eepcat on 13/8/2002 at 14:22
Lord Alan's Basement is simply too difficult to be fun. I think that authors of FMs need to keep in mind that a lot of players do not have 6-7 hours (or more) every night to play. I try to sneak in an hour after my wife and daughter go to sleep. When I come across a mission like this I quickly forfeit, because the risk of spending that entire time looking for a hidden switch is too great. I am amazed at the effort that is put into FMs, but I think that as a community, we fail to communicate to authors during beta test that most people are just going to get frustrated and give up.
By the way, when I played this mission, I had a very poor frame rate...unlike most FMs...did anyone else experience this?
diana50322 on 13/8/2002 at 15:32
I understand your frustration. I don't know how long you have played FM's but for me, it took a while to get to a point where I could tackle the tough ones. Now I need a mission like "Lord Alan's Basement" to quench my thirst for a challenge. Where at first I wanted an I-can-finish-in-a-night mission now I crave a make-me-miserable-for-a-week mission. I often feel the need to vent my frustrations here at the forum but just as often a turn around and find the answer was right there in front of me all the time. Rest assured that they do all they can in beta test to forsee these obsticles, but FM's have to satisfy a very wide range of playing tastes, talents, and time limits. Just keep playing the ones that suit you and save the rest for later. When you come back to them you may say, "Hey, this aint so tough!" Then you will be begging for more. ;)
Nightwalker on 13/8/2002 at 15:38
Diana has it right, eepcat. I would never have tackled Basement when I first started playing missions. This one isn't actually as difficult as it might seem at first, but some of the puzzles can be hard to figure out. The finishing the first release of this mission was almost a group effort for some of us. The second release has been improved with, (I hope! :)) easier to read and understand clues and better shadows, key placements, etc., but it will never be an easy mission. Andrea likes puzzles and it shows. When you find a mission that doesn't really suit your taste, just go on to another one. You'll find lots that you'll enjoy. :)
raetsel on 13/8/2002 at 20:09
eepcat: my framerate was fine which was part of what i liked as well... many that i've found as impressive have had bad framerates for me.
i understand what you mean about difficulty...
this one did not cause me much for problems like that, but lots have... some i've had to span over a couple days or more because they were so difficult for me.
the only time, though, that this ends up hurting my enjoyment of the fm is when i'm spending hours looking for 50 loot to complete that objective and i just cannot find it!
i'm currently about 70% done, err i think anyway heh, with an fm, and level of difficulty is proving a hard thing to call since everyone has their own playing style and all i know really well is my own...which...is not going to help me out in my own fm since i don't need any clues, hehe! don't want it to be so easy that it's boring.. or so difficult people give up either (so i guess it all comes down to beta-testing with many people really).
this fm was definitely for puzzle-lovers. I agree with Nightwalker that there are plenty of fms for every taste/style to enjoy. i like puzzles.. don't like running around being forced to hack up guards.. so when i run into missions that force a non-sneaking approach, i save them for later usually and move on (though eventually i play them all when i have time).
Goldie81 on 13/8/2002 at 20:23
Just a little question, don't know if it's answered, haven't had the time to read through the threads cause I wanna play all the time (it's a great mission!):
Are the golden bone's and the square floating box next to the garden important? I mean do you need to do something with them?
I put a golden bone ontop of the floating square box just for fun and there was a
HUGE EXPLOSION!!!! Hehe just kidding...
Nightwalker on 13/8/2002 at 20:28
No, they're just decoration. There's nothing that you have to do with that stuff. :)
Goldie81 on 13/8/2002 at 22:19
Where in the world is "The Silver"??? Only objective I have left, just can't find it.
And how do you open the picture in the music room?
Goldie81 on 13/8/2002 at 22:23
I just found the silver
Jennie&Tim on 29/10/2002 at 23:28
I am just finishing this mission, came here to look for a clue to finding the horn (I think I found it), and it is simply a wonderful mission. I adored all the details, particularly that the first tunnels only had mushrooms for lighting--it always strikes me as strange when sewers and underground tunnels have torches or even electric lights. I will definitely look for the sequel mentioned in earlier posts!
Sunsurfer on 14/6/2003 at 12:25
Looks like I'm bringing up the rear in this mission. I finally finished it after a little help from this thread finding the hand.
Total time: 2 hrs. 28 min 35 sec. that's if you don't count the countless reloads that I had to do. Great mission though.
Loot found: 3837
Now to play Lord Alan's Fortress...
