[Custom dungeon] Reactor [RTC] [Sophia]

[Sophia]

Version: 4 RTC V0.23
Platform: RTC
Author: Sophia
Email address: amber@ojnk.net
Date published: 2002, October 17
Date last updated: 2003, January 24

Story:
Our mana is running out.

Many thought mana to be an limitless resource, something that, once spent, returns to the stream of the universe to be captured and used again. This is, unfortunately, only half of the truth. There are two brands of mana, energized and spent. Much like our own red blood, which turns blue when it is spent and must be re-infused with the forces of life, mana too must be revitalized before it can be used again.

The ancients knew this. They built a great structure called simply "The Reactor," a vast magical machine that used corbum ore's mana-attracting properties to capture mana in a vast pit known as the Mana Well, focused it through magical gems of vast power to re-energize it, and sent it skyward in a brilliant beam. This marvelous machine functioned uninterrupted for centuries. However, during the time of Chaos, dark forces roamed the lands, and overcame the defense mechanisms designed into the Reactor. They shut it down, stole its parts and scattered them throughout its labrynthine interior, and turned the compex into their own personal stronghold.

So, the call now goes out for brave champions to enter the Reactor and overcome the vile creatures that now inhabit the maze of its corridors, as well its own defense systems. The price of failure is the death of magic... forever.

Notes:
The dungeon has a sort of DM2 flair to it, I think, but the machinations are based more around magic. The story (or attempt at one anyway) is in the readme.

Known bugs:
There are a few minor graphics bugs, but they're RTC's fault, not mine.

History:

• 2003-01-24
  • Wooden doors should now be able to be taken down, and massive fireballs will take out stronger doors.
    This new version of Reactor has a workaround for a bug in the bio lab (which is a bug in RTC v0.23, I think). You might not want to shovel food too quickly into the altar, or strange things may happen.
• 2003-01-20
  • This version run on RTC v0.23.
• 2002-10-23
  • A bug fixed (or, more properly, the bug in RTC successfully worked around) regarding the door to the master switch, which is triggered by a counter. It is supposed to be triggered when the corbum and the two gems are in place.
• 2002-10-17
  • Initial Release, runs on RTC v0.21.

Hints and comments:
http://www.dungeon-master.com/forum/vie ... hp?t=28113
http://www.dungeon-master.com/forum/vie ... hp?t=22267

Download:
Download this dungeon from this Shared OneDrive (in the 'Custom Dungeons' folder)

[PaulH]

Reviewer: Paul Hayes (a.k.a PaulH)
Gameplay: 8. Some good parts that kept interest high.
Originality: 8. New puzzles, good integration, shows the added power of RTC.
Difficulty: 6. Nothing too hard, good for a seasoned player.
Puzzles: 7. Nice new stuff which worked well.
Size: 7. Fairly large, some bits overly so.
Replayability: 8. I got a feeling I missed a lot so I will have another go.
Craft: 9. If this was done on normal DM PC it would be impossible so I applaud Sophia for learning the new format. Well done.
Game Ending: 5. Good build up but an anticlimax.
Atmosphere: 8. I liked the feel of this dungeon, it gelled together well.
Overall: 7. A flawed diamond. But possibly the best yet, a fantastic DM mind. Look forward to more.
Best part: I liked having to drop down the pit ti get the RA key from the beholder, this was a good test of speed and skill and worked well.
Worst part: Wondering round at the end missing the iron key. I believe these keys should have being different as you had the tendancy to use them earlier on. Also, I thought the implentation of monsters wasn't too good, and detracted from the story and made some bits tedious. The knights were particularly easy and were a surprise.
Review: Story: 6. Can't complain!

