[Release] The Mine of Malan Vael

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Neikun
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Re: [Release] The Mine of Malan Vael

Post by Neikun »

So I'm finally playing this mod. (I have two days off in a row. holy crap)
First off, it's fantastic.
I have found three secrets already, but I cannot figure out this riddle as there is little hint.
SpoilerShow
I'm in the old mines under Pitfalls. I understand that the pressure plates are activated by item only and the teleporter is activated by me. But no sequence seems to yield and noticeable change.
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Phitt
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Re: [Release] The Mine of Malan Vael

Post by Phitt »

Neikun wrote:So I'm finally playing this mod. (I have two days off in a row. holy crap)
First off, it's fantastic.
I have found three secrets already, but I cannot figure out this riddle as there is little hint.
SpoilerShow
I'm in the old mines under Pitfalls. I understand that the pressure plates are activated by item only and the teleporter is activated by me. But no sequence seems to yield and noticeable change.
The only hint is the name of the puzzle itself, 'pitfall'.

Here is another hint:

Maybe there is a less obvious way to put items on the pressure plates.

And the solution is:
SpoilerShow
You need to let the items fall on the pressure plates from above while you walk the step sequence on the pits so all three pressure plates are activated. The last pressure plate is directly under the last pit, so you can throw the item for that one from a safe spot. After you're done a secret door will open right next to the stairs that lead down to the pressure plates.
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Neikun
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Re: [Release] The Mine of Malan Vael

Post by Neikun »

Sounds scary. I hope I have enough skill for this haha.

It worked! hooray!
I thought about this solution, but figured it would be to difficult to attempt.

Thanks, Phitt.
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Komag
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Re: [Release] The Mine of Malan Vael

Post by Komag »

Yeah, that was a particularly interesting puzzle, never seen anything quite like it. I was a little fooled by the gratings, as though putting things through bars was somehow part of the solution, but I guess that was a just a diversion red-herring type of thing
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LordYig
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Re: [Release] The Mine of Malan Vael

Post by LordYig »

I have just finished this wonderful dungeon after two sessions of game play !
Like every one else I'd like to say that this is just terrific !
And that's sound even a little understated...

The last part of the dungeon is very well done !
I mean it is very good from the start but it keeps getting better the deeper you go down !

You can say that I have cheated a little because I have used an imported party.
And even while starting with characters at level 14, there are some really tricky combat and I have died several times.

Here are some of my stats :
SpoilerShow
Play time : 3 hours 42 minutes at my last save game before the final fight.
So lets say a little under 4 hour.
Monsters killed : 143 (!)
It's crowded down there for just five levels ! :D
Secrets found : 12/15.
Damn it ! I've missed 3 of them !
Skulls found : 3
Tiles moved : 7147.
I had to do a lot of movements but I could have done even more since I have died a few times after solving a puzzle. (tricky little herders !)
I had to redo a whole part of a level because I hadn't save my progress.
This could have possibly shorten my play time.
Here are some comments about the whole dungeon and some of the puzzles.
Do not read if you haven't finished the dungeon, there some spoiler here I guess.
SpoilerShow
I love the ambiance of the dungeon.
The whole story, events in the dungeon, sound ambiance, Malik's notes, all that fit together very well.
I also like the monsters progression, I mean the progression in the encounters as well as the placement by zone.
Fire monsters in level 4 with the Molts and Uggardian within a specifically designed zone with the small fire and smoke volcanoes.
Shrakk Tor with the hives, the spiders with lots of webs and eggs, etc.
It's kinda obvious that you have spend a lot of time in a careful planning of the zone and layout of the dungeon and It pays with an improved experience when you play it !
Of course graphically, as others have already said, the tile set and the other assets are very well designed.
But I have especially likes the assets and object designed for puzzles, and the use you have made of existing assets in the game.
The gem alcove in a wall to open a secret passage, that's brilliant !
The four by four puzzle with the 4 animated pillars, that's brilliant !
The contaminated area is just an amazingly well designed zone, that's brilliant again !
The last puzzles with the 4 buttons on small pillars (I didn't even know you could do this !), Damn it, that's brilliant, again !
And the ballista for the last fight, that was breath taking !
Every puzzle in this dungeon as some nice little touch here and there that make it unique.
I think the leap of faith was the first that forced my jaw to drop to the floor. But that was not the only one...
Komag (and other) have spoken about the Pitfall puzzle which was really nice, but I have really liked the light pattern puzzle with the pits opening when you walk on them.
There is also a nice zone with demon heads spitting lightning, you take heavy damage without a lightning shield, you run, you run and at the end there's a wywern waiting there to finish you off... I think that was the first time I died...

I am only guessing so I may be wrong, but I think most of the players and modders would be first amazed by the look of this dungeon.
Some may stop there and just take the models and assets as the most this dungeon as to offers.
On the contrary i think what make this dungeon really enjoyable and amazing is the careful construction of the ambiance and the puzzles so that each piece could fit with the others.
The fourth levels comes into mind because it has reminded me of the 6th level of LoG.
I mean you have advanced and put together pieces of the story already and you are in a segmented level with different encounters and puzzles to gather object that could open the way further... Gems here, keys in LoG, but the construction is really similar.

