Towers of Chaos (old discussion thread)

Custom dungeons for CSBWin. Includes all Confux 2 and 3 discussions.

Moderator: Zyx

Forum rules
Please read the Forum rules and policies before posting.
User avatar
Antman
DMwiki contributor
Posts: 517
Joined: Fri Nov 14, 2003 9:05 am
Location: Lost in TOC

Post by Antman »

I havent found food a problem at all in this dungeon but i am only using one champion so maybe thats why. I have no idea how close i am to the end but i'm trying to figure out some puzzle with teleporters and switches and i have no idea what i am really doing, but i'm sure it will solve itself eventually. And i think i started this dungeon without DM rules on, it would explain why my character was shockingly bad at the start, bump into a few walls and he was dead.

This dungeon is great so far, cant wait to see your new dungeon.
User avatar
beowuuf
Archmastiff
Posts: 20687
Joined: Sat Sep 16, 2000 2:00 pm
Location: Basingstoke, UK

Post by beowuuf »

there is an area, i think it was opened up by a dent in a wall, where you have lots of linked rooms with 'pillars'
there is a gap in a wall with an audible trigger infront to, i think, an elemental generator closeby. then there appears to be an invisible teleporter in this gap, and beyond it is every single creature type i can think of nicely clustered waiting for me.

ooh, just wandering around to find some clues for the area, but i just realised another door is open! so back to that!
User avatar
PaulH
Ghastly gastropod
Posts: 3763
Joined: Wed Aug 07, 2002 10:27 pm
Location: Level 6

Post by PaulH »

Some dungeons seem to suit certain styles of play. I get the feeling Antman and myself play in a similar vein :-)
However it was meant to be hard with four players. Even harder with one!
I know where you are at Ant, it is definately a matter of patience! Might slow you down a bit lol!
New dungeon? Main difference will be a theme(s) running through, rather than the sort of many 'linked' single puzzles of ToC. So some riddles will be based on the story. I am a long way off the end though, it is a big one man job though I will try and get some external playtesting in before I release it.
User avatar
PaulH
Ghastly gastropod
Posts: 3763
Joined: Wed Aug 07, 2002 10:27 pm
Location: Level 6

Post by PaulH »

Beo, I know where you are. Must have left the sound on to that! Another 'venture forth and don't retreat puzzle'. Not essential IMA, but nice reward
User avatar
beowuuf
Archmastiff
Posts: 20687
Joined: Sat Sep 16, 2000 2:00 pm
Location: Basingstoke, UK

Post by beowuuf »

perservering...have to retreat now and again....i can just about stay level with scorpions infront and elementals at my back, but then there was a tag team thing and this fireballing critter did too much damage...
i love the horn of fear...
User avatar
PaulH
Ghastly gastropod
Posts: 3763
Joined: Wed Aug 07, 2002 10:27 pm
Location: Level 6

Post by PaulH »

This is like a 'live' dungeon broadcast lol!
User avatar
beowuuf
Archmastiff
Posts: 20687
Joined: Sat Sep 16, 2000 2:00 pm
Location: Basingstoke, UK

Post by beowuuf »

lol, yup
"we have a man down, i repeat, a man down"

stamm just bit the bullet due to a mouse jump *grrr* after a five minute marathon of constant horn of fear/heal potion/attack against a combined scorpion/elemental attack

i was looking a journey back to find a VI altar or three man party i nthe face, but then i spent another five minutes tryign to take on one elemental and closed the game down in frustration...too tired
i think i saved after the death...so have that to look forward to next time
User avatar
PaulH
Ghastly gastropod
Posts: 3763
Joined: Wed Aug 07, 2002 10:27 pm
Location: Level 6

Post by PaulH »

Three man party? Seems a great idea at this stage... hehe...
User avatar
beowuuf
Archmastiff
Posts: 20687
Joined: Sat Sep 16, 2000 2:00 pm
Location: Basingstoke, UK

