The Dink Network

"A short romp - that sorta turns into a quest. Dink is summoned by King Daniel to find out why the world is becoming a desert. This DMOD started out as being a project I wanted to spend only 24 hours on. Basically start it one night and have it finished the next. I didn't make it. Bugs (hopefully all the really nasty ones are killed now) and the desire to add new graphics (so shoot me, I can't help myself) meant it took just over 72 hours. Mind you this was not non-stop."

*Best download of june 2002*

One of the best dmod authors, SimonK, finally decided to release something new for the hungry Dinkers.

Unlike his famous SOB, TCS is a short dmod. It starts with a normal "king quest": Dink is summoned by King Daniel to find out why the world is becoming a desert...

Not surprisingly, the strongest part of this dmod came from the graphics. Although many of the "new" graphics and tiles came from SOB, it suits the game quite well. As a romp, the appealing of this dmod is excellent. There are quite a lot of secrets and bonus in such a small dmod. You can become very strong if you can find all secrets. The new sound and midi are fine, although sometimes they are not very pleasant. The dogfight of the final "boss" is great although currently there would be a bug that might prevent players from killing the boss too early.

Unfortunately, the good things stop here. Although it is a romp, I expect a better concept or plot behind those amazing graphics. It is fine to me about the blocking rock or the puzzle, which is not that intriguing though. I like the twist how you get the answer from the wizard. But other than that, all you need to do is to try to find enough portions and secrets to get you stronger. And to kill enough (more than once) badies to get enough gold to buy better weapon. This reminds me the story 2 of SOB which many people didn't enjoy it.

The knights would be too powerful if you hit them with a light sword, but if you initiate the fight with your fist or a throwing weapon, they become a little too easy to stand up against light sword or a throwing hammer especially if you have the herb boot.

If you just want to beat this game quick, all you need to do is to try to find the bonus and run past almost every enemy unless the screen is locked. You should be good enough without doing anything else to beat the final boss.

Ending animation is funny but seems to be a little too long. I think it is just a personal taste.

A few bugs can be found in this version. I just don't know if Simon is going to add a lot of more things in this dmod. One of the best things about SOB, or maybe the best in my opinion, is the richness of the stories. Maybe I hold a little bit higher standard for the author of SOB, but I expect more plot in his work even if it was supposed to be a 24-hour project.