Playing CSB again

[Fermen]

Ok, but that one does not close either.. all the pits and fake pits remain open D: I've threwn my whole inventory on that pressure plate and nothing happen

[Antman]

Hmmm, so you must have entered the area through the 'prove you are a wizard' section, then gone across the 'bridge', and doubled back to the teleporter that appears behind you? Or did you head through the back door with the Vorpal Blade and Onyx Key? Have you killed a tough Coatl that carried an orange gem? I think it may be possible to get stuck at that area and make it impassable in CSBWin... I remember doing it once. Involves getting the orange gem across the other side of the pits and the pit not opening for some reason... can't totally remember though. Might need to check with CSBuild.

[Fermen]

Hmmm, so you must have entered the area through the 'prove you are a wizard' section, then gone across the 'bridge', and doubled back to the teleporter that appears behind you? Or did you head through the back door with the Vorpal Blade and Onyx Key? Have you killed a tough Coatl that carried an orange gem? I think it may be possible to get stuck at that area and make it impassable in CSBWin... I remember doing it once. Involves getting the orange gem across the other side of the pits and the pit not opening for some reason... can't totally remember though. Might need to check with CSBuild.

Yes, I killed a coutl and retrieved a orange gem just before I got stucked in here.

[Jan]

That's quite strange. Please, could you send me the savegame (I'll PM you my e-mail) - just out of curiosity?

Anyway, do you have any reasonable saves before the Snake Room (like in the Rive Room before or something)? Perhaps you could restart the game from there and see what happens.

[Jan]

@Fermen: I've sent you an e-mail. I'll just put it here as well in case my e-mail ended up in your spam basket (which is quite usual for the dot cz people).

* * *

I briefly looked at it. It's normally doable, so don't worry, it's not a dead end for you.

1. The savefile you sent me (csbgame.bak - it was the BAK one) is NOT from the niche with three buttons but from the small room with the flying snake who has the orange gem.

2. Solution:

Spoiler

I've killed the snake, grabed the gem, and followed the "normal" way through the two fake walls to the main Flying Snake Hall. On this way, I put an object on the pad (where that flying snake was - you can also THROW an object on this pad after you push the WEST button - as we discussed it; I tried it in my second attempt and it works too with your savefile). Then I pushed the WEST button, the pit disappeared and I could normally walk through the false wall to the "wrong right left" puzzle and normally continue from here.

3. As you can see, from the savefile you sent me I was able to go on and thus you can go on as well. So just rename your csbgame.bak to csbgame.dat and play as I described it.

4. If you have a savefile from the place where you think you're stuck (from the niche with three buttons - perhaps the csbgame.DAT), you can send it to me as well and I'll look at it.

[Fermen]

Thanks for helping me with solving coutl-room btw. I continued today without probem

[Fermen]

F-ck. I'm now in DDD Dain and before the keyhole with a cross on the lock. I'm almost sure I have not missed any key, but none of my keys fit the lock :O Which key is it?

[Ameena]

Err, the Cross Key? I've no idea where that drops though...I mean, I can't remember. I think Dain Part Two is the bit I

Spoiler

skip due to being able to sneak around the Corbum Pillar by stepping on fake pits from the Ros side of it

.

[Jan]

Just do what the Hint Oracle says:

Spoiler

The Cross Key is needed to operate this lock.

Spoiler

You must exchange valuables to obtain the Cross Key.

In other words, you must solve the

Spoiler

"Value in exchange for valuables"

puzzle to get the

Spoiler

Cross Key

. Beware: the

Spoiler

Cross Key

is grey so you might have overlooked it and it can be easily lying still on the square that you opened when solving that puzzle (it's the third square behind the inscription on the wall if you follow your right hand). If you've already solved the

Spoiler

"Value in exchange for valuables"

puzzle and don't have /can't find the

Spoiler

Cross Key

in your inventory, you've lost it. You can find "lost" items with CSBuild.

[Fermen]

Ooh, I see, I did not notice the puzzle.

[Fermen]

Finally, I beated it. Endgame was much easier in CSB than in original DM.

[Ameena]

Woo, gratz . Now try Conflux .

[Fermen]

sure, where do I get it?

[Jan]

Oh, wow, congratulations, that was quite fast!

sure, where do I get it?

Here: http://www.dungeon-master.com/forum/vie ... sc&start=0

Good luck!

[Seth]

I will use this topic to share my thoughts

I`ve played DM for many many times (started playing 1996/7). I have used full group for the first time, later attempts were with duo. Later I used single character only. I really like the single character management. (one set of armor, one weapon, food everywhere)

But I have never finished CSB...
Until yesterday night!

I have prepared my Sonja in DM game (CSBWin - Thank you Paul!), where I focused on the training (Um master fighter, Lo master ninja, On master priest, Lo master wizard) and I`ve started CSB.
I was not sure if it is possible to finish this game for the first time with the single character, so I asked Jan for his advice (we are living in the same country) ... Thank you Jan

I have to say I used maps and walkthrough from DM web, because I knew this game can be played for many many hours (which I did not have)


I have really strong feelings about the playing experience. I`m still thinking if the author/s were crazy or geniuses.
CSB is completely different kind of game then DM - much more "dungeon/puzzle" then "hack/slash + some easy puzzle"

- The design of the levels is really excelent in 3D space
- I LIKED the ROS part with the pits and and stairs
- Junction - choose your way.... the hidden teleports just behind the corner add some "lost" feeling
- DDD and second part of the ways going to corbums and the whole place with full of pits

The whole dungeon feeling was really great, but I will have to probably try to play it again, or try to explore it more ;o)

I would like to thank the authors for this AMAZING game.
And my last wish: I would like to see more games like this one to be created

[beowuuf]

Congratulation!

