:
1N1E:


[Edited by eytanz on 07-12-2003 at 01:08 PM GMT: Re-organized my thoughts a bit to be more coherent.]

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Snicker
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Your hints are nothing new, eytanz. Obviously, I'm just stupid, though, as I couldn't seem to get the timing right. I'm giving up on this hold - it's too frustrating for now.

eytanz
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Sorry I couldn't be more helpful - I was trying to be very vague and draw attention to where the solution lies.

I'll just add now that 1N1W and 1N1E are not about timing - there are tricks to both and once you figure out what to do there really isn't a timing issue. 1S1W is all about the timing, though.

I can't really think of more hints without actually giving the solutions - if anyone wants me to do so, let me know.

[Edited by eytanz on 07-12-2003 at 01:07 PM]

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bdcribbs
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My intiial reaction was just like Snickers, I thought a lot of these rooms were unsolvable, and I still haven't figured many of them out, but I've regained faith that they are solvable and actually, they are ingenious puzzles.

1N1W

And if you've figured that much out already:


Can't offer help on the others yet, cuz I haven't solved them yet.

The general concept of puzzles like 1N1W is a novel usage of drod, well done.

bibelot
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As many people have noticed, 1N doesn't really fit in with the rest of the level. I just put it in because I thought the machinery behind it was pretty cool.

1N1W came about because I originally miscounted how many roaches I had placed, and I was too lazy to fix it. But it turned out okay, I guess.

1S1W came when I found an alternate solution to 1W that was sufficiently different that I thought it'd be nice to put in.

Looks like I made a mistake in 1N1E; I meant to put the invisibility potion right in front of the entrance, forcing you to pick it up before you do anything else. If you solved the room by doing something else first, try it this way (or if you haven't solved it, maybe this'll help, but I think it's a bit harder this way.) I'll attach the new version to this message, but I'm not sure which version people will like better...

[Edited by bibelot on 07-15-2003 at 04:44 AM]

eytanz
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I'm very, very interested to know how to solve 1N1E in the new version. I can't see how to make the roach queen spawn without either creating an unreachable tar baby or closing the big yellow door first.

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Snicker
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*nods*


Something I *still* haven't accomplished.

eytanz
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That's not so difficult, if



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eytanz
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Ok, I'll ask again - is the new version of the hold solvable? If so, could someone please let me know the solution?

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bibelot
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Of course it's solvable; I wouldn't have it otherwise...

Seeing as how I seem to have successfully stumped almost everyone, whether or not that's a good thing, I suppose I'll give a hint for the new 1N1E:

eytanz
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Ah. That was the direction in which I went trying to solve this. But I didn't succeed - it seems to me that the ordering is reversed, so I gave up. Maybe I should try again now that I know that it is the right track.

Edit: did it. Nice puzzle, though I'm not sure if the easier version isn't better; it's not that easy after all. It would be best, IMO, to include the old version of the room, and have "pick up the invisibility potion before hitting any orbs" be a challenge; it's definitely up there with the hardest of them. My problem before was:



[Edited by eytanz on 07-13-2003 at 11:06 PM]

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bibelot
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Here's a new version; for more info, check out the first post above.

Scott
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The new 1N1E was kind of tricky took a few goes to get through it.
1N2E needs a few more reallys I think. I still can't work it out.

[Edited by Scott on 07-15-2003 at 06:01 AM]

bibelot
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I added a second level; see the first post above for details.

bibelot
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I just realized that it's impossible to exit level 2 2S2W if you come back from 2S3W, so I've fixed that in the attachment above.