Surgical Strike - keys (Spoilers)

Post by **Sophia** » Fri Sep 30, 2005 12:14 am

*** SPOILERS ***

PadTheMad wrote:Now I really am stuck though, I just totally can't find out where to go now - I've opened the two iron key doors at the start, opened all the gold key doors I've found, killed the dragon past the area with the ghosts, found the winged key but I can't find the winged key door. I've found locks for emerald, ruby, skeleton and X-keys but I can't find these keys. Maybe I'm not supposed to go through these doors just yet, as with the 'Hail To The King' door. It's just a bit frustrating because I just can't find anywhere else to go I've also got a spare iron key...

Well, I won't give it all away (what fun is that), but I will say that the cross key is found up on the couatl level, and should probably be the first one you try to find. If a gold key seems like a steep price for just a rope, dig a little deeper...

PadTheMad · Post by **PadTheMad** » Fri Sep 30, 2005 12:33 am

You sly dog! Thankyou for your help. Don't know how I missed that one

Post by **linflas** » Wed Oct 12, 2005 9:29 am

*SPOILAAAAAAAAAZZZ*

what a great dungeon, lots of puzzles and clever ideas like the e....... seat

here's my problem : what i am supposed to do in the alchemy area ? i killed some monsters there, a demon and there's a room with a plate on the floor that seems to do nothing

i haven't killed the red dragon yet because of those damned gigglers generating all the time : btw, generators are a bit annoying in the whole dungeon. monsters generate too fast imo.

PadTheMad · Post by **PadTheMad** » Wed Oct 12, 2005 11:50 am

***SPOILERS***

Have you gone into the Creature Pen area yet? There are two items I found in there that were particularly useful... If you think literally about alchemy it's quite simple

The gigglers weren't a problem for me in that area - it was the blasted ghosts! I found that once you got in the actual dragon area, gigglers and ghosts didn't generate.

There are some damn cool puzzles in there, some really fresh ideas (well to me anyway!)

PadTheMad · Post by **PadTheMad** » Wed Oct 12, 2005 8:15 pm

***SPOILERS*** (I'm stuck again!)

Ok, well I've got 3 of the Master Keys - one from the EVIL EVIL EVIL GigaGiggler (man, that thing is EVIL

) but now I'm stuck once more. I don't know where to find the last Master Key, and the only 3 places I haven't opened are the Turquoise Key door, the 'Hail To The King' door and the Project Venom door. Don't think it's in Project Venom, so my guess is I have to find the Turquoise Key

Oh and how exactly does the 'Altar Of Time' work? I've opened thoe door and got the Solid Key so I've got past the puzzle, I'm just curious as to how the forcefield was deactivated...

Post by **Sophia** » Wed Oct 12, 2005 9:08 pm

PadTheMad wrote:There are some damn cool puzzles in there, some really fresh ideas (well to me anyway!)

Thank you!

Anyway, Linflas, I think PadTheMad explained the alchemy area pretty well. I will just add there are other items that may have an effect as well, though I will admit this list is somewhat limited.

The giggler generator resets every 100 seconds. If you take a long time fighting the dragon this may be too short, especially if you enter and exit the dragon's lair a lot, as the generator triggers are near the doors. I will keep this in mind in case there is another version.

Post by **Sophia** » Wed Oct 12, 2005 9:16 pm

PadTheMad wrote:I don't know where to find the last Master Key, and the only 3 places I haven't opened are the Turquoise Key door, the 'Hail To The King' door and the Project Venom door. Don't think it's in Project Venom, so my guess is I have to find the Turquoise Key

Oh and how exactly does the 'Altar Of Time' work? I've opened thoe door and got the Solid Key so I've got past the puzzle, I'm just curious as to how the forcefield was deactivated...

I don't know how far you've gotten on the road to finding the last Master Key, so I hope I'm not revealing too much. You don't have to find Turquoise Keys; they are not necessary. They're bonus items, found in secret areas. You can get some cool stuff behind the Turquoise Key doors, but there's nothing required.

Anyway, in order to find the last Master Key, you'll have to open the 'Hail To The King' door. If you have something "kingly" in your possession, then place it in the alcove. If not, you will have to search for something of that sort.

A bit more overt of a hint:

Have you opened the skeleton lock in the Couatl room? You will need the cooperation of some skeletons in order to gain access to the skeleton key, of course.

EDIT: Oops, I forgot to explain the "Altar of Time." It was a somewhat odd puzzle, basically, the solution was to use a magical box. It's based upon a hidden room containing a fireball launcher and gigglers running around triggering giggler generators. When you've frozen life, no more gigglers will be generated, and when all the gigglers are dead, the forcefield goes down. However, I think that once you have "enabled" the puzzle (by standing in front of the altar), using a magical box anytime, anywhere will clear the forcefields. So, if you saw the area, contemplated it a little, got stuck, left, fought some battles elsewhere, used a magical box, and then came back, you would find it had mysteriously been solved!

