Alright. I'm convinced. It is impossible to get the sword back off the mage who stole it from you. He just keeps teleporting the moment you try and attack him. You can't even get a shot in. Damnit.
Drat! We will have to look closely at that behavior as we adjust things moving forward. There may be something up Paul's sleeve that I am not remembering about Mage behaviors or remedies. If you get stuck or frustrated please keep in touch, save your character, play another for a while, and Paul (madgarden) may have some other comments or suggestions -- he is out of town today. By the way, saved characters will all be carried forward to the next adjustment updates, so some conundrums might be solvable with your favorite characters too! -- Jeff
fargoal well i enjoy playing this game so recommend and it's definitely insta buy, just more challenge would be nice. Thanks for response and future updates
Sounds like Mindfield is experiencing the same problem as me...i did give up in the end and now have a lost level 36 hero with nowhere to go and time running out quick....i decided to start another game mainly to test whether it was the case...in reality getting the sword is easy and just takes time...a lot of it though, which makes it frustrating if 10 hours of gameplay is ruined immediately after retrieving the sword...at least have some option for tracking or freezing whomever steals the sword....i was going to suggest it being almost impossible but havent quite got there yet on my second game to make that statement...and in the mean time it seems some have managed to complete the game so my observation would have made little sense to them...my problem currently with the game, which btw I do find really good and well worth the money, is that there is very little strategy involved up until getting the sword...after getting the sword it seems luck plays a very big part on your chances on getting back up...relying on luck can be very frustrating after 10 hours of gameplay!! For now i rate Rogue Touch the better alternative...strategy mixed with the excelent mix of powerful items, weapons and magic swings it...but these things can be fixed and it is only version 1.0 afterall...
If you added an "endless dungeon" mode to the game, I would gladly pay another 1.99 just for that feature. I love the idea of endlessly traversing a dungeon, leveling up your guy seeing how long you can survive and how far you can get. throw some achievements in the mix, and i'm creaming all over my iphone.
Dogmeat - On the endless mode I presume you just don't pick up the sword on level 20 and then you will be able to keep diving without time limit...i could be wrong....
Oh, so is that a permanent effect, without having to use it? I figured my gold capacity kept going up 'cuz of leveling...
You can catch the Mage... He does not have unlimited power for his spells, but it does regenerate. Keep an eye on hi staff! The original C64 version did not keep the "up" pits around, so this certainly makes things easier. Believe me when I say it won't be so easy next time . The game is in a state of evolution from old to new yet!
Interesting. I thought in the original, the floors were randomized on the way up as well. So am I understanding correctly that when you come up, it's through all the same floors you went down? I actually like that better, as it makes more sense that the dungeon wouldn't just magically transform into a different layout. I would guess that the original game didn't have enough memory to remember the layout of the 20 floors you made it through, so would create new ones on the way up. Just a guess. Also, congratulations on getting the sword out! One of the things I liked about Rogue Touch was the hidden characters you could be by entering in different names to play as. You could start out as a character with some serious shortcomings, to add to the challenge of the game. Starting out with a cursed ring of teleportation, or with accelerated hunger made for a brutal challenge. On the flip side, you could also start out as an extra powerful character if you wanted an easier game. It was a cool way to tweak the difficulty, and could be fun in this game as well. +1 to this idea all the way. Again, something similar that was in Rogue Touch and provided a ton of fun. There was even a separate leaderboard for deepest floor reached. I would love to have a save slot where I'm just grinding away, leveling up, exploring every nook and cranny of every floor and constantly just getting deeper and deeper into the dungeon. Great idea! Oh, and... try not to get any liquids on your phone
We certainly don't want "frustrating" to be part of the mix. Part of the balancing to get past version 1.0 should solve some of these issues. Including some prior discussions related to your "Sword tracking" suggestion -- in a fun way, we hope! May or may not make it into the mini-update, but is coming for sure... -- Jeff McCord
Well, fortunately I do happen to know Paul has something up his sleeve (which may or may not make it into the next update, and if not will probably in the second update) that can help solve the problem with mages and the sword. For now though I think the problem is quite impossible to overcome. I spent at least half an hour chasing that bastard all over several levels but there just wasn't any way to get a shot in; as soon as you engage him he blips away. The proposed new feature isn't specifically to solve this problem, it just so happens it'll help a lot. However, for a more direct fix for this behaviour, the behaviour of whomever steals the sword back from you should perhaps be to head to the nearest sets of stairs that lead back to the sword level and place it back in the sword chamber, so if you can't kill whoever stole it before he/it gets away, you can at least return to the sword chamber and steal it again. However, to aid in your escape and help avoid having it stolen, use up your invisibility spells. You don't (usually) get targeted while you're invisible so if you can avoid the monsters you can usually find your way back with as little molesation as you can manage. That's what I was trying to do, but unfortunately I ran into that damn mage.
The problem is when the Mage teleports it's usually far enough away that he's long since regenerated before you can catch up to him. Perhaps I might be able to luck out and he'll teleport a few spaces away, but unless that happens I don't think I'm getting that sword back. I must say though that I really do like the idea that you don't have to go after the sword right away. Even as you've hit level 20 where the stairs to the sword are, you can keep going deeper if you want -- if you need more challenge or just want to level up even further, find more loot. I don't know how deep it goes but the idea that the adventure doesn't have to end when you reach the sword is appealing. It keeps things open-ended and leaves you to the master of your own legend.
I had a commodore 64 home computer as a kid but never played Sword of Fargoal. I haven't played many true dungeon crawler games and I think it's because they don't lay much weight on story and dialogue. Endless grinding isn't my cup of tea. With that said I did play Master of Magic for the c64, and it was great! However, I don't remember if it had randomly generated dungeons. Somehow I decided to buy Sword of Fargoal and after a couple of hours of playtime there isn't much to say but – oh my, this is really good. Music, sounds and overall appearance comes together and makes it intensely atmospheric. I couldn't stop playing last night and normally I get bored very quickly. Although I must say: I want more of this world of the Forest Lands! It would be cool if we could buy an add-on adventure with more in-game story and dialogue. Another thing, what if our hero could find readable scrolls in the depths of the dungeon and read about the monsters weaknesses and strengths. Thanks for a great game! Must return to the dungeon now.
That's fantastic! I must say, that "Sword of Fargoal" was born of a *real* D&D quest that I ran back in the late 1970s with friends, and much of the adventure actually does take place in the forest lands. So, I would not be surprised if the other part of the tale of Gedwin the blind fighter gets told at some point, as a follow-on App, if "Sword of Fargoal" remains a success on the App Store. All of you have been giving it such great feedback, both here and on the App Store itself -- AND such great suggestions. Every bit of that helps to show other people that it is a good game! So thanks again to you all for the vote of confidence! Now just convince your friends to buy it so we can keep the momentum going!! Sincerely, Jeff McCord
