Dungeon Keeper

2009-02-03 12:28:21 am

Verified verifier and hangaround :)

Quote from 12114:

finally decided to do blaise end again, this time with your awesome strategy. managed to get 9 minutes although can be done much faster (made tons of mistakes and did not transfer a creature). im not even sure if you're supposed to transfer creatures for these speed runs or not? Anyway, Full credits to zyzzyva Wink

made it for fun ^^

Acc to the rules, you are very much allowed to transfer a creature from one map to the other, as long as it is a part of your gameplay.

Consider it bringing a powerup from level 1 to level 2 in a random fps.

12114

Edit history:

12114: 2009-02-14 08:10:17 am

2009-02-13 04:36:19 pm

I love YaBB 1G - SP1!

ok since i was bored and since my computer can pretty much only handle DK 1 (its from 2001), and since DK 1 is one of my favourite games of all time, i decided to speed run it :P.
so far i did 5 levels in 1 day, all encoded with xvid using Vdub.
the only reason i was so fast is because i didnt have school and i watched enigmas runs to get an approximate idea of what to do :D.

so far the times are:
lvl 1 (eversmile) - 3:35
lvl 2 (cosyton) - 5:10
lvl 3 (waterdream warm) - 6:37
lvl 4 (flowerhat) - 9:00
lvl 5 (lushmeadow-on-down) - 2:08
lvl 6 (Snuggledell) - 2:03
edit: lvl 7 (wishvale) - 16:51

hopefully ill go further in lvls than enigma but no gurantee

zyzzyva

Edit history:

zyzzyva: 2009-02-13 06:21:13 pm

2009-02-13 05:50:27 pm

Great job with the 9 minute run of Blaise End, 12114.

The only other speedrun strategy I made since then was for Mistle, my favourite level. I only tested it once, and it relies on randomness, And it was a while ago, but it did the level in about a half hour (I think), which could probably be reduced to 15-20 minutes.

All you have to do is connect the hero castle to the enemy keeper. If you claim the area next to the water there, you can dig through it. Then dig over to the enemy keeper area. The edge right next to his heart is probably unfortified. Make sure you prevent the heroes from getting into your dungeon by putting up a guard post next to the water. The only requirement to win is The enemies heart must be destroyed. The beginning of the level should be obvious enough, unlike in the previous strategy.

Edit: You can certainly transfer creatures, but for the last few levels you'll have to transfer them from a bonus realm, which will add time to your run.

The best speedrun strategies for other levels which I didn't think of. You should know most of these.

Tickle: Dig to the hounds and unleash them on the opponent. They can run over lava. Getting the transfer creature special is a different story.

Nevergrim: Transfer creature, run to opponent.

Hearth: Pretty much fixed time, try and get to the transfer creature special in the beginning by digging through the gold nearby.

Elves dance + Buffy oak: Transfer creature and kill enemies.

Woodly rhyme: Dig into both enemy dungeons. Move the imp through the corner next to water and fortify to prevent the enemy from getting in.

Tulipscent: Possess a creature and invade the enemy dungeon. This one is difficult because the enemy already has high level creatures. I would suggest transferring the horned reaper from the hidden realm for this one, so you don't have to jump through hoops on the two previous ones.

Mirthshire: This is a timed level, so you shouldn't need a transferred creature. You don't need to transfer one from this level anyway.

All the other levels not already done are ones for which I have no clue. Sorry, I have no easy level 20 strategy. I would suggest lots of boulder traps where enemies spawn for the final battle. Don't convert either avatar.

Good luck on your speedrun, 12114.

Great job with the 9 minute run of Blaise End, 12114.

The only other speedrun strategy I made since then was for Mistle, my favourite level. I only tested it once, and it relies on randomness, And it was a while ago, but it did the level in about a half hour (I think), which could probably be reduced to 15-20 minutes.

All you have to do is connect the hero castle to the enemy keeper. If you claim the area next to the water there, you can dig through it. Then dig over to the enemy keeper area. The edge right next to his heart is probably unfortified. Make sure you prevent the heroes from getting into your dungeon by putting up a guard post next to the water. The only requirement to win is The enemies heart must be destroyed. The beginning of the level should be obvious enough, unlike in the previous strategy.

