01-Aug-2012, 10:49 AM
Having played the relatively old TomP1 and TomP2, I was waiting to see how your designs had evolved since then, with of course having also seen some great time trial levels of yours. I now have played through fifty of the levels, and given up on ten (for now), and not having the time to really try the other ten (39-42,55-58,69-70). Most of the levels were not too great, but there were some that really stood out as terrible, I mean good :-)
Some level by level comments:
#1 (All Bit Busters Go To Heaven) - I don't understand why you start a set with something this confusing, even if it's just a compilation set. Had I only played this level, I would not have wanted to continue onto the next one. It's too hard to keep track of where Chip can go and how the gliders release and where they end up. Even looking at a map, I didn't yet complete this level but moved onto others I liked more. Then again, Icey just said he liked the level, so what do I know?
#2 (Courtyard) - This felt familiar from before. Nothing that makes it stand out while playing, but looking at the map it seems there's perhaps more to the level than I first realized. Not one of my favorite anyway.
#4 (Runaway Train) - A cool looking and sounding level, which is rare. Would like it more if there was less of the back and forth. Definitely the three bugs move quite annoyingly without a clear pattern in lynx, so would suggest removing at least one. The blob room is just the right shape. Don't like the bomb under a block, as it would just be clearer to have walls here.
#5 (Rainbow Door Key) - One of the blue keys is erased in lynx (bug moves before ff forces it forward). Still solvable, but unequal. Otherwise I find this too difficult to clearly see what you're supposed to do, as most locks tell you what you get only after they are already opened. This means there are too many ways to cook the level, even if there are many actual ways to do it right too.
#6 (Snipers) - Really had fun on this level! Would suggest removing the second half, as it was too straightforward in comparison and the level is enough with just the tricky teeth part. I like how the fireballs move at different speeds in the different columns and you can still always dodge them by going far enough and waiting for an opening, or just waiting for everything to calm down and then run out again. Please just keep the start and remove the other half.
#7 (Tightrope) - What a mess! And by that I mean it's very unclear on where you're supposed to run. Why all the buttons? And when you do stumble on the right path, then the level just ends. I didn't find a reason to really like this.
#8 (Center priority) - Sorry but didn't enjoy this either. After dying once in the middle, it's really just annoying to go through the first stages again. That should tell you that maybe it wasn't that fun at first either.
#9 (Green clear) - ok, so I like this more than Toggle Bust, but it's so similar that I still wouldn't want to see it in CCLP1. But it was nice otherwise.
#10 (Rock Band) - another one of those confusing objectives. And when I did solve it, it didn't feel like I had figured out anything particularly insightful. Perhaps there's some cool flavor here with the name and all, but just playing the level it didn't stand out.
#11 (Locked up) - I like well designed block pushing levels, but you have to understand those also take a deal of design work. It's easier to make levels like this that feel like a bunch of corridors with blocks and the right amount of water tiles to keep it solvable. There's no twist here! Too generic, so it's meant for someone not having anything to do for quarter of an hour, which is not supposed to be me.
#12 (Cold Fear) - On my first try I run into an invisible wall. Why should I try this level again? Will I spend another five minutes just to discover another annoying way to get stuck? And why is that supposed to be fun? I did come back and look in the editor to solve the level, but the magic was lost and nothing was there to bring it back. (And by the magic I mean the excitement of wondering if this level is a gem or something, but this time it just didn't work out.)
#17 (Bowling Alleys) - Looks nice but in the end there's not enough puzzle here with regards to the bowling. Would suggest having all the lanes as similar as possible, with just the target changing each time, which would make it more elegant.
#20 (Tanks Tango) - Maybe the second level I really like so far? It looks unique, isn't too simple, and has good replay value (I died a lot but wasn't annoyed). Is it too difficult for CCLP1? We'll see.
#21 (The Crazy Machine) - This level has a special place in my heart, as some years back when I was first getting into competative play, somehow this was one of the first levels I worked on by myself to optimize. (Check pieguy's site for record.) Back then spending three hours on a level seemed unbelievable! I still like the level, but wouldn't rate it high as is, since the random elements still are too much for optimizing. Any chance you could change the walker room at least?
#26 (Christmas Eve) - This ones nice. The teeth come at me a bit quick in lynx. The north-west corner is clever.
#27 (Chip of the Dead) - Too hard.
#29 (Pickpocket land) - slightly unequal, as the gliders (3+1) don't die in fire. Also quite hard to see what's needed without a map, but with a map it was quite enjoyable.
#31 (Future World) - Hopefully my future won't look like this. Even looking at the mad I couldn't see what I wanted to do here, so I left it unfinished.
#32 (Flooded) - Clever. There was much unneeded stuff though, which might be confusing.
