[TheOmniAdam]

- 01 Oct 2016 10:36 #188257 Hello Again!

Some pieces of the dragon gym I couldn't make work were itching to go in a new gym and with no dark gym selected I thought I'd try my hand at making one. The first floor is a pretty simple dark maze with a few trainers and at the end is a map of the floor 2 maze for reference and an elevator down. Floor 2 is a puzzle that requires the trainer to get pokemon into 6 colored chambers- but each chamber opens and closes doors. Light clears the darkness as you complete the puzzle opening another elevator to the final floor. Here there are 5 nearly identical gym leaders and clues from the previous trainers can be used to deduce who the real gym leader is.

I don't know if the maze is TOO simple or the puzzle TOO hard so advice and feedback from the community is REALLY helpful- I know Mr. M and co. are crazy busy- I'd rather this was the best it could be when he does have time to check for new gyms!

Download:

Spoiler:

http://www.mediafire.com/file/36jea7s779pbj7o/TheOmniAdam_DarkGymV1.zip

Screenshots (Not worth much in a dark gym):

Spoiler:

http://imgur.com/a/HtnPv

Dialogue:

Spoiler:

Guide [No name]
Page1: Yo! Champ in making!
Page2: The Dark-type gym looms and I hope you like puzzles; the gym leader is obsessed with them!
Page3: "The darkness of the mind- the unknwon" is what he says... Maybe that's why psychic pokemon fear dark types?
Page4: Don't fear the unknown. Face it!

Isabella [Hex Maniac]
Greeting: When you look into the gym leader's eyes it pierces your soul!
Win: When I look into your eyes I see sadness.
Lose: Look into the gym leader's eyes and you'll see... those piercing blue eyes...

Claire [Hex Maniac]
Page1: If you want to clear this riddle and face the gym leader- here's some advice:
Page2: All 6 chambers need Pokemon in them. Choose your companions wisely.
Page3: Use Pokemon trained for riding! They will stay put where you place them!
Page4: Also remember you can call a Pokemon back to you no matter where you are.

Jasjit Singh (fake) [Custom Skin - below]
Greeting: Your mind is clouded with darkness. I am not the gym leader.
Win: Do you see the lights dimming?
Lose: The gym leader has left a clue to solve the final riddle: do you see it?

Jasjit Singh [Custom Skin - below]
Greeting: I am the gym leader. You have a sharp eye and keen mind. Let's see them in battle!
Win: The mind fears what it cannot understand. My strategy must have been terrifying.
Lose: It's no mystery- you are the superior trainer. Please take this badge as proof of your victory over the darkness today.

Gym Leader Skins

Spoiler:

Jasjit Singh



The one with blue eyes is the real one.
Differing Eye Color Skins:

[Asvarduil]

- 03 Oct 2016 11:04 #188393 So, I know this will sound funny...but the interior is just a bit too dark. I've found when solving puzzles, being able to comprehend the puzzle and the context really helps.

The Dark beats Psychic hint is good, but it's also a good idea to tell the player how to win - Fighting beats Dark.

[TheOmniAdam]

- 18 Oct 2016 11:58 #189322 Hey Asvarduil!

I appreciate the feedback- the first floor is a very basic maze- I was contemplating making it more complicated by adding more walls and obscuring vision with banners but I THINK the second floor puzzle is going to be pretty rough so I wanted renavigating it to be more bearable. The dark there is more for theme as I think you'll find the maze isn't abundantly complex.

I use light as PART of the second floor puzzle which is why I used the room on the first floor to clearly illuminate the puzzle details- because I agree a puzzle in the dark is no fun but was kind of necessary to show which chambers are filled. The room before the elevator's floor is the layout of the puzzle and will even show progress if you return to it while solving.

I haven't given NPC trainer dialogues for the random guys AROUND the place who I assume could include more details and typing hints. Since there has never BEEN a dark gym I wanted to give theme to why there were puzzles abounding and it meshed perfectly with Dark's type effectiveness against psychic is really the only reason THAT clue is included.

I'm curious if you found the second floor puzzle too challenging or appropriately difficult? Again I've gotten 0 feedback on this outside of your comment.

Thanks

[Deo3560]

- 27 Jan 2017 07:26 #193792 This gym lacks visual aesthetics while it may have a complex puzzle inside, it's encouraged to use many different types of blocks in your build so it doesn't look plain. Also what happened to the rule gyms had to be 30x30?

[TheOmniAdam]

- 27 Jan 2017 13:16 #193796 I recall that being boosted to 35x35 which I utilized for a few of my designs (Ref #5: http://www.pixelmonmod.com/viewtopic.php?f=160&t=23064&p=185263&hilit=35x35#p185263 ). Without much feedback I don't know if that's been a deterrent or not.

I agree- it was hard to contain the puzzle and with "dark" I struggled to design the building while still matching the puzzles- the reason for the streaked glass was to give it some texture and interesting variation while trying to stick to "dark" colors and building materials - I've gotten excessive criticism historically for not sticking to building materials within a narrow scope of the gym's type- but the building is massive I'll concede. Maybe making the top floor and visible building smaller but allowing the underground part to be massive might work better? Then the variation of glass might look less drawn out while sticking to "dark" materials but the puzzle can just be unseen until you're below ground...

If there is any interest from the actual dev team I'll crack it out but I've built 4 gyms without a peep so for all I know they're done.