The Dink Network

I'll be honest and say that I downloaded this D-mod exclusively because of the two screenshots up there. I wasn't expecting much in the gameplay department, and as it turned out, there wasn't much there. That isn't to say that Elves of Rathor has nothing to offer, however.

Pros:

- Nice graphics, including some new ones. (There were some nice ones that had a hand-drawn look about them and their overall feel fitted in well. I especially liked the igloo and the new monster.)
- Great humor. (Sending Dink to Canada was nice, and the whole thing had a welcome "snappish" feel to it.)
- Excellent sound. (The music was great and the sound effects were even better. I especially liked the moose.)

Cons:
- It was too short, but I suppose that's almost a compliment. I wanted more.
- The graphics are a mixed blessing. While I appreciated them, I can see how some others wouldn't like them.
- The gameplay is the same. I look at this as a humorously enjoyable time-killer. Someone expecting to have something scripted to actually DO in the d-mod would be disappointed.
- There wasn't really a story to speak of. You need to save a king's daughter. Meh.

A good dmod with a severe lack of polish.

Style: 8
Some hardness bugs, and less than perfect mapping. The graphics are clipartish, but mostly good. The beaver and moose especially looked nice. Many, many objects are scripted, which is a definite plus. Somehow the interaction with people seemed... off, though. I didn't sense much personality from Dink or the people he talks to. The music was somewhat folkish, but it fit the premise, and the new(?) sounds were excellent. On the whole, the game felt exceedingly cool.

Gameplay: 6
Some of the depthdots for the new enemies were wrong, which is quite annoying, though hopefully this will get fixed. The gameplay was the usual, although some more direction might have been nice.

Story: 9
The premise is actually quite good. Dink gets sent to Canada, where he has to save the princess. Only in this version of Canada, there are elves and demons and a monarchy. Now there is a thought! Us new worlders tend to see the medievil European "mythology", with dragons and such, as being set in (medievil) Europe. American mythology, besides what little has trickled down from the Native Americans, takes a more modern setting-- Rip Van Winkle, for example-- and is less outrageous. The idea of using European magic in a new world setting strikes me as a good one (I don't know how "European" elves are, but I never imagined them roaming the forests of Canada!) On the other hand, the specifics of the set up (i.e., why Dink is in Canada) are bad.

Overall: 7.9
Probably worth the download, for a quick shot of fun, and a few laughs at the expense of those crazy Canadians. An extra .2 in anticipation of fixes.

Graphics: Hmm... yeah well... there were new graphics... There were only 2new graphics that could actually move.. And I don't know where their "middle" is as you had to hit the demon a few inches lower than he actually was standing... Funny beaver graphics and some strange looking other graphics. And, suddenly.. I walk from snow...into summer looking grass... Kinda funny how that was possible... I guess a 6,5 out of 10.

Story: The story... The "author" sends you away on a adventure.. The adventure is a "safe the prinsess" story. Kind of funny who did it actually.. Ah well, find out yourself.. 6 out of 10.

Gameplay: Well, first of all, the game is very easy. You get a lot of easy opponents at a fast rate of expierence. So you level up very fast. You also get a heck of a lot potions on your journey which makes you almost invincible. Then, to finish it, you also get a Big Red Heart after every encounter with a demon... I don't think many people will have any problems finishing this. There were a lot of bugs too, but I'll name them later on...
4 out of 10.

Midi's: Hmm... One new midi I believe?? A few sounds for the beavers but that's about it... 4 out of 10

Likes: It's funny to kill the beavers. Also funny to be überstrong for once 4 out of 10

Dislikes: Yeah well... The story is pretty lame actually.. Bit of fun though. But there were a lot of bugs allowing me things that shouldn't be allowed I think. There are millions of hardness errors. You can walk through walls, walk over oceans, and I walked, from the hermits house, east the whole time allowing me to walk over all the trees till the end coming on a place I shouldn't come yet.. Underneath that elve city.. You should also check your depth dots of your houses a bit as when you walk up north dink disappears but when you walk south dink appears to be able to stand on the wall... And as I mentioned before, I had to hit underneath the demons to hit them, as well as talking to the little childrens... Also, the game doesn't finish... Once you finished the game I think you should just add a little
kill_game();
to the script and the game will automatic stop. This way you won't get the last discussion again and again. Dislikes are a lot of weidger... 2 out of 10.

OVERALL SCORE: 4.4, let's make it a 5,5 as it is your first dmod. Try to fix those errors/bugs up a bit, and I think it should really be a 5,5 or 6. But I guess this will just be a dmod to play if you have 20spare minutes left.

For a first d-mod, this shows a lot of promise. Most of the new graphics aren't too great, and look a bit out of place, but the beavers really are cool! You gotta love those beavers.

The story doesn't take itself too seriously, having the author send Dink on the quest, promising him a kiss if he completes it. And with a promise like that, you know Dink won't fail! And he won't because there are many potions littered about the map. They are fairly intelligently placed though, and you won't get bored searching for them.

Quite a few problems hold the d-mod back, with many depth and hardness issues (though not so many as to render the game unplayable).

With a bit of work, and a little more care taken over the map and encounters, Carrie could yet supply the community with a very good d-mod in the future.

Elves of Rathor v1.2 by Carrie

Pros: Lots of save bots, the usual monsters to kill, fairly easy map for getting around. I personally had a chuckle of the *location” New monster to kill. Got to wander about, leveling up collecting money, golden and red hearts. I always enjoy the wandering part, which means I don’t have to do anything in any particular order. Didn’t hear any music (my speakers) so can’t comment on that. The author herself appears in the dmod as well as some “native animals”. Lots of trees to burn, with some new speech added.

Cons: Walked into a few tree, but was able to walk out. The ending didn’t shut down, so I had to close it manually. I guess I leveled up so much the end monsters were very easy to kill.

Overall: A good dmod for the author’s first attempt. I look forward to more of her dmods.