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I just need 4 more runs - please help

sskmomsskmom Member Posts: 38
edited June 2013 in The Foundry
I'm soo close to getting qualified for the daily. I just need 4 brave people to tackle my foundry. Its called Riddle Masters and it has a large jumping puzzle in it along with the riddles which is why I need brave people :) The code is NW-DLA4ZT606 It takes about 18 min. and is meant to be run solo. So far I have 8 reviews (7 -5 stars and 1- 4 star) so people are liking it - I just wonder if the jumping puzzle is an issue for some. So if you are brave enough to beat my jumping challenge - could you tell me if its too hard and if I should maybe add in an alternate route that is all fighting for those who can't or don't want to do jumping puzzles? Thank you and take care!
[SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
Post edited by sskmom on

Comments

  • sskmomsskmom Member Posts: 38
    edited June 2013
    Yay - thank you very much to the unknown person that completed the quest. You are the best! Only 3 more runs needed to qualify for the daily rewards. I'm soooo close. It'll feel like graduating to get to that 1st big step with my 1st foundry- I can't wait!
    [SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
  • heckle7heckle7 Member Posts: 18 Arc User
    edited June 2013
    I know the feeling! I think I'm the only person to have even run my quest. :(

    Care to trade reviews? Mine is about 16 min long too. It's my very first quest and I would REALLY like some feedback from someone on what to change/improve.

    Surviving the Survey
    NW-DP7QLV4YN

    I'll check yours out tonight when I get home.
  • sskmomsskmom Member Posts: 38
    edited June 2013
    I would love to trade reviews! I had a lot of fun making my quest it but its still sad to do so much work and no one ever sees it. I will check your foundry out right now :)
    [SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
  • sskmomsskmom Member Posts: 38
    edited June 2013
    Well - this new patch isn't letting me in yet. I will review it as soon as I can though - take care!
    [SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
  • heckle7heckle7 Member Posts: 18 Arc User
    edited June 2013
    Thanks! It is kinda demoralizing to spend time on something and then have it sit there with 0 plays. I look forward to checking yours out tonight as well, if I can log in of course :-)
  • sskmomsskmom Member Posts: 38
    edited June 2013
    I was able to check yours out - very good job :) I like the story and the humor in it. There were a few typos so you might want to check your dialogs real quick - but nothing major at all. Everything worked well and the fights were well spaced. I loved that I could actually pull mobs instead of being jumped on by everything all at once. The only suggestion I might have is that Elizabeth is hard to talk to with all her wandering. So I thought you did great - take care!
    [SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
  • irtoof75irtoof75 Member Posts: 28 Arc User
    edited June 2013
    Hi Heckle7

    Just finished up your quest. Good stuff. Dialogue is good, the story flows nicely. Combat difficulty is a little light IMO.

    Some things you might consider changing/fixing.
    1. The first contact, his opening text is in yellow but the rest of the dialogue throughout the whole quest is white.
    2. After talking to Elisabeth the first time your quest says goto next map, that takes you out of the quest immersion IMO. (also the exit point is a big rock? Maybe change to the cart or a path? Just a suggestion.)
    4. When placing the survey equipment it says press F to interact. Maybe change to Use survey equipment?
    5. Near the end, the quest step says to defeat the orc ambush. I'm not sure it qualifies as an ambush if I know its there. Perhaps change the name to return to Elisabeth for your hugs and kisses? :* Or cookies.


    What follows is purely suggestions. Once I zoned into the beach. It made sense to clear the area of critters, totally. But they were just standing there not pathing or anything (Hope they put on their SPF 50 :) ) Maybe try to give them a reason to be there? The beach map also felt very empty scenery wise. There is a big ole wreaked ship but no debris? Maybe thats why the Werewolves would be on the beach? searching the debris for people to eat. One last thing, keep up the good work and don't take any of my suggestions too harshly I had a very enjoyable time in the Surveyor Corps.
    "Crayons taste like purple"

    Campaign: Night of Embers - NWS-DQX5GVNKO
    1: A Flame In The Darkness - NW-DE47BTDI9
  • heckle7heckle7 Member Posts: 18 Arc User
    edited June 2013
    sskmom...thank you so much for checking out my quest. I'm really glad you enjoyed it. Elisabeth's pathing bugged me a little bit too when I did my play through testing. I like her to move around some instead of just standing in one spot but I was a huge pain chasing her down to talk to her. I tried adjusting her speed but it didn't seem to help. I'll have to work on that one tonight. I might have the other two "flavor" NPCs move around while she stands still. I wasn't able to log on yesterday but I plan on giving your quest a spin tonight.

