"Busy" levels

[BitBuster]

Anyone else generally turned off by these? I appreciate the idea of distractions and diversions ("Mouth Watering" is one of my favorite CCLP3 levels; actually, it's downright hilarious), but oftentimes cluttered levels are simply not very fun to play through. One of the things that made the original CC great (imvho) was that for as devilish as the puzzles sometimes got, they were almost always clean and elegant. You almost always had a general idea of what you were trying to accomplish (even if the specific way to do this required a bit more thought). In CCLP2 and a few levels in CCLP3, the approach seems to be "let's fill up the playing area with as much stuff as possible."

[AdrenalinDragon]

I like levels that focus on one puzzle or are designed like the original Chip's Challenge. Having to do alot of things to do in one level can be exhausting, but it depends on alot of things.

[geodave]

Too much stuff can be off-putting. Consider the Hillbilly levelsets.

[BitBuster]

Just to clarify, I'm not inherently opposed to levels with a lot of items, rooms, or puzzles in them. "Two Sets Of Rules" is brilliant, and levels like Complex and the Jumble trilogy are really good. It's something like Chip Alone that puts me off.



Lichenstein's a perfect example of a "clean" level that's also fiendish and deliciously fun to solve/play. There aren't any superfluous tiles in the level, but there are so many ways to go wrong.

[Green Kitten]

Hehe... guilty

I enjoy busy levels, especially with teeth chasing.

[AdrenalinDragon]

Just to clarify, I'm not inherently opposed to levels with a lot of items, rooms, or puzzles in them. "Two Sets Of Rules" is brilliant, and levels like Complex and the Jumble trilogy are really good. It's something like Chip Alone that puts me off.

Awww... I've got some bad news for you then. Chip Alone III is in the upcoming TomP4.

[BitBuster]

(Sorry, I didn't mean for this to get personal or anything! I just have really specific tastes in levels, I guess. )

[quiznos00]

Busy levels are fine, as long as they don't drift into the realm of being "awkward", that is, having a really inelegant solution with a lot of bumping, monster collisions and whatnot. This is the reason I don't really like Manic Depression and Jumble II.

[BitBuster]

I agree about Manic Depression; actually, that level's almost the opposite...it looks simple but then depends on a really ridiculous solution.

It's been a while since I played Jumble II, but I don't remember it being particularly inelegant.

[quiznos00]

I agree about Manic Depression; actually, that level's almost the opposite...it looks simple but then depends on a really ridiculous solution.

It's been a while since I played Jumble II, but I don't remember it being particularly inelegant.

The tank room is definitely the worst in Manic Depression, and the potential for pushing a block in the ice corner...

My problem for the most part in Jumble II are the aesthetics and the guesswork, though the fireball room and tank room I feel are way too cluttered. Maybe this level was a bad example...