A few questions

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Romain
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A few questions

Post by Romain »

Hello everyone

Sorry for my poor english

I know dungeon master for about 20 years when I watched my dad playing it as I was a little child ;

He never managed to finish Chaos Strikes Back and thanks to this site and especially the very usefull recorded games I succeded

I've finished it with a full team, with just 2 guys and now I'm starting with only one (Buzzz)

I begin to know pretty well the game but i still have some remaining questions and i have the audacity to ask them to you

there is no logical order ;

when you seek for the corbum where you have to teleport a skeleton behind a door, sometimes he is automatically destroyed and sometimes not ; my question is when does each case happen and how can one destroy it if he's not automatically killed?

in the room where there is a dragon keeping the key used in the DDD, I know there is a secret room where you can find the boots to run fast (i saw it in a recorded file) I know where is the button on the wall but then i can't find the door

i can't find the door where they keys of B are usefull (I saw it once when i was playing for the first time but at this time i had no key of B) ; so what corbum do i have to peek last to find this door (which apparently shorten the path)

I can't understand what kind of weapon is appropriated for my champions ; when i give them an axe they hit let's say 50 but with a sword only 8 ; i don't know why

what kind of advices can you give me when you play with only one champion ? I think I will train him in the area where you can generate worms (in ros i guess) ;

and when you try to speedfinish the game what is your strategie abaout the use of magical boxes or ven/ful potion ? i guess you save them for very special monsters, do you have those clearly in mind when you start the game ?

and about the master key used to open the last door leading to the final pit I always find one before (when you kill a little magician by trapping him in corridor i guess) so i don't understand why in the games i watched players always peek their master key by killing a demon on level zero (which is a tough one)

also with the games finished in 10min or so, the champion is running through the dungeon at a so high speed i think it is impossible for a human being to drive him this fast ; so was the game played maybe with speed very slow ?

and in the game CSB910, when he killsthe last demon owning the master key it seems that the other demons are all frozen,nobody moves while he's hitting the demon in front of him ; why that ?

I've many more questions but i'm running out of time

i'll come back later

thank you for any contribution
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Jan
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Re: A few questions

Post by Jan »

Hello, Romain, and welcome to the forums! :D

Congratulations on finishing this great game and good luck with the solo run! :P

Well, that's a lot of questions. :) I'll deal with some of them and others will continue - or add something or say that i'm wrong and dumb. :wink:
Romain wrote:when you seek for the corbum where you have to teleport a skeleton behind a door, sometimes he is automatically destroyed and sometimes not ; my question is when does each case happen and how can one destroy it if he's not automatically killed?
The area is accessible from two ways. On ROS the skeleton will be teleported alive - throw the stones lying around (or basically anything you have like darts, I think) through the portcullis to kill him. On NETA he will be killed automatically by lightning bolts.
Romain wrote:i can't find the door where they keys of B are usefull (I saw it once when i was playing for the first time but at this time i had no key of B) ; so what corbum do i have to peek last to find this door (which apparently shorten the path)
It's on the Fulya pit level. It opens a secret way to the Fulya pit - to bypass the demons. The keyhole / start of this way is in the southeastern corner of the Fulya pit level, and it's really hard to find. Go south and east as much as possible till you see a bread and a corn lying in a dead-end. Now, listen carefully: Go to this dead end (south), turn back at the end (north) and return a few steps back to the T crossing from which you saw the bread'n'corn. Now turn back again to face the dead-end (south). There should open a new secret way leading to the Key of B keyhole. Remember you need all four Keys of B to open the secret way to the Fulya pit.
Romain wrote:I can't understand what kind of weapon is appropriated for my champions ; when i give them an axe they hit let's say 50 but with a sword only 8 ; i don't know why
I usually use Storm at the beginning, later it differs because of the random placement of things in the alcoves - I prefer RA Blade. Executioner is cool (I think it's the ultimate weapon in the game), of course, but quite heavy.
Romain wrote:and about the master key used to open the last door leading to the final pit I always find one before (when you kill a little magician by trapping him in corridor i guess) so i don't understand why in the games i watched players always peek their master key by killing a demon on level zero (which is a tough one)
Yeah, there are two master keys in the game and you need only one (I think). I also usually take that one from the Vexing Vexirk puzzle because the Demons on the Fulya pit level, as you say, are pretty tough, but, yeah, if you forget / fail to take the Master Key from the Vexirk, you can get it from the Demon.
Romain wrote:in the room where there is a dragon keeping the key used in the DDD, I know there is a secret room where you can find the boots to run fast (i saw it in a recorded file) I know where is the button on the wall but then i can't find the door
Honestly, I don't know this one. Where is it exactly? There are four pairs of Boots of speed in the game and one of them, I think, is placed randomly. Perhaps you mean this one?

