[Custom dungeon] The Rookery [RTC] [DMDM a.k.a Mindstone]

Custom dungeons for RTC
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[Custom dungeon] The Rookery [RTC] [DMDM a.k.a Mindstone]

Post by Mindstone »

Version: 1 for RTC V0.33
Platform: RTC
Author: DMDM a.k.a Mindstone
Email address: manny_fandango2000@yahoo.com
Date published: 2005, June 19
Date last updated: 2005, June 20

I dont know why it's called the rookery, it all started from that name, but the actual rookery level has nothing to......oh never mind.

Give it a go and please give me feedback, be as ruthless as you please, I need advice for when i make another dungeon.

It's not a very long dungeon BTW. And of course uses George Gilbert's brilliant RTC dungeon maker.

Enjoy!

Aim:
You start off as Yagharr and your objective is to get to the Rookery and find out whats going on there (a storyline I barely stuck to admittedly).

Notes:
Give it a go won't you, and tell me what I need to improve, what you liked, etc.
Your praise and criticism is more then welcome.

History:
  • 2005-06-20
    • This version has an ending
  • 2005-06-19
    • Initial release
Download:
Download this dungeon from this Shared OneDrive (in the 'Custom Dungeons' folder)
Last edited by Mindstone on Mon Jun 20, 2005 5:50 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Post by Ameena »

Hey, pretty good so far...erm...I got as far as the Barracks but then erm...a certain black furry thing kinda killed me in one hit, lol. I really should have done a save at some point.
<starts again>
I'll let you know when I finish it :).
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Post by Guest »

Oh right that must of been a hell hound, i didn't know they were so damn powerful? Sometimes they follow you through the teleporter and attack from behind when your sleeping. Tis a scary occurance.

Thanks for playing btw :-)
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Post by Ameena »

Lol yeah it was a Hellhound of course...I've done that bit now (was a room of Blue Trolls with one Hellhound in it, after the bit where you leg it past eight Hellhounds behind closed doors which open). Now, however, I seem to be stuck. I might have to backtrack and get something I've missed or something, but atm I've just cleaned out the Skeleton Lair. After that there is a closed Ra door with a Master Key lock beside it, but I have no keys atm. I pulled a lever in the Skeleton Lair but I dunno what that did. Unfortunately I can't check out the character there (with Lor's portrait) to see if he has anything cool 'cause my party is full now.
It's been a good dungeon so far. One thing I wanted to point out though...on several occasions there is text at the bottom of the screen, like your friend talking to you and giving you hints, but if you step over the square again it comes up again. I dunno if you were going for realism but I dunno if the person talking to you would repeat themselves many times like that ;). You can just have a trigger on the same square as the text which deactivates it when the party steps on it. That way, the text will only ever come up once. Just a suggestion, anyway.
It's really hot here atm, I dunno if I can be arsed to load up again and backtrack to see what I've missed. I will do, maybe tonight when it's cooler but I think my brain is gonna be fried in a minute, uuggghhh...
Ohh one more thing, there was rather a long time when there was absolutely no food to be found (I did have about four bits I was carrying in a chest but their food bars did start getting a bit low), though I just found (in the Skelly Lair I think) a chest with some apples and bread in it. If someone was playing the game much slower than me, they might find themselves getting rather hungry by that time. However, if that's your intention, then it works - the food from Screamers etc does last long enough before you find more.
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Post by Mindstone »

Ah, the lever in the skeleton lair, opens the door that leads to the skeleton key. I dunno it's a bit obscure maybe. The food situation was deliberate (i think???) you can kill hellhounds for food. And i dont know how to stop the text coming up loads of times, which is a shame really.

Oh i feel a bit guilty Ameena, the version i put up is one without a proper ending, i got a bit mixed up with the RTC editor.

You can download the proper version at the top post or from here.

http://dmweb.free.fr/Forum/download.php?7,102/nom.RTC
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Post by Ameena »

Lol. Np I'll play that version then :). So do I have to backtrack from the Skelly lair to an earlier point? I couldn't remember if I'd left any locked doors...probably did.
And as to stopping the text keep coming up, I explained how you can do it in the previous post...make a trigger on the same square as the text and set it to Deactivate the text. When you step on the square you will see the text but it will then be deactivated by the trigger. In other words, it will not appear any more after you've stepped on it, so you'll only ever see that text once.
Btw I am in the chat room if you want to join me.
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Post by linflas »

just started it, i'm always happy when starting a new custom dungeon ! :)
i noticed a small mistake in your dungeon, don't be afraid it's only a graphic problem : on a door-cell you must add the doorframe first and then the door, not the contrary.. or they will be displayed in a strange way.
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Post by Ameena »

I did think one of the wooden doors looked a bit weird, but I didn't thnk anything of it. Didn't notice on any of the other doors, lol.
I have no idea why, but most objects (jkeyholes, wall text, even monsters I think) seem to have black vertical lines over them when seen from a distance. I have no idea why this happens, and it happens in my dungeons too so it must be an RTC thing. But I dunno what it is.
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Post by Mindstone »

haha man I feel naive, i put the door the wrong way round, doh!

