Indie DrDungeon's Ultizurk and MADMAN Thread

[DrDungeon]

Here's just in from someone over on the BlitzMax forums. I'd like to hear comments from the guys here as a lot of the interface, etc., was greatly inspired by you guys and I'm pretty happy with how it all came out. Comments? (Especially the part about Halle Barry and the "mistake" in Serpent Isle?) Here 'tis:

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First of all: Congrats on finishing such a big project on your own!

Here are some impressions - some good, some bad - on its appearance:


-> General:

- The interface could and should be improved in several places. Especially since you reserve that much space to it (with a relatively small viewport into the game world). As it is the whole interface looks positively amateurish, IMHO.
Here are some suggestions that are easy and quick to correct:


-> Character generation:

- The character editor with lots of skills, the rolling stats appears to be complex. I hope that you actually use the skills in a way that different characters play differently (and not only get punished for not having certain skills).

- You were a bit sloppy on the left/right arrow-buttons on each stat/skill entry: These are "3D" buttons with lighting on the edges but you simply flipped the right arrow image to get the left one. See the problem with the lighted edge? It has to be on the same side to be consisten.
So always use the right side for this (imagine the light source shining on the edges on the upper left). Copy the right arrow icon and only change the arrow on it to get the left arrow icon but keep the edges the same.

- Why did you give the three buttons INFO, ROLL & DONE a completely different shading? Such a "reflection" shading is incoherent with the edge-light-shading of the arrow buttons (which is better).
It's also OK if you make these buttons slightly larger as the player will use them frequently (compared to the arrow buttons) - but keep the font size! It's a bad idea to "fill" such a button completely with text.
The same goes for the SAVE icons in the save game screen.


-> Game window (video: "MADMAN Gameplay 1"):

- The amount of interactive elements (trim sheep, forge weapons etc.) is impressive! Well done!

- The automap is also very nice!

- The mouse pointer changing to green is a good idea - but why use a white-gloved Micky Mouse hand? Doesn't really fit the scenario, IMHO.

- The inventory is always on-screen? Why? And why always 30 items, regardless how weak or strong a player is?
And why is so much screen estate wasted on the character outfit/equipment?
Because old games did this? They did that because the computers at the time weren't fast enough for full screen game worlds. So they put stuff on the screen to reduce the amount of drawing operations.
The downside: It clutters the screen.

- You have a problem with the isometric perspective on some tiles, especially the buckets.
The isometric perspective must be consistent to leave a good impression. This means that you have to slant *all* graphics the same way.
Example: Outdoors, around 3:50, is a small field with a well and a water bucket. Compare these two elements - see the problem with the bucket? (the well isn't perfect but good enough)

- The lighting should be consistent, too!
Example: The buildings have two different shades for the outer walls - well done! The light blue windows, however, do not. Change the windows pointing to the lower left into a darker shade!

- The graphical quality can be improved in several places.
Example: The round carpet in the building at 2:10 and 4:20 look like a bright slice of salami. You really should mute such gameplay irrelevant items a bit down so that they don't distract. Use brighter shades/colors for important stuff like treasure or weapons.
Are there always the same birds in the trees, spreading their wings and the same butterflies flying on the same spots in circles?

- Also, a bit more logic in level design wouldn't hurt.
The character enters the town hall at 4:20 and can look right into a bedroom (upper right) when walking to the main desk as there are no doors?
It's also interesting to see those incredibly big animated chimneys on the roofs - only to discover that in the buildings directly under them are no fireplaces or stoves...

- "Walls of text"
At 6:56 "Art of the Blacksmith".
You have a lot to tell. Good. But do it in a way people like to read - and not in those massive text screens with 16 to 20 words per line.
Make a nice book background and put half of it on a page (8 words per line or so) - and then let the player turn the page to read more.

- Character portraits: I get that you absolutely want to keep them. I have no problem with that in general (many Japanese RPGs have them, U7 also had them) but you either make the game world more photo-realistic or you hand-draw the portraits. This was a flaw in Serpent's Isle, BTW (in Black Gate they were hand drawn and fit the game world, in Serpent's Isle they were digitized and stood out - but not positively).
You say that the game is very character driven. Do the portraits change according to the emotional state or body status? Just a thought...