More questions? :)
Finally playing and immensely enjoying the awesome Thimbleweed Park-a-reno!
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Paul Stevens
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Re: A few questions

Post by Paul Stevens »

when you seek for the corbum where you have to teleport a skeleton behind a door, sometimes he is automatically destroyed and sometimes not ; my question is when does each case happen
A complex puzzle that nobody would ever figure
out without an editor.

The short answer is that the skeleton will be destroyed
if you have visited Point A more recently than Point B.
The mechanics of how it works is a more complex
matter involving pressure pads, teleporters,
shooters, and fake walls.

Point A is the stairway up to the DDD level from the
room with the FLAMEBAIN, the room above the
Slime Devils, the room with the Poison Bolts flying
around and three rows of pits.

Point B is the center of the open area in the room
with the 'fake wall' maze, with dragons scattered
about within the fake walls and with several other
dragons safely placed behind some pits. Lots of
food with little cost.
Romain
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Re: A few questions

Post by Romain »

Thank you a lot for those answers

I've finished it with Buzzz alone and I'm very happy

now i will try to do it the quickest possible

I've found the door I was talking about in the room where ther is a dragon : you press the button on the wall go two step right and there is a false wall youcan go through and there is the door; the problem now is the key : you need an onyx key : I had one at this moment but can't remember how i get it

another surprising thing : on FullYaPit level, when looking for the door where you use the master key, I've pressed some buttons went through a teleporting net and arrived just in front of the door leading to the pit : I don't understand what happened but it is very handy ; if someone has an explanation...

I have a quick question about how to record my game ; when i'm in front of the dungeon doord i select "RECORD" and start playing but it seems it doesn't work ; if i save , quit and chose playback there is no File i can load ; what do i wrong ?

thanks again
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Jan
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Re: A few questions

Post by Jan »

Congratulations on finishing the game! :D
Romain wrote:I've found the door I was talking about in the room where ther is a dragon : you press the button on the wall go two step right and there is a false wall youcan go through and there is the door; the problem now is the key : you need an onyx key : I had one at this moment but can't remember how i get it
Most likely in the room with many Vexirks (wizards) directly one level above.
Romain wrote:another surprising thing : on FullYaPit level, when looking for the door where you use the master key, I've pressed some buttons went through a teleporting net and arrived just in front of the door leading to the pit : I don't understand what happened but it is very handy ; if someone has an explanation...
You were very lucky. :wink:

Paul Stevens explained it elsewhere (http://www.dungeon-master.com/forum/vie ... 28&t=29095):
Paul Stevens wrote:There are two teleporters that get you
into the FulYa area. The first teleports you
into the demon area and the second teleports
you from there to the FulYa. If both are on then
you have a free, quick passage.

Each time you enter level zero a worm is released
and has about a 50 percent chance of toggling
each of the teleporters. So - VERY APPROXIMATELY -
there is about one chance in four that both teleporters
are active. Two chances in four that one is active.
One chance in four that neither is active. This
approximation approaches exactness as you enter
level zero more times on various stairs.
Paul Stevens will also explain you how does the Record work.
Finally playing and immensely enjoying the awesome Thimbleweed Park-a-reno!
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Paul Stevens
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Re: A few questions

Post by Paul Stevens »

You have mad a recording. They are numbered
sequentially starting at 000. Copy the last one
to make sure you don't lose it. Rename the copy
"Playback.log".

