Finally!  I'm very sorry about this long delay but there was nothing I could do about it.

Enjoy!

You are lying. This mansion will never be released.

Psychotronic wrote on 13.09.2007 at 03:39:51:

You are lying. This mansion will never be released.

You are right, of course.  And NEVER is today!

:) Found my cabin!! Yeah !!

But why did it have more doors than the others? >:( ;D

The Pirate Invasion is one cool mansion. http://actionsoft.com/forums/Templates/Forum/default/grin.gif

Wingy boasts:
My cabin is sparkly-est!  ;D Whatever that means.  :-/

Vern's room is curious... who is that??

Wow, brell !!

Suddenly it appeared sooo fast.....    :D ;)

This makes the whole point of my new mansion (The Birdcage) somewhat redundant (which was to give us something to play, until TPI arrives....).  ;)

But so what:  better 2 new mansions to play ....than none.

Looking forward to TPI.

@brell:

I am stuck in TPI....in room 30496.  A couple rooms earlier I have been suddenly "forced" to slide down a pole, arrived in a succession of similar, very sparse rooms (a BBB said "I've been robbed"), walked to the right, ran into 2 hidden keys, and suddenly found myself in room 30496 (entered from the left). There I tried to read the 2 BBBs, which was NOT possible (they simply didn't react when I pressed Enter; same thing happened with the last BBB in the room before), then I tried to walk on. That was not possible, due to an obstacle. Then I tried to get out of the room again, same way as I came in.... THIS WAS NOT POSSIBLE anymore !!!

Even if I hadn't heard the spound of a door being shut, and there was no brick-switch (that might have closed some door) anywhere to be seen. The same path I took to enter the room was now closed. Jack-stuck was all I could say, before I suspended the game.

What am I going to do now ???

Apart from that: until there....a very unusual, interesting mansion !!

° aquaMat:  You should be able to leave the room to the right and there is a (not so long) way back to the pole.  I must check these signs, though.

EDIT:  Has anyone else encountered problem reading signs?

@brell:

After resuming the game (before reading your reply), I found the (rather tricky) "solution" to what seemed a JS. Great one !!
Also - amazingly - the BBB's could be read after the resume. But definitely not before.

BTW: I had a similar BBB problem in my contest mansion, where you could read a certain BBB only about every 1 out of 4 times.
Although I first considered it to be a bug, I found out in the meantime that my BBB problem was somehow caused by the fact that I had placed sprites marked "In foreground" right next / in front of the BBB. (In my case: a pile of gold coins). Once I unchecked "In Foreground" the BBB was always readable.

But your issue must be something else...as I remember no "foreground sprites" next to your BBBs.  (BTW: Please keep in mind that it also happened with the last BBB in room 30495 !!)

In the meantime I'm after the 3rd or 4th save pedestal in TPI, and it's really fun. I also found my cabin.....

Now I don't know how to get back to an earlier room (the one with 6 yellow doors (which I all left closed) ) from where I am now. (Now I am below that crooked ladder.....)  8-)   :-/

aquaMat, thanks for the info.  I think I'll wait until I get more complaints about the signs.  I never encountered these problems and neither did my testers.

I'm sure you'll find your way back  ;)

Hi Brell,

YAY for the release of TPI! Congratulations!

Now, the bad news: I'm stuck in 31494 (and the "secret" room) with no apparent way out. I can't go back the way I came in, nor are there any other apparent exits. Help?

---

Hi ryos !

It is good that there are new mansions. :) So we have something to talk about. ;D

About the room you showed. Through a peepinghole I see a brown knob of ... With that good news ;) you will be able to go back to the right!

Actuall there are more than one exit in this room  ::)

Spoiler text has been rot13'd. Paste it into rot13.com to read. ;)

V pbhyq unir fjbea gung V gevrq obgu gb syvc n fjvgpu gurer naq nyfb gb svaq fbzrguvat gb pyvzo hc guebhtu gur prvyvat, naq snvyrq zhygvcyr gvzrf. Fgenatr, ohg jura V gevrq ntnva V fhpprrqrq. Abj V arrq gb fgneg bire orpnhfr V hfrq zl aba-envaobj xrlf ba gur zhygvpbyberq qbbef. :(

I really liked Psycotronic's cabin. Nice! This ship is genuinely huge...I still have far to go before I reach the end.

Hehe this rot thing is nice.  I don't why this is happening but it looks similar to the problem aquaMat had in another spot in the mansion.
As for the other problem, read and respect the signs.

brell wrote on 13.09.2007 at 22:44:31:

° aquaMat:  You should be able to leave the room to the right and there is a (not so long) way back to the pole.  I must check these signs, though. EDIT:  Has anyone else encountered problem reading signs?

Yes, in room 30698!

Jack also fell between to rooms going from 31494 to 31493! I think he was jumping and landed in a slit or something. :(

Wow, brell....

...this ship is hoge !!!

I keep losing my way. Especially after I had to "finish" the game (okay, I got killed  8-) ), when I resumed it from an earlier save pedestal (say save 3 of 5 I had already made), I usually ended up at an entirely different save pedestal (as save 4) than before.....

And I still haven't figured out how to get back to the upper decks from the lower levels. Up there are enough doors I haven't yet opened.

An amazing thing, brell. Now I know why it took so long to beta-test.....and it must have driven you crazy while building it, I s'ppose.   ;)

I don't understand these problems reading signs.  And ending up on a different save pedestal surely beats me.  As for the rooms you are talking about, Rose, the sign gives you a hint but how you head that hint is delicate.  I will take a better look at that.

Hmm....  perhaps I should play through TPI myself, so far I've only played it in he editor.

brell:

I guess you must have misunderstood me.
With "ending up on a different save pedestal" I meant, when I resume playing from an earlier saveing point (say 3 of 5), my next saving point (No. 4) is not the same save pedestal (4) it was last time...as there are so many options where to go.

I didn't describe a bug or anything like that....just my ability to get lost in that huge ship.

brell wrote on 15.09.2007 at 18:41:43:

Hmm....  perhaps I should play through TPI myself, so far I've only played it in he editor.

Woooot ??  You never played thru your own mansion from within the game ??  :o
I usually play my own mansions before release (from within the game) at least 15 times or more.....

The game is always a little different than the editor !!

Don't worry! That is why beta-testers are for. I played the whole mansion several times in window and with full screen and I never had any problem with reading the BBBs. The only strange thing I saw in this huge mansion was a missing piece of a string from a very fast moving spider.

I don't know if the two following ideas may help reading the BBBs for those who have problems.
1° Let MM choose the best monitor setting.
2° Use the latest version of MM: 1.0.9 . Don't forget that the way of making BBBs did change! So maybe ... :-/

Just played through it, had no problems reading signs.

@brell

I answered this from the quote:  EDIT:  Has anyone else encountered problem reading signs?  I some how feel you didn't understand that. Or I don't understand what you wrote me?

Hi Brell
I had a problem in room 30697 - I attempted a jump onto a ledge, missed and died - the skeleton ended up at the foot of the ladder. I did not get another live Jack (I had 7 lives), instead a message: Assertion failed, this program will now quit. File name: Sprite.c, Line number: 499 (unknown), Error Code: None.

rose wrote on 15.09.2007 at 21:12:18:

@brell I answered this from the quote:  EDIT:  Has anyone else encountered problem reading signs?  I some how feel you didn't understand that. Or I don't understand what you wrote me?