Thanks for the advice kind Dungeon masters, I'll get to work on putting all the triggers and whatnots down to get rid of the text-a-ma-gig thing.

What do you think of the characters, btw?
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Post by Ameena »

Well the ones I've seen so far are alright to be getting on with. I keep running out of stamina but that's probably 'cause of running around so fast and there's a lot of long straight corridors. I like Myrslay 'cause of his mana, and Yaghaar and Lord Dark-thingy are good. I took Mon'Rah 'cause he had Sidesplitter but this time around I might skip him just so I can see what the Lor guy is like.
And there was another character in a mirror behind some blue hazes in a room who calls for help but I didn't manage to get to him/her. I think I'll start playing it again in a sec now I've downloaded the proper version you gave.
Oh, and one other thing I like is the random sound effects every now and then...adds to atmosphere to suddenly hear a dragon footstep out of nowhere and for a split second think "Eek, is there a Dragon round the corner...".
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Post by Guest »

When you put a coin in the greedy demon face it should deactivate the teleporter, when i tried it deactivated the teleporter but not the graphic for the teleporter, blast it I thought I fixed that.

Im glad your curious to see what the LOR guy is like, I thought id put him in for some replay value.

Well it's still buggy, but i'll sort it out. I just played Conflux 2 so I feel kind of impotent when it comes to dungeon design. Oh well, at least im gaining experience. HHmmm, Maybe Yagharr needs more stamina.
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Post by Mindstone »

Ah shoot i keep on forgetting to log in.
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Post by Ameena »

Wheeee finished it :D. I actually bothered this time to go back and check the teleporter thing behind the trapped hero...since his name was "Inquisitor" I figured maybe he can cause the door to the Hall of Inquisition (something like that...you know what I mean) to open but I didn't know how many other heroes there might be available so I didn't take him, or Mon'Rah this time...and I didn't take Corzaar the Unstoppable this time either in case there were MORE heroes to see. Well, of course it turns out there weren't. Good dungeon :).
Short, of course, but still good. No major glaring errors, just a few minor little things which have already been pointed out above.
It was a linear dungeon and, truth be told, there wasn't much in it (loads of long empty corridors and running around), but it was still fun and since there were so many button-operated doors I didn't have much trouble in combat since I could just use the doors (to hide behind or as a weapon). Nice to see no caster mobs, woohoo :D. And there were hints and stuff as to what you were supposed to do next, as well as hints letting you know if you were about to die or something ;).
JFYI I finished it with Yagharr (of course), Lord, and Myrslay. Probably took me errrmm...how long...I dunno, maybe 45 mins?
But yeah, good stuff. The dungeon I'm working on atm, if it doesn't fook up (again) is gonna take me AGES since I still dunno what I'm doing for half of it, just the overall basic structure and a few of the puzzles.
Was that your first dungeon? Good work anyway...next time you make one you'll already know the basics and you'll be able to add in more stuff and make it more complex and...stuff...
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Post by Mindstone »

Your words of wisdom have been absorbed Ameena, thanks.

Your points about it being linear is definately the main thing I have to overcome. Never mind, Im just elated that someone enjoyed my dungeon. I look forward to playing your dungeon and findings it's many secrets.
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Post by Ameena »

Aarrgh I just saw this program on telly about the horror of grammatical, spelling, and punctuation errors in the English language, and then I saw one in your post lol.
Anyway, yes, DM...well, my dungeon won't be ready for AGES. I still don't know what I'm doing for half of it, lol.
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Post by Guest »

What do ? you mean by grammatical, errors, i, dont, understand""

I'd better sheath my rapier like wit.
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Post by Ameena »