    irtoof75...those are some great suggestions! You weren't too harsh at all. I appreciate any feedback that will result in a better product. You highlighted several things I was already thinking about and some that didn't even cross my mind. I'll clean up the text and transition stuff to give a more consistent and immersive experience. I never even thought about making the cart the exit point. I spent forever trying to figure out a doorway that would tie in to the weird angles on the premade map edges. The cart would be way better and make more sense. Good idea on the "ambush" too. I'll adjust it so it's actually a surprise.

    I was already trying to work on some ways to make the beach encounter more interesting. Pathing the critters and adding some more "shipwreck" themed scenery is smart. I was thinking of replacing the werewolves on the beach with undead pirates but it might be cooler to have them scrounging for food in debris instead. Two questions....1) I intended for the fights to be relatively easy, but I don't want it to be boring. Should I increase the difficulty of just a few fights or should I just ramp up the overall difficulty some? 2) Would it benefit me to add the werewolves a little more to the story line? When I was writing the story they were just supposed to be wolves that just happened to be in the area. But then I found out that all of the wolves are tied to the werewolf group, so I modified my story a little bit. But they do seem kind of "tacked on" at the moment. I could add a little line or two of dialogue and a little sub-quest about the wolves eating all the dead bodies and needing to kill their leader or something. What do you think?

    I REALLY appreciate both of you playing through my quest and letting me know what you thought. I'm thrilled that my first attempt at writing anything like this wasn't awful. I'm really enjoying the Foundry!
  • data314159data314159 Member, Neverwinter Beta Users, Neverwinter Hero Users, Neverwinter Guardian Users, Neverwinter Knight of the Feywild Users Posts: 34
    edited June 2013
    I really liked your foundry mission. Well thought out riddles, good jumping and a side of mobs to boot. Thia is the kind of missions I enjoy. If you have a chance try out mine also Challenge Invitational: Maze NW-DMXDXKQGD. It will probably be up your ally. A little more fighting but it is fun I think. I sub'ed you so I can try others you do. Keep up the work!
    Visarys
    GWF Lvl 60
    Dragon Shard

    Try my newest Foundry MissionChallenge Invitational: Gauntlet NW-DHCDKY8UCCatapults and Zeppelins!
    Try my Foundry Mission Challenge Invitational: Maze, NW-DMXDXKQGD
    18-30 min.
    Solo
    Fighting, riddles, maze and dancing ogre's
  • neverhofneverhof Member, Neverwinter Beta Users, Neverwinter Guardian Users Posts: 174 Bounty Hunter
    edited June 2013
    Hi sskmom,

    Nice quest, I gave it a review I like the parcour, the last one really wants you not to fail :P

    I gave the maps a good look at, I do have a couple of suggestions if you want them:
    I does need some detail/decor, some of the areas come across as a little barren. The populate button on caves is a little unpredicatable mind you, hehe.
    I think your answers in all phases need a 'correct' or 'im sorry but...' apart from the 3rd phase :). The rest is only cosmetic really but..

    Theres a bit of a chain hanging out of the floor below a brazier on your first level.

    For the doors on this level, you can place a detail on the map which is the same skin as a door,
    move that so it directly cover's a door that looks exactly the same one for each closed door, not in the same place, a couple of pixels in.
    Set the real door to appear when objective complete; objective = part of the quest that unlocks that door. Disappear never.
    Set the fake door to appear immediately and dissappear when objective complete, same as the other doors objective.

    You end up with the same function but the inactive doors wont have the sparkly around them until theyre active as it will be the fake door thats there until they reach that stage.

    The same sort of thing applies to the mushrooms, have them dissappear once 'component' is complete and select the specific mushroom, then have a normal detail mushroom appear in its place at the same 'component' complete time. I think that will make it so mushrooms youve picked dont sparkle anymore. They could maybe do with a mushroom as a dropped item too, for effect. Just make an icon for them in the item tab.