Post by beowuuf »

i went back to the market palce then realised that a) i hadn't taken the body, but more importantly b) i do not recall a single VI altar now...

anyway, i guess i should get sleep...come back to this fresh!
User avatar
Antman
DMwiki contributor
Posts: 517
Joined: Fri Nov 14, 2003 9:05 am
Location: Lost in TOC

Post by Antman »

I found an altar of VI somewhere in the dungeon....But anyway, I'm stuck at that puzzle now, i mapped the room with the teleporters and recorded where each accessable teleporter takes you....and out of the 5 switches, 1 i cant get to, 1 toggles a wall to nowhere and the other 3 dont seem to do anything. And there are two doors, one which i dont have the key for and one which which just doesnt open. So after trying combinations of the switches, nothing seems to work....so, any hints?
User avatar
PaulH
Ghastly gastropod
Posts: 3763
Joined: Wed Aug 07, 2002 10:27 pm
Location: Level 6

Post by PaulH »

This is a particularly evil puzzle. All 5 switches are accessible from one teleporter or another, and each switch toggles a wall in a chain of five to the south-east of the room. So if you toggle a wall in the chain that you can't see, you don't know what state it is in... so if you go back to the switch, press it again and observe no further change, then you have merely reset it. It is a task involving noting which switches you have pressed, and how the chain of walls progresses. If I made the switches like a lever, up or down, it would be far too easy. So its mark the alcoves with the switches, make one change at a time and look for the changes.
Of course, if you press each button only once straight off, the way opens first time!
User avatar
Antman
DMwiki contributor
Posts: 517
Joined: Fri Nov 14, 2003 9:05 am
Location: Lost in TOC

Post by Antman »

This is exactly what i thought was happening, the switch i cant get to will activate the second wall in the line of 5...but I can't get to it. And i've been into every teleporter i can get to twice and mapped it out so i know where each one goes.....so i thought maybe the switches change the teleporter destinations so flicked the switches and tested the teleporters again.
And now i checked CSBuild and none of the teleporters lead to that switch...i checked them all and switch to target lines but none aim there.....so i must be missing something in this puzzle, Beowulf obviously got passed it, so it must be doable.
User avatar
beowuuf
Archmastiff
Posts: 20687
Joined: Sat Sep 16, 2000 2:00 pm
Location: Basingstoke, UK

Post by beowuuf »

yeah, that puzzle is evil, i lucked it and also there was one part i never did...paul left a test item somewhere else so i didn't actually need to have finished that area. i meant to go back and complete it properly....

i seem to recall that there were only a few useful teleporters in there. i also seem to recall that i twigged where this teleporter room originated from and it helped me. been too many months since i started this dungeon!
User avatar
Paul Stevens
CSBwin Guru
Posts: 4318
Joined: Sun Apr 08, 2001 6:00 pm
Location: Madison, Wisconsin, USA

Post by Paul Stevens »

From the give-and-take here it sounds like this game is
worth tuning, debugging, and making easily available.
What platform are people using (PC, CSBwin, ....??)

If you modify the game would it be possible to:

1)For the CSBwin version.....add a version number and some
game text so that it is self-contained. You can put as much text
as you please. Even include the story if you like.

2)For both versions.....help me update the description at
http://www.dianneandpaul.net/CSBwin/Gam ... ption.html

3)Provide new .zip files.
User avatar
PaulH
Ghastly gastropod
Posts: 3763
Joined: Wed Aug 07, 2002 10:27 pm
Location: Level 6

Post by PaulH »

Right one thing at a time!

A) Definately plenty of Vi altars near the beginning.
B) You definately CAN get to that switch via a teleporter. I downloaded the CSBWin version from the link Zyx gives and yep, its there alright. From where you enter the level from below, go to the first three transporters. Step right, step forward, step right. There may have been a problem with the very 1st DMPC version I released, but it was updated and fixed.
C) Paul, I will do just that: I'll release a definitive version, cleaned, tuned and debugged. I want to discontinue the PC version as I used up all the data bases which was limiting. The CSBWin version will be the way forward.

