Feel Bad Friday(s)!

[NealCruco]

Oh dear...no FBF for two weeks in a row. Perhaps it's another Max Attack.

[testtubegames]

Haha, almost a Max attack. Was traveling all this past week -- and the plan was to film a FBF before I left... but my immune system told me it wasn't in the cards.
A few days before we left, my wife got sick... and then I got sick... (and thankfully Max did *not* get sick).

Just got back into town, and if I'm not mistaken, tomorrow is a Friday! Let's do this...

[testtubegames]

Alright! Back on the Feel-Bad-Friday train, over here! (Getting this posted right under the wire!)

This week I played 8D2A by NealCruco. Great level - I had a lot of fun. And had some frustration, too, which is par for the course with FBF All in all, a really fun level.

You can watch me tackle it here.

Or see the original post, or grab the code:

Code: Select all

[The Electric Shocktopus-"8D2A"-eNrtlUtywyAMQO/itRYWYKjP0sm2F2h3nt69QsggPq6zSzuDHAcIPElIghywOdgA6C1PNYiTSXjC7NTD9ZbBoEY8QEy9Gs9L8Fx9oTEvYR5vzF+yoMG4dXaGe08YDtDazQp/MVlv1kU1NBktc5sy0MW8Ru/sDQHZH79CWWw0DYwgjGWUNAD5BusuVmsPk/r4SKO2gkNfuGpaRdgW5k32M4KndcGwx9xek6gXqJh11hTImF11MDCGfuxkBsVa9tLayAaumTWVfRdN0ip8odWiIew5X4Y9sth7TFOM+oh5lakSdbNLXFVMxaBYW9OWsS0rUt4mr4a6dA+vogKRwg7CBopHLpS7iLzYQNLRsdW9Fe+75ufjWL4WeH/Q51g+Fm4+qQl2B789eAZeLnh65WzyCqZM+c+CZ2HnE4fe/KETN2XKM+Ur97J5m7X70v/H7x9rsVep]

SPOILER

SPOILER_SHOW

I *loved* the non-linearity of this level. It really let me explore each of the pieces, without getting too caught up on any one challenge. And each of the four acts of the level (the three stars, then the exit) was fairly challenging. Oh, who am I kidding, they were quite challenging! But they didn't feel insurmountable. Or unfair. And that's key. The more I played it, the better I felt like I was doing... and I never really wanted to give up. And for a level to keep me coming back for an hour and 300+ deaths in spite of being a sleep-deprived-new-dad... that means you're doing something right.

So... a big thanks, NealCruco, for sharing the level with us!

[A Random Player]

Hexadecimal...
Neal's levels' names are:
466C*, 4A4C, 4348, 4349**, 756C, B4C5, 8D2A.
*Bond breaker
**Modification of 4348 - may just be related to the numbers
But letters in ASCII are only in the range 65-90 (0x41-0x5A) and 97-122 (0x61-0x7A). In fact, usually ASCII doesn't use the chars above 127 (usually they're the vowels with things over them - ex. á is 0xE1.)
The names above convert to:
466C: Fl (F lowercase L),
4A4C: JL,
4348: CH,
4349: CI (capital I),
756C: ul (lowercase L),
B4C5: ´Å (first one is not the backtick on the top of the keyboard `, and WA seems to disagree),
8D2A: * (the converter for 8D = 141 isn't even giving me anything - WA says it's the reverse line feed. The * is regular asterisk.)
Strangeness much?

Also looping around the charge and hitting the sand block - what is this, an orbit in GSim?

Regarding the level - I couldn't get nearly as far, but Andy made the level look so easy (ex. the bottom: Just jump down, and back up? What??) Also looks like you broke the death record again, Neal! I shall be thinking about how to beat this... That is, without making a level so hard Andy dismisses it (Binary)

[testtubegames]

Hexadecimal...

Regarding the level - I couldn't get nearly as far, but Andy made the level look so easy (ex. the bottom: Just jump down, and back up? What??) Also looks like you broke the death record again, Neal! I shall be thinking about how to beat this... That is, without making a level so hard Andy dismisses it (Binary)

WHOA. I never thought to look into the hexadecimal claim. THIS IS A HOUSE OF LIES

Any story there, NealCruco, or is this just a case of some typo?

Also - I made it look easy by editing an hour-long video into 25 minutes

[NealCruco]

Hexadecimal...

Regarding the level - I couldn't get nearly as far, but Andy made the level look so easy (ex. the bottom: Just jump down, and back up? What??) Also looks like you broke the death record again, Neal! I shall be thinking about how to beat this... That is, without making a level so hard Andy dismisses it (Binary)

WHOA. I never thought to look into the hexadecimal claim. THIS IS A HOUSE OF LIES

Any story there, NealCruco, or is this just a case of some typo?

