admin
Level: Legendary Smitemaster
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Halph. Even during the earliest days of JtRH development, I knew I didn't like the little brat. He's so annoyingly smug, that I figured Beethro would have been better just leaving him at home, even if that means that he would never have made it through level 3. I knew that while it looks like he's being really helpful to Beethro, if things were only a little bit different then Beethro would have had to spend most his time getting him out of trouble.

So, I decided to build a hold where that is the theme. Halph is occasionally useful in this hold, but most of the time, he's in some sort of danger that must be averted, or perhaps he's just simply in the way. This hold is sort of an alternate reality - it's what would have eventually happened, had Beethro not gone with Halph on that fateful trip down to the alternate enterance of King Dugan's Dungeon.

As is always the case, this hold would never have reached its current level of playability had it not been to a dedicated team of playtesters. I was lucky to have a team with some of the top people around - Onieromancer, Schik, Alefbet, Wallu, Tim, Ezlo, Mike Rimer, and Erik all provided great feedback, bug reports, script commenting, and general suggestions. Erik even filled in content to a room I left empty because I ran out of ideas, and added dialogue to rooms that I left silent. An excellent team of voice actors contributed the speech you'll hear as you play this (see cast credits below), and Erik and Mike provided the usual high level of voice editing.

I hope you have fun playing this little hold and find it an entertaining diversion - not too hard but not too easy either - perhaps while you get overly annoyed at Halph's antics during your exploration of JtRH and need the shoe to be on the other foot for once. In any case, it's been in development for a while, so I'm really glad that it's out now for you to enjoy.

Voice Actors:
Beethro - Sten Ryason
Halph - Tyler Downing
Cluegiver - Erik Hermansen
Hostile Guard - Steve Anderson
Ralph - Tyler Downing
Slayer - Michael Abbott
Golems - Jordan
Goblin 1 - Michael Abbott

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[Last edited by mrimer at 03-14-2006 03:55 PM]

Doom
Level: Smitemaster

Rank Points: 3303
Registered: 07-05-2004
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And... mastery!

Most of the rooms were pretty enjoyable, and the few secret rooms were fun. My only complaint is that the last level was a bit repetitive. Also 3E in it was a little painful. Tiled floor and/or a checkpoint could've helped that.

I only found the second one of "the three" so far and guessed the rest... I guess I can't say I've truly mastered the hold before locating the rest of those...

Banjooie
Level: Smitemaster

Rank Points: 1645
Registered: 12-12-2004
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Doom, you...that hold hadn't even been out 5 hours.

Oneiromancer
Level: Legendary Smitemaster

Rank Points: 2936
Registered: 03-29-2003
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I coulda sworn Doom was part of the beta-testing team...but his name isn't listed so I guess not. That would have explained his speed in mastering the hold. Although this one is the smaller of the two Halph Stories holds.

Game on,

____________________________
"He who is certain he knows the ending of things when he is only beginning them is either extremely wise or extremely foolish; no matter which is true, he is certainly an unhappy man, for he has put a knife in the heart of wonder." -- Tad Williams

Doom
Level: Smitemaster

Rank Points: 3303
Registered: 07-05-2004
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Oneiromancer wrote:
Although this one is the smaller of the two Halph Stories holds.

Yeah, but what fun would've it been to rush through Jacob's hold? That one I did test

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[Last edited by Doom at 03-15-2006 05:31 AM]

Tahnan
Level: Smitemaster

Rank Points: 2460
Registered: 11-14-2005
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This is perhaps the first hold I've played for which I've been one of the first people through it. Which means I had so many heartening "3rd place!" messages, being the third one to finish a room; on the other hand, my score on the hold has dropped 55 points in the last 12 hours....

I found the first two of "the three"--some day I'll have to find the third.

My favorite part of the hold, I have to admit, was the single line of dialogue: "What?" I had to restart the room just to hear it again. :-)

coppro
Level: Smitemaster
Rank Points: 1309
Registered: 11-24-2005
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I preferred "Could you please phrase that in the form of opening a door?"

Sergenth
Level: Master Delver
Rank Points: 296
Registered: 05-04-2005
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Now that I've nearly mastered this hold, I can say that this is an incredible collection of puzzles!

