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Messages - Apjjm

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1
@NieSch
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@Armani
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Would probably want to check to see if any train strikes are on those days nearer the time too, maybe have a backup day if it seems really bad? Can check dates here https://www.nationalrail.co.uk/travel-information/industrial-action/

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I'm in the UK too, so depending on when & where I might be able to take a train and stop by too if it isn't too far north.

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Level Design / Re: [DISC] Why is the intended solution so important?
« on: February 12, 2023, 12:25:32 AM »
It is and it isn't. Ultimately when designing the level I usually want the player to have an "aha!" moment, or to feel like they have figured something out or discovered something - whether that's the thing I intended when I made the level or not.

As a solver, something that really takes me out of that experience is when multiple levels fall into what I feel like are an "overcentralised" area of the solutions. To me this is a set of particularly powerful skill interactions that levels (especially harder ones) can tend to gravitate towards that are typically most efficient. If you as the player know these, then a lot of easier levels can just be solved that way too without really engaging with the level. Some of the worst offenders of these are:

  • Cancelling a basher or miner to sneak up/through a wall somewhere
  • Using a digger on a hill to create an unclimbable wall
  • Using some of the more 'obscure' blocker interactions
  • Adjusing the RR to reverse a lemming with overlapping builders

As the quote goes "Given the opportunity, players will optimize the fun out of a game", and I think that when you know about those interactions it can be very hard to not just reach for the same interactions over and over. When designing levels I really try to create variety in the solutions which I need to rule out many of the most powerful interactions to give others room to shine - but this is really hard because alot of these interactions can just be used everywhere. I want each level to really feel different when solving it, which means the ways the skills interact in the level have to be unique. I will be much harder on a backroute to a level if it lets you solve a level in exactly the same way as a previous one, or in a way that I feel makes the level boring.

A last point on this is that I think there is a degree of trust that builds up between the player and designer as they play through the pack. If i've played a pack and reached the hardest levels, I get a feel for how those levels are put together and trust that the designer won't throw some really unfair/unfun solution at me to make the level harder (e.g. find the exact RR or try again after 5 minutes solving again) - this trust lets me instead focus on finding a 'logical path' to the solution. I want my levels to build up trust in that way too - I won't throw every evil trick I have at you in one level. If you get any particularly 'clever' interaction it WILL be the 'aha!' moment of the level, and I won't red-herring you away from it - Instead I'll try and give you every opportunity to find it, and streamline the level to make needing to save that crucial skill something you discover early.

At the end of the day, the level should make the player feel good for solving it.

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Very nice find kaywhyn :thumbsup: - I did wonder if it was possible when I saw how icho contained the left crowd but I couldn't spot the bit about grabbing the pickup skill.

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I have put together a quick video with the inteded solutions for my R2 & R3 levels: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T0eo9cwJ55o

@kaywhyn - Great solutions to both my R2 & R3 levels :thumbsup: - The R2 level uses the intended element in the solution and saving both the blocker & walker was nice. The R3 whilst not the intended path is certainly acceptable. The way you contained the crowds was very different to my solution, and I am pleasently surprised as to how many variations I have seen in solutions to this one.

@ichotolot - Great solves for both levels too :thumbsup:. The R2 level uses the intended element - the way you used the blocker was very similar to the initial concept of the level but I ended up adding a different skill instead to make things easier to execute. The R3 solution again much like kaywhyn doesn't handle the crowds as intended but certainly uses the skills in an interesting way so is an acceptable alternative - the only part of this solution that I might have considered changing is how the platformer is used after the pickup-skill beyond the monitor - though I think it is too late in the contest now for me to want to make changes (and also I kinda like that this is a tricky level with a variety of different solutions).

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@The Tomato Watcher

An intended solution to the level, nicely solved :thumbsup:

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8
I've attached my rule 3 solutions. I found this quite a fun rule to design for - lots of creative looking levels on this one.

1-A Digital Switchover
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2-Underwater Hijackers
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3-Ancient Lemmarine
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4-Starlight Pinball Zone
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5-Mad Dads Chemical Research Dept.
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6-The Treachery of Lemmings
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7-The Claaaaaw...
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8-Bosom Buddies
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9-The Lemming Calculator
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@Armani thanks for resolving multiple times - your solve is incredibly close to the solution I found and is certainly an acceptable variation - great solve :thumbsup:!
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@Armani That is much closer to the intended solution, and a clever solve. I was very tempted to keep this but it feels just far enough away that I have updated things again :evil:. I think this update makes things a bit harder so am thinking about dropping save requirement down to 54 + adding talisman for 55, will think about this.

Potential spoiler on intended solution (but pretty vague)
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Contests / Re: Level Design Contest #25 - Playing Phase (Update Topic)
« on: April 13, 2022, 05:46:46 PM »
Updated my R3 to V4 - this is a bit of bigger change and hopefully doesn't introduce a backroute.

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12
I have decided to revisit quartet 16 and adjust the sign the other way after remembering some backroutes I found when making the level. I'm not sure if any could still be made to work given how the level has evolved since then, but I decided to be safe and fix that sign. Sadly this means the solution kaywhyn found for this level won't work anymore :(, but on the plus side, there is still another route to be found ;)

As before, I will attach the previous version of the pack to this reply if you want to play the earlier version of the level - otherwise please grab the latest copy of the pack from the main post

13
@Armani - this is quite a nice solution but still avoids some of the things I ideally would like to see in a solution, so will probably be updating the level a little more.

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I have attached my solutions to all of the rule 2 levels. This was quite a challenging rule to design a level around, yet all the levels here have been fun to play and solve.

1-Roiling Clouds (V1)
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2-Tightrope Planet (V1)
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3-Looks simple enough... (V1)
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4-Steep Bee-scent (V1)
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5-Decent Default Design (V2)
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6-Atmospheric Breach (V1)
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7-Not much to work with... (V2)
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8-A Roundabout Trip (V2)
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9-Minimalemism (V1)
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10-The 10 Piece Puzzle Rush (V3)
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I have re-solved your rule 1,  hopefully this one is acceptable :)
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