In any case it is probably *not* a good idea to use a sad-faced "Halle Berry" portrait for the protagonist of a commercial game unless her management sold you the rights for it...
If she won't sue you for using her image without paying her then she will sue you for giving her a beard stubble! ;-)

I hope I don't come across as too negative as most of the stuff could be changed quickly.

 

[DrDungeon]

Forgot to mention he didn't play the game. He's referring to the video on youtube.

 

[Deuce Traveler]

That makes sense, since he is referring mostly to the graphics. I will say I had low scores in everything except archery, which was set to 200. Oh, and I had about 40 points in Detect Secrets. I had 100+ skill points I never allocated to any other skills by the end of the game, mostly because I couldn't remember where the Shrine of Critical Hits was.

 

[DrDungeon]

I think I'm starting to understand why Cleve Blakemore is the way he is. In any case, here's my response to the blitz guy:

Hi Calibrator! Thanks for the feedback. Constructive criticism is indeed welcome and especially from the guys here on the blitz forums. Input is invaluable.

First, be aware this is by design a retro-game. Much of the interface was the direct result from feedback from the guys on the rpg codex - the type who are likely to buy such a thing.

Do you have a link to an Indie game somewhere that is somewhat akin to what you are describing? It could offer helpful inspiration.

I agree I can tweak a few things for sure. But like in the case of the inventories, its simply because you can move a lot of objects around and having the inventory on makes it a lot quicker, plus as a one-man game what else would I put there?

Same with the character outfit area - it is sized to be proportional to the main inventory for balance, and again quickness of arming and wearing different things.

I went through many mouse pointers and designs. The one I made is because the index finger appears to press down, which ended up working much better than a standard pointer. Somewhat akin to the index pointer we see when, for example, clicking a hyperlink, but in a semi 3d world.

I can't believe I over-looked that odd bucket??? Thank you so much for seeing this! Already been redrawn.

The character create icons - the big ones - are brighter colored because their function is different than the arrows, all of which do the same basic thing. You're right about the shading though. I may recolor the edges for consistency.

I guess I could tone down the rugs. They are a bit bright and clean for an old world. The birds and butterflies are just moving tiles for a little effect. Couldn't quite get them to fly, but I tried! Same with the crabs. They wiggle on the beach and get the point across.

The windows!! I went to such lengths to shade things properly but forgot the windows! It shall be fixed! Can't believe nobody noticed this.

As far as seeing into the bedroom, well the gals are pretty lenient overall.

Some of the doors are open and just a slot in the ground, others are closed. Now Elizabeth in the town hall is more inviting than others as she is middle age and there's no mention of a husband!

Seriously, though, I really did put in a lot of these sub-conscious things to sort of jolt the player a little.

But since I don't have real fireplaces inside, I may move some of the braziers to be under where chimneys are. That's a good idea.

As far as the walls of text, I REALLY wanted to make a book-like thing like you mentioned but alas my art skill is lacking. In any case, I have a huge Mac Cinema display that I use on my PC - the 2560 x 1600 so constantly I had to remind myself a lot of people will be playing on notebooks and smaller screens, so I had to make sure things were big and clear.

The character-driven part refers to what the characters say, much as in Planescapes "What can change the nature of a man?" One character portrait does indeed change a few times - the player's love interest.

Its incredible I re-created Halle Berry. I thought only God could do that.

Everyone thinks they are photos. They are actually made with high-end face bone modeler software used in the medical industry. Every character in the game is from the same bones, and madman uses real races of real people, black, white, hispanic, indian, etc.

Of course, God made Eve from Adam's bone. But seriously, its really weird I made the one look like Halle. She was morphed from Archie!

I'll make sure to re-draw her, then put in the agreement "All characters in this game are fictional. Any resemblance to people living or dead, or undead, is purely co-incidental."

I suppose subconsciously I may be in love with Halle Berry and drew her from scratch as I did the others. But that doesn't make sense because I'm actually subconsciously in love with Tatum O'neal.

 

[Deuce Traveler]

I think I'm starting to understand why Cleve Blakemore is the way he is.

 

[DrDungeon]

OK - he responded again and is indeed trying to be helpful. I especially like his remarks about the book and/or papyrus-like paper for the journal. I might revamp the journal appearance. Here's his latest:
> Do you have a link to an Indie game somewhere that is somewhat akin to what you are describing? It could offer helpful inspiration.

