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Turn That Frown Upside-Down 2


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Turn That Frown Upside-Down 2

Mac/Windows

 

Author: Duck

Difficulty: 5-10

Version: 1.0.1

 

[composite=eyJ0aXRsZSI6IlR1cm4gVGhhdCBGcm93biBVcHNpZGUtRG93biAyIiwidGlkIjoiMTI0NzUiLCJ0YWdzIjpbImF2ZXJudW0gdW5pdmVyc2UiLCJiZWdpbm5lciIsImh1bW9yIiwibXVsdGlwbGUgZW5kaW5ncyIsInNob3J0Il0sImJnYXNwIjp7IjUiOjAsIjQiOjAsIjMiOjAsIjIiOjIsIjEiOjB9fQ==]

Composite Score: 2.0/5.0

 

Best: 0.00% (0/2)

Good: 0.00% (0/2)

Average: 0.00% (0/2)

Substandard: 100.00% (2/2)

Poor: 0.00% (0/2)

[encouragenecro]

 

[/composite]

 

Keywords: Avernum Universe, Beginner, Humor, Multiple Endings, Short

Edited by SylaeBot
Automated Sybot edit; worker IPB::csrThread/vanadium
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  • 5 months later...

I'm not surprised that there aren't any reviews yet, considering that the scenario is unplayable. I had to alter a few things to get it to work. (Fixed now)

 

It's much more polished than the first, but I can't say I enjoyed it too much. There were some funny lines, such as King Smiley's "embrace the happiness" death rattle, and the multiple paths were nice, but I didn't see the incentive to play through all of them.

 

There isn't a lot of content, and of the little that there is, it doesn't really make a lot of sense. This can be primarily seen by the very nature of King Smiley's initial request. If you lie to the Empire and they send a weak force, and that weak force is subsequently slaughtered, what's to stop the Empire from simply sending a larger force in retaliation?

 

Another thing I didn't like was the sheer size of the outdoors. While outdoor sections can enhance a scenario (i.e Ephesos scenarios), most designers have learned to do away with them if they don't enhance anything. There's a lot of backtracking in this scenario, and the uninspired outdoor sections you have to traverse don't help. If you do use outdoors, it's a good idea to craft the terrain rather than use the spray paint tool. If your party is going to keep running into patrols, it's usually a good idea to use the print_str() call instead of message_dialog(). I hated getting stopped every five seconds.

 

I was actually interested in learning about the new Smiley/Frowney relations, but it isn't really ever brought up. Some random NPC might have talked about it, but I never talked to anyone else. There was literally no need to talk to anyone but the King and another random NPC in order to complete the scenario, and they had nothing to say about anything.

 

Overall, I spent about 30 seconds fighting, and a total of 10 minutes walking back and forth in order to answer single question statements before having to walk back across the globe again. Ugh.

 

While it's more polished than the first, it doesn't carry the same excuse of being a first scenario. There were a lot of suggestions for improvement in the first that weren't listened to. You can ignore the criticism if you want, but it's still going to reflect on people's opinions.

 

EDIT: I felt I had been a little harsh, as I didn't think this deserved to be slated in with horrible scenarios like Undead Valley, Crescent Valley, and Foul Hordes. Playing it again, I tried the other path, which was a lot better, so the designer apparently wants you to sympathize with the Smilies. If you do feel like talking to people, the dialogue is cute and decently written. There's not a lot to do in this scenario, but what's there isn't terrible. Some of it is pretty cute.

 

[rating]SUBSTANDARD[/rating]

 

I don't quite recall, but this may have been a 24-hour scenario. That doesn't change my opinion, but it would make the polish more impressive. You obviously have the tools for making something more notable, so I wish you'd invest more time in your efforts. Also, make sure your scenario can actually be played before releasing it.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Ah, now here is a sequel that did not need to be made. Who really wanted to see the return of the Smileys? Nonetheless, since the scenario is here I might as well try to look at it objectively and not be a big poopoo head.

 

TTFUD2's biggest flaw smacks you right across face once you enter the scenario: lack of polish (typos in the intro. Maybe this was fixed?) and lack of content. The outdoors consist of two outdoor sections which are weirdly rectangular in shape. Seriously, that is an odd shape for a valley. The outdoors are also pretty empty, you get two encounters of fauna (Yay! I saved the sheep!) and two of the local bad guys. What do you get for hunting down these enemies? Nothing.

 

Actually, the bad guys in the outdoors are leftovers from the prequel, since the bad guys in this scenario are... As a matter of fact it is not that clear. You can side two factions, The Empire and the Smileys. Both of them basically just say: go kill the other guys. Why? I honestly did not care and saw no reason why I should have. So I just sided with the Empire since I started out on their side and King Smiley failed to motivate me. Seriously, he could have at least said something like "All we want to do is frolic around in happiness", instead of the lame "Yup, the Empire wants to kill us, so go kill them!" line I got. Can't we all just get along?

 

To add to the mediocrity I found no shops, no loot nor did gain any levels (at least I think I didn't). Much like TTFUD this scenario is also very short. On the other hand the Easter egg dungeon added a little flavor to the mix and I guess I am still sort of amused by the whole smiley/frownie thing, but that is not enough. It is better than the prequel, but just barely.

 

Rating: [rating]SUBSTANDARD[/rating]

 

No wait! I sided with the Empire because there were glowing pentagrams in King Smiley's throne room! Clearly the blob is evil!

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  • 11 years later...

I thought the original "turn that frown upside-down" was substandard. That was odd and glitch-laden.

 

I like that this has a couple different options, and a secret area, and a few different things to do. The plat makes no sense...but then this is supposed to be absurd to I don't count that against it. I give it an average rating.

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