Edit: You can certainly transfer creatures, but for the last few levels you'll have to transfer them from a bonus realm, which will add time to your run.

The best speedrun strategies for other levels which I didn't think of. You should know most of these.

Tickle: Dig to the hounds and unleash them on the opponent. They can run over lava. Getting the transfer creature special is a different story.

Nevergrim: Transfer creature, run to opponent.

Hearth: Pretty much fixed time, try and get to the transfer creature special in the beginning by digging through the gold nearby.

Elves dance + Buffy oak: Transfer creature and kill enemies.

Woodly rhyme: Dig into both enemy dungeons. Move the imp through the corner next to water and fortify to prevent the enemy from getting in.

Tulipscent: Possess a creature and invade the enemy dungeon. This one is difficult because the enemy already has high level creatures. I would suggest transferring the horned reaper from the hidden realm for this one, so you don't have to jump through hoops on the two previous ones.

Mirthshire: This is a timed level, so you shouldn't need a transferred creature. You don't need to transfer one from this level anyway.

All the other levels not already done are ones for which I have no clue. Sorry, I have no easy level 20 strategy. I would suggest lots of boulder traps where enemies spawn for the final battle. Don't convert either avatar.

Good luck on your speedrun, 12114.

12114

Edit history:

12114: 2009-03-12 05:31:24 pm

2009-02-13 07:34:35 pm

I love YaBB 1G - SP1!

Quote from zyzzyva:

Great job with the 9 minute run of Blaise End, 12114.

The only other speedrun strategy I made since then was for Mistle, my favourite level. I only tested it once, and it relies on randomness, And it was a while ago, but it did the level in about a half hour (I think), which could probably be reduced to 15-20 minutes.

All you have to do is connect the hero castle to the enemy keeper. If you claim the area next to the water there, you can dig through it. Then dig over to the enemy keeper area. The edge right next to his heart is probably unfortified. Make sure you prevent the heroes from getting into your dungeon by putting up a guard post next to the water. The only requirement to win is The enemies heart must be destroyed. The beginning of the level should be obvious enough, unlike in the previous strategy.

Edit: You can certainly transfer creatures, but for the last few levels you'll have to transfer them from a bonus realm, which will add time to your run.

The best speedrun strategies for other levels which I didn't think of. You should know most of these.

Tickle: Dig to the hounds and unleash them on the opponent. They can run over lava. Getting the transfer creature special is a different story.

Nevergrim: Transfer creature, run to opponent.

Hearth: Pretty much fixed time, try and get to the transfer creature special in the beginning by digging through the gold nearby.

Elves dance + Buffy oak: Transfer creature and kill enemies.

Woodly rhyme: Dig into both enemy dungeons. Move the imp through the corner next to water and fortify to prevent the enemy from getting in.

Tulipscent: Possess a creature and invade the enemy dungeon. This one is difficult because the enemy already has high level creatures. I would suggest transferring the horned reaper from the hidden realm for this one, so you don't have to jump through hoops on the two previous ones.

Mirthshire: This is a timed level, so you shouldn't need a transferred creature. You don't need to transfer one from this level anyway.

All the other levels not already done are ones for which I have no clue. Sorry, I have no easy level 20 strategy. I would suggest lots of boulder traps where enemies spawn for the final battle. Don't convert either avatar.

Good luck on your speedrun, 12114.

thanks ^^

i already have an outline for 7-19, and im pretty sure none of them are going to take me over 10 min, with the exception of few.
however lvl 20 is a bitch
i tried it today and my best was 25 minutes, and im not too happy about that. That was without a transfered creature and im contemplating on whether i should transfer it or not.
try lvl 20 Cheesy

maybe you can do it in 10 min Cheesy

edit: i did lvl 19 in about 6 min.

[quote="zyzzyva"]
Great job with the 9 minute run of Blaise End, 12114.

