[Custom dungeon] The Trail [RTC] [Saumun]

[Saumun]

Ignore the last question. I’ve realised what went wrong.

[DM_Player]

Ok, I went back and did it the way you expected. Much easier to kill the wizard this way.

On the next level up, I think you have to

Spoiler

flip all 4 switches fast enough, which opens a movable wall to the pit, you drop down the pit, this opens the door above that doesn't need a key, go to that room, kill a monster get a key for the other door, go to that room, kill a monster, get an orb

If this is right, then I must not be fast enough as a wall never opens. I tried it starting at either end of the 4 switch sequence.

[Saumun]

Almost.

Spoiler

Each lever briefly turns one of the walls surrounding the pit, to a fake wall.
If you turn on ros on the map tablet, then view it immediately after pulling a lever, you’ll see which wall corresponds to which lever.
You only have to make it through once to drop onto the “High Impact” pad.
Three of them are virtually impossible to get to in time, and one gives you plenty of time.

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When you drop onto the pad, you’ll get a message.

[DM_Player]

Much easier than what I was trying. 3rd Orb obtained.

[DM_Player]

I may have missed something along the way.

I don't have another onyx key and can't get into the 4th tower.

I only found 2 onyx gems, but it looks like I need 4 in the pure onyx is the key area?

No place to progress to right now

[Saumun]

Spoiler

Try the alcove on the bottom floor where you found the scroll with the blind dragon story. The key only appears after you read it.

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You haven’t missed any onyx gems. You do indeed need four to power the orbs, but there are only two that can be found.
You must make enough money to withdraw two more from the bank.

[DM_Player]

Spoiler

Try the alcove on the bottom floor where you found the scroll with the blind dragon story.

Yes, I didn't have this key. You might want to consider changing this. Why would anyone go back and look in this alcove for this key? or did I miss a clue that would give a player a hint to go back and look for a key here?

[DM_Player]

Stuck once again.

Have 4 orbs and 4 onyx gems. Put the gems in the alcoves, but nothing happens. Don't understand the down switch that isn't active.

[Saumun]

Spoiler

Have you put the orbs onto the stands?
When you put one on a stand, it remains clear until you put an onyx gem in a corresponding alcove... but if you have gems already in the alcoves, they should change to black immediately.

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With everything in place you should hear a long sound, and the lever should work.

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Tip: Save the game and get ready to fight.

[DM_Player]

Completed! Nice ending sequence.

You put A LOT of work into this dungeon. Hope some others play it. If you put a couple of tweaks into an updated version then maybe they won't need as much help as I did

Got 8 of 12 secrets. Never did have the sun shine at midnight, so I didn't get the sun blade? Missed the lacerator, nemisis and eviserator.

Thanks again for this dungeon. It must have taken you forever to complete with all of the new graphics, wall sets, monsters, etc.

Also, for once RTC didn't crash as it went through the ending sequence (seems like most games do?). What's up with the email to george@ragingmole.com?

[Saumun]

Well played and thanks.
You’ve done me a big favour. I’ve completed it over and over and, as is inevitable, missed some things.
Always good for someone else to play it and pick up on things the dungeon creator might not see.

I have sent you a pm just to tie up those missing secrets.

[Prince of Elves]

Hi Saumun,

I seem to be one of the few people who actually liked DM2 (at least the parts outside of the keep...), and I really love what you have built with The Trail.

I'm quite a few hours into Part 1 by now, found a lot of things and even one secret so far - and probably missed even more. However, I've found three situations that may be possible bugs (I have savegames for each of them if you need it). I didn't check if anyone reported them so far for fear of spoilers.

First one is in the Guard Tower. I screamed at a vexirk when trying to kill it prematurely, and it doesn't seem to un-stun again, at least not for as long as I had the patience to wait. So, potential dead end there; I completed that one using an earlier savegame.

