Topic by KaitouKid

I think I still have the cart of that kicking around somewhere. Played through the game years ago. Wasn't a bad game, but it wasn't great either. It isn't overly long, however, so a TAS of it would be of reasonable length. It's been such a long time since I've played it that I don't think I could offer much in the way of advice, but if someone wanted to put an effort into it I could try and re-familiarize myself with the game to see if there would be some advice I could offer.

Posted: 5/4/2006 8:12 PM

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SGreenwell

Joined: 1/23/2005
Posts: 22

For some reason, this game always reminded me of Alundra. I'd be very interested in seeing a run of the game, given that I could never will myself through it completely. It was one of those second-tier Enix games that they really should have shelved, and instead focused on getting more of the DW games over.

Posted: 11/23/2006 11:20 AM

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KaitouKid

Former player

Joined: 6/6/2005
Posts: 384

I am sad no one has taken up the helm on this, so I'm-a start working on planning myself. Hoo boy. So far, the plan goes as follows for early game: Start -> Talk to blacksmith (so I can leave town) -> head to house halfway between town and the Tower -> Beat basement monsters and get Heart and attacking Jade from chests -> Return to town -> Sell Jade found in the house and buy Power Jade from salesman on the second floor of the Inn (to raise attack powar~ - I should have enough cash. The monsters in the opening area give 200 a pop. The Jade sells for 8K. The Power Jade is 11000. -> Use Heart -> Head to Tower of Light I should note I've rarely been past the Tower. I know I haven't beaten the underground tunnels that make up the second "level" This'll be fun. Edit: Also, and I haven't tested yet, it seems jumping > walking. I dunno if bunny hopping would be faster than just a held jump, but I'll do the tests when I start later. Edit: Damnation. Forgot about NEEDING an axe. Thing's slow and has the worst range evar. I think the Boomerang's the best weapon to stick with underground and well into the second fortress. The Morning Star's got two points higher than the Boomerang does on attack, but it can only go forward (though it does have a circular swing)... It's a lot more clunky and definitely slower. I don't think I'll need to grab the Light Jade, but I'll hafta map things out better and note which rooms are dark. I need to go see if the Jade Dealer is still in the Inn back in Arcs, though. No matter what happens, I'm likely to gain the 30K+ I need for the Anger Jade at some point in fortress 2. Trouble with that is, if I want to fling a magic shot, it's almost impossible. Anger Jade stays on the enemy until it's dead, more or less. Hurrr...

Posted: 11/23/2006 2:53 PM

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Spoony_Bard

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Joined: 8/17/2004
Posts: 377

I used to know this game pretty well, but it's been YEARS since I played it. I'm very interested in a TAS of it though, partially for nostalgia. Good luck with it.

Posted: 11/23/2006 2:58 PM

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KaitouKid

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Joined: 6/6/2005
Posts: 384

Taking a break for about 4, 5 hours to get ready for Thanksgiving... LUNCH here, but after that, I'll get back to work, jotting up notes >_> Until a replacement for the Boomerang comes along, I think I'll wind up sticking with that. I'm further into the game than I've ever been before. Dunno why I found this so hard. Just gotta keep healing items handy. I also need to note which Hearts I can grab. Some of them are fairly on the path I need to follow, I just haven't paid attention to WHICH ONES >>; Oops. Hearts = More damage I can take = less I have to plod through the HORRIBLE, SLOW MENUS to heal. None of the healing fountains are really on my way. There's ONE that is and that's in the Tower of Light when I need to go back for someone to stand on a floor tile. The laser room is what's bothering me at the moment. Somewhere between 6 and 8 laser-firing enemies in a twisting corridor leading to... a key room, I believe. They were doing 2HP damage per shot on me. I know I can jump to avoid the lasers, I just need to see if I can jump over the enemies themselves. Edit: Temporarily LOST, it seems. >< Gonna need to consult a FAQ here. I have come to a realization, though. I'm gonna hafta map in advance when and where I'll need to open the menu. Brain Lord, while a fun, simple Zelda-ish game... is plagued by possibly the SLOWEST MENUS EVARRRR. So much so that each time I open the menu, it'll halt all forward momentum I'm making. Ugh. Means I'm gonna hafta try NOT taking damage. Because any time I make by just barrelling through enemies will be lost and THEN some by the time it'll take to open the menu, select a healing item, and watch the healing animation. Ach. I'm gonna fill a NOTEBOOK with stuff on this. And it's not even that long a game X.x

