Completed Let's play Dark Heart of Uukrul! -- Dead and done!

[Crooked Bee]

ya all.

Now you've finished, did you check walkthroughs and the like to see if you missed useful things in chaos, or you just happy to have it all done and finished?

Yeah, what's done is done. Maybe later, I need a break right now. One thing I can say is that I stashed quite many unused keys in different sanctuaries, so I've probably missed some minor things. Nothing critical though, I hope.

 

[PrzeSzkoda]

I salute you, oh Bee the Crooked.

 

[octavius]

I've just started this game myself and reading this LP, and I must say this is a most excellent LP.
Not only is it well written, but is also a good tutorial to the game for a first time player.

I hate this shit.

I'm glad I'm following this LP as I play so I don't have to put up with this shit myself.

 

[CappenVarra]

Just a quick reminder: imgboot screens seem to be gone, kindly re-upload when you find the time. No rush though, while waiting for the prestigious magazine to come back up I started playing the game myself (god I hate rotating plates), so I'll stop reading for a while

 

[Crooked Bee]

Yeah, I'll do that in the next few days.

Enjoy the game, it's cool.

 

[RK47]

Yay, we're back, we're back! I love you guys! HAHHAHA!

 

[octavius]

So how excactly does the Silence spell work in this game?
Orc leaders have no problem silencing my wizard, but even though I succesfully Invoke NULAMIR enemy spell casters keep casting spells.

NULAMIR        The Quiet House
 
Fshofth, On the shore of the lost lake,
There is a house. Though the spell makers talk,
It is quiet still. For though chanting sounds,
It will little disturb the air where they dwell.

I assume NULAMIR is a Silence spell?
Or is the Scrolls of Silence (which I haven't tried yet) different?

BTW, screen caps hosted on the Codex are still now showing.

 

[Crooked Bee]

I assume NULAMIR is a Silence spell?

Yes, but it's a bit cryptic and not quite simple. As I wrote back in update #27,

NULAMIR is a weird prayer that is supposed to silence enemies but doesn't work on all of them (only on humans, maybe?), so we have to rely on silencing scrolls.

From what I gathered (but I may be wrong), NULAMIR only works on human spellcasters. Or maybe it simply has a chance to fail even when invoked successfully. I'm still not sure; some things can be really obscure in this game.

In any case, if I remember correctly, even when NULAMIR doesn't work, scrolls of silence do.

BTW, screen caps hosted on the Codex are still now showing.

I see.

 

[Kz3r0]

I see.

A to encourage you.

PS:
The first post in this thread and the updates from 13 to 23 aren't showing any image for me, hope this could help.

 

[octavius]

Yes, but it's a bit cryptic and not quite simple. As I wrote back in update #27,

From what I gathered (but I may be wrong), NULAMIR only works on human spellcasters. Or maybe it simply has a chance to fail even when invoked successfully. I'm still not sure; some things can be really obscure in this game.

In any case, if I remember correctly, even when NULAMIR doesn't work, scrolls of silence do.

That NULAMIR only works on humans sounds plausible. When prompted me to ask was the fight against the Ice Dragon. Like you I was pwned the first time I fought him, but second time I used DROM and RALKOR instead of NULAMIR, my party spread out, and using a combination of AMRASLAZAR and the Killer Blade killed the dragon.

This is a great game and I think it will make it on my top 5 CRPGs of the '80s, along with Pool of Radiance, Curse of the Azure Bonds, Might&Magic 2 and Chaos Strikes Back.
It reminds me a bit of Demon's Winter, only more hard core (except for the praying) and better designed. I prefer the combat movement of Demon's Winter, though. In that game a character's movement points were based on the speed or dexterity stat, while in Uukrul you never get more than one movement point, while some monsters move in circles around you. Not fair.

