Dizzy 1: `Talkthrough`

I'm starting to wish it was reality, glad to have motivated you to fulfill an ambition.

Which ledge do you mean, the one with Dizzy on or the one with the life on? I think they both seem kind of important, it wouldn't make much sense if there was nothing in that room (except perhaps a clue to not go down that hole) and Dizzy has to be some where.

When you say that, trap will make more sense, you mean later, in general because of the tricky way the game works? Obviously on the real map there is no hole there, there's no getting there at all.

No I meant the ledge on the left that creates the trap. If it was included, that area would be inaccessible through the games normal means anyway. And if it was accessible and there was no ledge, then Dizzy would fall to his death in the icy water below. As it is, if he could somehow get there, he would just get stuck and no way out, not even to kill himself, which would be bad game design.

Here's the modified, improved version of the screen.


Also just in case you are wondering, those two icicles above the middle platform fall down, theoretically making the extra life tricky to get. I needed to put something in this screen to give it some kind of purpose.

Is that a frozen tree trunk in the bottom right corner of your mock-up there EgoTrip?! :cool:

Yeah it probably is, but underground is not a barren place. Theres frozen moss to the left of it too.

[quote data-userid="395" data-postid="82116"]

No I meant the ledge on the left that creates the trap. If it was included, that area would be inaccessible through the games normal means anyway. And if it was accessible and there was no ledge, then Dizzy would fall to his death in the icy water below. As it is, if he could somehow get there, he would just get stuck and no way out, not even to kill himself, which would be bad game design.

Here’s the modified, improved version of the screen.

Also just in case you are wondering, those two icicles above the middle platform fall down, theoretically making the extra life tricky to get. I needed to put something in this screen to give it some kind of purpose.

[/quote]

Ah, it doesn't seem like a ledge with the trap there, just like the bottom of a pit which, of course, was the idea. Technically it's inaccessible from that end either way because there's no hole in the screen above not even behind the unscalable barrier. Dizzy might not fall to his death if the ledge wasn't there at all, Dizzy could try and aim for that little piece of land on the left. Of course, in game play terms a mechanism could be devised for Dizzy to get out of the trap.

Job for a certain item, then?

Yes, we know. Yet there's something appropriate with having the end of the poem appear at the end of the world, though obviously it's meant to be a rather unsubtle clue for what to do with "A Gleaming Emerald" the attainment of which is about the only reason you'd come all the way here.

It is the end of the world, of course as an oversized crystal on the far left means that Dizzy can't proceed any further to the left (or south). The is the sort of obstacle you expect. Obviously it's not the end of the world in actually. the designers have deliberately drawn space on the other side of the crystal to show that could Dizzy get past it there's more of Katmandu on the other side. These are the sort of things we like, not strange paths Dizzy can't go down for no obvious reason. I'm not going to try and pretend there might be anyway for Dizzy to extend the map as yet undiscovered, though I'm sure for a laugh you could use the NOOTRAC cheat and drop him on the other side at which point he'll either get stuck <snigger, snigger> or warp some place.

Unfortunately in a demonstration of more infuriating game design there's a nasty bird flying round here which, of course, you'll need the birdseed to dispatch. All well and good except if you want to take the emerald you'll need to leave the birdseed at what is the furthest edge of the map. And then when next you need the birdseed you'll have to come all the way back again. To be honest I'm not convinced the emerald should be here it's not very logical, maybe it should be something else, like the graveyard key. Well it's more logical than it just sitting in the mine.

I think the graveyard key left behind in the mine does hold some logic. Maybe the owner of the graveyard, or at least the keeper of the key owned/worked in the mine, and it got mislaid there in a hurry when Zaks invaded. It could be his hat too thats lying around down there. Maybe the garlic down there is the remains of his dinner. Must be quite rotten though, although garlic does last a long time. He/they clearly left in a hurry. Or maybe Zaks killed him, and he is the ghost that haunts the mine, and that hanging skeleton is his.

