Wow, thank you for the time you've taken to play and write detailed feedback! I'll try to address your concerns:
All the stairs in the castle seem to be broken, maybe that's because of Tedit?
They're broken?! I just tested the stairs in the Entryway area and they seem 100% normal. Would you be willing to post a screenshot of your issue? If the issue is walking up the stairs without falling through them, you should be able to hold the 'W' key (a.k.a. up) as you move. I may post a sign nearby to state that in any case.
I saw some cobalt brick wall unlocked somewhere in the underground, that leads to a flask of fire. It looks rather unintential though.
That is intentional. The Blue Cobalt represents changes that occur between Toddler and Normal difficulties. In the same manner, Adamantite Beam represents changes between Normal and Metal difficulties. In this case, I wanted that section blocked off for Toddler difficulty for two reasons. 1 - You don't need more DPS on that difficulty, and 2 - I wanted to add bits of intrigue with the blocked-off sections. So a player might think "I wonder what's in THAT chest, only available on X difficulty?"
Does it look bad to you? (Honestly, haha. My passion and familiarity with aesthetics is sort-of back-burner compared to level design.)
- When I summoned the EoC, I was like "oh wait, how am I supposed to fight it with this equipment?", I had only around 50 shurikens, thankfully I was able to beat it, but it was a real close call. maybe Is should have bought more shurikens from the merchant, but with what money?
- I've fought so far the EoC and the BoC with only the current sword available with a 999 stack of shurikens, the lack of weapon variety really makes the bosses quite difficult, but I guess that adds to the challenge.
Ha - yeah, I did design it so that the player would have to step out of their comfort zone, and not rely on the usual Ranged crutch. In my own experience, I found it to be a tricky but rewarding new skill to learn. You have to really learn the bosses' patterns, and judge your attacks more carefully. As far as the Brain goes... I know that battle is kind of a gear check compared to the others... and it is possible to have significantly better gear. I might recommend exploring other parts of the castle.
All that being said, the Merchant is a relatively recent addition to the game, and before he was added, money was worthless. I hadn't really thought too much about it, other than "if people run out of Shurikens and Potions, at least they will still have access to new ones." I think I'll add money to chests and barrels, especially near the beginning, before you defeat gold-wielding bosses. This way, the player can spend more money stocking up on preferred resources.
That one long and underwater tunnel after the EoC fight was almost impossible if it wasn't for the greater healing potions I used, was this intended? Or dit I missed some underwater gear? That road took rather too long to me.
The underwater tunnel is actually meant to be crossed after acquiring more underwater gear. Running through and using a potion is kind of the adventurous way, haha. That was intentionally kept in there because I have a strong philosophy that games should be designed in a way that the player can conquer challenges in their own methods. I want to encourage players to do that. It's similar to the fact that you can actually jump the 3 gaps at the edge of the jungle leading up to the Eater of Worlds pit - if someone is brave and skilled enough to try it, then go for it!
Do you think it should still be adjusted, in your opinion?
Saves in a Terraria world where you can't break anything doesn't seem to be that useful, I would prefer a Money Through.
Hmm... I'm not exactly sure what you mean by this. Are you referring to the bedrooms? Those are just meant to be checkpoints in case you die.
Right now I'm stuck in the part after the jungle. It's hinted that I should look at the top of the castle, but there's no way I can go inside (assuming those spikes on the wall means that I should not pass them.)
I
think I know what part you're at. After defeating the boss east of the jungle, the map really opens up to you. It's meant to be relatively non-linear, so you can access "main quest" content, as well as tons of additional gear upgrades throughout the castle. The order in which you acquire stuff is really up to you. The optional stuff will help you on your main quest anyway.
But overall, it does look a bit basic in design, but regardless. You've done a good job.
I'm curious to know what you mean by "basic in design." Is this a reference to aesthetic design, or level design, or both? I will say that I hadn't played any custom Terraria maps until last year, so most of the flow of Red Hat Castle is completely original, for better or worse. I wasn't spun up on all the tricks the community has come up with.
- I have since played Terrastice, which aesthetically looks decent but every corner looks exactly the same (as you stated), and so I got bored with it pretty far in.
- A Link to Terraria was pretty fun, but I think I got stuck and forgot about it. Maybe I'll try to finish it soon!
- Tales of the Terrarian I really enjoyed, and the use of the new mechanics was a lot of fun.
- And Starraria I haven't played. Buuut maybe I should!
In defense of Red Hat Castle, some specific planning philosophies were implemented. For example, I really enjoy atmospheric variety, and I wanted RHC to be full of dramatically different-feeling environments. (Terrastice, to me, sinned against this)
Another philosophy was to have an intimate connectedness between the different zones. I wanted the discovery of new areas and shortcuts to feel like it was reinforcing your understanding of the known layout of the map. A good example of this may be in Dark Souls 1, when you discover something and think, "OH, so THIS leads back HERE, cool!" or you look toward the background and think "HEY, it's THAT place over there!" (A Link to Terraria and Tales of the Terrarian didn't do this as much, which is completely fine. Their value came from different aspects! I'm not saying they failed or anything.)
And lastly, I've seen videos of people creating really cool intricate aesthetics in Terraria. I see that there are many techniques to add more visual detail to an area. It has occurred to me to implement some high-caliber detail to make the game more interesting for people to explore... but maybe I'm too stuck in my NES/SNES platforming ways, haha. I do like detail, but I don't want places to feel crowded. I guess.
Anyway, thank you so much for the feedback! I didn't address the positive comments, but I'm grateful for those too! I really do look forward to reading what you have to say in response. Also, I hope I didn't sound pretentious in any way. The long-winded points up there ^ were only meant to explain my design point-of-view. I love all the creative work people are contributing!
OH and speaking of which, I played Space Siblings for a little while... and I learned that I am pretty bad at it as of yet. I am enjoying it though! I'll keep practicing.