My favorite bits and pieces were:

- New, action-filled uses for Halph (new to me)
- The entire second level, Deeper Underground. Super high quality!
- Fun tricks on the player and unique secrets
- Infuriating encounters with goblins that finally forced to me to get some good goblin-sense, the same way all that exposure to tar in KDD and JtRH gave me higher tar-affinity.

larrymurk
Level: Smitemaster

Rank Points: 1917
Registered: 12-09-2004
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I've completed the hold, but have:



What now?

robin
Level: Smitemaster

Rank Points: 845
Registered: 09-01-2004
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EDIT:


____________________________

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[Last edited by robin at 03-15-2006 06:39 PM]

eytanz
Level: Smitemaster

Rank Points: 2708
Registered: 02-05-2003
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robin wrote:

Click here to view the secret text

×It could also mean that you still have to solve the riddle

No, he would have 1/2 secrets in that case.




____________________________
I got my avatar back! Yay!

robin
Level: Smitemaster

Rank Points: 845
Registered: 09-01-2004
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it's a long shot, but I gues I'm pretty close

____________________________

eytanz
Level: Smitemaster

Rank Points: 2708
Registered: 02-05-2003
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Oh, good point. You're probably right.

____________________________
I got my avatar back! Yay!

larrymurk
Level: Smitemaster

Rank Points: 1917
Registered: 12-09-2004
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I found the riddler and the door to nowhere clue.

Should I be looking for more secret walls?

eytanz
Level: Smitemaster

Rank Points: 2708
Registered: 02-05-2003
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No. Just find the other two clues, and figure out how to solve the riddle.

____________________________
I got my avatar back! Yay!

larrymurk
Level: Smitemaster

Rank Points: 1917
Registered: 12-09-2004
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I like the uses of Halph on the first level. I wish the entire hold could've involved maneuvering Halph in new and unusual ways.

A couple of rooms on the 2nd level scared me (2N1W & 2N) because they looked potentially extremely difficult. It ended up that these rooms were given a great deal of "wiggle room" making them extremely easy. I wish they were perhaps made a little smaller, but with less "wiggle room" so they'd take some thought.

3rd level seemed like too many goblin-based rooms. It'd have worked better in a huge hold or in one named "Goblin Adventures".

In any case, fun hold that I enjoyed playing although I'm clearly not much of a scavenger (OK, finally got it)..

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[Last edited by larrymurk at 03-16-2006 08:58 PM]

coppro
Level: Smitemaster
Rank Points: 1309
Registered: 11-24-2005
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I'll give you one little hint:



Try the restore function.

zoombini
Level: Delver
Rank Points: 43
Registered: 01-06-2006
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Arrrgggghhhh. Too many goblins on the third level.

Blondbeard
Level: Smitemaster

Rank Points: 1486
Registered: 03-31-2005
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Okay. I'm going to give a little (hopefully constructive) critiscism. Mainly I agree with all that larrymurk has said.

The first level I liked. It was nice and witty.

The second level contained too many trial and error rooms. Like the room with all the golems, the bomb and the mimic. It wasn't very hard, but where is the fun with solving a room if you just do it by sheer dumb luck? There are also some rooms which isn't hard, but quite tedious. These kind of rooms just leaves a bad aftertaste after you have finished them. Most of the rooms where good though. And the dialog is nice. I love the concept about the room with the trapped guard which ends up helping Beethro.

The third level felt quite repetetive. There where some good rooms, mainly those including golems. But some of the rooms where a bit tedious. Also one or two just felt like "passing through" rooms.

My point is that some of the parts where really good, but the (in my opinion) bad parts where quite bad. All in all I rated the hold a 7.

michthro
Level: Smitemaestro
Rank Points: 679
Registered: 05-01-2005
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OK, my two cents: Basically, larrymurk and Blondbeard said it all.
I really enjoyed the dialog. My favourite is: "I hate it when they do this." Having my feelings echoed by Beethro made me feel better. I was actually laughing, instead of cursing.
The first level is good, with some nice Halph manipulation puzzles.
The second level is very good, except for a couple of tedious rooms. When I saw all the orbs in 2N1W, I got this sinking feeling, but then I saw that the idea is very clear, and I liked it. As Larry said, too much leeway though. 1S1W wasn't so bad, but there are too many golems. After the interesting part where you blow up a lot of them, you're still facing a golem horde, which I hate.
Level 3: Yes, repetitive and too War-like, or perhaps rather skirmish-like, in the sense that it's just some random goblin/golem rooms. However, I think people are being a little harsh. It's not that bad. It really is easy enough to get through quickly, and only becomes a bit tedious if you try and do well. 3E is a nice Halph puzzle again. Anyway, I don't see how it takes anything away from the good levels.