As I said, I don't understand these sign-reading problems.  Never encountered them myself.

sherryl199 wrote on 16.09.2007 at 00:04:53:

Hi Brell I had a problem in room 30697 - I attempted a jump onto a ledge, missed and died - the skeleton ended up at the foot of the ladder. I did not get another live Jack (I had 7 lives), instead a message: Assertion failed, this program will now quit. File name: Sprite.c, Line number: 499 (unknown), Error Code: None.

It would be good to have Vern's opinion on this but I don't believe it has anything to do with the TPI mansion itself.

A further report on sign problem. After the first time I have been several times in that room again after I each time restarted the program and ALL the time I could read the sign. Funny problem this! but resolved in a way by it self.

Just finished The Pirate Invasion! It took me 90 minutes, and I only got 58% secrets. And, I missed most of the cabins. :'(

This mansion is huge, unique, creative, delightful, and frustrating all in one. It had entirely too many hidden (and essential) keys for my taste. I also am not a fan of the signs warning the player against certain courses of action, as I feel it's bad design; you should be able to design your mansion such that not only are such signs unnecessary, but that, no matter what the player does, the mansion never becomes unfinishable. There were also at least two secret keys that were completely unreachable; I say that having fixed them for myself so I could get on with my life. ;)

I also was looking forward to seeing everyone's cabin, but unfortunately for me, more than half of them were completely hidden, and I missed them. I wasn't in the mood to play the mansion over and over, never being guaranteed that I would ever find all the cabins. So...you fill in the rest.  :-?

Overall, and notwithstanding the criticisms above, I really enjoyed TPI. Thanks to Brell for a good time!

Wow ryos....

I can't believe you mastered the Pirate Ship in one go and in only 90 minutes !!!?

I never get beyond 4 saving points....and have to start again and again.  8-)

BTW, I also found a couple of "issues", brell. More of that later.....

AND: the BBB problem never happened again. During my last couple of plays I always could read all BBBs properly !

Well, more like two. I did have to start over once because I used my normal keys on the multicolored doors (I probably could have kept going and been fine, but I didn't feel like I had played the first section very well and wanted to start over anyway).  8-)

ryos wrote on 16.09.2007 at 05:09:26:

Just finished The Pirate Invasion! It took me 90 minutes, and I only got 58% secrets. And, I missed most of the cabins. :'(

About half of the cabins, I presume  ;)


ryos wrote on 16.09.2007 at 05:09:26:

This mansion is huge, unique, creative, delightful, and frustrating all in one. It had entirely too many hidden (and essential) keys for my taste. I also am not a fan of the signs warning the player against certain courses of action, as I feel it's bad design; you should be able to design your mansion such that not only are such signs unnecessary, but that, no matter what the player does, the mansion never becomes unfinishable. There were also at least two secret keys that were completely unreachable; I say that having fixed them for myself so I could get on with my life. ;)

As far as I know the mansion never becomes unfinishable.  Please give me an example if I am wrong.
I have seen worse design than anything in TPI without any warnings at all - but of course this is a matter of taste.
Can you please give me an example of completely unreachable secret keys?


ryos wrote on 16.09.2007 at 05:09:26:

I also was looking forward to seeing everyone's cabin, but unfortunately for me, more than half of them were completely hidden, and I missed them. I wasn't in the mood to play the mansion over and over, never being guaranteed that I would ever find all the cabins. So...you fill in the rest.  :-? Overall, and notwithstanding the criticisms above, I really enjoyed TPI. Thanks to Brell for a good time!

As I said above you propably missed around half of the cabins.  In the readme file you are advised to pay attention to the sound.  Did you listen to all different sounds in my cabin?

aquaMat wrote on 16.09.2007 at 05:47:19:

Wow ryos.... BTW, I also found a couple of "issues", brell. More of that later..... AND: the BBB problem never happened again. During my last couple of plays I always could read all BBBs properly !

I'd surely like to know about all possible issues.  Regarding the BBB's, as I said I don't know why you and at least Rose had this issue.

brell wrote on 16.09.2007 at 08:20:22:

As far as I know the mansion never becomes unfinishable.  Please give me an example if I am wrong.

The only one I could potentially think of is if you use your regular keys on the multicolored doors, then use your multicolored keys on the wrong color door in the future so that you have too much of one color key and not enough of another. You might think that only an idiot would do this in light of the warning on the sign, which I read, heeded, then came back and ignored because I hadn't found the hidden exit to that portion of the level and thought that, maybe, I could get through the multicolored doors with my normal keys.


Quote:

I have seen worse design than anything in TPI without any warnings at all - but of course this is a matter of taste.

I wasn't trying to compare TPI to anything else. I was just saying that I don't think you should ever need to put warnings on signs as an essential aid to the player, and that to do so is like putting a band-aid on a design flaw and calling it good. A possible exception is (more rot13 here) gur uvagf nf gb juvpu pbybe bs pbva gb sbyybj va gur znmr - gung jnf irel urycshy.

You're right, this is a matter of taste. It's one man's opinion, and should be taken as such. :)


Quote:

Can you please give me an example of completely unreachable secret keys?

Lryybj xrl va 30290. I could have sworn there was another, but I can't for the life of me remember what it is.


Quote:

ryos wrote on 16.09.2007 at 05:09:26: I also was looking forward to seeing everyone's cabin, but unfortunately for me, more than half of them were completely hidden, and I missed them. I wasn't in the mood to play the mansion over and over, never being guaranteed that I would ever find all the cabins. So...you fill in the rest.  :-? Overall, and notwithstanding the criticisms above, I really enjoyed TPI. Thanks to Brell for a good time! As I said above you propably missed around half of the cabins.  In the readme file you are advised to pay attention to the sound.  Did you listen to all different sounds in my cabin?

I didn't actually read the readme. :-[ I also didn't hear anything extraordinary, but then, I have MM's sound effects turned down a bit so they aren't so loud compared to iTunes, and sometimes I miss things like torch sounds etc. This is probably stupid since I'm a big fan of auditory hints, but, what can I say? I like my background music.

Honestly, I left that room as soon as possible because hidden spiders freak me out.  :-/

Hey! It feels o so good that we have new mansions again to discuss.

Few things.

1° I may be stupid. But is there anyone who can tell me what that "rot13" is? And how I can translate it into proper English,

2° The use BBBs by brell in TPI is logical. Just like my MMaM this new mansion is a kind of tutorial where a lot of BBBs are there to help less experienced players. And the other BBBs are sometimes very funny. Like passenger Wingy who did invite Ted & Co in his cabin. I even don't know if it is breaking the playing rhythm, because there are so many BBBs that they decide the rhythm!

3° During the beta-testing I didn't encounter any problems with different use of keys. But to be sure I will check it again. Concerning hidden keys, I can recall only one and brell is already aware of it and looking for a nice hint. And if he doesn't find one, I advise a BBB ... 8-) ;D ::) ;)

Freddy wrote on 16.09.2007 at 14:59:27:

1° I may be stupid. But is there anyone who can tell me what that "rot13" is? And how I can translate it into proper English,

Rot13 is the most basic of cryptographic cyphers. To Rot13-encode something, take every letter and offset ("rotate") it by 13 positions in the alphabet. Thus "I" becomes "V", because V is 13 letters after I in the alphabet. Since the alphabet contains 26 letters, you can simply apply the rotation repeatedly to either encode or decode a piece of text.

Paste things into rot13.com to en/decode them.

