So how did you like Victralia's Realm?

[Cookie Dough]

Hi, I'm the maker of the Thief Contest FM Victralia's Realm.
I didn't get any votes on it, and that um, frankly, just plain hurt, but oh well.
The person who made Red Ridge didn't get anything either, so I feel bad for that
person.

So how did everybody like Victralia's Realm?

[Chronus]

In my most honest critical opinion:

Dough, your opening premise sounded well enough, albeit a bit contradictory in that a Machanist had Pagan powers, but the level it self...well...left much to be desired. I understand what a daunting task it must be to create an FM and you showed promise but your level lacked many things. First, the vines and shrubbery set a mood of paganism but the mansion itself just looks practically normal. I think you could have used a better use of space in that most of the first half of the level is just a big courtyard thingy with vines and shrubs...
Second, the loot was very conspicuous and the whole objective of killing some (as the player must imply) old tree-mech lady in her mansion seemed very unthiefy. You could have developed the story much more and/or added some scrolls or something. Victralia herself was all right in terms of design. They eyes were cool but other than that it was just a pain old mechanist gal. However, I did enjoy the fireballs behind the doors since I had not seen that done until your mission.
Most likely the main reason why you did not get any votes was because your FM did not stand out; it didn't linger in the player’s mind afterwards. Even a very flawed mission can excel if it offers something that will make the player think "Gee, that mission had a lot of bugs but that one part, WOW!, I guess I'll vote for it for Most Unique or something" I would hope on your next FM (and I do not want for this critic to discourage you) to use you left brain a lot more and be much more creative and elaborate both in your level design as well as your back-story. I am sure that (if this is your goal and your really want to be affluent in FM design) with practice, dedication, and some helpful feed back from this community, you can make your self known as a true "FM Artist".

Glad to help,
Carter Odell (Chronus)

[Tuska]

I liked it!

[Ekim]

Truthfully?

The bombs had potential.

The storyline needed re-writing, the only enemy made more scary and then add some puzzles.

Frankly, Victralia was an easy kill and then you just had to avoid getting blown up as you looted her (one floor) home.

It's a starting point but I wouldn't think of it as anywhere near a complete level.

[Cookie Dough]

I you could see all the things I had conjured up in my mind for Victralia's Realm,
beleive me, you sooo would have loved it.


Victralia's Realm wasn't really finished, I ran out of time, but I do plan to finish it.

You'll like the finished version.

[Nightwalker]

Don't take it too hard that you didn't get any votes. It doesn't mean people didn't play your mission, but just that it had some tough competition. I think it was very brave of the first time designers to start out with this contest. Not only were you limited in space, but also time, which must be very difficult when you are still learning.

I'm sure we'll all look forward to the final version.

[Komag]

Yeah, the only bad part of contests is that some people score very badly, but that's going to happen. Your mission was fun and worth playing, just didn't stand out in any particular category, that's all. Keep up dromeding and let it be not something to do just for appraisal but for a cool creative outlet. I view dromeding as a creative hobby, just not one that produces tangible real world results like sculpting or painting, but no less creative just because the results are in the computer and online.

[Lurox]

I liked the little house in that FM

[Ekim]

Frankly, you'll probably have a better FM in the long run, since you can finish it without the constraints of the contest.

One request though - if you're going to have a mechanist tree-woman, make plenty of books explaining what's going on?

[Auriga2us]

I also agree that you should have more explanations about the woman. Also I finished this mission so quickly that I did not even have time to think about it afterwards. I like missions that make me think, like a certain puzzle that I am suppose to solve. This way you remember the mission afterwards. Another thing was that the house looked like it belonged to a normal person (no mushrooms growing anywhere ), which did not sit well with the fact that she resembles victoria. Maybe you could do something like in the Constantines house. But I don't make missions myself so don't pay too much attention to me since I am sure its very hard to do. Believe me this mission was much better than some of the missions out there.

[Sharga]

I also thought those few original ideas were neat but not enough to make the mission stand out.
The opening area looked nice. Perhaps you should make it into a jungle. And make the house a full-fledged mansion with many secrets.

Add some more custom effects to the mech lady and fill the house with her minions. Make sure to have many books with an interesting plot explaining it all.

If you want to know what some crazy pagan archetecture looks like try Mansion of Chaos...MWAHAhahahaha! (It'll drive you insane)

[The Phantom]

Decent, but doesn't has the depth I expected after reading the description. Too high hopes I guess.

I expected more from Victralia.

She has powers, sort of like Victoria's.

She is like a standard mechanist guard, with no special abilities .

The interior gives a nice mood, and so does the plant life in and outside the house.
The traps create some surprises, but are sadly the only variation this mission provides.
For an old house, the place could have been larger, with a more interesting layout.

Sadly too straightforward, and simple to enjoy. But it was the author's first mission, so that's an excuse.
The "finished version" would've been welcome.

[WildWilbur]

The "finished version" would've been welcome.

You realized that this thread is over 6 years old?

[Cookie Dough]

This makes me miss DromEd so much!
Looking back on this, you guys gave me some great advice on how to improve on this FM. I was only 12-13 years old when I made Victralia's Realm, so looking back on these comments I appreciate them much more thoroughly now.
I'm really hoping to learn DromEd again one of these days, it's truly one of the most fun programs to work with.
I have a ton of unfinished amateur FMs that I spent many, many, many, many, many hours making, but they're all sitting in a computer sitting severals states away from me right now. I was addicted to building and details back when I was a DromEd-head. Story-lines came last to me, hehe.
Perhaps that is why my story-lines and written details were never that great with the FMs that I did release(the only ones ever released were in Komag's contests), I just wanted to build build build, create create create. I loved it.

(The extended version of Victralia's Realm was never completed because of a freeze-up in DromEd that lost all of my extended progress )

I need to play some Thief!

[ganac]

I think this is the first fm I ever played. I was looking for some easy downloads from Komag.
I think I'll put a review of SQ, but be warngings! It will be label a the bad missions! Oook, time so stay away from engrish.com for a while.