Posted: 11/25/2006 6:45 PM

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KaitouKid

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Joined: 6/6/2005
Posts: 384

Mmkay. Figured out where to go. Gonna need to mark this crap on the map. The factory is basically one massive key fetching runaround. Moreso than the Tower was. Like the whole second half of the place is just 'go here for a key to go THERE' - there's no flow to ANY of it. And I think I wound up with more junk than I needed. Boss was simple - definitely gonna need the boomerang, though. Along with some power-up items. I finished it surprisingly quick with my power boosted +6 total. Apparently I'm halfway done with the game. If that's true, I'd imagine the TAS clocking somewhere around... I dunno, MAYBE 45 minutes? Rough guess. Edit: God, Toronto is big. But there's some good news. One, the Life Jade can be attained here, providing I bring the Silver Plaque to an old man. Haven't had any fighting since I got it, but I'd imagine it'll be useful. If it can heal for a decent amount at regular intervals, I may be able to completely avoid all other healing sources. Plus there's an upgraded Boomerang. I'll need about 30K for it, but I don't think that'll be an issue at this point. Good, so I'll have a Jade to boost my power and one that heals me to the rest of the game, it seems. Trouble with this game is some enemies have a ridiculous HP level for what weapons you have available. It may be slow going on the road between Arcs and Toronto. The enemies took multiple hits with an axe with a power of 10 - the strongest weapon at that point - and as they're fairly swift, I doubt I could avoid. I won't have any money for the Anger Jade to bum rush them, and I don't even know if Jade manipulation is even POSSIBLE. I could always just rush it and heal once or twice. Ugh. Hopefully I'll have extra cash - enough for the new body armor, at least. It's 5 points stronger than my 5-point current set. Less damage taken + regen = good. Edit 2: Nothing to do with anything, but I just noticed the hero is apparently traversing the lands and saving the innocent from evil without anything on his feet. This is not the smartest adventurer I have ever controlled. What kinda ding-dong goes out to fight barefoot?

Posted: 11/25/2006 11:17 PM

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Spoony_Bard

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Joined: 8/17/2004
Posts: 377

If you've just completed the Factory/Mecha Ruins then there's still a bit more than half-way to go. After some messing around in Toronto (seriously, Toronto? That's a bit too obvious, why not create a medieval city named New York?) the next dungeon is the Desert, followed by the Ice Palace. Then you'll have Droog Valley and the Droog Volcano (no boss in this one), and finally the Demon's Tunnel, and the Demon Castle Platinum. I wish I could give you some strategies, but I honestly don't remember enough about it. Though I do remember the slow-ass menus, so I think you'd be better off trying to avoid damage where possible. Perhaps you could calculate how many frames it takes from menu open to healing animation conclusion, and then judge what damage to avoid, and what to take.

Posted: 11/25/2006 11:20 PM

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KaitouKid

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Joined: 6/6/2005
Posts: 384

The Ice Palace is HELL. Slippery floors suck. Obviously it won't be as big a problem slowed way down, but still. At least the enemies operate under the same physics. Unfortunately, that makes them move all the hell over the place. >< Ach. I'm not gonna have fun with this one. X.x Edit: Rawrgh *tears hair out* I hate ice levels! I hate ice levels second only to WATER levels! I also hate walkthrough writers who haven't the slightest clue how to direct someone somewhere! Expecting you to remember where a moving NPC was at one point in the past AIN'T GOOD ENOUGH. So apparently I'm gonna hafta warp to floor 1 of the palace and work out where the crap all these keys I'm accumulating are supposed to go. >< Grrr. I'm through for the night, though. As an aside, who would've thought the place I'd be poisoned most is the damn ICE PALACE? Seriously, I haven't bothered using an herb to cure it, as I'll just end up running into more scorpions or somesuch. xx; Edit: The Ice Palace is making me lose my will to LIVE, let alone make a TAS of this game. God. I've been over every room five times at least, I found where I need to go, but now I seem to not have a third key I need to proceed. Despite not having any unopened chests anywhere. Rad. Forget this. ><

