For "THE LAST LAUGH" on the list of top favorite or least favorite levels, the (CC1) next to it says (CC11) instead.

I hated brinjal.



The first time I ever played CC was when I was six years old (back in 2003, I think). Well, my dad played most of it, I only pretended to play . Back then we had an old Pentium IV PC on Windows 98 - and my dad got a copy of BOWEP, which had Chip's Challenge with it - the start of my Chipping days.

My dad used to play CC continuously back then - well, we were both addicted to it. To the point where we were issued warnings (by mom, of course) in case we were on the game for more than two hours a day. Anyway, we finished quite a few levels. I remember discovering the Ctrl+K shortcut by accident one day, and thinking it to be a glitch, wrote down the passwords for all levels up to 145. When we figured there were more, and that we needed to beat them in order to get past them, well, 146 (Not a) Cake Walk put us to the test. Mind you, in all this, only my dad was playing - I was only spectating and trying to complete Lesson 8. So we finished quite a few levels, while skipping the ones which we were unable to solve.

I had a morbid fear of teeth back then - I remember being so scared of them that even though I used up all the dirt on the eighth level (umpteen times), I was always eaten the tick after I got the chip. Digger was a nightmare - though somehow I managed to go at least once, to 4 chips remaining before I died.

Mazes were something else that confused me and ate my head back then (sometimes they still do) - So naturally, Brushfire was somewhat of a disaster in my hands. I managed to get away from the bug back then, only to walk into a dead end. Now, level editors or MapMaker was not something that we had even heard of back then, so full-grid maps were not an option.

The other thing that I was dead scared of were random monsters. Blobs and rollers (yes, I know we call them walkers now). Forget Blobdance or Jumping Swarm - Blobnet was also crazy tough. When I used to see a blob or a walker, somehow my fingers used to stop working properly. Either that or the blobs used to chase me intentionally. This was something that I shared with my dad. He was also quite unlucky and unsuccessful when it came to that level.

Which brings me back to my brinjals (also called eggplants or aubergines, to those who don't know). I hated them back then. The thing I loved was goat's brains. (Even though some of you might be disgusted at it, it's actually quite a delicacy). One morning we both were at the PC, religiously trying to complete this dastardly level. Mom cooked brinjals that day. It was a Sunday, so school was off and we had the whole day at the PC, instead of just the evening. My mom still has a habit of cooking the thing I hate during Sunday afternoons, and cooking my favourite at night (but that's another matter). So I was forcefully yanked off my Quest to eat stupid brinjals.

So, my mom has a habit of telling any sort of lie just to get her son to eat what she wants to feed. This time she cooked up a story that brinjals are actually a substitute for goat's brains, and that I would have triple the brainpower, and that I could easily complete the level (my spirit, my dad's fingers). I hesitatingly ate it. I think I wanted to prove her wrong then, but it didn't work. We finished the level that day.

Would you consider yourself a geek?

I have no idea why I'm posting this...

It's no new record, probably far from it, but it's something! I got 547 (My old was 532) on it. The bold is 553, so i'm 6 seconds off the bold time with my new record. It's not amazingly fast, but hey, 6 seconds away from a bold time, I will gladly take it! I might try and improve my fastest time.

Have you ever wondered what Chip looks like? I mean, there are just sooooooo many versions of him,.. almost every thing with him on it is a unique version of him, with many waaaay different fisical aspects. anything from a blond, pink shirt Chip to a cartoonish-looking red-head Chip.















Well, I gotta say, the standard MS graphics Chip isn't really nerdy enough. Almost, but not enough... the CHIPEND Chip (when you beat the MS last level) looks very goofy to me! I'd say he looks like either like the Lynx game pack cover, (not the green-pants one, but the one were he has a key in his hand and he's dodging teeth), that or the 80's Harry Potter-looking Chip (The picture that also shows Melinda). And the Chip Exe's Icon Chip ( ) looks too surrealism to me!

[img]<fileStore.core_Attachment>/monthly_2017_10/blog-0754190001377033959.png.a44eb354a07c3383ccb7f805c8cf9270.png[/img]<span style="background-color:transparent">(This blog post is the second in a three-part series. For the first part,
<span style="background-color:transparent">click here
<span style="background-color:transparent">.)