The only other speedrun strategy I made since then was for Mistle, my favourite level. I only tested it once, and it relies on randomness, And it was a while ago, but it did the level in about a half hour (I think), which could probably be reduced to 15-20 minutes.

All you have to do is connect the hero castle to the enemy keeper. If you claim the area next to the water there, you can dig through it. Then dig over to the enemy keeper area. The edge right next to his heart is probably unfortified. Make sure you prevent the heroes from getting into your dungeon by putting up a guard post next to the water. The only requirement to win is The enemies heart must be destroyed. The beginning of the level should be obvious enough, unlike in the previous strategy.

Edit: You can certainly transfer creatures, but for the last few levels you'll have to transfer them from a bonus realm, which will add time to your run.

The best speedrun strategies for other levels which I didn't think of. You should know most of these.

Tickle: Dig to the hounds and unleash them on the opponent. They can run over lava. Getting the transfer creature special is a different story.

Nevergrim: Transfer creature, run to opponent.

Hearth: Pretty much fixed time, try and get to the transfer creature special in the beginning by digging through the gold nearby.

Elves dance + Buffy oak: Transfer creature and kill enemies.

Woodly rhyme: Dig into both enemy dungeons. Move the imp through the corner next to water and fortify to prevent the enemy from getting in.

Tulipscent: Possess a creature and invade the enemy dungeon. This one is difficult because the enemy already has high level creatures. I would suggest transferring the horned reaper from the hidden realm for this one, so you don't have to jump through hoops on the two previous ones.

Mirthshire: This is a timed level, so you shouldn't need a transferred creature. You don't need to transfer one from this level anyway.

All the other levels not already done are ones for which I have no clue. Sorry, I have no easy level 20 strategy. I would suggest lots of boulder traps where enemies spawn for the final battle. Don't convert either avatar.

Good luck on your speedrun, 12114.
[/quote]

thanks ^^

i already have an outline for 7-19, and im pretty sure none of them are going to take me over 10 min, with the exception of few.
however lvl 20 is a bitch
i tried it today and my best was 25 minutes, and im not too happy about that. That was without a transfered creature and im contemplating on whether i should transfer it or not.
try lvl 20 :D maybe you can do it in 10 min :D

edit: i did lvl 19 in about 6 min.

zyzzyva

2009-02-13 07:46:33 pm

Quote from 12114:

thanks ^^

i already have an outline for 7-19, and im pretty sure none of them are going to take me over 10 min.
however lvl 20 is a bitch
i tried it today and my best was 25 minutes, and im not too happy about that. That was without a transfered creature and im contemplating on whether should i transfer it or not.
try lvl 20 Cheesy

maybe you can do it in 10 min Cheesy

That's all good. I can't wait to see the finished product if/when it gets done.

Honestly, I'm not a speedrunner. I'm good at finding quick paths through levels, but I prefer to just watch speedruns. And if I had a 10 minute path through Skybird Trill I would tell you. I'd be amazed if there was a sub-20 minute path. As for transferring a creature, try it, and if it saves you more time than it takes to do the bonus level, go ahead.

zoonel

2009-02-14 10:54:15 am

Go play spacechem !

Yeah, great to see someone doing the runs. Smiley

zyzzyva, can you please write the level numbers with their name because my game is non-english and i can't remember their names anyway Grin

for [lvl 4 (flowerhat) ], i had another approach from enigma_nova's one :

claim the first tiles but dont let your imps go left.
sell the bridge and make one imp claim the right path
bring fighters to take down the enemies/door
repeat till you go to the final door -> don't break it !
dig up and set bridges to claim the transfer creature/the spiders/and the north ground
break the middle gold tile, and trigger the hero coming
throw all your creature and fight 8) (bring the spiders last or they will be killed)
[alternative] during the fight you can posses one creature to attack the heart

for lvl 20 it will be difficult (well we all know this ;D). There is a ground path to the empty dungeon, so you can quickly claim it; build outposts on it to prevent tentacles to destroy you -> BUT : if a fight is going between your imps and tentacles, the tentacles could end on one of the outpost and you'r dead Lips Sealed

