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Caravel Forum : DROD Boards : Architecture : Monsters Remain (I've had this idea in the back of my mind for a while.)
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Fang
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I thought to myself: I never actually submitted any Hold as contribution, just the odd room here and there for contests, and my usual projects are really huge normally, so they never get finished. I decided to do something else entirely and play off an idea I've had a while ago. I made this entire Hold today and if there's no real issues with it, such as scripting errors or the likes, I'll most likely submit it.

This hold is fairly short and the puzzles aren't too hard. There's maybe one devious room out of the bunch. It's mostly a narrative project with a few puzzles to add meat to it.

Edit: I released a new version with some secret rooms. Some rooms are changed a little, but it shouldn't break any demos. I'll see about making a puzzle out of Ground Floor: Entrance perhaps in a little bit.

Edit 2: I got a quick fix for the briar room, now it works. Also, backtracking issue resolved. Ground Floor: The Entrance isn't a puzzle just yet, work on that today or tomorrow later.

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[Last edited by Fang at 11-14-2016 02:09 PM : New version.]
11-12-2016 at 08:35 PM
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Insoluble
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Well I enjoyed that for the most part. Difficulty was about 5 brains on average. No rooms seemed to deviate significantly in terms of difficulty. I've uploaded demos so you can see what I did. One thing I noticed right away is the rigid somewhat linear structure of the hold. Once you begin a room you are locked in and green doors block you from exploring the entire level. Since the difficulty isn't too hard and the hold is relatively small this isn't a big deal though.

Specific room thoughts:

Click here to view the secret text


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[Last edited by Insoluble at 11-13-2016 06:10 AM]
11-13-2016 at 06:10 AM
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Fang
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Insoluble wrote:
Click here to view the secret text

Oh, that's interesting actually. I didn't see that problem at all when I tested the room myself. You're supposed to have to
Click here to view the secret text


I'll have to modify it a bit to get the wanted result, or maybe make that one a secret room or something since it is vastly harder (and the more devious room I spoke of).

Also, I quickly whipped up a new version with
Click here to view the secret text


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[Last edited by Fang at 11-13-2016 03:47 PM]
11-13-2016 at 02:08 PM
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uncopy2002
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3S1W doesn't seem to work (briar is destroyed immediately when the door below them are closed, even if you reopen it during the same turn). Also there's a backtracking problem from 3S1W to 3S. Otherwise it's a good hold, and I agree too that the ending is so hilarious :D
11-14-2016 at 12:02 PM
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Fang
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uncopy2002 wrote:
3S1W doesn't seem to work (briar is destroyed immediately when the door below them are closed, even if you reopen it during the same turn). Also there's a backtracking problem from 3S1W to 3S. Otherwise it's a good hold, and I agree too that the ending is so hilarious :D

I've quickly made an edit to fix that. It's funny, open doors under normal briar doesn't destroy the briar when it's toggled twice on the same turn, but it does for briar roots. That's fairly peculiar, I didn't even know about that. I also fixed the backtracking problem. Also, should I make the second brain manipulation room required? I got a backtracking section there people don't need to do since it's a secret room and all.

Ground Floor: The Entrance isn't much of a puzzle just yet either, I've had too much work to work on that for now. I just wanted to get this fix out asap.

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11-14-2016 at 02:08 PM
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Doom
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Played through the current version, demos attached.

A few notes on the rooms:

2S1E: Didn't need the brain/tunnels for anything. This might be intended, since those diagonal arrows seem to be there by design (compared to the secret room that requires using all the tools). Mimic on conquer token mostly trivializes high scores in this room because scores are determined based on the turn you activate the token (also see 3S and 3S1W).

3S1E: Felt a bit more precise than most rooms, so fits in as a secret. The first few moves are the most important. I found that if I didn't get the brain close enough to the tunnels initially, I didn't have enough time to come back for it later.

3S and 3S1W: The idea of the room seems solid, but I don't think I did either version anywhere near as intended. There are a lot of different tricks that you can do in these rooms. It might become a difficulty spike if you make it too precise, which is why I don't mind having multiple solutions in a room like this, but you might want to at least restrict mimic placement a bit.

[Last edited by Doom at 11-14-2016 03:49 PM]
11-14-2016 at 03:46 PM
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Fang
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Doom wrote:
2S1E: Mimic on conquer token mostly trivializes high scores in this room because scores are determined based on the turn you activate the token (also see 3S and 3S1W).

3S and 3S1W: It might become a difficulty spike if you make it too precise, which is why I don't mind having multiple solutions in a room like this, but you might want to at least restrict mimic placement a bit.

For 2S1E, I assumed one could either go through the room the intended way by placing the mimic on the pressure plate to reopen the way out and save themselves the trip around, or they could instead take the other way by trivializing the room solving but then they'd need to use the mimic to reach the secret room anyway. If you experienced anything else, let me know and I'll see what I can do about it.

As for the restricted mimic placement, in which ways can you misuse the mimics? I know for a fact you can't use them to go on the pressure plates because in the first one you need to activate them in groups of 2 at the very least, and in the secret room all 4 need to be activated at the same time. Should I just have the eyes further into the corners?

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11-14-2016 at 06:08 PM
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Doom
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Fang wrote:
For 2S1E, [...] If you experienced anything else, let me know and I'll see what I can do about it.
That sounds about right. While I didn't use the mimic for the puzzle (only to trigger the token early), I did need it to exit the room afterwards because of the briars. My main point was that everyone gets an easy 15-move highscore here and it doesn't matter how long they spent in the room after.
As for the restricted mimic placement, in which ways can you misuse the mimics?
My demos for those rooms should be up in the previous post and are more informative than writing a long description of what I did. 3S still took some tricks along the lines of what you intended. On the other hand 3S1W is definitely broken because I could hit the pressure plates one-by-one.

[Last edited by Doom at 11-14-2016 06:36 PM]
11-14-2016 at 06:24 PM
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Fang
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Doom wrote:
That sounds about right. While I didn't use the mimic for the puzzle (only to trigger the token early), I did need it to exit the room afterwards because of the briars. My main point was that everyone gets an easy 15-move highscore here and it doesn't matter how long they spent in the room after.

My demos for those rooms should be up in the previous post and are more informative than writing a long description of what I did. 3S still took some tricks along the lines of what you intended. On the other hand 3S1W is definitely broken because I could hit the pressure plates one-by-one.

I'll see what I can do about those then. I might just put a door on both sides so you need to use the mimic on the pressure plate no matter what. As for the briar room, I'll try to devise a way to force the player to use all four pressure plates at the same time; I thought closing the doors would make it so the briar stops growing, but I forgot it's just a toggle and the room's easier than 3S now; I'll have to switch some doors around I feel.

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11-14-2016 at 09:54 PM
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