Without further ado -- or without
any ado, really, for those with a pedantic streak (but, seriously, who likes the aforementioned "
ado"
, anyway?!) -- I bring you the latest and greatest news for Caravel Games and the Forum:
TCB Trailer
A TCB trailer video has been released for
DROD: The City Beneath. It's excellent, if I do say so myself. A big thanks to forum member slimm tom for helping with the video recording. You may view it from the Caravel Games TCB page here:
http://www.caravelgames.com/Articles/Games_2/TCB.html
JtRH is in 3.2
Danforth Strout, in the constant pursuit of bringing greater value to the DROD fanbase, made the following promotional announcement this month:
The official
DROD:Journey to Rooted Hold hold has been updated to work in the 3.2 game engine. Registered JtRH owners logged into CaravelNet may now download JtRH into their DROD:TCB installation from the game's Hold Management Screen. That is, you must be using the 3.2 game engine or newer and have registered your copy of DROD:JtRH to your CaravelNet user account for this option to be available.
As a bonus, purely stylistic changes have been made here and there in the hold to take advantage of the three new room styles featured in 3.0 and the new weather and lighting effects. (If you are using the TCB demo and not the full version, then the hold will appear in the default City style, as usual.)
The New Voice of Beethro Could Be You
Ever wanted to be the next James Bond? How about the next Batman? Well, maybe it's not quite the same, but now there's an opening for you to audition to be the next voice of Beethro Budkin, Smitemaster Extraordinare, in upcoming DROD games! See all the yummy details for a chance at stardom at
http://forum.caravelgames.com/viewtopic.php?TopicID=21552
Upcoming Smitemaster's Selection
We are beginning voice recording for the next Smitemaster's Selection, "
Devilishly Dangerous Dungeons of Doom"
, architected by forum member Calamarain. Expect to see it available soon on CaravelNet!
If you are interested in auditioning for other DROD voice roles in upcoming official titles in addition to Beethro Budkin, you may read about it at
http://forum.caravelgames.com/viewtopic.php?TopicID=21551
Don't Ask Award
I'd like to extend
Calamarian a Don't Ask Award for being an upstanding member of the community in so many ways, including excellent fan-art and being a leading figure in advancing general architectural quality on the forum. Calamarain, please choose a prize from the Prize Pile.
May Contest Results
A contest about running mini-contests! Lots of love went into these creative endeavors, which you may read about on the Contests board. As reported by NiroZ:
First prize goes to Noma. I think you deserved 1st place, given the level of care shown towards entrants, as well as the overall quality of the contest ("
Puzzle Rally Race"
).
Second place goes to TripleM, who I felt was a very close runner up to Noma. He paid close attention to his entrants, and had a well thought out contest ("
Rare / Common answers"
). Unfortunately, he fell into the teacher paradox, where people only consider the time actually in front of them. Having run many a contest, I know how much work is often put into the background of these contests in order to make them run smoothly, and that data analysis was superb, and must of taken up quite a bit of time.
Third place by her own choice is Techant, who presented a well thought out, carefully executed contest ("
Spin Me A Yarn"
).
May Holds
A slew of great new holds (without further ado) have come your way, as reported by NiroZ:
Candy for Gramps
Why you should be bringing your grandpa candy is beyond me. But I know that bringing the elderly exorbitant amounts of sugar isn’t the main reason you’re playing this hold. No, it’s the masochistic urge in all of us that drives us bald with insanity. As such, this is a nice, relatively short, hold which features an allotment of puzzles, the majority of which focus on the aumtlich. While it doesn’t feature a perfectly smooth difficulty curve, I found it rather rewarding as it gave you motivation to persevere onwards.
not dr0d 2: DROD Tower
Hate lynchpins? Loathe the hack and slash? Still haven’t been able to pass the Infohut? Then this hold is for you. Seamlessly implementing word puzzles into DROD, this hold does injustice to its description, perhaps indicating the perfectionism of the author which has paid off in spades. Oh, and check out the treasure room!
Symphony
Who thought that DROD could be a musical masterpiece? Admittedly, as someone pointed out, this isn’t a symphony in the strictest sense, with its loose definition of some of the musical terms, but hey, it’s the concept that counts.
Pathways of Witherwood
This is the final entry in the excellent Witherwood series, with voice-acted storyline running throughout and a post-mastery surprise.
89-th Slayer
A hold about 89th Slayer, with some puzzles and quests.
Imperial palace
55th Slayer is, purportedly, the best Slayer, but the Imperial council decided to trick him and give him the worst work of his life.
DROD Tester One
A series of tests of increasing difficulty.
Get all these brain goodies at
http://forum.caravelgames.com/holds.php
Now leave me alone while I go fetch some candy for Beethro's gramps.
Topic Picks
Thanks to Jatopian for compiling these:
Zen
This ongoing Architecture project ports the game engine of Zen Puzzle Garden into DROD, mixing in DROD elements for previously unseen puzzles.
http://forum.caravelgames.com/viewtopic.php?TopicID=18872
The Quiet Game
...
http://forum.caravelgames.com/viewtopic.php?TopicID=21116
Snacko Reviews Games
Every so often forum member Snacko makes an incredibly insightful post about a game he's played. We keep telling him to start a blog like other high-quality reviewers, but he seems to prefer our forum.
http://forum.caravelgames.com/viewtopic.php?TopicID=17189
http://forum.caravelgames.com/viewtopic.php?TopicID=21616
http://forum.caravelgames.com/viewtopic.php?TopicID=21592
Wonderquest Website
Gustavo Duarte's complex stepping game now has its own website.
http://www.wonderquest.org/
Now, without further ado, this concludes the June Illumination.
____________________________
Gandalf? Yes... That's what they used to call me.
Gandalf the Grey. That was my name.
I am Gandalf the White.
And I come back to you now at the turn of the tide.
[Last edited by mrimer at 06-07-2008 07:37 PM]