PadTheMad · Post by **PadTheMad** » Wed Oct 12, 2005 9:35 pm

Ooooh, I want to find a Turquoise Key now!

I've not got the Skeleton Key yet but I'm currently at the door with four alcoves - I've got the item for the alcove on the far left but struggling with the others... Maybe a bit of thinking is in order!

I'd actually had the Skeletons cooperate on the old version, I just didn't realise what happened once both buttons were pressed

Very clever regards the Altar - once again I stand by my statement saying that there are some really cool puzzles here!

Post by **Sophia** » Wed Oct 12, 2005 9:54 pm

Oh, I just noticed another error in the dungeon. Fortunately, this one will not require any sort of restarting, because it's simply a typo in a clue:

The third clue should say "LIGHTNING", not "LIGHT."

Hopefully that will "illuminate" the puzzle!

A bit more of a hint: The skeleton key is found behind there.

Post by **linflas** » Wed Oct 19, 2005 2:16 pm

Here we go again !
I have 2 master keys : one from the giant giggler (1st topaz) and one from the mine (2nd topaz). By the way, applauses for the corbamite energizing facility

I have one turquoise key that leads me to other turquoise locks... I didn't find the 'kingly' object yet but i know what it must be.
Now i dunno where to go !

Post by **Sophia** » Wed Oct 19, 2005 9:31 pm

There are three topaz keys to be found, I'm not sure if you've got the other one yet and just not found the lock, or if you need to find the key as well.

The last master key will require a skeleton key to do the whole path (there are clues to this path in the previous posts, too)-- have you found a room with four riddles, yet?

Post by **linflas** » Thu Oct 20, 2005 12:14 pm

maybe i've seen another lock for topaz, don't remember where actually, but i didn't find any key yet..
so i had a look at the skeletons blue switches and managed to reach the room Pad the Mad was talking about, with 4 alcoves.
i think i found what the 1st and 3rd objects are...

Post by **Sophia** » Thu Oct 20, 2005 8:34 pm

The topaz keys are all in the middle to lower levels of the dungeon: two on the scorpion level, and one on the level with the knights and the winged key door.

Anyway, I don't really know how to help with the riddles without giving too much away, but let me know.

Post by **linflas** » Thu Oct 20, 2005 9:14 pm

i found them all

now i have the skeleton key ! and i found also the last topaz key, and after many fights i found the 3rd master key.
now i'm in the tower... and it's really hard to progress !!!

Post by **linflas** » Fri Oct 28, 2005 11:24 am

hi, me again

i'm stuck in the tower, just after the lift : there's an eye lock shooting instant-death lightnings on the right. I've seen a door a few squares ahead, on the left wall, so i made lots of fireshields to survive but i finally died in front of it... wrong way i guess ?

Post by **Sophia** » Fri Oct 28, 2005 8:03 pm

Yes, that's the wrong way... this is the infamous tower security system, mentioned in the archives way back at the beginning. Basically, if you walk in front of an eye, the alarm will sound (sounds like a rock attack) and lightning will fly from a nearby launcher.

You can advance to the left, too. That way has a few lightning launchers, but nothing you can't dodge. You'll eventually find a way to confuse the eye into not launching anything. (The archives offered a hint here, too)

Post by **Zyx** » Sun Oct 30, 2005 10:29 pm

I had a try to the dungeon, and now I'm stuck like everybody : )

*I can't find the skeleton key. I read the post about cooperation of skeletons, but the only place I use their help was a place with two blue buttons, and I found no skeleton key.
*I can't find the gigagiggler everybody is talking about.
*I can't solve the "members only" riddle.
*I can't solve the "hail to the king" riddle, but I guess I haven't found the irght item.

I opened the two topaz doors, got 2 master keys.

So far i liked several ideas, like the seat, the mines, the corbamite facility, dance! (rofl!), etc. But the generators rate is a little annoying, and I spent a lot of time moving in circles, though this has more to do with my bad orientation than with the dungeon design maybe.

Post by **Sophia** » Mon Oct 31, 2005 12:59 am

The skeleton key is behind the door that opens once you've solved the four riddles (of which "members only" is one of them)... it's a bit of a pun, think about items whose names have other meanings. None of the solution items are rare, or hard to get, either.

The gigagiggler, in turn, is the "boss" guarding one of the master keys. You probably just didn't go that way, unless you were very lucky and managed to completely avoid him! I'm not sure which paths you've completed, other than the mines, because there are 3 topaz doors-- the corbamite mines and "enter your nightmare" are very near each other, and the furnace is to be found higher up in the dungeon, also unlocked by a topaz key.

