Giantkiller Too by DavyB

Comment DavyB

Update following comments from @2theleft.

Comment DavyB

Thank you @2theleft, that's very helpful! I think you have identified a couple of bugs. Certainly the handling of the rusty key is wrong. The game hasn't been updated since you started, so it suggests the problem with the map may depend on what's gone before. I know I feel nervous about the handling of UNDO and the restoration of a saved game, which are mostly outside my control.

For details of the (intended) bonus item, speak to the foreman. You can ask all the characters you encounter about the 'giant' or the 'pig/peppa/peppermint'.

Comment 2theleft

Thanks @DavyB.
The display of the Indoor Market is great now. I know what to do in all flavours of the Indoor Market.
I've also found the mirrors to be doable - previously it seemed they shattered whatever I did, and I could swear I tried everything.
I got through all ground level puzzles but got stuck on bean germination for ages. It seems you have to repeat all the steps till you get it right, not just fix the wrong bits.
The cloud level puzzles all worked well for me, even if did keep leaving Peppermint lying around.
The 'roller blind' idea was a hilarious variation on the fairytale.

I can't see any item I can give back to any character. The epilogue says to do this for bonus points. Is it the rusty key? I got this twice, collecting points both times, which took me over 1000.

The map displays ok up to a point. The Indoor Market seems to be already fixed - that was quick! But the map now has another problem. It becomes partially dislocated, and the yellow dot player position indicator is badly displaced. This happened while in the castle, and may be because I went in through the wrong entrance first off, and so had to come back out again to get the 'something' that is outside. The corruption occurred as I was passing the mouse for the second time, and lingered till the end of the game despite resuming from saved states. Hope this helps.

Comment DavyB

Glad you made it to the island @2theleft!

Partitions Puzzle
This is lifted from the original Giantkiller game. I don't want to give too much away at one time but I encourage you to look out for the exit each time you move. The solution changes (3 possibilities) but it is possible to complete it every time with a strategy.

Map Problem
Thanks for the extra information. I'll chase this up with the Quest implementers through the Forum later today.

Again, thanks for your interest and apologies for the word-processing yesterday. I need to read messages before hitting SEND! ...I read this one!!

Comment 2theleft

Thanks for that @DavyB. I have now revisited those two puzzles.

The plank, long-handled thing and shore-to-causeway:
The solution you have intimated is the one I always had in mind. I remember it from my childhood. I don't know why I couldn't perform it last week - I had seen the syntactic suggestions you get if you enter "use plank" on its own without a 2nd object. So I surely must have tried what I tried just now - I was a couple of hours at it. Anyway, it works for me now.

The Indoor Market and the foreman:
I went to zoom level 140% in my browser (FF) by holding down Ctrl while using the mouse wheel. This lets the dog see the rabbit. As I suspected, my inability get reproducible results with this is because it is slightly different each time you play it. There is a general solution to this which I have now tested. This does seem quite a harsh puzzle - people need to work out what invisible stuff is already there, and how it might vary. That alone takes dozens of plays, and then you've got to come up with a strategy that meets all cases...

The fact that zooming *in* brought things back into view that were just outside of view on the right is telling.
You'd have expected zooming *out* to have done that. That could mean you've got a sign wrong in some x-coordinate arithmetic. It seems to automatically pan too far left for no reason. Or maybe this is Firefox. I haven't got another browser to try.

Comment DavyB

Okay @tothe left, your review and my response are now both gone.

> The two puzzles that seemed a bit 'off' to me were the planks (and long-handled thing) at the shore, and the one with the foreman building the indoor market.

The plank puzzle was tough to implement! Probably the best hint that I can give is to encourage you to Google “crossing to the island with two planks puzzle” as this is an ancient puzzle.

For the indoor market that a problem with the map drawing software that I need to chase up. It's fine on my computer.

Thanks for your interest in these games. Giantkiller Too haven't been exercised for a while!

