Flouncy Pack - Discussion

[jbdude55]

Just finished playing through Flouncy - score one for finishing university and having needless amounts of free time .

Naturally I enjoyed #9 (Mini Puzzle II), but #7 (Dictator Blob), #13 (Sphinx), #14 (Freedom Or Die), #31 (Reverse Direction) and #50 (Lunar Spaceway) also all get top marks for me. With the exception for Reverse Direction, which reminded me a bit of SAMPLER from CC1, I loved how each of these levels appeared intimidating at first sight, but were actually deceptively simple, and I felt really pleased with myself for completing them. That's not to say they were easy or trivial to play - Lunar Spaceway especially took me a good while to work out what order things had to be done in.

A few other comments:

I found #35 (Chip Skate) a very interesting level. It's pointedly obvious what needs to be done to complete the level but that's where the kindness stops. It's so easy to get lost since everything looks the same and you spend so much time sliding. The numerous ice skates that arbitrarily litter the level with almost reckless abandon add to the challenge even further, since you have no idea which pair you should be trying to collect. I ended up making a map, since I wouldn't look in the editor if the level was in the finished article, and finally managed to work out where I was supposed to be going. For these reasons, I'm not sure whether I adore or despise this level, but it intrigued me nonetheless (:

Also, if anyone wants to tell me what the heck is going on in #39 (Circle gets the Square), I'd be most appreciative. I've played the level twice now and both times it just felt like an epic blur. I'm not quite sure what I did, but it worked!

Glad to see two of my better (in my opinion) levels in this pack. I won't name them to avoid bias (I'm assuming the whitelist has been taken down from public view?), but I hope they do well all the same. I'll tackle the Giraffe Pack tomorrow. Really pleased by the quality of the levels I've played so far!

[Eric119]

Flouncy # 15 (Frozen Maze) is busted in MS. From the flippers you can travel left to the force floors and boost left off the first force floor and so reach the beginning again.

[Eric119]

A minor thing: in Flouncy #27 (Dual), it is not necessary to use the yellow key.

[budugoo]

Flouncy #15: Frozen Maze is busted.

[Ida]

#49 (Don't try to Find the Answer...) - I found the answer.

That's from a song btw!

[jbdude55]

#32 (Walk the line) - perhaps intentional, but once you get the suction boots, you can simply walk up the ffs to the exit.

Intentional (I guess). You still need to get the fire boots and switch the toggle doors once more. I wasn't aware of how little dodging/waiting needed to be done on the return trip with the suction boots. I could have made it so there were more up/down trips but I thought that might be overdoing it. Some recessed walls could be added to the exit of each chip area on the first trip down if simply walking back up over the ffs makes the level is too trivial? But I guess this isn't possible since people have already voted.

[M11k4]

That's from a song btw!

Stupid thing is I had played the level before and didn't fall for the trap the first time. This time I was just going along with what was presented and got to read the hint. No clue how I should rate this level, as I suspect it would depend on if there are any other levels that feel like this in the set. I'm not sure if it makes the majority of players feel stupid, annoyed, or smart. It did make me smile both times I played it, though.

[Lessinath]

#33 (Itemswap) - again maybe intentional, but you can immediately go get the green key through the pop-up.

This, and another bust involving suction shoes at various points, is intentional. So they're not really busts in that aspect of the word - they're intended features of the level.

It changes the level from "what order do I need to get these in?" which I find kind of boring to "how can I most effectively game this level to do it faster / easier?"

[ManipulatorGeneral]

Thoughts on the rest of Flouncy Pack:

16 Waterflies: nice idea, but a bit tedious and vulnerable to ragequit death.

17 At the Racetrack: running away from sliding monsters is a bit much for beginners, especially with the additional laps required. Repeatedly dying with zero chips left is a major new-player turnoff.

18 Beans on a Broomstick: Absolutely brilliant design, although the puzzling is both a bit counterintuitive and multifaceted (as opposed to 41, later on, which obtains a 5).

19 Freedom: Nothing of value here. Would not recommend this one.

20 Mirage Maze: Mostly ditto, although the contrast of blue and hidden walls actually creates some fun; the length destroys most of that enjoyment.

21 Critter Craze: The bug design is cool, but there's not much gameplay.

22 Order of Operations: I remember this, and it appears edited again to something new. Still very enjoyable, although other parts do nothing now.

23 Return: Among the better "Possible" category of levels and earns a 4.

24 Debug: One idea isn't enough to carry this level.

25 Every Tile in the Book: There's a concept to this level, unlike a similar one (Compact) which received a 1, so it is lifted higher.

26 Forest Fire: Tedious but good aesthetic that restores some gameplay.

27 Dual: Well-considered use of circles and the toggle wall fence is as ingenious now as it always was.

28 A-Maze-Ing: I do like the idea of simple maze levels, even without any discernable challenge, but some of the concept is killed by not needing to dig for any keys. No need to pick this one over similar levels.

