Pulluxx's Levelset Feedback Thread (CC2)

[Pulluxx]

Download link

I'm just gonna put this up here too. I'm working on a levelset, my first, and I would greatly appreciate feedback, or just anyone testing it out! I'm gonna try to make a levelset where Melinda is the main character, so you will play her on most levels.

Levels notes:

[Click to Show Content]

1 I WAS A PRESCHOOL DROPOUT

An introductory level, introducing most of the new mechanics in CC2. But not designed as a lesson-type level, it's a bit hard in places.

2 MELINDA'S MODERN LIFE

This level started out as a level where pushing one ice block would affect the rest of the level. I kind of dropped the idea and made it into a simple puzzle to start with.

3 POLITICIAN HOUSE

A level where thieves everywhere decides what areas you can use what tools in.

4 LITTLE BO PEEP

I wanted to make a smaller, easy level early in the set. This level requires some knowledge of each room in order to proceed.

5 MO CHIPS MO PROBLEMS

A level wherein you have a finite supply of Chip characters that you can either choose to use, or send to goal immediately. More Chips used will make the level easier, but the ending more difficult.

6 SOOTHSAYING

A block-pushing puzzle in a blue maze where you have to use the new teleports to your best advantage. Fortunately, there is many hints as how to proceed.

7 EBENEZER

This is a level based on the Charles Dickens' novel. My ghost-level

8 A DAY AT THE POOL

A small, easier water-filled level where you have a finite supply of fins and must choose to play either Melinda or Chip for your limited amount of dips.

9 HAMSTER WHEEL

This is an old level I made, the only one from back then that I thought was good enough to fit in. It's a level which you have to run a certain amount of laps round. Updated for CC2.

10 SNOWBLIND

A shorter level with more random elements than I usually prefer. I'd like to think the duration makes up for it. Would like some opinions on that.

11 DOWN THE RABBIT HOLE

Another thematic level, this is the biggest of the levels so far, with many ways to solve it. Has some hard to get bonuses that I'm pretty satisfied with.

12 CLOCKWORK

A 'boss' level, which means a real hard puzzle to test your mettle so far. If the time on the clock runs out, a teeth will be cloned where Chip is.

13 PLAYGROUND

A seemingly simple sandbox-type level where you have to solve a problem with the two cloning machines you have available.

14 GREED

On this level, you will want as few chips as possible. One where you have to plan every move carefully. I wonder how difficult it is.

15 CAKE EATER

An easier and smaller puzzle, where I finally get around to using the speed boots properly.

16 LAUNDRY DAY

You will go for several laps around this level, trying to figure out how to get all chips.

17 SUSPENDED IN TIME

Take as much time as you like in the beginning to plan your moves, after that the clock is on.

18 CORPORATE SLOGAN

I wanted a level where Melinda's inability to walk on dirt and gravel made the player have to think a bit like a monster. Partly inspired by Socialist Action.

19 SOMETHING'S AFOOT

A mysterious level. Based on a Twilight Zone episode. One of my favorites in the set.

20 SKYSCRAPER ESCAPADES

I wanted to experiment and make a level which was only 3 tiles wide. After finding that to be not possible in the editor, it became a skyscraper!

21 THE MELINDA SEQUENCE

Inspired by two different CC1 levels (which ones I'm sure you can figure out). You can see all rooms from the beginning, all you need to do is figure out the 'sequence'.

22 GREAT EXPECTATIONS

This level has some hidden information, but it's not very difficult (in my opinion, would love to have more opinions on that).

23 BLOBPARTY

So I made a blob leve- wait, you begin with the helmet! I wanted to make a blob level that is more strategic, but blob haters are free to skip this one

24 KEMIT-CAL REACTION

In this level you will trade bowling balls for tank and toggle button hits. You can either play this level very safe or use some of your bowling balls for bonus points.

25 CARNIVAL

The idea for this level came from the image of the player in a conga line with a lot of teeth . I'm satisfied that there's a lot of different strategies to win this one.

26 EYE KNOW

I wanted to make a level where the secret eye is really useful. The shortest way to solve it takes luck, and to get the most bonuses you need a boatload of luck (or speed). But there are multiple other safer ways to solve it.