Second on is in Bellande House. There is a point where the game simply shuts down, not every time but reproducable:

Spoiler

If I Mind Control the minion from outside its moving area, it is nearly impossible to hit it. Sometimes the spell flashes against the wall, as expected and sometimes I suddenly stare at desktop background.

Not much of a problem there but I wanted to mention it if you want to iron it out.

Third one may be a real problem for me, because if it is waht I believe it to be, then my mistake was way earlier in the game and I'll have to start over again. (Well, second run will be much faster, because I charted out the maps and that's what takes longest.) So here it is:
In the KU section

Spoiler

are two pressure plates with respawning armors. I think I killed one of them during an earlier visit to that level (well, I know I did, but I'm not sure if I saved before or after that, I like to do "scout runs" but probably not this time). Anyway the armor on that side is immune to mind control now by scaring it into the right direction I can't get it to move through the door...

But overall, great experience, thank you so much for the effort you put into it!

PS: Quick question: am I supposed to have found the DES rune by now? Simple yes or no is all I want at this point. There are lots of areas with immaterials where I can't go on and I have the EW rune but no DES. Just asking...

[Saumun]

Hi Prince,

Thanks for your input. I’ll certainly have a look at the vexirk and minion parts you mentioned. I’m currently making some minor bugfixes and adding a couple of bits to part 2 (should be ready in the next few days), so this is a good time for me to take a look.

In the part you mentioned about the Ku area...

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Until you’ve stepped on the particular pad in the northern or southern half, the knight in that section should always respawn (let me know if it hasn’t for some reason).

Spoiler

Mind control only works on the knight in the northern half of that area. Try coaxing the other to somewhere that would seem suicidal to you.

It’s not a question of whether you should have the des rune at this point, but you’ve definitely had the opportunity to get it... though it’s not anywhere obvious.

[Prince of Elves]

Ah OK, perfect, then I'll continue trying and looking - until now I always found some spot where I could go on. Your game has a bit of Metroid Prime feeling to it: lots of criss-crossing but in a cool way.

Some areas I don't understand yet but I guess it'll fall into place sometime.

Until now there was only one part I really don't get even though I solved it and didn't even take too long for that:

Spoiler

The ZO/mirror part in the tower. With the first on the wall part seems to behave strangely: Sometimes it stays intact, sometimes it fully opens and sometimes it turns into a fake wall (though I may have missed the opening section before that one).
But the big room is even more vexing because I still have no idea where the spell moves. Somehow I did it right and I know where the mirror has to go because I had to do it twice because of that vexirk, but still...

But back to gaming for now.

[Saumun]

I do vaguely remember the zo cloud occasionally sticking, but it’s a long time since I created part 1 and can’t remember why. It’s purely cosmetic, so it doesn’t affect anything. It’s something I can look at.

Spoiler

Since you’re already through that part, I’ll explain...
The zo spell needs to hit the door, but it can only be done by rerouting it through the holes to appear from the hole on the other side of the door.
You have to work out how to get the spell through the hole on the western wall to do so.

[Prince of Elves]

Thanks for the explanation, really appreciate it.

Figured out the KU part too - that's a tricky one, not sure I could have done it on my own though there are some small clues. I'm just not (yet? ) used to hidden triggers like that.

Not quite sure where I will go now, probably should start making a list of my obvious loose ends as there are quite a lot by now. ^^

[Prince of Elves]

OK, short update: I finally got the map, so you can forget about my Tower rant. I guess with a map the spell part should be relatively easy as you can see the spells. Well, so I proved it can be done without any map at all if you got the nerve and a bit of luck and instinct. ^^

And just another similarity between the Trail and Metroid Prime: always when I'm just about to give up and ask (or go looking) for help I stumble across a section I somehow missed or remember a part where I couldn't go on first time - and on it goes. Found myself a Winged Key now and hope it fits somewhere cool. Right now, I don't have time to go on but I got my "happy flash" that always gives me the drive to move on after those tedious episodes when nothing seems to work.