I've taken to using Rot13 to obfuscate spoilers because I bought TextMate, which has a built-in Rot13 function, and which also lets you use it to edit the contents of any Cocoa text field in any application (including the text boxes in Safari). That's just one of many things that make it an amazing piece of software.

I also like Rot13 better than yellow text, so there.  :D

Thx, ryos! I keep it secret. :-X ;D

ryos wrote on 16.09.2007 at 05:09:26:

There were also at least two secret keys that were completely unreachable

I also found these 2 keys unreachable. There's the yellow key in 30290 and a red key in 31904. Jack found the way to get right next to them but was unable to pick them up, even by bending down backwards and forwards. If there is another way to get them, Jack was unable to figure it out.

Any hints? Are they in fact reachable?

This is a very creative and large mansion, and Jack is enjoying exploring this huge ship. But those keys are bothering him.

8-)

Ryos, all keys in 30290 are totally reachable.

Bending down backwards?? How does your Jack do that, Semi-Native?? :o

Semi-Native wrote on 16.09.2007 at 19:41:23:

ryos wrote on 16.09.2007 at 05:09:26: There were also at least two secret keys that were completely unreachable I also found these 2 keys unreachable. There's the yellow key in 30290 and a red key in 31904. Jack found the way to get right next to them but was unable to pick them up, even by bending down backwards and forwards. If there is another way to get them, Jack was unable to figure it out. Any hints? Are they in fact reachable? This is a very creative and large mansion, and Jack is enjoying exploring this huge ship. But those keys are bothering him. 8-)

Both these keys are very reachable.

Hint:  Once it was called ... Toybox novelty ... by Freddy.

rose wrote on 16.09.2007 at 20:32:44:

Bending down backwards?? How does your Jack do that, Semi-Native?? :o

Ha ha, I guess I didn't explain that very well. Sometimes Jack can only reach a treasure by facing away from it, and then you hit the down arrow to make Jack bend down, and he gets it.

Semi-Native wrote on 16.09.2007 at 22:09:08:

rose wrote on 16.09.2007 at 20:32:44: Bending down backwards?? How does your Jack do that, Semi-Native?? :o Ha ha, I guess I didn't explain that very well. Sometimes Jack can only reach a treasure by facing away from it, and then you hit the down arrow to make Jack bend down, and he gets it.

I don't remember having seen that.  Can you give me an example?

TPI has been updated to version 1.1 due to minor fixes.

brell,
I found an issue in room 31695, but I can't remember exactly what it was..... while playing I noticed some problem and just scribbled the room number on a piece of paper. Too bad I didn't take notes on the nature of the problem, but I fear I got stuck there, or something like that.

LATER:

I checked the room again...I remember now: the JS occured, when I hopped from platform to platform, then via the skull platforms onto that little lava thing, as I suspected something there. Once all the skull platforms were gone I was stranded (=stuck) on that lava thing....with only suicide left as an option.

aquaMat:  I knew about this possibility and it will be fixed in the next update.

brell:

Just wanted to let you know that I started the game from scratch after you posted the update (and because I simply couldn't continue beyond a certain point in the old game (below the "twisted ladder").

Sorry to report:
When I played the update, the BBBs in the following rooms couldn't be read at all:  30896, 30300, 31299  !!

Also I had a Jack-stuck in room 31695, where I went to the left, couldn't open the purple door (as I didn't have a purple key), returned to 31695 where I got stuck above the ladder, as (obviously) it was impossible to do a reverse ladder-jump !!

Had to commit suicide several times, then abort and restart from last save....    >:(

As I've said many times:  I do not know why you have these sign reading problems.  I've never encountered them and neither have my testers.

About room #31695:  The JS you think you had is an illusion!  And why didn't you take the purple key before going left of this room?

aquaMat wrote on 17.09.2007 at 17:42:27:

Sorry to report: When I played the update, the BBBs in the following rooms couldn't be read at all:  30896, 30300, 31299  !!(

Did you check the ... checksum after downloading? In the period of the betatesting I had once an odd experience (which had nothing to do with the BBBs btw). The cause was rather simple: something went wrong with the downloading. Once in a while that happens. :(

@Freddy:

No, I didn't check the checksum. Download went so smooth, I can't believe there was something wrong with it.....


@brell:

Yeah, I know you said it several times (that you didn't know what causes the BBB issue), but I just thought I'd better tell you that it's still happening.

As for the purple key:
It's not that I "didn't take" the purple key. During that particular game, before the JS happened, I didn't see no purple key in this area (I took a different path....I remember last time I arrived at the purple ddor and DID HAVE a purple key. But not this time....)

The JS being an illusion:
I had to look up in the editor what you meant....  OK, there's a tiny bit of _____ there, but how am I supposed to know that ?  Also when I tried to jump there, I still died.... it takes quite some skill to land exactly on that bit of ____.  Once you know exactly where it is, it gets a bit easier though.

aquaMat wrote on 18.09.2007 at 20:44:30:

@brell: As for the purple key: It's not that I "didn't take" the purple key. During that particular game, before the JS happened, I didn't see no purple key in this area (I took a different path....I remember last time I arrived at the purple ddor and DID HAVE a purple key. But not this time....) The JS being an illusion: I had to look up in the editor what you meant....  OK, there's a tiny bit of _____ there, but how am I supposed to know that ?  Also when I tried to jump there, I still died.... it takes quite some skill to land exactly on that bit of ____.  Once you know exactly where it is, it gets a bit easier though.

1. There is no way for you to enter and leave this room without seeing a purple key.
2. You have entered this room from below.  Why didn't you check your map instead of the editor?

Arr. You could have waitd for Talk Like A Pirate Day!

http://www.talklikeapirate.com/

:pirate:

Toybox wrote on 18.09.2007 at 21:17:24:

Arr. You could have waitd for Talk Like A Pirate Day! http://www.talklikeapirate.com/ :pirate:

Arr.  Didn't know.  And the 19. is my oldest son's birthday, too!

Toybox, if I only knew the correct phrase in English, you would have been made "walk the ????" for not telling me in time.  Please fill in the ???? for me and you will promptly be forgiven.   8-)

brell, is it ok if I add a poll about The Pirate Invation here?

Yes, anyone can create a poll.

Thanks for asking, though.

I vote against!

If the poll is about ... pirates. ;D

brell wrote on 18.09.2007 at 21:23:08:

Toybox, if I only knew the correct phrase in English, you would have been made "walk the ????" for not telling me in time.  Please fill in the ???? for me and you will promptly be forgiven.   8-)

Arr, it's walk the plank you land lubber :fierce:

Happy birthday to your oldest too matey!

:parrot:

Whoever added that poll:

It is quite interesting.... but unfortunately you cannot give several answers at once, if several apply (as in my case).

I have to admit for TPI I would have to answer (in this order):

Couldn't finish because:

1. Got lost.
2. Lost all my lives (repeatedly).
3. Got bored.

I'm not bored by this mansion as such.... far from it.... but when I have to re-play a certain section time and again, 'cause I never get beyond a certain area, then I'll get bored pretty quickly.
That's why I NEVER finished M M & M, to this day, BTW.

Quote:

I'm not bored by this mansion as such.... far from it.... but when I have to re-play a certain section time and again, 'cause I never get beyond a certain area, then I'll get bored pretty quickly.   That's why I NEVER finished M M & M, to this day, BTW.

