17-Mar-2017, 5:54 PM
(This post was last modified: 17-Mar-2017, 6:00 PM by Flareon350.)
Awesome stuff! I'm pretty happy with my 3rd rank placement again 
Really pleased to see my best entry was ranked 1st this time as well! I was quite happy with my entries so here are some comments/responses to each of mine:
-Frostbite Fortress
I was actually more impressed with myself using the wall layout for this, than the level itself honestly. The blue colored theme is nothing new to level design but I felt like it would have been a good theme to go for with the wall configuration. Your comment about the tank room is understandable and the reason it's so straightforward is mostly due to being located fairly late in the level. I didn't want to include a possibly to screw it up if it could be avoided, which it was. The mechanism was originally hidden but decided to make it visible to avoid unfairness towards players. Still I'm very satisfied with that room since it's not a concept I've seen before. Quite surprised it wasn't memorable but to each their own.
The sokoban room was one of those "it just happens to work by random design) choice and I like it. It's actually an original composition too! The blue keys/locks in that room were last minute additions, to add a bit of flavor to the room. The other room I liked was the ice/water room with the blocks. I feel like that's a concept that can't be done properly in an open space, since the blocks need to be pushed in a specific way. Everything else in the level though is pretty bland and nothing special I admit, including the level title. I can agree to it's last place ranking.
-Slytherin Common Room
This one was a pretty random (no pun intended) wall pattern choice to use. Definitely wasn't one I ever thought I'd use but I do like the level I made out of this. Every once in a while as a designer, I feel like challenging myself to use a tile and/or monster that's generally disliked and use them in a way that doesn't feel stressful or mean to the player. I used blobs mostly due to the wall layout itself and I like mostly everything this level has going for it relating to them. Chasing scenes with cloning blobs isn't anything new, it's not a common choice in design but with the wall layout having a single spaced corridor, it was perfect to start the level with. The block pushing segment I really like too as that idea in a blob infested area is a concept I've actually liked. Of course me being me, I had to throw in a few "Compaction" parts to this as well. and then there's the actual blob dodging section, while proud of it, I am aware it may be a bit cramped still. I'm glad I included a few gravel spots just in case because I originally didn't have them there. The red key placement for the "secret hint" was another last minute decision. Probably an unnecessary one but it's a fun challenge to get to!
-Warehouse of Lost Hopes and Dreams
Without a doubt my favorite of the entries and again am so happy that it was the highest ranked one. A lot of planning went into this levels design (and a lot of testing too!) and I absolutely love how everything falls into place, be the block placements, the part with the tank, etc. I was especially very detailed with how the level would look after solving, which you could argue that's not a good thing to focus on but it played out very well regardless.
Believe it or not though, I wasn't thinking of aesthetics when first designing it, and this entire entry was a completely random idea that I designed after submitting the first two and it just happened to get 1st of the 3! In addition to all this, I was very careful in how I handled certain things under blocks, more so the items. Some people don't like hidden information (I myself don't like it when completely unfair) so I tried my best to make everything hidden under a block obvious. I'd like to say I was successful in doing so but I am the designer so I know where everything is. all the individual rooms that Exhibit Hall had originally were also very fun to make use of here. Another little personal challenge for me when making this was to make each of those rooms distinct from each other and focus on something different, such as the blue wall room, bug/fire room, etc. I am especially proud of the exiting portion of the level.
All in all, very fun levels to design and thank you to Miika for hosting this competition! If I could, I would put all these levels in JoshL6 replacing three other levels but it's a bit too late for that now
Really pleased to see my best entry was ranked 1st this time as well! I was quite happy with my entries so here are some comments/responses to each of mine:-Frostbite Fortress
I was actually more impressed with myself using the wall layout for this, than the level itself honestly. The blue colored theme is nothing new to level design but I felt like it would have been a good theme to go for with the wall configuration. Your comment about the tank room is understandable and the reason it's so straightforward is mostly due to being located fairly late in the level. I didn't want to include a possibly to screw it up if it could be avoided, which it was. The mechanism was originally hidden but decided to make it visible to avoid unfairness towards players. Still I'm very satisfied with that room since it's not a concept I've seen before. Quite surprised it wasn't memorable but to each their own.
The sokoban room was one of those "it just happens to work by random design) choice and I like it. It's actually an original composition too! The blue keys/locks in that room were last minute additions, to add a bit of flavor to the room. The other room I liked was the ice/water room with the blocks. I feel like that's a concept that can't be done properly in an open space, since the blocks need to be pushed in a specific way. Everything else in the level though is pretty bland and nothing special I admit, including the level title. I can agree to it's last place ranking.-Slytherin Common Room
This one was a pretty random (no pun intended) wall pattern choice to use. Definitely wasn't one I ever thought I'd use but I do like the level I made out of this. Every once in a while as a designer, I feel like challenging myself to use a tile and/or monster that's generally disliked and use them in a way that doesn't feel stressful or mean to the player. I used blobs mostly due to the wall layout itself and I like mostly everything this level has going for it relating to them. Chasing scenes with cloning blobs isn't anything new, it's not a common choice in design but with the wall layout having a single spaced corridor, it was perfect to start the level with. The block pushing segment I really like too as that idea in a blob infested area is a concept I've actually liked. Of course me being me, I had to throw in a few "Compaction" parts to this as well.
and then there's the actual blob dodging section, while proud of it, I am aware it may be a bit cramped still. I'm glad I included a few gravel spots just in case because I originally didn't have them there. The red key placement for the "secret hint" was another last minute decision. Probably an unnecessary one but it's a fun challenge to get to!-Warehouse of Lost Hopes and Dreams
Without a doubt my favorite of the entries and again am so happy that it was the highest ranked one. A lot of planning went into this levels design (and a lot of testing too!) and I absolutely love how everything falls into place, be the block placements, the part with the tank, etc. I was especially very detailed with how the level would look after solving, which you could argue that's not a good thing to focus on but it played out very well regardless.
Believe it or not though, I wasn't thinking of aesthetics when first designing it, and this entire entry was a completely random idea that I designed after submitting the first two and it just happened to get 1st of the 3! In addition to all this, I was very careful in how I handled certain things under blocks, more so the items. Some people don't like hidden information (I myself don't like it when completely unfair) so I tried my best to make everything hidden under a block obvious. I'd like to say I was successful in doing so but I am the designer so I know where everything is. all the individual rooms that Exhibit Hall had originally were also very fun to make use of here. Another little personal challenge for me when making this was to make each of those rooms distinct from each other and focus on something different, such as the blue wall room, bug/fire room, etc. I am especially proud of the exiting portion of the level.All in all, very fun levels to design and thank you to Miika for hosting this competition! If I could, I would put all these levels in JoshL6 replacing three other levels but it's a bit too late for that now
