Tried to navigate the Caverns of Meat without Head of the Navigator

[apenpaap]

So I was feeling a bit bored today, so I decided to try to get to LeChuck's ship in Secret without the Head of the Navigator, by making a map of those catacombs. So I used this method:
When I came into a room, I checked a large piece of paper on which I had sketched and numbered all rooms that I had already visited.
If I came into a room that wasn't on there, I sketched the room on the piece of paper and gave it a number. (starting with 2; room number 1 was the place were you enter the catacombs, with all the mushrooms).
On another piece of paper, I drew how all the rooms interconnected, making it a map.
However, I soon found out that every now and then you randomly end up back in room 1, and when you exit room 1 you end up in a completly random room. This was not much of a problem for the map: I just removed room 1 from it.
After about 30 minutes, I found out that the connections between rooms are one-way connections: if you exit room 2 to the right and end up on the left of room 3, that doesn't mean that if you exit room 3 to the left you'll end up on the right of room 2 again (infact you end up at the back of room 5). This meant my whole map was pretty much messed up, so I went to another system for the map: I looked at my sketches of the rooms, and gave each exit of each room a name (the right exit of room 2, becam 2R for example), and made a long list of all of these. Then after each one I put the exit it leads to (for example: 2R: 3L). Unfortunatly this meant I had to start all over again, because my original map had no indication of what way I took each of the connections.
So I filled them all in, figuring I'd find LeChuck's ship sooner or later. There were 20 rooms (counting room 1), so this took me a while, and my desk started looking more and more like I was playing Dungeons&Dragons.
After a while, I had them all filled in, only to find out none lead to LeChuck's ship. So I went to get the Head of the Navigator, and he led me around a few rooms, but when we exited room 4 to the right, we didn't end up at the right of room 17, but at LeChuck's ship. The bloody head cheats.

On a completly unrelated note: wouldn't it be cool to be a cleaner at the TellTale offices? You could use "TellTale Employee" as your title, and everyone would believe whatever you said because of it.

[Uzrname]

Wow, dude. You DO have time on your hands.
I just didn't see your point of doing that if it was a well-known fact by all those walkthrough: wherever you go in the Caverns of Meat without the Head, the computer would just randomly throw you in another room. It's not like looking for the Treasure of Melee Island without a map (with is absolutely doable, just time-consuming) because rooms change in every game.

I'm even sure that if you'd do it again, you'll end up with a different trail for the head and different connection pattern between rooms.

[apenpaap]

Originally Posted by Uzrname

Wow, dude. You DO have time on your hands.
I just didn't see your point of doing that if it was a well-known fact before that wherever you go in the Caverns of Meat without the Head, the computer would just randomly throw you in another room.

Actually, it doesn't throw you into a random room. If you exit room 2 to the right, you always end up at the left of room 3, for example.

[GuruGuru214]

Wow. I applaud you, sir. You've managed to top my ultimate waste of time, both in time spent and dedication.

Edit: I just realized, both of them involve maps.

[Uzrname]

Originally Posted by apenpaap

Actually, it doesn't throw you into a random room. If you exit room 2 to the right, you always end up at the left of room 3, for example.

Ever tried starting a new game and doing it again? Back when I played it everyone was pretty sure it gets random generated with every new game.

That's what I meant the first time.

[Uzrname]

You got me wrong. I didn't meant to say it was useless or something, but whatever you guys did is hardcore to me.

[puzzlebox]

Originally Posted by GuruGuru214

Wow. I applaud you, sir. You've managed to top my ultimate waste of time, both in time spent and dedication.

Edit: I just realized, both of them involve maps.

Winslow would be so proud.

[GuruGuru214]

Originally Posted by puzzlebox

Winslow would be so proud.

[Uzrname]

Originally Posted by avistew

They ARE hardcore, and I mean that in a good way (in case there is a bad way to be hardcore). I don't know what I'd be without them. I don't use walkthrough for linear games, but for collecting all of something on your second play through, or for strategy tips in some games, they're priceless.

Personally, I LOVE walkthroughs and I'm sorry if my previous remark sounded a bit harsh. I used to write some of them myself, but I'm just amazed how much some people might be into it, as to actually take time to mess with Caverns of Meat or print the whole Feast of the Senses menu map and try to fold it.

Once again, I'm not saying it's useless, but I'm saying you have to be crazy about the game to actually do it.

And there shall be no boxxy from now on, I swear!

[Friar]

Wow. I tried to do a similair thing a while back, but i lost my attention.... Hey! A squirrel! Do squirrels hibernate?

[WeRa]

Haha, damn cheater head!
How impresive! At least you tried it xD
It makes me remember when I tried to get money for the ride boat in LCR
Hahaha xD
I started to cut the peg leg from the pirate and he give me the coins one by one, and when I only needed one more, he didn't have any! ARG!
Hehe, in this moment I almost saw the designers of the game making fun of me and telling me that I can't do it by the easier way
Haha, how funny ^^
See you!

[unicornfoal]

Originally Posted by WeRa

It makes me remember when I tried to get money for the ride boat in LCR
Hahaha xD
I started to cut the peg leg from the pirate and he give me the coins one by one, and when I only needed one more, he didn't have any! ARG!
Hehe, in this moment I almost saw the designers of the game making fun of me and telling me that I can't do it by the easier way

Polishing his pegleg 5999 times is the EASIER way? xD

[Jake]

I know this exists for the forest. I thought I'd seen one for the caverns as well...


From Fate of Atlantis there's also this crazy Labyrinth map.

[WeRa]

Originally Posted by unicornfoal

Polishing his pegleg 5999 times is the EASIER way? xD

For the first travel in boat from Scabb Island yes ^^
You just needed 30 coins, at least xD

[StarEye]

Originally Posted by Jake

From Fate of Atlantis there's also this crazy Labyrinth map.

That's kinda pointless. I never considered it a labyrinth at all, imo, it was very easy to navigate through it and remember what lead to where and all that.

Now http://wiki.scummvm.org/images/6/64/Kyramap2.png
Kyrandia was a different story altogether, considering you could lose your life trying to find the correct way and doing the correct things.

[Uzrname]

Though the Atlantis labyrinth wasn't nearly as complicated as the one in Kyrandia, I don't think that makes it less of a labyrinth. You had some long trips to do around the circle to get from one room to another, and there were Nazis everywhere in one scenario, so you could lose too.

UPD: IMO, the best labyrinth LA ever came up with were Venetian catacombs in the Last Crusade. You couldn't die there, but it was dark and full of useless rooms.

[AlmostApollo]

I can still find the Swordmaster and the Melee Island treasure with no map/guide. GOSH, I've played those too many times.

[harald]

Originally Posted by apenpaap

So I was feeling a bit bored today, so I decided to try to get to LeChuck's ship in Secret without the Head of the Navigator, by making a map of those catacombs.

This does indeed sound like a very good way to spend your time, but I always found it obvious that the caverns are randomized. (I had to rewrite the following probably ten times and still didn't manage to be clear. I need sleep.) If you walk from the left to the right side of some of the scrolling rooms you can reach a dead end. Then if you walk back to the left, as it scrolls back, you realise that the room has changed. This sounds a bit trippy but I'm 99% sure that some of the scrolling screens work like jigsaw pieces that can connect differently to form different rooms.

I have to try this tomorrow, if nothing else then to convince myself I'm not going mad. I know I've given this a half-hearted try before, but I gave up when I reached the conclusion above...