Beta 4: Dr. Demented's Den

[RobSeegel]

Latest update:

Reworked the following rooms:

- 15909 (added Semi's lever to fix JS)

- 16093 (completely different)

- 16094 (graphics edits)

- 16293 (graphics edits)

- 16505 (minor changes to layout of critters - *should* be impossible to jump over to 16506), however *if* Jack should somehow get to this area, he shouldn't fall. I will probably have to add a falling platform to prevent JS later.

- 16506 (reworked room to make it impossible for Jack to jump from room to the left or right. Also platforms no longer fall)

- 16507 (removed minor scorpion puzzle - seemed like overkill - there simply for the sake of having a puzzle. I thought it didn't really need to be there. I wanted the main focus of the room to be the green key room, and it felt too crowded.)

- 16706 (minor changes to make platform to get to yellow key more obvious).

Edit: removed attachment, more recent version later in thread

[RobSeegel]

My hope is for all work on this mansion to be wrapped up by this weekend. My plan:

Later today: Double-check area 5, replay it and look for weaknesses. I see 16703 as a potential issue. If that goes fine, I'll double check final path to vault.

Tomorrow: Start from beginning (again). Adjust music, any remaining issues with BBBs. Will probably add a few more messages/notes to smooth out rough areas, and fix all zen like riddles.

Sunday: Fix any remaining issues reported over the weekend, double check various configuration items for mansion... and that should be it. After that... with any luck, there will be only minor tweaks leading up the eventual release, and I can remove this mansion from my

To do:

list, and hand it over to Vern so he can make whatever final changes he wants.

If you have any thoughts on improvements that could take a little time, please let me know sooner rather than later.

Thanks again for all the help! It feels like we crammed 4 betas (or more) into the past week or two.

[RobSeegel]

232F3C29262B3C273A2F787A4E0 wrote: Room 16904 - There is something strange in this room:
- to open the marked grey door jack has to pull the lever in the square
- to reach the lever jack need the bat platform in the left
- the bat platform appears only when jack reach the

T

so...

Nope... there's at least one other bat platform from the top that you're forgetting Some backtracking is required here. There are at least two pathways to get back to the top. This is just one of the more convenient ones that has to first be

unlocked

. Any place you see a blue tile with a bat on it, will be an indication of a bat platform - usually, but not always, next to it.

[margherita64]

7A474A7B4D4D4F4D44280 wrote: [quote author=232F3C29262B3C273A2F787A4E0 link=1277451142/99#99 date=1281099068]Room 16904 - There is something strange in this room:
- to open the marked grey door jack has to pull the lever in the square
- to reach the lever jack need the bat platform in the left
- the bat platform appears only when jack reach the

T

so...

Nope... there's at least one other bat platform from the top that you're forgetting Some backtracking is required here. There are at least two pathways to get back to the top. This is just one of the more convenient ones that has to first be

unlocked

. Any place you see a blue tile with a bat on it, will be an indication of a bat platform - usually, but not always, next to it.
OK, I've just downloaded your last version: I'm gonna try

[margherita64]

0D303D0C3A3A383A335F0 wrote: Latest update:

- 15909 (added Semi's lever to fix JS)

OK

0D303D0C3A3A383A335F0 wrote: Latest update:

- 16093 (completely different)

OK

0D303D0C3A3A383A335F0 wrote: Latest update:

- 16094 (graphics edits)

OK! now we could kill the throlls without getting crazy :-)

0D303D0C3A3A383A335F0 wrote: Latest update:

- 16293 (graphics edits)

OK

0D303D0C3A3A383A335F0 wrote: Latest update:

- 16505 (minor changes to layout of critters - *should* be impossible to jump over to 16506), however *if* Jack should somehow get to this area, he shouldn't fall. I will probably have to add a falling platform to prevent JS later.

Room 16505?

0D303D0C3A3A383A335F0 wrote: Latest update:

- 16506 (reworked room to make it impossible for Jack to jump from room to the left or right. Also platforms no longer fall)

Do you mean room 16507? Now is perfect: you have just to remove the central lever n. 7424 (opens all trap doors)

0D303D0C3A3A383A335F0 wrote: Latest update:

- 16507 (removed minor scorpion puzzle - seemed like overkill - there simply for the sake of having a puzzle. I thought it didn't really need to be there. I wanted the main focus of the room to be the green key room, and it felt too crowded.)