 

[CappenVarra]

Hm, I only used NULAMIR against the Black Witch so far, and it didn't seem to prevent her from casting spells... I assumed it had a chance of not working even when cast successfully (like KRAMUR and related spells only have a chance of stunning opponents), or perhaps that it results in an X% chance of spell failure depending on some magnitude value (complete wild speculation, my Magician wasn't silenced enough to check how it affects him). But I'm still early in the game, further experimentation will provide clues

I expected this obscurity of mechanics would annoy me, but I actually like it - the game is all about discovery through experimentation. I'm sure there are hard numerical rules specifying how different weapons affect damage e. g., but damned if I have any idea of what they are; armor is easier since equipping / unequipping each piece and comparing values can tell exact armor scores and weights (which I'm writing down in uukrul.txt). Or another example: I kept invoking TULAR only to be constantly smitten by Fsofth - and then I realized I'm a complete idiot and it obviously needs to be cast at an altar But the game designers knew that figuring things out on your own i.e. gaining mastery of simple yet non-obvious rules through repeated failure is pure crack for the pleasure centers of the brain (or at least it is for prestigious RPG players - or maybe it's just me?).

Overall, the game is just lovely - and by "lovely" I mean it's a horrible troll (I'm pretty sure at least some keys are completely useless and just there to confuse OCD players) that loves nothing better than mindfucking the player gently (or non-gently, as in the case of the Dungeon Beyond Reason) and then kicking them in the nuts (and giving them plague) - but it also includes such gems as a simple and brilliant way of distinguishing arcane and divine spellcasters (in fact, I can't think of a game that does it better), the humor reminds me of quality sword and sorcery pulp, etc. And let's not forget the Paladin of Codexia creation question allowing the choice between Pillage, Plunder, Rape and Burn (perhaps someone should tell mondblut it would go well with his sig?). Expect to hear more from me on the subject after I've played more... But definitely to Bee for the LP that got me to play it! (and a special thanks to codex for being offline and preventing me from reading more than half of it, and saving me from spoilers before I realized I should pause reading and get playing)

 

[Kz3r0]

I kept invoking TULAR only to be constantly smitten by Fsofth - and then I realized I'm a complete idiot and it obviously needs to be cast at an altar

So TULAR is the anagram of ALT(U)AR with a L337 alteration.?Interesting.

 

[CappenVarra]

So TULAR is the anagram of ALT(U)AR with a L337 alteration.?Interesting.

Again with the anagrams I didn't check all spells trying to find hidden meanings (yet), but some are obvious jokes. Since I didn't read the LP to the end I don't know if Bee mentioned it, but look at this one:

MUZAQ (Cacophonous Oblivion)
This is the most fearsome and terrible destructive Spell. You must consult the tome of the seer to learn its effects and requirements.

 

[octavius]

I was quite addicted to this game, but the lever puzzles to find the Urn and the teleporters in the Pyramid has curbed my enthusiasm. Few things in CRPGs make me groan more than having to push lots of lever and buttons.
And no missile attacks and only one fucking movement point, while enemies are running circles around my characters are annoying. So are enemies who can breath around corners and through solid rock. Fortunately he AI is pitiful which is I guess is why the combat is so unfair in the first place. Chasing those sorcerors and magic mushrooms is starting to get tedious. Where the hell are the missile weapons?!?

 

[Crooked Bee]

I was quite addicted to this game, but the lever puzzles to find the Urn and the teleporters in the Pyramid has curbed my enthusiasm. Few things in CRPGs make me groan more than having to push lots of lever and buttons.

Comes down to personal preference, I guess. The urn puzzle is very hardcore indeed and can be really frustrating, but the Pyramid teleporters? Come on, they're very well done and not that hard.

And if that curbed your enthuasism, I can only imagine what frustration the last third of the game will be to you. Be prepared to suffer. A lot. :evil:

 

[octavius]

Comes down to personal preference, I guess. The urn puzzle is very hardcore indeed and can be really frustrating, but the Pyramid teleporters? Come on, they're very well done and not that hard.

And if that curbed your enthuasism, I can only imagine what frustration the last third of the game will be to you. Be prepared to suffer. A lot. :evil:

Actually I think the game improved after the Pyramid. The engineering section was fun and so is the Cube so far.
What I don't like is having to activate lots of buttons and levers. The pyramid was just tedious; it was not clever.

 

[Crooked Bee]

Well, personally I found the Pyramid to be one of the game's high points, and quite exciting, not tedious. But I love buttons and levers.

You're moving at a tremendous pace, by the way.

 

[octavius]

You're moving at a tremendous pace, by the way.