Possessed dragon leveling could be done in seconds when attacking an avatar.
The trapped avatar can be killed by or will kill the upper dungeon if you push him to the door(dont remember wha's the best option)
In prevision of the final battle you can wall-in some coming spots, so you dont have to fight all of them at once and can place nasty boulders traps.
Battles with lots of dragons is a nightmare and take ages.(due to the ring of fire spell, i hate it)

ps: 12114, do you play on winXP or win98/95? And does'nt fraps slow down you pc ?
I once tried to record a game but fraps slowed down the game so much and the capture was like 3 image/ sec Undecided

. Ok, il lied, Tongue

i tried another time with an old game, the record was fine but the game slowed downtoo much (playable but slower).

:) Yeah, great to see someone doing the runs.  :)
zyzzyva, can you please write the level numbers with their name because my game is non-english and i can't remember their names anyway  ;D

for [lvl 4 (flowerhat) ], i had another approach from enigma_nova's one  :
[list]
[li]claim the first tiles but dont let your imps go left.[/li]
[li]sell the bridge and make one imp claim the right path[/li]
[li]bring fighters to take down the enemies/door[/li]
[li]repeat till you go to the final door -> don't break it ![/li]
[li]dig up and set bridges to claim the transfer creature/the spiders/and the north ground[/li]
[li]break the middle gold tile, and trigger the hero coming[/li]
[li]throw all your creature and fight  8) (bring the spiders last or they will be killed)[/li]
[li][alternative] during the fight you can posses one creature to attack the heart :)[/li]

[/list]

for lvl 20 it will be difficult (well we all know this  ;D). There is a ground path to the empty dungeon, so you can quickly claim it; build outposts on it to prevent tentacles to destroy you -> BUT : if a fight is going between your imps and tentacles, the tentacles could end on one of the outpost and you'r dead  :-X
Possessed dragon leveling could be done in seconds when attacking an avatar.
The trapped avatar can be killed by or will kill the upper dungeon if you push him to the door(dont remember wha's the best option)
In prevision of the final battle you can wall-in some coming spots, so you dont have to fight all of them at once and can place nasty boulders traps.
Battles with lots of dragons is a nightmare and take ages.(due to the ring of fire spell, i hate it)

ps: 12114, do you play on winXP or win98/95? And does'nt fraps slow down you pc ? 
I once tried to record a game but fraps slowed down the game so much and the capture was like 3 image/ sec  :-\ . Ok, il lied,  :P  i tried another time with an old game, the record was fine but the game slowed downtoo much (playable but slower).

12114

Edit history:

12114: 2009-02-14 06:36:07 pm

2009-02-14 12:12:36 pm

I love YaBB 1G - SP1!

-Wishvale lvl 7

pt 1
pt 2

-Snuggledell lvl 6

-Eversmile lvl 1

-*New Tickle lvl 8 in 2:31 with my own strategy

we're making some progress Tongue

yeah im not uploading in order but eventually ill youtube all 20 (IF i do 20) runs so have some patince Cheesy

@zoonel, your strategy for flowerhat seems cool, but the question is, is it faster than 9 min? (too lazy to check myself ^^)

and i play on windows XP 32-bit WITHOUT compatibility modes, dosbox or any other crap and it works like a charm. and yea, thankfully fraps doesnt slow down my game. But it does slow down games like counter strike 1.6 badly, which plays horribly even without it anyway Cheesy

Maybe your fraps isnt set up right? Undecided

ill edit as i upload more

p.s if anyone has any suggestions at all to improve the runs, dont hesitate to post (unless it like saves only 1 second in which case im too lazy to re-do it :D)

-Wishvale lvl 7

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MltADjbLjZs pt 1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cZ4Dtq3IIvM pt 2

-Snuggledell lvl 6
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NpuqJ5CN5Is

-Eversmile lvl 1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pC992B5F9lo

-*New Tickle lvl 8 in 2:31 with my own strategy
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sEntw4aXYP0
we're making some progress :P

yeah im not uploading in order but eventually ill youtube all 20 (IF i do 20) runs so have some patince :D

