Download the levels in question so you can play them yourself!
http://cczone.invisionzone.com/index.php?/files/file/624-may-2017-create-entries-simply-amaze-ing/
With that out of the way, onto the results!
[Click to Show Content]
(9th) The Island - rubenspaans (CC1)
There's nothing inherently wrong with a simple pathing level like this, but it lacked anything to really stand out in this group to me. I did enjoy this level and the asymmetry in the ice area, as well as the "dirt" maze were nice touches. That this is last really speaks to the quality of the submissions more than anything else.
[Click to Show Content]
(8th) Find the Exit - IceyLava108 (CC1)
Anyone who watched my Josh-CCLP4 LP knows that there are few design tropes I hate more than blue/hidden/invisible walls next to deadly obstacles. This level features a small blue wall maze with ice (a common thread in these mazes) and... deadly obstacles. And yet, this maze took my expectations of pain and suffering of rushing through a 50 second time limit and made the level... actually kind of enjoyable. I think I enjoyed The Island more than this, slightly, but I'm ranking Find the Exit 8th for what it managed to accomplish.
[Click to Show Content]
(7th) TO MAZE OR NOT TO MAZE - MyDisplayName (CC2)
So. This is my mother. She entered three levels- I'll talk about the other two briefly first. CHIP & MELINDA - THE A-MAZING DUO reminded me a lot of Steam from the original game, in that there are two overlaid mazes with preset crossing points. However, the low time limit combined with having to parse male/female signs forced me to mark it down significantly. You shouldn't need a custom tileset to be able to complete a level! THE KEYS TO UNLOCK A MAZE has nothing technically wrong- it's just a path with some offshoots for red keys with no extras, and gave a very Jungle vibe. It still wasn't all that interesting to play and I have a narrow preference for yet another level with too long of a title. A transmogrifier, railroad and area button sections were the high points, with the low points being a recessed wall "puzzle" and a blue/green wall section with one fake per color. I also had to backtrack a lot, and managing backtracking is a crucial part of maze design. The prior two entries were of the "collect items on the way to the exit" and "get to the exit" varieties, and this is the first "go out and collect" maze on the list.
[Click to Show Content]
(6th) I'm a Maze(d)! - "PASTA!" (CC1)
I don't have much to say here- it's a collection of 9 rooms with mazelike themes, and each one uses a different element. I liked the key/lock room and ice room the best, especially the ice maze that looks more complex than it is. I didn't like the teleport room (too long) or the force floor room (too strict to reach suction boots). I still enjoyed playing this level and ranking this competition has been by the slimmest of margins. My youngest sister's other entry, Get Lost!, is just a wall maze with some red keys and chips. Ordinary.
[Click to Show Content]
(5th) A Fractal Maze - M11k4 (CC1)
Ouch! I really, really liked this level and it pains me to rank this low, but... the mechanism is broken. The gimmick is that you have to navigate an ice and thin wall maze, pressing toggle and tank buttons the same amount of times (but no more than twelve). Blocks that bounce back on ice enforce this, and this was such a cool concept with great execution- the maze is just complex enough to not be fully understood while playing but just simple enough to not be hopelessly lost... but if you've pressed both buttons 4 times, then hitting the fireball cloning button will partial post one ball ahead, desynchronizing them. I avoided this issue by pressing more buttons myself, but this still cripples the level to me as solving the puzzle optimally arbitrarily doesn't work. I did love how this level made traversing the same path feel like progress, though. I think this would have won had the mechanism worked properly- it'd have made my decision quite difficult is for sure. The simpler version, A Simple Fractal Maze, replaces the thin walls with blue walls. I don't think this is a good use of blue walls- you need to see and understand the layout and blue walls obfuscate that.
[Click to Show Content]
(4th) Topiary - RB3ProKeys (CC1)
I don't have much to say here, either. You walk around a green lock+gravel field picking up chips and items from every dead end. What keeps this from being tedious is that there are many smaller loops throughout the structure- I very much appreciate this! You may have to go everywhere, but this is a classic maze done right. Loops are a great way to cut down on backtracking in a maze, and something underused in contemporary CC design these days.
