Escape 2.0 - demo

[Mon Ful Ir]

Approximately 75% complete: Escape 2.0.

It's a dungeon in two parts. It starts with a complete rewrite of Escape 1 (new layout, a few twists, some lameness removed following the feedback I got, and much better coded because in Escape 1 I was still learning). That bit's completely written, and I've played it through several times to test it for problems.

That part's exactly like Escape 1, in that it's a nice linear dungeon (DM-style rather than CSB-style) with the convenient ways to get back to earlier areas when you need to. Like Escape 1, you get an unending supply of food and water, and necessities like potion flasks and vi altars, right at the entrance. Each challenge is directly after the previous one, so you don't need to wander around mazes of featureless corridors wondering what to do next, and there's no back-story to read. You're just stuck in a dungeon and you have to find the exit.

There's an ending after the rewrite, so casual players can still play it as a mini-dungeon for one or two evenings' mild entertainment.

For the more serious players--the people who'll blitz through that part in two or three hours--there's also an option to go deeper in and hunt for other endings.

[zoom]

cool, but could you please provide information on the engine used?
RTC, DSB, csbWin etc?

[Mon Ful Ir]

RTC.

[Sabreman]

The prospect of Escape 2 makes me extremely happy

[Mon Ful Ir]

First playtesting beta's ready; anyone interested?

PM me your email address if so.

[Mon Ful Ir]

That many people, huh?

[Gambit37]

No spare time, sorry!

[beowuuf]

I can't promise tons of time if the second part is long, but certainly whizz is across and I'll give it a go!

beowuuf att yahhhhooooooooo dottt comm

[Mon Ful Ir]

I'll send you part I.

[beowuuf]

You can send me both if you like! Mum calls notwithstanding, I should be free tomorrow to give it a spin

[Sabreman]

Just to say I'm not much of a playtester - I like to come to a new game fresh and play through it, free of spoilers and the like. It's the same reason I generally don't play betas. So it's not that I'm disinterested

[beowuuf]

Ok, had a chance to play this but didn't get a chance to comment yesterday


The start:
Simple enough, perhaps too simple, but it's all good. You have your rooms with goodies but you have to wade through a room of starting DM monsters to get them. Seems an ok trade off, although I must admit found it a chore - then again I did only have one character! Good idea to let trainers and soon have their battle but let others jump ahead.

The corridors with the weapon's fire, wasn't sure about - given the strength of the starting champ seems a niggle more than anything else.

The general logic and lay out of the dungeon I like. Collecting the keys is very DM, but all the flow of it works and is good. You carry on, open areas with the blue gem, and then can loop back to the starting keyhole again to progress. It all seemed logical, and a bonus to quick players - no mapping!

The section with the wasps scared me witless due to my single champion with no magic, but even without access to the special ring help there I realised they were doable. Making them less doable might be too hard, but for that potential threat level I dind't find them that challenging. Oops, forgot to say the pads problem before hand was a nice variation on a theme, more taxing.

When the 'worms' section kicked in onwards is when I felt the game really started. The monster regeneration in the game here and in a later pit drop with trolins is well balanced.

The twist and turn of doors and keys were fine, I enjoyed it. The pit level seems intensely fast but was quite doable. Interesting having the creature around that were around.

The winged key area I have mixed feelings about. The paths of the teleporters and the pit/switch room were great - really great (I seem to recall that pit/switch bit from the original escape I think). The teleporter bit especially, the jumps were logically placed so it was possible to map the place - infact I have!

However, I can see the fact that needing to do all four parts might put off some people, and also being trapped in each part might be annoying too. Perhaps only needing three keys to carry on (the four revealing the exchange), and being able to leave and come back to recharge mental batteries might be an idea. Then again, nothing makes you work harder than needing to do the thing to progress!

Also, I found the corridor winged key part amazingly basic compared to the rest of the challenges. Then again, I had the item mentioned!

