[Xiol]

Hey, great game.

Interesting story, some great artwork and music.

I've been playing it a lot, and I think I'm near the end, but I have a bug to report: In the flashback scene, just after getting Mason's journal back, it crashes. No error message or anything, it just exits.

I've tried the 3 types of winv3 available (from verge-rpg.com) but none of them fix the problem. I hope this gets fixed, because I'm looking forward to the end.

[grenideer]

Sorry I was out of town guys, but I'm back and can address issues.

First off, please keep up-to-date with the verge-rpg general discussion boards for the latest info on this game. I'm doing my best at visiting different boards but it might not always be enough.

The bug with entities getting stuck in the guard chase, or sliding block puzzle, has a temporary winv2.exe workarond available at the verge-rpg boards.

The render dest crashing has to do with opening the menu when it's already open. Don't do that. I believe there's a temp fix at verge-rpg.

That last one is a huge mistake on my part. I was calling an incorrect filename for a sound. Usually this crashes verge, but verge ignored this one since it was just an extra period. So basically, it worked with unpacked files, but with packed files it crashes. I'll need to release a patch on this. sorry to make you wait. (actually, make a sfx folder in you game directory, and put a gun.wav in there. this might fix it as a workaround).

As far as gameplay issues, Frog32, I can understand you're frustrated. That's why I included a couple questions in the faq related to your concerns. ("Why are battles so hard?", "Why is money so hard to come by?"). These are pretty much written with you in mind :). I purposely allowed a lot of money to be gained by picking plants in Emil because it's tough when you're alone.

That bar thing, you only need to pay for the expensive drink once (maybe twice) in the game. That first time is not so obvious and money's harder to come by. The second time - it's basically spelled out for you and you'll have tons of money. The rest of the time, that money is optional. If you're stuck and don't know what to do plot-wise, the bartender can give you a hint. That's all it is.

I'll definitely get a version with all this fixed out there, and add a version to the title screen so you know which one you have. If you REALLY hate a couple bugs, or the possibility of them anyway, you may wanna give Diver Down a week off until more people have tested it for me.

Thanks guys.
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[JonasKyratzes]

From what I've seen so far, Diver Down rocks. And I don't mind the fact that it's hard; it adds to the challenge. And getting money ain't all that hard, you can get lots of money by collecting the plants and by fighting in the cave and drinking tea between battles :).

[grenideer]

A couple patches for you guys.

http://grenideer.com/diverdown/devjournal.html
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Diver Down

[valderman]

I just happened to come across some weird Sailor Moon hentai thingy named Diver Down...coincidence? >_____<
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http://www.weeaboo.se

[Rainer Deyke]

Just finished the game. Two more glitches:

1. If you stand next to an arena guard and talk to him, he'll turn invisible.

2. Just before the end of act 3, the cutscene in the bedroom uses pictures that aren't colored and look like placeholder art to me. Dunno if this is intentional or not.

The game also fairly easy after the Weeping Sands and gradually became even easier up to the end. Somewhat anticlimactic to put the hardest part of the game in the middle of act 2.

[grenideer]

Thanks for the great review, Rainer!

That guard-disappearing glitch is a winv2 problem, as they are set not to face the player when talked to, as they don't have any other frames of animation. Dos v2 doesn't change their facing, so you found a brand new glitch in winv2! Thanks.

Your complaints all basically stem from the fact that the end of the game is a bit half-assed. I didn't have the time or resources any more to finish the game, hence the placeholder art. ALL the art cels from the ending of the game were placeholders. And the level of difficulty of the game does stem from the fact that I did omit more monster fights here and there to ease development. I didn't think the final boss fights were too easy, but then again it seems other players (besides me) leveled up a lot more than I did by the end. I guess that's a side product of the difficult beginning fights- maybe I knew how to get by them without levelling too much :).

