Cursed Summoning, part one

[Entih]

Heh, no matter where you go, you will find someone who doesn't like the file hosting service you use, so honestly I just use whichever one I remember exists first. And trust me, those screenshots are cropped, I just play at 1920x1080, which makes it hard to think of what a good size is to show a screenshot at.

Alright, going in descending order.

Bulbatron, I suspected someone would at least TRY, so I kept that door up there locked, haha. I can't possible account for ingenuity on the scale it takes to get up there.

Thanks, Mekose, I was wondering if anyone would actually like it for some reason! The mapwork and lighting can be explained away easily as I usually map for Half-Life 2.

If you ask me, Frontcannon, the alchemy note is the only drawn out one, and I purposefully did that to it. The others all contain story specific information and hints, and nothing much in the way of unnecessary information. If you can get the note from the secret area, you'll be ahead of the game by 75% in terms of storyline awareness.

BulletInTheHart, nice! Though he shouldn't have been able to sneak up on you that hard, the game gives you a nice warning sound from the monsters whenever they become active.

[Frontcannon]

And trust me, those screenshots are cropped, I just play at 1920x1080, which makes it hard to think of what a good size is to show a screenshot at.

I'd prefer thumbnails or 800*600px images, works for everyone!

If you ask me, Frontcannon, the alchemy note is the only drawn out one, and I purposefully did that to it. The others all contain story specific information and hints, and nothing much in the way of unnecessary information.

Drawing something out purposefully does not make it better, but my point is: the contents of the notes were 'hidden' behind a language I really couldn't stand to read! It's tone and structure just made it feel like the author wanted to express his feelings in as much words as possible

Now the actual reason I posted here again: My playthrough is up, available here. Includes download link and all, and I have to say, I really like the way you write your scripts. Well-documented, clear and clean

[Bulbatron]

I've enjoyed this level as well. The problems I had before were solely due to my own stupidity.

However, having

Spoiler below!

mixed the potion (as far as I can tell, I mixed the potion correctly) and re-entered the kitchen I get the scary piece of music and I look around as though something is about to happen, but then, instead of being pulled into and down the shaft, I am just sort of dragged towards it in slow motion and I don't actually mount the banister round the side. I just get stuck there, almost, but not quite, going over in down the shaft.

I even checked the previous poster's playthrough to see what was supposed to happen and make sure I hadn't just done it wrong, but as far as I can tell, I've got everything right.

However, just to remind you, I have enjoyed the level and I like the lengthy notes.

[Entih]

Frontcannon: Can't say I agree with you on the notes yet, I merely wrote them in the natural way that came to me considering the personality I decided on for their author characters. I consider them as if entries in a novel that is my story, so I write them as I would write a descriptive narrative from the author's perspective. In terms of the alchemy one, think a student trying to overachieve to get a good grade (in this case, a middle level associate in this 'organization' wanting a promotion).

Awesome that you recorded the playthrough, though! YouTube is being evil at the moment, constantly freezing up on fully loaded portions, but I'll keep trying to watch it through.

Edit: Alright, YouTube finally cooperated! Nice! You were so close to finding the third tinderbox, though. I got devious with that one and put it so close, sooo close... you even looked right at it twice. First person to catch the simple secret area in video gets two cookies, I say.

Bulbatron: Bizarre... I tried to script the scene to account for anything the player may do, and not once in my testing could I make the scene not work properly! There were some close calls, mind you, as the nature of the script is fidgety (levitating the player is an extremely difficult thing to maintain, and what I settled on is the 10th incarnation (the others either had the player on the ground consistently, or had them bashed up into the ceiling repeatedly, breaking the horizontal momentum))

[house]

I saw a video of this on youtube.com

[RazTK]

By "secret area" do you mean this:

Spoiler below!

Was that supposed to be a secret area? :>

[Entih]

As close to one as I was willing to work to put in, haha. The decision to add it was late, after I had completed the cellar itself, so I wasn't going to go too elaborate, lest I go crazy with it and put off release another week or two.

I already have interesting ideas for the next sets of secret areas though.

[RazTK]

I had actually found it on my first playthrough. It was kind of obvious, though, having only 3 tinderboxes and then 3 candles to light up...

Anyway, it is a great map and I'm looking forward to playing the complete version. :>

[Bulbatron]

I just gave it another try with the exact same result. Oh well, it was a really good level up to that point. It's a shame I can't see the rest of it.

And as I said before, I like the notes. I thought they added a bit of depth and for the most part I really liked the rather florid way they were written.

Just one question, am I supposed to

Spoiler below!

levitate after picking up the lantern? If so, I didn't. I just look at the books coming off the shelf and then get thrust backwards, away from the desk, and into the wall behind me, before the candles go out.

Would deleting your level from my custom_stories and re-downloading it help perhaps?

[Entih]

Wait, you don't even levitate when you snag the lantern? Very, very odd... Try reinstalling the story, but that shouldn't change a thing, I don't use anything special to accomplish it.