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Caravel Forum : DROD Boards : Architecture : The Domain of the Grinfidel (Sequel to my last hold)
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Jacob
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File: The Domain of the Grinfidel.hold (29.8 KB)
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icon The Domain of the Grinfidel (+12)  
New version (with JtRH features) now on Holds board.

I'll leave this for anyone who wants to play the original in AE.

[Edited by Jacob at Local Time:04-27-2005 at 09:19 PM]

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03-19-2005 at 07:18 PM
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MeckMeck GRE
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icon Re: The Domain of the Grinfidel (0)  
Oh ! I like that ! It looks such easy but you just always have to reenter rooms from other positions and find the right. Oh, I think 1N is unsolveable !

You can split it in 5 areas and you have just 2 mimics (and you can only use 1.....) Am I just too dumb or is there a real bug ?
03-19-2005 at 07:40 PM
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Abbyzzmal
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icon Re: The Domain of the Grinfidel (+2)  
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This is unbelievably fun! I love being completely confounded by seemingly simple things. Currently stuck in Level 2, 2N, but I'll be moving along soon enough, I'm sure of it! Lovely, lovely stuff.

Everybody bother Jacob so he'll make levels!
03-19-2005 at 08:55 PM
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Tim
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icon Re: The Domain of the Grinfidel (+2)  
Oh dear, another hold from Jacob (which is a very good thing).

Level 1 is really cool. Every room of them! Although the one goblin (1S) was terribly easy to kill. I want to do one as well ;)

Level 2 is also cool. But 2N1E and 1N1E seems to have some bugs in them, which makes this hold unsolvable right now. (see comments below)

Comments to some level 2 specific rooms (spoilers):
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Needless to say, this is another great hold! Keep going!

-- Tim

[Edited by Tim at Local Time:03-19-2005 at 09:39 PM]

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03-19-2005 at 09:38 PM
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Abbyzzmal
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icon Re: The Domain of the Grinfidel (+2)  
I'll give my commentary, too.

Only about level 2, since for level 1 the commentary would only be a single word, some superlative adjective or another.

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All in all, the only word for this is fun. I think I said it about 8 times. If not more. Fun, fun, fun.

[Edited by Abbyzzmal at Local Time:03-20-2005 at 04:14 AM: Edited Spacing for easier reading]
03-20-2005 at 04:13 AM
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Jacob
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icon Re: The Domain of the Grinfidel (+1)  
Thanks for the comments, guys. I'm glad you like it, and am sorry about those 2 rooms being uncompletable. I was sure I'd completed them, but clearly I'd changed something after that. Anyway, now they're definitely doable.
Yes, use of my initials was deliberate, I've done it in my other hold a couple of times too.
Enjoy the 3rd level, some of it I'm really pleased with (e.g. 1W and 2W) but some of it is ridiculously easy and needs changing.

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03-20-2005 at 09:24 PM
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Abbyzzmal
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icon Re: The Domain of the Grinfidel (+1)  
I'll comment in more detail later, but I just went through level 3, and I have to say that these were some very clever puzzles, and that I'm a little annoyed with Once and Twice West, since I have a room in a hold I'm working on that uses a similar trick, but mine is nowhere near as well-implemented. Curse your concise and precise hold-making ability!

It'll probably be tomorrow night before I get around to a room-by-room analysis (if then), but my previous comments still stand. When I saw this was updated, I had to abandon everything I was working on and play through, and while I'm glad that it was easy enough that I could do it in under 45 minutes, I just want more! I like how you make your point with as few monsters as possible, but on the other hand, it shortens the experience somewhat. But don't change that aspect, that's probably why this hold is so much fun, because it is just one trick after another. Clever, clever, clever with no needless qw-ing. Hooray!
03-20-2005 at 11:03 PM
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Atch
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icon Re: The Domain of the Grinfidel (+2)  
Very much enjoyed the end to Level 3, despite it leading to the stairs bug, and found no problems otherwise. Of course this is not really a bug in this case but rather an incomplete hold or at least so we hope. There are no rules here but some architects would have preferred to end with the entrance to the fourth level – either empty or containing some wry comment on what is to come.

