TOPIC: E3 Puzzle Room Question

Matthew Hayward wrote:

Endgame wrote: My group could hear the skulls pretty well on Saturday, but the volume was turned up enough it was difficult to tell which skull was talking. Our suggestion was to have a visual clue as to which skull was talking- a spot light on the talking skull would be great, or perhaps LEDs in the eyes or on the stands.

When I went through the skills had animations that made it clear which was talking by moving around.

Maybe it broke?

Only Bog was moving reliably as far as I could tell on the 11am Saturday run. Combining movement and spotlights / leds would certainly add another layer of defense against failure.

Matthew Hayward wrote:

Endgame wrote: My group could hear the skulls pretty well on Saturday, but the volume was turned up enough it was difficult to tell which skull was talking. Our suggestion was to have a visual clue as to which skull was talking- a spot light on the talking skull would be great, or perhaps LEDs in the eyes or on the stands.

When I went through the skills had animations that made it clear which was talking by moving around.

Maybe it broke?

Sometimes some moved and sometimea volume came from one other than the one moving. By volume I mean noise since it wasn't undestandable.

Endgame wrote:

Matthew Hayward wrote:

Endgame wrote: My group could hear the skulls pretty well on Saturday, but the volume was turned up enough it was difficult to tell which skull was talking. Our suggestion was to have a visual clue as to which skull was talking- a spot light on the talking skull would be great, or perhaps LEDs in the eyes or on the stands.

When I went through the skills had animations that made it clear which was talking by moving around.

Maybe it broke?

Only Bog was moving reliably as far as I could tell on the 11am Saturday run. Combining movement and spotlights / leds would certainly add another layer of defense against failure.

Posting the lines on the wall (along with who was speaking) is probably the only sure-fire way to avoid technical failure.

Fiddy wrote: Posting the lines on the wall (along with who was speaking) is probably the only sure-fire way to avoid technical failure.

Unfortunately some clues get a lot easier when posted in writing.

I'm not sure there is a perfect balance unfortunately.

Sorry for the trouble in this room, folks - We had some difficulties with reliably getting the audio to come out of a single speaker for each skull, which also affected the animatronic movement. This was mostly ironed out as the con went on.

Your DM always has a printed version of the text, but we usually only offer it when requested or when there are technical problems. We’ll endeavor in the future to make sure that coaches or trainers make the party aware that they always have the option of printed dialogue so there are no issues for our hearing impaired friends.

Room DM knew of issues but did not offer to read.

Sounds like party needs to always request if problems.

Mike Naglee wrote: Sorry for the trouble in this room, folks - We had some difficulties with reliably getting the audio to come out of a single speaker for each skull, which also affected the animatronic movement. This was mostly ironed out as the con went on.

Your DM always has a printed version of the text, but we usually only offer it when requested or when there are technical problems. We’ll endeavor in the future to make sure that coaches or trainers make the party aware that they always have the option of printed dialogue so there are no issues for our hearing impaired friends.

As a coach/trainer I’m usually leery about adding things to the party card, but maybe a check box for hearing impairment?

edwin wrote: Room DM knew of issues but did not offer to read.

Sounds like party needs to always request if problems.

Agree - the DM did not offer to read even when we clearly had no idea what was being said. I didn't know we could request a reading either, or I would have.

We’ll talk at TDHQ about how to make this knowledge more universal, and to make sure DM’s start offering if it’s clear the party is having trouble hearing an audible clue. Thanks for the feedback, and for playing!

One of the E1 rooms had the text printed out on Saturday afternoon taped to the puzzle device. It was great to be able to read along while listening to the recording. In the form it was (printed on white 8.5x11) it certainly impacted immersion, but I found it preferable to not having. Maybe having the transcript of recordings printed on prop quality scrolls could be interesting.

I ran E3 3 times and it did get better as the Con went on and the sound quality improved.

1st run - no sound - didn’t even catch anything about rhymes and solved just from the letters (guessing right on Mace vs Morning Star).

2nd run - was mostly audible if listened close and was only the song - sorta got the hint about rhymes but wasn’t enough to really stand out for each.

3rd run - everything seemed to be working - could clearly hear the voices and could hear the Rhymes that stood out better. Also the banter after was turned on and greatly improved the fun in the room - especially when the clue was solved.

Harlax wrote:

Mike Naglee wrote: Sorry for the trouble in this room, folks - We had some difficulties with reliably getting the audio to come out of a single speaker for each skull, which also affected the animatronic movement. This was mostly ironed out as the con went on.

Your DM always has a printed version of the text, but we usually only offer it when requested or when there are technical problems. We’ll endeavor in the future to make sure that coaches or trainers make the party aware that they always have the option of printed dialogue so there are no issues for our hearing impaired friends.

As a coach/trainer I’m usually leery about adding things to the party card, but maybe a check box for hearing impairment?

Things like this always worry me. Would TD potentially open themselves to litigation?