So, I've been playing lots of Landmaker, lately, and I have to say it is a breath of fresh air for my puzzle bug. I tire of all the knockoff puzzle games that are pretty much the same aside from a new cast.
So, after you beat the game, it gives you "the secret code," which is FIRE, LEFT, RIGHT, FIRE, but it doesn't tell you when to use it! I tried it at the title screen (with a credit in stock) before hitting start, but didn't see any change. I tried it during the tutorial and in character selection and those didn't work either. Does anybody known when to put it in? Maybe I entered it too fast?
Also, does anybody know if this came out for JP PS/SS? I know it came home to the US PSX via the title "Builder's Block."
The warning voice in this game is so great; it's calm and dreamy, unlike the eminent doom that awaits you, if you sit there
Any cool tidbits/art, whatever anybody has for this game needs to be shared here!
-ud
Cosmic love and vibes to you, UD, your good taste in games is amazing, even if i'm a bit partial...as i adore LandMaker
You have to put the code after the demo entry, when you get the title screen. If it is successful, you get the second adversary (whose name escapes me now), on the lower right corner. The "another world" mode is a bit more difficult and gives you more room for score. As for the characters, Rinrei (the girl from the desert, blue hair and white dress) has a lot of fanservice animations
The PSX version has the arcade mode (F3) plus a console-only mode, uglier-looking in its pseudo-3D, but it works like a 1p puzzle (i.e. meet some requirements to clear the stage). I suppose you'd like some gameplay discussion as well, just let me know
"The only desire the Culture could not satisfy from within itself was one common to both the descendants of its original human stock and the machines [...]: the urge not to feel useless."
undamned wrote:
So, after you beat the game, it gives you "the secret code," which is FIRE, LEFT, RIGHT, FIRE, but it doesn't tell you when to use it! I tried it at the title screen (with a credit in stock) before hitting start, but didn't see any change. I tried it during the tutorial and in character selection and those didn't work either. Does anybody known when to put it in? Maybe I entered it too fast?
I don't think you were too fast. At the title, I got Aifa to appear in the corner by entering the S-L-R-S command in one rapid continuous motion, with no credits in stock. A half circle motion from L to R will also work.
The code will definitely not work at the Push Start screen or during the attract mode cinema. AFAIR it only works at the title.
Yeah, Yack and Norihiro Furukawa worked on it for sure, another couple of Zuntata members were on it as well.
About gameplay: the fundamental thing is learning to "absorb land". When your blocks are placed beside other blocks, the latters will change colour into the one of the formers. If you place a red block beside a few yellow blocks (they must touch in their orthogonal directions), the yellow blocks will become red. This is extremely important, as it gives you the opportunity to quickly use to your own advantage the blocks sent by the enemy.
The other important thing is how to build lands. Now, 1p mode is a goldmine for scoring purposes: i can't think of a more score-centric puzzle (maybe Doki Doki Idol Star Seeker). The key is building Platinum lands, i.e. 5x5 lands of the same colour. Aside properly absorbing land, it's fundamental to know where to put the blocks from the start: every adversary has 3-4 schemas, and placing the right blocks will quickly help you in creating a platinum land. Once you have a platinum land ready, you've basically won the round, as destroying it will give you 5M (plus 1M for its formation) and send a full pit of blocks to the adversary (and lower completely the border as well).
About attacks: you can do two types of attacks, send blocks and lower the border. The former is done by just cancelling blocks (i.e. shooting a block on the angle of another block of the same colour, i suppose everyone knows this), the other is done by cancelling at least a 2x2 land, and then shooting any block against the gray pyramids/blocks remaining after a land cancellation.
This is a tricky passage: when you cancel one of these pyramids, you will LOWER the upper border of the adversary's pit, reducing its pit.If you are receiving this attack, and you cancel a pyramid, you will CANCEL the lowering process, so the border will remain where it is. If your border has been already lowered and you cancel a pyramid, you will first RAISE your border, until its maximum height, and then you will start lowering the adversary's one.Now, the tricky thing is that when you cancel lands, you send blocks back AND you lower the border as well, if you've cancelled a 4x4 or a 5x5 land (gold or platinum).This means that big attacks flood the adversary's pit with blocks and can potentially lower its border, which is a pretty nasty manouver.
