The Dink Network

Cloud Castle

CC_aReason Dink lives on clouds CC_nieghbors
June 8th, 2002
v1.1
Score : 8.0 good
fish.gif
Binirit
Peasant She/Her
 
Cloud Castle is a short D-mod about Dink getting his own estate. But people on his estate are kidnapped and Dink has to save them.

Storyline and map: It is a well worked out D-mod, both in storyline and map. The D-mod is small in map-size, but that prevents you from walking through endless screens without anything on it and with nothing to do but wander - and wonder what to do next.

Graphics: The cloudtiles are well done. The titlescreen is quite sober in that way that it gives you the perfect impression and tells you all you need to know without using any superfluous frills.

Music: Not that bad, but not that good either. The music around Dink his house is really annoying and was getting on my nerves after a while. In general, the music fits the situation, but is not outstanding.

Bugs: I didn't encounter any crash- or other bugs. There are some small hardness errors with trees and a house you can walk over. When inside a couple of houses you can see tiles behind the walls showing some trees that are supposed to be black.

Good: It is original on several points:
1. The authors used the graphics in a new way. For example: the kitchen inside the Cloud Castle reminds me of a shoarma-restaurant because the 'old' graphics are used in a new way.
2. When inside a house, you can see the door leading outside. The door could be a bit bigger, as to fill the dooropening, but putting a door inside is in my opinion quite logical - although nobody has ever done that before (as far as I know) - because when you are inside a house you will ofcourse see the frontdoor.
3. When you talk to people, you get a description of what they look like, what kind of mood they are in and what they are doing. Because there are not that many people-graphics to choose from to show differences, that adds a personal touch.
4. There are some intermezzo's; set up in short movie-like screens. One of them is a flashback in which is explained how Dink got the estate. Usually you are told at the beginning of the D-mod what happened before the games begins: this is a nice change. At the beginning of this D-mod there is a dream that doesn't explain anything, so the flashback is really good. The dream itself is also good because it is really how you dream: in short flashes, changing rapidly.
5. You can get healed by resting: that reminds me of the RPG Quest for Glory in which the hero can't go on for ever, but needs a nap now and then too. It's a nice change to do that instead of going to a healer, fountain or such.

There is a savebot right at the startscreen which I particullary like, because the first thing I want to do once the game has started is to save.
The end is nice too. It is not just 'kill the End Boss and that's it', but there is a nice - and funny - ending.

Not so good: There are not much potions to be found, so you merely have to level up. Since there aren't that many baddies, that is quite timeconsuming, especially since the foes in the castle are enormously strong, in large numbers and there are screenlocks with them and the End Boss is extremely strong.
Gold is not found easily. You don't need that much for necessary items, but it is quite handy to buy healing potions. You don't get that many goldhearts either, so since your lifepoints aren't that many, once again you have to settle with levels.
Once you enter the fairy circle there is no way back. I think there should be a way back in case you aren't strong enough yet (and forgot to save before entering!).
There could be a healing heart just before the End Boss. And placing a savebot in a room with baddies, right before the End Boss, is not really handy.

Remark: Although the authors claim that loads of things have scripts, there aren't that many. The ones that are there, are for getting information on how to proceed: those are very well indeed.

Overall: I really enjoyed playing Cloud Castle. It has some original features, but it also shows that you can do new things with old stuff. Cloud Castle is a fine example of the fact that new graphics aren't necessary to make an entertaining D-mod.

Fit for: If you're looking for a huge map and you like to wander and wonder endlessly than this D-mod is not the one for you. But if you want to play a rather straight-forward D-mod with some nice suprises in it, it is certainly worth the download.