[Saumun]

Nice going.
Yep, it’s always the way. I remember searching for hours for a key in Tower of Champions, and then finding it minutes after posting the question in the forum.
Keep checking your magic map. You’ll see places you can go, even if you can’t immediately see how to get there.

[Prince of Elves]

Okay, I'm afraid I'm stuck now. Found even more cool things since last time I posted, but there is always another wall immediatly after, nothing to get me going freely again for at least a time. So i decided to make a list of what I achieved so far.

It's probably best for anyone who is still playing to skip these spoilers as they may be major ones.

Let's start with the secrets:

Spoiler

Found 6 so far: three map spells (the first from the tower top I can't cast because I haven't found KATH yet and the complete map of the cellar/mine section) and two parts of the KU/ROS armor (shield and legs). I strongly suspect where a third part may be (near the circles of lightning) but haven't figured out how to get there yet. I don't even remember what the sixth one was, but the secrets are more of a "nice to have" anyway, so no worries there.

Runes:

Spoiler

Got LO to PAL, YA, VI, OH, FUL and ZO, so DES is still missing, VEN, EW, IR and BRO, so no KATH and GOR so far, and RA.

Guard Tower:

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I believe I pretty much cleared out the tower. Got the rune from the basement, the one on the ground floor is a must have anyway (still figuring out about the prince and pauper, but I know where they lie). First floor yielded the katana, second not much of interest except what is necessary to gon on, third floor has the ZO rune and Junkyard Key, and on the roof are the secret map scroll and the stash beyond the door with the RA keys, which I cleared out.

Bellande House:

Spoiler

Got to the door on the second floor which wants "the knowledge", in the basement I got both keys for the doors in the north, but sadly they won't open because of the missing gears... Wiped out the spiders, but didn't seem to get anything in return for my troubles. Ah, and tried out the VI altar with every set of bones I could find, but none worked so far.

The Rest:

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Found Meseu's grave and the house with the iron keys (the last house ist still not accessible, probably will have to work my way up there from the inside). Threw the tabletop from the Junkyard down the hole. And finally worked my way past the three ghosts behind the skeleton door and opened up much of the labyrinth next to it (by the way, I encountered a vexirk in there but had to retreat because of the ghosts and can't find the vexirk again - hope it doesn't carry anything useful), but the final way to the hole in the middle stays closed.

In KU/ROS I found the Nightblade and two bronze keys, still lacking the third which I guess is with Project 17.

Oh, and not to forget: three Flying Chests so far. And found a vacuum fuse.

SO, obvious missing parts for now:

Spoiler

the third house
the gears in Bellande as well as "the knowledge"
the dock house (obviously, as I believe it's the finish of part one)
the grave of (I guess) the pauper which door I can't open despite the skeleton key
one small area in the eastern part of the mines next to the area where the brass key was
as said above, the third bronze key as well as lots of other keys for the KU/ROS level (pump, ladder)

Well, probably forgot some things, but it seems to cover my progress for now. Actually, I don't even know what to ask for as don't like at all to have to rely on hints. So, for now just two questions: do I have to worry about that vanished/roaming vexirk in the mines? And since the roaming ghosts are starting to really annoy me (which I was afraid of, so I left them where they were for as long as I had something else to do), so I'd like a hint of an area where I can search for that missing DES rune.

[Saumun]

You mentioned the vexirk after...

Spoiler

opening the door to the three ghosts. Did you open the door to the room full of skeletons on the other side? The lever in there opens the other portion of the square where you found the vexirk. There are four pads to step on... one in each corner.

The Des rune...

Spoiler

is connected to the guards outside the tower. Think about how you got into the tower in the first place.

