10-Dec-2012, 3:21 AM
I went with "Preferably yes", assuming that "solvable on the first try" means "solvable on the first try without guesswork". I definitely prefer both making and playing levels where you are given the chance to figure out what you have to do before you have to do it. Being able to make a level that is still challenging with that quality is definitely a tough but worthy design task!
I always find it kind of off-putting when a level forces you to make a bunch of irreversible decisions (drowning monsters, stepping on recessed walls/force floors, using blocks, unlocking doors, pressing red buttons when you don't know what they control) practically right from the get-go, and then you just have to go as far as you can and figure out which ones of the dozen or so decisions you made cooked the level *coughcoughOld
*. It's especially bad if the irreversible, unknowable decisions continue all the way through, and then you risk undoing 500 seconds of work unless you peek in the editor.
Still, there are some levels that require guesswork that I don't mind, namely those with short, strict time limits. In these levels (e.g. Shattered) guesswork is inherently required because you just don't have enough time to explore ahead before making decisions! But because the level length is small, there is little cost for wrong choices, and it's generally fun to figure out the most efficient ways to complete these levels!
On the other hand, because of Chip's limited eyesight, it's (probably) not possible to make puzzles as intricate as Old and the rest of CCLP3's endgame without necessitating some guesswork...but I still tend to like pure, fair logical levels better. They just seem to be more satisfying to solve.
I suppose an interesting side-question would be, if you find an intricate Old-style puzzle level that involves guesswork, how long do you try it before peeking in the editor (or do you never peek at all)?
I always find it kind of off-putting when a level forces you to make a bunch of irreversible decisions (drowning monsters, stepping on recessed walls/force floors, using blocks, unlocking doors, pressing red buttons when you don't know what they control) practically right from the get-go, and then you just have to go as far as you can and figure out which ones of the dozen or so decisions you made cooked the level *coughcoughOld
*. It's especially bad if the irreversible, unknowable decisions continue all the way through, and then you risk undoing 500 seconds of work unless you peek in the editor. Still, there are some levels that require guesswork that I don't mind, namely those with short, strict time limits. In these levels (e.g. Shattered) guesswork is inherently required because you just don't have enough time to explore ahead before making decisions! But because the level length is small, there is little cost for wrong choices, and it's generally fun to figure out the most efficient ways to complete these levels!
On the other hand, because of Chip's limited eyesight, it's (probably) not possible to make puzzles as intricate as Old
and the rest of CCLP3's endgame without necessitating some guesswork...but I still tend to like pure, fair logical levels better. They just seem to be more satisfying to solve.I suppose an interesting side-question would be, if you find an intricate Old
-style puzzle level that involves guesswork, how long do you try it before peeking in the editor (or do you never peek at all)?