<span style="background-color:transparent">Several years ago, I came across another tile-based puzzle game online that was similar in appearance to Chip’s Challenge. It was called Escape. The objective, quite simply, was to escape out the exit door while navigating any obstacles in one’s way. Sound simple? The game was devilishly difficult. Thousands of levels created by scores of designers have been uploaded online from within the game. What ultimately set it apart from Chip’s Challenge was that it was turn-based, and as such, it was much easier to implement an undo feature. For instance, monsters would move only when you did. A level’s entire map could also be viewed all at once. One of the game’s most prolific designers was someone many of you may recognize: Joshua Bone. That’s right - the creator of Spiral, Mud and Water, Thieves and Teleports, and other simple CCLP3 levels crafted some of the most diabolical (no pun intended!) and well-designed Escape levels in the game’s level bank. I can’t help but think that at least one reason for this - besides the differing game elements - is the game’s undo feature and ability to view the entire map at once. CC has no such mechanics.


<span style="background-color:transparent">So how do we provide a challenge to players when a level has to be completed in one sitting? And how do we do so in CCLP1?


<span style="background-color:transparent">By now, many of you reading who are veteran players have no doubt played or at least skimmed through CCLP3, which was filled with many long, difficult levels. Since its release, many casual players - even veteran casual players - have voiced their concerns about its difficulty. But just why was it frustrating to so many, at least when compared to the original game’s final tier of levels? Here’s at least a few of the most mentioned reasons:


<span style="background-color:transparent">- Convoluted puzzles.
<span style="background-color:transparent">This doesn’t require a lot of explanation. Puzzles are a core element of CC and work well in manageable doses. Puzzles that involve multiple inevitable failures, vast leaps in logic, and copious amounts of spatial reasoning and attention to detail are much less fun.


<span style="background-color:transparent">- Needless red herrings.
<span style="background-color:transparent">Whether it’s the surprise victory lap in Grand Prix or the unnecessary key in Floating Plaza (yes, I’m going to burn my own levels here...many of them are old shames for me now), using deception, particularly late in a lengthy level where falling for the trap necessitates a restart after several minutes of gameplay, is very, very frustrating.


<span style="background-color:transparent">- Excessive length.
<span style="background-color:transparent">Long levels aren’t inherently bad, but a general rule of thumb is that if the level feels like work, the greater the possibility that players will become exhausted and lose interest. This principle is applicable regardless of difficulty (On the Rocks comes to mind as an easier example), but when extreme difficulty is applied, the frustration gets compounded.


<span style="background-color:transparent">- Unforgiving linearity.
<span style="background-color:transparent">Linearity, again, is just another method used to structure a level’s challenges and can be used to make great levels. Linearity used in conjunction with frustrating design elements combined with opportunity after opportunity for failure can lead to relentlessly difficult levels that are no fun to play again after cooking the level late into an attempt. Not only must the player journey through everything leading up to the cook all over again, but he or she must also guard against making other mistakes along the way - and then anticipate even more trickery beyond the cook. The process just snowballs when more cooks occur. Linearly designed levels are especially frustrating when a level presents at once multiple options to the player that offer several different ways to go, but only one “order of operations” is correct.


<span style="background-color:transparent">This may not be an exhaustive list, but it’s a list of qualities that have been mentioned the most. There are a couple of reasons why I wanted to put all of these elements in a list that can be viewed at once - other than the fact that no such list has been written out yet. First, studying these elements to see how CCLP3 used them can be quite helpful. A level that utilizes one of them has the potential to be tough and frustrating, although not necessarily so. A tiny level with a red herring, for instance, isn’t going to make CC players ragequit and hang up their hats. However, a level that uses two or more of them can be relentlessly difficult. Note that the first two items on the list are concerned with gameplay, while the latter two are concerned with design. (
<span style="background-color:transparent">All
<span style="background-color:transparent">of them can be tied into Designer Disconnect, but that’s another topic for another time.) Convoluted puzzles combined with excessive length or needless red herrings combined with unforgiving linearity are almost certainly going to be trouble for a general audience. In many cases, CCLP3’s final tier of levels exhibited
<span style="background-color:transparent">all four
<span style="background-color:transparent">of these qualities! And if you were to look at the set as a whole, you’ll notice that there were strings of these levels with two or more of these qualities placed consecutively, especially toward the end.


<span style="background-color:transparent">(Side note: Please don’t get me wrong. I do think there’s a place for some of these kinds of levels, but I don’t believe that CCLPs are the context, as they are meant for more general audiences - even the non-CCLP1 packs that are geared toward veterans. Veterans can include casual players who don’t wish to use maps. For this reason, I think we’re really going to have to work hard to adjust our difficulty expectations for CCLP1 and dial down the toughness two notches - one below CCLP3, which would be where a non-CCLP1 pack would ideally be, and another so that CCLP1 is properly introductory and features a gentle difficulty curve.)


