Emerald hack: National History Museum [FINAL RELEASE v1.0.4] - A Pokémon Escape Room

[wiz1989]

CAN YOU MAKE IT OUTTA HERE?

Do you have what it takes to make it past the superior trainers, come up with original strategies and progress through this challenge on your own?
Or will you be beaten countless times, crawling back to the Game Master begging him for hints? 😈

It's all up to you, your skill and determination!
There's no mercy for the unskilled and uninspired!


Updated to version 1.0.4 (probably the final release) - see download link in this post

Hey guys, after having decent success with my first Escape Room hack I am finally able to release my next one, now!
This time the concept is that you are stuck in the National History Museum's third floor and need to make your way out of the building.
All three floors have different exhibition concepts, being:

• 3 - Egyptian Room
• 2 - Jurassic/Fossil Room
• 1 - Ice Age Room

Again, the task is to solve different trainer battles complemented by overworld puzzles, some being kind of obvious and some pretty hidden and tricky. I still have the aspiration that the game is solveable without any save game resets. So once again it features a Game Master NPC that will give required hints and also solves potential soft locks in exchange for in-game time.
In case you are encountering REAL soft locks (not fixable by Game Master) or some unlogical situations please get in touch. General feedback is also always appreciated of course. 😊

Attention: There have been rare cases of the game freezing after defeating Stakataka. It looks like this was due to an edge case in AI switch behavior and should be fixed with version 1.0.3. However, please let me know if this is still happening to you!


NO SPOILERS PLEASE!

Since this is an escape game it means that you can only play it once and spoilers would destroy the fun.
So in case you are replying to this thread please use SPOILER-tags for talking about actual game details.


Download:

https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/karc....0.4.zip?rlkey=qywkm2inoiwi8sj8quvozizbj&dl=1

Important remark: Make sure to only use mGBA emulator for playing the game. Other emulators could result in unexpected issues like screen freezes. Also make sure to run the newest version of mGBA to avoid errors.
For Android users: You can use the mGBA core of RetroArch.


Pictures:








If anyone is interested in speed running this hack, here's my PB. This is definitely beatable, but you have to know your shit. ;-)



Streams & Videos:
Here's a collection of streamers that have already played the game on stream in chronological order.

DISCLAIMER: Don't watch them if you want to play it yourself.

Spoiler:

ackolade - Stream (racing GappyV)

GappyV - Stream (racing ackolade)

Freezai - Video cut

360Chrism - Stream

Patterrz - Video cut

Mudskip - Video cut

- YouTube

Enjoy the videos and music that you love, upload original content and share it all with friends, family and the world on YouTube.

www.youtube.com

AstroidVideos - Stream

- YouTube

Enjoy the videos and music that you love, upload original content and share it all with friends, family and the world on YouTube.

www.youtube.com

Whacko, Drxx, Moxi and Prouty - Charity race stream - HC nuzlocke edition

Twitch

Twitch is the world's leading video platform and community for gamers.

www.twitch.tv

Twitch

Twitch is the world's leading video platform and community for gamers.

www.twitch.tv

Twitch

Twitch is the world's leading video platform and community for gamers.

www.twitch.tv

Credits:

Spoiler:

Everyone involved is also mentioned in the game credits. See below.

BASED ON THE POKEEMERALD DECOMP BY
pret
RH HIDEOUT

CUSTOM ART DESIGN (CHECK THEIR DEVIANTART)
princess-phoenix
Lady Miko
Mudskip
rbrnnova

BETA TESTERS
@alemazzini
jgent
LNRD
Bric13

SPECIAL THANKS
Archie
Team Aqua's Hideout crew
ackolade
@alemazzini
@ShinyDragonHunter
@DizzyEgg

TOOLS USED
Porymap
Poryscript
GraphicsGale
Tilemap Studio

Version history:

