Just wait until you have to face multiple ogres at once. I don't think it would be doable without the tile based movement

It's surprising in a way, but I'm  finding it really refreshing in how this game doesn't coddle the new player. I could go toe to toe with the first snail or two, but after that I had to move it or lose it. Just reached level 2, and ran into those smaller spitting things (variant of a herder?) for the first time. Nasty critters. Heh, and I have mastered the art of accidentally backing myself into a dead end.

Ok, just bought the game,  very cheaply at GOG, and as already mentioned , a small download.  Now I first need to get rid of my Heroes 6 obsession, there's no way that I'm going to interrupt that for anything else on earth right now.  I get terribly obsessesed with my TBS playthroughs, Disciples series 2 does the same thing to me....

Hmm.  I can't get the game added to my GOG downloader.  Have they recently changed the Downloader?  Must I dld a new version of the Downloader?  I see one's games are displayed in a nice wood cabinet now.

..and since Fnord never replied as to if the original version of Sacrifice still plays with 7, and I couldn't find my disc of it at the time I was buying Grimrock, i just grabbed a copy of that as well.  I got discount on it too, this weekend, so perhaps just as well...

Ah, sorry about that. Sacrifice requires a bit of tweaking to run on modern systems. Nothing too serious, and there is a patch for it out there.

Anyway, I finished Grimrock. It was not a short game, I was just living in front of my computer, playing the game in exclusion to everything else. I found more enjoyment in this game than I found in Skyrim, and I really liked Skyrim. I'm very impressed with what the dev team did with this, because in under a year they put together a dungeon crawler with nice graphics, good sound (though it could have used a few more sound effects), very well thought out level design, plenty of monster types, among the best puzzles I've ever seen in a CRPG... I would not be surprised if this becomes my "game of the year" (sorry Jagged Alliance 2). 

Now I need to take a short break from the computer. Hm, food might be a good idea. 

I had a short peep at Grimrock, and it beats me why anyone would play this rather than HOMM 6. ...

..but anyway, will get to it later.

Fnord, no worries, I'm actually glad that I got a GOG copy of Sacrifice for so cheaply. After I've done HOMM 6 and Grimrock, I might just go on to Sacrifice.

Ready to start level 3. Did I say I hated those spitting herders? That was so early level 2. No, now I hate those skeleton warrior squads! They carve up my party in seconds if I don't keep constantly moving. 

But they did allow me to accidentally discover an interesting way of disposing of enemies. Spoiler AlertTeleporting into enemies destroys them! (But sadly doesn't seem to award XP.)

Originally Posted By Andromus (14 APR 2012 8:31pm)

Ready to start level 3. Did I say I hated those spitting herders? That was so early level 2. No, now I hate those skeleton warrior squads! They carve up my party in seconds if I don't keep constantly moving. 

 

But they did allow me to accidentally discover an interesting way of disposing of enemies. Spoiler AlertTeleporting into enemies destroys them! (But sadly doesn't seem to award XP.)

Jumping down a pit on top of them works too! I found that out by accident also.

Originally Posted By Fnord (14 APR 2012 4:28am)

Anyway, I finished Grimrock. It was not a short game, I was just living in front of my computer, playing the game in exclusion to everything else. I found more enjoyment in this game than I found in Skyrim, and I really liked Skyrim. I'm very impressed with what the dev team did with this, because in under a year they put together a dungeon crawler with nice graphics, good sound (though it could have used a few more sound effects), very well thought out level design, plenty of monster types, among the best puzzles I've ever seen in a CRPG... I would not be surprised if this becomes my "game of the year" (sorry Jagged Alliance 2). 

 

Now I need to take a short break from the computer. Hm, food might be a good idea. 

Well done! What was that, 2 days? I thought I was playing fast, and I'm only on level 6.

I agree with you about the game, I'm enjoying this more than any other RPG for years and I really think it's the gameplay. The puzzles and obstacles all feel hand-crafted and well thought out and you really get the feeling some fiendish mind crafted the dungeon, and not the same old lockpicking game and symbol combination in every cave where you find three symbols on the wall and enter them to open the door. And the combat is always fresh, you can't just hit and run and you have to use different tactics on each enemy depending on its type and the surrounding area.