I think it's interesting that you say that, aquaMat, simply because if I hadn't persisted through the exact same feelings and problems in DoD, I never would have had the skills needed to find the way forward in TPI. Because make no mistake: the hardest part of TPI is just finding the way forward, which is often hidden and sometimes not at all obvious. Contrast that to DoD, which is both very hard and equally hard to navigate, and you'll see why TPI wasn't such a bother. :)

You trained me, aquaMat. Shall the student become the teacher?  :P :D  8-)

How many rooms have this Mansion? I have not played, but i play in 1 or 2 weeks.

Mikee The Pirate Invasion has 289 rooms, but only about 210 playable rooms, the rest are just ocean and sky.

Several answers on the poll applies to me too!
I like the mansion, I have finished it but not with visiting all room (62% secrets). I have replayed it several times. I find the first part a bit boring but the rest is very OK.

i haven't got any notification on this thread since it changed to a poll thread! I guess I'll get them again after this posting!

I just changed the poll so everybody can vote for more then one answer. http://actionsoft.com/forums/Templates/Forum/default/smiley.gif

@Rose:

You really DID finish the ship ???

How on earth.....   I thought you were stranded below the twisted ladder, just like me....    :-/   :'(   :o

Well, this is embarassing since no one else seems to be having this problem, but I'm stuck in the gold coin/silver coin maze. I don't understand whether I'm supposed to activate all or some of the levers or not; and once I get to the sign about following the silver coins, it becomes difficult to do so. And then sometimes there are two exits from a room with a coin...am I missing something obvious (...besides a brain?)

I'm enjoying this mansion but not this maze, so help would be appreciated.

Scout, you are supposed to activate all levers.  The sideways from the coin paths lead to levers, treasure, etc.  Can you describe your problem on the silver path a little better?

Hi All,

I am loving this cruiser!!! What a great ship, and so many ways to move about, every time I play it, I find new areas to discover; hidden cabins, etc. 8-)

As for those of us who could not reach the "unreachable keys", I can finally give back some of the great help I have gotten.  Not knowing what the 'Toybox Novelty' was, but having played all of Toybox's mansions (a while back admittedly), I was now bound and determined to get those fudgin keys no matter what, especially after reading they were reachable.

Since I don't know how to hide hints, I will give a tip;  Make Jack do his 'exercises' and 'push ups'!  After a bit of this he will certainly get the keys. [smiley=evil.gif]

I hope I have not given away too much, but enough to help.

I am really enjoying being part of the MM family.

Thanks to all, [smiley=vrolijk_26.gif] [smiley=vrolijk_26.gif] [smiley=vrolijk_26.gif] [smiley=vrolijk_26.gif] [smiley=vrolijk_26.gif]

Sandybean

aquaMat wrote on 21.09.2007 at 22:30:46:

@Rose: You really DID finish the ship ??? How on earth.....   I thought you were stranded below the twisted ladder, just like me....    :-/   :'(   :o

Finished without the hidden rooms. Now I am nearly finishing the hidden rooms and will go on with the rest that I/Jack already knows! I don't have another life :-[

Rose,

well I just fin ished the ships too..... but even while I was finishing I realised that I had had no opportunity to get back to all those rooms I had missed. Et voilà: I ended with just 47 % secrets...... after 83 minutes. Whole areas of my map were still black !!

Hats off to you, brell, for the design of this monster, It must have cost you many sleepless nights..... I really love it !  But still I wish I would have a bit more "control" about how I play, where I go next etc.

The last time I played, the beginning was as usual - but (like every single time before) after about the second save, I suddenly took a completely different route than last time, discovered new rooms, a huge maze and eventually the exit too..... but missed many rooms I was able to solve last time.
What I regard as a major flaw for example: after I conquered the maze and finally arrived back on board at the back of the ship (where the pirate flag is), but right of all the corpses and zappers (30305), then I wish it would have been possible to return to the central area of the ship. But the right grey door in 30301 was closed, so it was not possible to return and finish all the rooms I had left out in the central ship area.

There should be a way to get back....

And another thing:  I found no way whatsoever to reach the hidden red key in room 31904. I saw it, I got very close, but couldn't grab it, no matter if I knelt down, or turened my back etc.  Are you aware of that.... or did I miss something ??    :-/

But apart from these issues: great great fun to explore....

aquaMat wrote on 23.09.2007 at 05:07:49:

... And another thing:  I found no way whatsoever to reach the hidden red key in room 31904. I saw it, I got very close, but couldn't grab it, no matter if I knelt down, or turened my back etc.  Are you aware of that.... or did I miss something ??    :-/ ...

You missed today's post from SandyBean about this issue!  ;)

I've been unable to get that key, either. There's also a yellow one at the top left of the ship - same thing. I've tried the backwards thing, but it sounds like you have to keep Jack down there until he starts grunting. Is that it? I'll try it.

:-/

&sp
aquaMat wrote on 23.09.2007 at 05:07:49:

Rose, well I just fin ished the ships too..... but even while I was finishing I realised that I had had no opportunity to get back to all those rooms I had missed. Et voilà: I ended with just 47 % secrets...... after 83 minutes. Whole areas of my map were still black !! Hats off to you, brell, for the design of this monster, It must have cost you many sleepless nights..... I really love it !  But still I wish I would have a bit more "control" about how I play, where I go next etc.

Actually you have a LOT of control how you play, where to go next, etc.


aquaMat wrote on 23.09.2007 at 05:07:49:

The last time I played, the beginning was as usual - but (like every single time before) after about the second save, I suddenly took a completely different route than last time, discovered new rooms, a huge maze and eventually the exit too..... but missed many rooms I was able to solve last time.

From the second saving point you have three ways to go. That is a lot of control IMO.
And you don't have to miss anything no matter which route you take from that point.


aquaMat wrote on 23.09.2007 at 05:07:49:

What I regard as a major flaw for example: after I conquered the maze and finally arrived back on board at the back of the ship (where the pirate flag is), but right of all the corpses and zappers (30305), then I wish it would have been possible to return to the central area of the ship. But the right grey door in 30301 was closed, so it was not possible to return and finish all the rooms I had left out in the central ship area. There should be a way to get back....

But you CAN go back - through the maze!

There are no areas on the ship - except from the finish section - where you absoulutely cannot go back to the central area of the ship.


aquaMat wrote on 23.09.2007 at 05:07:49:

And another thing:  I found no way whatsoever to reach the hidden red key in room 31904. I saw it, I got very close, but couldn't grab it, no matter if I knelt down, or turened my back etc.  Are you aware of that.... or did I miss something ??    :-/ But apart from these issues: great great fun to explore....

As I've said before:  This key is totally reachable.  Actually, this trick has been around as least since Freddy's "House of Wonders".

Semi-Native wrote on 23.09.2007 at 06:28:51:

I've been unable to get that key, either. There's also a yellow one at the top left of the ship - same thing. I've tried the backwards thing, but it sounds like you have to keep Jack down there until he starts grunting. Is that it? I'll try it. :-/

And why is he grunting?  Because he is doing armlifting!  Bravo, Semi-Native  :)

And this trick is only one of the "wonders" in that house. 8-) ;D
But what I wanted to say: the idea comes from Toybox and so all honour is for him.

Quote:

But you CAN go back - through the maze!

Urk. Who wants to do that, especially with the coins gone? I'd sooner start over.

What's the rationale for letting the player return to the "party deck" but not the rest of the ship?