[Fueaint]

Reviewer: Christopher (a.k.a Fueaint)
Gameplay: 9. Lots of stuff to do, lots of monsters to kill.
Originality: 9
Difficulty: 7. Not a dungeon based on being as difficult as possible which is good.
Puzzles: 7. Some very good puzzles (reflector room).
Size: 8. Great size, not big or small, levels and certain areas come together nicely.
Replayability: 9
Craft: 8
Game Ending: 5. I didn't really understand the ending, and it took a long time to figure out what to do. As a matter of fact, I won purely by accident. I thought I was supposed to find two gems. What was the Square key for? I never got to use it. (more on the ending later).
Atmosphere: 8
Overall: 8. One of my favorite dungeons to date, too bad it was made for RTC only.
Best part: I got way too carried away with the Bio Lab, it was so much fun for me to make several monsters out of their remains, and then destroy most of them. I never got tired of playing because of the Bio Lab. The prison was also very well made and enjoyable (too bad I was trapped in it for a long time because of five dragons out side, but that was my fault)
Worst part: I can only assume the message that read something like "thats what you get for cheating" was meant as a joke. I did not cheat, and if I did, I didn't get anything good or bad out of it.
Review: This is how I won (don't read if you have not played this dungeon all the way through yet): Some time after inserting the Corbum, I placed a Screamer Slice into the alcove at the Bio Lab monster generator area, and the Master Switch gate opened. That was it. I thought there was more. Just pulled the switch and I was done. Is this an error? Are there other ways to win?

[PicturesInTheDark]

Reviewer: PicturesInTheDark
Gameplay: 7. Good balance between riddles, monsters and the various ways you have to go to get to the end of the dungeon.
Originality: 8. Never got bored for a minute. Knights at the top, even a golem and a dragon were fun; Bio lab, the giggler with the gem and the mana well show a well-organized plan.
Difficulty: 5. And as Christophe, I'm very glad about that. It's fun beating a dungeon like CSB, but sometimes you don't need 57 demons and 18 dragons, you just want a nicely balanced one. This is it.
Puzzles: 6. Not too many or too heavy (with the exception of "death from above" I could figure them out, for which I bashed my head on the wall for a while ) - but original. Looking forward to future creations, more riddles would be appreciated.
Size: 8. I am not a fan of too big dungeons where everything is stuffed in; here you have a fine unity between monsters and a medium-sized dungeon that is perfectly belanced.
Replayability: 6. Because of the size some time between replaying seems likely, but this dungeon makes you an addict for it's various original parts.
Craft: 7. Well done. Except for a memory bug (that may or may not come from either the dungeon or RTC or my computer) I could find no bugs. Dungeon concept was thoroughly thought through, good mixture, good realisation.
Game Ending: 6. I liked the idea a lot (better than killing Chaos all the time), although it took me a while to find the Focus. Neat, short, story-fitting end.
Atmosphere: 7. After dying twice when trying to reincarnate Gothmog (my favourite character along with Chani) I was having doubts about the difficulty. Getting careful. When I met the first knight I nearly choked, although I guessed he was a weak one. Still, I stayed careful and the game kept me alert. That's how it's got to be.
Overall: 7. Enjoyed it very much, although I did not play too many extra dungeons besides the "classic" DM series, this was definitely a highlight. (And I'm playing since '91).
Best part: Being too dumb to figure out the Bio Lab at first and accidently placing a dragon steak there - that was a hot dance with my starting party *phew*. I enjoyed the giggler with the Ruby key a lot - the idea was very nice. Getting worried about food at the start (nearly dying actually) and then coming to the first worms was a nice irony, too. And thank heavens I figured out the first of the two (?) fake pits by accident - otherwise I really would have died for lack of food...
Worst part: After coming around the worm level (with them and the zytaz reappearing) for the fifteenth time searching for that sapphire key they got on my nerves a bit. Pity I found no way to the room where the water elementals fell to (I suspect there is no way to get there judging from my directional conclusions), I'd have liked to battle all the ones that fell through the grates
Review: Story: 6. A bit longer would have been appreciated, but the setup was clear and original.

As I said before, a great mixture of set-up, monster strength, originality and realisation make this a top dungeon for my taste - keep going!