February 2013 Time Trial - a creative revisit

[M11k4]

So what did I do last weekend? I played these two cool levels! Now I want to share them with you too!

http://cczone.invisionzone.com/index.php?/files/file/200-ccz-tt-1302ccl/

I could wait till we get last month's results, but couldn't think of any other reason to not already post these since the month has already begun. There are two levels this month (levels #2 and #3 in the set), and they might be familiar ones if you have been keeping track of the create competitions. Both of these levels were submitted last year for a create competition, but I thought they would work well also as TT levels. The first one is actually one of my own making, from a year ago for the volcano themed January competition. The second one was made by Ben Hornlitz for the September competition and is used here again with his kind permission. Though the second one also received a minor edit, my level had a bit more work done to it, so please use the versions provided here.

If you know the routine, that's all you need to know. Enjoy!

Here are more details if you need them:

1) The person with the highest combined remaining time on the levels #2- #3 wins! Once again you may enter in either Lynx or MS, with the latter being the primary rules (meaning that any lynx solution times that exceed the best MS solution time will be considered equal to that MS time, but otherwise all the times will be compared together in one category). Ties in overall score won't be broken.

2) Please send your solutions (either the tws file or avis) to me at valeosote at hotmail dot com. Do not post your solutions or solution times or share them with others. All times will be published at the same time, and the quickest solutions will eventually be released.

3) The levels shouldn't be too hard to solve. Don't be afraid to send in your solutions even if you sense they aren't perfect, and simple casual solutions are also appreciated. To give an idea of how long it might take to solve the levels, the optimal solution for the first level does not exceed one minute, and the second one can be done in about two to three minutes.

4) This is part of the new 2013 season of the Chip Cup. Winner will be awarded 15 points, second place 12 and so on. If you win a competition here for the first time, you receive the "You're Winner!" award. All participants who haven't participated in a time trial earlier receive the "Run, Chip, Run" award.

5) Submission deadline is at the end of the month. In practice this means I will post here during the first week of March announcing that no more submissions will be accepted, and judge the competition right then. This can happen sooner than you hope, so get your solutions in early rather than later! You can send in improvements while the competitions is running, so there is no downside to sending in something you know might not be your best effort if you had forever to work on it.



Report any problems or ask any questions here! Have fun!

-Miika

[Flareon350]

A quick question regarding joining in on this, as it would be my first time in a time trial competition.

Can you do it in MSCC? Or does it have to be in TW2 only? I don't have access to TW2 at this time.

[M11k4]

A quick question regarding joining in on this, as it would be my first time in a time trial competition.

Can you do it in MSCC? Or does it have to be in TW2 only? I don't have access to TW2 at this time.

Definitely MSCC is allowed. Just record your solutions to an avi. If doing that or using tws files is unfamiliar to anyone, please just ask and we'll gladly help out. I guess if the level was a maze I'd almost accept a drawing of the route as a solution too

-Miika

[Flareon350]

Okay good

[M11k4]

As the first submissions are starting to come in, I wanted to share some thoughts on the design of the levels.

Volcanic Island


Nobody likes a time trial level where the best solution is too easy to find. A close relative of this is a level where the best route is planned by the designer, and all it takes is to find what was intended. Volcanic Island
is exactly this sort of level, so why did I want to use it for a time trial?

So last year we had a create competition with the requirement to "have at least three distinct alternate solutions" and some extra points for a volcanic theme (and including a walker). While others latched on to the extra credits, I started wondering why a level should need several solutions, and I came up with three answers that I tried to incorporate in my level. First, the solutions could be of varying difficulty. Second, the solutions could take different amounts of time to complete. Third, the solutions could use elements that can otherwise be annoying to face, but can be avoided here since you can simply try another method. The first two ideas have good synergy, allowing me to make the easiest solution the slowest and the more difficult ones quicker. The third idea led me to think of blue wall mazes, teeth leading, and complex pink ball dodging as the three distinct areas of the map. In addition to those, you'll also find some alternate ways to complete each section. (Though looking at the level now, not all the sections are necessarily solvable in multiple ways in both MS and Lynx.) I also supperficially added a volcano to the name of the level and avoided last place in the competition.

Looking back at last year's create levels, I think this one was a fine first level in a time trial, as long as there is another level to accompany it. I'll be interested to see which solutions are submitted, so don't hesitate to send in more than one for my enjoyment.

<a class="ipsAttachLink ipsAttachLink_image" href="<fileStore.core_Attachment>/monthly_02_2013/post-19-0-27808100-1360758304.jpg" data-fileid="3">[img]<fileStore.core_Attachment>/monthly_02_2013/post-19-0-27808100-1360758304_thumb.jpg[/img]</a>



From the Inside Out


This level was made by Benjamin F. Hornlitzein. It won the September 2012 Create Competition and can be solved in more ways than the first level. The requirement was to "create a new level with a puzzle that has two phases". Clearly here you first have to carve out a path for the monsters to reach the bombs which are guarding the chips, and only after you've gotten all of them can you come back in and exit. The symmetry in the level really gives it a memorable feel. The level is not too easy to complete, but if you work on it a corner at a time, a solution should present itself. Use intersections wisely and don't clear too much dirt. If you get stuck, try switching which monsters go to which corners. One small change that was made to this release, was that a couple sockets were edited to be pop-up walls instead, so if your solution failed to work, you could still go back in to analyze what might have gone wrong. This is the level that will separate who is who in the time trial!

<a class="ipsAttachLink ipsAttachLink_image" href="<fileStore.core_Attachment>/monthly_02_2013/post-19-0-03647100-1360758724.jpg" data-fileid="4">[img]<fileStore.core_Attachment>/monthly_02_2013/post-19-0-03647100-1360758724_thumb.jpg[/img]</a>

One more quick note about the scoring of the competition. If there is a tie after adjusting several Lynx solutions to equal the highest MS solution, I might consider the lynx scores as a tie breaker. In any case I'll try to be as fair as possible, while not forcing everyone to play in both MS and Lynx, and yet allowing both to be used if wished. Ok, I'll stop now and let you guys play the levels

-Miika

[random 8]

What's the purpose of the attachments?

[#10171] You do not have permission to view this attachment.

[tensorpudding]

The first one is too annoying to do quickly (teeth baiting like that is just not something I'm any good at, and the pink ball room stumped me), but the second one was a lot of fun to optimize so I got a pretty decent time on it.

[M11k4]

Ok, so the month is soon over and this competition is on its last stretch! If you haven't gotten your entries in, get on it now! If you already have sent in your solutions, this is your chance to go back and squeeze some extra seconds out of the levels. So far I have been impressed by what people have submitted.

I came here to announce the closing time for the competition. It is a week from this moment, since that's when I'll have time to announce the results too. This gives everyone the weekend to still look over the levels, and at the start of next week you can tune in for the results. I'll also start the new TT at the same time, so be sure not to miss out on that! I've worked pretty hard on next month's levels, so I can't wait to let you guys to try them out!!

Have a good one

-Miika

[jblewis]

For clarification's sake: March 4 is the deadline?

[M11k4]

For clarification's sake: March 4 is the deadline?

Yes. At about 8 am GMT, so not quite midnight across the pond on Sunday night. Ok, I might wait till midnight but it might depend on how much activity is in the chat or something