Nick wrote on 20.09.2007 at 04:33:51:

Mikee The Pirate Invasion has 289 rooms, but only about 210 playable rooms, the rest are just ocean and sky.

okay.

ryos wrote on 23.09.2007 at 07:12:06:

Quote: But you CAN go back - through the maze! Urk. Who wants to do that, especially with the coins gone? I'd sooner start over. What's the rationale for letting the player return to the "party deck" but not the rest of the ship?

You should be able to go the whole ship through again from the party deck. You have a lot of walking to do, I believe!

ryos wrote on 23.09.2007 at 07:12:06:

Quote: But you CAN go back - through the maze! Urk. Who wants to do that, especially with the coins gone? I'd sooner start over.

Absolutely !!


ryos wrote on 23.09.2007 at 07:12:06:

What's the rationale for letting the player return to the "party deck" but not the rest of the ship?

I don't understand that either....  

And also.... even if you would return thru the maze (who with a sane mind would do that?) you'd still end up in room 31498 BELOW a pole you definitely can't crawl back up, can you ?!   ;)

As for the red key in 31904:
As I said, I tried everything: push ups, back spins, twistmyass....you name it. If there is such a thing as the "Toybox trick" I probably once knew it, but definitely can't remember it anymore.

And brell:
You said, after save 2 one had a LOT of control about where to go next etc. ..... Well I know how you mean it (and it's probably a question of how you define "control", you seem to define it as "possibilities".....) and from that point of view I have to say you're right..... but may be that's the problem for me... too much possibilities.  :D  ;D  ;)

But as I said.... on the other hand I love the fact that every time you seem to find new rooms to explore. Although I still can't believe there's a single member of our beloved group who managed to really visit ALL rooms in one single GAME, finding all secrets and coins.  Except maybe for yourself, brell......  ;)

aquaMat wrote on 23.09.2007 at 19:00:36:

And also.... even if you would return thru the maze (who with a sane mind would do that?) you'd still end up in room 31498 BELOW a pole you definitely can't crawl back up, can you ?!   ;)

Wrong!  Haven't you found Psychotronic's cabin?


aquaMat wrote on 23.09.2007 at 19:00:36:

As for the red key in 31904: As I said, I tried everything: push ups, back spins, twistmyass....you name it. If there is such a thing as the "Toybox trick" I probably once knew it, but definitely can't remember it anymore.

If by "push ups" you mean armlifting then, NO, you haven't tried it.  Read all the posts about this matter.


aquaMat wrote on 23.09.2007 at 19:00:36:

And brell: You said, after save 2 one had a LOT of control about where to go next etc. ..... Well I know how you mean it (and it's probably a question of how you define "control", you seem to define it as "possibilities".....) and from that point of view I have to say you're right..... but may be that's the problem for me... too much possibilities.  :D  ;D  ;)

IMO, if you can only go one way, you have no control on where to go next.


aquaMat wrote on 23.09.2007 at 19:00:36:

But as I said.... on the other hand I love the fact that every time you seem to find new rooms to explore. Although I still can't believe there's a single member of our beloved group who managed to really visit ALL rooms in one single GAME, finding all secrets and coins.  Except maybe for yourself, brell......  ;)

And at least my testers.

WOW  [smiley=vrolijk_26.gif] [smiley=vrolijk_26.gif] [smiley=vrolijk_26.gif] [smiley=vrolijk_26.gif] [smiley=vrolijk_26.gif] [smiley=vrolijk_26.gif] [smiley=vrolijk_26.gif]

WHAT FUN !!!

I finished the entire Ship, no blank spots, all rooms visited in 78 mins, with a score of 65,875,  with 95% secrets found, and 53 lives left over.  I feel very excited !!!

I had done the beautiful Cruiser three times already, always finding new areas, and after almost giving up in the gold key grid, I decided to do it again and really try to get all areas in one go.  

I especially loved the "Mirror Room" (31296),  I can't tell you how many times Jack died in there the first few times thru.

I have memorized the location of the last rugsack, and hope I can remember for when the sequel comes out !!!

Thanks so much Brell for making such a wonderful, exciting and inovative Ship for us to play on. [smiley=dankk2.gif]

SandyBean [smiley=2vrolijk_08.gif]

Thanks SandyBean for the compliment.  The mirror room is Psychotronic's cabin built by him.  But what is it you call "the gold key grid"?

SandyBean wrote on 24.09.2007 at 02:31:43:

... Thanks so much Brell for making such a wonderful, exciting and inovative Ship for us to play on. ...

Sorry, brell. I almost forgot to say it. It is much easier yo make MMaM, which is double size, than TPI which needed a perfect over-all-map. Designers KNOW what efforts are involved with that!

Congratulations and I wish I was the Admiral on your ship! Only needs 5 gold stars ...

brell,

later I'll reply to your remarks on my last post (BTW, shortly after I wrote that I found the secret to the "unreachable key"..... 8-));
but now for an important issue:

Also interesting for Vern, BTW.

5 miniutes ago I was playing TPI (again), when - just after save 2 - something very strange happened. I went down to where the many doors are that lead to Freddy's room.... when suddenly I realised my Jack wasn't able anymore of collecting keys, shields etc. (even if he had enough "empty spots". Also, while all creatures continued behaving normally, those vanishing grey platforms kept being vsible ALL the time !!  I went up, down sideways into other rooms: everywhere the same thing.... spiders crawlwd, eyeballs bounced, but Jack couzldn't collect anything at all.

When I decided I'd pause the game to report this and maybe try again later, the game crashed, with following message:

Assertion failed, this program will now quit

File name: Sprite.c
Line number:   499 (unknown)
Error code:  None

Vern & everybody else:  ever heard about this phenomenon ??  Very strange indeed, isn't it ?!  
What did cause it ??

Freddy & brell,

did you always have these stars ???

Where do they come from ?

And sandybean:  congratulations, I'm duly impressed !!  You really visited ALL rooms and in the end you had 53 lives left ??

Amazing.....

Although I start coming to grips with the ship as well.....  but some things are really hidden exceptionally well.   :o
And psychotronics' room (the dark one)...well...either I don't understand it at all.... or there is nothing to understand there ??   :-/

brell wrote on 23.09.2007 at 21:24:19:

aquaMat wrote on 23.09.2007 at 19:00:36: And also.... even if you would return thru the maze (who with a sane mind would do that?) you'd still end up in room 31498 BELOW a pole you definitely can't crawl back up, can you ?!   ;) Wrong!  Haven't you found Psychotronic's cabin?

Yes....but I couldn't make much of it (see above). After the entrance you're immediately blocked by an invisible wall !!


brell wrote on 23.09.2007 at 21:24:19:

aquaMat wrote on 23.09.2007 at 19:00:36: As for the red key in 31904: As I said, I tried everything: push ups, back spins, twistmyass....you name it. If there is such a thing as the "Toybox trick" I probably once knew it, but definitely can't remember it anymore. If by "push ups" you mean armlifting then, NO, you haven't tried it.  Read all the posts about this matter.

Found in the meantime (see above). I apparently had just tried the "bent-down" first; sorry.

aquaMat wrote on 24.09.2007 at 21:35:46:

brell wrote on 23.09.2007 at 21:24:19: aquaMat wrote on 23.09.2007 at 19:00:36: And also.... even if you would return thru the maze (who with a sane mind would do that?) you'd still end up in room 31498 BELOW a pole you definitely can't crawl back up, can you ?!   ;) Wrong!  Haven't you found Psychotronic's cabin? Yes....but I couldn't make much of it (see above). After the entrance you're immediately blocked by an invisible wall !!

