After finding solutions for the problems discussed in "Talk >Problems with older custom graphics mansions (DoD)" I announce the arrival of:

Discotheque Of Doom 2.1

In this update it is no longer necessary to swop any graphic files. You can experience DoD easier than ever before.... only the supplied music files should be put into Game Data >Music (provided you don't have them already) and off you go !

A good reason to re-play DoD !

PS: I have sent all necessary files to Freddy yesterday, and I'm sure he will release it very soon.

(Version-number completed by Freddy)

Version 2.1 is downloadable now. :) The only file swopping that is left, is the dragging of 5 music files. Makes MM-life much easier!

About the downloading:
1° since the zipfile has a size of 16 MB, the downloading will take several minutes;
2° in the DoD-folder you get, after unzipping, a read-me-first file explains how to do the file swopping.

I'm started replaying DoD, and there is this little detail which puzzles me. Sometimes you exit a room with music and enter a silent zone, but when you come back into the previous room the music doesn't start again. (I didn't note down the room numbers  :-[) Maybe it would be nice to amend this?

(It is terrific music by the way  8-))

First of all, thanks for the compliments on the music, Toybox.

The effect you notice is due to the way music is handled within the game (which can sometimes work to one's advantage and sometimes not.....).

In any given room you can decide whether music is OFF, or ON (in this case the ID determines WHICH music file is played, OR (by choosing ID 0) you can determine that no change will occur (compared to the room before).

This way it can happen, that - say - in room A music file 1 is playing, next is room B, where there is NO CHANGE selected (music 1 keeps playing), and a third room, room C is silent.
If you now return to room B, from room C, music has been set to "Silence" and when you return to room B NO CHANGE will occur, resulting in room B being silent (even if it was not when you entered it coming from room A).

Hope that was clear enough ?!

On top of that, as a change in music sadly results in a visible delay when entering a room, selecting NO CHANGE is often preferrable.

Yes, I know how the music changes work (I had quite a few problems in, I think, Dragon's Trap  :-/). And I agree that both methods, restarting the music or keeping the silence, have their pros and cons.

But it was a bit frustrating to have the nice custom music and then to lose it because I popped in somewhere to have a peek in a neighbouring room. Obviously, it means I should play more carefully next time  ;) (Not to mention finding only 80% secrets!)

I would also like to complain about the zapper beams in rooms 20719 and 20906, although it means I am much more skilled now ::) Mostly, I miss a saving point close before :-[

Also, in 20906, there might be some little problem with one zapper beam not corresponding to a coloured-ball-brick. (I'm not sure, it needs checking).

Dear Toybox,

I agree that the zappers in the rooms you mentioned are kinda tough, but they are manageable (even if only after a bit of rehearsing  ;)).

I spent quite some time finetuning those zappers, and you can be sure that there's nothing there left to accident or chance.....

Room #20719:
As usual watch carefully before you make your move! Especially the third "zapper block" is tough.....  try to get in the groove.....!

Room #20906:
Well.... what shall I say.... ;)   Here you picked indeed the toughest zapper room (in fact only Psychotronics thunderstorm strikes me as more vicious).... but, again, once you've figured out what the groove is (there's a method to that madness) you will make it.

However, even I still lose lives there (after I haven't played for a while)....but as a hint: there is 1 certain point in the rhythm of the zappers where you should start to jump "upwards" (>to the balcony), and that point usually looks as if it's too early.... (did you understand that hint ??).

BTW: There's no error in that room..... every zapper gets turned off (and back on again) at exactly the time and place where I wanted it to happen.... and - in case you don't already know that - I'm sorry to report: you will have to go through that room again (!!)....but before the second time there's a saving point, so that's a small "compensation"......

PS: In case you didn't know: I don't like zappers very much either....so room 20906 is very un-typical for me....! (I probably deliberately buoilt something in to frustrate myself  :D   ;) )

aquaMat wrote on 19.12.2007 at 07:32:52:

Room #20719: As usual watch carefully before you make your move! Especially the third "zapper block" is tough.....  try to get in the groove.....!

