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File: Zealots Trials 5.1.1 change.hold (30.3 KB)
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After a long break from hold-making, I present you my first TSS solo-project.

As usual with my holds, it is the collection of random puzzle ideas and concepts, some of which I had on my mind since shortly after TSS release, others were designed pretty recently. It is pretty small (13 puzzle rooms), but individual rooms can take some time to complete.

Inside, you will find:
1. Three themed puzzles levels;
2. Puzzle rooms with difficulty ranging from medium to pretty hard;
3. Weird concepts and puzzle ideas which haven't been explored too much yet;
4. Mostly non-linear level design so you can take a look at several puzzle rooms at the same time rather than being stuck on a single one.


Thanks to people who have played and commented on this during architecture process:

KituU
BoyBlue

HA review by: Rabscuttle, Chaco

Chaco
Level: Smitemaster
Rank Points: 3659
Registered: 10-06-2005
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mxvladi describes his newest release pretty modestly. I will go ahead and say that this is a tremendously difficult hold, that I have a bit of a hard time rating - I'd probably place it at 9 brains, because there's a few rooms where once you figure out what you're supposed to do, the execution isn't that hard to do.

There are absolutely a few individual rooms, though, that fall into 10 brain category. Among other things, conquering this hold will require you to manipulate brained rock giants, Stalwart and roach queen movement, and perhaps most infamously, kill 66 brained constructs. These rooms are pretty much at maximum difficulty in that I can't imagine they could be made any harder while still remaining playable.

This is a fun, pretty well put together hold with generous checkpointing, but don't expect it to teach you any of the techniques you need in order to overcome a stone wall - you better already walk in here an expert. If there's any interactions you want to double-check, absolutely use the editor to do so.

If I had any criticism to offer, it's that some rooms are made hard through awkward extra conditions - Manipulation 1E comes to mind where recovering tarstuff babies is the interesting puzzle in the room, but actually completing the room amounts to busywork. Hordes 1E is also perhaps unnecessarily cramped; trapping Constructs on an edge of the room is more annoying than if there were some nicely centralized area. Additionally, opting out of the challenge doesn't really make the room much easier either, just makes cleanup at the end less tedious than in the challenge version.

A solid offering and I'm certainly looking forward to mxvladi's next hold.

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

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[Last edited by Chaco at 05-02-2020 06:22 PM]

Tahnan
Level: Smitemaster

Rank Points: 2460
Registered: 11-14-2005
IP: Logged

It's been a long time since I've rated a hold, I think, because I fell out of practice somewhere along the line. Probably the last time I rated a hold was Gigantic Jewel Lost, because it redefined what a 10/10 meant. This hold, then, had to be pretty serious to get me to come back here and put in a rating.

And it was. Just...not in the same direction as GJL. Perhaps some day if I complete more than one room--a room which, incidentally, traps me in the next room until I either solve that one or restore back to zero solves--I'll revise my rating above a 4. Then again, seeing more of the hold might inspire me to revise it downward.

Basically: I think Chaco is too kind. The word that came to mind for this hold is "miserable", in the sense that the primary emotion it evokes for me is misery. There's no fun here. Everything is daunting, and the author's notes on scrolls ("inspired by room X, only 100x more evil"; "inspired by that really terrible room in Malcolm, Brock, and Dave that no one likes") don't do much to make me think that "fun" was a primary concern, as opposed to straight-up difficulty. Indeed, the best thing I can say about this hold is that it's a fantastic illustration of the idea that "more difficult" is not the same as "more fun".

KituU
Level: Master Delver
Rank Points: 221
Registered: 07-02-2014
IP: Logged

I enjoyed so much playing this hold, so unique and original. Rooms are very clever, and show architect’s grand experience
Definitively not a happy break, it’s a different experience
Very difficult, brain melting some, (hints were needed in many rooms) and initially some rooms feel totally impossible or exasperating
Yet, it is so satisfying when solving such challenging puzzles, specially Path of Shapeshifting , so creative and ingenious.