Anyway, thanks a lot - I hope the others 'fix' their reviews based on bugs being fixed. An hour from now, bug-free versions of Diver Down will be on the website (except for the arena guard thing).
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[js71]

brain dead too tired to tak norml .
blck puzl n mins tooo hard
kiled my hed.
you make eez or i kil yoo
oky ?
...
All joking aside though, it is ridiculously hard. Especially for a first block puzzle. As opposed to saying things like "The tools to succeed are there" or "It's possible, it might just take awhile"- Get off your arse and make it bareable, ya bum! ;)
Or at least write a solution for people like us who can't figure it out.

[grenideer]

heh heh, do the greens first, man!

you know, the funny thing is, when I made the puzzle I thought it was way too hard. Everybody who's played it told me it wasn't that bad, or (more commonly) passed it by without mentioning it to me at all. So despite my fears I figured it wasn't way too hard at all.

You're the first to tell me that you're stuck on it. Thing is, the solution isn't an easy one to explain. I wouldn't know what to say. It's not that bad- yer prolly just having a weird day :).
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[js71]

Well 'everyone else' must have an iq of like 800,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000... etc.
Seriously.
I'm so F*CKING pissed off at this puzzle it's not even FUNNY.
I spend TWO BLOODY HOURS trying to solve it, and realizing that it's literally impossible to push a block up the ramp. Seriously. By all means there IS no means you can do it.
Come on, how long did it take you to solve your own puzzle? Overlooking the fact that you can't move the blocks up the ramp, of course!
>.<

[Rainer Deyke]

You have to use the blocks to build bridges that you can walk on. You need the patched version of the game. The green blocks go in the top gap and the right gap; the blue blocks go in the bottom two gaps. Did any of that help?

I seriously didn't have any trouble with the block puzzle once I got the game patched. The puzzle with the buttons and the rotating bridges, on the other hand, took some time for me to figure out.

[UscGradEray]

Both the bridge puzzle and the colored-block puzzle took me some time and several restarts (and I'm still not sure how I solved the bridges), but I didn't think they were too difficult.

The puzzle I couldn't solve was where the lady selling desert masks is supposed to be. After looking everywhere in town several times (or at least, I thought it was everywhere) and everywhere in the Freelands twice, I still didn't find her. I ended up just using a lot of yellow potions, some white potions, and Drek's bandage skill to force my way through the desert.
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I've decided not to make a signature.

[grenideer]

heh heh, there are quite a FEW secrets in the game people haven't found yet. Not near as many as I had plans for (or even laid the groundwork for). For the desert mask lady, think about what was strange about Lumen and apply that to the Trade Outpost.

I was supposed to have a casino minigame there too where Drek could gamble for chitiks and win items, but it never made it in :(.
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[darkpagan]

Grenideer, why didn't you beta-test this before releasing it?
Seriously I hope you're working on fixed version with balanced battles and sensible puzzles. Because besides the crazy early battles the game is a masterpiece, especially the story and those first class cut-scenes. The game's plot, atmosphere, carachters and art are all so brilliant and unique. It's just a shame the game was released unfinished.
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Smoke me a kipper, I'll be back for breakfast.

[grenideer]

It IS tested now.
Some people HAVE complained about battles being too hard. They are difficult in the beginning when you're alone. This is especially true in Shin Cave, or the Weeping Sands. But plenty of players have told me they loved the challenging battles, or that they weren't so hard, and I've always stuck by my guns that with proper planning (potions, etc.) you can get by just fine. Defending in battle restores spirit, which you can heal with. It's not really that bad.

What do you mean sensible puzzles, though? So far I've gotten a single complaint that the block puzzle was too hard. I've had a few mentions about the bird in Emil. I can't think of anything else. I'd love to hear more input.

Thanks for the praise, though. I did work hard making a believable plot and characters with realistic motives. I think the atmosphere came out great except where too much of my programmer art comes through.

Diver Down is only unfinished in a few ways. Given more time, I would've made a longer, more involved ending. The actual ending scene itself would've been improved. And of course, the art cels near the ending (like the placeholders) would've been finished. But as a game it is complete and provides a fun experience from start to finish, answers the questions it needs to, and doesn't leave anybody hanging. It's a complete game in my eyes and isn't being worked on anymore. Not that I didn't enjoy developing it for 5 long years, but I don't have time to work on it anymore and I have to move on with things.
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