Well, following your LP has helped. I don't have the patience to activate hundreds of buttons and levers and see what they do, so I cheated with the Urn puzzle. And I didn't explore the Pyramid fully, since those random encounters with sorcerors every second step was so rage inducing.
And I cheated with half the crossword puzzle. I was able to figure out the basics of it, but some of the words were just too obscure for me, especially since English is not my native tongue.
There is a reason why I don't play Adventure games anymore - I just don't have the patience for word games, and try and fail puzzles anymore. I much prefer the more visual kind of puzzles that Chaos Strikes Back provide.

 

[Crooked Bee]

Well, following your LP has helped. I don't have the patience to activate hundreds of buttons and levers and see what they do, so I cheated with the Urn puzzle. And I didn't explore the Pyramid fully, since those random encounters with sorcerors every second step was so rage inducing.
And I cheated with half the crossword puzzle. I was able to figure out the basics of it, but some of the words were just too obscure for me, especially since English is not my native tongue.
There is a reason why I don't play Adventure games anymore - I just don't have the patience for word games, and try and fail puzzles anymore. I much prefer the more visual kind of puzzles that Chaos Strikes Back provide.

Beaten the game already, octavius?

 

[torpid]

It lives!

 

[CappenVarra]

It will never die!

In other news, my playing is slow now that the holidays are over - but this game is not about rushing so that's all right. (Besides, playing a game 20+ years after release and rushing would be silly, no?)

The urn is the first completely unspoiled puzzle I encountered, and it wasn't bad - I started interpreting the hint drawing (which basically plots out the route and helps a lot), and guess what - lever number 3 opens the door in the 3rd square of the maze (counting from the top and left as zero, going downwards), which is the first marked square and the first that requires lever flipping to pass - too bad logic breaks down after that (or I haven't figured out the pattern yet). I flipped on all levers on after that just to see the effect, and then started flipping them off in sequence when a door was missing (according to the hint drawing), until the door I needed appeared - this means I only needed guesswork for 3 levers opening the last 3 doors. Took less than an hour and <20 lever flips in total, so I really don't see what the fuss about "pushing hundreds of buttons and levers" is about. That said, it does require patience and a systematic approach (which is a bit harder for me to get into on working days), and I didn't get Sagaris' wand (for example) because the teleporter pattern was annoying to find, so I certainly know what octavius is talking about...

I'm delaying going to the pyramid because: a) trolls still kick my ass in combat, and I want to kill them all before moving on b) I haven't found a frozen heart on this level, and an ALARIQ hint says "The fifth in depths warped by evil's spell" (which should be here - but even if it isn't, don't tell me ) c) also playing some popamole time-wasters (compared to this, anyway) to kill brain cells.

Carry on

 

[octavius]

Beaten the game already, octavius?

Been busy reading lately, but I'm nearing the end.
The Beacon area was quite fun, and with a I was ready to finish the game. But then I discovered I had to save that useless bitch Mara from the rage inducing Chaos area.

So no, not quite finished yet.

BTW, it is possible to map the chaos area. The whole first level is only 25x15 squares, and once you realize which walls are one way and which squares are spinners (20,000 gold for a Nospen Ring!) moving around gets much easier. I didn't bring along any cards nor have I found any new ones so I'm still stuck at the first level of Chaos, though.
Now the problem is figuring out that teleporter and those gateways...

Took less than an hour and <20 lever flips in total, so I really don't see what the fuss about "pushing hundreds of buttons and levers" is about.

Any array of three or more levers or buttons feels like "pushing hundreds of buttons and levers" to me.

 

[octavius]

After an all nighter I finally managed to complete this game:

Great game, but some of the puzzles were quite obscure and the combat could have been better if it was possible to use ranged weapons or get more movement points.
I thought I had figured out how the Gateways A to F worked in the Chaos level, but then the game seemed to change the rules and I only found the Ornate Key and the Card by chance. And if not for this LP it would probably have taken me some time to think of using the old Cards from the Pyramid level.
Anyway, now I have completed all the 1980s CRPG on my list and this game gets a place about 5-7 on my ranking.

 

[Kz3r0]

of to all the brave adventurers.
Best thread evah, for real.

 

[Kz3r0]

All the images are showing now.