27 GAUNTLET

I'm not sure how challenging this level is, getting the bonuses can be a bit tricky.

28 SCIENCE FAIR PROJECT

An experimental level where you program fireballs to press buttons at selected intervals. Subconsciously, this became a homage to Perfect Match.

29 BARBECUE CHIPS

There is a simple solution and a clever solution to this level, getting the bonus will require the latter.

30 NON SEQUITUR

This level will require some outside the box thinking in order to solve.

[Joshua Bone]

Alright, this is a review of the 0.1 version since I'm losing access to CC2 for a while and won't have time to review the 0.2. Great levelset with a pretty high difficulty level. Favorites are MELINDA'S MODERN LIFE, POLITICIAN HOUSE, and MO' CHIPS MO' PROBLEMS.

Pulluxx

01 MELINDA’S MODERN LIFE
WONDERFUL level with a pretty steep learning curve! Thoroughly enjoyed it. Definitely requires you to think ahead with where to use your precious ice blocks. I didn't think it was a `simple puzzle' at all but it was really good!

02 LITTLE BO PEEP
Loved it! Didn’t need the blue key. Really enjoyed setting up the bomb room and leading the ants to their deaths.

03 POLITICIAN HOUSE
I love this one. It feels extremely loose and open-ended, very choose-your-own-adventure. I beat the level without needing the hook or the bribe, was that intended? I also didn't feel it was very much of an item-swapper, it was more about discovering a route to end up with enough tools to get everywhere I needed to.

04 MO’ CHIPS MO’ PROBLEMS
Fantastic and extremely difficult! I would up the time limit to 900, minimum. Even when I figured out what to do I ran out of time (next time I finished with 172 seconds, so it’s not awful). I love the concept, 100%. The puzzles are top notch, however I didn’t use the trap or red door in the main set of rooms or the bowling ball at upper left. Were those red herrings? Going through all that work and having blob dodging at the end is a bit demoralizing but I guess that’s part of the concept. I did it with 2 Chips (and I’m assuming that’s what it was designed for), and dodging 4 blobs wasn’t too bad, although I would have been livid if I’d screwed it up at that point, after already running out of time the previous run. Actually, one more suggestion: use pink buttons and wires for the traps. I got confused early on and opened the editor to figure out what some of the buttons were for, it would have been easier if I could trace them out. But excellent level, frustrating in a good way, I’m glad I put in the time to figure it out.

05 CORPORATE SLOGAN
I’m going to skip this one for now, maybe I’ll review it in the future .

06 EBENEZER
The first two puzzles are a lot of fun. I think I busted the third one though. Solved the level without using the doppelgänger at all, just used the ice block to bridge to the TNT (I had flippers), blew up the flamethrower and the dirt blocking the blue teleport, and returned to the top room. Used boots and blocks to circumvent the blue teeth and exited. I had a lot of fun with this level but I’m not sure I understand it. What did the hint mean? Why is there a green button?

07 THE CHIPS ARE GREENER
Solved it without using the doppelgänger clone machine or getting the brown boots. Felt busted. Solution: go through lower transmogrifier, become Chip, go through upper transmogrifier twice, collect 9 chips on left side, press tank button, push 3 ice blocks, collect ice cleats, go through lower transmogrifier, become Melinda, walk through the passageway the three ice blocks were in, collect 9 chips on right side, exit.

08 ILLUSIONIST’S MANSION
Sorry, but this is exactly the sort of level that I hate. Invisible walls everywhere, surprise deaths by mimics that make you afraid to push blocks, creatures with secret inventories, blue keys that get erased before you get there if you do things out of order. Don’t get me wrong, in one sense it’s incredibly well-designed, it’s just that imo it makes for a 100% unfair and not-fun player experience. Not completed

Great levelset. Lots of fun and puzzling. Thanks for the upload.

[Pulluxx]

Thank you very much Joshua for your feedback! I'm very happy to receive your in-depth feedback, since this is my first time doing this I'm keen on hearing what other designers have to say. I'm glad you took the time out both to try them and type in a response.