I had no indie games in mind but more the old RPG games of yore - some features and polish of those I'm sure can be expected of a modern game.
Mind you, I'm talking 20-25 year old games here like the old Ultimas etc.
Later in my reply I consider the first Thief game which is also now about 15 years old...
Of course it's clear to me that a single person can't be a perfect jack-of-all-trades but you asked what could be improves and I see enough potential in your game to spend some time criticizing it (positively & negatively).

> I agree I can tweak a few things for sure.

Some tips are meant for general advice - not only for your game but also perhaps for your next one. Or the one of another reader who may stumble upon this thread at some later time...

> But like in the case of the inventories, its simply because you can move a lot of objects around and having the inventory on makes it a lot quicker, plus as a one-man game what else would I put there?

A larger game world window, for example.

> Same with the character outfit area - it is sized to be proportional to the main inventory for balance, and again quickness of arming and wearing different things.

It's OK if you did that intentionally for balancing gameplay (which I can't judge right now). Mind you: I haven't actually played the game - I only considered the looks of it and what I felt watching the videos.

By the way: The sound is good so far! Especially the bird calls in the village (I hope the more cheery ones won't happen in dark forests or other bad places you have planned for the game).

> I went through many mouse pointers and designs. The one I made is because the index finger appears to press down, which ended up working much better than a standard pointer. Somewhat akin to the index pointer we see when, for example, clicking a hyperlink, but in a semi 3d world.

Many fantasy RPGs use a custom mouse pointer which looks like something out of a blade weapon catalogue - combined with a symbol, when opening doors or taking things, sometimes animated, but not always.
Just like above - it's a small thing and of course ultimately your decision.

> I can't believe I over-looked that odd bucket??? Thank you so much for seeing this! Already been redrawn.

My pleasure! It stood out like a sore thumb to me.

> The character create icons - the big ones - are brighter colored because their function is different than the arrows, all of which do the same basic thing. You're right about the shading though. I may recolor the edges for consistency.

Good decision! The brighter color/shading is OK then.

> I guess I could tone down the rugs. They are a bit bright and clean for an old world.

Exactly.

> The birds and butterflies are just moving tiles for a little effect.

I know. I poked here because there were too many identical of them in close vicinity. Stuff like this is very dominant.

> Couldn't quite get them to fly, but I tried! Same with the crabs. They wiggle on the beach and get the point across.

I don't want to put more work on your plate and a game has to be finished (it's bad to add new features all the time!) but think about it for your next game (I'm sure there'll be one): Organize the game world into layers and draw them accordingly, the lowest level being the ground:
- ground
- objects & walls
- people
- player
- roofs & trees that can overcast stuff like the player
- birds & other flying stuff
- finally the clouds (if you want to add weather)

I'm sure you already looked up tile-mapping for this game but consider layers for your next. It makes things easier.

> The windows!! I went to such lengths to shade things properly but forgot the windows! It shall be fixed! Can't believe nobody noticed this.

Minor thing & easily corrected - but sticking out when you notice it.

> As far as seeing into the bedroom, well the gals are pretty lenient overall.

;-)

> Some of the doors are open and just a slot in the ground, others are closed. Now Elizabeth in the town hall is more inviting than others as she is middle age and there's no mention of a husband!

That's a major many people would want, I'm sure!

> Seriously, though, I really did put in a lot of these sub-conscious things to sort of jolt the player a little.

Then it's OK. The game is also called "Madman!", isn't it? ;-)

> But since I don't have real fireplaces inside, I may move some of the braziers to be under where chimneys are. That's a good idea.

This is something that works subconsciously for some players. Others notice it directely like me (I'm a veteran - I even notice when there aren't toilets around! ;-))
And of course some (lots of?) people will never notice it and bother.
But it's about having a higher standard and getting more in, so to speak.

> As far as the walls of text, I REALLY wanted to make a book-like thing like you mentioned but alas my art skill is lacking. In any case, I have a huge Mac Cinema display that I use on my PC - the 2560 x 1600 so constantly I had to remind myself a lot of people will be playing on notebooks and smaller screens, so I had to make sure things were big and clear.

Don't misunderstand me: The large font is OK! It's the mass of text that could be divided into separate parts (pages).

