talund
Level: Delver
Rank Points: 95
Registered: 05-17-2005
IP: Logged

File: Dingy Dungeon.hold (16.3 KB)
Downloaded 65 times.
License: Public Domain

This is my first effort at contributing a hold. Please feel free to pick it apart. Some rooms may have too much hack and slash, please feel free to let me know that.

I've removed the original hold and replaced it with an anyone edit.

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[Last edited by talund at 04-06-2006 02:46 PM]

Banjooie
Level: Smitemaster

Rank Points: 1645
Registered: 12-12-2004
IP: Logged

This is what we call 'too much hack and slash', yes.

Tim
Level: Smitemaster

Rank Points: 1979
Registered: 08-07-2004
IP: Logged

Well, it's a bit 'too much hack and slash' and 'war-like', but also an 'efficiency-exercise' (I mean it in a good way). Since we now have CaravelNet where you are encouraged to be efficient, this hold wouldn't be too bad for some efficieny specialists (I'm not one of them...).

Besides the slashing, it has also some thinking parts in it. (Okay, I'll just admit it, I'm stuck in the first few rooms...)

By the way, would you be so kind to set the hold to 'anyone-edit'? I do want to see more of the hold before I give the wrong comments...

-- Tim

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The best way to lose customers is to let little kids running loose on a forum with too many mod points.

Chaco
Level: Smitemaster
Rank Points: 3692
Registered: 10-06-2005
IP: Logged

I solved the first three rooms (one of which being a secret room)

Then I got to 1N1W and kinda gave up. Y'know, I got tired of fighting a big huge horde of monsters. It's good now and then, but give us a break!

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

talund
Level: Delver
Rank Points: 95
Registered: 05-17-2005
IP: Logged

File: Dingy Dungeon.hold (16.3 KB)
Downloaded 50 times.
License: Public Domain

I have removed the old hold and replaced it with anyone edit. Attached.

talund
Level: Delver
Rank Points: 95
Registered: 05-17-2005
IP: Logged

It is interesting that you would give up when facing the 1N 1W. I think it looks more intimidating that it actually is. Or is that it looked too tedious? The first three parts of the room are quite easy. I will admit to there being a little hacking in the next parts.

Chaco
Level: Smitemaster
Rank Points: 3692
Registered: 10-06-2005
IP: Logged

Yeah, it looked pretty tedious. I guess I could probably do it if I felt like it though.

If, after clearing a room, you cannot walk from one entrance of it to another entrance without undue effort, your room needs a change.

EDIT:

Just beat 1N1W.

...And I thought that looked intimating, only to see the next room O_o'

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

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[Last edited by Chaco at 04-06-2006 08:42 PM]

talund
Level: Delver
Rank Points: 95
Registered: 05-17-2005
IP: Logged

As I was looking over ways to reduce the hacking and slashing I have also been trying to see where I could shorten the walk after conquering the room and among other things realized that if you miss the secret room there is no way back to it. So I've been putting in short cuts that open when you conquer a room. Ah - novice mistakes.

Banjooie
Level: Smitemaster

Rank Points: 1645
Registered: 12-12-2004
IP: Logged

This isn't really a 'War' hold, either. Usually, khaim'd throw you a pile of mimics, and in the one case I can think of where he didn't, you had tunnels, and you were moving around /constantly/. Man, that was a kickass room.

...Okay, there was the one where he's like 'yay Ctrl + Q', but that was intentional.

1N1W was just..../gah/. Gah. I refuse to do 1N, however. Just, it's not happening.

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[Last edited by Banjooie at 04-06-2006 09:56 PM]

Tim
Level: Smitemaster

Rank Points: 1979
Registered: 08-07-2004
IP: Logged

I've finished most of the rooms (using the editor, though). For a first hold, this isn't that bad. It's a set of rooms that requires some thought, but also a lot of QWing. The difficulty of the puzzles are quite good, but because there's so much hacking and slashing going on, and one room after each other, that it gets too tedious.

Every room in this hold is great, on their own. It feels a lot like Bavato, but easier. The only problem is that it's too much slashing, and being incredibly linear.

What I would suggest is to:
1) Slow the pace down between the rooms with some good looking, but empty rooms.
2) Remove the linearity by using these rooms to connect many rooms together.
3) Don't use breakable walls to border the rooms, but green doors.
4) Add some shortcuts when a room is finished.
5) Add lots more checkpoints, and (perhaps, I'm not too sure about this) reduce some monsters.
6) And an ending text.

I think this has a potential to be a great hold, and some of the rooms are so good that I don't want to see people missing them because of the slashing and the linearity...

I can try rearranging the rooms for you if you want to.

____________________________
The best way to lose customers is to let little kids running loose on a forum with too many mod points.

talund
Level: Delver
Rank Points: 95
Registered: 05-17-2005
IP: Logged

Many thanks for the comments, especially Tim. Very helpful. I will take it back to the drawing board to rework it and repost it soon.

bandit1200
Level: Master Delver
Rank Points: 290
Registered: 10-29-2003
IP: Logged

Well, I've been enjoying this so far, though I've only got through six rooms up to now. I just wish I had seen the update before i STARTED (and if this new keyboard annoys me just once more, it's going through the window) but hopefully I'll be able to carry on where I left off. Oddly enough, when I first looked at the entrance, I just thought, "Not interested," and hit escape. I'm glad I took another look.

Edit: I finished both levels and enjoyed most of it. The entrance to level two is a bit ho-hum. The amount of monsters made the game very jerky until about 80% of them were gone. The secret room in level 1 can only be reached by restoring if you don't go there first.

I reckon you ought to give some thought to check points. There's a couple of rooms which could do with one or two but don't have any, yet L2 1N has one that you are unlikely to go near.

Talking of checkpoints, I reckon all holds should have a checkpoint as you leave the room to make restoring easier, but I digress.

L2 2N. Ugh! Nuff said.
L2 2N1W can be done easily by
L2 1N1W. I cleared the room and left to the north, meaning I had to clear the trapdoors again to get to the next room. Not fun, though the room was when I did it the way it was intended.
L2 1W. Took me a few goes to get the golems where they didn't block me.
L2 2W. Sorry but I thought this was just plain boring.

Overall, I found it fun, and it's definitely easier than it first appears, though as has been pointed out, there's too much QWing, or in my case, ASing.

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[Last edited by bandit1200 at 04-08-2006 08:20 PM]