Looking back, I did post a version history on Christophes board, but I can't find it now! Also the downloads do not seem to have the original text document.
User avatar
Paul Stevens
CSBwin Guru
Posts: 4318
Joined: Sun Apr 08, 2001 6:00 pm
Location: Madison, Wisconsin, USA

Post by Paul Stevens »

I did post a version history on Christophes board, but I can't find it now
That is the big advantage of including all this information in
the dungeon.dat file itself. I know how hard it is to keep two
things synchronized and together.
User avatar
beowuuf
Archmastiff
Posts: 20687
Joined: Sat Sep 16, 2000 2:00 pm
Location: Basingstoke, UK

Post by beowuuf »

Ok, by 'near the beginning' do you mean the market town, or do you mean in the first levels of the tower? I keep losing myself in early sections!
User avatar
PaulH
Ghastly gastropod
Posts: 3763
Joined: Wed Aug 07, 2002 10:27 pm
Location: Level 6

Post by PaulH »

Even before you get to the market town, down the very first set of stairs you drop down! And there is one where you get one of the gems.
User avatar
beowuuf
Archmastiff
Posts: 20687
Joined: Sat Sep 16, 2000 2:00 pm
Location: Basingstoke, UK

Post by beowuuf »

funny, i went back to the cross room, etc and didn't see one. i think i lack any form of observation skills

funnier still, after walkign aroudn for a while, i found one of the old teleporter and door puzzles, probably for the gem room you are talkign about. just for fun i solved it again and wandered around not actually looking for a VI altar, and almost walked right passed one! so there you go, stamm is cured, time for some payback!
User avatar
PaulH
Ghastly gastropod
Posts: 3763
Joined: Wed Aug 07, 2002 10:27 pm
Location: Level 6

Post by PaulH »

I would make sure you remember exactly where that Vi altar is, might come in handy! Good luck!
User avatar
PaulH
Ghastly gastropod
Posts: 3763
Joined: Wed Aug 07, 2002 10:27 pm
Location: Level 6

Post by PaulH »

A new version, V3.0 will be released in the next couple of days. It is basically the same as the one before (which is V2.3) but has been under the surgeons knife - orphans removed, clones fixed, food problems addressed, a couple of new bits and generally a few slight alterations to things.
The V2.3 is perfectly playable of course, but harder.
User avatar
Antman
DMwiki contributor
Posts: 517
Joined: Fri Nov 14, 2003 9:05 am
Location: Lost in TOC

Post by Antman »

Strange, those steps take me to a switch i could already get to....maybe i have an old version or something, want me to send the dungeon i used? or should i just CSBuild passed this puzzle?
User avatar
beowuuf
Archmastiff
Posts: 20687
Joined: Sat Sep 16, 2000 2:00 pm
Location: Basingstoke, UK

Post by beowuuf »

Incase you hadn't noticed, that puzzle is based on the original teleporter room from DM if that helps

I seem to recall one switch was hard to get to, every other on was reachable from another switch or from an entrance/exit and it was just a case knowing if you'd been there before or not. But one was only reachable if you managed to teleport to one of the centre squares of the room and picked the right choice of the four teleporters - have you been to this one?
User avatar
beowuuf
Archmastiff
Posts: 20687
Joined: Sat Sep 16, 2000 2:00 pm
Location: Basingstoke, UK

Post by beowuuf »

well, i have a new shiny object, and i solved the mystery of the keyhole - i'm now in the land of chasing the fireball..or beiong chased by the fireball

that is all, i'll shut up til i've beaten this dungeon or it's beaten me! : )
User avatar
iUSTINE
Craftsman
Posts: 137
Joined: Mon Apr 05, 2004 8:14 pm
Location: Poland