One important thing, at any case, is mixing block cancellation with land cancellation: it's important to have pyramids at disposal at any moment (so build a lot of 2x2 lands), so the border can be raised back at any moment, or the adversary's one can be lowered as well.It's also important to send blocks back to the adversary, but it must be done with some rationale, as it can be potentially easy to use sent blocks to build up lands, and thus counter (with a vengeance!) the attacks.
Last edited by Randorama on Thu Feb 23, 2006 10:32 am, edited 1 time in total.
"The only desire the Culture could not satisfy from within itself was one common to both the descendants of its original human stock and the machines [...]: the urge not to feel useless."
Good description, Rando! I like how the bars in the middle say "Damage Pusher," heh. If you were curious of the actual titles of the building sizes, dig this:
Those titles are listed and how many of each you got, after a game over.
Oh, and after you destroy a pantheon it leaves a "flare" block, which can create an empire the fills the playfield! I know you get points for unused grey blocks, at the end of the round, so I was kinda curious if it was more points for not using the flare and cashing it in, at the end of the round, than for using it and destroying the empire?
-ud
If you have a Platinum Structure, there's one way to leech. If the Platinum Structure is Color A, then throw a block of color B at it. The announcer will say "No!" and you end up with a mass of Color A blocks joined to a couple blocks of B.
When Color B comes up again, clear out the two off-color blocks. As soon as another A comes up, reform the Platinum Structure for another million. It is risky but sometimes worth it.
gameoverDude wrote:If you have a Platinum Structure, there's one way to leech. If the Platinum Structure is Color A, then throw a block of color B at it. The announcer will say "No!" and you end up with a mass of Color A blocks joined to a couple blocks of B.
When Color B comes up again, clear out the two off-color blocks. As soon as another A comes up, reform the Platinum Structure for another million. It is risky but sometimes worth it.
I've done that! I don't think I'm skillful enough to pull it off, on a regular basis, though, heh.
-ud
gameoverDude wrote:If you have a Platinum Structure, there's one way to leech. If the Platinum Structure is Color A, then throw a block of color B at it. The announcer will say "No!" and you end up with a mass of Color A blocks joined to a couple blocks of B.
When Color B comes up again, clear out the two off-color blocks. As soon as another A comes up, reform the Platinum Structure for another million. It is risky but sometimes worth it.
I've done that! I don't think I'm skillful enough to pull it off, on a regular basis, though, heh.
-ud
Sometimes I have screwed myself royally trying it. If things don't go well - say goodbye to either 5000000 pts. or hello to the Game Over screen.
There should be specific configurations that allow you to do the said trick a few times in a row. The game has 11 stages (8+2 bosses, plus a second fight against your character as a bonus) and the scored can be maxed out (99,999,990 points). This means that you can do Pantheons on every stage (but some configurations are incredibly difficult to handle if the CPU doesn't cooperate) and milk them a bit for points.
One small thing: there is rank, and it's based on time.The faster you are in defeating the adversary, the more difficult the game will become. This is not a problem, honestly, unless you can nail victories below 30 seconds, and if you play for score, this becomes impossible. Also, the "Another World" stages are overall better for scoring purposes.
"The only desire the Culture could not satisfy from within itself was one common to both the descendants of its original human stock and the machines [...]: the urge not to feel useless."
Does continuing lower the rank? I made a dumb mistake on one level, lost, continued, but when I started over there was a really easy pattern of green blocks, I got a pantheon where I think I would have had no chance in the first place. Think I've answered my own question but I wanted to be sure.
I've now got the level 2 BGM on my HD thanks to PSound ^_^ wonder if there's an OST release, couldn't find any info's.
Another note: Fox M1 is the more obvious route, yeah, but it doesn't emulate the bassline 100%, comes out really scratchy sounding (?)
You can rip it and then compress it, Fox/M1 don't work like they should, honestly they're not the best choice to listen to the soundtrack.I may rip the OST from the PSX version and send it to you, though...
Yes, the game has rank, which is based on the size and number of the lands you build up.However, unless you're very good, you won't get the hardest possible pattern for a given stage, most of the time. be careful, though, often the enemy will attack you immediately with easy patterns!
EDIT: oddly enough, i think that the OST only has the music from the PSX version, which is more or less bland, but i can not be sure...
"The only desire the Culture could not satisfy from within itself was one common to both the descendants of its original human stock and the machines [...]: the urge not to feel useless."