No, you haven't found it  ;)

Hi Brell et al,

The room I was referrring to where I almost quit is properly called the 'Yellow Key Grid Puzzle'.  I had no trouble following the gold coins, but Jack was left out in the cold trying to follow the silver ones.  After going around in circles and bashing his head against many unyielding stone walls, we finally got to the important lever, and stepping block and were able to carry on.   ;D

I also found there were certain areas that you had options on which way to go, and normally I don't like mansions with too much of this, as I feel I may not be able to get back to do them.  But with TPI, I just used logic and followed the keys to where they belonged and this way I was sure to do everything.  

And yes, AquaMat, I did every room, and it is really neat when you are finished and you bring up the Map, to see the real shape of the Ship.  It's too bad I couldn't make the map smaller to see the whole thing at once on my screen, but it has so many rooms, it is impossible.  [smiley=thumbsup.gif]

I would be interested in maybe becoming a beta tester, if anyone could tell me what's involved, and if it is ok that I am using an iMac, and not the best with computer programming? :question

take care all,

SandyBean [smiley=2vrolijk_08.gif]

aquaMat wrote on 24.09.2007 at 21:35:46:

Found in the meantime (see above). I apparently had just tried the "bent-down" first; sorry.

I finally figured it out, too. Evil!   ;)

Congrats, SandyBean, that's quite an achievement. I'll be starting over once again to try and reach all rooms. I think I've got Psychotronic's Room figured out now, too.

8-)

aquaMat wrote on 24.09.2007 at 21:21:53:

... did you always have these stars ??? Where do they come from ? ...

What stars? ;D Was a practical joke between brell and me! I thought that I had all skills to be Admiral on his ship and said that I was going to show my 5 golden stars on the boards. Small problem. Also brell (and joeb and suztours) got 5 golden stars.

SandyBean wrote on 24.09.2007 at 23:35:21:

... I would be interested in maybe becoming a beta tester, if anyone could tell me what's involved, and if it is ok that I am using an iMac, and not the best with computer programming? ...

So far there are NO instructions about beta-testing. You only need to be a volunteer and, since you seem to be, you ARE promoted to beta-tester! ;)

Beta-testing does NOT involve any computer programming knowledge. What you need to do is testing new mansions (in progress). That is not the same as playing them!! While testing, Jack needs to try all normal AND abnormal paths, to check if everything in the mansion is okay and doesn't lead to Jack-stucks, Half Jack-stucks etc. An HJS is a situation where Jack is stuck, but the player is able to continue game by commiting suicide. I mean Jack! Not the player ... ;D

But also, I might add, a beta-tester should be familiar with the usual building skills and tricks of MM, and although he must not necessarily be a designer himself, having a knowledge of designing levels certainly helps.

It is not oblidged, but it helps. But in an other way non-designers may see other things!

brell:

I'm gettin' at it...I'm gettin' at it......  I'm close to finishing TPI with ALL rooms visited. You know what the missing piece in all my earlier try-outs was:  You said I hadn't found the "real" Psychotronic cabin, but I had (the mirror image one), I was just too slow to understand the "mirror image logic" behind it...so I wasn't aware that you really could get UP through it. That's why I thought the secret would lie in the fake (dark) Psychotronic cabin. Now I know better.....  
(And since I can return to that upper level, I can now visit even those rooms I might have left out etc.....)

Anyway....unfortunately I have to report another JS:
In room # 31498 I came from below left, pulled the lever (that toggles the grey doors) and then got killed on the ladder by the bird. Then I was reborn BEHIND (= left of) the lower grey door, which was now closed !!! All I could do was abort the game !

And also.... the one JS I reported earlier.... in room # 31695 (at the lava pool): although you tried to "repair" that by adding a ladder above the lava....unfortunately I still got stuck. Coming from the right I hopped onto the first couple of skull-platforms (which then duly disappeared), then landed on the grey disappearing platform in the lava....and still was stuck !!  The ladder didn't help, as there were no more skull-platforms to jump onto (after taking the ladder).

And I still haven't found out: is there anything hidden at that lava pool or not ??  At least you give the impression there is, by adding that sinking platform in the lava....so one is always tempted to go searching for a secret there....and ends stuck.  :'(  :(

But .... I can only say it again....  what a giant achievment.... great fun to explore !!!   :)

aquaMat wrote on 25.09.2007 at 16:44:11:

Anyway....unfortunately I have to report another JS: In room # 31498 I came from below left, pulled the lever (that toggles the grey doors) and then got killed on the ladder by the bird. Then I was reborn BEHIND (= left of) the lower grey door, which was now closed !!! All I could do was abort the game !

Fixed in the last update


aquaMat wrote on 25.09.2007 at 16:44:11:

And also.... the one JS I reported earlier.... in room # 31695 (at the lava pool): although you tried to "repair" that by adding a ladder above the lava....unfortunately I still got stuck. Coming from the right I hopped onto the first couple of skull-platforms (which then duly disappeared), then landed on the grey disappearing platform in the lava....and still was stuck !!  The ladder didn't help, as there were no more skull-platforms to jump onto (after taking the ladder). And I still haven't found out: is there anything hidden at that lava pool or not ??  At least you give the impression there is, by adding that sinking platform in the lava....so one is always tempted to go searching for a secret there....and ends stuck.  :'(  :( But .... I can only say it again....  what a giant achievment.... great fun to explore !!!   :)

There is nothing in the lava pool.  What I am trying to do is to ensure that the player doen't think and/or try to get the purple key via the falling skulls.

But I was using the latest update (1.2) ?!!!   :-/   :o

Or is there already a newer one ??


BTW, you know what I was thinking this morning, when I walked at the very bottom of the ship.... if you had made it for the Exp.P. you could've had REAL water there....   ;D  :D  (But we'd have to wait another half year....and wouldn't be talking about it now....!)

A fantastic mansion  8-) Fun to explore!

For some reason I didn't find my own cabin  :o It must be in this huge black hole in the middle of the ship then  ;)

Only this one bit when you want to go back into the ship from near the end, I didn't have strength to go through the gold and silver coins maze, not least of all because there was no coin left to guide me!

I must say it was a very nifty idea to include other designer's rooms in the ship, too.

The down side is about keys: I was always going around with an extra purple and 2 multi-coloured keys... I know I should have used up the purple one but couldn't find the secret passage to that black hole. So I was always afraid of getting some key-related JS, which most of the time didn't happen but once.... I opened 3 multi-coloured doors with multi-coloured keys, one hidden blue door with the 4th key and the last multi-coloured door (the rightmost) with my purple key. Then I went to the left, to a bit where I would have needed a purple key (or other coloured keys, like yellow or green I believe) and couldn't get any!

Fortunately I had saved just before, so I could restart easily.

aquaMat wrote on 25.09.2007 at 18:31:48:

But I was using the latest update (1.2) ?!!!   :-/   :o Or is there already a newer one ??

Yep, released yesterday evening.

Toybox wrote on 25.09.2007 at 19:28:17:

The down side is about keys: I was always going around with an extra purple and 2 multi-coloured keys... I know I should have used up the purple one but couldn't find the secret passage to that black hole. So I was always afraid of getting some key-related JS, which most of the time didn't happen but once.... I opened 3 multi-coloured doors with multi-coloured keys, one hidden blue door with the 4th key and the last multi-coloured door (the rightmost) with my purple key. Then I went to the left, to a bit where I would have needed a purple key (or other coloured keys, like yellow or green I believe) and couldn't get any! Fortunately I had saved just before, so I could restart easily.