Spoiler:

version 1.0.0: first official release

version 1.0.1 fixes:
-removed hidden PC tile
-NPC message updates
-sash farming no longer possible
-slight learnset changes
-added bad luck protection for pickup odds
-added left over deletion after last fight
-icy wind accuracy update
-activation of fossil riddle slightly changed to keep things more structured
-clefairy ability update

version 1.0.2 fixes:
-added running shoes (QoL)
-added running from trainer battles (QoL)
-added instant text option (QoL)
-slightly updated messages
-added item check for held items in pc (was possible to multiply sashes that way)
-no rare held items on wild mons
-updated to correct scream of Archeops (was Archen before)
-further reduced gained XP from defeating Pokemon
-fixed wrong message on blonde guy NPC
-added additional hints for catching the first Pokemon

version 1.0.3 fixes:
-updated tilesets
-corrected mata tile behaviors
-fixed the rarely occuring game freeze glitch (related to AI switching decisions)
-tiny NPC message updates
-updated credits

version 1.0.3.1 fixes:
-slight message updates
-updated bad luck protection to 4 pickup procs max
-fixed a little condition tree issue for the game master NPC

version 1.0.4 fixes:
-fixed inconsistent Archeops moveset
-slight message updates
-removed Strength from Munchlax' learnset to prevent a potential softlock situation

 

[Liehon]

Sweet! Looking forward to trying this one out tonight (and probably over the next couple of days :) )

 

[wiz1989]

Sweet! Looking forward to trying this one out tonight (and probably over the next couple of days :) )

Enjoy! :)

 

[sunstorm1257]

Enjoy! :)

none of munchlax's moves work

 

[wiz1989]

none of munchlax's moves work

What does that mean??

I don't have any issues with any attack moves or so. Are you playing with mGBA?
If not, that might be the reason for any issues.

 

[moosenoz]

Getting soft locked every time I try any battle move with munchlax or running away. Catching the archen also locks me and the battle doesn't end. Using myboy emulator on android.

 

[wiz1989]

Getting soft locked every time I try any battle move with munchlax or running away. Catching the archen also locks me and the battle doesn't end. Using myboy emulator on android.

As I just mentioned above, please only use mGBA emulator. It's unfortunately a known issue for many ROM hacks that I can't do anything about.

 

[moosenoz]

As I just mentioned above, please only use mGBA emulator. It's unfortunately a known issue for many ROM hacks that I can't do anything about.

My bad I didn't see that!

 

[wiz1989]

My bad I didn't see that!

No worries. Please report back if you are still experiencing any issues. Thanks! 🙏

 

[ablahblah987]

This looks interesting. I'll have to check it out when I get a chance.

Not to be rude, but surely this should be called "Natural History" and not "National History"?

 

[wiz1989]

This looks interesting. I'll have to check it out when I get a chance.

Not to be rude, but surely this should be called "Natural History" and not "National History"?

Haha…you might be onto something here. But now the damage is already done lol
No one ever thought about it 😂
But as it's also telling the story of the past people living in that area (Egyptians were clearly residents in that town) it's still valid. 😉

 

[Liehon]

@whizz

Patched a rom and played an hour yesterday. In spoilers will be my experience and some thoughts. Consider them as a single data point as some of my opinions might be due to me missing a clue.

Also, this is just to share player experience with you in case you can do something with it. I'm typing it out now while it's still somewhat fresh in my mind. This is not a request for help. I want to crack this puzzle by the sweat of my brow and the strength of my back.

Spoiler: My experience with bits of Floor 3 and 2

So I approached everything very carefully and tried to interact with everything in the Egyptian Room. Talked to all 5 NPCs, read all the display signs and even interacted with each column, vase and flower pot.

I hope there's no need to approach an item from the correct side. I imagine that if an item is hidden in a vase or flower pot I can access it from any side and don't need to walk around it and click on all sides.

The four pokémon displayed (Persian, Staccata, Regirock and Cofarigus) I imagine are all on the elder couple's team (originally I had no such assumption but when I obtained an Archen and got to see their first two pokémon I imagine the two others are in the back of their party).


In the Fossil Room I accessed the PC and checked all the boxes (thrice). I also found the letter you left us.

I read all the display signs next to each fossil and thought I had interacted sufficiently with each case but later (when I was going over everything in the room again) I kinda stumbled into learning that the display cases are actually alive Pokémon.

Given the contents of your letter I went to check the Kabutops fossil. Went about as well the first time as you would imagine. Tried a couple of times with different opening moves but (obviously) no dice. So I followed some good advice for escape rooms - i.e. if you can't solve a puzzle in the room, odds are you haven't uncovered all information yet - and went to search the room again.

Eventually I stumbled on the lvl12 Archen but I think a clue here might be needed. I had scanned the room paying close attention to the floor tiles to see whether one of them held an arrow shape instead of a square. Having to manually check each box just in case one of them ain't lvl100 is tedious and not very rewarding. (obviously there might be a clue telling to check out the plume fossil but maybe I missed that).

