Love the game. A wonderful effort on all concerned. The 'difficulty' question in an earlier strand could only have come from a contemporary games player. Anyone brought up playing the Spectrum, where the games started at 'hard' and got more difficult from there, wouldn't have a problem with it. Anyway I wanted to jot down some tips regarding the objects in the game. So something of a SPOILER ALERT is needed. I have not worked what all the objects do, so please others contribute:
1. Lightning rod - makes you quicker for a timed period
2. Princess's'ring - allows you to crash through mirrors
3. Skeleton key (wonderful idea) which allows you to open 10 doors without the coloured key for that door. Use wisely
4. Money bag (and a few others) can be dropped to bribe the hunchback and move him away from the blue door behind him
5. Palette icon - unlocks one of the different game palettes which can be accessed from main menu
6. Hourglass - not exactly sure, but I think it stops your energy depleting for a set time
7. Leaf - allows you to get the red key in the room with the spirit. Drop leaf near the creature and he moves away from guarding the leaf so you can nab the red key.
Objects which I think have a function (beyond bribing the hunchback) but I have not worked out: evil eye, Melkhior's spare wand, glowing coin. large diamond.
General tips:
- Find the green key and unlock the green door on the floor you start, which leads the way to a specific trap door which drops onto the ground floor (a large room with six locked golden doors). You can only access this by dropping in (unless you have the skeleton key) and you acquire the gold key here. This opens the game up.
- Don't drop into the caverns unless you have the blue (or skeleton key) to get back out
- For the second mission, you need the gold key to unlock the pentagram room. The symbols are in chests and most are on the lower floors.
- Eat all food in rooms, because it almost always regenerates.
- Memories the floors
There was an urban myth which floated around (and I believed) linked to the original Atic Atac that some of the extra objects can be joined together to create a creature. I wonder if something like this has been sneaked into MM. Also, some of the more elaborate rooms - such as the giant library - may have another function, but I haven't found one. I know in Richard's original Atic Atac remake he added some rooms to the attic (a kind of long set of passages), so I wonder if there might be a secret room or two in this game.
I have managed to solve three of the four missions. The final one is really hard due to having to access rooms which are behind several colours of different doors. I have found Melchior's room (above the attic) but cannot find the labyrinth room where I am supposed to fill the first phial. I presume it is one of the rooms in the labyrinth section on the first floor, but has anyone found it?
Finally, huge thanks again to Richard - who has been a champion of Spectrum games since the early days of the internet - and his team. This is the best remake/reimagining of a Spectrum game yet created. If only he would turn his attention to delivering a decent remake of Sabre Wulf, but that's another story....