Do you remember where you got that purple key?  Where was that hidden blue door?

The door was on the right of the screen, leading, I think, to the room just before the Engine (in which BBB's warned you not to enter if / unless Gold was turned on). I don't remember where I got the purple key though - in one of the cabins probably.

Also, I have to say that I ended up stuck because of disregarding the advice to use up all single-coloured keys, so it's my own fault really ;) (Which means that I don't see it as a design flaw.)

And I must point out that with all these doors and keys, and my tendency to open the first door I meet with my keys, it is very impressive that there are no more JS's.

Hehe.  OK, I'll don't treat this as a problem - so far......  ;)

aquaMat wrote on 25.09.2007 at 16:44:11:

brell: Anyway....unfortunately I have to report another JS: In room # 31498 I came from below left, pulled the lever (that toggles the grey doors) and then got killed on the ladder by the bird. Then I was reborn BEHIND (= left of) the lower grey door, which was now closed !!! All I could do was abort the game !

Funny aquamat. I found that JS yesterday!

Tell me if you find anything in the lava pool. I don't think there is anything to find there.

Rose

Rose, a few posts above I think brell has already confirmed that there's nothing in that lava pool......

But if one considers the frightening rate with which there are things / secrets / keys hidden throughout the ship, one would have never guessed that......   ;)  :)

brell wrote on 25.09.2007 at 21:19:42:

aquaMat wrote on 25.09.2007 at 18:31:48: But I was using the latest update (1.2) ?!!!   :-/   :o Or is there already a newer one ?? Yep, released yesterday evening.

Found the update, brell.
BUT: How was I to know....the (custom mansions download) thread still reads "Last changed on 21.09.2007"  !!   8-)

Sorry, I forgot to change that, but:
http://actionsoft.com/forums/YaBB.pl?num=1190469817

aquaMat wrote on 26.09.2007 at 01:38:58:

Rose, a few posts above I think brell has already confirmed that there's nothing in that lava pool...... But if one considers the frightening rate with which there are things / secrets / keys hidden throughout the ship, one would have never guessed that......   ;)  :)

Well there are altogether 46 secrets in 175 active rooms, so it is about 0,26 secrets per room on the average.

And out of 70 keys only 15 are hidden, which is 21%

Well... I didn't see that.... even though I was locked in 3 or 4 times since last night.

Apparently this is another case of the software going haywire.... this thread has NOT been marked new for me at all, also I didn't see it in the "10 latest posts" section (maybe it went thru there too fast.... but it still should be marked as new).

See, Rose..... that#s the first time it happened to me in this way.... as I had reported usually it's "posts-marked-as-new-even-if-I've-read-them-already"....   :o   ::)

Haha, I also fell into that lava pit hoping for a secret. We're all just too greedy for our own good sometimes! ;D

;D There is only one place where you really may be greedy! At the real bottom of the ship where is ... a leak. Because each coin is a coin ...

Last night I thought I had (for the first time) mastered the ship completely.... when - just before the exit room - I looked at the map and realised....I had again missed an entire section, albeit one I knew already and always visited in earlier games. It's the section below and around the twisted ladder, where my and most other people's cabins are.

I checked again.... and found the reason was.... apparently I'm missing one purple key. That happens usually around the time I'm in front of Freddy's cabin.... so I can take the purple key above the many colored doors that lead to Freddy's and then decide whether I continue straight ahead into his cabin (which doesn't lead to much - beside a little backpack money).... or if I take the purple key and go back up and visit the "bar w/ dancefloor" room. Only the latter allows me to finally go to the "twisted ladder section".

There at least..... after much searching.... I finally found the way back (hilarious....amazing work, brell!!) into the "first cabin section".  But I never find the one purple key missing  to enter Freddy's cabin.    :(     >:(

(But that way I can at least finish w/ only 1 room left unvisited.....)  8-)   ;)

aquaMat wrote on 26.09.2007 at 18:32:22:

There at least..... after much searching.... I finally found the way back (hilarious....amazing work, brell!!) into the "first cabin section".  But I never find the one purple key missing  to enter Freddy's cabin.    :(     >:(

Which means you haven't found Psychotronic's cabin.

I have fininshed the whole ship!? but only found 92% secrets :'(
My poor Jack has to jump at walls and kneel everywhere but still he can't get all secrets. I'll give him a long rest and then he has to try once more

brell wrote on 26.09.2007 at 18:51:30:

aquaMat wrote on 26.09.2007 at 18:32:22: There at least..... after much searching.... I finally found the way back (hilarious....amazing work, brell!!) into the "first cabin section".  But I never find the one purple key missing  to enter Freddy's cabin.    :(     >:( Which means you haven't found Psychotronic's cabin.

Sure I found it.....  see my earlier post about that (and since about that time I also know how to get up in it)....  but what does that have to do with my "purple key problem" ??   :-/   ::)

PS: When I wrote above I found the way back... I didn't refer to Psychotronic's cabin, but to room 31299

aquaMat wrote on 26.09.2007 at 22:41:43:

Sure I found it.....  see my earlier post about that (and since about that time I also know how to get up in it)....  but what does that have to do with my "purple key problem" ??   :-/   ::) PS: When I wrote above I found the way back... I didn't refer to Psychotronic's cabin, but to room 31299

Later:
Gee.....  am I stoopid.....  I have passed thru Psychotronic's cabin time and again......and even AFTER I had understood the "mirror image logic" I still didn't realise it could apply to everything   :-[    :-[  ::)  8-)

I was so "fixated" on finding the secret "steps"...and also so relieved when I made it to the top, that I never even thought about checking the right half of the image again (for another hint).

So shame on me.....(again).... and hats-off to you, brell. You must definitely be the most "vicious" of all "secret hiders"  ;) :D

rose wrote on 26.09.2007 at 21:44:59:

I have fininshed the whole ship!? but only found 92% secrets :'( My poor Jack has to jump at walls and kneel everywhere but still he can't get all secrets. I'll give him a long rest and then he has to try once more

I assure you, "banging your head against some mad bugger's wall" is not needed  ;)

I finished it too, much better than last time (93% of secrets  :o ). What a beautiful ship! I wonder where these missing 7% are hiding though...

As for this JS I had described, I think finally it is not a real one but just that I was trying to go into a secret (where keys were to be found) and failing. Even though I had been jumping at the right place (not quite the right place, obviously). And this time when I jumped I went through very smoothly ::) Go figure.

8-)

Yippiie!  I've finally made it, too!!  With ALL rooms visited...and like most others - unfortunately only 93% secrets.....  ;)  8-)

The great thing about TPI is....once the player has overcome the initial feeling of "getting lost" and has gotten the hang of the secret return routes etc. it actually gets more and more fun with every repeated play-through......!!

Now if I only knew where those remaining secrets are hidden.....   :-/    ::)   ;)



I hardly dare to mention it.....  but I found a last JS (I had seen that already in an earlier version, but I'm not sure if I have reported it already):

In room 31701 I accidentally took the skull-platforms up to the ledge with the zapper and purple door BEFORE pulling the (ground floor) lever! That resulted in a JS with only suicide as an option !!  
The easiest solution would be to just replace one skull-platform with a re-appearing platform, so Jack can't get stranded up there !

aquaMat wrote on 04.10.2007 at 00:37:41:

Now if I only knew where those remaining secrets are hidden.....   :-/    ::)   ;) I hardly dare to mention it.....  but I found a last JS (I had seen that already in an earlier version, but I'm not sure if I have reported it already): In room 31701 I accidentally took the skull-platforms up to the ledge with the zapper and purple door BEFORE pulling the (ground floor) lever! That resulted in a JS with only suicide as an option !!