#33 (Halloween) - The corridors were so long and the item swapping so tricky, that I skipped this untill I pulled out a map. Is that the kind of experience we really want for new players?
#34 (Funfair) - Again the item swapping forced me to go back and forth over long distances. This also makes optimizing the level that much less fun, as the overall plan for the level is mapped out by the designer and not the player.
#35 (Block Keepers) - Would be decent if it was half the size.
#36 (Flame Throwers) - I would call the cloning/teleport area unequal in lynx compared to ms; it's much easier to go through the teleports in ms, while in Lynx you'll most likely kill yourself. Also felt the same game play could have been squeezed into a smaller space with shorter corridors or something.
#37 (Adrenalin Rush) - One of those levels on which I just spent too much time. And I did quite before completing it. Seems too hard without a map. And very tight in lynx (without any boosting). Has anyone solved it in lynx?
#38 (Sleeping Dragon) - I liked this, and it's flavorable too! Well, it's not a masterpiece, but still quite fun I'd say.
#43 (There and Back) - I liked this too. Can't pinpoint why, but perhaps there just wasn't anything that annoyed me :-)
#44 (Freedom or Die) - I guess these are getting better, since this was another good one. See how the objective is clear at each stage? I never felt lost, but sometimes puzzled, which is good. Perhaps not having random monsters in the final room would be a small improvement, but otherwise would like to play this again.
#45-47 (old comp levels) - these are all great! Perhaps Chiptropolis isn't quite as great as the other two, but it's still quite fun. Chip Plank Galleon has a strong theme and is slightly different now that it's not a treasure hunter level. The Untitled one was liked way back when, though some of the block pushing in the east could be toned down (like removing some of the bombs).
#48 (Chip Alone) - This is a nice puzzle. A pair of puzzles actually, since both fireballs get their own side. The yellow key seems pointless, but I guess that's a designer's choice.
#49 (Heavenly Challenges) - Nothing wrong with this one. Having the water in the blue wall maze is nice, and that area isn't too large to begin with either to be annoying. Some decent puzzles as well. Thumbs up from me :-)
#51 (The Church) - And we're back to long corridors with item swapping. If it was just the concepts of the glider section with the block and the fireball section at the end, I might like this level a lot. As it is, there's a lot of walking inbetween actually doing something.
#52 (The Village) - slightly unequal, as you can put the block on the trap and then go free it by pressing the button yourself (the block slapping over fire has no effect). Not a terrible level, but would like to see better ones in CCLP1 unfortunately.
#53 (Route 101) - Yeah, this was nice, though I did like the next one more.
#54 (Route 280) - It's hard to say how difficult this level is, as in ms you can boost backwards to stop yourself and see what's ahead, while in lynx you can pause the game to do the same. Of course if you have good reflexes you can just go through flying! But can newish players do any of those, I wonder?
#59 (It's a Trap) - It was too hard to keep running around and avoid the teeth, while it was too easy to just go back and forth in the teleports. And, despite the name, there is no trap in the level ;-)
#60 (City Escape) - Too chaotic for my tastes. (didn't complete)
#61 (Ladder to Heaven) - I liked this one. What if it was enough to just go up on one side?
#62 (Boingy Balls) - Enjoyed this. The right amount of dodging with a couple places that made me think a bit. A nice touch with the exit being far from the socket; it felt right this time.
#63 (Boingy Balls II) - I enjoyed this maybe even more, but it is quite hard for new players. Didn't like the end that required me to think too fast (getting the last chip from the cloning room). Why not just make this part simpler and clearer, since the whole level is already quite complex? (Like having several traps there that a single ball would open in turn or something else more managable than what it is now.)
#64 (If You only Knew) - I like to play without a map as much as possible, and this just isn't a level I would ever like.
#65 (The Labyrinth) - Technically, a labyrinth has only a single path through as opposed to a maze. Didn't like guessing which red door to open. Maybe someone smarter than me could've observed on the ice slide and guessed that the red button activates a cloner or something, but that's asking a lot. At the very least I think the south-west teleport thing needs more room, as it usually kills you in lynx but not in ms when you don't step off.
#68 (Ice Trip) - As the last level I really played, I was happy to end on a high note. This is a nice mixture of movement and chip collecting with a bit of key, button, and footwear action. Not all levels with these ingredients work, but this one does. Maybe it's about not being in confined spaces, or stupidly killing myself at every turn, or just the simplicity of it all, but I like this level for what it is.
#70 (Final Destination) - You wouldn't seriously want to see this in CCLP1, would you?
So yeah, that's what you get for asking me about my opinions on your levels. Though there were some levels I don't want to revisit, I did enjoy most of the time I spent playing. Hopefully you aren't hurt by my bluntness at times, but can take it more as insight into how your levels are perceived by me. The ones I did like I am sure to keep in mind and hope to see them again in CCLP1!