<span style="background-color:transparent">Second, studying these elements can be quite helpful when we contrast how CCLP3 was difficult with where CC1 ventured with respect to difficulty, which should be an important part of informing how we vote during CCLP1’s voting process. It’s so easy to vote based on how a level makes us feel or how it appears upon first glance, but unless we cast aside our veteran biases and use a rubric of objective standards, we can’t honestly say that we’re rallying behind the most appropriate and deserving CCLP1 levels. (More on how a rubric can be constructed from the most agreeable CC1 levels and what qualities they exhibited is to come in Part 3 of this series.)


<span style="background-color:transparent">I bring this up because “This level is CCLP3-ish” is a comment I’ve heard directed at quite a few deserving CCLP1 candidates that are admittedly difficult but barely even exhibited the four above qualities. It seems like much of the time, such comments are often born out of frustration, especially if a player just happens to miss something random or is just having a bad day while playing. When the trouble has nothing to do with poor level design, can we honestly say that it’s entirely appropriate to vote down levels like these if they excel with respect to other qualities that provide a quality experience for first-time players - just because we died a few times?


<span style="background-color:transparent">I’m going to go into further detail about the universal qualities that made CC1’s most well-received levels of all gameplay types and difficulties fun in the third and final entry in this series, but for now, I urge you to consider what characterized CC1’s most accessible difficult levels before pronouncing a CCLP1 candidate “CCLP3-ish.” Note how CC1’s difficult levels typically exhibit one quality that defines why they’re difficult but dial down the other qualities that could theoretically make the level needlessly hard if they were dialed Up to Eleven. If a level is long and contains a linear (but not unforgivingly linear!) structure (Mixed Nuts), then the challenges are usually accessible, self-contained, and allow for some room for error. If a level contains a very,
<span style="background-color:transparent">very
<span style="background-color:transparent">challenging puzzle that requires significant brainpower (Totally Unfair), then the level typically goes no further and refrains from adding additional types of puzzles into the mix. If a level has the potential to involve skill and speed (Underground), then it’s usually open, non-linear, and short.


<span style="background-color:transparent">Chip’s Challenge is an inherently complex game. Sometimes it’s easy to forget just how complex it is when we design levels. But when we play complex levels, the ones that are built with the intention of bringing order to that complexity are the ones that usually have the potential to be the most well-received.

Attached Files

  blog-0754190001377033959.png (Size: 16.34 KB / Downloads: 231)

So we are just about to the end of releasing the voting packs. Voting will remain open for a while, but seriously, will anyone vote after Halloween?

So, the next piece of this puzzle is to narrow down the levels to a couple hundred. Then the staff will duel with swords to determine what makes it in and what doesn't. Okay, pistols at 50 paces.

Honestly, we have a big task in front of us. We want something with decent lesson levels, a nice, reasonable difficulty curve (with occasional respite), and fun levels. But we also want to be sure this thing isn't too easy, either.

So, needless to say, this will lead to a lively debate internally. Those of you who aren't on staff -- first, thanks for reading my blog, and second, we'll try to keep you all out of it. Sometimes we get intense defending what we believe in. And fortunately for the set, we don't all agree with each other.

For example, I like mazes. But I don't like invisible walls --- AT ALL. So when there's an invisible wall maze showing up I may not like it, but if the rest of the staff does it will probably get in. As long as we get a good variety of fun levels that's what really counts.

So, let's finish up voting and start the hard work, shall we?

This would be a forum game... If it wasn't that it moreso focused on levelset things. Basically, this is a small game where we estimate when CCLP4 is beginning it's creation. You can set these (all but one are optional)

• Year (needed)
  
• Month
  
• Week
  
• Day
  

I am just gonna vent somewhat, and this isn't to anyone, but it's just how I feel.

I feel unloved on here. I really like CC, and wanna share it and talk with other people who do so, I put effort and time into levelsets, and try and also be me, but people kinda seem to rub off as disliking me for that. I might mention this whole "spamming" thing. Basically put, I am an avid and chatty person. I simply have a ton to say, and it gets overwhelming when you want to talk, but can't in fear of getting a few warning points for accidental "spam". It's kind of just making me feel unwelcomed. I know you guys may be OK with me, but you know and have to point out my flaws, but it's just kinda making me feel unwelcome. It's OK, no hard feelings, but it's just I feel unloved here, even if I am a chipster.

But hey, you guys are what keep me going with CC! You made me interested in getting and playing CC, and even try and make levels for CC. I can't thank you enough, even if at times I feel unwelcome like this. I really wanna thank all you guys!

P.S.: No, this is not my "quitting" moment. I just needed to say this. With that, I have beaten Nuts and Bolts a bit ago. But that's another story I may post soon (but not too soon).

Onto Brushfire, my mostly-friends!

This is the official discussion thread for CCLP1 voting's Violin Pack. Feel free to share your thoughts, opinions, and comments on the levels here!