Posted: 11/26/2006 6:10 PM

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Atma

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Joined: 9/1/2005
Posts: 803

KaitouKid wrote:

The Ice Palace is HELL. Slippery floors suck. Obviously it won't be as big a problem slowed way down, but still. At least the enemies operate under the same physics. Unfortunately, that makes them move all the hell over the place. ><

Think the Ice palace is bad? just wait until the dungeon two after it, not only is it as confusing as all hell, it has rooms that are pitch black that you actually need to navigate through somehow. I never always ended up just making it through them with sheer luck and the ghost spell.

Forget this. ><

Noooooooo! But really, did you pick up the cape/armor that increases your walking speed in the ruins? While the amount of damage you take would increase by a ton, it could well prove faster overall than jumping, which I think is faster than walking initially.

Posted: 11/26/2006 6:16 PM

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KaitouKid

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Joined: 6/6/2005
Posts: 384

Oh goody. I actually need the Light Jade? xx; I beat the Ice Palace - boss was hell, too. Had to heal a ton. Ach. I did pick up the Cape, but I can't see ever using it. I need to heal a retardedly high amount as is. And that's with the Life Jade out. xx; I'm not seeing very many power-up orbs for my Jades anymore. Anyway, got some gear, heading to place the Sapphire. I'll beat the bloody game one way or another. Then I'll make a dirty run just to see how it feels.

Posted: 11/26/2006 6:20 PM

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Atma

Former player

Joined: 9/1/2005
Posts: 803

KaitouKid wrote:

Oh goody. I actually need the Light Jade? xx;

No, thats the evil part. Even if you use the light jade, its STILL pitch black in these two particular rooms. To be honest, I think this game would make a reasonably interesting run to watch, as long as it was pulled off right. Oh yeah, I'd say with the heart jewels, save them for when you need healing if its possible, I think it'd be more useful than using them right away.

Posted: 11/26/2006 6:30 PM

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KaitouKid

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Joined: 6/6/2005
Posts: 384

Argh... that's just MEAN, yo. In regards to Hearts, that's how I'm doing things normally and how I plan to use them in the run. I may do a second normal run through after this before I do the dirty run just to make notes of where Hearts and such are located. Not gonna do any fetching just for Hearts if I can help it. I need to find some good info on the offense/defense items, as the in-game descriptions don't match what I've seen so far. X.x I wonder if that one Jade that can revive you would be most useful than the Life Jade, though. I'd have to manipulate for orbs and get it a level or two so it'd WORK, but the Life Jade heals so damn slowly, it's not worth having out. The Anger Jade isn't an option for the TAS because it's so expensive. I DO need the Power Jade, though. I'm thinking of actually using morningstar-type weapons. I seemed to polish off the last ghost in the Palace's boss room really fast after using some offensive items + the 15-power flail. It's slow as the dickens, but... Unfortunately, it looks like the best option is to use the Fire Sword until I get to the boss. The power's only 5, though. The Ice Palace is gonna be a colossal pain in the ass no matter how I approach it. Edit: Forgot to mention: Seems that, in most cases, three objects (enemies, boulders, etc) can be on screen at once before the hellish lag sets in. There are some cases where it's unavoidable. And really, it would take longer to fight and kill enemies to get RID of the lag than it would just striving forward and DEALING with it. And that sucks because it wouldn't be visually appealing. The Ice Palace is PLAGUED by that. Especially when those ball-throwing machines you can't destroy are on-screen. x.x; Edit: Or not. Seems nothing I try mapping the save/load state buttons to on my gamepad actually friggin' works. Meaning I won't be making a movie after all. Oh well. I didn't really wanna go through the Ice Palace again anyway. Huzzah.