With the Archen I managed to grind a level and have Munchlax learn Covet. At this point I understood the clue in your letter and grabbed the item of Kabutops. Would be nice if this didn't have to be 3 battles of 3-4 turns each. Not sure how to go about it though. Giving the Munchlax enough xp at game start might indicate it needs to grow a level. Making the Archen higher level for more exp might make the battle tricky. All-in-all not game breaking but something that might benefit from some streamlining (unless of course there's something I missed and it is possible to gain the level within one battle).

At this point I didn't want to use the focus sash nor pokéball (oh yeah, I got that one from the PC as well) before checking every other options twice (as I know the penalty that comes with using items at the wrong time). Didn't figure out (yet) what that NPC is about (the one that asks your favorite type). I noticed he sometimes changes his mind on which type he prefers and when he was on grass I thought that was a clue to check out the root fossil (the only grass type fossil pokémon) but later figured that couldn't be it as there's too many water type fossils and no fire type fossils.

I did find hidden switches on the top row of display cases (again stumbled into these by accident). Don't really know whether there's a pattern to them or what triggers them but after a minute or two I got a boulder. The boulder obviously needs to be moved at some point (I expected it needs dropping into the ice puzzle but maybe you have something deviously different in mind). Anyhoo, neither of my current pokémon can learn strength (nor have I the TM) so I'm keeping these requirements in mind for now.

After trying to interact with the reliefs on the wall (and the cofarigus on the other floor) and getting no results I figured it was time to roll the dice and catch the Archen (not sure what happens if it breaks out but got lucky enough on first try).

With two pokémon (and the kid still not wanting to trade) I checked out the double battle. With some luck I managed to covet a lagging tail before whiting out. Tried again and confirmed the Persian ain't holding an item. Grabbed a second lagging tail on third go (just in case there's a moment where we need to sell items). That being said I figure this luck based strat ain't valid and the lagging tail isn't to be used yet.


I noticed that on the Fossil Room an NPC told me I'm ready to battle the trainer blocking the access to the Ice Age room. Got massively bodied by the lvl100 Tyrantrum (obviously). The Focus Sash and tutor with Endeavor make me think I need some FEAR strat to get past the Tyrantrum. Couldn't find a Heart Scale though and it was getting late so I saved and closed for now.

One thing I will test next is whether Archen can outspeed Tyrantrum (I doubt it cause they have similar base stat Speed). Bulbapedia doesn't show Archen (nor Munchlax) learning a priority move so I think it's a dead end. Munchlax is super slow so there's no way I can open with Icy Wind then outspeed with Endeavor on turn 2. I have no way of getting the Lagging Tail on Tyrantrum (nor do I believe I need to use this item as it was obtained with luck).



So yeah, bit stuck for now (which isn't bad per se, escape rooms are allowed to be challenging). Just hoping it isn't a matter of trying Focus Sash + Covet on each of the fossils. Don't see how consuming the Focus Sash in exchange for a new item could help me. Doubt it since you changed Covet's PP to be 1 so I'm guessing it's only intended to be used on Kabutops.




TL;DR: maybe consider a clue for the player to go check out the Plume Fossil instead of having to white out against each fossil till they randomly get to the Plume one (if such a clue ain't present yet). Different floor tile pattern might serve well for a clue.

Welp, that turned out to be longer than I expected. Hope it wasn't too boring to read. Hope it gives you an insight in how one player approaches the puzzles.

I'm enjoying this one greatly. Graphics are nice as well.

Putting everything in a National Museum is a great find. All escape rooms I found so far (SmallAnt's, yours and the FireRed VR Missions (in a way)) are all set outside and don't really have a name.

This one having a theme is a great find.

P.S.: now that I kinda made a logbook for myself I'm gonna use this post to list the puzzles that still need solving (which is another good trick for solving escape rooms)

Spoiler: Irons currently in the fire

• Favorite type NPC: sometimes changes type (grass, fire, water so far) - what is the pattern? what triggers changes?
• Trading kid: Munchlax needs trading at some point (maybe after defeating Tyrantrum?) - probably shows that Munchlax needs no evolving AND that exp gained from Tyrantrum should go to Archen
• Double Battle: could they be defeated after the exp gain from lvl100 Tyrantrum? Unlikely, floor 1 might hold the answer (Regirock is described as being reckless but cannot have this ability (only Clear body and Sturdy; not sure what to do with this info)
• Tyrantrum Battle: NPC says I'm ready but how? Fear Strat (priority move & heart scale would be needed; first is impossible, second not found)? Stall the 5PP of Head Smash + struggle (would need Protect or similar unless the Tyrantrum has only 2PP? (still wouldn't solve the struggle turns).
• First Pokédex display has not been used to solve a puzzle yet
• Pyramid has not been used to solve a puzzle yet
• Objects against wall have not been used to solve a puzzle yet
• Armaldo & Tyrantrum skeletons have not been used to solve a puzzle yet

Not to be rude, but surely this should be called "Natural History" and not "National History"?