Thanks Tom for these levels and even more so for this site that you keep running! See you around!
-Miika
Some level by level comments:
#1 (All Bit Busters Go To Heaven) - I don't understand why you start a set with something this confusing, even if it's just a compilation set. Had I only played this level, I would not have wanted to continue onto the next one. It's too hard to keep track of where Chip can go and how the gliders release and where they end up. Even looking at a map, I didn't yet complete this level but moved onto others I liked more. Then again, Icey just said he liked the level, so what do I know?
#2 (Courtyard) - This felt familiar from before. Nothing that makes it stand out while playing, but looking at the map it seems there's perhaps more to the level than I first realized. Not one of my favorite anyway.
#4 (Runaway Train) - A cool looking and sounding level, which is rare. Would like it more if there was less of the back and forth. Definitely the three bugs move quite annoyingly without a clear pattern in lynx, so would suggest removing at least one. The blob room is just the right shape. Don't like the bomb under a block, as it would just be clearer to have walls here.
#5 (Rainbow Door Key) - One of the blue keys is erased in lynx (bug moves before ff forces it forward). Still solvable, but unequal. Otherwise I find this too difficult to clearly see what you're supposed to do, as most locks tell you what you get only after they are already opened. This means there are too many ways to cook the level, even if there are many actual ways to do it right too.
#6 (Snipers) - Really had fun on this level! Would suggest removing the second half, as it was too straightforward in comparison and the level is enough with just the tricky teeth part. I like how the fireballs move at different speeds in the different columns and you can still always dodge them by going far enough and waiting for an opening, or just waiting for everything to calm down and then run out again. Please just keep the start and remove the other half.
#7 (Tightrope) - What a mess! And by that I mean it's very unclear on where you're supposed to run. Why all the buttons? And when you do stumble on the right path, then the level just ends. I didn't find a reason to really like this.
#8 (Center priority) - Sorry but didn't enjoy this either. After dying once in the middle, it's really just annoying to go through the first stages again. That should tell you that maybe it wasn't that fun at first either.
#9 (Green clear) - ok, so I like this more than Toggle Bust, but it's so similar that I still wouldn't want to see it in CCLP1. But it was nice otherwise.
#10 (Rock Band) - another one of those confusing objectives. And when I did solve it, it didn't feel like I had figured out anything particularly insightful. Perhaps there's some cool flavor here with the name and all, but just playing the level it didn't stand out.
#11 (Locked up) - I like well designed block pushing levels, but you have to understand those also take a deal of design work. It's easier to make levels like this that feel like a bunch of corridors with blocks and the right amount of water tiles to keep it solvable. There's no twist here! Too generic, so it's meant for someone not having anything to do for quarter of an hour, which is not supposed to be me.
#12 (Cold Fear) - On my first try I run into an invisible wall. Why should I try this level again? Will I spend another five minutes just to discover another annoying way to get stuck? And why is that supposed to be fun? I did come back and look in the editor to solve the level, but the magic was lost and nothing was there to bring it back. (And by the magic I mean the excitement of wondering if this level is a gem or something, but this time it just didn't work out.)
#17 (Bowling Alleys) - Looks nice but in the end there's not enough puzzle here with regards to the bowling. Would suggest having all the lanes as similar as possible, with just the target changing each time, which would make it more elegant.
#20 (Tanks Tango) - Maybe the second level I really like so far? It looks unique, isn't too simple, and has good replay value (I died a lot but wasn't annoyed). Is it too difficult for CCLP1? We'll see.
#21 (The Crazy Machine) - This level has a special place in my heart, as some years back when I was first getting into competative play, somehow this was one of the first levels I worked on by myself to optimize. (Check pieguy's site for record.) Back then spending three hours on a level seemed unbelievable! I still like the level, but wouldn't rate it high as is, since the random elements still are too much for optimizing. Any chance you could change the walker room at least?
#26 (Christmas Eve) - This ones nice. The teeth come at me a bit quick in lynx. The north-west corner is clever.
#27 (Chip of the Dead) - Too hard.
#29 (Pickpocket land) - slightly unequal, as the gliders (3+1) don't die in fire. Also quite hard to see what's needed without a map, but with a map it was quite enjoyable.
#31 (Future World) - Hopefully my future won't look like this. Even looking at the mad I couldn't see what I wanted to do here, so I left it unfinished.
#32 (Flooded) - Clever. There was much unneeded stuff though, which might be confusing.
#33 (Halloween) - The corridors were so long and the item swapping so tricky, that I skipped this untill I pulled out a map. Is that the kind of experience we really want for new players?