Post by iUSTINE »

Well, I've just solved 'Zero Displacement' riddle and at this point there is indeed no problem with food anymore. Very tricky puzzles, very tricky. This puzzle with teleporters and buttons made me mapping, something I haven't done even in Conflux II. Well, let's back to this dungeon, wrrrr ;]
User avatar
iUSTINE
Craftsman
Posts: 137
Joined: Mon Apr 05, 2004 8:14 pm
Location: Poland

Post by iUSTINE »

PaulH wrote:A new version, V3.0 will be released in the next couple of days. It is basically the same as the one before (which is V2.3) (...)
TOCH v2.3 ? Well, I'm playing v2.0. Time to change version.
All in the golden afternoon,
Full leisurely we glide...
User avatar
PaulH
Ghastly gastropod
Posts: 3763
Joined: Wed Aug 07, 2002 10:27 pm
Location: Level 6

Post by PaulH »

Sorry for the late replies, I have just crawled out of bed! Ah, sunny skies, windchill -10 lovely...

Anyway... Version history. When you load DM, or CSBWin and resume a game the version history apears in the top right of the grey/brown box (where it says 'I am ready master, what id your wish'). This is not my game version, it is what the original DM version was and seems to be hard coded. It is not changeable in the graphics.dat where the area appears blank. V2.3 was the only CSBWin ToC I have released, all other versions are in my hard drive! The version history I released seems to have got lost. Further releases (ie 3.0 and hopefully the last) will have a graphic somewhere displaying the version (maybe on the main entrance), a note in the readme, a text plate at the beginning of the dungeon and a descriptive using the option in CSBuild. Ant and iUSTINE, rest assured you have the right version!

Antman, yeah send me the save game by all means! Be nice to see what you have managed! But if you use the editor, it would have to be CSBuild 817, OR you would have to use the latest CSBWin exe if you used CSBuild 158. Paul was very right about synching

Beo, keep on trucking!
User avatar
beowuuf
Archmastiff
Posts: 20687
Joined: Sat Sep 16, 2000 2:00 pm
Location: Basingstoke, UK

Post by beowuuf »

hit a brick wall after severe deja vu at the skeleton key level!

i have a certain staff, and am being bloked by a few closed doors

there was a 'prove you are wise' message on the floor below chaos's, but god knows how to get that metal door open, if that is the thing it was lrefering to (threw a zokathra at it, guess i'm more desperate than wise')

meanwhile i'm stuck at a 'lyte/darc protection door - since i am not wearing any of the lyte/darc armour equivalents, i am worried - nice diversion or the way to go?

oh, and did you know that the grey lord in CSBwin can move? he can even fire zo spells and do small attacks - and he looks so peaceful normally too!
User avatar
PaulH
Ghastly gastropod
Posts: 3763
Joined: Wed Aug 07, 2002 10:27 pm
Location: Level 6

Post by PaulH »

Deja Vu! Surely not... as you were probably the only person to play Tomb, then this might be a small problem ;-)

The prove you are wise bit... there is a long wall with lots of dragon scratches on it. There is also a coded scroll that you might have come across earlier with a riddle and answer.

Lyte/Darc puzzle: you might have killed some demons on the 'fireball chase' higher that dropped some nice stuff.

Grey Lord... yes, he was very still in DM! He is paralyzed in V3.0 though shouldn't be too much of a problem, the silly old fool wondering around
User avatar
beowuuf
Archmastiff
Posts: 20687
Joined: Sat Sep 16, 2000 2:00 pm
Location: Basingstoke, UK

Post by beowuuf »

oh, those dragon scratches do do somehting? wasn't sure, since it was odd to have a whiole line of them, though it might be a scratching post!
i pressed them but didn't spot anything - i have many scrolls, i think i know the one you mean, so i'll go back to it...

hmm, demons dropping stuff on the fireball chase...just remember the elementals...may have missed somehting then
Post Reply