[Click to Show Content]
(3rd) ICE MAIDEN - H2O (CC2)
H2O submitted 10 levels, of which 8 were mazes. I liked 4 and disliked 4, so let's copy the notes for my dislikes.
<div class="ipsSpoiler" data-ipsspoiler>
<div class="ipsSpoiler_header">
Keeping Track (cool railroad maze, I liked it until I realized the glider was needed and pushing one "extra" block cooked the level)
Chip Away (nice concept of one way passages with pink buttons and walls, ruined by extra steps and hidden puzzle)
Come Together (felt like puzzle in hallways- see Twisty Little Passages. Too much hidden information, such as not wanting to pick up chips or needing the bowling ball at the end)
Stop the Clock (really nice concept absolutely ruined by too many gotchas and yellow teleports, turning the maze with 9 states + toggles/tanks into a puzzle akin to Rotation on steroids)
A common thread for these 4 levels is that they erred too far towards puzzle compared to maze, and had hidden gotcha moments late in a long level that would force replaying. Keeping Track in particular had a lot of potential- it really didn't need a boot dropping puzzle with the skates past the socket when it's entirely possible you won't have seen the socket/skates or exit/bomb yet by the time you see the glider, and won't have seen either by the time you see the "extra" block. Pushing that block early gives 100 points and a dirty screw, as the glider needs to bounce off of it. That said, I liked how each railroad section in Keeping Track felt distinct despite just being pieces of track on gravel.
And now for some brief comments on what I liked.
Hot Buttons (AN ACTUAL MAZE where 3 button presses allowed, 2 required. Basically ghetto Repair the Maze combined with Chip Be Steady)
In Low Water (thief+bribe maze where the dirt boots become extra at the end, a gotcha moment done right))Tori (screenwrap maze, really nicely done with a 5x5 introduction, a 7x7 with one wrap, and then a 9x9 to finish. Perfect scaling on the difficulty- basically Ryan's Continuum without the long ice slides as allowed by CC2)
Ice Maiden (small, confusing ice maze split across screen lines with a surprising way to reach the exit.)
[Click to Show Content]
(2nd) Transparent Blur - Flareon350 (CC1)
Here we have a force floor maze with thieves and some unreachable yellow keys, until all chips are collected. This is the only two phase maze I received and I had a lot of fun playing it. The only things holding it back from winning outright are the concept of the winner, and the second phase. Zipping around on the force floors with all the loops and retraversing as progress was fantastic... but the level lost its low after picking up the suction boots. As I mentioned onstream, there were just too many thieves forcing a specific angle of approach for each key and the exit. It really didn't need to be locked off, and less thieves to make more loops would have again, made my job very difficult.
[Click to Show Content]
(1st) TOTALLY RANDOM MAZE - 263739 (CC2)
And this is an amazing concept. You have random force floors adjacent to water in a strict, matriced pattern, but some bridges are out. There is one deathtrap that almost brought the ranking down (and likely would have, had 2nd or 5th been patched) but without the deathtrap, it'd be between this and Miika. As it stands- remembering "up right down left" as you navigate is actually really enjoyable, and it's scaled just right to not overstay its welcome. I'm a sucker for levels that have you remember extra information as you play (like Miika's and Rotation) and this does it so well. Congratulations to my brother for taking the win with a CC2 level that basically plays like Lynx!
So, here's the points breakdown.
[Click to Show Content]
263739: 15
Flareon350: 12
H2O: 10
RB3ProKeys: 8
M11k4: 6
"PASTA!": 5
MyDisplayName: 4
IceyLava108: 3
rubenspaans: 2
Thanks to all the entrants! I think that mixing CC1 and CC2 worked well here and hope future competitions continue attempting this. We need more CC2 levels!
