13-Oct-2015, 5:15 PM
When we made CCLP3, we were faced with a choice between rulesets: the MS rules with which most of us were familiar, and the original Lynx rules newly re-introduced by Tile World. It was decided that the set would require submitted levels to be cross-compatible, I.E. able to be solved, in roughly the same way, in either ruleset. Many levels at the time had been made with MS rules in mind, and were definitely not compatible with Lynx rules. Designers had to edit levels, sometimes heavily, to make them Lynx-compatible and therefore eligible for submission. But it was felt that the benefits of being able to play the entire set in either ruleset were worth the extra work.
This is the same situation. We currently have a large pool of levels that are CC1-compatible, many of which could probably be made CC2-compatible with more or less editing. New members of the community are used to the new CC2 ruleset, but they could also enjoy many of the great level ideas which have already been implemented in CC1. Old community members deserve at least one more chance to see their awesome levels in an official community set, even if it might mean extra work for them to make those levels CC2-compatible.
This, then, is my suggestion: make one set drawing on the existing CC1 pool, and produce it in two packs formatted for the Tile World and CC2 engines, respectively. To enable the included levels to be converted to CC2, require that all submissions be made cross-compatible, just as we did with MS and Lynx for CCLP3. CC2 levels could also be submitted, as long as they are CC1-compatible (in particular, use CC1 boot-rules). The current relatively small pool of CC2-only levels can be drawn upon for a future set, once we have reduced the large existing CC1 pool. Thus we can provide a new CC2 set (CC2 is after all a quasi-superset of CC1) for newcomers, without wasting the ideas and efforts of veteran CC1 designers.
In other words, I think we need a blend of options 3 and 4. Forget about 'CCLP4' as a CC1-only set, and instead make it as a cross-compatible set, using a minimum of CC2 elements for compatibility. Meanwhile, save 'CC2LP1' for a later set that will allow all of the new elements in CC2, and use CC2 boot-rules.
This is the same situation. We currently have a large pool of levels that are CC1-compatible, many of which could probably be made CC2-compatible with more or less editing. New members of the community are used to the new CC2 ruleset, but they could also enjoy many of the great level ideas which have already been implemented in CC1. Old community members deserve at least one more chance to see their awesome levels in an official community set, even if it might mean extra work for them to make those levels CC2-compatible.
This, then, is my suggestion: make one set drawing on the existing CC1 pool, and produce it in two packs formatted for the Tile World and CC2 engines, respectively. To enable the included levels to be converted to CC2, require that all submissions be made cross-compatible, just as we did with MS and Lynx for CCLP3. CC2 levels could also be submitted, as long as they are CC1-compatible (in particular, use CC1 boot-rules). The current relatively small pool of CC2-only levels can be drawn upon for a future set, once we have reduced the large existing CC1 pool. Thus we can provide a new CC2 set (CC2 is after all a quasi-superset of CC1) for newcomers, without wasting the ideas and efforts of veteran CC1 designers.
In other words, I think we need a blend of options 3 and 4. Forget about 'CCLP4' as a CC1-only set, and instead make it as a cross-compatible set, using a minimum of CC2 elements for compatibility. Meanwhile, save 'CC2LP1' for a later set that will allow all of the new elements in CC2, and use CC2 boot-rules.