CommanderSpleen wrote:omao, the edited level 1:
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Nice work! I like the changes, and you're right--it definitely looks more uniform now. :)
CommanderSpleen wrote:So, on to level 9:
- Is this level too cramped?
My first reaction upon looking at the image:
"Wow, that's cramped."
"Well, wait--it looks like it's one of those 'thinking' levels."
"Okay--I can fit through there, and there, and--"
*reads Spleen's comment about down and up arrows*
"Oh, I can fall through some of these? Wow."
"Okay, that's not so bad, then."
"I'd better go see what it's like in-game before I open my mouth."
So I went and played it in DOSBox, and long story short, I stand by my 2nd thought: It's "one of those 'thinking' levels. :) It's tricky, and can be brutal if you are determined to get all the points (I'm not) but it flows just fine, and there aren't too many places that I'd touch on.
CommanderSpleen wrote:- Are there too many down arrows that might be mistaken for up arrows? This was the intention, but it might have been overused and unnecessary considering the overall difficulty already, especially because they generally lead to death traps.
No, this aspect of the level was fine. You introduced the "Hey, some of these are down arrows!" concept with the FIRST PLATFORM the player encounters horizontally--really, that's all the warning they should need. :) From that point on, given the ultra-tight construction of the level, they need to pay attention.
CommanderSpleen wrote:- Does the scattered nature of the platforms combined with the quantity and placement of spikes make the difficulty skyrocket? Should there be less spikes and/or more symmetry? I would be inclined to make the keycard and exit a bit easier to get to, while keeping a similar level of difficulty for the optional points.
Symmetry here would be bad, IMO. I was honestly really surprised at how "easy" the level felt in-game. Looking at the map here, all in one go, it definitely looks as if it might be overwhelming or insane, but in-game it's very approachable. I think I died most being greedy and trying to grab the big point item on the climb up to the Keycard.
CommanderSpleen wrote:- Should this really be the first major obstacle on the map? Perhaps it would be better placed as one of the later obstacles where the player can choose one of two blocking levels in order to proceed?
This is fine. If the player wants to simply move on without point grabbing, you can do the level in essentially one straight shot, with zero backtracking.
But while we're talking about it, I want to mention a couple things that I found irritating:
- The two point items directly to the left of the Keycard are frustrating, because the player cannot obtain both of them at once. In fact, the amount of time between getting both of them is significant. Each individual item is a challenge to get, and I wouldn't want either of them removed, but it sticks in my mind that even though the items are placed as a pair, they aren't collectable as one. ... If I were to change this level at all, I'd struggle to find a way to make each half of this item pair its own challenge, rather than stick with this single, dense pairing. But that would probably disrupt the level--it's fine as it is!
- I really like the fact that some of the platforms are down arrows, because the thought of an escape route (or more specifically, backtracking to get the Keycard, should the player choose to ascend on the left their first time) is ever present. This is a much more cerebral level than the first, and better for it. :)
- Really, I think this level is fine as it is.
But as a side thought:
- The Keycard is really only approachable from the right side. It might be possible for a gutsy player to leap over the spike just above it to get in there from the left, but I'm not of that caliber. :) But if we do approach the Keycard from the right, we can use it to leave practically right after we get it--which begs the question: Why did we need it in the first place? Why not simply add, say, a couple more spikes in the area around the "EXIT" sign, such that the player was strongly encouraged to approach the level's exit from that right path. That way, the player's choice of "right vs. left" is less critical--the level is technically completable both ways--but the right is the "easy/correct" route. :)
- Maybe, maybe get rid of one of the spikes above the exit, to make the player's jump in/out of that area a little nicer. I didn't even attempt it, based on how it looks.