Lol no don't worry, I'm just being pedantic as usual...You wrote "...and findings it's many secrets". Well apart from that "findings" doesn't need an "S" on the end, "it's" doesn't need the apostrophe. Don't worry, little crappy errors like that annoy me and I have to stop myself pointing them out (especially in chat) and annoy everyone else lol.
Oh, one more thing I thought of about dungeons while I was waiting for the bus to go home from college earlier...about them being linear. Of course, this doesn't relate to everyone since everyone's play style is different, but personally, I do like some linearity (is that a word... :P). I don't like feeling as though I'm being forced down a path (ie, single corridor leading to more rooms and corridors in a line, meaning you HAVE to go that way because there's nowhere else). However, I do like it ordered to the extent that I can clear out an area and know it's done and that I won't have mobs coming up behind me or whatever. A dungeon arranged in, like, sections is good...say, like level 3 of DM ("Choose your door, choose your fate") but obviously bigger if it's a whole dungeon.
Ugh it's turning into a waffle again.
*shuts up*
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Post by Ameena »

I agree with all the people's comments to that article...if we drop stuff like possessive apostrophes, no-one is gonna know how to use them 'cause they'll all be using illegible text-speak. Omg I can't stand it...N00bspeak. *shudder* All this "how r ru, im good, c u l8r"...jeez, if I see something written like that I just skim over it rather than attempt to translate it. I'm so glad I don't have a mobile phone :P.
How are you meant to know if it's singular or plural possessive if they stop using the apostrophe? I don't care what other people do...I'm still gonna use punctuation. And if they can't be arsed with it, they're just lazy goits. Gawd, wazzoks.
Okay hmm erm, better stop on this topic now since we're hijacking DMDM's thread. Sorry about that!
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Post by Mindstone »

NNNNOOOO, too much.....correct english. I must now INVOKE my thoughts, correct english frankly i couldn't give a FLUX, in fact im going BERZERK here. I disgust myself with these constant puns, now if I had a rope I could TIE UP this THREAD because I'm KNOT.....something... UGH!!

Anyway, Im actually working on a new dungeon already, im a quick worker, so ive done a couple of levels already. The main character looks coincedentally like Hissssa, and is quite vulnerable, so there's a bit of atmosphere for ya. I might put up a preview later.
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Post by PaulH »

Ameena, you do realise that every single mistake you make will be pointed out now?!!!

Ahh, back to the topic, I will play this dungeon soon.
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Post by Mindstone »

I look forward to your feedback. It's not half as complex as any of your dungeons but it's a good bit of fun at around 45 mins gameplay.

Im actually working on a new dungeon, with an etheral bridge, the black knight and lots of humour! Will post preview soon.
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Post by PaulH »

I would say my dungeons are somewhat simple compared to Conflux!
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Post by Trantor »

I just played it, took me about an hour to get through. The dungeon is indeed short and feels a bit empty in several places - lots of long corridors and huge hallways without having to do anything.

Just as Ameena said, it would probably be better if most of the text messages will be displayed only one time. Furthermore, the game does not display the text message at the very start of the dungeon - I walked back on the first tile coincidentally, and only then did I read the message! I don't know if messages on the tile you start on are generally not displayed - if yes, then it would be better to place that message one tile away from the starting point.

Just like Linflas said, the doors do look strange, as if the door itself is located behind the doorframe.

Also, there is a lever that opened a wall in level 3. After pressing that lever, it seems that the lever is stuck in the ground! A graphical glitch of RTC? In the same room are also two pits that seem to be fake, is this incidental? I accidentally stepped on one pit and was a bit surprised that I didn't fall down.

There also was a lock whose purpose escaped me. It is a brown lock on the level with the guardians and the Skeleton Lair. What does it do, and where is the key for it?

Questions about the monsters: The hellhounds, for example, seem very tough. They sometimes killed my characters with 90 or 100 hitpoints in one attack, which was quite surprising. Was this intentional?

About the characters: I liked them quite a lot, cool names and titles! What I did not like as much was how scattered they were throughout the dungeon. The later a character comes, the less he can progress. I was also quite sure there were only 4 characters in the whole dungeon, since I got Lord and Myrslay rather late, so I was quite surprised when I found two more of them. Of my four characters, Myrslay proved to be the most useful one, as he was the only decent spellcaster and priest I had. Lord was quite useless, as I kept the first two characters in the front row to gain some levels for them. Speaking of levels, I rarely got any. Is it possíble to have the characters gain more experience in RTC? I ask because I don't think it is very satisfying that you only get to journeyman in any class.

The bit with the Skeleton Key was a bit obscure. I was stuck for a moment just like Ameena was before I remembered the closed door some way back. I think what makes it so obscure is the fact that the dungeon is extremely linear throughout, and this is actually the one and only time where you really need to do some backtracking/exploration. But what could be worse are the teleporters in the room with the Skeleton Key. If you (accidentally or not) step into one of them before taking the Skeleton Key, you actually have to run through the whole dungeon yet again which would be extremely frustrating. Maybe let the teleporters pop up as soon as you take the Key.

