I'm currently playing with SDLPoP's bug fixes enabled, from level 4 onwards.
Level 4:
I got stuck at this level initially in room 3. Eventually I found that you can step forward onto the close button while in combat, to stop the yellow guard advancing further. Nice puzzle.
Then I tried to solve the puzzle of rooms 10 and 12 by sheer speed, but that seems to be impossible. Using the mirror as a gameplay element is a clever idea here, and nicely integrated into the rest of the level, because the idea returns in several different forms. Also the mirror set-up is already shown in the very first room of the level, which is a good hint that "this is something you can use" when it returns.
The puzzle in room 8 is a clever abuse of the way no more than one opponent can be on-screen at the same time. Later on, the purple guard "respawned", which allowed me to get the life potion.
![Smiling :)](./images/smilies/icon_e_smile.gif)
The mirror in room 14 doesn't seem to be very useful, though? Just scenery?
Then, finally, there is the gate puzzle at the end.
The placement of the orange guard in room 20 is a bit mean... I got killed immediately as I climbed down into that room!
Overall: enjoyable level with interesting puzzles, straightforward to navigate (linear level - just clear the areas one by one)
Level 5:
This level is quite large, and nonlinear.
At first I just wandered around a bit. The rooms themselves are not too hard to navigate, but sometimes there are closed gates and dead ends.
So many level doors!
![Razz :P](./images/smilies/icon_razz.gif)
And rooms 6 and 8 are exactly the same (including a purple guard), which was a bit strange to find.
It feels a bit empty at places... I felt a bit 'lost' maybe. Maybe it's better if there was only one level door in the level, so that at least it is clear where you need to go, eventually.
Room 21 is interesting. The orange guard stands on top of the close button, which closes the gate behind you as soon as you enter the room. This essentially makes the room 'one-way' only. For me it was a bit confusing, because I thought I would have to defeat that guard or lure him from that spot. But in fact the guard cannot be reached.
Eventually I figured out that I needed to trigger the raise button in room 11, in order to proceed in room 15. However, in my first attempt I already triggered that button before heading to room 15. So that gate was already open, and I only found out later that I had accidentally done things in the right order the first time...
I liked rooms 10 and 12 - easy to pass in one direction, less easy coming back.
I had to cheat in order to find out where I needed to go after I triggered the raise button in room 16... The level is like a maze!
Level 6:
This level is quite short, and gives an interesting twist on the original level 6 of Prince of Persia. Figuring out how to solve the level is a bit of trial and error, but because the level is short this is not too punishing. Overall: nice and short.
Level 7:
I floated down to room 6 on my first attempts. I thought I had to escape using an acrobatics sequence, but it turns out that this is impossible because the gate to room 9 is shut. There doesn't seem to be any way to avoid that, because the dark blue guard always causes the loose tile to drop on top of the close button...
I had more luck floating down to room 10. I managed to get the life potion there, which is interestingly placed.
After that, finishing the level was quite doable.
I don't think there need to be two feather potions near the end, though? And the one closest to the gate there suffers from a drawing bug...
Level 8:
Passing room 23 was a good challenge. At first I wanted to defeat the red/brown guard, but fleeing was a better idea, because the gates quickly close behind you.
The raise button in room 1 is a bit strangely placed, perhaps. It opens the gate back to the beginning, but this is not immediately obvious. And I also couldn't find a reason to want to return to the beginning of the level...
After this, the level gets a bit confusing...
It seems like room 13 is part of a puzzle, but there seems to be no way to access it?
If you jump down in room 17, you get trapped in a dead end...
The raise button in room 2 opens a gate, but not one that can be reached, it seems?
I eventually managed to get the level door opened by systematically checking every possibility in every room.
But then, how to get to the exit? The answer eventually struck me, but it took me some time because there are all these other loose ends in the level...
Definitely an interesting level. Not for the faint of heart though!
Some general observations:
- I notice that some of the rooms are modified versions from the original levels. Personally, I would tend to just design everything from scratch because I find it a bit annoying to recognize the original levels. Maybe it's just me...
- In the palace levels, the blue background stripes are always hard to get right... some of them could probably be tweaked a bit more in your levels. You could use modifier 1 on wall tiles to remove the bit of blue stripe on the right. The tapestry variant with modifier 1 has a bit of blue stripe on the right, variant 2 doesn't.
- Sometimes, buttons get 'stuck' visually, if there are multiple buttons that share the same trigger link. You can avoid this problem by creating multiple triggers that point to the same gate, and using separate links for each button where it may become a problem.
- It takes quite some time to figure out all of the puzzles... I had to cheat in order to give myself more time.
To be continued.