Favourite level: Level 1 – we have had many linked rooms before but a linked level? Is the order of room clearance unique?

Favourite room: Level 2: 1N – required dozens of restarts to get it right so also the most challenging room.

Sneakiest room: Level 2: 1N, 1W – why hasn’t the green door dropped?

The re-jigged Level 2: 2N, 1E is much (too much?) easier than it was but still I look forward to more please J.

[Edited by Atch at Local Time:03-28-2005 at 12:21 AM: Added a further comment on the ending]
03-21-2005 at 01:19 AM
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urban
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icon Re: The Domain of the Grinfidel (0)  
Great hold.
I haf a lot of fun on 1st and 2nd levels.

congratulations.

Please upgrade your hold with more levels.

urban

03-21-2005 at 04:59 PM
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Jacob
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icon Re: The Domain of the Grinfidel (+1)  
urban wrote:

Please upgrade your hold with more levels.

urban

If you insist.

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03-27-2005 at 12:01 AM
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Abbyzzmal
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icon Re: The Domain of the Grinfidel (+2)  
I said I was going to comment on the third level, so I'll do it now before playing the fourth.

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Excellent work all around, and I'm looking forward to level four!

03-27-2005 at 07:13 AM
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stigant
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icon Re: The Domain of the Grinfidel (+1)  
Playing level 4 now:

Entrance - not too bad. not my favorite.
1N - very nice room. I spent a lot of time thinking in the wrong direction. And the left side is quite whimsical.
1S - another good room. each part has the same basic idea, but very different strategies.
1S1W - I like rooms that you have to go through twice. This one isn't too difficult, from either direction. It would be cool if you had to drop the red door with the mimic on the second time through.
1W - I don't like maze rooms. Especially ones that rely on diagonal passages like this. This room was very tedious.

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03-27-2005 at 06:35 PM
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stigant
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icon Re: The Domain of the Grinfidel (+1)  
Just got through L4 1S1E. This is a very tricky room.
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1N1E is also a nice room. You have to employ a variety of strategies to get all the way through.

I'm not totally positive about this, but I think its impossible to get back to the exit stairs in the entrance room after doing the rooms to the east.
Edit: no, I'm wrong, sorry.

[Edited by stigant at Local Time:03-28-2005 at 05:09 PM]

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03-28-2005 at 05:06 PM
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stigant
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icon Re: The Domain of the Grinfidel (+1)  
L4 1N1W: One of the scrolls says you need to find the trap doors, but looking in the editor, there are no red doors in this room. Plus, the indication on the scroll is that the trapdoors are all in the main chamber. This strikes me as a uncharicteristically misleading.

Edit, oh and
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[Edited by stigant at Local Time:03-28-2005 at 05:21 PM]

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03-28-2005 at 05:20 PM
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JimTheMighty
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icon Re: The Domain of the Grinfidel (+1)  
Very fun, and clever pretty much the whole way through. Level 3 seems a bit easy and short, but it is original (and that wraithwing room had me stumped for a while :P).
Good job all around, and I'd gladly play anything else you make :)
03-29-2005 at 09:48 AM
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Jacob
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icon Re: The Domain of the Grinfidel (+1)  
Thanks for the comments, everyone.

stigant wrote:
L4 1N1W: One of the scrolls says you need to find the trap doors, but looking in the editor, there are no red doors in this room. Plus, the indication on the scroll is that the trapdoors are all in the main chamber. This strikes me as a uncharicteristically misleading.

Edit, oh and
Click here to view the secret text


[Edited by stigant at Local Time:03-28-2005 at 05:21 PM]

OK, I took out the red door when playtesting, and forgot to put it back in, oops. It is at the main entrance to the main chamber, i.e the square just above the scroll. However, the fact that the scroll is just below the entrance should it clear that the red doors are outside of the main chamber. Thanks for pointing that out.
L4 1S1E was originally meant to be done according to your original method, but I thought that would make it too hard (at least playtesting it, I found it hard), so I modified it to the way it is now.

Update coming soon: Entrance to level 3 is harder. level 5 is now complete, halfway through making level 6. Level 7 should be the last. Will put up first 6 levels soon.

