07-15-2011, 10:23 AM
Here's a summary of mansions where I noted key issues. Keep in mind that some of these mansions have forks where you're intended to go one way or another, and it's not possible to get everything. So it may be intentional with some mansions. I'm pretty certain it was accidental with some mansions though.
Also, just because there is a key imbalance, doesn't necessarily mean problems. I don't believe any of the imbalances result in stuck situations. I was looking at that in particular. Often a room can be approached from more than one direction. Too many keys can sometimes be harder than too few because they take up slots and there is no way to discard them, preventing Jack from carrying shields. I noted this in one case below. This really hurts in harder mansions where there are a lot of monsters.
Early on when I noticed imbalances I started checking all mansions noting what the builder reported. It *might* be that some mansion contain spare, inaccessible rooms with keys that throw counts off. I checked this where I could, but it's not easy to find such rooms in the builder with the huge grid of possible rooms.
It would be nice for all of these mansions to be played through again, with testers paying specific attention to key-related issues, and if something else is spotted along the way, then that would be a nice bonus.
Cathedral Towers EASY
* Keys: 9 blue, 6 green, 7 purple
* Doors: 8 blue, 4 green, 6 purple
Cathedral Towers NORMAL
* Keys: 9 blue, 10 green, 6 yellow
* Doors: 10 blue, 11 green, 7 yellow
Cathedral Towers HARD
* Keys: 8 red, 11 blue, 8 yellow
* Doors: 9 red, 12 blue, 9 yellow
Chateau de Medusa NORMAL
* Keys: 6 green
* Doors: 5 green
Falcon Manor EASY:
* keys: 12 red, 8 blue, 5 purple, 10 yellow
* doors: 16 red, 11 blue, 4 purple, 11 yellow
Falcon Manor NORMAL:
* keys: 11 red, 8 blue, 15 green, 8 purple
* doors: 15 red, 11 blue, 16 green, 7 purple
Falcon Manor HARD:
* keys: 13 red, 8 blue, 13 green, 14 yellow
* doors: 15 red, 10 blue, 15 green, 13 yellow
Knight Mansion EASY:
* keys: 7 red, 11 blue,
* doors: 8 red, 10 blue
Knight Mansion HARD:
* keys: 16 blue,
* doors: 15 blue
Nightmare mansion EASY
* Keys: 8 red, 12 purple, 11 yellow
* Doors 9 red, 13 purple, 12 yellow
Nightmare Mansion NORMAL
* Keys: 9 red
* Doors: 11 red
Nightmare Mansion HARD - one thing that made this mansion hard is you could very easily end up with lots of unused keys the lower you went which made things much trickier than they would normally be since, even with a backpack, I ended up with lots of keys, and didn't have room for shields which was rough with all the monsters. Well, no denying it was hard. I had to restart from saves twice.
* Keys: 11 red
* Doors: 12 red
Spider Mansion has red key imbalances - but it is necessary because of the design. It has areas where there is a choice of paths each behind a red door. Behind each red door there is another red key somewhere used for another pathway. The mansion starts with a red key out in the open that Jack begins with. If any red door didn't have a red key somewhere behind it, it would potentially result in a Jack stuck. This *might* be the situation in other mansions as well.
Update: Vern: If you need me to explain anything, feel free to ask. Hopefully I provided sufficient detail. I also have more than a few assembled maps of many (but not all) of the various mansions that I used to help me figure out some of the crazier mansions.
Also, just because there is a key imbalance, doesn't necessarily mean problems. I don't believe any of the imbalances result in stuck situations. I was looking at that in particular. Often a room can be approached from more than one direction. Too many keys can sometimes be harder than too few because they take up slots and there is no way to discard them, preventing Jack from carrying shields. I noted this in one case below. This really hurts in harder mansions where there are a lot of monsters.
Early on when I noticed imbalances I started checking all mansions noting what the builder reported. It *might* be that some mansion contain spare, inaccessible rooms with keys that throw counts off. I checked this where I could, but it's not easy to find such rooms in the builder with the huge grid of possible rooms.
It would be nice for all of these mansions to be played through again, with testers paying specific attention to key-related issues, and if something else is spotted along the way, then that would be a nice bonus.
Cathedral Towers EASY
* Keys: 9 blue, 6 green, 7 purple
* Doors: 8 blue, 4 green, 6 purple
Cathedral Towers NORMAL
* Keys: 9 blue, 10 green, 6 yellow
* Doors: 10 blue, 11 green, 7 yellow
Cathedral Towers HARD
* Keys: 8 red, 11 blue, 8 yellow
* Doors: 9 red, 12 blue, 9 yellow
Chateau de Medusa NORMAL
* Keys: 6 green
* Doors: 5 green
Falcon Manor EASY:
* keys: 12 red, 8 blue, 5 purple, 10 yellow
* doors: 16 red, 11 blue, 4 purple, 11 yellow
Falcon Manor NORMAL:
* keys: 11 red, 8 blue, 15 green, 8 purple
* doors: 15 red, 11 blue, 16 green, 7 purple
Falcon Manor HARD:
* keys: 13 red, 8 blue, 13 green, 14 yellow
* doors: 15 red, 10 blue, 15 green, 13 yellow
Knight Mansion EASY:
* keys: 7 red, 11 blue,
* doors: 8 red, 10 blue
Knight Mansion HARD:
* keys: 16 blue,
* doors: 15 blue
Nightmare mansion EASY
* Keys: 8 red, 12 purple, 11 yellow
* Doors 9 red, 13 purple, 12 yellow
Nightmare Mansion NORMAL
* Keys: 9 red
* Doors: 11 red
Nightmare Mansion HARD - one thing that made this mansion hard is you could very easily end up with lots of unused keys the lower you went which made things much trickier than they would normally be since, even with a backpack, I ended up with lots of keys, and didn't have room for shields which was rough with all the monsters. Well, no denying it was hard. I had to restart from saves twice.
* Keys: 11 red
* Doors: 12 red
Spider Mansion has red key imbalances - but it is necessary because of the design. It has areas where there is a choice of paths each behind a red door. Behind each red door there is another red key somewhere used for another pathway. The mansion starts with a red key out in the open that Jack begins with. If any red door didn't have a red key somewhere behind it, it would potentially result in a Jack stuck. This *might* be the situation in other mansions as well.
Update: Vern: If you need me to explain anything, feel free to ask. Hopefully I provided sufficient detail. I also have more than a few assembled maps of many (but not all) of the various mansions that I used to help me figure out some of the crazier mansions.