The MrBlackPack - A NEW Keen 3 Level Pack

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ckguy
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Post by ckguy »

:O How did I not notice that until now?

edit: Damn you page break at inconvenient place.
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MrBlack
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Post by MrBlack »

Syllypryde wrote:
StupidBunny wrote:It just occured to me while playing through this...I'm not sure I've seen a single foob in the entire game! :O
I did not notice any Foobs either.
Ahaha you noticed. They use to make the game crash - I have no idea why, but it only ever crashed when I tried to include Foobs. So sorry, no foobs in my levels :(
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Allstories
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Post by Allstories »

Finally beat that level. Most cathartic Keen experience ever. Only a couple levels left to finish. But yeah, this level pack rules.
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Syllypryde
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Post by Syllypryde »

Allstories wrote:Finally beat that level. Most cathartic Keen experience ever. Only a couple levels left to finish. But yeah, this level pack rules.
I am just now getting ready to play it myself.
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Syllypryde
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Post by Syllypryde »

Well, more than 3 hours and 351 stupid mistakes later, I am no farther than I was before I started playing. No new levels completed and my vocabulary has been reduced to colorful 4-letter words screamed at the top of my lungs. That is when I know it is time to shut the game off and do something else! :dead2
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StupidBunny
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Post by StupidBunny »

Syllypryde wrote:Well, more than 3 hours and 351 stupid mistakes later, I am no farther than I was before I started playing. No new levels completed and my vocabulary has been reduced to colorful 4-letter words screamed at the top of my lungs. That is when I know it is time to shut the game off and do something else! :dead2
I got to much the same point :P

I guess I'd say my only gripe with this levelpack is the frustration level...it is a testament to how brilliantly crafted the levels are that I can spend 5 cumulative hours playing the levels, no matter how often I die, but...no matter how great a level is, there is a limit to what players, especially casual ones, will take. I don't necessarily suggest you make the levels easier--after all, it's good to have a full challenge range of levelpacks out there--but there are admittedly points in this where I start to lose my sanity. A good example is in that one level (I don't think it has a name) where you go underground after passing through 3 doors, and then there's a very small room underground with a single Vortininja in it. So far as I can tell, it is impossible to get in 4 shots on the vortininja without it killing you. Also, the one level replacing New Vorticon with the platform running under the first part is just annoying because...well, waiting for platforms is tedious.

The really, really frustrating points are few and overall I love playing this, but sometimes this runs way short on mercy.
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Syllypryde
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Post by Syllypryde »

StupidBunny wrote:
Syllypryde wrote:Well, more than 3 hours and 351 stupid mistakes later, I am no farther than I was before I started playing. No new levels completed and my vocabulary has been reduced to colorful 4-letter words screamed at the top of my lungs. That is when I know it is time to shut the game off and do something else! :dead2
I got to much the same point :P

I guess I'd say my only gripe with this levelpack is the frustration level...it is a testament to how brilliantly crafted the levels are that I can spend 5 cumulative hours playing the levels, no matter how often I die, but...no matter how great a level is, there is a limit to what players, especially casual ones, will take. I don't necessarily suggest you make the levels easier--after all, it's good to have a full challenge range of levelpacks out there--but there are admittedly points in this where I start to lose my sanity. A good example is in that one level (I don't think it has a name) where you go underground after passing through 3 doors, and then there's a very small room underground with a single Vortininja in it. So far as I can tell, it is impossible to get in 4 shots on the vortininja without it killing you. Also, the one level replacing New Vorticon with the platform running under the first part is just annoying because...well, waiting for platforms is tedious.

The really, really frustrating points are few and overall I love playing this, but sometimes this runs way short on mercy.
The levelpack is hard enough as it is. But when you are making dozens of stupid mistakes on top of all that, then the game 6x harder than it has to be. "351" is just a number I threw up in the air, but playing over 3 hours and dying 100+ times and 98% of those deaths are just from stupid mistakes on my part, that is what raises the frustration level for me!
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Syllypryde
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Post by Syllypryde »

StupidBunny wrote:......A good example is in that one level (I don't think it has a name) where you go underground after passing through 3 doors, and then there's a very small room underground with a single Vortininja in it. So far as I can tell, it is impossible to get in 4 shots on the vortininja without it killing you......
Actually, you can shoot the Vortininja from another room. Did you notice that the gun beneath that Vortininja shoots through two gaps in the shaft you just dropped down? Well, there are two more gaps in that shaft at the same height as the Vortininja. When you get to the room with the 4 stuff toy Vortininjas, go to the room above where you collect the gun and you can shoot the Vortininja from that room!

