Acarathi Industries - The Snake Factory (4386184)

[spark plume]

Become a Disaster Mitigation Specialist with Acarathi Industries! ever wonder how snakes are mined and refined? well now is your chance to find out!

• Get paid for reactivating damaged machinery such as refineries and mining sectors. we may require proof by placing product in designated locations!
• Loot your dead co-workers, they wont need their money now!
• Locate lost snake deposits, the area has had a lot of cave-ins.
• Re-activate the cooling system for the local volcano, Jerry apparently decided it was a good idea to turn it off for the night.
• Spend your hard earned money on the highest honour we can give, The acarathi exemplar performance gem! (also required to leave), we have no idea where this ended up after the incident but we at Acarathi Industries believe in you!
• DO NOT DESTROY PRODUCT, look, we get it boxes are tempting.. but our business here is snakes and that's the only thing you will find inside our crates. oh and also the green pots, we ran out of crate types.

You do not have to collect every coin in order to complete the level and as far as I have seen via testing the order that you buy your equipment does not matter so feel free to go wherever you want! ideally go everywhere if your testing it however so i can get feedback from everywhere (there is a map available)

I am debating putting more health in the volcano area but i will wait for feedback before i do anything.

[warm crag]

An initial observation I'm bringing up because you should change this ASAP:

Softlocking the player because they did something you "didn't want" is a humongous no-no. Close off that area if you don't want them cheesing the encounter but do NOT do this.

[spark plume]

oh i didnt consider that as an option to deal with the slimes

yeah ill just make sure the one on the end is always on

bit mean to assume i did it in spite though xd

[warm crag]

I assumed it was there to punish the player for attacking through a wall. But on that note, what is its purpose then?

[spark plume]

well the idea is the slimes are syphoning the heat away from the reactor so you kill them and it comes online

[warm crag]

Aaah, so it was theming-related.

[spark plume]

aye

it is a heavily themed level

[warm crag]

Oh yeah, its clear you put a lot of work into the theming aspect of it. It looks really good in that regard so far.

Another thing while I'm here: you can collect the coins with a sword swipe through these breakable blocks.

[spark plume]

yeah im unsure if i want to change that

you still need to blow it up to reach the last one anyway

[warm crag]

Fair.

[warm crag]

Finished.

[spark plume]

thats some low hp u got there

[warm crag]

So initial thoughts:

• The factory theming is done very well.
• You organized the main factory area very well. You had a lot of different "challenges" to navigate to but I never felt too lost trying to get from place to place even without the Dungeon Map.
• I liked how you focused on a particular type of puzzle (box pushing.) You did mix it up at times but I think overall the dungeon felt well unified mechanically.
• Theoretically, this is a LONG dungeon to complete going in blind. Not necessarily a problem, just pointing it out since I'm not sure where the average player sits in terms of time invested per dungeon.
• I think a heart spawner might be a good idea in the shop? Once you checkpoint at low health with no sources of healing, it can make for a frustrating experience.

While I generally don't prefer super-long dungeons, this was put-together and executed well to the point where I wanted to finish it. There are a lot of really good ideas in here and you made them fit well within the atmosphere you were going for. Overall, it was a good time!

[spark plume]

nice thank you! i was already considering adding more hp to the volcano but i could add unlimited hp to the shop thats a good idea

[warm crag]

Now for some nitpicks:

• You might want to consider making the shop checkpoint an infinite checkpoint so there is a consistent way to save progress.
• The Dungeon Map costs way too much imo compared to, say, the remote bombs. I understand wanting to hide the "secret" rooms, but that actually leads into my next point...
• Since there is a checkpoint in the shop, you can buy the Dungeon Map and then use the "retry" option to unbuy it after seeing everything (yes, I did do this. ) I think since the Dungeon Map is a very valuable item here for secret room finding, I would move it out of the shop and make it a hidden item at a much reduced or zero coin cost.

[spark plume]

hm yeah i use the lantern to reveal rooms however people may get fustrated if they cant find said rooms

i do belive theres only 2-3?

so i may take it out and replace it with a heart crystal or smthn

[warm crag]

Oh yeah, one last thing: I totally went for bombing the crates on the B4 crate room. Dealing with the snakes just seemed way easier.