Alright, this is a review of the 0.1 version since I'm losing access to CC2 for a while and won't have time to review the 0.2. Great levelset with a pretty high difficulty level. Favorites are MELINDA'S MODERN LIFE, POLITICIAN HOUSE, and MO' CHIPS MO' PROBLEMS.

Pulluxx

01 MELINDA’S MODERN LIFE
WONDERFUL level with a pretty steep learning curve! Thoroughly enjoyed it. Definitely requires you to think ahead with where to use your precious ice blocks. I didn't think it was a `simple puzzle' at all but it was really good!

02 LITTLE BO PEEP
Loved it! Didn’t need the blue key. Really enjoyed setting up the bomb room and leading the ants to their deaths.

03 POLITICIAN HOUSE
I love this one. It feels extremely loose and open-ended, very choose-your-own-adventure. I beat the level without needing the hook or the bribe, was that intended? I also didn't feel it was very much of an item-swapper, it was more about discovering a route to end up with enough tools to get everywhere I needed to.

04 MO’ CHIPS MO’ PROBLEMS
Fantastic and extremely difficult! I would up the time limit to 900, minimum. Even when I figured out what to do I ran out of time (next time I finished with 172 seconds, so it’s not awful). I love the concept, 100%. The puzzles are top notch, however I didn’t use the trap or red door in the main set of rooms or the bowling ball at upper left. Were those red herrings? Going through all that work and having blob dodging at the end is a bit demoralizing but I guess that’s part of the concept. I did it with 2 Chips (and I’m assuming that’s what it was designed for), and dodging 4 blobs wasn’t too bad, although I would have been livid if I’d screwed it up at that point, after already running out of time the previous run. Actually, one more suggestion: use pink buttons and wires for the traps. I got confused early on and opened the editor to figure out what some of the buttons were for, it would have been easier if I could trace them out. But excellent level, frustrating in a good way, I’m glad I put in the time to figure it out.

05 CORPORATE SLOGAN
I’m going to skip this one for now, maybe I’ll review it in the future .

06 EBENEZER
The first two puzzles are a lot of fun. I think I busted the third one though. Solved the level without using the doppelgänger at all, just used the ice block to bridge to the TNT (I had flippers), blew up the flamethrower and the dirt blocking the blue teleport, and returned to the top room. Used boots and blocks to circumvent the blue teeth and exited. I had a lot of fun with this level but I’m not sure I understand it. What did the hint mean? Why is there a green button?

07 THE CHIPS ARE GREENER
Solved it without using the doppelgänger clone machine or getting the brown boots. Felt busted. Solution: go through lower transmogrifier, become Chip, go through upper transmogrifier twice, collect 9 chips on left side, press tank button, push 3 ice blocks, collect ice cleats, go through lower transmogrifier, become Melinda, walk through the passageway the three ice blocks were in, collect 9 chips on right side, exit.

08 ILLUSIONIST’S MANSION
Sorry, but this is exactly the sort of level that I hate. Invisible walls everywhere, surprise deaths by mimics that make you afraid to push blocks, creatures with secret inventories, blue keys that get erased before you get there if you do things out of order. Don’t get me wrong, in one sense it’s incredibly well-designed, it’s just that imo it makes for a 100% unfair and not-fun player experience. Not completed

Great levelset. Lots of fun and puzzling. Thanks for the upload.

1 - Glad you liked it! Might not put it in the absolute first slot in the future in that case.

2 - I kind of planted that blue key as a trap, since if you take it the ants will blow up an unimportant bomb.

3 - I'm glad you liked it, it was my intention to make a level with multiple paths that would not be all to unforgiving. So some paths require less items.

4 - Thank you very much! I'm increasing the time limit now . I designed it with two possible ways to beat it in mind, the trap, bowling ball and red door is needed for the other. Good suggestion with the wiring. I'm not really sure myself about the blobs in the last room, it gives the level it's title but is a bit annoying. I might change it in the future.

6 - Thank you for pointing out the busted-ness It has gone through some revisions, and it turns out I forgot to add a thief to steal your flippers.

