I have a level concept I cannot figure out how to build effectively. I have been able to get some individual components of the level to work, but never the whole.

The idea is a level which is composed of multiple compartments, completed one after another. But, if you take too long to complete each room or when you complete it and pass to the next room it floods with monsters. Each room has its own monster as its theme - one each for blobs, fireballs, gliders, walkers, teeth, spiders and bugs.

I could make individual rooms of this work, or even two or three together, but I could not build the level because I could not figure out how to make clocks small enough that don't eat all my trap and clone connections.

So i need a small, fast, reliable clock that works in either ruleset that does not use many trap or clone connections. Do you have any ideas?

Now, how is this my fault???

You can name and even link to the first level you ever created below. I realize there are many ways one can define that term, so tell us how you define it or how your level fits that term.

My first level that I drew in an editor is called Five by Five and I have not really released it, but there is a version of it in kidsfair.ccl level #49

https://forum.bitbusters.club/thread-887.html

The first level I released to the public was for the create competition of September 2010, called Class is in Session. The level was quite tricky and I would believe nobody else has ever solved it. Ask me about it if you want to see it. I think I should release an updated version of it at some point in the future, and a simplified version too.

What about you guys?

That's fair enough - like I said it's a perfectly good level, I just thought it would be better to prioritize "new" content. Everyone gets to put their two cents in though, and if the consensus is that it should be in, then it'll go in. It's good to see so many differing opinions on what makes separates a good level from a great one - it's indicative of the variety of levels in the voting pool, and also of the preferences of the community itself, which can only be a good thing. While in most people's books, bad levels are still bad levels, it's also interesting to here others' praise for levels I didn't like or didn't get, and vice versa.


On the subject of levels, I completed the Shampoo Pack last night, and these are some of my thoughts. I apologize to anyone if I'm ruining the levels for you by discussing them in here - if this is the case please do say and I'll tone it down, I won't be offended (:

Firstly, is #13 (Breaking into Fireball Lab) busted? My reasoning is as follows:
(1) The clone button next to the flippers produces fireballs that I think are designed to block the exit, but they end up drowning in the water anyway, which nullifies the challenge somewhat.
(2) There are two pairs of unconnected clone buttons at (12,13) and (14,8), and fireball clone machines at (12,14) and (14,14). I'm guessing the intended solution was to jam up these machines, preventing fireballs from cloning near the exit?
(3) Very minor: the hint mentions glider controls, but there are no gliders in the level, although this seems to reinforce point (2).

#25 (Teamwork) was a great little monster manipulation level that was long enough to be non-trivial, but not too long that it overdoes the concept.

I know it's been mentioned before in previous threads, but I'd like to reinforce/reiterate that #28 (Chip Suey) is an ideal CCLP1 candidate, and would work really well as a "review" level. There's a wide variety of challenges presented in an interesting and novel way, but the level also gives you plenty of breathing space to stop and work things out before rushing into them.

#30 (Tesla Coil - Part A) was a level that I found challenging, yet hugely entertaining. Watching the streams of fireballs in the southern section pass by each other was nothing short of mesmerizing, and I was quite sad when I had to shut them off! The only small criticism is that it's very easy to go through both teleport rooms first and get stuck because you haven't collected all the chips yet. Thankfully, this is quite near the beginning of the level, so it's not really a game-breaker for me.

#31 (Booster Shots) was another level I really enjoyed. While primarily a block-pushing exercise, there are also elements of monster manipulation and dodging to spice things up in between rooms. I also love that you can explore almost the whole level using the force floors, allowing the player to choose what order to do things in.

While an interesting level, I found #34 (Out of the Frying Pan) took far too much effort just to figure out what I was supposed to do. I spent hours pushing blocks randomly into teleports and deflecting fireballs with almost zero knowledge of what I was supposed to be doing, let alone why. It's just not a very intuitive level, so I can't vote it very high. Also, dodging fireballs in a 7x3 room with two blocks you cant trash, especially when the floor is also fire and the fireballs are hard to see was just mean.

Waiting around for 30 seconds at the beginning of #39 (Fwackoom) is really annoying, especially since once you're finally freed, you have to make a mad dash for a blue button to avoid cooking the level. On top of this, once you're past this point there's nothing more to the level than cloning some more fireballs and destroying some bombs...