Also - I made it look easy by editing an hour-long video into 25 minutes

Yes, I stopped using my original naming method when I noticed what Random did- the hex codes for letters don't vary by much, meaning that I could make only so many easily distingushable names. You can tell when I switched to randomly-generated characters, right?
Also, sorry for not coming in here sooner. I've been very busy for the past few days.

[testtubegames]

Yes, I stopped using my original naming method when I noticed what Random did- the hex codes for letters don't vary by much, meaning that I could make only so many easily distingushable names.

Ah, phew. Glad we cleared that up. Makes sense, of course -- want to keep your trademark, but not at the expense of having your levels all with the same names

ALRIGHT - it's another Friday, which means it's time for me to struggle to beat a level. Woo! This week I took on The Ocean by A Random Player.

Watch the video here.

Or see the original post, or grab this code:

Code: Select all

[The Electric Shocktopus-"The Ocean"-eNrtWkmPmzAUvs+vcLhMK72OhhCynHpo772M1EM1BydxAiqBCptWEep/rzFglgBxJltHeh9mMXxvsXk2tkUKCrY6Oj0nOzvkCWr8PjpoWsHsJR4wD9FkOM+5bNepYDpukSu34YucbLtwBBnlOK1kGSg04DiTIxrAnsF0UqUB6qydhiXqzFrGhO4aCBy6UzM1UNgeCWXUSKjiq4yxY41kIphbaN6ye+W0S5pa1abd6Wrz1dT5Ss94oVzoFNNtoGGuupMTXZVUTioDZ6ylGyahq8AArgMTB6BoDeXNFBCI/xnjM7Y7SqeWsODHq0yptZFX+CLPjYOprEkua9Kez2Hqvt6wSstxQcf5om4M2SnLvrhe2dtmzR4hEJeGHKv0DR6v3OSOTwWwKSDu1gLU2L38Fiyer/ItaAT2wLcAWwHCKJLPDNGu1RvzGMRoRZhHatGzzuwbzzAQuLhx0+WJfGEiD/YpBjsC3u1Km1nfjgGOeAdDEL3OhyMQ7DTv3Wm+KYINZ3Pu6ZO+C88rEYi7zjLnOPA+D+Z//5zcWdd/G8r207rdtvSsQ1911e12vrXl2ntfF5z9bXKimJI8ZnO4mnuliots1gmp5VngLMZgfadi5ZEoEWQTxUR4jHCPxj/5yCpJNlhfo/BREBElkqoojJIkXnl+yAkN1w80ZLsoZHxEXjy2J1z44VYrcOeHCgJfiICRjc+9QmbpCzZ6+PAt92Hpb0mmkHzKsr68Sf1A2ooZWdNwy+Io4U8ftQUXrC80JPsoIasoCNhKEBoE2lUuaMw/a/YUrBd/zR65JO+kpyT5NSLS8I7ul1J/9Cd80txZ6fva5yKJl0rnKoppoPxWJZCl+c2yBzGrag2r9uJV+/cfb5q4Kw==]

Wow, it is beautiful. I love the animation - very creative, and oddly appropriate. (Works well with the magnetic fields... the tides... the scene fits the theme of the game, etc.) But *man* that was tough. Don't let appearances deceive you... even levels that are nice-on-the-eyes, and without many spikes even, can be pretty brutal. A fun level, a big challenge, and some nice animation work, A Random Player! Thanks for sharing it with us.

[NealCruco]

Wow. Nice level, Random!

[testtubegames]

Feel Bad Friday #18 -- we've been at this a while, haven't we

This week I played C05D by NealCruco. (Err... cos(d)? Or... hmmm... now that I know your levels aren't named off of Hex codes, I start to wonder *where* they are coming from.)

Watch me play the level!

Or see the original post, or just snag this code:

Code: Select all

[The Electric Shocktopus-"C05D"-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]

SPOILER

SPOILER_SHOW

Fun level! And one that didn't require me to send my blood pressure through the roof either -- so bonus points there! It was a challenging level, but it didn't trick me, or try to trap me. So very kind of you

I'll mention I did spend a while just looking at the pattern in the spikes. It seemed random... but then again...

I figured I'd have real egg on my face if it spelled out 'Yankees Suck' or some other such message . But as near as I can tell there were no hidden messages... I think?

Also, of course, I was a fan on the non-linear nature of the level. It really let me explore the space (which was kind of the point of your sandbox design, so a good fit there.)

Thanks for sharing the level with us, NealCruco!

[NealCruco]

I couldn't believe that you took the hard path for that top-right star. Every single time. Because you can go over the top of those spikes. You have enough momentum for that. Also, getting that lower-left star doesn't require nearly as much precision as you seemed to think, and there were other areas where you made the level harder than it really was. Maybe I should film myself beating the level...
Oh, and the level titles are still hexadecimal. They just aren't based on ASCII characters anymore. And no, there was no pattern in the spikes. They were just pseudo-randomly placed in the level.