When I say "book" here I don't mean a fully functional one with turning pages and perspective correct lettering like in professional mainstream games that cost millions (they have people *only* doing the interface).
What I mean is a book-like background with two arrow buttons: Next page and last page (and of course a close button).

The old Thief games (Dark Project / Metal Age) take this approach and it's much more atmospheric than a simple text window:

Scrolls or scraps of paper can be are even simpler:
http://gropingtheelephant.com/blog/?p=3776

Maps look like this in these games(they are essentially simple images, though some levels have rough automaps which you can ignore) to only "guide" the player:
http://thief.wikia.com/wiki/In-game_Maps

This is how hobby designers create letters for custom missions for "The Dark Mod" - an inofficial Thief mod based on the Doom3-Engine:

And here are some ideas to design backgrounds:
http://www.ttlg.com/forums/showthread.php?t=122233


In some places you - intentionally - use a smaller font like in the description area on the main game screen. I had a hard time criticizing it and decided against it because the game is very likely for desktop players with big monitors (and a short viewing distance) only.

But I when you consider smaller screens this immediately to mind.

And a question: What is with the area under the automap? Do you have planned something for it?


> The character-driven part refers to what the characters say, much as in Planescapes "What can change the nature of a man?" One character portrait does indeed change a few times - the player's love interest.

> Its incredible I re-created Halle Berry. I thought only God could do that.
>
> Of course, God made Eve from Adam's bone. But seriously, its really weird I made the one look like Halle. She was morphed from Archie!

At least you made a younger one... ;-)

> I'll make sure to re-draw her, then put in the agreement "All characters in this game are fictional. Any resemblance to people living or dead, or undead, is purely co-incidental."

Good idea! Put it at the end of the credits page if you have something like that.

I suppose subconsciously I may be in love with Halle Berry and drew her from scratch as I did the others. But that doesn't make sense because I'm actually subconsciously in love with Tatum O'neal.

Back when the moon was made out of paper... ;-)

 

[DrDungeon]

Here's my response if anyone's interested. There may be a few little changes here and there in Madman:

****************************************************************************************************

Thanks again, Calibrator. I'm happy to report I've already made some of these changes. The Mickey Mouse pointer was ok if a little odd, but now its a proper short, stumpy slightly golden sword. I actually think it looks better as the tip goes right to the thing being interacted with. Thanks for the tip.

I decided to go with an old scroll look similar to one of the pics you showed and am working on this right now. While it is true the back panel is clear and nice, yet in real life the madman would probably have a bunch of paper scraps for his journal, and so it shall be!

Also have a few ideas how I might be able to get an actual book-look for the books. I am, after all, Dr. Dungeon!

The area under the auto-map was an artifact from making slightly different panels for 16:10 and 16:9. I just lengthened the console box now. In 16:9 there was no room for a console, so I had made a pop-up which works nicely.

You read my mind with these!
- ground
- objects & walls
- people
- player
- roofs & trees that can overcast stuff like the player
- birds & other flying stuff
- finally the clouds (if you want to add weather)

A multi-layered map is indeed the next step when I make another game. Likewise I may shift to the 2:1 perspective, like the "Eschalon" games and others. Another future thing is multiple light sources. Right now I have one which the player holds. This works nice for effect but originally I wanted little lanterns, etc., dotting the streets of the towns. Haven't mastered this yet as they are tricky mixing algorithms. But I shall!

I plan to re-draw "Halle". I should be able to make a new character to replace her, but it could end up looking like Tatum O'Neal.

Oh! The beard! Believe it or not that was a shadow problem. I simply could not remove that beard from her. Hopefully in the new one she'll look a little more feminine.

Thanks again for the tips. I'll post here when I get a new vid up showcasing some of these improvements.

Thanks again for your comments. Anything I need to do to make this rock I will do. Made too many design mistakes back in the DOS days, and definitely willing to improve. Type in ULTIZURK in google and you can see a lot of my old DOS stuff from more years ago than I can count.

Arrgh! I'm getting too old for this. -Rob

 

[PeeWee]

I, PW, have found 15 rubies in The Blasted Lands. I have not checked this in the most recent version of the new "MadMan", but Dr. Dungeon says the rubies in The Blasted Lands remain the same. Dr. Dungeon says the difference is that now people are able to buy rubies, if for some reason they sell them all.