The next update will be out soon I hope.  There are two somewhat unfair secrets that will be removed.
And thanks for the JS info.  It will be fixed in that update, too.

aquaMat wrote on 04.10.2007 at 00:37:41:

...and like most others - unfortunately only 93% secrets.....  ;)  8-)

While beta-testing this mansion I finally got 98 %, thus still missing one secret ... ::) Maybe I should PLAY this mansion for the first time. But, after the release of the update! Because I know the number of secrets will change ... :D

Freddy, that'll probably make you the only one who discovered a secret that's no longer there.....  :D   ;D

You'll end up with 102 % soon.....

This ship is great!!! It's SO much fun and the graphics are awesome! It was so cool to find my cabin; thank you for including it!

Arevn

;D Mine has more doors. ;D

Hehe, no, my cabin is not a swiss bank.  ::) :P :D

Freddy wrote on 07.10.2007 at 04:03:01:

;D Mine has more doors. ;D

Mine has a secret entrance!  :D

I'm now stuck in the sequel and going batty, hee hee.

Arevn

I've just replayed TPI for the kazillionth time and I think it'd be nice to have a special reward at the end for those who have an extra yellow key. I've finished three times with 100% secrets with an extra key and I know exactly what door I (purposely) missed.  :)

Arevn

Where could you spare a yellow key?

brell wrote on 14.10.2007 at 07:59:12:

Where could you spare a yellow key?

You don't need to open the door in 31896. :)

Arevn

Yes you are right, didn't notice that.  Maybe I'll fix that so you don't need to carry that key with you all the time  ;)

brell wrote on 14.10.2007 at 09:34:59:

Yes you are right, didn't notice that.  Maybe I'll fix that so you don't need to carry that key with you all the time  ;)

I'd prefer a reward for being such a clever player!  ;D

Arevn

I'm not sure if what has happened is a JS - I went through the maze, up to the flagpole, etc. and am going back through the maze to find some missing areas. Going from 30904 to 30905 I fell into the space between the middle floors - I assume because of the color bricks between the walls? So I jumped over the divide, the door closed, and now I can't get out (and dread the thought of going through maze again!!). Am I missing something obvious? Thanks -

No you are not missing anything.  An update will be needed.

Is there an alternate way back through the maze? Thanks.

No  :-[

I totally forgot that Jack needs to set the blocks to gold before going through the maze again.

An update will hopefully be released tomorrow.

heh? what you have forgot?  :o

Nick wrote on :

The Pirate Invasion is one cool mansion. http://actionsoft.com/forums/Templates/Forum/default/grin.gif

I agree with nick, even though i ran out of lives, The pirate invasion is a one of a kind.

I love TPI and am slowly learning new techniques as I go but I am totally stumped by the twisting, broken ladder leading down to the cabins. Is there a special jumping techniques when going down a ladder? I couldn't handle that in the M&M mansion also.

zipwin - maybe you should try to go another way

OK Rose. I'll try. Thanks.

Hi all,

I'm having a great time with TPI but have a long way to go to find all the entrances into rooms. I have version 1.09 for MAC but want to know if I have all the updates and if not, how do I find them? Feel  very dumb asking but my "get info" doesn't tell me.

1.09 is the latest version, zipwin. Or are you asking about the latest verion of the Pirate invasion?

Yep. Latest Pirates.

Hi Zipwin.  The latest version of the game is 1.09.  The latest version of TPI is the one in the custom mansions download.

Thanks Brell. Unfortunately, I am really stuck. Have done the maze and gotten back to the party deck but cannot solve the mirror room or get to the rooms below the broken ladder down from the party deck. There is obviously a technique I haven't mastered...I badly need a hint as to how to get into rooms like DaFalcon and through the mirror. Perhaps you could send me a private message...I can get up the first room on the invisible blocks and cross over to the other side but cannot get down...have literally been jumping against walls for the last two days.....finally. Can you get down the ladder from the party deck or is that an exervise in futility??? :-?

I'm beginning to think that the cabins below the twisted ladder are the best kept secret since the beginning of MM  8-)

First of all, why can't you get into daFalcon's cabin?

Second, Psychotronic's cabin is the KEY to the cabins below the twisted ladder.  Please note that everything is mirrored.

Hope this helps ..... for a while  [smiley=evil.gif]

I get to the entrance in room 30697 and the grey door to the left is shut. I don't see any other way to get in and I can't find the switch to raise that door.

Which means you haven't been everywhere in room 30697 or haven't looked in hidden places.

Thanks! By the way, the old saying: sleep on it: worked really well for me last night. Woke up early and even before my cup of coffee I figured out how to get into the secret room and have been playing the previously inaccessable cabins! I LOVE how I can get back above the pole now....still have to solve the mirror room but am learning as I go. I feel almost like I am no longer a true newbie.  Thanks again Brel. This is really an elegant puzzle. I loved the whole Myst series and this takes similar thinking out of the box.

Thank you Zipwin for the nice words. Please note that, like in all mirrors, what you see is not a part of the real world, just a mirror of it.

Thanks Brell, that was just being dumb and not looking around properly.

I've finally solved the mirror room-actually had done so before understanding the mirror effect. A slight criticism (very slight) is I am not sure how many rooms are involved with the mirror effect since it is not truly a reflection i.e. things that should disappear stay put in the mirror side....I know of at least two rooms but there could be another. FINALLY, I reached the end but missed a couple of rooms and wondered like those who wrote earlier if there is a way back other than the maze like from the pirate flag site on the top deck. It appears there should be.....great job designing this one.

Yes, Zipwin, there is another way back in the newest update  :)

Thank you Brell, have really enjoyed the pirate invasion. Finally finished it today! Well actually I finished it a while before but only discovered half the mansions. This time I got 93% of secrets. I love all the secret rooms and hidden keys you have to look for and all the messages on the way. I think this game and Catacombs have been my favourite so far of the custom games I have played (haven't played all of them yet). To me this game was hard, but I find the 'hard' games pretty much impossible! They just stress me out so much that it is no longer fun for me to play them anymore and I give up. There were moments when I just had to sleep on it or look at the forum for help or just get stuck for ages going round and round different rooms until I got the answer! But I think I need the challenge! :D

Thank you koala.  Was TPI hard:

a) to play or

b) to solve?

Should be the latter, of course  ;)

If it is the former, then you should sleep on the sequel until you gain more experience in steering Jack around.  Have you tried Freddy's Midnight Mansion and Monsters.  It is a huge mansion but it starts very easy and gradully becomes very hard in the end.  IMO the best training mansion around.

TPI was hard to solve. Though I did find some bits hard to play.. Like the room near the bottom of the boat that had the blocks that moved. The idea is to jump on to each on and then jump to the next room. I died SO many times trying to get that right. Once I worked out the knack of it it was do-able! Yes I did try Midnight Mansion and Monsters and it was one of those games that stressed me out too much. The first bit I sailed through and was fun. The second part I could not get my head around at all so gave up. Think I need more practice perhaps.... :)

TPI was meant to be easy to normal although there are a few harder twists.  The moving blocks you are talking about are IMO a normal procedure for an experienced player, and anyway you have gained that experience now  8-)