What I really liked about this dungeon was the storytelling approach with lots of atmospheric text. The creative use of sound effects was also very clever and definitely added to the mood. The ending is also open enough to make a sequel; will we see one? I would definitely like to see it! For future dungeons, I'd like more monsters and traps and less running through empty spaces. The atmosphere is definitely great, and if you can keep this strength in future dungeons, it would be really great! A fine beginning as a first dungeon indeed, congratulations!
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Post by Ameena »

Available characters I found were Something-or-other the Inquisitor (can't remember his name), Lord, Myrslay, Mon'Rah, and Corlav (or something) the Unstoppable.
One thing I didn't mention about that - I prefer more character choice rather than being forced into using the few given (or if you start off with one already), but that kind of fits in with the comments on it being linear.
I thought the useless plain keyhole on the wall might be just to put you off or something - like, you think it's for something when actually it's not. In an ancient old castle (for example) where you're trying to reach the top of the tallest tower, you're gonna pass by rooms that don't need visiting on the way...
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Post by Mindstone »

Thank you for the feedback Trantor. I agree there were definately too many long empty corridors and the skeleton key bit was a bit vague.

However when you go through the teleporter in the area where you get the skeleton key, you get teleported to a room with dragon armour/weapons and a master key. I put a teleporter on the left which teleports you back. I'll have to check that out there may have been a RTC glitch.

Ameena the problem with putting in choice of characters is that I like making my characters banter with each other and get spoken to to improve atmosphere. I cant do this if theres a massive choice of characters because I won't be able to guess which characters someone has chosen and so it will be impossible to make them talk.

I'll work on a sequel soon, at the mo im making a dungeon with more traps and switches in it, also Im going to use more levels and make it much longer.

I also made a joke dungeon, where you go around killing dragons and choas' with 1 hp!!! It was 1 AM and i was bored, okay! Anyway ill upload it soon, its good stress relief.
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Post by Ameena »

Conflux has characters who talk. The structure of that is that there are four characters, each outside a closed door. Each character has an item to let you into the door they are beside, in which there are more characters. The four first characters are the "guide" characters or something, and these are the ones that talk at certain points (different depending on which character). You could have something similar if you want such interaction - give a small number of characters who are compulsory - like, holding the key to open the way to the main dungeon or something. Then you could have those ones be the talkative ones.
I didn't notice aynone other than Yagharr talking in the Rookery anyway...
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Post by Trantor »

DMDM wrote: However when you go through the teleporter in the area where you get the skeleton key, you get teleported to a room with dragon armour/weapons and a master key. I put a teleporter on the left which teleports you back. I'll have to check that out there may have been a RTC glitch.
As far as I recall, this very room is the one you have to open with the Skeleton Key. So if you don't have the Key yet, you won't be able to enter the room, and you won't be able to take the teleporter back. This was why I actually criticized it, but my memory may be wrong. Like I said, good work all in all!
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Post by Mindstone »

Oh yeah, if you teleport before getting the key you have a long journey. Okay, next time, ill do it so that picking up the key activates the teleporters around you, infact that might even be pretty cool.

Again thanks for the advice you two, I see your point about the conflux guide thing ameena, it is a good idea, and may be stolen at a later date.....
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Post by beowuuf »

Quickly played through it and completed it. I liked the small three by three room teleporter near the start. I like the fact you gave touch monsters low hit points (for example the hell hounds), it makes it a balanced challenge (also the swarm attacks in some rooms are satisfying if you can kill them quick enough - for exampel the skeletons are perfectly balanced with hit points I think - not one shot kills, but not hard.

I think the charatcers are intelligently placed - I found Lord a useful addition, for example, as he was mroe advanced that the starting guy.

Linearity is always good.

I didn't like the hugely long corridors or large room areas. Also, two of the three guardians with the torquiose keys just seemed to have alot of hit points with no other difficulty - a few crreatures in these rooms with a boss (still less hitpoints) might have been a tougher more interesting fight.

Also, the vey ending, while fun, was no challenge (the trolins dying almost instantly) - either a flood (I've wanted to do soemthign liek that myself) fight through, or just give them a few more hp perhaps?

Anyway, nice dungeon

Edit: Oh yeah, like the use of monster noises for activations, having gigler noise, party scream, etc doign something really doesn't get you to jump
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