Is in progress ! :)

Thx, brell.

Yeah, now getting fast building. Further so, i wants to build the Catacombs Section 11. Is a nice Number. 8-)

Superfast! Especially for Mikee ... ;)

Catacombs 8.0 is downloadable and contains the newest section, made by brell. The complete mansion has now over 130 rooms! :) And of course $ 40.000.

Euh ... and 100 % secrets. ;D

Freddy, Catacombs is still section 7!

Thx for reporting. Fixed. Explain the mistake later. Has half to do wit YaBB.

To early in the morning after a late evening??? :-/

I must confess that I was in a hurry, because I wanted to go to bed again. Did the uploading around 6 o'clock this morning, which is completely unnatural for players of MIDNIGHT Mansion.

My most important mistake is, that, after the uploading I didn't check if everything was okay. Something I always did before. But ...

YaBB is such an unfinished software ... ::) When you attach something to a post and you ask for a preview, the attachement is gone for "security reasons". So I thought I could gain some time by NOT adding the attachment before having a look at the preview. Now comes the odd clue. Before having a look at the preview one has the choise between: keep the old file (in this case there was Catacombs 7.0), delete that file or attach a new one. But after the preview one is only asked what needs to be attached. I chose the CORRECT attachment, but the system kept the old file ... ::)

But as said before, I should have checked the results of the uploading. Sorry about that.

EDIT: And now there is a better (=smaller) zip-file with removed pics. 84 KB as announced, while it was 556 KB before.

Good that our friends on the other side of the pond probably were still sleeping and I am having my holidays and have time for early MM playing! ::)

Has anyone finished this section? Don't get me wrong, I like it. It's a challenge, though. I would classify it as Hard, not Normal! Jack keeps dying in the room with all the vines.

:'(

It is "just" a little nudge to the left after Jack jumps.

Brell,
I must second Semi-Native's view.

I absolutely love your section, with all those strange bits and new ideas, but I really believe it's too hard for being NORMAL.....
(what with all those ladder jumps, belt / platform jumps etc ....).

On the other hand.... so what.... let's just call it "the hardest section of Catacombs".   ;)  :-/

Well, people have very different views on what is hard, normal, etc.  IMO, many parts of the previous sections are much harder than anything in my section.

In my section there is only 1 (ONE!) ladderjump.

About the belts:  I assume aquaMat means the room with a scorpion on one belt.  If you get rid of that scorpion it is a very plain sailing, both up and down to the bottomfloor.

brell wrote on 04.07.2007 at 04:29:02:

Well, people have very different views on what is hard, normal, etc.

I agree with that. Semi-Native's vine jumps feel easy to me. Because I am pretty good in correcting jumps BEFORE landing. Since MMaM and HoW I am specialised in squirrel jumps, you know. ;) But ... please don't remember me of Maniac's zapper beams in the 3rd section. Or one of the final rooms in Falcon Manor "EASY". What a hell ... for ME.

And besides that. A part of a mansion may look "hard" at a first walkthrough and, without ever having been "normal", the second time it is already "easy" ... It is often harder to explain if a (part of a) mansion is hard or not, then to get through it! ;D

Freddy wrote on 05.07.2007 at 02:18:18:

But ... please don't remember me of Maniac's zapper beams in the 3rd section.

Mmmh... If I remember well, it was difficult only in its first version. Now you can switch them off before passing them, or at least passing through most of them.

I have trouble with red birds (even the harmless ones for some reason :-?) and, most of it, the fish  [smiley=shocked.gif]

Toybox, I'm with you on those red birds!  I think I've figured out the fish, generally, but I always get nervous when I see a red bird flying about - and usually get killed by at least one each time!

The room with the vines took some time and tries to sus out, Semi-native! I also had to cheat to find the last 50 money to get 40000. There was no indication to look there and I am a bit impatience to try and try again.

I found a bug!!! Jack can pass the first red door, room 15710, without the key! If he jumps while sinking on the brick he can somehow jump over the top of the door. He has done it several times.

When is the next section ready?????

Brell... I need your help !!

I simply can't continue in room # 15510, as I find NO WAY whatsoever to get to the blue key (among the gold coins on top of that ledge, below the big spider).... there is a moving platform.... but no matter from where I try to jump I end up dead (falling to death).
Now if this ain't HARD I don't know what is......    I just don't get it.    8-) ::)  :-/

How am I supposed to reach the blue key ????

Where can I download the new version of Catacombs?  :-/

Maybe you should try something else, aquamat? Something not so obvious.

brell is away for a few days. But I am sure that his his replies may be expected soon.

Rose:

Something not so obvious ??

Well, I thought I had tried even the most un-obvious things in this room already........ couldn't find anything except that moving platform that doesn't help a bit.

Unless there is an invisible (= see-through) lever somewhere I failed to notice..... I'm stuck.   :D ::)

I am mighty proud that I found my way here!  [smiley=rolleyes.gif]
It is not an obvious thing to do. Hint: When on the moving platform/brick try everything apart from jumping, which you've tried.

aquaMat:  Follow the hints  ;)

Rose:  An update will be released soon so you can't jump over the red door.

