Feel Bad Friday(s)!

An upcoming game about Electricity, Magnetism, and Cephalopods
NealCruco
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Re: Feel Bad Friday(s)!

Post by NealCruco »

Well, I didn't end up beating the death record. I guess you're just better at this game than Random and I are. :) I still enjoyed watching you play through the level.
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testtubegames
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Re: Feel Bad Friday(s)!

Post by testtubegames »

NealCruco wrote:Well, I didn't end up beating the death record.
Haha -- I'm so glad you didn't!

"Honey, can you come change Max's diaper?"
"No, I need to beat this level"
"You've been at it for hours"
"There may be a day I lose Feel Bad Friday... but that day is not today..."
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testtubegames
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Re: Feel Bad Friday(s)!

Post by testtubegames »

I wanted to let you all know that I won't have time to post a FBF today...
SPOILER
SPOILER_SHOW
I was actually involved in a really cool project these past couple days. I was installing my first museum exhibit! An engineering activity that involves making boats and battling with them on a huge multiplayer screen. Just in time for July 4th. Pics will follow. Not exactly my standard physics-bent... but educational and really neat to see a bunch of museum-goers play my game! But it led to a couple long days... and no time to break away for a FBF, I'm afraid.
But I'll plan to play through the level tomorrow instead. I took my first peek at Not-a-QR-Code, and I'm excited. Seems - as always - wicked challenging... and filled with surprises. So wish me luck!

Edit -- Saturday eve -- Found the challenge to NaQRC... hoo-boy. This is a tough nut to crack. I'm trying to solve the puzzle, so this might be one of those FBF's that spans over a couple days :shock:

Edit2 -- Random, we are not on speaking terms. #iseewhatyoudidthere... #nowaynohow... #wewillseewhaticando
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testtubegames
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Re: Feel Bad Friday(s)!

Post by testtubegames »

Okay, Feel Bad Friday 12 is here. And indeed, I tackle 'Not a QR Code' by A Random Player.

...wow that was challenging. The level basically had a lock in the middle that you could only open by solving a puzzle. And not the standard-TES-puzzle, mind you... but kind of a game-within-a-game...? Well, anyway, why not just watch me 'try' to solve it (try being the operative word)...

Watch Not a QR Code.

Or check out the original post.

Or, here's the code:

Code: Select all

[The Electric Shocktopus-"Not a QR code"-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]
I have no words at the moment, Random. I'll let the video do the talking. ::exhausted_emoticon::

Okay, a couple words...

Bravo on the level. That was quite a crazy-impressive and intricate puzzle. And even beyond that, I really liked the other parts -- like the heat-seeking-missile. Whoa.
A Random Player
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Re: Feel Bad Friday(s)!

Post by A Random Player »

testtubegames wrote:Edit -- Saturday eve -- Found the challenge to NaQRC... hoo-boy. This is a tough nut to crack. I'm trying to solve the puzzle, so this might be one of those FBF's that spans over a couple days :shock:

Edit2 -- Random, we are not on speaking terms. #iseewhatyoudidthere... #nowaynohow... #wewillseewhaticando
Hehehehehehehehe

Hehehehehehehehe

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA What did I say about the time it would take? :P

Anyway...
testtubegames wrote:Okay, Feel Bad Friday 12 is here. And indeed, I tackle 'Not a QR Code' by A Random Player.

...wow that was challenging. The level basically had a lock in the middle that you could only open by solving a puzzle. And not the standard-TES-puzzle, mind you... but kind of a game-within-a-game...? Well, anyway, why not just watch me 'try' to solve it (try being the operative word)...

Watch Not a QR Code.
Random comments and ramblings:

So given the creativity of you and the players of TES, I rarely go "No. Stop. You're doing it wrong." But just this one time, I'm going to do that.
SPOILER
SPOILER_SHOW
"You did it wrong"
"You did it wrong"
Shockto Mag Turn.gif (313.93 KiB) Viewed 73582 times
"""Just hold charge. No seriously. why'd you jump.
Ok, now you're going to get it. Or not?
...
Now?"""
I even fine-tuned the field for this.

The blue field was meant for someone to look at and attempt the same strategy as the red field, but fail because physics. Correct method:
"You did it wrong" 2
"You did it wrong" 2
Shockto Mag Turn 2.gif (282.67 KiB) Viewed 73582 times
The trick of
SPOILER
SPOILER_SHOW
doing two moves at once was not intentional, but I placed the two missiles too far so it happened. (Should've put the white switch on the left and not the right, and moved the green and blue further right).
I noticed there were some other misconceptions you had about the mechanism (I mean, I'd be surprised if you didn't have any, the level is so complicated!), like the red appearing when the yellow activates, but most of them got cleared up in the end.

