Tower of Babel Forum

Fawlty · Mason Messages: 280 Location: Gütersloh

A) Damned Pusher
Just an early experiment.

B) Don't get stopped in Beverly Hills
Quite an accurate traffic jam simulation.

C) High-Tech Pegasus
(Exiter's work)

D) Let's lift!
Not really worth any comment, I think.

E) The Wall
Pretty straightforward. Pretty boring, actually. There's nothing you could do wrong here. Except being too slow.

F) Chambers of Shaolin
This has got some kind of adventure touch to it. No puzzle at all, just explore and pick up the klondikes. Mean trial-and-error though, 'cause there are some dead-ends. Draw a map, or cheat with the cameras...

No real challenge, but I'm quite proud of it, actually, 'cause it feels so damn BIG when you walk through it, though it's of course just the usual 8x8x4 grid.

G) Choose wisely, but don't waste your TIME!
Can't remember why we chose that title. The tower's rather easy, and there's no tight timing. It's okay though.

H) Think or die!
Again, the title maybe promises more than the tower can keep.

I) Tangled???
A little more tricky tower at last.

You'll need programming on this one, but keeping track of all the spiders is indispensable.

P.S.: You find the disk-image with this group in the thread "New old towers approaching!".

Dr. · Administrator Messages: 310 Location: Saarbrücken

GROUP 2

a) Damned Pusher
"Just an early experiment."
Racing up to grab the Klondike before the Pusher blocks it and then backing off before the time-bomb blows? Nice idea.

b) Don't get stopped in Beverly Hills
Did you write this after watching L.A. Story?
Anyway, it really is an accurate traffic jam simulation. I just realized Grabbers are lacking a horn to honk and a steering wheel to pound on. Combining a time limit with the old hopper/watcher swarm really can be quite detrimental to one's emotional balance.
Still, once you realize which lift goes down and which up, and that the first Klondike is placed in a blind spot, you got plenty of time.
I think I just might have refused to try a third time. I'm easily unhinged.

c) High-Tech Pegasus (programmable!)
Nice one! First, I just love the title. It's hilarious. Second, I very nearly fell for the trap. Exchangers just beg to be used, making it very easy to punish players for short-sightedness.
Do you remember that nasty original tower with the red-herring Exchanger? The one with the lifts arranged like a cross (I think)?

d) Let's lift!
Not worth a comment? In the contrary! The idea is excellent. I'm so greedy for Klondikes I had trouble realizing the fact I would have to (doubletake) ZAP them!
You might consider stepping up the difficulty a bit by turning the Forcer Down into one of the targets - objects destroyed by time-bombs don't count towards the limit, after all. You'd have to race toward the Forcer first with the Grabber and then with the Zapper before the thing goes off. You might also want to place a necessary Klondike where the Grabber can reach it, perhaps one after that red-herring Exchanger and another one somewhere next to the Forcers. If the Grabber grabs them (Preciousss! MY Klondike!), the Zapper can't destroy them anymore.
Plus timed elements are always making for some extra adrenaline. If you start a tower and blunder around and hear the "poof-crash" sound, you know you really stepped in it.
That's why I like to add some otherwise senseless self-destructing what-have-you now and then, just to annoy players ("Dog-houses" comes to mind.)

e) The Wall.
Lift-mania, eh? I can't see that bloody second Klondike... I'll just charge in and hope time doesn't run out. Probably behind that raised lift...
(...)
Note: Combining a time-limit with elements forcing you to waste precious seconds just waiting for something to happen can make players gnaw the mouse in frustration.
This time I'm fast enough.
(...)
Right. I really was simple.

f) Chambers of Shaolin
Mhngrmblmpf. I don't think I have the patience right now for a maze, especially one of that size.
I'll try it another time.
Tomorrow.

g) Choose wisely, but don't waste your TIME!
Hmm. A guess-the-right-one tower, is it? Maybe it's just too late. I'll finish for today, I guess. Hell, I still got to write that one paper...

...

Well, maybe one more, then I'll call it quits.

h) Think or die!
"The title promises more than the tower can keep."
Come on, it's not that bad. I bet you have to deduce the existence of a hidden Zapper behind a lift in line with your Grabber that will come down when the Forcer is triggered; the position of the glass block (just waiting to be pushed in front of the Grabber) and the Zapper spider (in line with the Forcer) are nice hints (for us with elite status: dead give-aways).
(...)
Booooo... You can SEE the Zappers when you switch to external view from your Zapper!
You should do something about that. Plus if you delete the Freezer the player will need to use the Pusher as a watch-out to check on the orientation of the rotating Zapper on top. Maybe it could be just visible from a special position?

All right... just ONE more...

i) Tangled???
Actually, you neither need programming nor keep track of any spiders. Just wait till the time-bomb eliminates the forcer, then grab the Exchanger behind that and you're in.
But one block or other obstacle will fix this. You could also provide some work for the Zapper. Remember: used exchangers count as destroyed robots; right now the Zapper has nothing to do, only the Pusher has to push the glass block in front of the Zapper at the south-western corner.
But then, boy, is it going to be a beauty.
Even so I played it about four times till I got the timing right like it was supposed to be.
Fix it up, will you? I'd really love to see it.
This was only the beta-stage.

--
Das Lemsche Gesetz:
Niemand liest etwas; wenn er etwas liest, versteht er es nicht; wenn er es versteht, vergißt er es sofort.

Fawlty · Mason Messages: 280 Location: Gütersloh

Zitat: - Z -

Do you remember that nasty original tower with the red-herring Exchanger? The one with the lifts arranged like a cross (I think)?