An update will be released soon due to a few minor nuisances.

Chippy wrote on 07.07.2007 at 14:32:43:

Where can I download the new version of Catacombs?  :-/

At the same place as always

Thanks Rose (+ everybody else) for the hints.

I'll try it out soon !!

At the same place as always?

Okay, thanks, ehm... where is the same place?  :D :D :-?

Hey Mikee - thought I'd jump in to help you... just go to: http://actionsoft.com/forums/YaBB.pl?num=1170710525 and click on Catacombs (first on the list) to download the mansion including Section 8.

Enjoy!

brell wrote on 09.07.2007 at 07:57:22:

An update will be released soon ...

Tomorrow evening, if the sky doesn't fall down.

The sky didn't fall down ...  :)

Update 8.1 is released now.

"if the sky doesn't fall down" ..... isn't that a phrase out of ASTERIX, Freddy ??

I have a distant memory of that phrase....somewhere in the dark corners of my mind.....!
Oh...how much I loved those Asterix comics.... still have all the original 60s and 70s issues I received as a kid....    ;)

I remember the concept from Chicken Little  ::) - "the sky is falling, the sky is falling"... while it wasn't true then, it sure feels that way most days now!  :-[  :P  :o  :'(

Sorry to hear that, Suz! I don't know if it gives some consolation, but *my* sky already felt down twice this year. So I am a bit sensitive about that, for the time being.

But I believe you are right about linking the sky-phrase to that little chicken which was called "Calimero" over here. Not Asterix, I think, aquaMat. But in Asterix was said that the Belgians were the bravest among all the Gallians (don't know if that is a good translation of this historical word ---> is not in my dictionary). ;D

The head of the village, where Asterix and Co are living, is afraid of the sky falling down. So I've read at least. But there might be more individuals with the same fear.

rose wrote on 11.07.2007 at 21:45:24:

... But there might be more individuals with the same fear.

Like me. ::) ;)
But back to topic. After the update there is nothing to fear any more ... 8-)

suztours wrote on 06.07.2007 at 04:51:00:

Toybox, I'm with you on those red birds!  I think I've figured out the fish, generally, but I always get nervous when I see a red bird flying about - and usually get killed by at least one each time!

It's the combination of several fish with disappearing platforms which i find unfair¹. Glad to see I'm not the only one with red bird trouble. What are they anyway, escapees from a Hitchcock movie?

Anyway, back to catacombs 8: I find it personally too Hard to be Normal. Maybe I'm just out of practise, but  ...:o All these hidden bits, ladder jumps, squirrel jumps... And this one where you have to jump from one screen to the other, otherwise you fall to your, I mean Jack's doom² [smiley=evil.gif]  When you don't know the way you have to try stuff and jeopardise Jack lives, which shouldn't really be the case in Normal mansions.

On the other hand, as the mansion is growing, the difficulty could be increasing too. A continuous way for beginners to learn to play harder and harder mansions... As long as it doesn't end in a Thunderstorm I guess it's fine  ;)

Oh, and I found the background a bit disappointing (sorry about that!). Not very Catacombs-like³ maybe? I don't know.

(1) i.e.: I end up killing every last one of them ;)
(2) there I killed two Jacks in a row. Having no memory doesn't help either  ::)
(3) whatever that means...

And I thought there was ... nothing to fear any more. Oops! :-X

In all fairness, maybe there isn't and I am just rusty. I haven't played in ages! Three weeks at least, I'd say.

Hi gang.

I just finished Catacombs 8. It was somewhat harder than the rest of the sections. Plus we are all out of practice since there are not a lot of new mansions to play these days. (Waiting impatiently on the contest entries).  My biggest gripe was all the back tracking. There were several screens that you had to go two or three forward to get back to something in the room. But as the mansion gets bigger I am sure it will become more convoluted. Thanks Brell for a good challenge and thanks to all the others who make these wonderful mansions for those of us with no talent to play.

Spiak

Exactly my words..... too hard for being "normal"   ;)  (Would make a great song title, I reckon...!)

And rose, now that you remind me of it.... it was indeed the chief of the gallian village that was afraid.....and I guess the exact words he kept using were "the sky's falling on my head".     ;)

Back to Catacombs now.....

I think everyone was a bit afraid, and several other characters have been using the expression "le ciel nous tombe sur la tête". Even once Astérix himself, I believe (but I'm not quite sure, that would be a bit unlike him...)

Toybox wrote on 12.07.2007 at 03:01:02:

I find it personally too Hard to be Normal. Maybe I'm just out of practise, but  ...:o All these hidden bits, ladder jumps, squirrel jumps... And this one where you have to jump from one screen to the other, otherwise you fall to your, I mean Jack's doom2 [smiley=evil.gif]  When you don't know the way you have to try stuff and jeopardise Jack lives, which shouldn't really be the case in Normal mansions. Oh, and I found the background a bit disappointing (sorry about that!). Not very Catacombs-like3 maybe? I don't know. (1) i.e.: I end up killing every last one of them ;) (2) there I killed two Jacks in a row. Having no memory doesn't help either  ::) (3) whatever that means...

