February 2017 Create Competition - Walls of CCLP1
#1
Were you expecting this? Four years and counting, did you spot the pattern? Slight smile

Your task is to pick a level from CCLP1 and use its arrangement of walls to create a new level. You can pick any level from the range #1-#149, then delete anything you want except for any walls, and finally rebuild it into a new level. If you wish, you can also pick another prominent tile in the level and replace it with some other tile exactly.

There's something extra fun about taking someone else's creation and turning it upside down to create something totally new. Or you can take your own creation and tweak it a bit, who knows? This restriction of using the same walls from a different level has proven to be a fun one. You don't need to take it too literally, but I'll notice if you don't. I will judge the submissions myself during March 2017 (or when I am done with CCLP4 voting).

I've said before that "I enjoy it when the new level takes the existing wall configuration and does something different with it than the original", but also keep in mind that the level should be fun first and clever second. But sometimes CC levels are clever enough to be fun. And there are many types of fun to be had in CCLP1. I don't know what I'm talking about. I'll just flip a coin to decide the winner, I guess. (And no, I did not do that last year, no matter what you might think of the results!)

In any case, carve out some time from your schedule, push back arbitrary (voting) deadlines if needed, and get to work! Tongue

Notes:

-Submissions are open through March 6th where you live!

-Do not make a overly difficult level. A moderate difficulty is fine but then it would be nice if it wasn't too long.
-The level must be solvable, but does not need to work in both MS and Lynx. You may even use invalid tiles if you wish.
-The level should preferably be new, and it would be nice if you didn't release it before I do. If you complain nicely, I'll listen.
-Please give the level a new name, time limit and set a new password. Don't forget!

-You may submit more than one entry, but please keep the levels distinct from each other. Your best two entries is recommended.
-Points may be deducted for late entries, but will be accepted until I judge the levels.

-Entrants receive the normal prizes: the "You're Winner!"-award, Chip Cup points, and "Tool Box"-award for first time entrants.
-Please ask about other unclear situations. You may also check the previous competitions if similar situations were already discussed.


Email and attach your submissions to valeosote at hotmail dot com. I will strive to reply with a confirmation that I have received your entry. I prefer if you use your username and this competition in the subject. Keep it short and simple, something like: "February Create - Zelda"


Everyone is welcome to join! Slight smile

-Miika
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#2
Template set. Sorry i'm over half a month late.
CCMiniLP, my CCLP1 submissions. Outdated, not recommended.
CCSignificantlyLargerLP, my CCLP4 submissions. More current than my main set.
Consistent Inconsistency (ongoing), my main CC1 custom set. (discussion)
RyanJ1.dat (ongoing), my main CC2 custom set. (discussion)
Mystery Project (unfinished) (previews)

YouTube | Twitch | Steam
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#3
Let's judge some levels!

I prefer releasing the levels at the same time as the results, and when I can I like giving some comments on the submissions. I don't always have the luxury of doing this and even this time it took me a week to type out these results. However, if you prefer to play the levels yourself first without knowing what I thought of them, I made that possible for you too this time. Just download this set with the levels in a random order and come back later for the comments:


http://cczone.invisionzone.com/index.php?/files/file/616-%7B?%7D/


Now onto the results, each one hidden in a spoiler tag. I do want to say that this competition was an embarrasment of riches; all the submissions were spectacular and in any other month maybe any one of these levels could have been crowned the winner. I did manage to wrangle out a ranking for all them in the end, and will always gladly hear how you disagree with my assessment Slight smile

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So there you have it. I hope you all survived my bashing of your creations, all of which I was still very happy to play. At the very least I'm sure you will enjoy playing the levels yourself because this batch of submissions was really one for the history books. Hopefully we'll have a new create competition starting again before spring is over, so keep your editors open and your coffee cups filled!

-Miika
P.S. Apparently I can't decide how to capitalize the monster names, blob vs Blob, glider vs Glider etc. And if I did capitalize them all, what about the other tile names like 'tank button' and 'trap'. Oh well, it is what it is.
P.P.S. Thanks to random 8 for all the template sets you've made over the years for these comps!
P.P.P.S. Just adding this sentence to reach a word count of three thousand words. I guess it still depends on exactly what counts as a word, but we're close enough now.