What I do with the seed is to kill the birds, then leave it near the middle of the world, usually on the start screen or the mine entrance screen (where it is found), then go back for the items, that way you don't need to go all the way back again when you need it later in the game.

I take it you're joking? Obviously that's not logic it's a story that you've invented to connect the gravekeeper with the mine. It's perfectly, OK, to do that but it's only logical do make that connection if there is evidence in the game that suggests that and, beyond the key its self, I'm not sure there is. On the other hand not every supposition you made is without logical foundation from the game. I do actually have reasons for suggesting so items should be in different places to which they are it's not purely arbitrary. I just have some trouble deciding what items should go where the ones I have logical reasons to move were. The hat, of course, could belong to any miner at all; it's perfectly logical for it to be there. The garlic, if you remember isn't actually down the mine although we haven't reached either of these yet of this talkthrough. But it's that key just sitting against the left wall of a place where there seems to be no reason for anyone to be that's strange. The last part through definitely sounds very close to the truth.

That makes sense, it's probably what I would do, although it still involves an awful lot of treking about.

I did have one, slightly outside the park idea that has just occurred. You know, about the screen Dizzy won't walk into. Obviously, I think the chance of this working is almost zero but has anyone tried taking the burning torch down there? Obviously that's thinking slightly outside the box and imagining it might be a dark, ill-illuminated area that Dizzy just can't see in and that if he took the torch it might solve that problem. Probably not but I like the logic behind the concept.

Oh, and mind your step.

So after are extended detour Dizzy has got back on course and we have arrived at the most is almost unanimously considered the most infuriating screen in the game. I'll let this quote from another site explain:
But the most heinous game-breaker of all was a notoriously fragile cloud bridge early in the game which would evaporate if you trod near the middle of it. No prior warnings, no "Woah, are you sure about this, Diz?". One single misstep, and the cloud would be whisked away, rendering the game unfinishable, unless you happened to be en route to Zaks' hideout with the completed concoction. To be fair that seems a bit harsh, while there are no direct warnings there is a sign under the bridge that is clearly meant to say danger, the skeleton of what was presumably a troll at the bottom of the screen and a very obvious crack in the middle to the bridge. If you stop to take in the scene the danger can no doubt be worked out.

No, what really bugs people about this booby trap is that once the bridge is gone it's for good. Although if you come here straight from the start of the game hitting the skeleton on your way down will probably take your last life so that won't matter and you won't make the discovery.

The fact the bridge doesn't return is really the problem, the problem is that once it is gone there is no way to get back to the left edge of the bridge. Although I find this difficult to perceive as it seems clear that you can stand on the sign and I find it hard to perceive is my head why you can't jump from some point there, even the very edge, back to land.

Of course, this scene is notable for another reason, touched on earlier and demonstrated here:

https://www.yolkfolk.com/bb/showthread.php?229-A-Horseshoe-Magnet-and-a-Secret-cave&p=18594&viewfull=1#post18594

Or it will if it works for you, I think you need certain software on your computer to see it.

The point is that, that seems to show that nothing is under the skeleton but, of course, of course my point is that this was done by cheating and if there's a secret here it will only be revealed if the puzzle is approached properly.

Best idea? Sit all the items you want to feed the skeleton on the bridge above it and then break the bridge so the fall on it simultaneously. I recommend using protective items on as many critters as possible before dropping them in case the score they have acquired makes a difference.

Any progress? Or are you still stuck in the pit?

Hee, hee! No, obviously I haven't got the game (although here's hoping it'll turn up on the new Sinclair Spectrum Vega) though I have been doing other things and giving readers time to digest everything I said in the last post which I'm not entirely sure made any sense.

As you leave the last scene you may or may not want to collect the "Empty Potion Bottle" and take it and, if your programme allows you, bounce it off the cauldron if not you should probably leave it where it is. You'll probably want to bring the bird seed and do in the feathered fiends on the way here.