Dr. Dungeon says most rubies are in The Blasted Lands and Dr. Dungeon thinks, but is not sure, that there are 3 rubies in the dungeons.

I, PW, have not checked these things in the most recent version of the new "MadMan".

Note that there are at least two versions of the new "MadMan" Beta version 2.5 and there are at least two versions of the new "MadMan" Beta version 5.0.

I, PW, have completed one version of the new "MadMan" Beta 5.0.

 

[PeeWee]

I wrote:
"I, PW, have completed one version of the new "MadMan" Beta 5.0."

I should have written:
"I, PW, have completed one version of the new "MadMan" Beta version 5.0."

Now, I, PW, have completed two versions of the new "MadMan" Beta version 5.0.

I noticed the player can buy rubies in at least one version of the new "MadMan" Beta version 5.0.

 

[PeeWee]

There are at least two versions of the new "MadMan" Beta version 5.1.

 

[DrDungeon]

There's only one version and that's the latest version. Right now that's 5.1

 

[DrDungeon]

I'm also wondering if poor Luzur is lost in some terrible dungeon. He might end up as one of those skeleton adventurers we see in games. The ones that didn't make it. Remember Ultima 8? My goodness! Someone should do a count of all the skeletons lying around that game! Now Madman actually doesn't have skeletons lying around. They walk around. So if you see a skeleton in Madman on the ground, it might be Luzur! Maybe I should put a resurrection spell in Madman!

 

[Luzur]

I'm also wondering if poor Luzur is lost in some terrible dungeon. He might end up as one of those skeleton adventurers we see in games. The ones that didn't make it. Remember Ultima 8? My goodness! Someone should do a count of all the skeletons lying around that game! Now Madman actually doesn't have skeletons lying around. They walk around. So if you see a skeleton in Madman on the ground, it might be Luzur! Maybe I should put a resurrection spell in Madman!

nah, just been busy with IRL and stuff.

unfortunate, i havent played Madman alot, so i am just lvl 4-5 and outside the second town.

 

[Deuce Traveler]

There is a preview up for the good doctor:

http://www.rpgcodex.net/content.php?id=9490

 

[PeeWee]

Many days ago, Dr. Dungeon wrote me:
"Madman waits for now. Like a mighty rocket awaiting its launch."

There have been many changes in the new "MadMan".

The Internetsite
http://www.machgryphon.com/
has not been updated for some time. 1, some or all of the screenshots are outdated, because of the changes in the new "MadMan".

I have not read everything in / on this thread and I have only taken a quick look at these 4 items:

http://inspired.ultimacodex.com/the-ultizurk-series/
http://www.rpgcodex.net/content.php?id=9490
http://www.rpgcodex.net/forums/index.php?threads/rpg-codex-preview-dr-dungeons-madman.92347/
http://www.rpgcodex.net/forums/inde...e-retrospective-at-hardcore-gaming-101.73180/

The most recent version right now is the new "MadMan" Beta version 5.5.

The business of registration and credit-cards is taking a long time.

 

[DrDungeon]

There's a little discussion going on over at GOG:

http://af.gog.com/forum/general/madman_an_ultimalike_rpg_coming_soon/page1?as=1649904300

Right now I'm looking into Steam Greenlight, and still researching the whole how to purchase by getting a code stuff.

Its really ready for release at this point if I can get by these final hurdles.

PeeWee - the site screenshots are up to date. Its the Deuce review pics are a little out of date - the old poser characters, the title screen. Not a big deal.

Its maddening having it sit here ready for release but not sure how to do that! Gotta get this out. Release...UNleash it to the world!

 

[Deuce Traveler]

Congratulations DrDungeon ! I'm glad to see the game getting some notice on GOG, too. I did use some of the old pics for a preview, but I'm hoping some good Codexer will step up when it is officially published and give it a full review with updated pics. I'm sure the Codex staff will be happy to run two articles on it comparing the game before and after publication, and with different points of view.

 

[norolim]

Added MadMan to the Community Wishlist on GOG. It doesn't mean anything, but I thought it should be there. Waiting for the release.