    On the second map, I found you could jump straight onto the 5th mushroom fairly easily, you may not need the first 4, you can also jump from the brazier then dodge onto the first purple mushroom, dont know if thats intended, its reasonbly difficult to time so it doesn't change much :). You could vary the large purple and green mushrooms order and vary their height, so you have to do things like jump down onto to a small one, nice way to tweak the map if that ones too easy. At the top it needs a use the door text or go through to your next challenge sort of thing text imo.

    The riddle itself 'A Merchant can...' if you highlight just that text and select 'out of character' it will put a nice highlight around those words, maybe look better.

    The 3rd level is my favourite I think. The baby dragon you can set to wander, non combat ignore all(new function from the patch) that would look nicer than a static one I think, the speech is visible from quite a distance and they don't wander too far.
    I think your yellow marker light is actually an orange :P

    You don't die if you fall on the puzzle, not sure if that's intended, if it is then theres still a few feet lower before your health gives you a fright from the drop. I like the surprise outside the flowers :)
    You can get out of the river past the wooden bridge on the left side, which may allow you to skip that puzzle though, maybe lower the water level few feet if you can, may solve both.

    P.s. A nice effect suggestion to toy with for the riddle; Have the conversation end with your answer, then have a floating crystal ball appear or something with the answer, a different one for each dialogue reached(answers).
    For the web room try toying with some invisible walls under some webs and rotate them to match and put some jumping spider up there to see if they jump down, just make sure you can walk under them though.
    Have a try with lava plane on your cave maps and lava lighting, looks quite good in the cave settings.

    Nice map for your first attempt, probably better than mine will be :P Good luck with your next.
  • irtoof75irtoof75 Member Posts: 28 Arc User
    edited June 2013
    Hi Heckle7

    I used a lvl 30 Control Wizard for this quest. I've played quite a few foundries with this toon and died maybe two or three times so my statement about difficulty could be a a bit off. Most of the mobs never made it to me throughout the whole quest. I'm not sure what lvl you set your mobs to but perhaps move up a lvl for a couple of the groups.

    As to adding the werewolves to the storyline? I don't think I would. Leave it as a surprise for the players. Your story line is great IMO. If....anything maybe add a werewolf NPC that talks to you about being in their territory or something along those lines, maybe its breeding season and your putting a hamper on their love lives. Its your quest friend let your imagination loose so the rest of us can marvel at your awesomeness :)

    Thanks
    "Crayons taste like purple"

    Campaign: Night of Embers - NWS-DQX5GVNKO
    1: A Flame In The Darkness - NW-DE47BTDI9
  • heckle7heckle7 Member Posts: 18 Arc User
    edited June 2013
    I just finished your quest sskmom. Great job. I liked the puzzles and atmosphere a lot.

    Positive feedback
    -You clearly have a knack for ambience. I loved the lighting with the little balls of multi colored lights and the spider webs were really well done.
    -I decided to fight the spider guards but I really liked that you provided a no-combat option.
    -I got the riddle right on level 3 but screwed up when I jotted the jump order down. So I ended up falling 3 times on the various paths before I caught my mistake. The punishment was annoying but seemed fair since I had failed. I REALLY liked that you had the platforms I jumped through disappear afterwards.
    -The last jumping stage was frustrating as all get out. I must suck at platform jumping or something as I kept missing the mark, especially on the small crystal type platforms. But it was a good kind of frustrated, the kind you get when challenged to do better "next time". I actually laughed when I made it to the end of that I was so happy I had beaten it.
    -I don't think I've ever gotten vertigo from platform jumping in any game. This was great. I was actually mildly afraid to look down! Great job!

    Constructive criticism
    -Who are these "Riddlemasters"? Why did they set this up? Is this some sort of cult or test for greater things? I would have liked a little bit more info on why I was doing what I was doing. Maybe a line or two from the guard about his "mysterious" employers and the level 1 master telling you who they are?
    -One of the floating lights on Level 2 (by the spider names Bobo I think) has a length of chain that swings back and forth from the floor. Looks weird.
    -Maybe spice up the mushroom dialog a little bit? Instead of just having an option saying "continue" maybe some flavor dialogue like "This glowing blue mushroom vaguely smells like a blueberry tart" and then an option to pick it up?

