AndrewR1 feedback and discussion

[andyrkki]

Hi Andrew, nice to see you around again. Here's some feedback on your levels.

What's this? No... it can't be... someone has actually decided to review my levels!?


Before I address this, I should note that most of the levels in this set date back many years, so when I say I don't like something myself, you might find yourself wondering why I, as the level designer, haven't changed it, but as a rule I don't like changing levels entirely as opposed to simply creating new ones. (I view doing so as a sort of creative destruction, if you will.) That said, minor and sometimes even medium-level changes can be acceptable, even to a level made a long time ago, if they don't make the map unrecognizable.

1 - Welcoming

I thought this was a fine level. My favorite part was using the block to stop the pink ball.

This is actually one of my least favourite levels in the set overall. I particularly dislike that something like half the level is a hidden wall maze, as well as how disjointed the level seems in general, lacking the themes that characterize many of the later ones.

2 - Taking

I thought this might get a bit monotonous, but the structure of the rooms made it more interesting than I thought at first. Still, I might have preferred a little more variety.

Not much to say about this one, except that I find my design at the end to be rather more creative than the CC1 version.

3 - Jumping

The timing on this was just right. The tension was palpable.

Short and sweet, that's how I like many of my levels. This particular one is quite decent in that regard, although it's not the best at map aesthetics.

4 - Going

I enjoyed this one too. I liked the length of the level and the concept of returning the way you came (though I've seen that before, it hasn't been overdone).

I find this level to be a poor man's version of the CCLP2 one. Indeed, my original rationale for creating it was noting how much I enjoyed that one and wanting a similar level in my own set, but I don't think I got it to nearly the same quality bar.

5 - Thinking

I don't like puzzles like this. Would have been slightly better without Chip being so close to the border but still not seeing the Teeth.

A pretty standard hidden teeth puzzle here. I suppose a bit more freedom to explore the map might indeed have made it more interesting, but that would make it even more similar to a certain level in CC1.

6 - Transporting

In Lynx at least, the balls collide and make this much harder than it should be. In MS, this is better, but still the waiting is a bit pre-determined and if I missed I cycle I felt I needed to get lucky not to die. Basically, the solution felt forced. I would rather see the ice slides shorter and maybe be of the same length, the time limit longer, maybe more safe spots.

Sigh... I keep forgetting just how many of these early levels are based directly on CC1 or CCLP2. At least this one is only based on a portion of a level (from the latter set), not an entire one. It's also surprisingly difficult to do well, thus the issues you've pointed out.

7 - Forcing

I don't remember playing this one, so I'll call it average.

Yeah, I don't like this one either. At least it's not as forced as the next one... no, I don't actually think that's the reasoning behind the titles (IIRC it's actually based on a certain level title from CC1).

8 - Forcing II

This is one of those levels where I felt the designer stretched out the concept to fill the whole map. I don't want to walk around empty corridors for fun.

See previous for the most part. The one other thing I can say about both of these is that at least the maps aren't based on any other levels as far as I recall. As you can tell, though, originality isn't everything.

9 - Releasing

I like the concept but not the time limit. Otherwise there was enough space to do this reasonably.

As I've posted before (http://cczone.invisionzone.com/index.php?/topic/333-any-good-tips-for-the-140s-in-cc1/page-2&do=findComment&comment=11824), the CC1 level is my absolute favourite in the set (almost entirely due to having by far the highest replay value in CC1), so I simply had to make my own. Unlike the one from CCLP2 previously mentioned, I think this one actually turned out quite well, your point about the time limit notwithstanding.


So now I got a message from the forum software here: "You have posted more than the allowed number of quoted blocks of text"... really? Well, I guess I can't really discuss more than 10 levels at a time, since I'm not getting rid of the quotes... actually, I think I might as well wait for a bit to see if you have anything to add before continuing with the next batch.