Moving on ...

The next area in the scheme of things was named “Hall of the Mt. King” and included a snake, which barred the Player’s progress.  Recall, that Colossal Caverns was based on a real cave, so to be truly accurate, one would use ‘natural’ looking tile sets to represent these underground areas … but “Hall of the Mt. King” was just too suggestive to not go with it …

So … I decided to create a surreal area using the Ruins tile set, where the Player’s mind creates hewn walls and tiled floors from the natural environment.  Stalagmites become large urns and a prominent outcrop of rock becomes a huge statue of … the Mt. King. 

I substituted a (giant) spider for the snake for several reasons: 1) the spider just seemed more menacing than a snake; 2) I felt the method of circumventing the spider was a better fit (heh, no spoiler here); 3) I felt it worked well with the surreal effect (this spider is as big as a large dog); and 4) using a web to block the entrance and control the flow seemed very appropriate in this circumstance.  The spider spawns in when its web is disturbed.  It does not immediately attack; however it does guard the access to the room.  If the player attempts to enter the room, the spider will attack (and likely win).  Of course, there is a way to avoid this; but I’ll give the Player the opportunity to discover it on their own.

The scripts are “functional” (which is a polite way of saying they do what I want, but not necessarily to the standards I desire); so I’ll likely revisit this area later as I learn and discover more … perhaps a ‘cut-scene’ ….

Which brings up the last piece of ‘general’ scripting that had to be completed … what happens if the Player dies?  Simple … as in the text version, they are given an opportunity to respawn.   Should they choose that option they will be transported to the Bath House and will suffer a small penalty (15 points from their score).