I repeat:  There is only ONE ladder jump.  And hidden bits?  Each section is supposed to have some secrets and they are all hinted.

Spiak wrote on 12.07.2007 at 09:15:28:

Hi gang. My biggest gripe was all the back tracking. There were several screens that you had to go two or three forward to get back to something in the room. Spiak

As far as I can see that is the case with most of Catacomb's sections.

Without many tours to guide over the past few days, I've played through Catacombs completely once and Section 8 a few times... before the revision and after.

I'm not a great player... normal is my usual "speed" but I like a challenge and a puzzle... and Section 8 is my favorite of all of them... I'm not that much on background - guess I don't really care about the "story", just looking for something to keep my mind and fingers occupied ("idle hands" and all that...).  I think there are plenty of hints and plenty of easy stuff mixed in, so I don't have a complaint - except that I would have liked a few more rooms!

Who's doing Section 9?  Frankly, IMHO, whoever it is will have to really stretch to do better than 8!  But I'm looking forward to it...

Ah zut, I had written a beautiful answer and pressed reset instead of Post. Time to go to bed I think.

To summarise I was saying: ladder jumps are fine for me but unsuspecting players may be put off if they have to do some for the first time, especially from lethal height; and the hidden part I had in mind was one on the right part of the screen with a platform moving up where you have to catch a ladder and leave through upstairs. For some reason I didn't find it but thought you had to go first to the middle part of the room, so I lost a few jacks looking for a hidden way. I'll pay more attention to hints (I'm rather bad at spotting them usually). The vines room finished me off.

On the other hand, every time there's a new section, the first time I play it I lose most (and sometimes all) Jacks; it goes much better the second time. I'm confident Section 8 won't be an exception from this point of view!

Exactly, Toybox !!

The room you described (with the hidden ladder) I could NEVER have mastered without the hints from this thread, and I consider myself a very experienced player !!
(On that platform I lost a zillion lives by trying to jump on "potential invisible floors" that -of course- weren't there.....)

And -as far as I remember- there is another of those secret exits in the room after that (even if somewhat easier...).

BUT: I also must state that - usually - I am a great fan of secret passages etc. in MM, so I love it.... but I also remember very well the storm of complaints I earned for using secret passages in DoD....and DoD was labelled HARD by the way.

So to sum it up: while it's fine with me....and I very much enjoyed section 8, I can see players with "normal" playing skills having a fair amount of trouble mastering that section.  But as I and someone else said earlier: maybe it isn't tragic when the difficulty level rises within Catacombs.....  and also: let's not forget that one charasteristic that made the original 2 levels of Catacombs unique and interesting was the use of little caveats in the walls (that usually had money or other rewards in them), which could only be accessed via little secret passages (sometimes in front of bricks, tricking the eye etc.).

So after all....Brell might be closer to the Catacombs concept as one might assume at first glance !!

Ah, don't get me wrong. I'm not complaining that there are hidden passages; I'm quite keen on layer 6 myself. Only, I find it more than Normal when you can lose Jacks just because you're hidden behind something in the foreground and you don't quite know what to do.

As for the rise in difficulty for Catacombs: in an ever-growing mansion, I don't mind either. If it kept being Normal it might get tedious - besides, that's an astute way to test one player's skills  ;)

I'll play it again tonight, rested and fit. Section 8, here I come  [smiley=evil.gif]

aquaMat wrote on 13.07.2007 at 20:43:47:

... The room you described (with the hidden ladder) I could NEVER have mastered without the hints from this thread ...

After playing this section once again I would quote Section 8 as normal. Which also means: as normal as the others. Except the one issue with that hidden ladder. Main problem is the absence of any hint about what to do while Jack is invisible. That indeed feels too tough.

In general I would suggest to keep our Catacombs normal. And maybe later start a Catacombs hard with the XP? What do you think, friends?

Nope, it still doesn't work for me. There are too many places where Jack has to do stuff (and potentially lethal stuff, too) whilst hidden, and I was a bit disappointed by the background too (it didn't really feel like catacombs, I think, but maybe that's just me). Sorry about that :-/

And I'm still short of 300 $  ::) But now I'm scared that I will have to jump behind any hidden place where a mistake would cost me one Jack.

Someone should update the catacombs 8.1 download page. It says at the bottom it has a total of 40.000 dollars atm and its 45.000 I believe.

P.S. Voted in the poll.  :'( None for my section... But I like section one the best!

Actually, Wingy, there are 8 sections now, each with EXACTLY $5000.  And 5 times 8 is ........... ?

Whoops. It's been along time since I last took math class...  :-[ I get my 9 times and 8 times mixed up.