29 Micro-Sokoban: Its room for error has upsides and downsides. I made dumb mistakes and still solved it easily.

30 Inverted: Mazes which require long backtracking after a mistake aren't preferable to me, especially when the maze is as counterintuitive as this type. Exiting via an ice skate is a fine touch.

31 Reverse Direction: The needlessly tedious On the Rocks section, overuse of random force floors in one room and the frustrating necessity of this being the only room Chip must exit from all four directions to access all the chips in the next room (switch the ice and blob rooms, maybe pretty please? It can manage to not clash with the restricted movement in the blue wall room), and the difficulty of window shopping to avoid cooking the very end dock major points from this level. It could be 4, but it's currently a 2.

32 Walk the Line: Not so bad once the pattern is down, and even the rather dirty hidden walls won't hurt much either. Permitting Chip to close the toggle wall again before exiting could be an easier solution.

33 Itemswap: I too noticed the green lock "bust," and thought this would be smooth sailing. I managed to cook the level in an absurdly complex fashion not due to failure to swap one-for-one the same item, and I don't appreciate that much. Did not play it again and am not sure I should have voted on it.

34 Gratuity: Slight inequality in movement in the southwest ice section. Aside from the unequal clone block issue, I'm thankful there were plenty of extra blocks in the northwest. Why does the hint say "All moving blocks are required to finish," which drastically reduced my impression of the level once I learned "guesswork" was apparently happening in the northwest room? Getting trapped by the yellow lock without window shopping ability could annoy some people, but it is generally smart to take cover when available and take stock.

35 Chip Skate: Polarizing as stated, and I'm in the dislike camp. The swarm of skates obscures the player's progress towards the goal almost entirely, so that most people will solve it by blind luck/trial and error rather than instructive elimination and planning. The use of real blue walls to mark tried paths and (somewhat) explored areas of the level helps only slightly.

36 Chamber: I always enjoyed this and still found it worthy of an early slot. Very replayable!

37 Cinder Block: The initial quasi "sardine can" puzzle was fun. Being tricked by surprise (if window-shoppable) blocks that my block runs into wasn't fun. The walker chip snatch section is not approved, as I died once when I finally had the whole block progression sequence figured out. Didn't spend much time on the level after that, and so can't comment on the second half. Thankful that I pressed the green button only once as most people would, but some might not and find out three minutes later they're cooked.

38 Heat Wave: Despised optimizing it when it was in Daniel B's sets, but aesthetically enjoyable and unpredictable within reason. A strong candidate.

39 Circle Gets The Square: This pack is a couple notches below Cardboard overall, and so I've awarded few 5 ratings; this qualifies. The initial teleport confusion gives way to inventive design and tasteful paramecia release into bombs, and the runs around the level don't turn boring. This really belongs in CCLP1.

40 Lesson 5 - Creatures: Not much to this; with no monster interaction besides bystanders, I can't recommend this as a lesson level.

41 Water Bottle: Tricky for newcomers, but what a wonder to finally decode. An uncontested 5 rating from me, lifted above similarly devious small levels because it has a single defined objective, multiple possible ways to approach it, and enough blocks which we know must be used in certain ways to permit CCLP3-esque logical figuring to be fun without going overboard.

42 Dumped: I shouldn't have to explain why levels like these get a 1 rating.

43 Balls.: My solution was memorable and daredevil enough to make this tiny simple level well worth playing, if not outstanding.

44 Water Slide: Not bad for an introduction to the concept; the shortcut helps reduce the tedium and white-knuckling.

45 Switch and Chips: Why the blind teleportation into drownyland when you could leave a safe repository (water at [15, 1] instead) without affecting the rest of the level? A full point off for that, and many people would take off two. I suppose the elements matched to the blocks and the hint's warning won't cause a blind shove into Gehenna for the vast majority of newcomers.

46 Chomper Island: The glider, block, and bomb puzzle was a good enough headscratcher to hide the scattered incoherence of the level's remaining components. Levels that make CCLP1 ought to do something with all these chips, fires, and monsters.

47 Genuine: The glider ice train could frustrate some; the rest is simply running around, getting chips, and not dying. Genuinely boring.

48 Hyper: Smart concepts make this semi-miniature enjoyable, and some replay value in the two ways back to the exit and timing game in the east help.

49 Don't Try to Find the Answer...: Cute, but CCLP1 doesn't need this kind of level. Once it's solved, it's devoid of interest.

50 Lunar Spaceway: Ingenious interaction between components across the level, a variety of challenges, and the gradual progression of available space as items are collected lift this to a personal favorite. Maybe the possible cook due to the closed toggle wall, green lock, fire, and force floors on the very top isn't completely legit, but it's minor enough for me to overlook just this once.

[tensorpudding]

@GreenKitten Your BuggyChip is in Flouncy at #3, and I remember voting it 5 stars. It's got the right kind of kitsch for CCLP1: fun and not too hard. A level a kid would find enjoyable. I'm glad it didn't make it into CCLP3 since it's more appropriate here.