Counter points (albeit tongue-in-cheek ones ;) ):
1. It's got Pokémon from the National Dex
2. There's nothing natural about Pokémon

 

[wiz1989]

@whizz

Patched a rom and played an hour yesterday. In spoilers will be my experience and some thoughts. Consider them as a single data point as some of my opinions might be due to me missing a clue.

Also, this is just to share player experience with you in case you can do something with it. I'm typing it out now while it's still somewhat fresh in my mind. This is not a request for help. I want to crack this puzzle by the sweat of my brow and the strength of my back.

Spoiler: My experience with bits of Floor 3 and 2

So I approached everything very carefully and tried to interact with everything in the Egyptian Room. Talked to all 5 NPCs, read all the display signs and even interacted with each column, vase and flower pot.

I hope there's no need to approach an item from the correct side. I imagine that if an item is hidden in a vase or flower pot I can access it from any side and don't need to walk around it and click on all sides.

The four pokémon displayed (Persian, Staccata, Regirock and Cofarigus) I imagine are all on the elder couple's team (originally I had no such assumption but when I obtained an Archen and got to see their first two pokémon I imagine the two others are in the back of their party).


In the Fossil Room I accessed the PC and checked all the boxes (thrice). I also found the letter you left us.

I read all the display signs next to each fossil and thought I had interacted sufficiently with each case but later (when I was going over everything in the room again) I kinda stumbled into learning that the display cases are actually alive Pokémon.

Given the contents of your letter I went to check the Kabutops fossil. Went about as well the first time as you would imagine. Tried a couple of times with different opening moves but (obviously) no dice. So I followed some good advice for escape rooms - i.e. if you can't solve a puzzle in the room, odds are you haven't uncovered all information yet - and went to search the room again.

Eventually I stumbled on the lvl12 Archen but I think a clue here might be needed. I had scanned the room paying close attention to the floor tiles to see whether one of them held an arrow shape instead of a square. Having to manually check each box just in case one of them ain't lvl100 is tedious and not very rewarding. (obviously there might be a clue telling to check out the plume fossil but maybe I missed that).

With the Archen I managed to grind a level and have Munchlax learn Covet. At this point I understood the clue in your letter and grabbed the item of Kabutops. Would be nice if this didn't have to be 3 battles of 3-4 turns each. Not sure how to go about it though. Giving the Munchlax enough xp at game start might indicate it needs to grow a level. Making the Archen higher level for more exp might make the battle tricky. All-in-all not game breaking but something that might benefit from some streamlining (unless of course there's something I missed and it is possible to gain the level within one battle).

At this point I didn't want to use the focus sash nor pokéball (oh yeah, I got that one from the PC as well) before checking every other options twice (as I know the penalty that comes with using items at the wrong time). Didn't figure out (yet) what that NPC is about (the one that asks your favorite type). I noticed he sometimes changes his mind on which type he prefers and when he was on grass I thought that was a clue to check out the root fossil (the only grass type fossil pokémon) but later figured that couldn't be it as there's too many water type fossils and no fire type fossils.

I did find hidden switches on the top row of display cases (again stumbled into these by accident). Don't really know whether there's a pattern to them or what triggers them but after a minute or two I got a boulder. The boulder obviously needs to be moved at some point (I expected it needs dropping into the ice puzzle but maybe you have something deviously different in mind). Anyhoo, neither of my current pokémon can learn strength (nor have I the TM) so I'm keeping these requirements in mind for now.

After trying to interact with the reliefs on the wall (and the cofarigus on the other floor) and getting no results I figured it was time to roll the dice and catch the Archen (not sure what happens if it breaks out but got lucky enough on first try).

With two pokémon (and the kid still not wanting to trade) I checked out the double battle. With some luck I managed to covet a lagging tail before whiting out. Tried again and confirmed the Persian ain't holding an item. Grabbed a second lagging tail on third go (just in case there's a moment where we need to sell items). That being said I figure this luck based strat ain't valid and the lagging tail isn't to be used yet.