So now, standing between Dizzy and the forest, is a rather imposing waterfall you really have to mind your step here as the only way across is to hop from log to log. Dizzy is a bit anxious about entering the forest now , the last place he entered that was described as "haunted" turned out to be well named. Fortunately spooks can't cross running water, apparently, so he's perfectly safe here. Unfortunately Katmandu isn't so there's nothing doing and he'll have to cross into the forest.

How logical is the game at this point? In reality dropping the dry ice here is just what you want to do as the waterfall will freeze at the source and the effect will carry through to the cavern below. I suspect that may not work in game logic though.

The dry ice stops any water you drop it on. IIRC There are two correct places to drop it, which I wont spoil. But one, the intended way (and the way I always do it), means you can access an area on the map which you can't if you drop it in the second place, which is essentially a shortcut. Your suspicions are indeed correct, the game logic will not work the way you expect. You will be unable to finish the game if you drop it here.

Thats pretty much the only major flaw of this Dizzy game, there are scenarios which render the game over, outside of losing all your lives, which do not exist in the rest of the games.

Thought so. That's actually only half the thinking here I expect to get to the other in due course.

commonly known as The Haunted Forest.

This, then, is where the story begins where Dizzy found the tablet for the recipe for ridding the land of Zaks. He also buried it round here somewhere so maybe you can get him to dig it up again. The tablet would make a useful portable platform if nothing else. That said the scene also seems bare of all the things Dizzy was supposed to have come to the haunted forest to look for, mayhaps someone didn't think it though.

Whose ears are identifying the hollow sounding ground is unclear. Presumably the Oliver Twins couldn't think of a subtler clue that didn't require breaking the fourth wall so much.

The screen also contains a spider and an apple to be dodged plus a mushroom, which is fortunate it's there or Dizzy could never leave the forest, and some invisible platforms in the trees which may be a glitch but should obviously also be searched for items and clues.

Obviously this is still the haunted forest so that tablet Dizzy found may still be buried round here (there's a conspicuous green mound in one of these scenes, my map seems to be conflating the area a little again). There are also still no berries, flowers or loose pieces of wood for clubs. It says in the story that's what Dizzy can searching the haunted forest for so where, oh where, could they be. A club would be especially useful.

There doesn't seem to be anything especially obvious on these scenes just another bird to give seed to. But there are nice platforms we can use to climb the tree lets go up there. There's also a lonely looking platform to the left that seems a bit out of place and may be worth searching for hidden objects. I can't help thinking this game may well have a fair few hidden objects. After all it's got hidden platforms.

If I found something that was important and could destroy the corrupt ruling elite, I would certainly not leave it lying around for anyone else to find and maybe tip them off. I think the premise of this game relies on Zaks having no idea of what Dizzy is up to. I am sure if he knew, he would have made much more of an effort to stop him other than throwing firebolts at him.

Also perhaps the trees are bare because Dizzy has picked all the berries. Or maybe the birds flying around ate them.

Well, it must be autumn, as there are trees with apples falling from them, so one would expect any berries to have been ripe - but who knows what grows in a haunted forest? And a lot of trees don't bear berries anyway. I can't imagine that the birds did eat all the berries as they do seem to like to eat the bird seed and go away (or are they so full of berries that they explode when you give them the seed?) Who knows?

Maybe Shaun Ryder works for the ACME bird seed company which is why they die.

Him and his brother allegedly fed Manchester pigeons food laced with rat poison in the 90's. But it's never been admitted.

Yeah, but the whole game works on the principle that several important items have been left lying around. The thought here is that the Oliver Twins may have snuck some secret items into the game along with the obvious ones.

We know what grows in the haunted forest because the story on the inlay tells us that Dizzy was searching there for berries, flowers and wood for a club when he found the tablet with the potion recipe which he then reburied. Hence all those things should be here. A don't think A is necessarily succeeded by B here though.

The bird seed was discussed earlier.