All in all, very enjoyable.

KevG
Level: Smiter

Rank Points: 333
Registered: 08-16-2004
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Overall, I really enjoyed this hold. My only real, yet minor, complaint would be that I was dissappointed that Halph wasn't used more on levels 2 and 3; I was looking forward to developing more "Stupid Halph Tricks" while optimizing. Well, I guess I should start Beethro and the Secret Society.

I especially enjoyed the goblin rooms on level 3. In particular the goblin/golem rooms provided a nice optimizing challenge. Of course my view of this level might be influenced by the fact that I currently have half of the #1s on the level. (Which should last until Michthro realises I just beat him on 1S4E.)

Anyway, while I'm here, I've spent at least an hour in practically every room on level 3. I still haven't figured out where the heck the secret room is. Any pointers in the right direction?

Mikko
Level: Master Delver
Rank Points: 276
Registered: 02-04-2003
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Hint for finding the secret room on level 3:

KevG
Level: Smiter

Rank Points: 333
Registered: 08-16-2004
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Thanks Mikko, that did the trick.

michthro
Level: Smitemaestro
Rank Points: 679
Registered: 05-01-2005
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KevG wrote:
I especially enjoyed the goblin rooms on level 3. In particular the goblin/golem rooms provided a nice optimizing challenge. Of course my view of this level might be influenced by the fact that I currently have half of the #1s on the level. (Which should last until Michthro realises I just beat him on 1S4E.)

Ah, thanks for the heads-up. Yes, as I said, level 3 really isn't so bad. If you just want to get through, it's easy enough, and if you really go for optimising, such as when you get involved in a battle with KevG, it actually becomes plenty fun.

stigant
Level: Smitemaster

Rank Points: 1182
Registered: 08-19-2004
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Good hold. The first level had some nice Halph puzzles. Interestingly, Halph is always in the way, but always essential to the solving of the room as well. It was a nice balance. I wish level 2 had involved more Halph, but as a conventional level, all the rooms are very well made and interesting puzzles. A nice variety of techniques. The third level was probably the weakest of the three. But there were some nice puzzles with golems and goblins. You have to find the right places to kill the golems so that you can coral the goblins and still get out safely.

I found the 2nd and 3rd clues, and guessed at the first clue. I think the clue is in

but I don't know where to go to get it. Can somebody confirm that the room is right and/or give me a hint.

____________________________
Progress Quest Progress

KevG
Level: Smiter

Rank Points: 333
Registered: 08-16-2004
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The room is wrong; for this clue you'll be able to verify immediately if you have the right room.

stigant
Level: Smitemaster

Rank Points: 1182
Registered: 08-19-2004
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Ah, thanks. I was thinking that 2 of the snakes were small and the third was large.

____________________________
Progress Quest Progress

Banjooie
Level: Smitemaster

Rank Points: 1645
Registered: 12-12-2004
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There is one reason that this is the greatest hold produced.

jbluestein
Level: Smitemaster

Rank Points: 1670
Registered: 12-23-2005
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This has the honor of being the first hold which I've actually mastered, and it was definitely fun.

Level One (Into the Woods) was my favorite, with some very good Halph puzzles.

Level Two (Deeper Underground) had some more good puzzles, some of which took me a good long while to solve. I was a little disappointed to see Halph not get used much on this level, though.

Level Three (The Chase), well...I agree with others when they say 'too many goblins'. It's good practice, but there's only so much gobbo manipulation I can get excited about. The rooms with more Halph action were a lot of fun, though.

In the final accounting, I'd say that I did quite enjoy the hold, so good job eytanz!



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

NeonElephant
Level: Goblin

Rank Points: 25
Registered: 05-11-2005
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I don't have much to add, other than another voice to the chorus of "nice hold!"...

I, too, thought the third level felt a little ... uninspired. Had it been the first level, followed by the other two, I probably would have forgotten all about it ... maybe I just hate goblins. The rooms were all interesting, but somehow most of them felt indistinct.

The first two levels had a number of amusing, surprising, and all-around excellent rooms (to say nothing of variety).