The Dink Network

Once a Hero

This Dink has never seen a bonca before. From the COTPATD project.
Description
A young man by the name of Dink Smallwood has his life changed forever when he and his friend come across a selection of ancient tomes.

*Best download of december 2005*
Released:December 31st, 2005
File Size:1.33 MB
Downloads:1401
Release Notes:Demo
Play:Play this D-Mod right now in your web browser! (More Info)
 
January 6th, 2006
Demo
Score : 8.6 good
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Bard He/Him Netherlands
I object 
The first thing I thought when playing this demo was: Friends beyond 3? SabreTrout already mentioned that the DMOD was a bit of a 'Legend of Tenjin rip-off', and he’s right. This is seen best in the starting village where you start out pretty much the same way as you did in FB3: Being a simple boy, doing chores for your mother and spending time together with a good friend. But while FB3 was capable to create a gripping story right from the start, this DMOD wasn't. It had a good story, but it simply didn't have the same atmosphere. This was down to two different things. First of all the DMOD didn't have the same pace, this means you where less sucked into the story by continuous development of the story. The second was that the whole thing felt less... mysterious... Discovering the ancient books felt way too... normal. In my opinion the opening village of this DMOD should be made much more mystical, (slightly different use of speech would help) this could be just me though.

Don't let this part of the review stop you from playing this DMOD though. Soon after Dink leaves his home village the atmosphere of this DMOD improves greatly. You travel the world and start to visit new villages. You start getting quests, you get the option to choose a specific class, and then... THE END. This makes this DMOD less good as a DMOD, but it makes it a great teaser.

One of the great teasing elements was the statistics menu. It displays your class and the languages you speak. This sounds like a great idea, you just can't see any of this at work in this DMOD. But it still makes me want to play the full version.

The mapping looked very good as well, and the map seems to have exactly the right size. This provides a very good mix of exploring and questing. The new graphics looked well in place as well(some where slightly too colorful in my opinion, but still). There was a deer that looked good (good death graphics as well, just a pity it's only one sequence). And there’re some spiders (same thing about the death sequences). The new statusbar looked excellent, the contrast with the rest of the screen was a bit too strong, but still it looked well.

The music was fairly good. The only problem was that some of the music in the starting village wasn't quite able to create the great atmosphere that FB3 did have. (Even though I think one of the midis is the same as in FB3.)

There where bugs in this version of the DMOD, I'm sure they will be fixed for the final version, but still it reduces it's playability as a DMOD. There's one serious hardness bug (near the end) that I can remember. I also encountered one freeze bug, and one crashbug (when talking in the bar).

-- Final verdict --

So, when we add things up it's a good teaser with a few shortcomings. I think that it has potential to become a great DMOD. In my opinion the starting village should have a more dramatic feel to it. If the DMOD's novel class system will work out (something you can't properly see in the DMOD) I will be waiting for the final version with high expectation.
TopicPostsPosterLast Post
Stuck5evilgeorgeNovember 22nd 2008, 06:00 AM
freeze7ksdfjvlkdsjfNovember 18th 2008, 03:59 PM
after killing spiders,I am stuck5dinkfan2February 6th 2008, 05:09 AM
Help!2Lizzy BDecember 31st 2005, 03:34 PM
Huh?2LizzyDecember 31st 2005, 03:02 PM