The first time I tried to go through the room, I lost all my Jacks in the first zapper blocks :-[ The next time, I could pass them almost without stopping, and the third block did it  :'(

And then I finally managed. Expertise comes with rehearsing  8-)


aquaMat wrote on 19.12.2007 at 07:32:52:

Room #20906: Well.... what shall I say.... ;)   Here you picked indeed the toughest zapper room (in fact only Psychotronics thunderstorm strikes me as more vicious).... but, again, once you've figured out what the groove is (there's a method to that madness) you will make it.

I never got through the Thunderstorm  :o


aquaMat wrote on 19.12.2007 at 07:32:52:

However, even I still lose lives there (after I haven't played for a while)....but as a hint: there is 1 certain point in the rhythm of the zappers where you should start to jump "upwards" (>to the balcony), and that point usually looks as if it's too early.... (did you understand that hint ??).

Yes, I found the point finally. Looking too early describes it very accurately [smiley=tekst-toppie.gif]


aquaMat wrote on 19.12.2007 at 07:32:52:

BTW: There's no error in that room..... every zapper gets turned off (and back on again) at exactly the time and place where I wanted it to happen.... and - in case you don't already know that - I'm sorry to report: you will have to go through that room again (!!)....but before the second time there's a saving point, so that's a small "compensation"......

Maybe the decoration felt misplaced. I think the zapper starts one brick to the right of the little coloured ball. Then again, maybe not.


aquaMat wrote on 19.12.2007 at 07:32:52:

PS: In case you didn't know: I don't like zappers very much either....so room 20906 is very un-typical for me....! (I probably deliberately built something in to frustrate myself  :D   ;) )

Who likes zapper beams anyway? ;)
I usually force myself to include a few in my mansions, because you have to, but it makes me feel a bit guilty  :D

I didn't ever get through that thunderstorm (completely), neither !!  :(

Legend has it that once you pass the first room it becomes comparatively easy.

Ah, we should have suggested as a new feature some sort of Faraday Helmet, to get through zapper beams unscathed. Or a magic [smiley=vrolijk_1.gif]

Eighty percent? EIGHTY PERCENT? But but but.... I have found at least a thousand of them! How many were hidden in this mansion? Could it be linked to those huge black areas I had in the map at the end?  ;)

[smiley=bath.gif]

---

Hi Toybox,
I am answering your enquiry while I'm on vacation so I don't have access to my mansions or the game.
But I can confirm safely that there are no "secret large black areas" in DoD, at least not that I know of...  ;)

You have the impression that you did find a whole bunch of secrets and still have only 80 %.... because.... there are indeed a whole lot of secrets throughout the discotheque. As far as I remember there are close to 50 secrets (!!) in DoD..... so you'll probably still have to find quite a considerable number of secrets !   8-)

But....that's part of the fun, isn't it ??

It certainly is  8-) That's part of the replay value. And replaying it often means getting more skilled at it...

I remember playing and replaying the first part of Falcon Manor and Nightmare Mansion thousands of times before registering properly for the game. (Twenty dollars well spent, among the best I daresay :))

After that training I knew these sections by heart and would get all secrets without losing a single life, even in hard mode - a huge difference with the later sections. I imagine what it would look like if I had recorded my playing: a skilled Jack suddenly becoming crazy, clumsy and reckless.

Ok, I just can't figure out the zappers in room 20906....I have been playing it for DAYS! I came in from 20905...got through to 20910 and had to turn back due to a closed door. Feel really stupid but don't get the hint "looking too early". Now I got through Thunderstorm so I should be able to handle this, right?
Help!

Hi Windrider,

welcome to our forums and thanks for playing DoD !!

Welll.... as I said before, the room in question is definitely the hardest of the whole Discotheque...!
I can't help you any more than by saying (again): Try to get in the groove !

With the hint above ("it looks as if it's too early") I mean: The right moment to start jumping through the zappers is a moment that actually gives the impression as if it was too early to be the right moment !

Do you know what I mean ?

Please don't let that room frustrate you and keep on playing !
You are almost there...!   ;)    8-)

Actually, what is missing in the Expansion Pack is some sort of umbrella to protect you from zapper beams.

Both of your main zapper challenges are quite hard, aquaMat - you end up learning though (in my experience), but it could become frustrating: if you don't manage no matter what you cannot pass them at all.

However: once you find out when to start moving, it is quite easy. Sort of. For some value of "easy". May contain nuts.