Comment 2theleft

@DavyB To answer your question: Yes, if you can, please make it so.

That spider problem is a biggy. I managed to do it, but not entirely in my head. I have an Ikea coffee table that is a cube, and I put post-it notes on it.
The Giantkiller metals and stones puzzle is different each time, and so needs a policy rather than a solution. You have to try and avoid wasting moves, which is possible. But it still needs a lot of moves if you are unlucky.

The two puzzles that seemed a bit 'off' to me were the planks (and long-handled thing) at the shore, and the one with the foreman building the indoor market. The latter scrolls off to the right and is just out of sight in the map view. The former won't reach any further than the posts whatever I do. Maybe there is another long thing somewhere, but I didn't see one.

Comment Electron

Many thanks @DavyB, will try the desktop and keep an eye out for the refresh versions!

Comment DavyB

Hi @Electron, both Giantkiller and L were designed assuming desktop use but I'll shortly be refreshing both, and will check out iPad/table compatibility. Please experiment with your desktop in the meantime. I've made some changes to both games so would love to hear your opinion. Giantkiller in particular feels quite different. Both games are available online in their original form.

Comment Electron

Hi, I remember this game and L from when I started teaching and would love to share them with my grandson. I have tried playing them both using the play online button on my iPad but the return key of the inbuilt iPad keyboard does not result in the command I type being entered. I haven’t tried playing the game on my desktop yet but would prefer to use the iPad. I’ve searched online but cannot find a solution to this problem from any suggestions made through “googling’. I di download Frotz through which other text based adventure games seem to work but your updated L and Giantkiller too games don’t automatically load in that.
Bit of a novice so perhaps I’m doing it wrongly or they’re not designed for iPads - …

Comment Kati_88

Thanks DavyB; I know what item to use :-)

Comment DavyB

Sorry @Kati_88, here is the hint that you should have seen, while I fix the problem: "OK, this one is tricky! You really need two planks to cross. Can you find something in place of one of them?" More hep available if you need it!

Comment Kati_88

Hi DavyB. Still enjoying your game and getting slowly there :)
I'm stuck at the plank puzzle. Getting an error on my pc and when trying with my mobile, asking for a hint, it said sth like "Error compiling expression causeway.puzzle_over - RootExpressionElement.
Any ideas? :-)

Comment Kati_88

Super, thanks!

Comment DavyB

Thanks @Kati_88. I see the problem and will have a new version up later today.

Comment Kati_88

Great game! Unfortunately I get an error when trying to save the game (whereas for other games, I am able to save successfully). Any suggestions?
Many thanks:-)

Comment DavyB

This updated version is fully dynamic. Initially, no map, game panes or hyperlinks are shown, but these can be brought in, if wanted, and removed again. See ABOUT and OPTIONS for details.

Comment DavyB

The latest update makes a few general tweaks, including use of a web font and the addition of default smell/sniff and listen responses.

Comment DavyB

Many thanks EchoGumdrops for your kind review. I'm glad you enjoyed the game. It's encouraging to see that you don't have any issues to report (bugs or confusing instructions), so a round of applause for the testers as well!

Review EchoGumdrops

Very interesting, with a great concept and great output. I enjoyed the small mini games and quirks of the adventure. Great for anyone interested in math, enjoying math, or simply wanting to improve their math and logic skills! Thank you for a fantastic game.

Review rcsjr1951

Wonderful game for anyone who would like to help younger ones develop math skills. Also great for sharpening problem solving skills. Would be a great help to home schoolers who need a break from the normal homework and would like to help generate interest in school work without making it look like school work. Lots of fun. Well written with just enough hints and clues to assist you along without coming out and giving away the answers. Will make even the good mathmaticians think a little bit. Overaall alot of phone as well as educational. Be sure to pay close attention as you play the game. You can't make it unwinable. You can always scroll back and review what you have missed if you do overlook something. Well worth playing more than once since some of the puzzles are made new with each new game.