Now about that big loop that you had to "do" so many times ( ;) ): I originally wanted to shoo the player out of the switch-chamber quickly, in case they tried to send two perpendicular missiles one after another, and get confused when repeating it later (likely slower) lead to different behaviors (some missiles would annihilate each other). Alternatively, they might do it faster later, and have different results. Because of this, I made a small loop around which you had to go. That "small loop" turned out to be most of the level :P

Some more details on the computer generation:
SPOILER
SPOILER_SHOW
I used a program to randomly generate grids and show all that had only one solution at the lowest move count - that is, there might be one solution with 8 moves, but there could be any amount with 9 or 10 moves. Indeed, I think that, in the video, you found one way that took one move more than would work. (Also the generator was a quick review of some simple OOP.)
I have no general solution for solving these levels (and considering you couldn't find one either, I don't think there is one). My guess was "choose the side which wastes the least missiles", but I doubt that would work.
Finally, I'm totally fine with you not beating the level "correctly", since, as you said, I haven't either :P
I'm wondering, though, what was your final death count? The video was so fragmented it was hard to keep track.

Interesting note: Had you played Binary instead, you probably would have finished the level faster than playing NaQRC :P
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testtubegames
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Re: Feel Bad Friday(s)!

Post by testtubegames »

A Random Player wrote:Interesting note: Had you played Binary instead, you probably would have finished the level faster than playing NaQRC :P
Haha - probably. Didn't we already crunch the numbers on that? It took some ungodly amount of time, like 5 hrs, right?

I died (on camera) a total of 40 times. Which seems oddly low for a Feel Bad Friday. Especially one that took so long! I guess it just goes to show that not all deaths are created equal. And the fact that most of this one took place off camera -- with me drawing on graph paper and writing up a computer program to solve it.
A Random Player wrote:So given the creativity of you and the players of TES, I rarely go "No. Stop. You're doing it wrong." But just this one time, I'm going to do that.
Hmm, interesting. I went back, and indeed you're right -- that works for me, too. But, I dunno, it's still pretty touchy. The non-magnetic way of getting up there worked more consistently for me (though not consistently enough, of course :))

The two-switch-trick was one of my favorite moments of playing this level. It's so rare that I find a loophole in one of these levels... it was glorious. Of course, it didn't help me enough.
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testtubegames
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Re: Feel Bad Friday(s)!

Post by testtubegames »

ALL-RIGHT! Another Feel Bad Friday -- and this one *on time*?! Whoa.

Needless to say it didn't take two days to complete this level. Though I won't tell you more than that. The level is the recently-posted one by NealCruco: B4C5.

Watch the Video

Or play the level, if you dare:

Code: Select all

[The Electric Shocktopus-"B4C5"-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]
(Edit, for an updated version of the level, which fixes an exploit, use this code instead:

Code: Select all

[The Electric Shocktopus-"B4C5"-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]
)

I'll let the video, as always, do most of the talking (it sure is long enough to do *a lot* of talking). Leaving out the details of whether I finished it, or how many deaths it took:

Great Job! I loved the symmetry of this level, as well as how all 8 segments of the screen interacted with one another. It was complex enough to feel really dynamic (like I was making a lot of choices), but not so complex that I felt lost or overwhelmed. Some of the parts of it were very challenging ... as you'll see ... and strung together it makes for a level that's very difficult. But for all the times I died, I enjoyed coming back and trying it again. Well made!

I'm curious to hear more about how you built it -- you say it started as a playground. I imagine it began with you playing around with the currents, and making that neat configuration? Got me thinking about whether there's any practical analogs to that magnetic field in the real world -- though I'd have no idea how to google that. I really really want to call it a magnetic octupole (mainly for the pun)... but that's not right at all.
NealCruco
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Re: Feel Bad Friday(s)!

Post by NealCruco »

Andy, you...broke this level too. Here's your lesson: if you find a big shortcut in one of my levels, it's probably unintentional.

