Back again

[Orthocone]

I'm back to Grimrock 1 after a few years. I gave it up once because I thought it was impossible for me to solve.

After the release of Grimrock 2 I decided to buy this game and try it. I read many posts that say Grimrock 2 is more difficult than 1. But what can I say ? I solved 2 with only one help from a walkthrough because of Castle Nex (Teleporter Riddle). I think 2 was much much easier than 1. Maybe because in 2 there it was much more room to navigate? Hard to say.

But now I want to try Grimrock 1 again. Maybe with the experience from the newer game I'll get further than the "Trapped"-Level when I played it first. Let's see.

[Dr.Disaster]

From what i've read here and on the Steam forum the touchest part for most who gave up on LoG1 were the timed puzzles. While they are not completely gone in LoG2 there are fewer of them, none of them is nearly as tight as some in LoG1 and none of them is required to complete to continue the game.

However .. from "Trapped!" onward there are not many timed puzzles anymore so that prolly wasn't what stopped you ..

[Isaac]

But now I want to try Grimrock 1 again. Maybe with the experience from the newer game I'll get further than the "Trapped"-Level when I played it first. Let's see.

...And after you complete LoG1, there is this one to complete next.
viewtopic.php?f=14&t=6453

[Orthocone]

@Dr.Disaster

I remember the Hall of Fire. The pillar with 4 buttons on it. I still feel the frustration after trying it dozends of times without any chance of solving the puzzle. I knew what to do but I simply wasn't fast enough. And many many Uggardians every time I returned after I felt into a pit. At that point I decided to stop playing G1. (I still don't know why I don't managed that puzzle.)

Now I'm playing with FRONT : Dagger Rogue , Sword Fighter BACK : Throwing Rogue, Fire Mage

And this time : If I can't solve a puzzle I'll ignore it. Maybe G1 is like G2. At G2 if you only went for the Escape-Ending you didn't need all Orbs. So I hope you don't need to solve every puzzle in G1 to reach the final battle.

[Mycosa]

Oh God... Yeah, I'm doing the same thing. I'd forgotten how unforgiving this game can be! I'm doing a YouTube series on my attempt to get 100% of the secrets, and it's good to see someone else joining me. Where are you up to?

[Sir Tawmis]

From what i've read here and on the Steam forum the touchest part for most who gave up on LoG1 were the timed puzzles.

So. Much. This.

I wish the timed puzzles were a little more forgiving. Even early on in LOG1, there's the button you press, and you have to IMMEDIATELY hall arse to get through the doorway... Even a single moment's hesitation and you have to do it over.

So I wish the game was a little more lenient with the time required to zip into a room or something; especially since perception in the game is "face forward" - so sometimes you press a button and don't even realize a wall behind you is opening and closing really fast, because you're not able to "see" it.

[Isaac]

I am entirely the other way, and am fine with tightly timed puzzles... But I wish that the game (and most games) would profile its own performance (throughout the game) leading up to the timed puzzles, and dynamically set the timer based on intended, rather than absolute delay; in order to not have it be impossible on below-spec machines.

*It would also be nice to dynamically increase the party's speed to match the slowest PC; and have that be adjustable [+/-] with a stat change.

I am playing Wrath of the Gorgon, and in hindsight, there is a room [early on] with a dozen flashing teleporters that might be an (impossible) nightmare for those playing on a slow system.

[Sir Tawmis]

I am entirely the other way, and am fine with tightly timed puzzles... But I wish that the game (and most games) would profile its own performance (throughout the game) leading up to the timed puzzles, and dynamically set the timer based on intended, rather than absolute delay; in order to not have it be impossible on below-spec machines.
*It would also be nice to dynamically increase the party's speed to match the slowest PC; and have that be adjustable [+/-] with a stat change.
I am playing Wrath of the Gorgon, and in hindsight, there is a room [early on] with a dozen flashing teleporters that might be an (impossible) nightmare for those playing on a slow system.

I think my problem with "tightly timed puzzles" (aside from system performance on different machines; though LOG isn't too much of a memory hog) - is that it forces someone to be extremely nimble on the keyboard. This is going knock out the more general gaming crowd, whose just looking for a good dungeon crawl to go through. It'd be cool if there was a form of an alternative. For example, pressing the button on the wall will quickly open the door and close it so you have to be quick to get through it. Or you can go down around this other passage, down this flight of stairs, and fight this creature that's a little tougher than the current level of monsters in that area of the dungeon, who drops a key, that you can use to unlock a passage that will connect to the very same one that the "speed door" connects to. So that way, for the less nimble, there is an alternative; which would require grinding some XP to level up to fight a "mini type boss" (for lack of a better word) who will drop a key that gets you through... That way, you either grind up some levels and get a few extra levels to fight the mini boss; or you try the speed door.

[Orthocone]

I don't think that my problem is a slow machine. Grafik maybe? I'm playing on highest quality (2560x1440 - 27"). Sometimes it seems to me that I can push the keys faster than the position can be shown on screen. So maybe I make more mistakes.

The strange thing is as mentioned by Sir Tawmis that the player can't move like a "normal" party moves. To solve some puzzles you have to run backwards, sidewards without looking forward. I really don't think even prisoners thrown into a dungeon will move backwards into an unknown area That could be suicide.

But back to my current game.

Finished the Archives yesterday. My party acts fantastic. I remember cursing the spiders after I bought G1 2012. But now they were cuddly toys. My high evasion front rogue gets rarely hit and even my fighter (mix of evasion and protection) acts well. I hope I can reach the skill "Fire protection for party" of my mage before I reach the "Trapped" level. In addition with fire shield the Uggardians hopefully will not be a big danger. Only annoying. It would be nice to learn the spell "Ice Bolt" as well but I don't think the party will level up fast enough.

Today I want to solve "Trapped". From the past I remember I don't need all keys. Maybe I miss a good item but who cares?

[Mycosa]

I hope I can reach the skill "Fire protection for party" of my mage before I reach the "Trapped" level. In addition with fire shield the Uggardians hopefully will not be a big danger. Only annoying. It would be nice to learn the spell "Ice Bolt" as well but I don't think the party will level up fast enough.

Agreed on the annoying part. I remember my trick for them was to play on their limited movement AI, force them into frequent turn and into areas that they had to come at me single-file from. You could even lure them out entirely and into a corridor where they were easy prey for even lower level ice spells. After that, a pair of strong attackers make short work of them.