At the dungeon entrance, press Control-P (or
equivalent Misc-menu option).
Romain
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Re: A few questions

Post by Romain »

Okit alomst works

But i have very often an error occuring telling me there is a problem with the time

i do not really understand what happens

and howcan i try todo a commented recording ?
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Paul Stevens
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Re: A few questions

Post by Paul Stevens »

The recording merely duplicates your keyboard
and mouse actions.

Here is the CRITICAL point.
The game must be replayed from exactly the same starting
position :!:

For example, if you start from SAVEGAMEA, play for
a while and then save at SAVEGAMEA, then of course
the playback cannot work because the original save
game is gone.

If you record with one version of CSBwin, then you cannot
playback with a different version because things won't
happen exactly the same.

If you record with one version of DM you cannot playback
with a different version.

In short....If you change anything in the game directory
the playback will probably get errors. Things must happen
in exactly the same way during the playback as they did
during the recording.

Also, if during the recording, you die, you should exit
CSBwin and restart it and enable recording. You will
get an additional recording file. If you do this, let
us know and we will tell you how to splice those
recordings together to make a single playback file.

This playback feature is very well tested and I doubt that
you have found a bug. But.....who knows?
Romain
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Joined: Sun Jan 22, 2012 1:33 pm

Re: A few questions

Post by Romain »

Alright everything is working fine ; I think the problem was i saved on the same file i started with

Now sometimes i die and so i have multiple record files as pointed out on the last reply so can you teach me how to make them one (and erase the moment i die because it's lame :) )

and maybe at the same time teach me to add some comments beacause i would like to do one for my dad so that he can finally finish this wonderful game !

thank sa lot
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Paul Stevens
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Re: A few questions

Post by Paul Stevens »

i saved on the same file i started with
That is certainly sufficient to guarantee failure.

To Splice: Get this:

http://www.dianneandpaul.net/CSBwin/SpliceCSB24.exe

The recordings are numbered. Put SpliceCSB.exe into
the same file as the recordings.

Delete any playback.log file that already exists. SpliceCSB
refuses to delete or overwrite an existing file. If a
mistake is to be made, you must make it.

Drag the last recording that you want included in the
final result onto SpliceCSB. Observe the progress
and see if it seems reasonable.

You should now have a new Playfile.log.

If you die at the end, you can edit the playfile
and delete a few lines at the very end until it
ends the way you prefer.

If you save all the necessary files, you can extend
your recordings at a later date.

Once you have this working to your satisfaction,
come back with your annotation question. I have
no idea how that works. Yes, I invented it. Yes,
I used it. No, I have no idea how it works.
wonderful game
Quite.
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Paul Stevens
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Re: A few questions

Post by Paul Stevens »

Well, I had forgotten all about the annotation feature.

http://www.dianneandpaul.net/CSBwin/Gam ... tedCSB.zip

This is a very nice introduction to the CSB dungeon
for someone who needs a bit of help getting started.
I just watched it all the way from the Yellow Worms
to the Ful Ya Pit.

It appears that all one needs to do to annotate a game
is:

1) Create a playback file.
2) Play it back.
3) Press 'ESC' at points where annotation is needed.
4) Note the 'time' and use a text editor to make an
entry in 'Annotation.txt'. See the 'AnnotatedCSB'
example for the format of the entry.
5) Press 'ESC' to resume and repeat from step 3).
Romain
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Re: A few questions

Post by Romain »

Thank you very much, everything is working fine

I will do my annotated recording (in french) soon and if you want i can send it to you when it's done

maybe you will find it useful in some way
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Jan
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Re: A few questions

Post by Jan »

An English translation would be very useful (don't worry about grammar too much, I've got a pidgin English too as you can see)!
Finally playing and immensely enjoying the awesome Thimbleweed Park-a-reno!
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