Lastly, I'm so glad this set was rounded off by a level like #49 (Relic 2). The extra teeth monsters really add to the sense of urgency and make the level far more exciting. Running away from monsters, combined with the fast-paced nature of an ice puzzle, was incredibly enjoyable. Far from being annoyed when I found out most of the teeth were superfluous, I praise this level for two reasons:
(1) This level succeeds where so many others fail based on the simple concept of "more stuff does not necessarily equal a better level" - call it smoke and mirrors if you like, but this level achieves a lot by doing very little, and that has to be commended.
(2) This is the first level that has genuinely terrified me since VICTIM from CC1

To the Lipstick Pack!

File category: CC1 Levelsets

Fixed bust in this level for CCLP1 voting.

Attached Files

  overandback.ccl (Size: 421 bytes / Downloads: 366)

Maybe having a single thread for all 1500+ levels is a bit much, and it would still be better to have one per pack. Anyway, I haven't read the rest of this thread yet, but wanted to comment on a minor inequality and a bust. I played Giraffe first as it had the least downloads at the time.



#28 (Androidal) in ms you can boost backwards off the ff at (9,7). Not much of a difference, but still wanted to say something, and it's not hard to make it equal by adding another ff. Same kind of thing with #29 (Fibonacci) at (12,15), though that is even less significant. (Talking of which, that level (#29) really needs a higher time limit; it's currently five minutes and it take almost four minutes to play through even with familiarity of the level.)



#32 (Death Box) seems busted by just pushing a block onto the blue button. I earlier thought this was the intended solution, but now took a better look and there is a longer solution that was probably the intended one. I have a suggestion for how to fix this, but it comes with a stupid stipulation: if you implement my suggestion, I would appreciate it if you also kept the aesthetics of the mechanism intact (they are only visible in an editor anyway). Here's a picture of what I was thinking:





Note the monster order and the gravel under the other tank. Now if the tank button (19,22) is pressed with a block, the exit is still not reachable; however, if the socket is opened and the blue button there is pressed, the level works as before. This works in both ms and lynx. If the mechanism is hard to reconstruct from the picture, I can send an edited version of the level upon request.



So far have had quite a bit of fun playing! Am trying to play through one pack per week, and not forcing myself to finish every level if skipping one here and there is otherwise more efficient.



-Miika

Just finished playing through Flouncy - score one for finishing university and having needless amounts of free time .

Naturally I enjoyed #9 (Mini Puzzle II), but #7 (Dictator Blob), #13 (Sphinx), #14 (Freedom Or Die), #31 (Reverse Direction) and #50 (Lunar Spaceway) also all get top marks for me. With the exception for Reverse Direction, which reminded me a bit of SAMPLER from CC1, I loved how each of these levels appeared intimidating at first sight, but were actually deceptively simple, and I felt really pleased with myself for completing them. That's not to say they were easy or trivial to play - Lunar Spaceway especially took me a good while to work out what order things had to be done in.

A few other comments:

I found #35 (Chip Skate) a very interesting level. It's pointedly obvious what needs to be done to complete the level but that's where the kindness stops. It's so easy to get lost since everything looks the same and you spend so much time sliding. The numerous ice skates that arbitrarily litter the level with almost reckless abandon add to the challenge even further, since you have no idea which pair you should be trying to collect. I ended up making a map, since I wouldn't look in the editor if the level was in the finished article, and finally managed to work out where I was supposed to be going. For these reasons, I'm not sure whether I adore or despise this level, but it intrigued me nonetheless (:

Also, if anyone wants to tell me what the heck is going on in #39 (Circle gets the Square), I'd be most appreciative. I've played the level twice now and both times it just felt like an epic blur. I'm not quite sure what I did, but it worked!

Glad to see two of my better (in my opinion) levels in this pack. I won't name them to avoid bias (I'm assuming the whitelist has been taken down from public view?), but I hope they do well all the same. I'll tackle the Giraffe Pack tomorrow. Really pleased by the quality of the levels I've played so far!

I've just finished the Cardboard Pack, starting on the Flouncy Pack next. Loving the names (:

From Cardboard, I really enjoyed #3 (Around And Again), #21 (Upstream) and #28 (More Mini Puzzles). I also l thought #42 (Slide of 25 Trials) was pretty good, but I died a few too many times at the exact same point (annoyingly right before the last chip >_>) for me to really enjoy it.