[Click to Show Content]

My, a bit too ambitious concept was that you was, instead of being 'greedy' like Ebenezer Scrooge and taking the chips in the middle room, was going to use them as bombs to kill the teeth, while using the dynamite to get past the sockets. I might make it a little bit harder to escape the teeth, it's not a bad thing for it to be solveable in another way than I intended, but it's not supposed to be too easy to do it

7 - Turns out it is busted. Will go back to the drawing board with this one.

8 - I fully understand. I'm a bit unsure if I should have it in the set or not, I wanted to make a really hard and unfair level for players who like those sorts of challenges, but I can't say its a very inviting level to try. If I'm gonna keep it in the set it's gonna be one of the last ones, where I'd want the difficulty to be very hard. But I'm a bit on the fence with it.

[random 8]

Level 1, Melinda's Modern Life: I think i busted it.

[Click to Show Content]

Bring dirt block from the upper right to the water at [14,8] and another dirt block to [13,8], then bring an ice block to clear the dirt and fill in [14,9]. Another dirt block to the trap button, and another to remove the bomb by the exit.

Level 4, Mo' Chips Mo' Problems: Melinda can go through the pink toggle wall at the start, negating the entire level.

Is there a reason Snowblind and Down the Rabbit-hole are missing from the set?

[Pulluxx]

Level 1, Melinda's Modern Life: I think i busted it.

<div class="ipsSpoiler" data-ipsspoiler="">

[Click to Show Content]

Bring dirt block from the upper right to the water at [14,8] and another dirt block to [13,8], then bring an ice block to clear the dirt and fill in [14,9]. Another dirt block to the trap button, and another to remove the bomb by the exit.

Level 4, Mo' Chips Mo' Problems: Melinda can go through the pink toggle wall at the start, negating the entire level.

Is there a reason Snowblind and Down the Rabbit-hole are missing from the set?

Thanks for bringing this to my attention random 8, it is much appreciated. I'm a bit embarrassed about the Mo' Chips bust. I've fixed it now, and added the two last levels. That level 1 thing is kind of a bust. I think I'm gonna solve it by giving bonus flags if you solve it ye old fashioned way

[_H_]

A nice themed level set with a really high average difficulty.

Definitely would enjoy playing through some more levels which hopefully are added in the future (especially some medium difficulty ones).

I really liked some of the levels, some however had too much hidden information or monsters in them for my taste, but of course that doesn't mean that other people might like exactly this...
Included replays would imo be a nice thing.

Let's have a look at the levels one by one:

01 MELINDA’S MODERN LIFE
A great concept and a really nice level, but a quite tricky one. I like it

02 POLITICIAN HOUSE
Looks way more complicated when you first enter the house than it really is, just avoid the thieves and you are fine. That you can get stuck in the blue maze between the pop up wall and the yellow door is imo unnecessary. One of the two levels which I would consider easy.

03 LITTLE BO PEEP
Took me quite a bit to figure out how to solve it, even if it wasn't that hard. Probably my favorite level of this set

04 MO' CHIPS MO' PROBLEMS
The idea is great, and some of the puzzles are great. Some parts however are a bit of trial and error, since you don't have full view of the upcoming areas and you can get stuck.

05 CORPORATE SLOGAN
To be honest, not really my type of level, too many annoying bugs. Did not finish it.

06 EBENEZER
Really liked the first puzzle. I'm not quite sure about the second one, is the intended solution just pushing the left block up once, feels a bit odd, since the other two are really tricky. The problem with the intended (at least I think so) solution of the third one, is that while you direct your clone up, and pushing the ice block down, the ghost is out of sight most of the time, which makes it really tricky to avoid him picking up the bomb (or killing you). When I first saw the teeth at the end, I just thought, really, is this really necessary, this is mean. I really like the first and last puzzle, but over all, the level can be really frustrating due to hidden information, which leads to starting from scratch again.