As others players have already said, there is still room for tweaking here and there, or maybe for taking notes for your next work.
For example, the book of dodge in the first or second level, and others books too could be placed according to your party classes.
I played with 2 fighters and 2 mages, so i had just to throw this useless book.
Maybe the same kind of process could be used for weapons in some levels.
You test the skills of the characters and you place useful items and weapons according to the skills chosen by the player.
For example a fighter with axes would get the ancient axe in place of the royal mace in a secret alcove.
That could even lead to some nice re playability for the dungeon.

Ho and I have to say that I need to take a look at the source because the credits with the elevator was just another amazing piece of modding ! It even a shame that was just the credits !
I will have to dig into your technique here because that was looking really good !
It was kinda like looking at the credits of Portal, without the song !

I'll stop here because I could go on and on...
Long story short : I've loved it !

So I have one question : What do you plan to do next ?
I want more ! :D
That was long, no ? :lol:
gentilkurgan
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Re: [Release] The Mine of Malan Vael

Post by gentilkurgan »

Hi all,

First, congrats for this mod Phitt.

I think i m near the end, but i m stuck and i dont know if this is a bug or not.

I'm in a room with a ballista, but nothing happens when i use it. I tried to find some sort of crossbows for the ballista, but i didnt find anything.

I dont know if the ballista is suppossed to work like that. All i see is that i can fire with bows, rocks etc throught the wall in front of the ballista and damage something behind the wall (but i cant break it).

I ask here because it was very logical and easy to find all the solutions until there and i dont know if its a bug or if its me.

Thx again and thx for your help (sorry for my english)
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Phitt
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Re: [Release] The Mine of Malan Vael

Post by Phitt »

@LordYig: Thanks for the feedback, glad you liked it! Seems I underestimated the average play time, haven't seen anyone play less than 3 hours yet.

Personally I'm not a huge fan of scripting dungeons so they work with any class/skill combination. If you choose to level the same weapon skill on more than one character you should expect that not all of the characters who use that skill will get the best equipment. That's how it was in the original game as well and I like it that way. It's a bit like the loot scaling in ES games, and that's probably the one thing I dislike most about these games.

I have some ideas what to do next, but nothing concrete yet.

@gentilkurgan: The ballista arrow is 'inside' the crates in the ballista room. Destroy the crates and you will find two potions and the ballista arrow. Then draw the ballista, load the arrow and shoot with the small lever on the left.
gentilkurgan
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Re: [Release] The Mine of Malan Vael

Post by gentilkurgan »

Thx phitt.

Done.

That was a bit confusing for me for 3 reasons:

1) I destroyed the crates, piked up the 2 potions, but i didnt see the arrow. For me it was messy pieces of wood. Even after you told me that wasnt what i expected. I pikced up the arrow at random and then i asked to myself ...."huh where it was?" ( i reloadedt to see it clearly).

2) I understood how the ballista worked, but because we can hear sound of the rope (but we dont see the rope "armed") i thought maybe we cant see the arrow too ?

3) we can hit the necromancer behind the wall with range weapons, so i wasnt sur if it was done on purpose. But it s clearly a bug.

Otherwise, GREAT mod, super good design, awsome ending credits. keep up the good work ...
And the most important was that the mod was very well balanced, not easy, not hard just how i like it.
THX AGAIN
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Phitt
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Re: [Release] The Mine of Malan Vael

Post by Phitt »

gentilkurgan wrote:Thx phitt.

Done.

That was a bit confusing for me for 3 reasons:

1) I destroyed the crates, piked up the 2 potions, but i didnt see the arrow. For me it was messy pieces of wood. Even after you told me that wasnt what i expected. I pikced up the arrow at random and then i asked to myself ...."huh where it was?" ( i reloadedt to see it clearly).

2) I understood how the ballista worked, but because we can hear sound of the rope (but we dont see the rope "armed") i thought maybe we cant see the arrow too ?

3) we can hit the necromancer behind the wall with range weapons, so i wasnt sur if it was done on purpose. But it s clearly a bug.

Otherwise, GREAT mod, super good design, awsome ending credits. keep up the good work ...
And the most important was that the mod was very well balanced, not easy, not hard just how i like it.
THX AGAIN
1. I agree that it's a bit hard to see between the wood, but it's pretty large and not that hard to spot imo.

2. The arrow rope is a known bug as stated in the readme, I couldn't export the weight painted model since there is no working export possible for that right now. Will be fixed soon when the fbx import is working.

3. Interesting. It's not the necromancer you hit (he spawns after destroying the wall), but the wall blockage. The weird thing is that there is a secret wall between the blockage and the player, no idea why you can shoot arrows and missiles through it. Melee weapons don't work. Will have to see why this is possible and fix it.

Thanks for the feedback, glad you liked it!

EDIT: Apparently the collision for projectiles is determined by the bounding box of the model. Had to adjust the model, now it works, projectiles can't get through anymore.
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Komag
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Re: [Release] The Mine of Malan Vael

Post by Komag »

maybe the ballista arrow could be made to stand out better, shiny metal or brighter wood color or something, as I found it quite camouflaged as well
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