I noticed that on the Fossil Room an NPC told me I'm ready to battle the trainer blocking the access to the Ice Age room. Got massively bodied by the lvl100 Tyrantrum (obviously). The Focus Sash and tutor with Endeavor make me think I need some FEAR strat to get past the Tyrantrum. Couldn't find a Heart Scale though and it was getting late so I saved and closed for now.

One thing I will test next is whether Archen can outspeed Tyrantrum (I doubt it cause they have similar base stat Speed). Bulbapedia doesn't show Archen (nor Munchlax) learning a priority move so I think it's a dead end. Munchlax is super slow so there's no way I can open with Icy Wind then outspeed with Endeavor on turn 2. I have no way of getting the Lagging Tail on Tyrantrum (nor do I believe I need to use this item as it was obtained with luck).



So yeah, bit stuck for now (which isn't bad per se, escape rooms are allowed to be challenging). Just hoping it isn't a matter of trying Focus Sash + Covet on each of the fossils. Don't see how consuming the Focus Sash in exchange for a new item could help me. Doubt it since you changed Covet's PP to be 1 so I'm guessing it's only intended to be used on Kabutops.




TL;DR: maybe consider a clue for the player to go check out the Plume Fossil instead of having to white out against each fossil till they randomly get to the Plume one (if such a clue ain't present yet). Different floor tile pattern might serve well for a clue.

Welp, that turned out to be longer than I expected. Hope it wasn't too boring to read. Hope it gives you an insight in how one player approaches the puzzles.

I'm enjoying this one greatly. Graphics are nice as well.

Putting everything in a National Museum is a great find. All escape rooms I found so far (SmallAnt's, yours and the FireRed VR Missions (in a way)) are all set outside and don't really have a name.

This one having a theme is a great find.

P.S.: now that I kinda made a logbook for myself I'm gonna use this post to list the puzzles that still need solving (which is another good trick for solving escape rooms)

Spoiler: Irons currently in the fire

• Favorite type NPC: sometimes changes type (grass, fire, water so far) - what is the pattern? what triggers changes?
• Trading kid: Munchlax needs trading at some point (maybe after defeating Tyrantrum?) - probably shows that Munchlax needs no evolving AND that exp gained from Tyrantrum should go to Archen
• Double Battle: could they be defeated after the exp gain from lvl100 Tyrantrum? Unlikely, floor 1 might hold the answer (Regirock is described as being reckless but cannot have this ability (only Clear body and Sturdy; not sure what to do with this info)
• Tyrantrum Battle: NPC says I'm ready but how? Fear Strat (priority move & heart scale would be needed; first is impossible, second not found)? Stall the 5PP of Head Smash + struggle (would need Protect or similar unless the Tyrantrum has only 2PP? (still wouldn't solve the struggle turns).
• First Pokédex display has not been used to solve a puzzle yet
• Pyramid has not been used to solve a puzzle yet
• Objects against wall have not been used to solve a puzzle yet
• Armaldo & Tyrantrum skeletons have not been used to solve a puzzle yet

Counter points (albeit tongue-in-cheek ones ;) ):
1. It's got Pokémon from the National Dex
2. There's nothing natural about Pokémon

Hey there, thanks so much for this write up! Very happy to hear you like it and are already diving very deeply into it! Also good luck proceeding.

Here's a few comments from my side in SPOILERS.

Spoiler:

-There is no need to interact with objects from different sides. Don't worry.
-I will actually think about an Archen clue, thanks! Maybe just a tiny mention from an NPC or so. I agree that this can be a little tedious even though I think it's kinda fun to explore all of the Pokemon in that room.
-The little grinding is actually required. And not only to gain that one level on Munchlax. Think about it a bit more. I also think there is a Game Master hint for the missing piece as well! All I am gonna say is that the solution is a little RNG depending even though I improved the odds. So I might improve this a little in future.
-Don't worry about using items incorrectly too much this time. I explicitely added the collector NPC in the third floor to handle these situations as I think it's fairer for the player that way. He won't charge you anything for his service.
-solving the switch puzzle by pure brute forcing is kind impressive ngl. You got a tad lucky there. Since it is already solved now: check the PC box wallpapers. There is an NPC in the first floor mentioning the wallpapers so you can figure this out later in the game.
-lagging tail not required, but doesn't hurt either
-fossil room NPC message needs to be improved. In fact, you are NOT ready just yet.