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03-31-2005 at 02:21 PM
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Jacob
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icon Re: The Domain of the Grinfidel (+1)  
Finished making levels 1 through 7 (entire hold).
But 1. is there any point in putting them up given that everyone will be playing JtRH, 2. sorry for my ignorance, not yet having JtRH myself, but how backward compatible is JtRH: can it play levels made in AE, or do I myself have to import it? and 3. is an orb puzzle on level 7 (requiring a code)now completely pointless, given the ability to see orb functions in JtRH? Cheers. Will upload hold soon.

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04-05-2005 at 02:20 PM
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Tim
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Jacob wrote:
But 1. is there any point in putting them up given that everyone will be playing JtRH,
Well, I've played JtRH too much lately ;)
2. sorry for my ignorance, not yet having JtRH myself, but how backward compatible is JtRH: can it play levels made in AE, or do I myself have to import it?
It can play levels made from AE, in particular, I was playing this hold in JtRH :)
There are some differences though, but you can read this in my FAQ somewhere on Architecture board.
and 3. is an orb puzzle on level 7 (requiring a code)now completely pointless, given the ability to see orb functions in JtRH? Cheers. Will upload hold soon.
Yes. But DROD delvers are the kind of people that is more interested in getting the code anyway. :D

-- Tim

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04-05-2005 at 10:35 PM
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Jacob
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icon Re: The Domain of the Grinfidel (+1)  
Thanks for your comments as usual, Tim.

I just thought I'd add a post at the end here to give a few suggestions for things I think could be further implemented, or that I didn't implement well enough. I set these as a challenge or for inspiration. Of course, I may not be aware of holds in which these ideas are already used... (warning: spoilers)

Second: 2N1E
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Third: 1E, Fifth: 2W, 1S, another room
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Sixth: 2S1W
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Sixth: 4S and another room
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04-07-2005 at 08:06 PM
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stigant
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icon Re: The Domain of the Grinfidel (+1)  
Level 5:

My favorite room was 2S. The entrance is decent (almost a warmup for 2S), and 1S2W is good in a number of places. I felt like the others were not particularly challenging, although none of them were tedious in any way, either.

I didn't see any bugs or trivial solutions.

Level 6
Entrance: I immediately said to myself "What's the catch?!?" 20 moves later... "Ohhhhhh, there's the catch" :-)

more on level 6 later.

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04-07-2005 at 09:16 PM
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stigant
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icon Re: The Domain of the Grinfidel (+1)  
The puzzles in level 6 are all well crafted. The only thing is, I got to the green door in 3S1E and realized that I was going to have to go almost all the way back to the beginning of the level to clear the red door and kill the snake. That was pretty infuriating.

2S could use some a check point near the entrance rather than in the midle of the maze.

In 4S1W, when you finally clear the room, I was able to drop all the trap doors with the mimic, so you might not need the crumbly wall right before the end.

Also, 3S is labeled required, but it is neither possible nor necessary to conquer it.

Level 7 - Its not impossible to make an orb puzzle like this in JtRH. You just need to start with some doors open, some closed, and make some or all of the orbs toggle rather than open or close. Was there a code somewhere? Because I didn't see one, but then I'm pretty lousy at finding things like that.

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04-08-2005 at 09:52 PM
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Jacob
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icon Re: The Domain of the Grinfidel (0)  
Thanks, Stigant.

stigant wrote:
I got to the green door in 3S1E and realized that I was going to have to go almost all the way back to the beginning of the level to clear the red door and kill the snake. That was pretty infuriating.

I put a scroll in to hint at that, but you're right, it is a bit mean. I've made it more explicit now.

Also, 3S is labeled required, but it is neither possible nor necessary to conquer it.

So what's the problem?

Was there a code somewhere? Because I didn't see one, but then I'm pretty lousy at finding things like that.

The code is not one that is written down on a scroll for example, but needs working out. There are a couple of clues to it in the hidden level and also in the room with the code itself. I will involve looking at previous levels though.
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04-09-2005 at 02:28 PM
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Jacob
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icon Re: The Domain of the Grinfidel (+1)  
Can't seem to be able to post this on the holds board, but anyway I consider this hold to be finished. So enjoy.
Thanks to all the playtesters.

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04-16-2005 at 11:06 PM
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