@zoonel, your strategy for flowerhat seems cool, but the question is, is it faster than 9 min? (too lazy to check myself ^^)

and i play on windows XP 32-bit WITHOUT compatibility modes, dosbox or any other crap and it works like a charm. and yea, thankfully fraps doesnt slow down my game. But it does slow down games like counter strike 1.6 badly, which plays horribly even without it anyway :D Maybe your fraps isnt set up right? :-\

ill edit as i upload more

p.s if anyone has any suggestions at all to improve the runs, dont hesitate to post (unless it like saves only 1 second in which case im too lazy to re-do it :D)

zoonel

2009-02-14 12:26:38 pm

Go play spacechem !

Quote:

@zoonel, your strategy for flowerhat seems cool, but the question is, is it faster than 9 min? (too lazy to check myself ^^)

Good question :p . It was indeed faster then enigma_nova run, but i dont remember my time and anyway it wasnt a real speedrun attempt. I just tried my strategy to compare it with enigma_nova run, and it appear i was faster :).
I doubt it was faster then 9min, but if you compare it to enigma_nova its basicaly the same strategy except you fight less monsters (...oops, i ment heroes) and attack the heart backward with all heroes nicely packed together and you fight them with lvl 8 spiders from start.

MetroidAR

2009-02-14 12:32:48 pm

all right, heres lvl 7 (wishvale)

pt 1
pt 2

Part 2 is showing up unavailable............

12114

2009-02-14 06:36:46 pm

I love YaBB 1G - SP1!

finally we have a speed run of lvl 8 now.
edited my post above with it, enjoy.

Kabuto

2009-02-15 02:40:39 am

You did a good job so far, keep it up! If you're serious about finishing your speed run you can also ask a mod to give you control over the thread title.

12114

Edit history:

12114: 2009-02-15 10:39:45 am

2009-02-15 10:31:10 am

I love YaBB 1G - SP1!

ok i have an important qusestion Cheesy

theres a locate hidden world in mirthshire (lvl 17), but the problem is i forgot what secret level is attached to it. Is it the one where you get a (lvl 3 i think) horned reaper? or the one where you get lvl 9 priestess?
any1 knows?

zyzzyva

2009-02-15 11:41:55 am

That's the one with the priestess. Woodly Rhyme (15) has the one with the horned reaper and Moonbrush wood (9) has the vampire.

12114

Edit history:

12114: 2009-02-16 08:47:04 am

2009-02-15 08:56:00 pm

I love YaBB 1G - SP1!

thanks zyzz, very helpful.

-Moonbrush wood lvl 9 in 11:20
pt 1
pt 2

yeah its a bad run, but screw it, i hate speed running that level (even though its my favourite when playing normally). maybe ill re-do it later.

edit: just now read your woodly rhyme strategy zyzz, wow you know everything :P. i tried woodly yesterday and our strategies were almost identical (dig to both dungeons etc), but i found that corner bug on my own totally by accident.

12114

Edit history:

12114: 2009-03-01 05:25:36 pm

2009-02-16 09:13:36 pm

I love YaBB 1G - SP1!

level 10 is done in 1:43 however i probably wont be playing anymore this week cause i have to study.

zoonel

2009-02-18 12:24:31 pm

Go play spacechem !

Great lvl8 run , but maybe the transfer creature should be taken?

Asfor lvl 9i've some suggestions/informations :

sacrifice imps to get more imps, do this 2 times to get 25+ cheap imps. Saves a lot of money for lightning
let some flies come at start to sacrifice them for last researchs. To make those flies come, dont build 9 tiles library nor 1 tile training room
limit the hatchery to 24 tiles so no bile demons come in. They are bad researchers compare to sorcerors or demonspawns (1 vs 4 or 2)
power of sight + lightning is approx 3x less efficient then lightining in visible area
horny lvl = 1 + 1/3 * (bile demon lvl + dark mistress lvl + troll lvl)

zyzzyva

2009-02-19 10:43:18 am

I have one suggestion for your level 18 run. I wouldn't mine any gold in it, instead just put treasuries under the gold pots. The reason is because the heroes are spawned when you mine certain amounts of gold. Trust me, there is more than enough to kill the wizards. I'm fairly sure this way is faster because it has fewer distractions, but try it. I also think you might have to include the intro and end of the levels, so you may want to record those.

