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IDProjectCategoryLast Update
0007890Valley 1Suggestion - Room Ideas/ComplaintsJun 28, 2012 12:14 pm
ReporterNanostrike Assigned To 
Status consideringResolutionopen 
Product Version1.021 
Summary0007890: Puzzle Rooms aren't fun
DescriptionThe Puzzle Rooms are currently the biggest thing preventing me from doing the Mystery quests.

Finding the room is difficult enough, but once you get there, there's a long, tedious puzzle. I despise these puzzles, as they bring the flow of an exploration to a complete halt and wish there was some sort of other way to get the lore of the game.

I would be happy to see a boss guarding a Clue Room instead of a puzzle. Fighting a challenging boss appeals to me, but doing a puzzle absolutely doesn't.
TagsNo tags attached.
Internal WeightFeature Suggestion

Activities

Chris_McElligottPark

May 17, 2012 6:12 pm

administrator   ~0024417

We are planning to make alternate ways to get mystery clues other than just these puzzle rooms. However, these rooms aren't particularly going anywhere -- if you use the right spells and think each move through, they take 3-5 minutes at most.

Chthonic One

May 17, 2012 9:21 pm

reporter   ~0024422

Last edited: May 17, 2012 9:21 pm

A puzzle indicates a game mechanic that a player must use to solve a problem. The only mechanic the player needs to master in a puzzle room is aiming his spells right, and that can be frustrating as some spells "miss" spots randomly. Seriously, I've had issues changing a spot because my spell hits # 1 # 2 and # 5 in a row completely straight, but missed # 3 and # 4 despite them being directly between the others.

A puzzle should be challenging for the player's mind, not frustrating because game mechanics don't seem to work the way you expect. I'm not asking puzzle rooms be taken out, just that they be refined into something that is more a puzzle, rather than an obnoxious obstacle for the player.

Bluddy

May 18, 2012 12:05 pm

reporter   ~0024440

I agree. The only thing this puzzle does is test how accurately you can use your spells over and over again. All I did was use miasma whip repeatedly, making sure to fire it at different stages of my jump to alter different spheres. This was mind-numbing (and error-prone) activity that took about 10-15 minutes. I'm pretty sure I won't be doing this again.

I recommend again to create a version of Tidalis puzzles within the game, and to carry over some of the puzzle designs or design new ones.

Alternatively, I recommend making a more intricate puzzle design. Each ball could react differently to each element, some changing color, some not reacting, some blocking the spell from going through, and some letting the element through. We could then have puzzles of only 10-30 balls in different patterns.

Chthonic One

May 18, 2012 6:13 pm

reporter   ~0024470

Alternately you could design a puzzle room with clues in the dungeon or the room itself that indicate how to manipulate the puzzle to unlock the next secret. Perhaps a pattern that must be followed, with far fewer balls to affect.

Make the player have to think about how to do the puzzle and explore the level to figure out what he's doing wrong.

Nanostrike

May 19, 2012 12:28 am

reporter   ~0024478

Anything to make an alternative to the normal puzzle rooms. I'm in the same boat as Bluddy, where it takes me a minimum of 10-15 minutes for a puzzle. I'm sure folks can do it faster, but I can't seem to and, since I really hate the puzzles, I'm probably not going to practice enough to get much faster.

They took so long that I would literally not even mess with a Puzzle Room even if I saw one.

It's nothing against your puzzles. They're clever and I think they'd be great for a player that likes them. It's just that having them as the ONLY way to get clues (And learn some of the game's lore!) was terrible.

Danei

Jun 8, 2012 8:13 pm

reporter   ~0025704

Last edited: Jun 8, 2012 8:15 pm

I agree with the reporter. Puzzle rooms aren't really "puzzles", because they require little or no mental effort to complete. There isn't much platforming/combat challenge involved, either; you just need to have a reasonable selection of spells to hit all the balls, and possibly some platforms to position yourself to hit them.

A time limit would increase the challenge, by rewarding clever and accurate spell usage, but also make it a little nervewracking. Maybe make the time limit depend on the platforming difficulty setting?

Kio

Jun 8, 2012 8:36 pm

reporter   ~0025707

my first encounter with a puzzle room, i was kinda hoping for something with more of an actual PUZZLE puzzle, like activating switches that opened/closed paths, or perhaps even a fight with a slow/immobile boss that had low damage, but had to be beaten by means of figuring out weakness of parts, that change with the use of switches or different spell types, creating a new weakness following some logic (like hit fire-weak with water spell, switches to entropy weakness; hit entropy-weak with water spell, switches to earth weakness)

topper

Jun 8, 2012 10:10 pm

reporter   ~0025709

For a short term fix, maybe the puzzle rooms can have a greatly reduced number of orbs, but also a time limit based on orb numbers.

"Turn all X puzzle orbs blue in Y seconds, GO!"

Nanashi

Jun 28, 2012 10:46 am

reporter   ~0026092

Agree strongly with this issue. Even a Simon game or a Mastermind game (not too difficult to program) would have been more fun and less tedious.

Well, maybe not the Simon one. I've had way too many of those.

TechSY730

Jun 28, 2012 12:14 pm

reporter   ~0026096

I think that this will be partially fixed once more types of "puzzles" are added in, and the current "puzzle" is just one of many possible kinds of puzzle rooms you could encounter.

That still doesn't address the point that the current "puzzle" room is not very much of a puzzle (or not one at all, depending on how you define puzzle), giving sort of a mental disconnect in including this "mini-game" in a group of room designs labeled as puzzles.

Issue History

Date Modified Username Field Change
May 17, 2012 5:12 pm Nanostrike New Issue
May 17, 2012 6:12 pm Chris_McElligottPark Note Added: 0024417
May 17, 2012 9:21 pm Chthonic One Note Added: 0024422
May 17, 2012 9:21 pm Chthonic One Note Edited: 0024422
May 18, 2012 11:12 am tigersfan Internal Weight => Feature Suggestion
May 18, 2012 11:12 am tigersfan Status new => considering
May 18, 2012 12:05 pm Bluddy Note Added: 0024440
May 18, 2012 6:13 pm Chthonic One Note Added: 0024470
May 19, 2012 12:28 am Nanostrike Note Added: 0024478
Jun 8, 2012 8:13 pm Danei Note Added: 0025704
Jun 8, 2012 8:15 pm Danei Note Edited: 0025704
Jun 8, 2012 8:36 pm Kio Note Added: 0025707
Jun 8, 2012 10:10 pm topper Note Added: 0025709
Jun 28, 2012 10:46 am Nanashi Note Added: 0026092
Jun 28, 2012 12:14 pm TechSY730 Note Added: 0026096