[WIP] The Ghost of Dr. Arachnikara *NEW UPDATE V1.8*

[DragonRuins]

Alright, I finally gave this a playthrough, so here's my thoughts:

Spoiler below!

It isn't that bad, but there's certainly work to be done. Most of your rooms come across as very very empty, lacking any sort of atmosphere and scenery. The rooms lack objects and are nearly barren, excluding the dungeon which had an over abundance of boxes all over the floor which just looked messy, and the library had bookshelves that didn't even have books on them. It would make sense if there were books scattered all over the floor in front of the empty shelves, but without any books at all, it was just empty and lackluster. I'd try adding scattered books and papers to the floors and shelves of those kinds of areas, add tools to the shelves in the dungeon, use some statues here and there; don't be afraid to add some scenery and make the house look like someone lives there. Also, the bookshelves that actually did contain books, I can tell most of them were copy/pasted; you used the same unmovable books and used nothing but those books for the entire map, and some of the books were hovering on the shelf. You should try using multiple books, shuffling them around a bit, make it look less symmetrical and copy/pasted, and make it seem more natural and used. I'm also very confused as to the use of all the buttons, I wasn't sure what most of them were actually doing. They made unlocking noises, but nothing ever seemed to be unlocked. There's also the matter of switches/levers just suddenly appearing. You should try having them always visible and there, but unable to be used until you active them in some manner. I read a note which mentioned the use of a lever I hadn't seen at all, and suddenly when I stopped reading it just appeared in front of my face. The last thing I want to address is that one room in the library, the large one with the bookshelves lined up leading to a straight path towards the door and two knight statues. The fact that you used such a big room confuses me, seeing how any attempt to walk over to the big empty areas is met with a sudden force shoving me back and making noise. It makes me wonder why you wouldn't just make a small hallway for this instead of the unnecessary large room that isn't fully used. Also, the ending confused me. You're dropped into a room with no ceiling, monsters spawn right behind you but they poof before you can turn around and see them, and once you move towards the desk it's over. I'm not really sure what happened there.

Overall, it's not bad for a first map, but you should remember these things and use them to your advantage in your next map.

I can explain a few things for you. The bookshelves and the books. I will most certainly be fixing that, I just wanted to get the base done for a couple maps to see if I was getting anywhere with it. It's also very time consuming. The ending.. Yes, I'd just like to say that it has absolutely nothing to do with the map what so ever. I wanted something to use as the ending temporarily. I intend on building on this whole story and fixing up the previous maps as I hear from people like yourself. I'm hoping to have many, many maps when I'm finished with this whole thing. If I ever finish it. I don't mean that I'm going to stop working on it. I plan on changing the story as I go. When you finally "leave" I may have something happen to you yet again, and another map loads and there's another story. It would be like your character going through many different nightmares. Just that they aren't dreams. Thanks for the feedback, though. I'll do my best at using what you've said I should do.