 

[PeeWee]

Note, notice and remember:
- One should not confuse:
1 "Dropbox" and "DOSBox" with each other
2 King Slenderbow and King Eldor with each other
3 "QuickBASIC" (QB) and "QBasic" with each other
- Maithe’s father is King Slenderbow

"Wikipedia" has two articles you might want to check:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/QuickBASIC
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/QBasic

I do not know how many versions of the new "MadMan" Beta version 5.5 there are. Maybe 4. The current version of "MadMan" is the new "MadMan" Beta version 5.5 but if there is more than 1 version I do not know which version is the current version. I have completed the new "MadMan" Beta version 5.5 but if there is more than 1 version I do not know which version I have completed.

Dr. Dungeon may have to remove files and / or other stuff that was left because of the writing and / or the programming.

Dr. Dungeon may change the font(s) again. If you have any ideas about what the font(s) should be like, please report it here.

 

[PeeWee]

Both the gentleman named Ari and the lady named Jennifer sent Dr. Dungeon their reviews about the new "MadMan". Dr. Dungeon sent both reviews to me and the lady named Jennifer’s pictures of the areas came through so I can see them.

I appreciate "Dropbox".

I would like to continue using "Dropbox" in English.

I do not know what the current version of "MadMan" is.

There may be more versions of the new "MadMan" Beta version 5.6.

There have been 1 or more changes in "Dropbox". Dr. Dungeon wrote:
"Used to be I could drag and drop the file. But now it seems I need to select it from a list. Not a big deal but I don't know why the change."

 

[Morblot]

Well, I just stumbled to this thread from a link in The CRPG Addict blog comment and it certainly was a captivating read. Though I'd register to say that the new MadMan certainly seems interesting and that I've fulfilled my duty by upvoting it on GOG!

 

[PeeWee]

I wrote before:



"Note:
One should not confuse "DOSBox" with "Dropbox".

I, PW, tried the following, in the NEW "MadMan" version Beta 4.1:
- I started the game.
- I did many things I had to do.
- I bought 1 Ring of Dew, which may be a Ring of Fire and Ice.
- I talked to the Water Witch.
- I read the book / letter in the Water Witch’s castle.
- I got the broom.

Note:
- When I picked up the broom, the diary did NOT flash, there was NOT a ringing sound and (when I read the diary) there was NOT any new text in the diary.
- I tried using the broom AFTER picking it up BUT BEFORE using it. I read:
"I should talk to Wendy about how to use it."
- I INTENTIONALLY have not talked to the Water Witch ever since I picked up the broom.
- I tried giving the Ring to the Water Witch AFTER picking up the broom BUT NOT having talked to the Water Witch ever since. I read:
"I think I'll give this to her later."
- I tried using the broom AGAIN AFTER picking it up, AFTER UNSUCCESFULLY trying to give the Ring to the Water Witch BUT NOT having talked to the Water ever since I picked up the broom. The broom does not work at all. It just says, again:
"I should talk to Wendy about how to use it."

Conclusions:
1 It is NOT possible to give the Ring to the Water Witch AFTER picking up the broom BUT BEFORE talking to the Water Witch about it.
2 About Dr. Dungeon’s question if it screws up the broom activation, the broom does not work at all, since I have NOT talked to the Water Witch, ever since I picked up the broom, NOT EVEN AFTER UNSUCCESSFULLY trying to give the Ring to the Water Witch.
3 I cannot use the broom until I have picked it up AND talked to the Water Witch about it.
4 The diary is not updated until I have picked up the broom AND talked to the Water Witch about it.
5 I cannot give the Ring to the Water Witch until I have picked up the broom AND talked to the Water Witch about it.

I hope this answers several of Dr. Dungeon’s questions and takes away some of Dr. Dungeon’s worries.

I would like to thank Dr. Dungeon, Deuce Traveler, Luzur, the gentleman named Ari and everybody else who has contributed to the new "MadMan" so far and / or has tried to do so and / or is trying to do so."



That was my post. Looking back, it sounds strange saying "I tried using the broom AFTER picking it up BUT BEFORE using it." Except for this, I tried everything in this post again in the same order. I can confirm all of this for the second time.