Please note: all votes submitted via PMs or e-mail will be added to the total count once voting ends.

Total votes: 43,227

Progress toward at least 20 votes on each level: 131.23% - ACHIEVED!

Progress toward at least 25 votes on each level, based solely on MNoV/pack: 96.72%

Minimal number of votes (MNoV) on each pack so far:

Cardboard - 36
Flouncy - 31
Giraffe - 26
Shampoo - 31
Lipstick - 27
Tungsten - 27

<span style="color:rgb(0,128,0);">Eggplant - 26
Vermillion - 23
Popcorn - 27
Dragon - 29
Zephyr - 26
Helmet - 26
Baguette - 26
Roadcone - 25
Magma - 24
Omicron - 23
Asteroid - 27
Kimono - 24
Igloo - 22
Quartz - 22
Umbrella - 23
Yoga - 24
Necktie - 23
Wrench - 23
Jacuzzi - 24
Xylem - 23
Generic - 23
Bookshelf - 23
Parrot - 25

Violin - 25

Mushroom - 24

Shoehorn - 25

Entertainment - 25

Fellow Chipsters,

The next great chipping adventure is underway! After a stressful past 36 hours, the staff is pleased to open up the voting process for CCLP1 with our first four voting packs of 50 levels each. The levels are downloadable from CCZone and the Yahoo! group, but the voting will take place at CCZone. For the sake of voting integrity, you must be a registered member of CCZone to participate. Each voting poll for each pack is located in a separate thread under the "CCLP1 Voting" subforum, which is accessible from the main page. When you make your choices, you can submit and save them using the button at the bottom. You do not have to vote on every level on a poll at the same time; your votes will be saved, and you can see them upon revisiting the thread with the poll. In other words, you have the freedom to vote on some levels and return later to finish the rest or to change your votes. Important: be sure to turn on the default blue skin in order to see the polls. They will not be visible otherwise.

A few guidelines and notes about voting (which are also listed on each voting page):

- Please remember that the target audience for CCLP1 is comprised of people who have never played the game before. The best levels for this set are not necessarily the hardest or the most clever, though this set will have some difficult, but still fair, challenges.

- Try to evaluate a level as holistically as possible. Please consider criteria such as enjoyability, beginner accessibility, design quality, and overall appropriateness for a set that's designed to be a CC1 alternative when casting your vote.

- Try to play the levels as a beginner would play them - in other words, without the use of a map or other aid.

- Whether the level you're rating is easy or difficult, please consider it in the context of an appropriate position within the set based on difficulty. If the level you're playing would work as an introductory challenge or "lesson" level, then evaluate it as if it would be in that difficulty tier. We've tried to eliminate levels that are trivial, with a few exceptions that stood out from the norm, so for the purposes of CCLP1 voting, there should be no such thing as "too easy."

- Don't worry about time limits because we'll be ensuring that each level in the final product has adequate time, unless there's a really compelling reason to keep the amount low, and/or the level is obviously designed to be played with a low time limit. If either or both of the latter two is clearly the case, please rate the level taking the low time limit into account.

- Similarly, level titles are subject to change if the title in question is questionable, copies a level title from an existing CC1 or CCLP* level, or directly references an existing CC1 or CCLP* level (for instance, "Block Buster III"). For now, though, we have maintained the original titles for each level, although we have used normal capitalization on all of them for consistency's sake.

- For optimizers: please don't worry about levels with a heavy amount of luck required for a bold solution. Levels that involve a Blobnet-scale chance of reaching the exit with the highest possible time will most likely be untimed, though levels that involve mild randomness (such as Jumping Swarm and even Catacombs) will most likely be kept timed, all other factors notwithstanding.

- If you discover a bust in a level that we had not found, please report the bust to us and rate the level as if the bust did not exist. We'll make note of it, and if the level is inducted into CCLP1, it will be addressed.

- Most of all: have fun playing! We've certainly enjoyed testing these levels, and we hope you enjoy rating them! Please keep in mind that you have the ability to make this process move much more quickly if you vote; to put it simply, the more you play and the more participation we have, the more quickly the next wave of packs will be released, and by extension, the more quickly CCLP1 will be done!

- J.B. Lewis