259 replies to this topic

[Russ]

I believe he was in the bottom left corner, but not sure.

No, I mean where was Solarite, not Dracus.

Solarite was up higher, toward the top middle of the room. He was underneath the dialog box during the time Dracus was speaking. And then he answered from the "beyond," I guess. That was just before he revealed his new form at, again, the top middle of the room.

Okay, in that case, you can also access the game's bad ending from that cutscene, if you want.

[arieltap]

Okay, in that case, you can also access the game's bad ending from that cutscene, if you want.

Not that I want to endure anything more difficult, what is the bad ending? And how do you access it?

[Mister Snooze]

It is always a good feeling of accomplishment when I get to finish a challenging game. Thank you Russ. I love your choice of tileset and it's use. Having 2 lead characters, a fun idea, especially when one has weapons I have never seen or used, it was a learning curve. I hope to see more of your work in the future. Perhaps have a little mercy when it comes to bosses (Although they were manageable with your guidance.) Again Thank you for a great game and lots of hours of fun (and frustration I almost gave up a few times, but I'm glad I didn't).

[Russ]

Arieltap: During that cutscene, rather than hitting Solarite, use the Light of the Heavens item.

Mister Snooze: Congrats! I'm glad you enjoyed it, and thanks for your comments!

[Air Luigi]

Lots of things to say

First, I finished the "dungeon" >.<
1) What happen if I beat the boss from the outside?

2) The dungeon is very bad designed, but I think that you can make it less tedious, adding two or three warps in key points in the dungeon.

3) The water effect... it's annoying. And you use it through the game... lots of times. I can't believe that no one of your beta testers complained about it. In special, when I read the text.

4) Another suggestion, I think that Dracus would be more useful if he started by default with a LV2 or LV3 magic ring. He runs out of magic pretty quickly, and that kills the fun (the flame isn't enough).

5) Another question, do you draw on paper your dungeons before adapting them to ZC? All your dungeons feel rushed for me

I think the game needs heavy polishing, Maybe i'm playing another quest that the rest of people, but I found a lot of problems with this quest.

People get impressed easy with scripts... I think they don't help you much in detecting flaws. This quest has potential, maybe is time to start the developing of The Darkness Within DX. Just kidding X)

Edited by Air Luigi, 17 April 2013 - 05:56 PM.

[Russ]

1) What happen if I beat the boss from the outside?

Basically, how you defeat the boss is one of the game's three moral choices. Defeating him from the inside counts as a good choice, from the outside counts as a bad choice. After you beat the first phase of the final boss, the game tallies up your moral choices, and if you've made more good choices than bad, it gives you one cutscene (which branches off to two different endings), and if you have more bad choices than good, it gives you a different cutscene (which also branches off into two endings).

2) The dungeon is very bad designed, but I think that you can make it less tedious, adding two or three warps in key points in the dungeon.

Ya know... I can't believe I didn't think about that. I'll admit, it's badly designed, and it's honestly my biggest regret with this quest. It was actually one of the earliest dungeons I made in the game, designed before I got better at dungeon making, which would partially explain why it's so bad. But adding a warp system (maybe a ring of warps that takes you around to four main points in the dungeon) could really help. I'm gonna play around with it, and I might just add that in an update. Thanks for the idea!

3) The water effect... it's annoying. And you use it through the game... lots of times. I can't believe that no one of your beta testers complained about it. In special, when I read the text.

Yeah, I'm a bit surprised that the complaint's come up so much. I used it a bit in the first game and got no complaints, so I didn't realize it was an issue. It's something I might do away with.

4) Another suggestion, I think that Dracus would be more useful if he started by default with a LV2 or LV3 magic ring. He runs out of magic pretty quickly, and that kills the fun (the flame isn't enough).

Well, initially, the way the system worked was that he had a magic ring, but the flame didn't refill magic. My beta testers said they'd rather see the flame refill magic and ditch the magic ring. I can definitely see where you're coming from though. Here's an idea: What if a magic ring was a hidden secret somewhere on Palm Island? That way, you get a magic ring, and the island isn't so empty and secretless. Two birds, one stone.

5) Another question, do you draw on paper your dungeons before adapting them to ZC? All your dungeons feel rushed for me

Yes, most of the dungeons are planned out on paper before I put them together in ZC. Crystal Island is the only exception in the game.

This quest has potential, maybe is time to start the developing of The Darkness Within DX. Just kidding X)

While I don't think I'd do a complete remake from scratch, I'd definitely be open to coming back to this in a year or so and making some overhauls (like completely scrapping level 5 and starting over) based on the feedback I get and releasing a Darkness Within 2.0.

Thanks for all your criticism! It really helps me understand what I did wrong and what I need to improve.

[Air Luigi]

I'm enjoying much Living island, guy, this level feels like another totally different quest. The Lost Isle graphics are out of place compared whith the rest of graphics, but well, it's a fun level. I like the enemies a lot. The level design is simple, but I think your style of design get better when you maintain the things simple.

