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Diablo's Demise is by Justin Malloy.
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Diablo's Demise 1.07 (1.2/1.0)
MultiQuote#5 Drizzt
Posted 28 March 2008 - 12:06 PM
Reviews by Drizzt
After finally completing my scenario, I decided to take some time that would have otherwise been spent battling special node bugs (curs’ed text response!) and writing dialogue to play some new scenarios that just appeared on the contest page. Two new ones, Diablos Demise and Unholy caught my eye, maybe the alliteration in the title, maybe just that they were small and I figured I could finish them quickly.
I marveled at the special nodes, the custom monsters and graphics, the amazing amount of text! But then I stopped reading the Blades scenario help file and actually played the scenarios. Both are about some sort of evil or another that is terrorizing the land, but I quickly came to the conclusion that a far greater evil than could ever be found in these atrocities is the scenarios themselves.
Perhaps that’s a bit harsh, especially in the case of Unholy, which is passable, but these are simply not very good scenarios. If you’re looking for any sort of plot, originality, or creative use of special nodes, run, do not walk, as fast as you can away from these two. Compared to these, Castle Perilous and Sword Of Kings look like masterpieces.
Unholy Crypt of death is easily the better of the two. The author knows enough to make new towns appear, use special nodes and special items, the text response node, and even throws in a custom graphic. There is a fair amount of dialogue in the only NPC inhabited town, and most of your time is spent in one large dungeon casting unlock spells, tracking down some clues and a special item or two. There are a few interesting text nodes that give a bit of an atmosphere to the place, but most of it is unlock, fight, unlock, fight, unlock, fight, unlock, unlock, unlock, unlock .... you get the idea.
Which brings us to Diablos Demise. It would be easy for me to just mock this scenario mercilessly, have a good time and be done with this, but that would be unfair to the designer. No matter how bad this scenario is, it still represents a fair amount of work ... it just needs so much more. One example: the outdoors is not walled off, so I quickly wandered out of the1x1 area and into the gray cave floor void, freely roaming a barren and undesigned landscape.
Also, many, many, many text specials actually use the Display Small Message node, which results in a small amount of info being crammed into the tiny window, and the rest being lost. Very frustrating. The only positive thing is that I also didn’t have to read more of the horrible spelling and grammar.
The final insult, though, was when I came upon a sign that said “Ultra Demons KEEP OUT or you will perish”. Intrigued by the promise of an Ultra demon (whatever that is), I excitedly ignored the sign and headed towards a cave which presumably was the lair of these promised Ultra demons. But then I was stopped. Not by a special node, but by something far more sinister. I was informed that I had reached the world’s edge! Beyond which, mind you, lay the home of the Ultra demons and (presumably) the rest of this scenario.
This was enough for me. With a flick of the wrist, I cast the File: Exit spell and was free of this scenario forever, leaving Diablo to do as it would with this horribly underdesigned and untested land.
I give a “Not Finished” rating to Diablos Demise, and, let’s say a 4 for Unholy Crypt of Death. Unholy Crypt is not a bad scenario and the author shows a bit of promise, but it’s clearly a first effort. I would recommend that both authors play some of the shorter quality Blades scenarios, like anything done by Jeff Vogel, Truffle Days or Redemption for good examples of quality, polished scenarios. For the rest of us, unless you’re friends of the authors, I would not recommend either of these scenarios.
After finally completing my scenario, I decided to take some time that would have otherwise been spent battling special node bugs (curs’ed text response!) and writing dialogue to play some new scenarios that just appeared on the contest page. Two new ones, Diablos Demise and Unholy caught my eye, maybe the alliteration in the title, maybe just that they were small and I figured I could finish them quickly.
I marveled at the special nodes, the custom monsters and graphics, the amazing amount of text! But then I stopped reading the Blades scenario help file and actually played the scenarios. Both are about some sort of evil or another that is terrorizing the land, but I quickly came to the conclusion that a far greater evil than could ever be found in these atrocities is the scenarios themselves.
Perhaps that’s a bit harsh, especially in the case of Unholy, which is passable, but these are simply not very good scenarios. If you’re looking for any sort of plot, originality, or creative use of special nodes, run, do not walk, as fast as you can away from these two. Compared to these, Castle Perilous and Sword Of Kings look like masterpieces.
Unholy Crypt of death is easily the better of the two. The author knows enough to make new towns appear, use special nodes and special items, the text response node, and even throws in a custom graphic. There is a fair amount of dialogue in the only NPC inhabited town, and most of your time is spent in one large dungeon casting unlock spells, tracking down some clues and a special item or two. There are a few interesting text nodes that give a bit of an atmosphere to the place, but most of it is unlock, fight, unlock, fight, unlock, fight, unlock, unlock, unlock, unlock .... you get the idea.
Which brings us to Diablos Demise. It would be easy for me to just mock this scenario mercilessly, have a good time and be done with this, but that would be unfair to the designer. No matter how bad this scenario is, it still represents a fair amount of work ... it just needs so much more. One example: the outdoors is not walled off, so I quickly wandered out of the1x1 area and into the gray cave floor void, freely roaming a barren and undesigned landscape.
Also, many, many, many text specials actually use the Display Small Message node, which results in a small amount of info being crammed into the tiny window, and the rest being lost. Very frustrating. The only positive thing is that I also didn’t have to read more of the horrible spelling and grammar.
The final insult, though, was when I came upon a sign that said “Ultra Demons KEEP OUT or you will perish”. Intrigued by the promise of an Ultra demon (whatever that is), I excitedly ignored the sign and headed towards a cave which presumably was the lair of these promised Ultra demons. But then I was stopped. Not by a special node, but by something far more sinister. I was informed that I had reached the world’s edge! Beyond which, mind you, lay the home of the Ultra demons and (presumably) the rest of this scenario.
This was enough for me. With a flick of the wrist, I cast the File: Exit spell and was free of this scenario forever, leaving Diablo to do as it would with this horribly underdesigned and untested land.
I give a “Not Finished” rating to Diablos Demise, and, let’s say a 4 for Unholy Crypt of Death. Unholy Crypt is not a bad scenario and the author shows a bit of promise, but it’s clearly a first effort. I would recommend that both authors play some of the shorter quality Blades scenarios, like anything done by Jeff Vogel, Truffle Days or Redemption for good examples of quality, polished scenarios. For the rest of us, unless you’re friends of the authors, I would not recommend either of these scenarios.
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