If you haven't played the level, don't open this spoiler.
SPOILER
SPOILER_SHOW
You weren't supposed to be able to go between the second star's room and the room to its left. I'll have to close that up. Doing that allowed you to skip one of the hardest segments...but not even that stopped you from dying 182 times. (I have reclaimed the title of most difficult level.) And even after 182 deaths, you had not finished the level...wimp. It's not like it's one of Random's levels. That's twice in a row that you've lost Feel Bad Friday. And it just so happens that both of your level creators (come on, why are Random and I the only ones who are playing this and posting about it?) have beaten you now- Random with NaQRC, and me with B4C5.
Also, do you still have a copy of the unedited footage? I'm asking because something seems odd about your death count. At about 10:35, you mention that your death count is "well over a hundred". From the video, it looks like you were only at about 75 deaths then. Shortly before giving up, you said you had died "about two hundred" times, yet your death count was something like 175 then. Either you completely removed pieces from the video, or you were greatly overestimating your death count.
As for how I made the level...there's not much else to say. You were right at the beginning of the video; I started the level just to see what it would look like and how well you could get around in it. I thought of the idea when I was looking at the Currents page of the editor. It took a few tweaks before I had a perfectly symmetrical level (all three types of symmetry present), but I had the skeleton within an hour of design time. Here's the code for the skeleton if you'd like to load it up:

Code: Select all

[The Electric Shocktopus-"B4C5- Skeleton"-eNq11DsOwyAMBuC7ZPZQWtMmZ6m69gTZUO9eHsbYwaB0qPkjWeIzUgYI4PLyF2r0wkeKteNrUyrOc5UhLu9AlIDaaSahckcmoHQ9a1A4izFszmYVshsxgtWNWYHkZswsvJ8KuGsKIJ7K/8796d/W+PkUwG3OqpvAzNgNYWHNDSAx4UxYmXQGZKZcBxvT7gAFI3fDntJlX+03II+ZO1tpQlj2BZ6vmLC8U/f5Au35zFM=]
Edit: Patching the level took about 10 minutes. Head over to the megathread if you want the patched version.
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testtubegames
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Re: Feel Bad Friday(s)!

Post by testtubegames »

NealCruco wrote:Andy, you...broke this level too. Here's your lesson: if you find a big shortcut in one of my levels, it's probably unintentional.
Hey, I gotta do what I gotta do. I *will* say, that's one of my favorite moments in playing a hard level... is when, after the level just keeps beating me... I finally find one little triumph.

That said, I went back and played your modified level. I hadn't actually realized that going *up* the upper right section was intended. When I finally did that, I figured *that* was an unintended path. So, I agree, the level *is* better with the top blocked off there. Beautiful level, and it's amazing to me how you packed so many segments into it. It had a nice balance between them all... perhaps that's a 4th symmetry :)

The level did spur me to go back to make the next round of fixes to TES, and you can peek in on the progress here, since the changes include:
-Fixing that bug where the game lags after ~60 deaths (turns out the explosion-objects didn't get trashed if the bullet was still exploding when you died... so they piled up.) So I won't have to do that darn restart again... at least for that reason.
-Made it easier to walk just a short distance. Right now, you run so fast that tight quarters (running one tile to the side without continuing into a spike) are *challenging*. So I played around with the movement-controls. Now, TES starts off just a bit slower, giving you a chance to stop in a small fraction of a tile's width.

I went back to the raw footage (which, mind you, unedited is an hour long), and the death count was: 69 + 70 + 62 + 25. Which brings the grand total to 226.

And while I may have failed this time, I won't rule out a rematch. (Especially now that the upper left corner will be a wee bit easier.)
NealCruco
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Re: Feel Bad Friday(s)!

Post by NealCruco »

testtubegames wrote:-snip-
Ok, here's a disconnected jumble of all the (relevant) thoughts I had after reading your post.
226 deaths...nice. I failed to set a new record in FBF deaths with 756C, but this time I succeeded by a comfortable margin! :D
SPOILER
SPOILER_SHOW
There's an easier way to get out of your starting area. Jump up to the level right below the exit, but instead of jumping back and forth desperately, hold Z and left. You should float straight across to the other side. From there, you can jump out. The end result is much more time to get past the red gate.
I'm excited to see the next TES version! According to that post you linked, there will be many features that I've been waiting for. When will it be released?
Could you (somehow) send me the raw footage of FBF Episode 13 or a link to it? I'd like to watch it just for fun.
I do wonder how you did the upper-left section of B4C5 so easily. When I play the level, that is by far the hardest part. You have to be so precise...and many times, when I make my final jump, I hit the edge of the boxes and fall all the way back down, making the level unwinnable. I've done it successfully many times, but I definitely consider it to be one of the hardest parts.
SPOILER
SPOILER_SHOW
The boxes were meant to be a trap- you'd jump up to burn your way through and get thrown into the spikes. You nearly fell for it. :( But your flat "oh" of realization when you went to the goal prematurely made up for that.
Could you update the level code in your FBF post, just so any guests aren't unwittingly using a flawed version?
It's neat that you might do a rematch of the levels you haven't beaten. What's your plan for this Friday? An old level, or one of Random's brilliantly complex levels? (Seriously, Random, you blow my mind almost every time I see one of your levels. I wish I was good enough to actually beat them.)
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