Just curious, how many secrets/treasures did you find? I usually look carefully on each level but I'm only on 20/71 secrets and 1/7 treasures so I don't think i'll end up with a perfect score.  

Originally Posted By walsh (14 APR 2012 8:50pm)

 

 

Well done! What was that, 2 days? I thought I was playing fast, and I'm only on level 6.

I agree with you about the game, I'm enjoying this more than any other RPG for years and I really think it's the gameplay. The puzzles and obstacles all feel hand-crafted and well thought out and you really get the feeling some fiendish mind crafted the dungeon, and not the same old lockpicking game and symbol combination in every cave where you find three symbols on the wall and enter them to open the door. And the combat is always fresh, you can't just hit and run and you have to use different tactics on each enemy depending on its type and the surrounding area.

 

Just curious, how many secrets/treasures did you find? I usually look carefully on each level but I'm only on 20/71 secrets and 1/7 treasures so I don't think i'll end up with a perfect score.  

I only found 21 secrets & 2 tresures

My "in game" time says that I spent just under 9h on the game, but I would guess that with all the deaths, I'm closer to 12h. I've not seen anyone else report anything less than 11h for their first playthrough, so I might be the current record holder. Some people managed to spend over 17h on the game during the same period of time. 

Is there a point to carrying around loot you don't intend to use, like the extra spears and shields the undead drop? Do you ever get to trade? Or should I just leave them where they drop?

Originally Posted By Mr Innocent. (15 APR 2012 8:25am)

Is there a point to carrying around loot you don't intend to use, like the extra spears and shields the undead drop? Do you ever get to trade? Or should I just leave them where they drop?

 

It is a good idea to have some extra "junk", for pressure plates and such, but there are no traders in the game. 

Also

Spoiler AlertMake sure that you have 1 skull and 1 stone

Well, I've played the game off and on over the weekend, and I've made it to Level 3, just a short ways past the rotating teleporters.  I hate spiders.  I really hate spiders.  I really, really, really hate spiders.  I've nowhere else to go, unfortunately, so I'm just going to have to fight a retreat away from them until I can get some space to move around.

Good fun, though!  Easy to get into, and the kind of thing you can play in quick snatches.  Well worth the paltry asking price. 

Originally Posted By Mr Innocent. (15 APR 2012 8:25am)

Is there a point to carrying around loot you don't intend to use, like the extra spears and shields the undead drop? Do you ever get to trade? Or should I just leave them where they drop?

 

You won't be asking yourself that in a few levels, I'm finding it hard to carry even the essentials without being encumbered. At the moment I'm trying to reach the 'porter' ability in the athletics skill for 2 of my characters, just so I can carry more stuff.

I'm also finding some food is heavier than others. Snail and burrow rat flesh is very heavy so I eat those first whenever i'm hungry. I've got way too much food though, I'm not likely to starve any time soon.

Originally Posted By JKing (15 APR 2012 7:23pm)

Well, I've played the game off and on over the weekend, and I've made it to Level 3, just a short ways past the rotating teleporters.  I hate spiders.  I really hate spiders.  I really, really, really hate spiders.  I've nowhere else to go, unfortunately, so I'm just going to have to fight a retreat away from them until I can get some space to move around.

 

Good fun, though!  Easy to get into, and the kind of thing you can play in quick snatches.  Well worth the paltry asking price. 

That's exactly where I left off after my last session, just past the teleporters. I hear you about the spiders, I'm starting to wish I had focused more on poison resistance.

We appear to be progressing at roughly the same pace. I'm past the rotating teleporters, and killed quite a few spiders... but there are more. I can hear them through the walls, getting closer... always getting closer... what was that noise ?

EDIT: Made it to level 4, The Archives. Things seem to be getting serious as far as puzzles are concerned...

Heh, so now I find a piece of armor with hefty poison resistance after I clear out the spiders. Ah, well. No doubt it will come in handy soon enough elsewhere. And regarding pits I discovered something I half suspected,

Spoiler Alertthat some pits contain loot that apparently can only be accessed by falling into them.

I appreciate ranged weapons even more now I know Spoiler Alertthey can be used through some closed gates.