Having said all this: You are definitely on the right track and not too far off. Be more confident in taking chances as they get offered to you. I blocked many potential soft-locks out of the way this time. And if you need further advice go talk to the Game Master. And please let me know in case his hint is not helping you out.

 

[wiz1989]

First stream is under the hood. :)

@acko was racing GappyV tonight with a very close run until the very end!

Check out their streams below:

They did encounter a few minor unintended situations/issues, but nothing that had a real impact on the play-through.
First update 1.0.1 will be out soon to handle it ;-)

 

[Liehon]

Here's a few comments from my side in SPOILERS.


Having said all this: You are definitely on the right track and not too far off. Be more confident in taking chances as they get offered to you. I blocked many potential soft-locks out of the way this time. And if you need further advice go talk to the Game Master. And please let me know in case his hint is not helping you out.

I'll read the spoilers once I've made it to the ground floor :) I'm staying away from the Game Master because this is the first one I haven't watched on Youtube and I really, really want to complete it on my own. It's such a rare treat, usually in an escape room there's at least 2 other people running around. I once did one with a total of 5 people and some puzzles got solved without me even knowing what they were about.

First update 1.0.1 will be out soon to handle it ;-)

Will our save games be compatible with updated versions?

 

[wiz1989]

I'll read the spoilers once I've made it to the ground floor :) I'm staying away from the Game Master because this is the first one I haven't watched on Youtube and I really, really want to complete it on my own. It's such a rare treat, usually in an escape room there's at least 2 other people running around. I once did one with a total of 5 people and some puzzles got solved without me even knowing what they were about.


Will our save games be compatible with updated versions?

save games shouldn't be affected from what I am expecting. If so, I would definitely highlight it in the main post!

 

[Z-nogyroP]

Had a blast with this (as well as your previous one). I don't know what my final playtime really was, because I had to fully restart at one point and I also made liberal use of fast-forward, but I'd guess total maybe two hours? No Game Master advice used. Gonna put some thoughts in spoilers below:

Spoiler:

- First part went very smoothly. How many Focus Sashes are you supposed to be able to get from the Kabutops, though? From my understanding only two are necessary, but I know I got at least three (and it also seems to not be guaranteed after the first one). It also took kind of an embarrassingly long time to get that first Heart Scale from Pickup - maybe bump the rate a bit?

- Also, I know from last time you're in the business of making move changes if they make the puzzles work more effectively, so: please make Icy Wind 100% accurate. I can't explain why but oh my god it missed SO MUCH and it made murdering Archen a pain! This is really minor and not very important but it matters to ME.

- I also brute forced the boulder puzzle. I found the switch way before I found the NPC who talks about wallpapers, and I didn't actually understand what that meant until I saw your hint in this thread after completing it, oops. I certainly assumed it was supposed to be completed now and I was just not understanding the hint (I knew it was related to the type guy, but I couldn't put together how). Maybe only have that puzzle start when you hit a trigger on floor 1? That said, I do like it for hiding a secret in the PC in a very distinct way from last time.

- Mesmerizing is misspelled. Also, it should be "Feel its power!", no apostrophe. This does not matter at all but I wanted to say it.

- It's occurring to me literally as I type this that Munchlax is compatible with Substitute because, I assume, that's how you're supposed to steal the Focus Sash off Kabutops without it breaking and being consumed. That was NOT the way I did it - I used Recycle, which gave me the Focus Sash back after I consumed it. This was the direct cause of me needing to restart; I saw Munchlax was compatible with Substitute at the move tutor and taught it over Fling. If you want to prevent that from happening, I think you could either remove Munchlax's Substitute compatibility or disable the move tutor after you beat the old couple, since I don't think he serves any further purpose.

- The old couple also went pretty smoothly, although it was kind of tedious waiting for the burn damage to tick down. Maybe bump the damage back up to the pre-gen-7 1/8th just to speed things up?

- Exit girl was a fun surprise, but I feel like the battle was a little clunky, moreso than the others. I'm still not 100% sure what you're supposed to do, or rather what the intended execution is. I know the end state (or at least how I won) is a burned, Belly Drummed Lagging Tail Skitty using Facade to 2HKO both opponents, but the execution felt pretty awkward because Munchlax and Skitty need to be on the field for at least two turns (one for Munchlax to Fling the Flame Orb, which can be done while Skitty switches in, and one for Belly Drum + Copycat), which is two turns in which Clefairy can't Follow Me to divert the Leech Seed from Abomasnow. It felt pretty RNG-dependant, especially because of the burn damage ticking down, but maybe there's something I'm missing.