Posted: 11/27/2006 5:59 PM

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KaitouKid

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Joined: 6/6/2005
Posts: 384

Clean post for this. Yeah, this won't work. I can't control for crap when I have to have one hand darting to the keyboard to save/load. http://www.freewebs.com/ballruschronicles/BrainLordTest.smv That's exactly what it says it is - me testing to see how well I would do with the gamepad/keyboard setup. No good. 5:05 is irritatingly long. All I got done was getting to the cabine, getting the Crimson Jade, then going back to sell it, get the Power Jade, and use the Heart. And most of it was the intro. xx; Jumping is unholy hell in slow motion, as Remeer won't friggin' do what I want him to most of the time. In addition, I forgot just how anal the hit boxes were on static objects. Hence why he's twitchy as sin. I couldn't avoid the hit climbing the mountain. The spawn points are always the same and unless I sat on the ledge and kill the goblin, I get hit. The hit inside the cabin was inexcusable, but I didn't really care since this was just a test. Probably shoulda gone ahead and killed the other goblin in there. I get tagged going back down the mountain because the goblin got LUCKY. >< So yeah. Sorry, all. This one's a no-go. Think I'll stick to GBA games. 9x doesn't like me. Or JoyToKey, which I couldn't map stuff to again if I wanted to. Still probably gonna jot up stuff, make notes, etc, just in case.

Posted: 11/27/2006 9:20 PM

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KaitouKid

Former player

Joined: 6/6/2005
Posts: 384

I clearly suck. I can't get this outta my head. >< I may yet work out something. Yar. But this time I'm going through and giving myself an advantage: http://www.freewebs.com/ballruschronicles/BL%2DTowerMaps.zip I'm taking the in-game maps (via X-Ray Goggles) and editing them to be easier to read. I'll know where every damned chest is, where I should and shouldn't go, etc etc. I may end up writing a bloody walkthrough for the game just to go with these. The next version needs a guide to locked doors. Then I can specialize the maps to grey out all areas I don't need to visit and just highlight everywhere I DO. *bangs head on desk* Oh man... On the up side, the Foundation Jade is quite useful. It's nice having a proper companion to the Power Jade. I won't NEED the damn Life Jade with the Foundation Jade boosting my defense. In my first run through the tower, I got the Power Jade up to 5, which is ridiculous in and of itself since you need a certain enemy drop X amount of times to level them up. With a Drop of Protect and a Source of Power, I beat the giant roach boss ridiculously fast. I think my time there was around 55 minutes with massive exploration. I'm only on the third floor yet (I did this ass-backwards, doing maps for F3 and F4 first ><) but I can't imagine my time this time being slower. Also, I've thought of a painfully easy way to avoid backtracking to Arcs after I get the Crimson Jade + Heart - I just need to buy a Warp Gate before leaving town. The time it takes to purchase and use is MUCH faster than friggin' walking back. I feel completely stupid for not doing that the FIRST time. So maybe this isn't dead yet after all. Edit: 39 minutes that time, and that's STILL with exploring every room and getting every chest. The thing is, I pretty much need to NOT avoid enemies. I dunno how much I can manipulate enemies to drop the Jade power-up orbs, but if it's possible, I could theoretically max out the Power Jade by the time I beat the roach. Foundation Jade is a lazy bastard and won't go after the orbs. >:o So I dunno what I'm-a do about that. Edit: Just doing a regular playthrough without savestates or slowdown, I got a time of 28 minutes. It wasn't pretty, though. Here, take a look: http://www.freewebs.com/ballruschronicles/BRRT.smv I died twice, but both times ended up helping the run. The first time I die is because I forgot the damn disappearing floor room was there. When you die in BL, your money is halved. Which doesn't really make a difference in a TAS. I'm gonna be low on EVERYTHING. The second death was in the 4th floor. I had two ticks of life left and I wanted to get both chests on the floor. I needed the eastern one for the Sky Room Key. I needed the southern one DESPERATELY because it was a Heart. Sure enough, I need it. It and the cheese that's always dropped by the large, green Knight (there are set drops on certain enemies. The apple from the blue flying thing when I'm en route to the Tower, ie) and the Heart were both needed to keep me alive during the roach fight. Usually I have a Drop of Protect and Source of Power to keep me safe and end the fight. Not here, though. Thing is, I can't even map out where the easiest-to-get versions of those are. The time it would take to acquire the items would cancel out the help they would give during the boss fight. ._. Anyway, I'm sure the time can be taken down by minutes still. I don't think it'll ever hit 20, but I've been surprised before.

