The Dink Network

Helpin' the Ol' Duck Farmer

Description
This is my First Dmod Ever.
Dink has signed up in the Hero Unemployment Bureau because he was bored. His first task is to help a Duck farmer defeat some monsters.
Released:March 26th, 2006
File Size:150.26 KB
Downloads:129
Release Notes:v3.0
Play:Play this D-Mod right now in your web browser! (More Info)
 
July 20th, 2005
v3.0
Score : 5.4 fair
duck.gif
Tal
Noble He/Him United States
Super Sexy Tal Pal 
When I first tried Helpin' the Ol' Duck Farmer a few weeks ago, when its most recent version was 2.0, I was not satisfied with it at all. The pillbugs in the D-Mod were far too numerous for my liking, and in addition, their difficulty rose a bit too quickly. (Or at least, this is how I seem to remember it.) Aggravated, I gave up on the D-Mod about halfway through it. Upon the third release of the D-Mod, though, I decided to give it another chance. While I was able to play through it completely this time around, as the difficulty seems to have been balanced out more this time, I was still incredibly displeased.

As you go through the beginning of the D-Mod, it seems as though it could be designed reasonably well. The trees on the first screen are slightly humorous, speaking to you if you hit them or interact with them otherwise. You then encounter the duck farmer a few screens away, who asks that you defeat the mother pillbug in exchange for a reasonable amount of gold. It sounds fair enough, you may think; perhaps there will be some interesting encounters along the way...

Well, friends, I've got news for you: there aren't any. There's a woman who'll give you fireball magic if you possess enough Magic points, but achieving the number she wants is incredibly time-consuming and dull if you don't find the megapotions and such hiding around; there's a lumberjack who serves no purpose whatsoever; and there's a fellow near the end of the game that's only slightly more interesting and worthwhile than the lumberjack. All the other screens between, of which there are around 40, are filled with pillbugs. Lots and lots of pillbugs. You may not initially find this bothersome, but after about 30 minutes - if not sooner - you will grow exceedingly tired of the same old thing. By the time I got into the caves, even, I just stopped fighting pillbugs altogether; the experience the most difficult ones give you is not worth the length of time it takes to defeat them. As for the boss battle - oh, the boss battle! It's somewhat creative, I'll give it that much credit, but out of the 45 minutes or so I played the game, I'd swear at least a quarter of that time was spent on the boss! It was far too time consuming and aggravating to be hailed as a good battle at all.

There isn't much else to say about the D-Mod, really. There's nothing new to the sounds or graphics, but for the most part the implementations are done well. There are also very few bugs in the game (outside of the pillbug variety): I only noticed maybe an object or two lacking hardness, a line appearing over the wrong character, and maybe other miniscule mistakes.

As much as it pains me to say this, I can't recommend this D-Mod to anyone, except maybe those of you who actually enjoy fighting gobs of the same enemy over and over again. I'd also like to add that I usually try not to read any other user reviews prior to reviewing a D-Mod, but I did notice some of the scores this is receiving - I hate to sound too harsh, but I don't see how people can praise this so much. Regardless, from playing this, I can tell that DaVince has the capability to make a polished, enjoyable D-Mod. If he could bring some variety to the table too, then perhaps we'd have something worthwhile.