About the bombchu miniboss, it's a good idea, but you throw too much bombchus to the player. I can't deal with them all. It's not hard really, but I would feel much more accomplishment if there are less bombchus. I finished ignoring them and I only attacked the switches.

The same situation is repeated with other bosses.

[Demonlink]

Hey Russ, great quest so far, loving every single aspect! But I am now stuck on 2 things,

1.- How do you beat the boss in Living Island? I struck him a few times with the sword, then the core was revealed, struck it too, but now, the robot thingie doesn't die! I swear, I have died 6 times striking him with the sword to no advantage. The core doesn't reveal itself anymore, this guy doesn't die... Or is there something I am not doing right? Do I need to use the dungeon item on him?

2.- Where is the key in Sanctuary Island to open that rock that leads to a hole? Or is that for later on?

Anyways, good job!

[Russ]

I'm enjoying much Living island, guy, this level feels like another totally different quest. The Lost Isle graphics are out of place compared whith the rest of graphics, but well, it's a fun level. I like the enemies a lot. The level design is simple, but I think your style of design get better when you maintain the things simple.

Yeah, Living Island was one of the last dungeons I made, and it's one of my favorite. It's where I really figured out what worked and what didn't, I think. I also focused a lot on the enemies, trying to make them really fit with the level well, as opposed to throwing them in randomly like I'd done before. I'm glad you like it.

About the bombchu miniboss, it's a good idea, but you throw too much bombchus to the player. I can't deal with them all. It's not hard really, but I would feel much more accomplishment if there are less bombchus. I finished ignoring them and I only attacked the switches.

Hrm... perhaps if I capped the number of bombchus that can be on the screen at any given time, it'd be better. Thanks for the input.

1.- How do you beat the boss in Living Island? I struck him a few times with the sword, then the core was revealed, struck it too, but now, the robot thingie doesn't die! I swear, I have died 6 times striking him with the sword to no advantage. The core doesn't reveal itself anymore, this guy doesn't die... Or is there something I am not doing right? Do I need to use the dungeon item on him?

Okay, the way the boss works, you need to slash the robot into the electricity first. That makes the Core vulnerable. You need to hit him as much as you can, because the robot will only be stunned for a few seconds, then he'll start attacking you again. You need to knock him back into the electricity again so you can continue to damage the Core.

2.- Where is the key in Sanctuary Island to open that rock that leads to a hole? Or is that for later on?

The key's inside a house in Venezia that you need to bomb your way into.

Anyways, good job!

Thanks!

[Air Luigi]

Living island was much much much much much better than the rest of the levels. I hope that this level of quality is maintained intact in the next levels.

About the robot boss, same problem as always... many bullets, I don't feel accomplishment beating him. Beating the bosses of this game is more about using brute force and kill them quickly. I think it would be better if you hold the traditional two potions system, but nerfed the bosses down. I repeat, they are very easy to beat with potions, but you don't reward the skill. And that isn't fun.

I had a hard time pushing the robot against the electricity, it was more a luck question.

Edited by Air Luigi, 17 April 2013 - 10:32 PM.

[Russ]

Living island was much much much much much better than the rest of the levels. I hope that this level of quality is maintained intact in the next levels.

Yay! I'm glad you liked it.

About the robot boss, same problem as always... many bullets, I don't feel accomplishment beating him. Beating the bosses of this game is more about using brute force and kill them quickly. I think it would be better if you hold the traditional two potions system, but nerfed the bosses down. I repeat, they are very easy to beat with potions, but you don't reward the skill. And that isn't fun.

Yeah, this is my goal for my next quest. This was my first quest with ghosted bosses, so in a lot of ways it was a learning experience for me. I'm hoping I can take what I learned from it to make better, fairer bosses that give you that real sense of accomplishment, rather than "Hurray for four-use potions."

[Jared]

I got the map thing from Dracus after learning his sister died. Where do I go now?

Nevermind!

Edited by Jared, 18 April 2013 - 12:52 AM.

[chiefbigcalf]

I've just started recently....on Palm Island...I went into Magma Sanctum and got a key and used it it for acquiring blue tunic. Couldn't see anything else to do so I came outside to explore the island more and am looking for a key to unlock the lock that's blocking the way. Is there more to do in Magma Sanctum at this point OR should I be looking for a key for that lock on Palm Island OR am I really not in the ballpark????Thanks. Roc's Feather doesn't help where I was hoping grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

[Mister Snooze]

I've just started recently....on Palm Island...I went into Magma Sanctum and got a key and used it it for acquiring blue tunic. Couldn't see anything else to do so I came outside to explore the island more and am looking for a key to unlock the lock that's blocking the way. Is there more to do in Magma Sanctum at this point OR should I be looking for a key for that lock on Palm Island OR am I really not in the ballpark????Thanks. Roc's Feather doesn't help where I was hoping grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

Did you use your new found raft to go off the dock on the lower right? I know it doesn't look like the usual raft dock but you can still go off it.

[arieltap]

Finally beat this bad boy, last night! Now I'll go try that alternative ending you spoke of, Russ.

I'm not a super proficient player -- average at best. But I enjoyed this unique layout and non-linear progression. Good job, Russ! Thank you!