[Prince of Elves]

The vexirk:

Spoiler

Wiped out the skeletons a long time ago. Couldn't make much sense of the two pressure plates with the hazes around them that time (and now that you mention it: there may also have been a vexirk at the time. I so, I killed it - would have remembered otherwise. So when I finally got past that ghost that seemed to have grown roots in front of the door, I got the other two pressure plates and the hazes vanished. Found the corner with the two switches which opened up the inner ring (and cam across that vexirk that I haven't seen since). I've walked over all eight pressure plates repeatedly in different order, but haven't reached the hole in the middle so far.

DES:
Well, that's an area I would never have thought of investigating again. I'll go checking right away, thanks.

[Saumun]

Ah, I wasn’t aware that you had...

Spoiler

opened the inner ring. I should probably add a clue there. The inner four pads are a speed test.

[Prince of Elves]

Cool, then that's where I'll go next.

Spoiler

So, basically like the four switches in the tower, but the hint there are the pits.

As to my above comment (DES): that was not quite right, I did wonder

Spoiler

where they go/come from, but never checked because at first, I didn't like to wait again and then I just forgot about it...

[Prince of Elves]

Made lots of progress and am very happy that things are running again.

However, I have one question concerning the

Spoiler

NETA staff or more specifically, its vitality (?) spell. If I have the staff in hand, it shows it as OH EW NETA and clicking on it works, but if I try it after I get the NETA rune it is a "meaningless" spell. The shield spell works fine, by the way.

And a more general question: Have you changed the armor stats? The wiki tells me the Fire Poleyn gives +15 Strength while yours grants +4 Anti-Fire. Would you care to disclose the stats of the armors (if you haven't already done somewhere) or at least hint about hidden stats? The secret armor at least is totally new, so no stats available on the wiki for that one. Aaaaand: which set would you recommend/do you like best personally - or even a mixture of all? I prefer the secret one so far, mostly because it IS secret. The Tech one seems to be the most valuable, while the Fire armor seems to be the least heavy - just some considerations on my part aside from the actual stats.

[Saumun]

Because it’s a few years since I created part one, these are things I’ll have to check.
I’ll take a look, but it will have to be later today. I can indeed provide stats for you.

Spoiler

I think I did change the stats in the fire armour to give added fire protection, but can’t remember what else.

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In my opinion, the armour from the Ku/Ros level is best. It increases strength and dexterity, affords better protection, and is light.

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I used the standard object for the Neta Staff, so again it’s something I’ll check on.

[Prince of Elves]

OK thanks, that was more curiosity on my part anyway. And that spell is probably not something I'll ever need, but I like to try them all.

[Saumun]

Note: To anyone currently skipping to this page

The link in the first post is now to an updated version (1.07). The previous version is no longer available, but still works fine and can still be completed.
If you’re playing Part 1 of v1.06, your final save can be used in v1.07 Part 2. I’d suggest using this, as a few fixes and several additions have been made.
I won’t list them, suffice to say they are listed in a text file with the zip.

[Prince of Elves]

Great, so I'll continue with the new Part 2 when I finally get that far.

Still lacking four runes: KATH (probably missed it somewhere...), KU, ROS and SAR.

I'm a bit perplexed about the restless spirit: solved it but didn't get anything useful out of it. Checked some other places, but knowing you, I'll probably stumble about something somewhere.

[Saumun]

The Sar rune won’t be available to you yet.

Spoiler

A broad hit for Kath... Look for somewhere in the town you haven’t accessed. It’s not the house with the broken lock. In fact it couldn’t be further away.

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The restless spirit is the ghost of the pauper. His grave cannot be opened (even with the key) until he has been released.

[Prince of Elves]

KATH:

Spoiler

Ah OK, so it'll be that strange little spot near stonehenge. I've seen it figuring out the guards but have not yet found access to it. I thought maybe it'll open when I start with the incantations but I'll have to find KU first (well, no idea, where to look for that - just kidding). Otherwise, I'll figure something out.

spirit:

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Yes, I know and I did open that grave but apart from the bones (not resurrectable, by the way ) I only found some rags there. With the scroll in the tower and the message of the exorcised ghost I expected something more.