I've reached what seems to be the last room of the current version (MF 5N4W). Demos attached.
×As expected, this is another fantastic hold, with really devious puzzles with very simple elements. I particularly love the "
old-school"
feel of the fortress, where some of the connecting rooms are relatively simple but not trivial -- this feels like an equivalent of the rooms on JtRH Level 23 that were just a corridor and a couple of wraithwings. Rooms like this have fallen out of favour, and I think architects sometimes forget that they were tricky before we became DROD experts. It's nice to see them making a comeback.
Mysterious Tunnel Network
No new elements. Most rooms focus on queens, and avoiding their spawn going into force arrow traps, which didn't come up much in KND because of the interesting decision to leave force arrows until Level 4.
Not much to say about individual rooms, but I liked the tricks in 1S2E and 2S4E
The Forgotten Caves
Tunnels (new) and evil eyes (returning from KND).
In Entrance, the horizontal tunnels aren't necessary, although it's very satisfying to use them for a quick kill
I have two demos for 2E -- one may be unintended. Also not sure if you intended the move order trick I exploited in 1N2E.
Several great puzzles here. 1N1E is very devious; 1N2E was very satisfying to unravel; 1N3E and 4E look completely impossible at first sight. But 3E is easily the stand-out room, exceptionally tricky and baffling.
Massive Fortress (part 1)
A few wubbas on the grass -- I was surprised they don't get a dedicated puzzle level, although I know you already made an excellent one for EP.
I found the secret passage early, and was excited to see where it went, especially once I realised it wasn't just a secret room but was opening into a whole new area. It was rather funny when I realised this was actually required for progression
Moments like that made me wish I had been streaming my playthrough.
Then we get some simple guard rooms, making them hit orbs and kill monsters. It's an interesting choice, to introduce guards so early, but rooms like this make it work.
3N3W looks familiar. Have I seen this identical puzzle somewhere?
I don't need all the mimics in 3N1W.
Chemical Laboratory
Fun with potions. 1E is really nice, with the deeply hidden backswiping linchpin. 2E is rather easy for this stage of the hold. 1S1E is good but I don't like the forced double-stepping on checkpoints when each section is so short anyway.
1S and 2S are nice rooms, although overall this level is a bit easier than most of the hold so far. 2S1E was a bit tricky but I'm not sure if what I did was intended.
Massive Fortress (part 2)
Now we get introduced to braining and unbraining guards, and slipping by them at close quarters. I love what you've done with the hold structure. Returning several times to gradually unlock more of a large level creates a really fun sense of exploration and makes the game world seem more real; and it's very well integrated with the gameplay structure. Each bit of the level introduces new aspects of guard mechanics, allowing the player to get used to them without having to learn everything at once, and allowing the same element to be used for an early easy level and a later hard level while having all the parts on one map.
I guess I was meant to have found AQ before CL....
Abandoned Quarry
Rock golems. Almost all the rooms use them as, in essence, portable walls for other monsters.
1E is a neat demonstration of the difference between roach and golem movement. As well as the solution in my demo, I found another where I kill three golems around the yellow door; this isn't a room where it feels bad to have multiple solutions.
1W is a bit strange; I didn't use the large arena at all. It's also possible to kill the golems in a "
C"
shape inside the arena -- although with this solution, I have to kill the queen first and then go back for the eye.
One golem is unnecessary in 1N1E. It's also a little unsatisfying that the solution is so simple, when I first thought of more interesting arrangements (and with one more golem, could have gotten them to work). The same is true, even more so, in 1N; I had a lot of interesting ideas that don't work, and what does work is disappointingly straightforward.
Massive Fortress (part 3)
5N4W: The obstacles over the door seem to be a "
beyond here isn't built yet"
sign? That's my best guess, since I would need to go over there to unbrain the guard so he can kill the east golem.
I never solved 4N4W, which is clearly impossible.
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