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#4
Awesome stuff! I'm pretty happy with my 3rd rank placement again Slight smile Really pleased to see my best entry was ranked 1st this time as well! I was quite happy with my entries so here are some comments/responses to each of mine:

-Frostbite Fortress

I was actually more impressed with myself using the wall layout for this, than the level itself honestly. The blue colored theme is nothing new to level design but I felt like it would have been a good theme to go for with the wall configuration. Your comment about the tank room is understandable and the reason it's so straightforward is mostly due to being located fairly late in the level. I didn't want to include a possibly to screw it up if it could be avoided, which it was. The mechanism was originally hidden but decided to make it visible to avoid unfairness towards players. Still I'm very satisfied with that room since it's not a concept I've seen before. Quite surprised it wasn't memorable but to each their own. Thumbs up The sokoban room was one of those "it just happens to work by random design) choice and I like it. It's actually an original composition too! The blue keys/locks in that room were last minute additions, to add a bit of flavor to the room. The other room I liked was the ice/water room with the blocks. I feel like that's a concept that can't be done properly in an open space, since the blocks need to be pushed in a specific way. Everything else in the level though is pretty bland and nothing special I admit, including the level title. I can agree to it's last place ranking.

-Slytherin Common Room

This one was a pretty random (no pun intended) wall pattern choice to use. Definitely wasn't one I ever thought I'd use but I do like the level I made out of this. Every once in a while as a designer, I feel like challenging myself to use a tile and/or monster that's generally disliked and use them in a way that doesn't feel stressful or mean to the player. I used blobs mostly due to the wall layout itself and I like mostly everything this level has going for it relating to them. Chasing scenes with cloning blobs isn't anything new, it's not a common choice in design but with the wall layout having a single spaced corridor, it was perfect to start the level with. The block pushing segment I really like too as that idea in a blob infested area is a concept I've actually liked. Of course me being me, I had to throw in a few "Compaction" parts to this as well. Slight smile and then there's the actual blob dodging section, while proud of it, I am aware it may be a bit cramped still. I'm glad I included a few gravel spots just in case because I originally didn't have them there. The red key placement for the "secret hint" was another last minute decision. Probably an unnecessary one but it's a fun challenge to get to!

-Warehouse of Lost Hopes and Dreams

Without a doubt my favorite of the entries and again am so happy that it was the highest ranked one. A lot of planning went into this levels design (and a lot of testing too!) and I absolutely love how everything falls into place, be the block placements, the part with the tank, etc. I was especially very detailed with how the level would look after solving, which you could argue that's not a good thing to focus on but it played out very well regardless. Tongue Believe it or not though, I wasn't thinking of aesthetics when first designing it, and this entire entry was a completely random idea that I designed after submitting the first two and it just happened to get 1st of the 3! In addition to all this, I was very careful in how I handled certain things under blocks, more so the items. Some people don't like hidden information (I myself don't like it when completely unfair) so I tried my best to make everything hidden under a block obvious. I'd like to say I was successful in doing so but I am the designer so I know where everything is. Tongue all the individual rooms that Exhibit Hall had originally were also very fun to make use of here. Another little personal challenge for me when making this was to make each of those rooms distinct from each other and focus on something different, such as the blue wall room, bug/fire room, etc. I am especially proud of the exiting portion of the level.

All in all, very fun levels to design and thank you to Miika for hosting this competition! If I could, I would put all these levels in JoshL6 replacing three other levels but it's a bit too late for that now Tongue
CC1
JoshL1 / JoshL2 / JoshL3 / JoshL4 / JoshL5 / JoshL6 / JoshL7 / WoCCLP3 / ???
JCCLP1 / JCCLP2 / JCCLP3 / JoshL0
JoshL / JCCLPRejects

Total: Too many but presumably over 1400

CC2
Flareon1 / Flareon2
FlareonRejects

Total: 75+

Flareon Flareon Flareon Flareon Flareon
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#5
I might as well post my thoughts on these levels since I completed them all today and the thoughts are still fresh. There may be spoilers in here if you haven't beaten the levels yet. Here are my rankings:

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It's too bad these levels couldn't be in the voting pool, because I'd love to see some of them in CCLP4, especially Sticky Controls and WoLHaD. Everyone really did awesome with this comp and I thank Miika for hosting it.

~Bowman
~Bowman
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#6
Thanks Josh and Bowman for your comments on the levels. I especially love hearing design stories or inspirations for levels because it's always a separate experience of creating a level and being someone who just plays the level, so there can be a very different perspectives on the same thing.

I'm sure we have enough great levels for CCLP4 as it is, and without these levels in the mix we are also building up a good pool of levels for the eventual CCZone.dat Slight smile
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