What's in a name, she says. Nominative determination, that's what. Would Bob Dylan have become Bob Dylan if he were named Shecky Vroomfondel? Would invoking Einstein to celebrate the inevitable outcomes of hold-my-beer-and-watch-this moments have the same impact if you had to say, "Smart move, Smith"? Oh, no. Names are more than just tags. I've known this all my life. They tell the future. They help shape who and what you will become. So pick a good name. A solid name. A kick-ass name that will make people tremble and moisten at its very utterance. Sincerely, Frank Zappa
So close to the sword today. Was on the L20, covered about 80% of the maze, when I met a warlord I couldn't make a dent on. I should've run away. (And probably could've used a few more levels) But I was doing so well up until then, and then this warlord comes up to me, casts shield, he hits me down to -41hp and I was dead. Found a lot of good stuff on this hero run -- Bugtooth amulet, Claw of Lion, Temple Shield, black orb, white orb, etc. Can't wait to get back in again.
Yes, I can't get enough of this game; after I got myself killed, I felt sorry and then now I feel like playing the game more than ever. I didn't start right away only because I had to go to work. I think it's a good thing, I'm reflecting on what I did in that game and remember certain moments that was funny and dangerous (e.g chasing a fleeing assassin round in circles, find that big pile of gold in another section of L20 and risking getting bbq-ed by red dragons getting to it.). I'm thinking of trying out Legend next and seeing how far I can go.
Hey, you just gave me an idea... if you guys list your best (and worst) moments from playing the game, then I can work on the design for the next update to amplify that sort of awesomeness. So... gimme your stuff! Next update will likely be around the end of June.
I don't know that I could distill any particular bit of awesomeness down to a specific event. Mostly it's a lot of little gameplay elements and events that accumulate into something awesome, like finding that special item just when you need it. But on that note, something I think could be awesome is if, while maintaining the randomness of finding such things, truly special items were maybe hidden away in a secret area you had to find, and were perhaps guarded by thematically relevant creatures: Red dragons guarding the dragonscale shield, black ones guarding black orbs, skeletons/wraiths guarding the macabre shield, asps guarding the bugtooth amulet, etc. Don't restrict the levels they can be found on -- part of the fun is the possibility of finding these cool items early on -- but maybe make obtaining them a little more challenging and encourage more exploration. It'll feel more like these things were designed to be there, and you're not going to get them without a fight.
There's something I really liked when recently playing through the game - Those little secret areas and how enemies *can?* open chests and get booby trapped, lol. I stumbled upon a couple of dwarf guards guarding a switch that made something open. When I got to the "safe", I got a Dragon's Eye (Whatever is it for? Perhaps add item descriptions in update?) and upon exiting and going North, I found a mage or something that looked like it had been poisoned or similar and there was an open chest next to it Best. Moment. Ever. Want: Item Descriptions Love: NPC interacting with environment, hidden items and secrets like above, random events like falling through a pit to floor XX. Hate-ish: Found Sword of Fargoal, used invisibility but was still seen. Perhaps refinement? And traps are hard to see... I got a map to floor 20 once but was almost instantly teleported upon entering the floor... lol.
Some creatures can see invisible. All creatures can see you if you cast light. Any creature you attack while invisible can see you. Traps are visible on the mini-map even if you don't actually notice them, but them being hard to notice is pretty much the point. They're not supposed to have neon signs pointing to them saying "THIS IS DEFINITELY NOT A TRAP!" Whoever set them wants you to step on htem. Trapped chests or rubble piles don't show up on the mini-map as traps though. Those you'll have to find out the hard way or cast detect traps. Discoverig what items do is also part of the fun. It's all about experimentation and exploration.
Cool guys. Yeah, definitely more special thematic areas and elements are planned... bigtime. You guys should see my battle troll. And richer AI behaviours, fo' sho'. To clarify on how invisibility works... yes, some creatures can still see or detect you. Also, you're clomping around the dungeon in your big boots. If you walk really close to some enemy, there's a chance he'll notice you. So, don't think you're completely undetectable. We will be exploring these stealthy aspects more in the future.