[spark plume]

thats fine

i knew that was an option and its all up to the player

i think i forgot to make 2 of the boxes respawning tho. gotta rem to do that

i could also add the map to the volcano loot

thats the main hidden area anyway

thank you very much for this! was very insightful

now lets see if anyone else wants to contribute instead of playing around with water lol

[idle reef]

I absolutely loved the theming of the dungeon, everything fits in really nicely

I don't really have much to add to what Photon already said, but I will say that I did do the box puzzle on B4 (I had no choice, slithers were invincible lol) and it really felt more like me abusing game physics than solving a puzzle

Not entirely sure if I cheesed it tbh

Also, just so you know, this is possible

(but to be fair if the player gets softlocked it's completely their fault here)

||oh and I'm pretty sure it's possible to win with just bombs and lantern, up to you if you think that's a problem or not||

[spark plume]

i will have to add a walkthrough to the puzzle ig?

it is genuinely possible

and no i wasnt aware

@idle reef i had to take some creative liberties with the 6th pannel but that should help you understand i hope?

6th also heavily depends on what way you pushed the stone block

i kinda blame the fact that theres no way to know the stone block only moves 2 directions in level

.. turns out julian is adding this later

[idle reef]

oh that is so much simpler than what I did 💀

[spark plume]

honestly im really proud of that puzzle even if it is apparently really hard to figure out

[warm crag]

Invincible?

[spark plume]

possibly an update bug

[idle reef]

https://discord.com/channels/802965133998424064/1292207273825009675

[spark plume]

ok changes:

• Softlock at top small reactor has been fixed
• less sword coins at the volcano
• removed blocked sword coins on main starter area at the top exit that could be hit via sword. its heart only now
• replaced map with a full heart crystal
• blocked golden snake refinery door cheese
• made some of the invisible doors harder to find on accident
• re-added map as volcano loot
• added double checkpoint and a heart generator to the shop level
• added invisible chests containing brown pots to the invis shop.. because chest pots
• puzzle in golden snake refinery has been kept as it is.. because i like it and honestly i think you all just dont wana stop and think 😛
• added a route between the bottom left of the main area and the entry to the cobra snake refinery sinking platform

[spark plume]

just updating the upload now. you will know its done when it no longer says QA (more is appreciated though if you want)

[spark plume]

nvm its broken because the crates push switches

ill wait for a fix

[hardy night]

it's my wifey's birthday today so I'll be mostly absent but I've got the dungeon at the top of my list to play tomorrow/Thursday

I was busy prepping noodles yesterday and trying to fix one of my own dungeons that got a little wrecked by recent updates 😣

[spark plume]

no worries. i gotta get the bug fixed first !

also obviously wife comes first

[hardy night]

mhm ☺️💖

[warm crag]

I think you all just don’t wanna stop and think.
Remember: “Given the opportunity, players will optimize the fun out of your (dungeon.)”

[spark plume]

well turns out i have to move the switch. but oh well at least its only the one thing ig

done, also fixed the lighting so when you do the switch the factory becomes BRIGHTER.. not darker

going to try to upload again and hope i dont find anything else

[spark plume]

nope more problems.. i swear my dungion is cursed

[hardy night]

heck is it busted rn?

[spark plume]

yeah crates on metal non grated floor act strange. they are considerably lighter/have less friction, Julian has a version where tis fixed though so i just need to wait for an update/patch lol all my box puzzles with many boxes are broken

#🔨│maker-chat message

[hardy night]

ohhh okay. does that strictly break the dungeon or is it still just fine if a player doesn't abuse that?

[spark plume]

its fine as long as you dont abuse. exept for the block thing. thats supposed to only go left/right

and you need to use the conveyer in the puzzle

[hardy night]

hmmm okay

[hardy night]

playing this right now

||a freaking snake pushed me into the invisible wall to the gem and I lost my shit||

[spark plume]

haha

hopfuly its fixed now

soi can re-upload after your feedback

oh also i have a TON of deco to do

with lavafalls

[hardy night]

yeah!!

let's see.. 65 coins at the end. I think I got everything?

152 - 2 for the big key at the start, - 20 for both small keys, -25 for bombs, -20 spectral lantern,

comes out at 85. did the map cost 20?

[spark plume]

yeah

authough map will be changed in the end version

end gem is 50 so should be 135

theres some extras in

[hardy night]

oh ok

[hardy night]

ok for feedback I'm gonna start with general criticism:

I think my major problem with the dungeon is that it's an abstract design. there are many parts here and a lot of the parts are cool, but they rarely form a greater whole. basically, I was solving puzzles without really understanding why, or what that would get me. I understand wanting to give the player various challenges to earn coins to spend on tools, which has the upside of allowing players to choose their own preferred sections of the dungeon to tackle, but it also has the downside of making getting coins the focus of the level, rather than using the neat tools to explore more of the factory (until later on).