Do you mean room 16508? I've not reached this room yet...

0D303D0C3A3A383A335F0 wrote: Latest update:

- 16706 (minor changes to make platform to get to yellow key more obvious).

OK


Room 16506 - Jack died and now he can't catch the purple key because the conveyor belt are moving to the left. See picture

[Semi-Native]

Hard

16093 BBB should read

...the last time I saw that room it was just a normal cavern...

16693 BBB too close to lever. Can't read it because Jack keeps trying to pull the lever instead.

15301 I think it's still too hard, the tiles move too fast.

15102 Too hard to get the ghoul heads to the flame because they're blocked by the conveyor belts.

15703 It takes too long for the big spiders to get the red birds. How about if the ghost platforms don't appear until they're gone?

15909 Jack is at the right-hand side, middle level. The lever that used to be there to open that gray door is gone. It's a Jack Stuck because in 15910 there is also a gray door blocking him, and he can't climb that ladder, it's not low enough.

15706 The right-most spider is too quick, Jack doesn't have a chance. Also, the levers are colored to look like they toggle the gold/silver blocks, but they open doors. Levers should be consistent throughout this whole puzzle. Many times, Jack has jumped after pulling a lever thinking the blocks were going to change, but they didn't and he fell to his death.

15507 Lever colors not consistent. The ones that open gray doors look the same as the ones that toggle gold/silver.

15506 Lever colors not consistent. There's also a Jack Stuck possible - Jack died and reappeared on the right-most ladder with silver blocks on, so there's nothing at the top or bottom of the ladder for him to step on.

[RobSeegel]

15507 Lever colors not consistent. The ones that open gray doors look the same as the ones that toggle gold/silver.

15506 Lever colors not consistent. There's also a Jack Stuck possible - Jack died and reappeared on the right-most ladder with silver blocks on, so there's nothing at the top or bottom of the ladder for him to step on.


The problem here is that I've run out of lever colors. I not only would like consistancy within a few rooms - I'd really like consistency across the entire mansion. Would I'd *really* like is a yellow lever (and possibly a square handle instead of a round one) to use for gold/silver toggles. What I had been doing is putting a small gold/silver tile on Layer 5 directory under each lever, but that sort of thing is easily lost when the lever is already sitting on gold or silver block...

[RobSeegel]

63555D591D7E5144594655300 wrote: Hard
15703  It takes too long for the big spiders to get the red birds. How about if the ghost platforms don't appear until they're gone?

Sounds good, I'll try it out. This room never quite lived up to my basic idea. I wanted it to be more of a challenge than it was. I'll try your suggestion, and may change the challenge completely. If I do change it, the challenge will be isolated to this room to prevent rework in the surrounding rooms.

For the most part, the biggest challenge was mostly just getting here through the ladder/zapper maze.

[RobSeegel]

Do you mean room 16507? Now is perfect: you have just to remove the central lever n. 7424 (opens all trap doors)

Yep - that's what I meant. Thanks for the info.


Do you mean room 16508? I've not reached this room yet...


Yes on the room number. I only mentioned it because it was in your screenshot, and I was listing all the changes I made. I'd never been really happy with the room so I changed it, even though you didn't specifically have a comment about it.

Room 16506 - Jack died and now he can't catch the purple key because the conveyor belt are moving to the left. - I will probably lose the conveyor belt and add another spider or scorpion. The belt was giving me fits as well. I'd never really intended this room to be that big of a challenge anyway, especially given that there are plenty of other challenges in this area already. It would just be brutal if every room in the mansion was super hard, especially for a mansion this size.

[RobSeegel]

0D3B333773103F2A37283B5E0 wrote:
15301  I think it's still too hard, the tiles move too fast.

I'll double-check it, but if it's the room I think it is (I don't have access to mansion at the moment), then the trick I use is that I almost never jump from moving platform to moving platform - it's more difficult that way. I always jump to the fixed platform from the platform group before it. It's much easier. The speed of the platforms makes such a jump possible and not as difficult as you might think.

Can you try it again within the builder and see if it makes it any easier for you? If so, then I can add a hint to the room.
If nothing else I can try slowing it down a bit more.