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Beta-tester(s)

Posted: Tue Sep 03, 2002 1:13 pm
by Alpha
I am currently building a new dungeon but would like to have another point of view on what I have done so far. I hope this would help me to correct the problems I might not have noticed and to make the difficulty to be well balanced for the release version. Interested ? Christophe.Roset@caramail.com

Re: Beta-tester(s)

Posted: Wed Sep 04, 2002 1:35 am
by PaulH
'Well balanced' is a difficult term to define. What appears to be well balanced to one person may be completely lop-sided to another. Every body who reads this site are 'Dungeon Masters' of different age, experience and ability. So you can make a dungeon that suits one group of peoples' style of play but not another. So I wouldn't get too hung up about how people are going to react. You can't please everybody! I would say go with your instincts and create what you can. Correcting problems comes from playtesting until you eliminate all bugs. I am happy to help you with that, just post me the .dat file (I have a lot of time on my hands and will play test anything if you send it to me).

Personally I like something you can get your teeth into quickly. I know I have not posted reviews on all dungeons I have played (yet) but Amber's Imprisoned Again strikes me as an extremely playable, enjoyable dungeon with good battles, puzzles and an air of originality about it that seperates it from anything else posted yet. Conflux is obviously a masterpiece that would appeal to people with a lot of patience, but I'll be honest I find it difficult to maintain interest. No offence to Beowuuf, I have studied the Dmute files long and hard and am impressed by the skill (and obviously time) that has gone into it but it probably isn't for me (yet... I like to play quick! But I WILL complete it oneday...)

One thing I will say is that players need to have a sense of what they are doing, whether it be collecting items or whatever. There is nothing worse than being stuck in the middle of something with no idea what you are doing or where you are going or what you are going to do next. OK my dungeon may not be the best example of this (no one as commented yet... hopefully not too bad!) but it was just an experiment for myself with the editors. I am a bit new to all this, and learning. So I will stress again, build what you can and don't worry. Remember only a handful of people are building anyway so anybody else can really complain.

And lastly, you can edit the graphics.dat file so you can rename objects therefore enabling yourself to create original puzzles.

Re: Beta-tester(s)

Posted: Wed Sep 04, 2002 1:42 am
by PaulH
Apologies for the above author mistake, I meant to say 'Zyx' and not 'Beowuuf'. I get confused by all these strange pseuodonyms...

Re: Beta-tester(s)

Posted: Wed Sep 04, 2002 5:02 pm
by Alpha
Thanks for all your advices.
In fact I am definitely aware that some would like what others hate, but my concern is not about the style of the dungeon. It is all about having an opinion other than mine. All tricks and puzzles are obvious for the one who made them. All parts are interesting, as long as you know what you're supposed to do. Since I am making the dungeon, my point of view is biased and I don't know if enought clues are given and if things come after the others in a logical way.
To cut short, everything is perfect for the one who made it !
Another important point for me is to have a feedback before the release in the dedicated forum.

2 persons already contacted me. I'll send the dat file to you three with a sum up of who?where?what?why? and am eager to any critisism.