Some bugs in Sorcerer's Lair

[jruderman]

I've been playing Sorcerer's Lair on my iPhone 4 and loving 98% of it.

Bugs:

1. Popup achievements (e.g. for the super-combo) are reset if I force-quit the app. In case it matters, I am not using openfeint and I think I'm not using apple game center.

2. If I lose the ball right after angering the tree, the tree can become stuck blocking the citadel ramp.

3. There is a typo (an extra exclamation mark) in the table guide "Bones" section.

4. After "Bones", the bumpers remain hyperactive, making the game significantly harder.

5. The ball can get stuck between the ghost ramp and the gargoyle (after flying off the ghost ramp?).

6. If I pause at the beginning of "Behind the Walls" and resume, the girl's question and boy's answer are heard at the same time.

Inconsistencies:

7. The "Sorcerer's pedestal" lock sequence cannot be skipped by pressing both flippers. (This is inconsistent with the "gargoyle's door" lock sequence, which can be skipped.)

8. After "Midnight Madness", the auto launch does not activate the ball save. (This is inconsistent with the auto launches from locking balls, and especially dangerous because it follows multiball.)

9. "Behind the walls" is so easy (once you've figured it out) that it is boring. "Bones" is way too hard. It would improve the game, without affecting its overall difficulty, to balance these two mini-games.

10. With the sound off, it's easy to miss the tree getting angry.

[Solitude]

I've been playing Sorcerer's Lair on my iPhone 4 and loving 98% of it.

Bugs:

1. Popup achievements (e.g. for the super-combo) are reset if I force-quit the app. In case it matters, I am not using openfeint and I think I'm not using apple game center.

2. If I lose the ball right after angering the tree, the tree can become stuck blocking the citadel ramp.

3. There is a typo (an extra exclamation mark) in the table guide "Bones" section.

4. After "Bones", the bumpers remain hyperactive, making the game significantly harder.

5. The ball can get stuck between the ghost ramp and the gargoyle (after flying off the ghost ramp?).

6. If I pause at the beginning of "Behind the Walls" and resume, the girl's question and boy's answer are heard at the same time.

Inconsistencies:

7. The "Sorcerer's pedestal" lock sequence cannot be skipped by pressing both flippers. (This is inconsistent with the "gargoyle's door" lock sequence, which can be skipped.)

8. After "Midnight Madness", the auto launch does not activate the ball save. (This is inconsistent with the auto launches from locking balls, and especially dangerous because it follows multiball.)

9. "Behind the walls" is so easy (once you've figured it out) that it is boring. "Bones" is way too hard. It would improve the game, without affecting its overall difficulty, to balance these two mini-games.

10. With the sound off, it's easy to miss the tree getting angry.

Thanks for the reports!! Most of those are indeed bugs (or at least, not optimal design), but a couple of them are working as intended:
1. The achievements are actually part of OpenFeint and GameCenter.
7. This is because the sequence is a table animation, rather than just a DMD sequence.

[Nautilus the 1st]

Well, the op had more succes in getting the attention of zen pinball than me so far with the cap and lair bugs.

[Solitude]

Well, the op had more succes in getting the attention of zen pinball than me so far with the cap and lair bugs.

We log all the bugs reported here, but I don't always post in response. You can be sure that if you post it, it gets sent to the development team.

[jonreed]

one critique of Sorcerer's Lair - design bug of sorts?

Hey I am a HUGE fan....I play the game on an Android Samsung Galaxy Note tablet.

Have played for many many hours and just can't seem to stop....so well designed!

Anyhow with any game there are always things you might like better or not.

But as far as I can tell there is only one thing I might call a bug. I picked this thread to reply to since it mentions it also.

The "Bones" challenge - on this device it's basically impossible. I have never succeeded with it.

I found this video of the challenge at the 5:50 mark....on a different operating system I am sure.

In that video, the challenge is completed with just a few "hits" on the right ramp.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3KPQ0Ef_ef0

My version is different, I have hit that ramp a number of times, often in combo with the middle ramp, never any result.

I think the problem may be that on my game, the spinner simply doesn't go around enough - certainly not nearly as much as on the that video demo above.

Anyhow, doubt anything can be done but wanted to mention it.

Anything else I mentioned would just be a nit pick, overall it may be the best pinball game I have ever played.

The only thing that bugs me, and this is a nitpick not a bug, is that I wish the sorcerer said more things than "leaving so soon?" when you lose a ball. When you're on a roll and your ball lasts 30 minutes or so, it's kind of a weird thing for him to say. Overall you have multiple phrases for many key aspects of the game which is awesome.

That's it. 9.5 out of 10.

As for Bones, I simply stopped playing it, just hold the ball till the timer expires, no point in risking a ball for it. Sometimes i hit flippers to pick up points...

Thanks for listening

[shogun00]

The "Bones" challenge - on this device it's basically impossible. I have never succeeded with it.

I found this video of the challenge at the 5:50 mark....on a different operating system I am sure.

In that video, the challenge is completed with just a few "hits" on the right ramp.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3KPQ0Ef_ef0

My version is different, I have hit that ramp a number of times, often in combo with the middle ramp, never any result.

I think the problem may be that on my game, the spinner simply doesn't go around enough - certainly not nearly as much as on the that video demo above.

Ah yes! This is the old PS3 version of the table on Zen Pinball 1. The table has been upgraded since then though. On the new version in Zen Pinball 2, the spinner behaves the same way that you mentioned above. It was intentional, since that's how a spinner behaves in a real pinball machine.

I have completed the mission a couple times with the new spinner physics, but it is much harder compared to the ZP1 version.

Once the spinner is spinning, it won't register another ball hit until it settles down.

I just want to point out that there are two spinners on the table (one in the center lane and one in the right orbit). The trick is to alternate between the two spinners. This gives the other spinner some time to settle down. Not to mention, hitting the center lane will make the ball go the opposite way into the right orbit spinner, which slows it down even faster.

[zaphod77]

FOr sorcerer lock, the animation WILL speed up if you hold both flippers. not a bug.

And yeah, bones mode is impossible. I have no quarrel with the spinners, but i just don't get enough bumper action. And a slowly spinning spinner tends to ignore balls going through it, which causes even more trouble.