Levels by Crane

[Crane]

Not to worry - that's what playtesting is for.  This was an easy enough fix.  And maybe that trap is involved, or maybe not.

[JawaJuice]

Not to worry - that's what playtesting is for.  This was an easy enough fix.  And maybe that trap is involved, or maybe not.

We could do this all night

[Crane]

Yes, yes we can!

[JawaJuice]

Well, you got me beat this time! I can no longer backroute the level but neither can I see what you're trying to get the player to do here - I think I'll have to leave it to someone better than I to solve and move on to your other levels

[Crane]

Don't worry too much - it may suddenly click for you!  Thanks so much for helping me to patch it.

[JawaJuice]

I'm not gonna beat myself up too much - I know you and your devious levels by reputation You're right, sometimes I find a solution can pop into your head when you're not even consciously trying to solve it (a sure sign you play too much NeoLemmix!)

I've just done The Sphinx Riddle. You're going to tell me this is a backroute as well, aren't you?

[Crane]

I'm not gonna beat myself up too much - I know you and your devious levels by reputation You're right, sometimes I find a solution can pop into your head when you're not even consciously trying to solve it (a sure sign you play too much NeoLemmix!)

I've just done The Sphinx Riddle. You're going to tell me this is a backroute as well, aren't you?

Absolutely!  Good find.

[JawaJuice]

Ha OK, I'll have another look!

In the meantime, I think I squeezed another backroute out of The Oubliette (hard to believe this was your intended solution!). If not, gimme a hint - have I ever been on the right track?

[Crane]

Definitely not intended, so now the steel on the right wall is higher up, probably giving away the intended solution more and more - oh well!

Clue

Try climbing to the right instead of the left.

Can you double-check that the Basher/Blocker trick still doesn't work? I ask because I shifted the steel plate on the far right down by 1 pixel so the miner doesn't hit it but still break through - I figure it's safer.

[JawaJuice]

OK, will have another look and check that previous backroute. Cheers for the clue! I'm curious, not having been involved in playtesting levels before, when you're getting folks to playtest a pack, is it normal to have this many iterations of a level or are other players simply less obtuse? XD

Spoiler

I took a different approach to The Sphinx. This feels more intentional to me, except for having a couple of floaters left over again.

[JawaJuice]

Definitely not intended, so now the steel on the right wall is higher up, probably giving away the intended solution more and more - oh well!

Clue

Try climbing to the right instead of the left.

Can you double-check that the Basher/Blocker trick still doesn't work? I ask because I shifted the steel plate on the far right down by 1 pixel so the miner doesn't hit it but still break through - I figure it's safer.

I can confirm that your change does not re-enable the basher/blocker trick. You also fixed my previous backroute. I'm really at a loss with this level though, despite the clue. It seems crazy hard! Either it utilizes an obscure trick I'm unaware of or I'm just blind to this particular level! You might need a new pair of eyes on it I think.

[Crane]

@JawaJuice: I'm sure you'll get it eventually.

Clue 2

The first thing the Climber does after ascending the wall is bash.

Sometimes, yes, one does get many iterations of a level in public playtesting.  Privately there may be lots of versions too when you have a single playtester, and they often try variations of the same backroute until stumbling upon the intended solution (if they don't find it first).  Admittedly I didn't playtest The Oubliette level much before publishing it.

In the case of The Sphinx' Riddle, there are many red herrings and sometimes a player find something that no-one else has ever thought of, which is what you're doing now!

[JawaJuice]

Dang! I was pretty pleased with that Sphinx solution! I tried again - this is maybe a variation on my previous backroute though.

I guess this topic is accepted as a kind of sand pit then? I'm happy to take these back and forths to DM if they might annoy any other members.

Spoiler

RE: Oubliette, it did occur to me to bash as soon as the climber had ascended to the right (just in trying anything mode!), but it didn't seem to lead anywhere useful.

[Crane]

It might be a good idea to move it to DMs since the topic with all the levels gathered together, as well as other people's levels, will start getting buried (P.S. they're on page 18 everyone!)

I should have seen that one coming with the miner into the steel.  Made a fix!  Hopefully the levels are almost completely patched!

I dare say, you should give the recent Level Design Contest levels a try.  We'd welcome any backroutes or intended solutions you find.

[kaywhyn]

It might be a good idea to move it to DMs since the topic with all the levels gathered together, as well as other people's levels, will start getting buried (P.S. they're on page 18 everyone!)

I should have seen that one coming with the miner into the steel.  Made a fix!  Hopefully the levels are almost completely patched!

I dare say, you should give the recent Level Design Contest levels a try.  We'd welcome any backroutes or intended solutions you find.

Another thing you can do, which some have done (Turrican, Niesch, etc.) and are somewhere on the in-development board in their own personal topic and are now pretty much part of a level pack that has since been released, is make your own personal topic where you post your own levels, e.g, a topic called Cranes' Levels.