The Dink Network

Lost Shoes (The)

Explanation please.
December 8th, 2020
v1.00
Score : 4.9 tolerable
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yeoldetoast
Peasant They/Them Australia
LOOK UPON MY DEFORMED FACE! 
Every once in a while, a new D-mod author appears, releases something, and then departs forever. In this case it was VB, a friend of the user iplaydink, whose debut is a small tale about retrieving shoes. Unfortunately VB took off right after introducing himself and then releasing this D-mod meaning that various major problems were never addressed.

The most obvious one is right at the end when you're supposed to win. Unfortunately the author placed a "say_stop" command inside the die() procedure which any seasoned D-mod author will know means that the procedure abruptly terminates and thus does nothing after that line. Thankfully in this case, it's right at the very end before the game is about to quit meaning that you don't actually end up missing anything.

The other major bug is a real doozy however. Upon returning from an optional secret area, one is transported back to the start of the game. This would be fine, except for the fact that the scripts are written in a certain way which means that by the time you're improperly warped to the opening screen, the variables have changed and thus nobody is able to say or do anything meaning you're forced to start all over.

Otherwise, when it was released, I remember quite enjoying "The Lost Shoes" for its simple and straightforward plot. It also has some custom graphics in the form of a painting hanging upon a wall, as well as a floor mat. Unfortunately none of these manage to redeem it and instead the real loss isn't the shoes of the man in the house, but your sanity as you attempt to play it and discover all the secrets.
February 12th, 2010
v1.00
Score : 2.5 horrible
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Skorn
Peasant He/Him
I Bring Tidings of Spam 
First off, I would like to note that, i forgot to review sound in my last review. I mean, what is a game without, good music and sounds to lighten up the mood? Anyways, with that out of the way, let's review, the Lost Shoes by VB.
Story
Very original story with no character development or plot twists. the story is that Dink randomly walks into some guy's house, and the guy there tells Dink that a tree might know where his shoes are. Dink doesn't question this awkward quest, and simply walks out. The tree tells him, that a wizard took the tree, and somehow warps him to where the wizard is. The wizard has corpses lying around. Dink also doesn't question why there are so many corpses. the wizard tells him he gave the shoes to a cute bonca, and sends him to Bonca-land, where a purple bonca tells Dink that they're under attack by pill bugs (Because pill bugs are just powerful enough to take on a bunch of boncas). Your job is to kill the pill bugs and get the shoes and take them back to the random person.
2/10
Sound
the music is boring and repetitive and never sets the mood for what is going on. All the original sounds are still there though; the punching the pill bug sound, etc. The music did sound very good though.
4/10
Mapping and Scripting
The Mapping: Every map was dull and lifeless, and rather empty. The game's map overall was very small with no freedom to explore.
The Scripting: This is my biggest gripe with this game. No opening, no ending, lots of spelling mistakes, and no capitalization. After defeating the final boss, everything freezes, and nothing happens. You just have to close the game manually which is really a pain to do with Vista. Lots of hardness errors, too, especially in Bonca-land, where you can walk all over the buildings.
1/10
Overall and Final Comments
Overall, I think this could have been a decent game, if it was a bit bigger, more challenging and with better maps and fixed spelling mistakes. There could have been a nice ending, like Dink says something like, "Why did he attack me?", or anything rather then saying he has three pairs of shoes, even though he technically only has two, and then just freezing.