Patrick
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MrBlack
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Post by MrBlack »

OK I'll say one thing about the ninjas.

Every single Vortininja in the game is killable without putting yourself in danger. The one in the underground area after the 3 doors is no exception, you just have to look harder/try a few things.

And I'm not sure which level you're talking about with the platform that's tedious to wait for. If you're talking about Vortibridge, the replacement for Level05 I think, the platform will never come back since there's nothing stopping it moving off the right edge of the level. The idea of that level is to stay with the platform, if you let it get too far away you won't be able to catch it.

If that's NOT the level you're thinking of, can you give more description so I know which?

My only suggestion for the apparently high level of frustration (that I tried to avoid, admittedly) is be more careful lol. The levels are designed to involve 0% luck. Any part that seems impossible to do has a way that you haven't found yet (in theory)

For example, it can be pretty luck-based in the Green Dangly Stuff Factory if you take the moving platforms with Vorticons jumping around below - you just have to hope they don't jump into you. But, if you look at ground level, there is a foreground tile you can shoot through to easily kill them, erasing any luck factor.

But please, keep giving examples. I'll create a copy of all levels and edit them based on your feedback. Thanks for it all so far! I want to make the levelpack as enjoyable as possible.
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Syllypryde
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Post by Syllypryde »

I have 9 levels done with this levelpack now. Vortiville Island is done, The Suburbs are done, "Fort Vorticon", and the Sewer (Old Cape Canavorta). The Sewer was an interesting level. I was stuck on it for hours for 2 reasons:

1) After going through the yellow door and then getting the Ankh close by, I kept getting caught underwater because I could not figure out where to go next. I do now.

2) The Jack Ball by the goplat kept knocking me off and into the water to my death. Even with the Ankh I could not figure out how to get past that damn ball! Now I know.

I am going to take a break from the levelpack for now. I will probaby try some more levels again tomorrow or the next day.

Patrick
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KeenRush
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Post by KeenRush »

I just have to make a quick comment that I didn't think this level pack was that difficult -- as already mentioned, there always seemed to be a way to get rid of difficult vortininjas and such without risking oneself too much. (Which is good because I'm not a good shooter.) I think the levels were not frustrating either, great design all the way.

More, please! :dopefish :drool
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Syllypryde
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Post by Syllypryde »

KeenRush wrote:I just have to make a quick comment that I didn't think this level pack was that difficult -- as already mentioned, there always seemed to be a way to get rid of difficult vortininjas and such without risking oneself too much. (Which is good because I'm not a good shooter.) I think the levels were not frustrating either, great design all the way.

More, please! :dopefish :drool
Of course, no levelpack will ever be "KeenRush" hard...!!! :moon
StupidBunny wrote:......Also, the one level replacing New Vorticon with the platform running under the first part is just annoying because...well, waiting for platforms is tedious......
This level is called Vortibridge (there is a sign in SGA near the top of the level.) I do not know if it was Mr. Black's intention for the goplat to go off the screen and not come back. But it does come back. Where the problem comes is when you make it to the piece of land where the tree is, once you jump up in order to get the candy bars on the right side of the tree, you will no longer be able to see the goplat anymore! You can stand there for 10 minutes waiting for it and never see it, however, it will pass you 15-18 times while you are standing there. So how are you supposed to jump back onto it if you cannot see it anymore to know where it is?

So how do you deal with this? 2 solutions:

1) You can do what Mr. Black suggested, keep up with the goplat and never mind some of those scattered points. That way you always know where it is, or...

2) Time the goplat (maybe with a stopwatch?) so you will know approximately where it is at all times and you can jump down onto it without actually being able to see it.

Once you make it the right side of the level and begin working your way up, the level is not really that hard after that.

Patrick
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ckguy
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Post by ckguy »

Well, I've made more progress today, and beat two more of the 'military island' levels. But in the last level I have left on that island there is this seemingly impossible part:
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How the fucling garg are you supposed to get back?? The two raygun things are timed to fall directly on the moving platform on its way to the left. Am I missing something here?
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Allstories
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Post by Allstories »

Haha I've never had those lasers fall on the platform directly. I guess it's just bad luck.
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ckguy
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Post by ckguy »

It's happened to me probably a dozen times. Literally a dozen, as in twelve. I was starting to go insane.

edit: I just did a video. It was basically this x 12

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x86lqi

edit: still 'publishing' Why is this taking so long?

edit: I give up. Download it here and watch it in some compatible viewer:

http://filelocity.com/?act=download&fil ... 9969b6e783

edit again: Finally, at least Google video handled it:

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid ... 7889&hl=en
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