Posted: 11/28/2006 5:20 PM

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KaitouKid

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Joined: 6/6/2005
Posts: 384

The maps for the Factory/Ruins are driving me insane. There are several special spots you can fall where you'll end up in a room you can't otherwise access on the floor below you. Well, that's fine and dandy and all, and I got all the drops from 4 to 3 (I think ._.) found. http://www.freewebs.com/ballruschronicles/BL%2DFactory3.PNG But 3 to 2 is driving me batty. I found the first one there, it was a simple matter of walking off the edge straight out. But I cannot for the life of me figure out where I need to fall to get into the room NEXT to it on floor 2! >< I've fallen in all the most suspicious places in the area and still no go! I can't leave this infernal place until the maps are complete. And dammit, there is still a spot left. Then I think I'll have everything. After that I just need to double check a room on Floor 1 that you access via hidden stairs. There's nothing written so I dunno if it was just empty or what. I really should make notes like that. Help me out here, guys, I wanna move on to the Ice Palace. ...Never thought I'd say THAT. Edit: http://www.freewebs.com/ballruschronicles/BL%2DFactory2.PNG There's the second floor. The room I'm trying to access is the one next to the room marked 'I'. As you can see, there's no real way to match up where you might jump on a floor and where you could end up. I figured I'd have to fall somewhere near the entrance stairs on 3 to get to room I. But nope. xx Ach...this is no fun.

Posted: 11/28/2006 7:20 PM

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Magish

Joined: 11/28/2006
Posts: 16

Maybe there's a hidden path to it? It might even be a hidden set of stars leading from floor 1... Edit: Also, did you know that the only thing I've found that changes what you get from drops of protect / sources of power is killing enemies? I don't know if killing them on a different frame or anything changes it, but it should help a bit if you can get 3's from all of em. Edit 2: After some VERY quick testing, it appears that it doesn't matter what frame you kill the enemy on. I have a feeling that enemy drops and the bonuses use the same random number generator, which iterates when you kill an enemy. If anyone wants to do some quick testing/memory watching, it'd be nice to know for sure and stuff. If this is true, it means that it'd be impossible to manipulate enemies' drops, and you couldn't really get your jades up without doing a TON of killing. Edit 3: Yeah, I know this is a lot of edits in a short time, but I'm posting em as I find them, and I don't exactly plan on finding all this different stuff. :P Anyway, I found this one enemy in the path between toronto and the first town that drops an exp orb every time. He's located to the right of an archer, in a moderately-sized clearing, and which also houses another enemy. The path turns to the south at this clearing, and gets REALLY narrow for about the height of the hero. It's weird though, because once when I killed him, he didn't respawn, but when I left the area and came back, he started spawning again. Also, the other enemy in the clearing didn't respawn the first time I was there, but only the first time. When I came back, he respawned like normal. O.o

Posted: 11/28/2006 9:52 PM

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KaitouKid

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Joined: 6/6/2005
Posts: 384

The enemy spawning thing is weird. Some enemies seem unique in that they don't respawn unless some condition is met. There's a green knight in the Tower that doesn't respawn when you exit and return. In addition, he ALWAYS drops Cheese. X.x; Anyway, I'm gonna bite the bullet and head to the goddamn Ice Palace. For anyone wondering the madness of this crap, the Ruins/Factory had FIFTEEN KEYS. The second dungeon had a lot of locked doors. There are also two areas in floor 4 of the Ruins that baffles me. There's an empty corridor of void space that has no connections to any other area, and then there's that bigass room down towards the bottom with no entrance. Oi...