Yours makes two comments about the generators. I'll definitely tone them down in any future releases.

Post by **Zyx** » Mon Oct 31, 2005 2:47 am

Ah, then I went through the 3 topaz doors. Near which should I look for the great giggler?

Members only... doh, I should think a little harder, I already did this pun once myself!

PadTheMad · Post by **PadTheMad** » Mon Oct 31, 2005 3:01 am

***SPOILER MAYBE?***

Ok ok, I finally freed up some time to have another bash and have figured out 3 of the 4 riddles. I'm having problems on 'Members Only' one. I think I've figured it out - very clever if it's what I think it is (Staff) but the trouble is - I've only got the Staff of Claws and that doesn't work. I've not come across a plain old staff anywhere in the dungeon

Help!

Post by **Sophia** » Mon Oct 31, 2005 3:54 am

Ah, then I went through the 3 topaz doors. Near which should I look for the great giggler?

The gigagiggler is to be found near the end of the "enter your nightmare" path. It guards the chest containing the master key (though you can slip in and grab it if you're fast.)

I'm having problems on 'Members Only' one. I think I've figured it out - very clever if it's what I think it is (Staff) but the trouble is - I've only got the Staff of Claws and that doesn't work. I've not come across a plain old staff anywhere in the dungeon Help!

You're very close! You've got the whole basis of the pun down-- just not quite the right word. The solution item is all over the dungeon.

Incidentally, just as a teaser, there are two solutions to the "members only" puzzle, both puns. The second one won't open the door, but a chest will appear. This is not necessary to finish, though.

beowuuf · Post by **beowuuf** » Mon Oct 31, 2005 8:51 am

I think you are just bludgeoning him on the head with this hint now!

Post by **Zyx** » Mon Oct 31, 2005 10:34 am

Sophia wrote:the "enter your nightmare" path

Ah i see, I couldn't manage to "fight magic with magic". I tried fireballs, zo spells, zokathra, vorpal blade...
When I tried to throw a FUL bomb, RTC crashed. After that I completely forgot about this door. Probably a repressed trauma because of the crash.

EDIT: I tried fireballing with an UM master wizard, with 248 wisom and 135 vitality, to no avail...
In the tower, I reached the "prime" puzzle. I don't know what to do. I'll try drawing signs with the pads -VEN for venom project, 1, 2, 3, 5, 7 for prime numbers... -, but that will be random. Maybe I overlooked some info in the archives?

Post by **Sophia** » Mon Oct 31, 2005 8:47 pm

More spoilers, not that this thread isn't full of them already--

How would you destroy something "magical"? Fireballs won't work any more than they'll work on a ghost or a rive... you see where this is going, I'm sure.

As for the "prime" puzzle, the clue is pretty descriptive. You seemed to be on the right track.

Post by **linflas** » Mon Oct 31, 2005 10:30 pm

well, i had a look at the archives and UNDERSTOOD the way to use the *item* i found on the other way

i am totally impressed of what you did with RTC editor : this is the best custom dungeon i ever played ! congrats !

i think i'm very close to the end, but i must pass that weird 'prime' puzzle...

Post by **Sophia** » Tue Nov 01, 2005 1:47 am

Thank you, I'm glad you like it!

There are some clues to the prime puzzle above.. let me know if you need help otherwise...

Post by **Zyx** » Tue Nov 01, 2005 5:02 am

Is the arrow in the alcove relevant for the prime puzzle?
"to be on the right track" is a pun?
What fonts should i choose if I want to draw signs or letters or numbers? ^ ^

I tried a hundred of configurations today... only 2^16-100=65436 left.

Post by **Sophia** » Tue Nov 01, 2005 5:31 am

Yes, the arrow in the alcove is a clue.

I think you can draw signs using the code button:

Code: Select all

X X X X
- X - X
- - - -
X - X -

(that's not the solution, just demonstrating)

Post by **Zyx** » Tue Nov 01, 2005 5:50 am

ah, nevermind, I got it in the meantime. One of my first ideas, except I thought, god only knows why, I should follow a spiral pattern...

Post by **Zyx** » Tue Nov 01, 2005 6:59 am

Hehe, at least, I reached 2 endings (normal and hellion).
Yet I have some unfinished business:
a skeleton lock; 3 tourquoise locks; at the top of dungeon, a closed wooden door with a window; the second answer to "members only"; the 3rd ending (unless it's killing the first blue dragon with was a bad idea); finding the stone golem (seen from the ending creature report)

Some notes: there's an emerald lock that doesn't eat the key.
I never found any gem, bones, blue boxes, sticks, staves... any particular reason?