For level 9, sacrificing imps will definitely ease your gold troubles. Another quirk is that creatures train and research slightly faster when these rooms are more efficient, so I might make imps to fortify the walls. However, this may only save a few seconds at most, I'm not sure how much speed is gained. I would definitely make the rooms bigger at the beginning anyway. If you sacrifice imps, you should have the money.

I don't really have suggestions for any other levels, you're doing a great job.

12114

Edit history:

12114: 2009-03-01 05:26:15 pm

2009-02-20 05:55:21 pm

I love YaBB 1G - SP1!

@zoonel & zyzzyva, cool suggestions but in lvl 18, one of the reasons i give imps jobs (like mining gold) is so that they dont run around and accidentally trigger the arrival of the landlord. and for lvl 9, i kinda need bile demons to fight those annoying lvl 7 priestesses that float over lava. I was also thinking about transfering the lvl 8 orc i did lvl 8 with, but then i wouldnt really save a lot of time because either way i need a lvl 5 horned reaper to be transferred. But ill try sacrificing imps next time, seems like a good idea.

ok heres Hearth (level 11) Cheesy

pt 1
pt 2

p.s should i just start a new thread (so i could indicate how far ive gotten AND have all speedruns that ive uploaded in the first post), or is this fine?

Kabuto

2009-02-21 04:39:12 am

12114: Please don't start a new thread. According to this forum post:

Quote:

Especially in Newer/Older/PC, we highly recommend bumping old threads instead of starting duplicate ones. We also have the ability to give the first post in a thread to someone else, so ask for it if you need it, and realize that creating a new thread to have control of the thread title is a pointless and terrible idea.)

In one of your levels you've collected a "secret area" magic item. What is this good for in a speedrun?

12114

Edit history:

12114: 2009-02-21 09:14:20 am

2009-02-21 07:12:56 am

I love YaBB 1G - SP1!

Hi kabuto. I'll try to gain control of this thread (when my laziness is gone) instead of making a new one then.

"In one of your levels you've collected a "secret area" magic item. What is this good for in a speedrun?"

Honestly i have no idea what you're talking about there.

edit: ohhh you mean locate hidden world box? Yeah i will actually need it for lvl 19 (for sure) and possibly for level 20. Without a vampire level 19 would at least take me 20 minutes.

zyzzyva

2009-02-21 08:44:38 am

It's useful because you can transfer a creature from the hidden realm. In the last few realms you can't transfer a creature. Also there are a few levels where you have to jump through hoops to obtain it. The hidden realms are relatively short, and if the time saved from using them to transfer a creature outweighs the time to use them, they are useful in a speedrun.

Kabuto

2009-02-21 09:46:47 am

Looks like I've seen that in one of your walkthrough videos and confused that with your current speedrun Smiley

And yes the hidden world box was exactly what I meant. Didn't expect playing hidden worlds to help that much.

12114

Edit history:

12114: 2009-02-21 07:11:36 pm

2009-02-21 02:03:15 pm

I love YaBB 1G - SP1!

Elf's dance (lvl 12) in 3:32

edit: freakin youtube keeps adding a second to my times Tongue

zyzzyva

Edit history:

zyzzyva: 2009-02-23 08:44:19 pm

2009-02-21 09:30:01 pm

Your total time so far is 1:20:01 by my calculation. You should probably be able to get under 2:30:00 or maybe 2:15:00. Great job with Elf's Dance. I really hope you go all the way.

Edit: what's your current strategy for level 20? I've been working on one and I think it would help to know what yours is. Don't expect any 5 minute strategies though.

zoonel

2009-02-24 11:06:14 am

Go play spacechem !

I've a question regarding lvl 6 and 8 : why do you cut 1-2 sec before ending?
Your videos stop at "you've defeated...." instead of "you've conquered..."