    All in all a great job, the best puzzle/jumping foundry quest I have done so far. :-)
  • heckle7heckle7 Member Posts: 18 Arc User
    edited June 2013
    irtoof75...I played your quest tonight. Holy <font color="orange">HAMSTER</font>! I should just stop <font color="orange">HAMSTER</font> around in the foundry and just wait for you to publish stuff. That thing was freaking awesome! The story was fun and the level of detail you added to everything was amazing. I mean you renamed almost every mob in your quest with cool names that fit the story and their unique customized model. That must have taken some time. FYI I'm totally stealing that from you in my foundry stuff. The fights were all fun and challenging without feeling cheap. It's an excellent dungeon crawl adventure. Nice Job!

    I was looking for stuff to critique and help you improve it like you did for me and didn't find much beyond a few typos. "Collapsed" is misspelled when entering the sewers and "campsite" is misspelled in the forgotten glade. It's a little long...didn't help that my girl kept interrupting me but definitely worth the time investment. I'm subscribed to your stuff now and looking forward to the next installment.

    Nice job!
  • thebetafishythebetafishy Member Posts: 4 Arc User
    edited June 2013
    @sskmom:

    I loved the idea behind your quest, but I failed miserably. I don't know if I'm just the worst jumper in the world or if my keyboard being a tad sticky is to blame, but I couldn't complete the quest. I spent an hour and ten minutes on it (and made it to the final jumping portion that climbs to the chest) but just couldn't do it. I finally left the quest with a heavy heart and a tear in my eye.

    I wasn't using the quest to complete a daily and I didn't have anything else pressing to do - so I don't mind too much that I spent so much time without being able to finish, but I can see how that could be a bit of an aggravation for others who, for whatever reason, run into similar problems. As long as you are perfectly clear in your description of the quest (which I think you were) that there are some rather long jumping puzzles required to complete the quest, I doubt too many people will try it that shouldn't. If you wanted to provide an alternate route for people like myself, maybe solving additional riddles would be an acceptable substitute for jumping to the final chest? I dunno. It's probably just fine the way it is. It's functioning as intended. : D

    Thanks for a refreshing break from your standard crypt crawl.
  • irtoof75irtoof75 Member Posts: 28 Arc User
    edited June 2013
    Thanks a ton for the input Heckle. This campaign is my first foundry so I wasn't quite sure about how long it would run when I designed it. I only knew what I wanted to accomplish story wise. I also am very big when it comes to details. I feel that its the little details that make a quest great, such as having mobs with original names and a variety of skins. There are also a couple of side quests that I put in because I wanted to experiment with the effects and mobs. I liked them so I kept them in the quest for variety. Working on part two now and i'm going to try to keep it under 30 minutes. we shall see though.
    "Crayons taste like purple"

    Campaign: Night of Embers - NWS-DQX5GVNKO
    1: A Flame In The Darkness - NW-DE47BTDI9
  • sskmomsskmom Member Posts: 38
    edited June 2013
    Neverhof - lots of good ideas there. I have been having issues with the mushrooms. I don't like that they sparkle all the time - so I'll definitely try your ideas for the doors and mushrooms. Good job on really testing the jumping and seeing where people could skip. I didn't even think about the braziers - so I'll move them and I'll also check on the bridge. I love the idea to make the baby dragon move :)

    Heckle7 - Honestly I am terrible at storytelling. I had thought of the puzzles 1st and then tried to think of a reason for there to be puzzles at all. I agree that the story is very lacking. I think its a great idea for me to put more effort into that aspect of it. I keep wanting to take that chain out too - I just keep forgetting. I'll write a note and hopefully I'll remember - lol. The mushroom ideas are great!

    Thebetafishy - honestly I do think that some people have too much lag for that last jumping quest. Even at home when I was building it, if the kids got on the internet - I was in trouble. You did bring up something I have seriously considered and that is an alternate route for people who for whatever reason can't finish that last puzzle. I was thinking of a walkway of mobs that you would have to fight up to the top. This way its still not easy but if you beat all the mobs - then at least you could complete it. I'm sorry you didn't get to finish it though but thank you soooo very much for your attempt.