The level downstairs with the gems I also liked the three sections to - the racetrack was fun, and...um...wall bit maybe not as much, and darn if I haven't forgotten the third, but remember really liking it too.

The end fight was perhaps a little basic - the creature is fast but I took him out with simple movement and slog - perhaps a few surprises and extra blips?

anyway, as mentioned I got trapped with the key - but would love to play the deeper harder bits once you have that section completed!

[Mon Ful Ir]

K, thanks, that gives me the fixes I need.

I'll do something with the winged key area so you only need three to progress, and I'll fix that bug where you're trapped in the room with the end game.

[beowuuf]

Hope it was enough, I usually make notepad comments, but I forgot this time so flying on mmeory - I guess in a way that's better, things that stick as good or bad in that situation probably were annoying or really cool

[Mon Ful Ir]

Yeah.

It's funny how different the playtester's experience is to the dungeon designer's imagination...

The things I was expecting you to remember on level 1 were the scorpion corridor and the room where you dodge the fireballs, I thought the hardest bit of level 2 was the place with the mummy and the pad, and I was concerned the haze-maze might be annoying rather than fun.

I figure you remembered the club disposal chute and the rust removal station from Escape 1; the thing you can't see is how much more elegantly the code works now

I'm thinking maybe I should release this version as a complete one-evening minidungeon, and do the next part as a sort of CSB-equivalent where you can import your characters from Escape 1.

That makes sense because in case you want to try the next part several different ways, you don't have to re-do that first part each time...

[beowuuf]

Oh, yeah, see the pain of not going by memory!

The fireball room though was actually a little basic after I first saw it - i actually tripped around it in the yellow!

The scorpion corridor, like the poison gas area (I actually did nto use it and fought the gigglers later) were amusing at the time but not a challenge so obviously don't register later. Although, I know there was a fight that came with one of the blue button pushes that was fun (I thinki it was the part around the pit level)

YEah, the disposal chute, etc I rmemeber fro mthe previous one - I didn't manage to get the key for the restoration service even though I carried the items around with me!

I can see the teleporter maze annoying people, but I do feel you have constructed it solidly and logically, so I was able to piece it and realise the logic without going mad. And I usually hate those puzzles alot!

Anyway, while the importing dungeon sounds like an idea, there is an inability to port across all the earned items and of course the ability for people to take in anyone from other dungeons.

I still say leave it as you had it - the two doors was a good device and allows people to build up some nice items fro mthe first part. I guess release a special 'keyed' version of the dungeon if anyone wants to jump straight to the second part.

[Mon Ful Ir]

Hmm. I like separate mini-dungeons...

For me, the big issue when I download and play through someone else's dungeon is time. I'm a husband and father with a full-time job and other hobbies, so I want to know I'm not getting started on an open-ended commitment.

(This is why you won't see me posting on the Conflux threads or about Surgical Strike--I've tried them, but when I start playing and I can't even find a bloody potion bottle, I tend to think "sod this for a game of soldiers" and delete the dungeon off my hard drive.)

Anyway, I'm writing for people like me, who want mild entertainment they can finish in a reasonable time, hence the "mini-dungeon" approach. No bloat

[ragge]

Im playing Escape 2.0 now its really fun, but when i take the last and third jewel to unlock the wall, i fall down like i did the other 2 times aswell, but this third time there is chain lightning.
And a note that says, "Make it stop! What can make it stop"
And i really have no clue, the pad that starts the lightning is where i drop, if i go to that place again the lightning will go twice as fast, then tripple quad etc i ran back and forth like 100 times.
It really breaks the computer, like 1 fps after that. really would like some help cause i really enyoy this dungeon and i have no other saves

[Trantor]

I remember that place ragge and had the same trouble as you. You have to stop it, or in other words, "halt" it...

[ragge]

ye i got it now, but this was just stupid, replayed the game and save 3 times before jumping down.