Journey to Rooted Hold

Journey to Rooted Hold

Title screen
Developer(s) Caravel Games
Publisher(s) Caravel Games
Designer(s) Erik Hermansen
Platform(s) PC - Windows,

Linux, Mac OS X

Release date(s) 2005
Genre(s) Puzzle
Mode(s) Single-player, Editor
Distribution CD, Download

Journey to Rooted Hold is the second computer puzzle game in Deadly Rooms of Death series published by Caravel Games. It was released on April 1, 2005 for Windows. The Linux port was developed simultaneously with the Windows port and was released on April 2.

Also called DROD 2.0, the game includes many new additions and improvements, such as an expanded plot complete with in-game dialogue, higher resolution graphics; better user interfaces in both the editor and in game; new monsters and puzzle elements; additional customizability for holds, such as including custom images and sound; a new scripting system; and connectivity to an online DROD database.

Plot

After the conclusion of the original DROD, Beethro opened up a restaurant primarily serving roach meat. He made a modest living and decided to retire from smitemastery, however Dugan sent him a letter accusing him of seeding and Beethro knows that this is a result of the unopenable door on level 10. Beethro goes to Mobley, a DAA member and a resident of Dugandy. After an argument Mobley gives Beethro a portable orb to open the door. Meanwhile, Beethro's sister Vonnifa is having trouble with her son Halph, Beethro's nephew. Halph wants to become a smiter and Vonnifa requests that Beethro takes him to Dugan's dungeon to discourage him.

Beethro and Halph arrive in Dugan's 10th level which has suffered a recent cave-in. Halph wanders off with a goblin and Beethro has no choice but to follow him deeper into the secret passage behind the door. Beethro soon finds Halph and, with his help, uncovers an underground bureaucracy. The desk clerk attempts to explain to Beethro about the bureaucracy and why he must leave. However, after being told that explaining why he isn't supposed to go into the Empire's territory would take several months, he stops listening and wanders off deeper into the dungeon. The bureaucracy (known at this point only as "The Rooted Empire") sends 39th Slayer to kill Beethro.

After several close encounters, Beethro decides to escape to Blorn after finding he is in the city's sewer system, however the stairway is blocked by the Slayer. Lacking other options, he instead ventures deeper into The Empire.

Gameplay

Mostly the gameplay remains the same as its prequel. However in some rooms, the puzzles can only be accomplished with Halph's help, by beckoning him to hit orbs to open a corresponding door A new potion allows Beethro to create a decoy that will attract monsters. A few monsters have a slight difference from the ones they look like from the prequel, while others have completely new tactics, movements and weaknesses. The main obstacle that will get in Beethro's way is the 39th Slayer who makes use of a wisp to trail and uses a hook as his weapon. Because the Slayer reacts according to block Beethro's attacks, the Slayer can only be killed by one game element at the game's end. In addition, the game engine offers many new features including an improved level editor, an improved interface, an undo feature and dialogue and voice-acting support along with integrated CaravelNet support.

License

The library which handles connections to the online database (CaravelNet) is closed-source, although the rest of the game remains open-source under the Mozilla Public License and a fully functional executable (minus the CaravelNet connectivity features) can be made with the released source.

Additionally, the artwork and levels composing the new content of Journey to Rooted Hold are sold commercially with rights reserved. Most of the game is still free. The source code, engine and level editor are still open source, a complete set of artwork is distributed with the demo version, and users can still download and build user holds without having to buy the full game.

Critical reception

External links