Posted: 11/29/2006 6:06 PM

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KaitouKid

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Joined: 6/6/2005
Posts: 384

Another day, another set o' maps. http://www.freewebs.com/ballruschronicles/IcePalaceRuins.zip The Ruins are pretty complete. I still dunno if there's even a way into the room next to the one marked 'I' but oh well. The Ice Palace had six damn floors. I did not remember THAT. Floors 4-6 are pretty pathetic, though. The maps aren't 100%'d yet, though. I'll go back later and fill in the missing stuff. But it's finished enough that it got me through really easily. I didn't have any trouble remembering where to go this time. I also should go back and re-number the keys. See, you enter Floor 3 not long after 2. So I didn't know what the final key count on 2 would be. So I just picked a nice round number (10) to use when I started finding keys on 3. Seemed like a good idea at the time. c.c But Droog Volcano? I've only been a few rooms into that dungeon so far. So it'll be a bit different. Hopefully I'll at least get half Droog done today. Edit on an Edit: Droog dealt with. Good god, that was hellish. But in an annoying way. Not a 'god, this is horrendous' way. THAT is what the Platinum Shrine is for. Holy Christ. The Dark Zone. The Dark Zone are rooms that are pitch black. Not like Droog where you can still see outlines of rocks and the walls. No no. This is PURE BLACK. You're left to your own devices to figure out where you're walking. I cannot effing map that. I can't. And it pisses me off because there is a MONSTEROUSLY LARGE ROOM that you HAVE to try getting through to get to a Key. And then, if you have no Warp Gates... back through it you go. The enemies, thankfully, ARE visible. And that helps. But I ran into a problem. I went to Toronto before restocking my items. And there apparently is no item shop there. Not that I found, anyway. ...Meaning I went through the annoying-as-hell worm tunnels, got to the Platinum Shrine, managed to get to the Silence Key, and then had to shut it down (last save state was at the start, just past the tunnels) because I wasn't going to feel my way back through that mess. I need a marked up map of this crap, because uh... yeah, no TAS will be made of this game unless someone works it out. You can't gauge DISTANCE in those room. That's the problem. You just walk in the center-ish of the screen until you stop moving due to a wall or something. ._. I mean, it's doable without knowing where you're going, but it would take a massive amount of rerecords to get through this crap without. And I'm done for the night. Tomorrow I'll go back THROUGH the damned worm holes, WALK back to Arcs, stock up, then WALK back through the bloody path to Toronto, the worm tunnels, and restart the Platinum Shrine from scratch. Christ.

Posted: 11/30/2006 3:54 AM

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KaitouKid

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Joined: 6/6/2005
Posts: 384

http://www.freewebs.com/ballruschronicles/BrainLordMaps.zip Good. GRANNY. I never want to see this game again. The final boss has a gimmick where the floor cracks and vanishes on you while you battle. But that isn't it. It was more the Dark Zone bullhonkey. I think it was the lowest room on Floor 3. There are two stairways there. There are, apparently, moving walkways on the whole right half of the room. Because it damn took me over 30 minutes to get to the easternmost stair room. I'm bitter at the game, I don't want to play it again for at LEAST fifty centuries, and I'm thoroughly sick of the color PLATINUM. I hope someone takes up the mantle and does a TAS. And I hope, if that happens, that my maps can be at least SOMEWHAT useful. But I can't do it.

Posted: 11/30/2006 2:24 PM

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Spoony_Bard

Former player

Joined: 8/17/2004
Posts: 377

Kaitou, every time I try to download your maps I just get a second window popped up which reloads this forum page. O_o

Posted: 11/30/2006 2:52 PM

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KaitouKid

Former player

Joined: 6/6/2005
Posts: 384

Wha... Well that's weird, so do I. X.x *pokes link* Bad link! Work right! The link's actually fine, you just apparently can't click it from HERE. I AIM'd myself with the link, clicked there, and it worked fine. Not sure why it's being weird here O.o;

Posted: 11/30/2006 3:16 PM

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DJ_FozzBozz

Former player

Try Save As.