I would like to stress:
- It is NOT possible to give a Ring of Dew to the Water Witch AFTER you get the broom but BEFORE you talk to her about it.
- It does not screw up the broom activation, the broom does not work at all if you have not talked to the Water Witch ever since picking up the broom and you cannot give a Ring of Dew to the Water Witch until you have picked up the broom and talked to the Water Witch about it.
- I tried picking up the broom, THEN I tried giving a Ring of Dew to the Water Witch and THEN I tried using the broom. I could neither give a Ring of Dew to the Water Witch at THAT point, nor use the broom at THAT point.

You can buy bottles of lamp oil from Dorona in WaterCross and you can also find them.

Go to the Icy Northlands. You can walk from 785,77 to 786,76. Explore this island. You can see something on the other side of the water. This could be a map-error. This could be a bug. Other possible map-errors and / or bugs at the Icy Northlands: you can walk between 798,83 and 797,84 and also between 881,129 and 880,130.

When I check the information about the different potions, I read: "Red Potion", "Cure Poison", "Purple Potion" and "Cure disease". It would make sense using a capital-letter: "Cure Disease".

I have completed the new "MadMan" Beta version 6.2.

Status
Level 20
Experience 99999
Next Level 99999

I noticed something. I tried arming / equiping myself with the 2-handed sword and with the magic crossbow. In case of the 2-handed sword, a red cross appears at / in the Shield/Ammo slot. In case of the magic crossbow, the red cross does not appear.

You can now also buy necklaces. I think the texts have to be changed, because when you read what is sold, you do not read about the rubies and you do not read about the necklaces. In the talking I also read: "The necklace is priceless" but it is not priceless.

I did not find anywhere where I can stand on the water. This may would have been a bug and / or a map-error.

I tried giving a Ring of Dew to the Fire Witch before giving her the 10 rubies. This is impossible. I have to give her the 10 rubies before giving a Ring of Dew to the Fire Witch. I tried giving a Ring of Dew to the Fire Witch every time after giving her 1 ruby. After the 10th ruby, I was able to give her the Ring of Dew.

It looks like everything is okay with both the Water Witch and the Fire Witch.

I would like to thank the gentleman named Ari and the lady named Jennifer for their help.

 

[DrDungeon]

"I noticed something. I tried arming / equiping myself with the 2-handed sword and with the magic crossbow. In case of the 2-handed sword, a red cross appears at / in the Shield/Ammo slot. In case of the magic crossbow, the red cross does not appear."

That's the ammo slot. You wouldn't use a shield with bow.

Good work on testing the various quests with the witches - had to make sure nothing could happen out of order there.

The "priceless" necklace is generic - it just means she likes them.

"you do not read about the rubies and you do not read about the necklaces"

She mentions the important quest items - to hint to the player they might be needed. The rubies and necklaces are extras in the rare event the player sells them all. When you click to buy an unbuyable item, the merchant has a quick note that mentions all the things she will sell.

I'll check the little ice area stuff.

 

[PeeWee]

I am not sure, but I think:
- There is one version of the new "MadMan" Beta version 7.0.
- There are two versions of the new "MadMan" Beta version 7.1.
- There are two versions of the new "MadMan" Beta version 7.5.

I have completed the new "MadMan" Beta version 7.5, but if there are 2 versions of
the new "MadMan" Beta version 7.5 or if there are more than 2 versions of
the new "MadMan" Beta version 7.5, I do not know which version of
the new "MadMan" Beta version 7.5 I have completed.

Status
Level 20
Experience 99999
Next Level 99999

 

[DrDungeon]

Just read any book about The Mystic Shirnes. When I put 7.5 in the dropbox, of course I immediately found two little errors. One was some greenish-colored tiles in the bottom blackness that showed up when going in the Guild (and possibly other areas). Oddly, these didn't show up in the world editor, only the game. So I replaced all black tiles with one, true black tile.
I don't know if you noticed I re-did all the books to make the paragraphs nicer. I had split the Mystic Shrine one wrongly, chopping some sentences, so had to fix it. So the "second" 7.5 just had those two minor fixes.

I got your letter. I'm pretty sure with the bridge the jellyfish should just vanish, replaced by a water tile. Poor things!

As far as objects, remember you can pile them. Might want to double check if you have a save at any of those points, but what happens is it looks for the first open slot in the object list, which might share an x,y spot with another object or several. So most likely the items you mentioned would just appear with the objects already there. I hope.