*casts stealth* *Walks behind final enemy no problem* *Cutscene plays* *walks out* *enemy follows* *Hairs on my back rise and I get trapped in a dead-end trying to find my way out and killed in 3 shots LOL.* BTW, I did not have light cast at the time. And yes it's probably the neon signs that need to be next to traps... jk. How about "stealth boots" or "lighter shoes"? And what the heck is a Dragon's Eye?
My character's name is Deadmeat. I guess they laugh at him then... QUOTE=Mindfield;1079120]What's in a name, she says. Nominative determination, that's what. Would Bob Dylan have become Bob Dylan if he were named Shecky Vroomfondel? Would invoking Einstein to celebrate the inevitable outcomes of hold-my-beer-and-watch-this moments have the same impact if you had to say, "Smart move, Smith"? Oh, no. Names are more than just tags. I've known this all my life. They tell the future. They help shape who and what you will become. So pick a good name. A solid name. A kick-ass name that will make people tremble and moisten at its very utterance. Sincerely, Frank Zappa[/QUOTE]
IIRC, one lets you see even when you're blind. Two makes you immune to fear. Probably. But you just have to know how to turn the tables on them. "You're dead meat!" "Yes, can I help you?" "Uh ... what? No, I mean, you're dead meat!" "Yes, I know. What do you want?" "Dead! Dead meat! You're dead meat!" "I heard you, I'm not an idiot! What. Do. You. Want?" "Y-- Oh, forget it."
Oh, definitely, please don't retract the levels on which special items can be found. I love the absolute randomness of this and other aspects of the game. Very very fun times was when I found a se ret room that then led to another secret room. Not that the rewards were ever much different or greater when I hit a secret room "chain," but the excitement and anticipation were delicious. Would like it even more if the secret rooms sometimes had tunnels to other rooms, perhaps different in color or floor scheme than the usual side rooms. Best moments: Finding a really special shield. Since you're going to add other kinds of armor, helmets, etc., I am much looking forward to new protective gear which, like shields, I assume will be both ordinary and special. Since I'm heavy into the exploration aspect of the game, it makes me very happy to feel _relatively_ safe some of the time, even when that turns out to be an illusion. Wonder how much work it would be to create more varied dungeon maps, which would make exploring side rooms more suspenseful. And, of course, I will never stop craving more floor colors. Also, as always, I'd love more than 27 floors. I am a very deep person, as you must know by now. What I hate? Dying on the second or even the first level in legendary mode. If my hero can get down _several_ or more levels before dying a hideous death, I feel like I've had a game. If s/he dies too quickly and spends too much time at the start running from bad guys and sitting in corners just waiting to heal, I feel like I haven't played at all. Oh Lordy, going shieldless for log periods of time bites./ In legend games it seems that nearly every time, on the first floor, there is the same area guarded by 2 dwarves. Messes with randomness.
funny I don't think, but once maybe, that I had the dwarven guards guarding the switch in legend mode, on the first level. I will have to pay more attention now! Gee thanks! ha!
Exactly. But! I think there is room here to also include certain areas and situations that appear to have deliberate purpose rather than being completely random. The dwarf-guarded vault is an example of that, or the dragon's hoard, are small examples of that. But creating similar but more purposeful areas to hide items in with guards will give a greater feel that these places are supposed to be there and that the dungeon isn't all chaos. Besides adding extra stuff to explore, you'll also get that giddy feeling when you find a secret area you're pretty sure has something sweet in it. But something should also be done with those spiral traps and skull doors. I think he said he's got plans for them, but they definitely need to have some other purpose than being DEFINITELY NOT TRAPS.
I taunt them like that constantly. Usually just makes them angrier. And that's when they make a mistake and I dispatch them to the nether-regions...erm netherworld.
