A couple of days ago I have started work on the 2nd installment of The Mansion Family.

I had the idea to let it begin - just as Vol. 1 (Mind Mines) - in Jack's modest house. He goes up to street level, but instead of turning to the right, he will walk to the left, thru another part of the city until he comes to......... (wait & see).

Now a question:

As it is now, I created a version that simply expanded Vol. 1, expanded the city etc. (meaning: When finished, Vol. 2 will be a mansion of its own, but it will also include all of Mind Mines.....the player starts in the same little house of Jack, and in the city he decides whether he'd like to go to the Mind Mines or to the new section).

Or would y'all prefer a clean version 2, with all older (Mind Mines) rooms erased ??   (Answers please)

(To clarify: When I'd be releasing the "combined" version...this would NOT mean we would take off MindMines as a mansion of its own, and replace it with the combined version.... My plan is to have a Vol. 2 that just happens to also include all of Vol. 1; later maybe a Vol. 3 that has all of Vol. 1, 2 and 3....etc.  Of course: there is a certain limit to that..... there are only 2 more possible routes that lead away from Jack's house (after Vol. 2)....and they're not very logical either (UP - thru the sky or what ?? ...and DOWN - welll....that might work).

I prefer mansions (not like e.g. Falcon Manor) where Jack is able to visit EVERY part of the mansion. So, if it is NOT possible to go left AND right, I would suggest to make two clearly seperated mansions.

Unless ... there is a situation like in brell's first mansion with a clear message at the fork. In Three Way Mansion there was the choise between easy, normal OR hard. But it doesn't need to have to do with the difficulty. A BBB at the fork that explains that AFTER going left OR right, that there is no way back to the fork to take the other direction feels okay as well. With other words: players will know that there are two mansions in one.

aquaMat wrote on 14.03.2007 at 18:57:03:

....and they're not very logical either (UP - thru the sky or what ??

Big, big skyscraper, duh.
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Alternative: Somebody make aquaMat a nice cloud tile!

Freddy, I guess you misunderstood me.

It IS perfectly possible to go either left or right....both directions are fully playable. Walking right leads to Mind Mines, walking left leads to the new section.  (And of course there'll be a message at the "fork").

There's no problem at all. I just wanted to know if people prefer "Mansion Family 2" to come WITHOUT the old section, thus WITHOUT the option to either play the 1st or 2nd part !!

Part 3 could then lead down, as I said........well.... and the last, 4th part, as Pscyhotronic pointed out....could happen in a skyscraper or in the clouds.

Only then will it become problematic....but I doubt that I will make more than 4 installments anyway, maybe only 3.

Euh ... I understood you perfectly. The only thing I really want to avoid is that AT THE FORK there is no message. So a good BBB or two split mansions or both okay for me. But not something like in Falcon Manor, where a player has the feeling that he/she played it wrongly, since being unable to visit all rooms.

It would be cool to have a 2 in one mansion I think ;D

You could build a second file starting in Jack's house, and when you get up you can go right or left:

• to the left there is, as you suggested, the proper new mansion;
• to the right there is one room in common with TMFV1-TMM but you add something which blocks the way - a car, something.
  

As for further TMF mansions: don't forget Jack can go out through a perpendicular street too ;)

Would the saved games from Mind Mines still work in your combined version? Then it would be like Catacombs, and that would be cool. Players could either continue or start over.

@Semi-Native:
That's a good question. I haven't thought about that yet.  Sounds interesting though.
(Although it doesn't really make sense to start TMF-2 from -say- save pedestal 2 of MindMines, as you would have to return thru all of MindMines back to Jaclk's House to be able to play the TMF-2 section, which not only doesn't make much sense.... but -unfortunately- complete backtracking in MindMines is NOT possible, anyway !!)

@Toybox:
I don't quite understand your 2nd suggestion. Why should I block the way ?

@Freddy:
As I said, of course a good, explanatory BBB is put up (in the second room, the "street level" of Jack's house).
And I absolutely share your view about Falcon Manor.

And as a reminder:
My plan was - after the release of TMF 2 - to NOT erase TMF1-MM as a mansion of its own. But, once players have both versions, they can also use TMF 2 to play MindMines, if they wish.

BTW: Maybe I have the subtitle for TMF2 now. I might call it "Northern Lights".

My suggestion (which goes against your plan) meant that your second file (TMF-2) does not contain the Mind Mines at all (all rooms are deleted except the first one, that is). This was meant to give the illusion that Jack could continue his way to the Mines, but you block the way because he's supposed to go and play NL.

Oh, I understand....