#34 (Funfair) - Again the item swapping forced me to go back and forth over long distances. This also makes optimizing the level that much less fun, as the overall plan for the level is mapped out by the designer and not the player.
#35 (Block Keepers) - Would be decent if it was half the size.
#36 (Flame Throwers) - I would call the cloning/teleport area unequal in lynx compared to ms; it's much easier to go through the teleports in ms, while in Lynx you'll most likely kill yourself. Also felt the same game play could have been squeezed into a smaller space with shorter corridors or something.
#37 (Adrenalin Rush) - One of those levels on which I just spent too much time. And I did quite before completing it. Seems too hard without a map. And very tight in lynx (without any boosting). Has anyone solved it in lynx?
#38 (Sleeping Dragon) - I liked this, and it's flavorable too! Well, it's not a masterpiece, but still quite fun I'd say.
#43 (There and Back) - I liked this too. Can't pinpoint why, but perhaps there just wasn't anything that annoyed me :-)
#44 (Freedom or Die) - I guess these are getting better, since this was another good one. See how the objective is clear at each stage? I never felt lost, but sometimes puzzled, which is good. Perhaps not having random monsters in the final room would be a small improvement, but otherwise would like to play this again.
#45-47 (old comp levels) - these are all great! Perhaps Chiptropolis isn't quite as great as the other two, but it's still quite fun. Chip Plank Galleon has a strong theme and is slightly different now that it's not a treasure hunter level. The Untitled one was liked way back when, though some of the block pushing in the east could be toned down (like removing some of the bombs).
#48 (Chip Alone) - This is a nice puzzle. A pair of puzzles actually, since both fireballs get their own side. The yellow key seems pointless, but I guess that's a designer's choice.
#49 (Heavenly Challenges) - Nothing wrong with this one. Having the water in the blue wall maze is nice, and that area isn't too large to begin with either to be annoying. Some decent puzzles as well. Thumbs up from me :-)
#51 (The Church) - And we're back to long corridors with item swapping. If it was just the concepts of the glider section with the block and the fireball section at the end, I might like this level a lot. As it is, there's a lot of walking inbetween actually doing something.
#52 (The Village) - slightly unequal, as you can put the block on the trap and then go free it by pressing the button yourself (the block slapping over fire has no effect). Not a terrible level, but would like to see better ones in CCLP1 unfortunately.
#53 (Route 101) - Yeah, this was nice, though I did like the next one more.
#54 (Route 280) - It's hard to say how difficult this level is, as in ms you can boost backwards to stop yourself and see what's ahead, while in lynx you can pause the game to do the same. Of course if you have good reflexes you can just go through flying! But can newish players do any of those, I wonder?
#59 (It's a Trap) - It was too hard to keep running around and avoid the teeth, while it was too easy to just go back and forth in the teleports. And, despite the name, there is no trap in the level ;-)
#60 (City Escape) - Too chaotic for my tastes. (didn't complete)
#61 (Ladder to Heaven) - I liked this one. What if it was enough to just go up on one side?
#62 (Boingy Balls) - Enjoyed this. The right amount of dodging with a couple places that made me think a bit. A nice touch with the exit being far from the socket; it felt right this time.
#63 (Boingy Balls II) - I enjoyed this maybe even more, but it is quite hard for new players. Didn't like the end that required me to think too fast (getting the last chip from the cloning room). Why not just make this part simpler and clearer, since the whole level is already quite complex? (Like having several traps there that a single ball would open in turn or something else more managable than what it is now.)
#64 (If You only Knew) - I like to play without a map as much as possible, and this just isn't a level I would ever like.
#65 (The Labyrinth) - Technically, a labyrinth has only a single path through as opposed to a maze. Didn't like guessing which red door to open. Maybe someone smarter than me could've observed on the ice slide and guessed that the red button activates a cloner or something, but that's asking a lot. At the very least I think the south-west teleport thing needs more room, as it usually kills you in lynx but not in ms when you don't step off.
#68 (Ice Trip) - As the last level I really played, I was happy to end on a high note. This is a nice mixture of movement and chip collecting with a bit of key, button, and footwear action. Not all levels with these ingredients work, but this one does. Maybe it's about not being in confined spaces, or stupidly killing myself at every turn, or just the simplicity of it all, but I like this level for what it is.
#70 (Final Destination) - You wouldn't seriously want to see this in CCLP1, would you?
So yeah, that's what you get for asking me about my opinions on your levels. Though there were some levels I don't want to revisit, I did enjoy most of the time I spent playing. Hopefully you aren't hurt by my bluntness at times, but can take it more as insight into how your levels are perceived by me. The ones I did like I am sure to keep in mind and hope to see them again in CCLP1!
Thanks Tom for these levels and even more so for this site that you keep running! See you around!
-Miika