[Kde-games-devel] Just when you thought you were safe ...

[Ian Wadham]

Hi everybody,

Just when you thought it was all going nicely with KGoldrunner ...
just when you expert players thought you had conquered every
level ... just when you have picked up all the gold and are ready
to go to the next level ... "State of Terror" strikes at your heart ... :-(

"State of Terror" is a new KGoldrunner game I have just checked
in, both in the KDE4 trunk and the KDE3.5 branch.  It is
fifteen levels of fiendish complexity and diabolical ingenuity,
contributed by Stuart Popejoy, a musician from New York City.
It uses the less well-known KGoldrunner rules.  The enemies run
faster than in the Traditional rules and have a more aggressive
search strategy ... and Stuart has included *puzzles* for you to
solve ... on the run !!! Heh, heh, heh ... ;-)

Before he sent me these levels, I thought I was quite a good player,
but I have had to use "Settings->Beginner Speed" to have any hope
of completing the last few levels.  For me they are like Mt. Everest.
Maybe I will never climb it, but it is good to know that it is there
and that some people can ... :-)

If you want to try out "State of Terror", check the section in
the KGoldrunner Handbook on the differences in the rules and
maybe use some of the "KGoldrunner" game levels as a warmup.
One other thing ... Stuart's levels make extensive use of a quirk
in the game engine (see "Vengeance of Peter W", level 1,
"Impossible?"). You can dig while you are falling.

When Stuart sent me his first draft of these levels I expressed some
reservations about the name "State of Terror", but it is nothing to do
with the "war on terror" or any of its ramifications.  Here's what he said:

   "Terror" is more in reference to horror movies, there was no
    political reference. A running theme of the levels is once you've
    got all the gold, now you're REALLY in trouble. "Just when you
    thought you were safe ..." (There are enemies everywhere! Blue
    meanies! :) ) If anything the horrific/ridiculous "war on terror" is
    more reason than ever to use it (the title) just to jostle people up.
    But that's just my US$.02.

Thank you, Stuart, for a truly excellent contribution to KDE Games.
Bravo !!! Encore !!! Encore !!!

All the best, Ian W.