Well. I needed 3 attempts to make a perfect (?) walkthrough through
The Bat House. It felt like a nice, relaxing mansion and finally needed about 30 minutes with one life lost to get both 100 % secrets and all (?) money: $ 24.375. For a mansion made by a teenager, I think it did fit very well together.
When I make a mansion I always try to make it in a way that the player must be able to solve all problems without restarting. But of course I can respect that other designers produce mansions where you
learn
on your way to the exit, so you know how to play better in your next attempt. In that way I saw two items in this mansion: a floorbutton that closed a gray door that could NOT be opened again and Wingy's missing blue key.
I could appreciate the 2 not-so-easy secrets although they were hinted!
aquaMat wrote:
In the last weeks we saw a whole string of these rectangular mansions
which have basically all rooms looking alike, with 3 floors in each room, and the whole point (I don't even dare calling it a puzzle) is running back and forth from one corner to the opposite corner in every room, pulling levers and opening doors. Usually the lever for the door in - say - the lower right corner, is in the upper left corner etc. ...so you have to keep walking and walking back and forth....and that's basically all that is happening in those mansions.
It's just my (very) personal view....and it's probably web-political uncorrect
to say so, but: I don't like that.
I think it's rather boring....sometimes even to a point where one of those mansions ... looks strikingly similar to a previous one in the same vein.
I understand what you are saying. Perfect example with that 3-floor style is
A Deserted Holiday Village. When talking about the designing-style I must confess that it is pretty boring. But In this particularly mansion I am going to stick to it, because it is indeed supposed for starting players. In the last months I had the luck to see several persons playing MM for the first time. Jumping over an isolated sitting snake or a normal walking skullspider is NOT easy for them. I still remember my very first steps in Falcon Manor easy where each creature was a REAL ENEMY. So In ADHV and also in
The Bat House starting players are able to learn what a pole is, how to jump at a gap, what happens when pulling a lever etc.
aquaMat wrote:
And I know those mansions are probably meant for beginners..... but in the BAT HOUSE I was so much running on auto-pilot that when I came to the only spot that was a bit more challenging - the zapper beams in rooms 17103 / 17104 (which are much harder than the rest of the House) - I lost about 10 of my amassed lives .....!! :-?
Having a good balance in a mansion is probably the most difficult thing. The difficulty-degree, the prizes, the saving points etc. But from what I have seen in the past, ALL designers reach a better balance after some experience. Btw, losing 10 lives ... :
aquaMat wrote:
So I just throw that on the table..... open for discussion:
While one mansion in that style every now and then is great..... I could imagine even beginners getting bored by a whole series of those !! As I said..... just my personal view.
Right and wrong together. The more mansions we have, the better. And like with books or music, not all mansions are for all players. The mansions that Mikee made so far are perhaps nice evening strolls for experienced players, but at the same time other people are struggling to reach the first saving point.
aquaMat wrote:
(BTW: I experienced a strange bug while playing Bat House: every time I opened the map, all rooms in the map appeared twice (next to each other), and sometimes whole floors appeared twice (on top of each other). Now what is that ???)
Did NOT experience that. But ... euh ... do you use two monitors?? ;D