07 THE CHIPS ARE GREENER
As pointed out already, not exactly working as intended.

08 ILLUSIONIST'S MANSION
Too much hidden information for me. Not finished this one.

09 SNOWBLIND
The second level which I would consider easy, even if it's pure trial and error since you can't see the left side at the beginning. An interesting idea, and quite fun to play

10 DOWN THE RABBIT HOLE
I like the first puzzle, it's a bit confusing with the teleports, but otherwise it would be relatively simple. But then the fire boxes - not quite sure about them...

[Pulluxx]

Thanks a lot for your feedback _H_! I think your critique of there being too much hidden information is valid. Apart from EBENEZER and ILLUSIONIST'S MANSION I liked to picture myself as making levels with low unfair-variable, but I might not have been seeing 20/20 on that. So I think it's a good thing to keep in mind, since I myself are not very keen on levels with a lot of hidden information, to me it should be used sparsely and only when appropriate. I should make some replays, gonna get on that

02 POLITICIAN HOUSE

Did you think it was too easy?

05 CORPORATE SLOGAN
06 EBENEZER

I think these levels needs a rehaul. I'm gonna try and patch them up sometime soon, since I still like them.

08 ILLUSIONIST'S MANSION

I've decided to let this level go (for now at least) and replaced it with a new one. It was one of those levels when you have an idea in your head that is cool but it doesn't translate into an entertaining playing experience.

10 DOWN THE RABBIT-HOLE

I'm not sure what you mean here about the fire boxes. Would be nice if you could elaborate, either in a PM or here

I replaced THE CHIPS ARE GREENER too, I fixed the bust but my intended solution maybe was not all that fun to figure out.

Thanks again, I appreciate it!

[_H_]

I've seen, that there are two new levels, a day at the pool and hamster wheel (hope that I've time to play them soon)

02 POLITICIAN HOUSE

Did you think it was too easy?

No, it's not like you can solve it without thinking, and I like some variation in difficulty levels in a set

06 EBENEZER

I think these levels needs a rehaul. I'm gonna try and patch them up sometime soon, since I still like them.

I like the concepts and thought which were going into the level as well

For the end, if the exit with the teeth is moved two blocks to the right, it's enough to have a peek at the edge of the screen when standing at the left wall at the starting area, which would imo remove the feeling of, I didn't have a chance to know what's coming...

10 DOWN THE RABBIT-HOLE


I'm not sure what you mean here about the fire boxes. Would be nice if you could elaborate, either in a PM or here

The behavior of the fire boxes seems to be strongly determined by when exactly you trigger the toggle door control and how long you leave the toggle walls open, because they seem to collide quite a bit with each other before while and/or after they teleport. But getting the helmet first, seems to work most of the time. Great level, and tricky to find out the order in which you can safely do it

[Joshua Bone]

I'll weigh in on EBENEZER. I actually really enjoyed the exit puzzle with the teeth, because I had access to two dirt blocks from the center room below, and 4 items in my inventory. Thus it was just a puzzle of using the items and blocks to corral the teeth in the starting room, and then run to the exit. It definitely makes the puzzle harder, but I quite enjoyed it, and so if you do take it out, I wouldn't mind seeing that concept in another level.

[Pulluxx]

I've updated the set with five more levels

For the end, if the exit with the teeth is moved two blocks to the right, it's enough to have a peek at the edge of the screen when standing at the left wall at the starting area, which would imo remove the feeling of, I didn't have a chance to know what's coming...

I've fixed this on EBENEZER. I've also fixed the bust that you reported on A DAY AT THE POOL. Thanks for the response as usual

I'll weigh in on EBENEZER. I actually really enjoyed the exit puzzle with the teeth, because I had access to two dirt blocks from the center room below, and 4 items in my inventory. Thus it was just a puzzle of using the items and blocks to corral the teeth in the starting room, and then run to the exit. It definitely makes the puzzle harder, but I quite enjoyed it, and so if you do take it out, I wouldn't mind seeing that concept in another level.

I think so too Joshua, it was a really clever way of solving the level, so I would like to keep it in. Right now by fixing the bust you can end up with 3 items in your inventory at the end (one being the dynamite), I hope it is still possible to pull of (I haven't been able to do it myself ).

I also removed a lot of ants from CORPORATE SLOGAN and made some more tweaks to it. Would like some feedback on if it makes the level more inviting