Vermillion Pack - Discussion

[jbdude55]

Some of my thoughts on a few of the levels from the Vermillion Pack. I found this a really hard pack to rate in general as I found there to be so many good levels - I'd vote one level, say, a 5, then play a similar level that was even better and think, "Wait, this should be a 5." Good stuff.

Without further ado...


#3 (Progress Bar) - This level stumped me at first but was an absolute wonder to solve once the order of block extraction was worked out. The sokoban isn't the most lenient, but with only ten blocks in total to maneuver, it's not too much effort to restart after a mistake. Nice high time limit too, which allows for plenty of thinking space.

#8 (Thief Street) - I remembered this level from its original set, and was just as much fun to solve this time around. A compact, clever, itemswapper.

#11 (Pole Position) - A cute little level with a simple but fun concept of moving tanks through a maze that was just the right length. It might have been nice to have separate maze for the north and south sections, say, to add a bit of variety.

#13 (Busted?) - I found this one surprisingly tough, to be honest. Several times I thought I'd sussed it only to be a chip short, needing a different boot or a key spare, etc. Thankfully there are only two options on how to use the red and yellow keys, but not realizing you've cooked the level until five minutes later was a bit of a downer.

#14 (Production Line) - This level was just brilliant. A great concept, well-executed and plenty of variety. The generous interval between block cloning allows the level to be taken at a sensible pace without forcing too many player mistakes, and the pre-clone "warning click" is a really thoughtful touch that ensures beginner accessibility. One of my favourites so far. On a side note, I was curious to see how the cloning mechanism worked after completing the level, and can I just say, the clock is beautiful. A beginner probably wouldn't see this, but I wanted to mention it nonetheless. (:

#22 (Thief, You've Taken All That Was Me) - I've seen a lot of people on here putting this in their dream "Secret Level List" for levels 145-149, and I can see why. I was expecting a challenge and I was not disappointed! The puzzles are reasonably varied and interesting, and the level allows for detailed investigation of puzzles before they are tackled, which is most welcome given the relative stricness of the puzzles themselves. This really is "put-it-in-the-140s" or bust, depending on what kind of levels are in the rest of CCLP1 to prepare new players for a test like this.

#27 (Flowchart) - I get the feeling there's something on this one I'm not quite getting. It's not a bad concept, but it just seems a bit... Messy. From start to finish I had no idea what I was supposed to be doing or where I was supposed to be going, and I just can't rate it that highly for that reason.

#29 (Be Quick About It, Man!!) - A fun chase level with several paths to choose and plenty of neat monster interactions. I had a least one key to spare at the exit, so I guess reasonably beginner accessible as well.

#32 (Checkmate?) - Very easy to miss the one safe spot in the first fireball cloning room, and also to forget to go back and use the yellow key to block the blue button and open the path to the exit. While these are annoying and could be made a bit clearer, they don't detract from the level too much.

#41 (Spumoni) - I loved attention to detail in this level - since you have various combinations of equipment, the paths through the central maze are different every time, and you can't simply blast through by brute force. Simple concept, well-designed, fun, and beautiful aesthetics. Top stuff.

#45 (Yeti) - Looks intimidating, but not too difficult with patience and a bit of logic. Not too much slide delay in MS, which would be a major downfall. The south room is great fun watching blocks whizz around doing their own thing. Also, the clone room in the NE is hilarious. I had a "What does this button do?" moment, and promptly fell off my chair laughing. Excellent (:

#46 (The Elements) - A good ELEMENTARY-style early set level with plenty of simple, fun challenges and lots of variety.

#49 (Frog in a Well) - This. Just this.



On a minor side note, the hints for levels #44 (The Big Apple) and #50 (Lesson 3) are too long to display in the MS window, so just show up blank.