No, I'm afraid not. I'd really like to have a list of all the original towers, but I'm much to lazy to make one myself. I'll try to extract tower data from the game disk someday. Then it would be much easier to write down some comments to the more interesting levels.

Zitat: - Z -

d) Let's lift!
You might consider stepping up the difficulty a bit by ...

Thanks for your suggestions!!! Very valuable indeed. I've immediately used them on the tower, and I think I can turn it into a little jewel now! I have a cunning plan...

Zitat: - Z -

f) Chambers of Shaolin
Mhngrmblmpf. I don't think I have the patience right now for a maze, especially one of that size.
I'll try it another time.
Tomorrow.

Take your time!

I'll do the same now. Good night!

Fawlty · Mason Messages: 280 Location: Gütersloh

Okay, let's not keep any comment uncommented... *g*

Zitat: - Z -

h) Think or die!
(...)
You should do something about that. Plus if you delete the Freezer the player will need to use the Pusher as a watch-out to check on the orientation of the rotating Zapper on top. Maybe it could be just visible from a special position?

Hm, okay, maybe I'll try to update the tower a little. In the meantime, while thinking about your hints, I had an idea for an experiment. My first real new tower since the "comeback" of ToB is in the making. Don't expect anything, please!

(one hour later)
Okay, I guess it works now. It's not too bad actually.

Zitat: - Z -

i) Tangled???
Actually, you neither need programming nor keep track of any spiders. Just wait till the time-bomb eliminates the forcer, then grab the Exchanger behind that and you're in.

Oh shit, I see. This really needs some revision.

Zitat: - Z -

You could also provide some work for the Zapper. Remember: used exchangers count as destroyed robots;

And that's the problem!! There are already five exchangers, plus one zapper that needs to be destroyed. So I'd have to include a converter somewhere, but I already have 17 objects. Some of them are disposable fortunately. I'll see what I can do.
Somehow I was convinced that Zapper really had to do something here... Strange.

Zitat: - Z -

Fix it up, will you? I'd really love to see it.

Promise!

Fawlty · Mason Messages: 280 Location: Gütersloh

What a day! It's done...

I created three real hardcore towers. Monsters of mean timing. I'm really proud of them. But also mentally and physically exhausted from testing and improving those beasts. They're all based on old towers of mine, more or less. Now I need some stuff to fill up a group...... Damn!

Dr. · Administrator Messages: 310 Location: Saarbrücken

Just post them as they are, and let us do some playtesting.
Come on...

--
Das Lemsche Gesetz:
Niemand liest etwas; wenn er etwas liest, versteht er es nicht; wenn er es versteht, vergißt er es sofort.

Fawlty · Mason Messages: 280 Location: Gütersloh

I want to see you begging... Har har!

No, seriously, I already thought I'd just post those three towers for you to look at. Instead of designing six more towers, I should rather focus on starting with the conversion tool... *g*

I'll just take another look at the towers this evening, and if I still like 'em then, I'll upload them. You know, sometimes when you just developed something and think it's great, it can be quite a disappointment when you look at it from a little distance...

Fawlty · Mason Messages: 280 Location: Gütersloh

Okay, here they are. Since all three towers have evolved from old towers of group 2, and it's not a complete group yet, I'll just post them here instead of opening a new thread.

A) Busy Boys
I took the basic design of "Think or die!" and built a completely new tower with it. I'm quite pleased with the result. It's easy to forget important steps here, so be on the ball!

B) Killswitch
This was called "Let's lift!" before I turned it into a really mean machine. You might come to the conclusion that this tower is impossible. It is not. It's not even too difficult, actually. I'm looking forward to your comments!

C) Tangled!
This time with a self-confident exclamation mark!

Now it works with just the concept I originally intended, only even a little bit more hectic. Thanks to Z for the advice! Hope you'll enjoy it.

Dr. · Administrator Messages: 310 Location: Saarbrücken

Right... Just downloaded your three Terror Towers. Hope they keep what the title promises.

Regarding those two old towers I left out:

f) Chamber of Shaolin
The worst thing about this tower is the colour of the walls. It feels like groping around in some thick fog. I fell for the worm trap, I'm afraid; probably took some wrong turn.
Maybe some day I'll actually try again and finish it.

g) Choose wisely, but don't waste your TIME!
Took me some fiddling around as I charged straight in; not too interesting, I'm afraid. The puzzle is quite simple; the main problem is getting a good look at it. Bloody camera angles...

--
Das Lemsche Gesetz:
Niemand liest etwas; wenn er etwas liest, versteht er es nicht; wenn er es versteht, vergißt er es sofort.

Dr. · Administrator Messages: 310 Location: Saarbrücken

All right! I tackled your three new towers.

a) Busy Boys
Nice. One of those towers where you better don't sit around waiting for things to happen...
The rotary Zapper/Time Bomb combination at the south end, where the Zapper spider is waiting, is a very nice touch. And, as usual, I have to struggle to destroy a Klondike.
Yet I'm missing the original ideal of Think or Die, the hidden elements whose presence you have to deduce.

b) Kill Switch
My... Fooled myself with this one. Damn, it's NEARLY possible to do it the other way, just half a second missing or so. Of course, once you realize it it's very easy.

c) Tangled!
This is a mean one. The first one was easy, and the second only seemed to be difficult, but this one is advanced. In theory it's easy, but getting the timing right between blasting the lifts free, starting the Forcer and taking that crucial step backwards once you arrive after having been exchanged around in all directions...
My hands still hurt from pounding on the table in frustration. It took me a few tries, believe me.

Hmm... I just had trouble finding the right thread. (shaking head)

--
Das Lemsche Gesetz:
Niemand liest etwas; wenn er etwas liest, versteht er es nicht; wenn er es versteht, vergißt er es sofort.