    Irtoof75 - I'm planning on running your foundry really soon. It sounds amazing.
    [SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
  • sskmomsskmom Member Posts: 38
    edited June 2013
    Data314159 - I'm so sorry I missed your post. I'll definitely run your foundry tomorrow -it sounds great :)
    [SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
  • sskmomsskmom Member Posts: 38
    edited June 2013
    I tried both of your foundries :) Data - I sent you a private message - but I loved what I got to see of your foundry. That maze is amazing and huge! Irtoof75 - you have put so many wonderful details into your map. I was very impressed. The dark room of skeletons was so creepy- in a good way. I am the worst at mazes so I was lost in your teleporter rooms for quite some time - but that is my fault and I'm sure was working as intended - lol. You could really see how much effort you put into this foundry. I hope more people get to play your quest because its a great combo of story, fighting and effects - great job!
    [SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
  • neverhofneverhof Member, Neverwinter Beta Users, Neverwinter Guardian Users Posts: 174 Bounty Hunter
    edited June 2013
    I was just reading another thread about the ratings that are given, I was assuming a 3 was good map but needs some tweaking. 4 Good map and good polish and 5 was outstanding. If you have multiple people scoring a 5 too easily, it becomes difficult to pick out the ones that really shine.

    Going by the other comments on ratings, it doesn't seem like everyone thinks like that. I think I would have given a 4 if I thought the same. Very nice job.

    As a compromise for some people having trouble with the jump...
    It sounds complicated but since you have large rooms it is doable.

    About every 3rd of the way up make a fairly large platform,
    Put a teleporter from the floorlevel to that platform.
    Spread the teleporters out and build a room/chamber around each one with a door. You can use random rocks and all sorts of effects to build a room and block access to the teleporters, a beam of light or fire etc with an invisible wall. Have the invisible wall dissappear on objective complete etc along with the effect.
    Put an interactive item on each platform.(not tied into the storyline, just set the detail to interactive, it will just sparkle with no objective).

    Make the door/effect+ invisible wall for each teleport room on the floor level dissapear when component complete(interactive object).

    That way when they reach the large platform they can click the object which opens a door/turns off an effect and allows access to the teleporter which brings them right back to that platform. The hardcore ones can go without using them.

    When they eventually add incentive rewards for completing bonus obectives, then you can add an extra reward at the top that dissappears when any of the door/effect components is complete. That way they only get the bonus if they don't use a door.

    As a precaution, maybe put a marker inside each teleporter room, that only works inside the room
    and set each door/effect to disappear when either the button on the platform is clicked or the marker component is reached. That way if some uses the teleport on the platform without clicking the button they won't end up trapped.

    Ofc it would be alot easier if they let us dictate when teleporters appeared and disappeard. Then you could just set them to only appear when you reach a certain point. :/
  • sskmomsskmom Member Posts: 38
    edited June 2013
    Thank you for all of your tips. I'm not that great with all the layering of stuff but I'm slowly learning. I did change the last jumping puzzle to be slightly easier by taking out the slippery mushrooms and putting solid rocks in instead. I also added another warning in my story that there is a large jumping puzzle at the end. Hopefully that will help. I tried to get my dragon to move but he just sits there. Oh well, it works and most people like it and that's way more then I ever expected for my 1st foundry. Its been a great experience so far :)
    [SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
  • mee2002mee2002 Member Posts: 100 Bounty Hunter
    edited June 2013
    I think I missed the boat a bit (It said it was already eligible for daily when I got it) but I played your map and loved it. Even though I HATE jumping puzzles. Very glad you made it easier, cause I still had a heck of a time. Riddles were great. Not sure if anyone else has mentioned it, but when you have to collect the 6 mushrooms, you can just click the same one twice. Of course, the combat there is optional so it doesn't make much difference. I also got lost in the purple path. It's a pretty big area, and all the orbs can get confusing. Maybe just make a one line path with them to follow instead? It could just be me though.
    NW-DPTTECLTF - Cindy Jones and the Holy Stein. A simple but hopefully entertaining foray into the world of Foundry.
  • sskmomsskmom Member Posts: 38
    edited June 2013
    Thank you mee2002 for playing my quest. I'm so glad you liked it even when you don't like jumping puzzles. You figured out the trick to the mushrooms :) I do know about them but the only way I know to fix it is to put layers and for them to disappear and I'm afraid that I'll break it and people will get stuck and not be able to finish the quest. So as long as its working and the time doesn't drop to below 15 min - I figured I'd leave that little shortcut in there for the people that find it. Good job on finding it. I get lost a little on those colored paths too - especially the red path. As long as you can find your way without dying though - I'm ok with it. I don't think its too hard but I might want to make the spacing a little more even. That would probably help and it would look better too. Thank you again for the review - I really appreciate it!
    [SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
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