October 2014 Create Competition - Ice Ice Baby

[M11k4]

The task for this month is simple: Create a new level that uses an ice block.

This means you will need to familiarize yourself with the ice block patch to either MSCC or TileWorld 1 if you already haven't done that. If you need help, please ask. It seems the wiki page for ice blocks could be updated to include some of this info so we really should update that too.


For extra credit, take a portion of an existing official level and apply ice blocks to it. For a simple example, you might take an existing sokoban and change all the blocks to ice blocks. Ideally this could highlight some curious feature or bring out something new in the existing design. I am very interested to see how you guys will find some new takes on familiar territory.


I will judge the competition at the start of November. The things I am looking for are:

1) Could the level be made without ice blocks?
If so, then this is not a good thing for your level. Basically, just use one of the properties of ice blocks that normal blocks don't have and you will do fine with regards to this point.

2) Is the level fun to play?
Block pushing levels can be a chore, but there are several ways to make them interesting. Even pure sokobans can be great, but they need a lot of work to design just right. If your level is very long, it will also need to be very good for me to like it more.

3) Would I build this level any differently?
This question is here basically as a general measure of how the level is designed and I just needed a short way of saying that. This includes things like aesthetics, originality, and some measure of planning put into the level.

4) Does the extra credit apply to the level?
The extra credit is not needed to win the competition if your level is otherwise brilliant, but it will decide between two similar levels in favor of the one that uses it. Partially the point of having this criteria is to encourage people to build something new instead of submitting something unreleased. It also gives participants some sort of jumping off point for design if nothing else comes to mind.

Other guidelines are as follows:
-Send in your submissions to either CCZoneNextLevel at gmail dot com or valeosote at hotmail dot com.
-Submissions are open as long as it is October 2014 where you live.
-The level must be solvable, and does not need to work in Lynx.
-Please give the level a reasonable name, hint, time limit, and set a password.
-You may submit more than one entry, but please keep the levels distinct from each other.
-You may write about 100 words describing your creation and the process of creating it.
-Entrants receive the normal prizes: the "You're Winner!"-award, Chip Cup points, and "Tool Box"-award for first time entrants.
-Please ask about other unclear situations.

Enjoy!


-Miika

[M11k4]

Hello guys, and welcome to November. During the last few weeks I have had exceptionally little time for Chip's Challenge and thus did not get to remind people about the end of this competition (as well as the survival one) as the deadline approached as I usually try to do. As there are no other competitions going on right now, I am extending the deadline for this one over the next weekend and will close submissions on November 10th. We have a few entries so far, but it is always a pleasure to have more. I am not extending the deadline for the survival competition, and will judge that one as soon as possible. So get to work on those ice block levels!! I'm going to make one too

[M11k4]

Results time! The extended deadline provided us with one extra participant as well as allowing me time to make a level to share with you guys as well.

The winner is Ihavenoname248 with his entry Various Hues of Blue
. Though it happened to be the last level of the submissions I played, it displayed both some new ideas with ice blocks as well as sound design. In fact, you submitted three very interesting levels and it was not a question of if you were going to win this competition, but of choosing my favorite out of your submissions. I really liked Stuck in a Frozen Well
as well. It has a simple and pleasantly clever block structure (with normal blocks it feels very similar to some level I have seen). I probably would have liked Frozen Fortress
the most had it not been quite so difficult and forced me to play the same order of rooms just a few many times too many. (Basically, it's complex nature would still have warranted a little bit more work to make some parts easier to understand, not necessarily the overall puzzles.) I hope to play more of your levels in the future. Great work!

Second place goes to Chipster1059 with Fake Time Limit
. The level displays some really nice puzzles with ice blocks, but the concepts are pretty difficult to get just right. At least the hardest one is at the start, and is very new to me. The part that got the most minuses from me was the following one, where you nicely reuse a block structure from CC1, but unfortunately it feels a bit long. (I would have liked to have seen a way where I could push several of the blocks at once, and not need maneuver eight ice blocks separately.) Nice job!

Third place goes to Michael for throwing together 1 Tank, 5 Ice Blocks
. I enjoy small levels that showcase something neat (like a tank pushing ice blocks), so it earns its place in the set. You also probably deserve the prize for most Chip Cup points for least effort this month (though it was close with Syzygy).

Honorary fourth place goes to myself for just being awesome as well as making the level Nothing You Can Do
. It's the last level of the set, so it might not even be solvable, but judge for yourself in the screenshot of the download.

I was sure there was a fifth person who was making a level, but I guess they just love their level too much to share it with the rest of us.

You can play the submissions by downloading from http://cczone.invisionzone.com/index.php?/files/file/427-cc-zone-october-2014-create-levels-packaged/

You guys already have the Tool Box award, but Ihavenoname248 gets the You're Winner! award! I'll also update the Chip Cup thread with your points. Thanks to you guys for some fun levels!

-Miika