- On that note, I don't think I get why Skitty has Sunny Day. To stop the hail? The AI does that itself a lot with Rain Dance, and you're really on a timer in this battle with the burn damage and Belly Drum and potential Leech Seed - wait I just realized you're supposed to Copycat Moonlight off of Clefairy to heal. Wow. Oops! Although I kind of still have a hard time picturing how to pull that off after the ordeal of setting up in the first place.

- My only remaining point I think is that my immediate instinct to get around that battle was trying, with immense difficulty, to get a scenario in which the level 100 Archeops would Dragon Claw Skitty, triggering my one remaining Focus Sash, and then use Endeavor, which I could Copycat, and then I could switch out and back in to use Fake Out and kill it after it killed both of my other Pokémon, so I would only have one and thus skip the double battle. When I eventually succeeded at this, the battle still happened, and my disappointment was immeasurable. Maybe give the Archeops just one move, like the other fossils? And on that note, I did try a few times to Covet the Kabutops further, to no avail, so it might be good to replace Meteor Beam with Slash or whatever at that point, just to clearly communicate that this part is over with and there's no more clever tricks.

Very fun overall. I had to use two Game Master hints on your previous escape room, so I'm happy I didn't need any here. Excited to hopefully see more from you at some point!

 

[wiz1989]

Had a blast with this (as well as your previous one). I don't know what my final playtime really was, because I had to fully restart at one point and I also made liberal use of fast-forward, but I'd guess total maybe two hours? No Game Master advice used. Gonna put some thoughts in spoilers below:

Spoiler:

- First part went very smoothly. How many Focus Sashes are you supposed to be able to get from the Kabutops, though? From my understanding only two are necessary, but I know I got at least three (and it also seems to not be guaranteed after the first one). It also took kind of an embarrassingly long time to get that first Heart Scale from Pickup - maybe bump the rate a bit?

- Also, I know from last time you're in the business of making move changes if they make the puzzles work more effectively, so: please make Icy Wind 100% accurate. I can't explain why but oh my god it missed SO MUCH and it made murdering Archen a pain! This is really minor and not very important but it matters to ME.

- I also brute forced the boulder puzzle. I found the switch way before I found the NPC who talks about wallpapers, and I didn't actually understand what that meant until I saw your hint in this thread after completing it, oops. I certainly assumed it was supposed to be completed now and I was just not understanding the hint (I knew it was related to the type guy, but I couldn't put together how). Maybe only have that puzzle start when you hit a trigger on floor 1? That said, I do like it for hiding a secret in the PC in a very distinct way from last time.

- Mesmerizing is misspelled. Also, it should be "Feel its power!", no apostrophe. This does not matter at all but I wanted to say it.

- It's occurring to me literally as I type this that Munchlax is compatible with Substitute because, I assume, that's how you're supposed to steal the Focus Sash off Kabutops without it breaking and being consumed. That was NOT the way I did it - I used Recycle, which gave me the Focus Sash back after I consumed it. This was the direct cause of me needing to restart; I saw Munchlax was compatible with Substitute at the move tutor and taught it over Fling. If you want to prevent that from happening, I think you could either remove Munchlax's Substitute compatibility or disable the move tutor after you beat the old couple, since I don't think he serves any further purpose.

- The old couple also went pretty smoothly, although it was kind of tedious waiting for the burn damage to tick down. Maybe bump the damage back up to the pre-gen-7 1/8th just to speed things up?

- Exit girl was a fun surprise, but I feel like the battle was a little clunky, moreso than the others. I'm still not 100% sure what you're supposed to do, or rather what the intended execution is. I know the end state (or at least how I won) is a burned, Belly Drummed Lagging Tail Skitty using Facade to 2HKO both opponents, but the execution felt pretty awkward because Munchlax and Skitty need to be on the field for at least two turns (one for Munchlax to Fling the Flame Orb, which can be done while Skitty switches in, and one for Belly Drum + Copycat), which is two turns in which Clefairy can't Follow Me to divert the Leech Seed from Abomasnow. It felt pretty RNG-dependant, especially because of the burn damage ticking down, but maybe there's something I'm missing.