[Jan]

Congratulations!

I think that CSB has a good replayability value because you can always do things in a different order or try doing things another way. You can also try using a weaker character (because Sonya is quite strong and thus can also carry more things).

I would like to see more games like this one to be created

CSB is a jewel. But, wait, you can go and try Conflux!

[Trantor]

Congratulations on finishing CSB! If you want more, similar games, Jan already pointed you to something, but there is more:

- Try Sophia's Surgical Strike for a game that feels very similar to CSB.
- Try Adamski's Tower of Champions if you want the next step, with puzzles that are more complex and more plot involved.
- Try Zyx's Conflux III if CSB was too small and easy for you. Be warned: You will find new stuff after playing it for months.

[Ameena]

Conflux also has about eight different endings (probably got increased at some point but I can't remember), so there's a load of replayability right there .

[wu tse]

How anyone managed to beat CSB is beyond me. Congratulations to everyone that did it! I started CSB right after i completed DM and i was frustrated by the level design so i gave up. I had high expectations but i felt no fun playing the game, unlike DM. I remember i am stuck to a place near the starting area, in the stairs going up one floor, where some blue monsters attack me all the time and don't stop at anything! My team is badly injured and the monsters keep spawning! I also remember that whenever i was going i was falling inside pits, they are everywhere. Maybe i didn't have the patience to keep going on with the game and i should give it another try but i certainly didn't feel the fun that i want when playing a game. So i am thinking of starting DM2 which should give me smaller troubles.

[Ameena]

If you're at the bit I think you are, with that room full of Antmen, they don't respawn - there are a lot of them, but once you take them out, they don't seem to reappear. Just get a load of Fireballs ready, nip up the stairs and lob them all off, then dash back down again, hopefully before any of the Antmen have a chance to hit you . That room isn't too difficult to clear since none of the mobs can follow you .

[Jan]

This particular Antman room is much easier to finish from upstairs, not from downstairs - if you try clearing it from downstairs, you might end up in a pretty nasty trap.

But, yeah, patience really is the key to CSB.

Personally, I've never liked DM2 - it was just a huge 'meh' experience for me.

[wu tse]

Well, maybe i got frustrated because of the difficulty and didn't give proper justice to the game. I still got my saved games with my team from DM (thanks to the help of fellow members of this forum!). So for now, it's just on hold and waiting.

[beowuuf]

The monsters will respawn, but there is a finite limit set to the counter. The fighter way is about fighting, after all, so there is a flood to fight through in two of the ways to get to the key. They should be avoidable, but tricks. However, Antmen are also easy to defeat just by throwing their clubs back at them, grinding them down with poison bolts, and of course just thumping them

[Stitch]

I beat the antmen area when coming up from below by climbing the stairs, standing and fighting, and then just retreating back down the stairs to brew healing potions. After a couple rounds of this I had whittled down their numbers enough to actually leave the stairs and enter the landing a bit...which brought a bit of a surprise, but nothing I couldn't handle by that point.

[MasterWuuf]

The 'save game' feature is a benefit, to be sure, but it also gives rise to one interesting problem...

Vis: After saving the game in a convenient and safe spot, you continue on, saving as you go.
Then you need the magnifier to solve a puzzle, only to realize your 'save' games don't have the box that item is in.

Ah yes, good old CSB, you have taken care of that inconvenience haven't you? Too bad that something so extremely obvious, turns out to be unnecessary.
Who would have thought that such a variety of objects could be used in the place of a magnifier. Mystifying, in a most miserable way.

I've also made sure I did not save my games after the skeleton key was gobbled up by one of the keyholes.

And the ZoKathRa spell in place of that 'other' key was an oddity to figure out. After all that, only to find the hints give most (if not all) of that info.
Oh well, always nice to figure it out on your own.

P.S. Still...how on earth did I get through this wonderful game, back in the day, with no help or helpers?

[beowuuf]

Ooooh, the skeleton key was gobbled in CSB? There's only one keyhole that can happen in, and you can't get it back


And lol, clearly back in the day you were acting on some strange instinct! CSB is so twisted even Paul Stevens says he thinks it should be a joint effort!

[Paul Stevens]

One of the neatest things is that even after
you have played it and finished it several
times, you still have a lot to learn. One tends
to go about it the same way each time. Seeing
how someone else played the game can be
a real revelation. Then a third person arrives
and shows you that you can learn still more.

Then some joker shows up and plays the game
in less than ten minutes......

[Seriously Unserious]

and then tries to play the game again and can't remember how (s)he completed it in just 10 minutes last time around and gets stuck somewhere. Of course, that's most of the charm of CSB. it's challenging and because some items are placed randomly, that super-uber sword that you got right at the beginning and help you hack your way through even the toughest monsters could be deep in one of the ways next time, and you find yourself struggling though with just a club and a falchion next time around and right when you're wondering why you can't finish it in 10 minutes again, just like you did the first time around, some other goof comes along and finishes it in 9 and a half minutes......

[MasterWuuf]

10-minutes? Right. Until I decided to try the 'transfer of characters' from DM,
I was probably stuck in that 'false wall' cave,
hoping I could sleep and heal,
rather than die of poison or some worm that happened upon my 'secret' place.