there were a good amount of puzzles I did like, but then there were a few rooms/puzzles that felt like they were just there to give out coins. so while this kind of level design can work, I think the theme may fit better with a more linear design, and focused on shutting down the various mechanisms throughout the factory to cut off the production of snakes-in-a-box. the "shop" format here for item distribution just didn't make sense to me in that context.

but I did like the larger sections in the latter part of the dungeon! even if I don't understand what shutting off the fires in that one big room did for me 😅 it was a cool setpiece. moving the boxes around on the conveyers and timing it so they would get pushed the right way was fun!

for specific criticisms:

• the lava platforms felt too tight! several times I came off a platform just barely before it fell and I don't think that added much to the dungeon experience. they could be a speed higher in most situations
• in pic 1: if you fall off one of these platforms, they can get off-sync and make the timing even worse. that probably will be fixed by addressing the above point.
• pic 2: these ones were very difficult to get across and back. maybe slow them down
• pic 3: the pressure plate here took me a while to notice because of this placement, and this kinda goes back to the abstract design: I didn't really understand what all the switches in this room were doing, or what the goal was. but it was fun to solve.
• video: I got softlocked here bc I used this little enclosed area to brace myself while I wailed on the second goozer.

[spark plume]

see i know you would be able to round out my feedback 😛

the softlock has been fixed in the new version so dw about that

how did you find the puzzle in the golden snake refinery on b4?

i can take vids now so i can actually show ppl how its done lol

for the general stuff i dont think there's much i can do. i think your just not a fan of this type of dungeon as personal preference and thats absolutely fine! the whole goal is to fix machines to get coins and i wanted to make it as open as possible

you like your linear heavy puzzle solving stuff

(ive seen your dungions and this checks out imo )

the specific points i totally agree with and i will definitely work on.. i will also replace some of the sinking platforms with regular moving ones i think

(puzzle solution)

@hardy night does that seem like a fair assesment?

[hardy night]

is this the golden snake refinery one you asked about?

[spark plume]

yep!

[hardy night]

hmmm it was okay. I didn't have any issues with it if that's what you're wondering

I didn't try any funny business tho lol

[spark plume]

thats great!

you do have the option of bombing it to fight snakes instead if you didnt like it 😛

[hardy night]

right haha

I think I went there before bombs

[spark plume]

yeah that is possible also!

but yeah i cant really do any of your general feedback without changing what the dungeon is meant to be. im so sorry

[hardy night]

oh yeah that was just stuff to think about for the future. I don't expect you to change any of that for this one hehe

and I do like non-linear stuff too! I think it's just that I didn't get what I was doing in some places in this dungeon. did you have an idea of what each puzzle represents as like a function of the factory? like how you called B4 the golden snake refinery, I didn't notice it had that significance so I'm wondering if the rest of the dungeon was supposed to be like that

[spark plume]

hm well the main starting area is just snake mines and other stuff.. then there's the cobra refinery (one with all the coulor coveyers) the golden snake refinery with the box puzzle

and the volcano

[hardy night]

oh that was a volcano?? I thought it was like the huge boiler/furnace room to power the factory

[spark plume]

yeah the whole room is kinda destroyed 😛

but iether way tbh it is a thing than needs to be cooled down and turned off lol

[hardy night]

right

hmmm

[spark plume]

sadly i cant make a huge lava spout to make it look more volcano-ey

but anyway i will address all the specific stuff

re-upload and finally stop bothering you with this dungion XD

... its been a long (and buggy) road

[hardy night]

happy to help

[spark plume]

[hardy night]

maybe it is a personal preference thing, but I would say try to play into your theming some more for the next one. I like the various refinery sections you had going on! so maybe think about things in that way. "what purpose does this room serve in-world (i.e. for the theme of the dungeon)?" "how does each section relate to the others?"

it's okay to focus on mechanical stuff too, but yeah. doesn't hurt to consider while building!

[spark plume]

• made all the platforms and platform puzzles better
• fixed the mine tornados so they don't explode on the fence and will beep at you angrily again
• fixed the missing box destroyer in the golden snake factory on b4
• made the b1 snake mine automatically place the crates on the spot and added some visual warnings about the crates containing snakes
• added lava waterfalls and edited some paths to better match them being used
• made it so you cant spawn the gem without the soul lantern... just encase
• you now cannot access the vault in the cobra refinery without first completing the cobra refinery

this dungeon has been updated finally!

this dungeons QA has also been CLOSED unless something huge crops up somehow. i will keep this post here just encase its useful to someone?
i might edit this dungion when/if NPC's come out. as i feel this could help solve some of Danielle's criticism with some LORE and signs?)

and lastly thank you to EVERYONE who helped me QA this ^^