- On that note, I don't think I get why Skitty has Sunny Day. To stop the hail? The AI does that itself a lot with Rain Dance, and you're really on a timer in this battle with the burn damage and Belly Drum and potential Leech Seed - wait I just realized you're supposed to Copycat Moonlight off of Clefairy to heal. Wow. Oops! Although I kind of still have a hard time picturing how to pull that off after the ordeal of setting up in the first place.

- My only remaining point I think is that my immediate instinct to get around that battle was trying, with immense difficulty, to get a scenario in which the level 100 Archeops would Dragon Claw Skitty, triggering my one remaining Focus Sash, and then use Endeavor, which I could Copycat, and then I could switch out and back in to use Fake Out and kill it after it killed both of my other Pokémon, so I would only have one and thus skip the double battle. When I eventually succeeded at this, the battle still happened, and my disappointment was immeasurable. Maybe give the Archeops just one move, like the other fossils? And on that note, I did try a few times to Covet the Kabutops further, to no avail, so it might be good to replace Meteor Beam with Slash or whatever at that point, just to clearly communicate that this part is over with and there's no more clever tricks.

Very fun overall. I had to use two Game Master hints on your previous escape room, so I'm happy I didn't need any here. Excited to hopefully see more from you at some point!

Thanks a lot for that great feedback! I am very happy you liked it and seriously impressed you managed to finish it without any hints!

Regarding your points see below spoilers:

Spoiler:

-In fact, you are supposed to only get a single sash and I just found the bug for it. Cause it is actually implemented to stop you from farming more than one.
-I improved the pick up rate from 10-20% already. But I agree and just implemented a bad luck protection that guarantees a hit after the fifth pickup trigger.
-Agreed with Icy Wind. consider that done ;-)
-very good idea to only start the switches as soon as you have talked to the wallpaper dude. It actually does bother me that brut forcing it very early is an option. I will deactivate the 2nd and 3rd layer switches for the beginning of the game.
-thanks for the orthography update!
-Munch shouldn't be able to learn sub. You did it the intended way. I just updated the learnset.
Anyways, the game master will still fix messed up movesets in case that happens before the last fight (e.g. by learning Strength).
-I agree that this burn damage thing feels pretty tedious. But I love how you can quickly mess up the strat due to the switches. So for now I'd like to keep it as is.
-your strat for the final battle is basically correct. Although it shouldn't be RNG dependant at all. Clefairy is there to copycat Moonlight and knock off the leftovers. --> HAHA...now you figured^^
-the final double battle is not a two-trainer battle. So skipping it is not an option this time. And why did you do it that way? Leaving two mons in the PC box would have been sufficient for this kinda setup. :-o
-for the Kabutops, I will keep it as is. You can still covet a sash after having consumed one and this option should remain

Thanks again for this great write up!

 

[Z-nogyroP]

Spoiler: A quick response to your response

- Wait, are you supposed to only have one Focus Sash? How do you kill Tyrantrum after the Endeavor? It doesn't take recoil damage and Archen doesn't have Quick Attack. I used two - one on Archen to Endeavor, the next on Munchlax to kill with Covet.

- Re: the burn damage, that makes sense, and I also just realized it'd screw up the final fight if Skitty was taking increased damage. I don't think I've ever been more stressed than while I was hoping the Cofagrigus wouldn't switch out after I ran out of HP for Substitute!

- I'm gonna be honest, I, uh, completely forgot depositing in the PC was an option. Egg on my face.

 

[wiz1989]

Spoiler: A quick response to your response

- Wait, are you supposed to only have one Focus Sash? How do you kill Tyrantrum after the Endeavor? It doesn't take recoil damage and Archen doesn't have Quick Attack. I used two - one on Archen to Endeavor, the next on Munchlax to kill with Covet.

- Re: the burn damage, that makes sense, and I also just realized it'd screw up the final fight if Skitty was taking increased damage. I don't think I've ever been more stressed than while I was hoping the Cofagrigus wouldn't switch out after I ran out of HP for Substitute!

- I'm gonna be honest, I, uh, completely forgot depositing in the PC was an option. Egg on my face.

Hahaha...spoiler talk :D

Spoiler:

-You gotta trade for Yamask and switch it in so Tyrantrum acquires Mummy. This way it will get hit by recoil damage. ;-)
-in like 95% of the cases you won't run out of PP. And anticipating the switch is also quite easy and saves you a sub. :)