Maybe that should have been an obvious thing, but it was a surprise to me.

Anyway, almost ready for level 4, except I haven't figured out how to open the iron door on level 3, and I hate to move on before working it out. I think I'll give it another try or two before moving on.

It's finished, for me at least. Great game, and I thought the ending was very... well, conclusive. I liked it.

I really hope there's a sequel or another game by the same company. Apparently they're already redeemed production costs from sales so that's likely.

Originally Posted By Andromus (17 APR 2012 10:37pm)
I appreciate ranged weapons even more now I know Spoiler Alertthey can be used through some closed gates..

It's considered a bug, and will be fixed in the first patch due within the week. Though it makes sense to me that arrows at least should be able to do that.

As for the level 03 iron door, a very mild spoiler follows Spoiler Alert[remember an action necessary near the start of the level].

Originally Posted By Mr Innocent. (18 APR 2012 2:28am)

 

Originally Posted By Andromus (17 APR 2012 10:37pm)
I appreciate ranged weapons even more now I know Spoiler Alertthey can be used through some closed gates..

 

It's considered a bug, and will be fixed in the first patch due within the week. Though it makes sense to me that arrows at least should be able to do that.

Aw, too bad. I didn't think it was unreasonable to be able to do that. Maybe if I had a ton of ranged ammo, but I don't, yet.

As for the level 03 iron door, a very mild spoiler follows Spoiler Alert[remember an action necessary near the start of the level].

Heh, I had been thinking about that throughout the level, and trying things like that in different places, but I didn't make that  connection with the iron door until Spoiler AlertI finally noticed the false wall with torchlight flickering behind it. Then I began trying that out around there, and was able to open it up.

I keep discovering new surprises each time I play the game. Just discovered level 3 Spoiler Alerthas two stairways to level 4. Considering the amount of stuff I'm just accidentally stumbling into, I wonder how much more I'm missing.

I'm still on Level 3, and while I've made a little progress, spiders are still my bane.  My (actual) manual dexterity is not particularly good, so I have trouble moving quickly.  Perhaps if I remap my keys I'm have less trouble, but unfortunately this keyboard's Insert key (actually an Fn key) is a hard-coded dead key (apparently), and there's no other suitable group of keys which would provide such a convenient tactile outline.  Maybe Ctrl and Keypad-0 would suffce as stand-ins for Q and E ; I'll have to try it.

Made it to level 6. Levels 4 and 5 were indeed puzzle heavy, and with a few hard enemies thrown in to make things interesting. Still, nothing as creepy as the damn spiders , Spoiler Alertnot even the giant crabs. Sadly, it looks like level 6 is also spider infested

Don't worry too much about the spiders. Spoiler AlertThere are worse enemies just a few levels down that you should worry more about

Anyway, in regards to poison, don't try to sleep your way through all of it, instead just sleep until you are near full health, and then get going again. Sleeping your way through poison each time you get poisoned is just too time consuming, and probably not the intended way of doing it. 

*edit* spoiler tags did not agree with me. 

Trying to sleep off poison somehow never occured to me, indeed I assumed I would die in my sleep if I tried it

Speaking of poison and dying, is there a mundane way to revive dead characters other than via the crystal?  Just wondering.

Originally Posted By Mr Innocent. (19 APR 2012 6:53am)

Andromus, one of the stairs from level 3 to level 4 lead to a completely optional area, with enemies that are probably too tough at the time you first find it. I had to return after clearing the regular level 4, but then again, I'm playing on hard. I've also read vague hints on other forums that there is an easy way to deal with the Spoiler Alertslimes, but I couldn't find it; I had to do it the hard way. At any rate, once you manage to open the "feed me" door, you'll get some loot and a Steam achievement.

Yeah, I couldn't even beat one of them after a few tries; I'll have to come back to it later. Not that I'm doing much better with the little surprise they hit you with at the other level 4 entrance.

Originally Posted By JKing (19 APR 2012 4:35pm)

Speaking of poison and dying, is there a mundane way to revive dead characters other than via the crystal?  Just wondering.

Not as far as I could tell. But there is one blue crystal on each level, so backtracking in order to find one should not be too bad.