« back             Browsing Levels: #3537 "Mods chat level"
prev: #3536 "All mod cons 20" next: #3538 "Only One Way To Go"


"Mods chat level" by mark

added 22 May 2013 03:57
Solved5/6
Cooked0/6
Difficulty1.66
Style4.66
Rigidity5.00
Shortest Solution
NameOriginal
Length8 moves
Bymark
On22 May 2013 03:57

Comments (turn spoilers off)
19710 Mods chat level mark 2 (3048) Sat 13 Dec 2014 12:08 SPOILER
  Jim I know your going away after today and I'm not back till sunday so I've set up another account.

You are so close and in fact would have solved the first edition of this level because there was a grey panel switch just above the yellow blocks to turn off the lazer.(I cooked it on the 10th Dec)
In my solution when I can get to the exit I have 4 yellow blocks left that are not trapped to the sides. That includes the one at the top on the heart panel and one just left of the bottom lazer.
I use them to ged rid of whats hindering you from completing the level then it's easy.

Ps it took me over 20 mins to solve it again and I know the answer.
Hope this helps...
 
19708 Mods chat level Jim (2369) Thu 11 Dec 2014 22:23 SPOILER
  Dave, I'm going to be gone til the end of the year after this Saturday, so I wont have a chance to work on your unfinished level. Mark, you might be 47 before I am able to solve your latest!
 
19705 Mods chat level mm (690) Thu 11 Dec 2014 07:01  
  Hi all! I'm struggling with it as well...& haven't solved 11 & 12 yet. Hi Wowei, schoen, dass Du auch wieder hier bist!
 
19704 Mods chat level Dave (2400) Thu 11 Dec 2014 04:05 SPOILER
  Glad you're not modding it, it might give the game away. Managed to spend about an hour on it so far... still stumped.

PS. Rated all SF levels except 11 & 12 because I've not played them yet.

Jim, if you want you can send me an email at davewhg@yahoo.co.nz... I'll send back an unfinished level project you might like to play with, it needs to be finished and I don't have the time right now.
 
19703 Mods chat level Jim (2369) Wed 10 Dec 2014 16:57 SPOILER
  The level definitely doesn't need changing, I'm wondering how many players are struggling with it right now. I wish there was some way to know how many people try it and how many of those solve it. Unfortunately, it seems most players don't rate levels or hardly ever comment. I'm also glad to see Wowie back out here, he is one of the few that does both.
 
19702 Mods chat level mark (2878) Tue 09 Dec 2014 20:13 SPOILER
  Real nice solve Jim and lovely bot skills at 122-126 point.(can be done without it a bit quicker)
I don't think the level needs fixing as it was a good find and it would be too big of a clue.

Anyway I've only solved about three levels in the last month so playing my own has been just as much fun.
With the small fun one's I was just throwing in pieces one day trying to solve the next and then make them as cook proof as possible.Not so easy.

Hearts and exit dilemma started off as a simple learn a trick level but it spiralled out of control as I went along.(took me a lot of testing and still got burnt)

I've got another good one nearly finished so don't go away.(Took me a while to solve,now I'm just tightening it up.)

Was very pleased to see wowie playing again and thanks for the scores glad you liked some of the levels.

Triage now reads 2295/2477
 
19568 Mods chat level Dave (2400) Sat 20 Sep 2014 06:24  
  Devin, love the Square Slots idea, I just haven't yet come up with anything original to add that will do it justice. I vote for keeping the rooms independent as intended and this , this is a series that should and will evolve slowly.
 
19546 Mods chat level Dave (2400) Mon 15 Sep 2014 05:26 SPOILER
  Mark, ratings were indeed much harsher then. As a consequence, Minor Leagues was kept well sated. A lot of demoted levels were much harder than many of the older surviving levels in triage, an issue I raised several times because it was discouraging for new players: d=0, s=0 was not uncommon.

Jim, it's simply because I used to play on several computers. Hopefully, I have still back-up .esp files somewhere. Merging them looks a pretty simple task, but not tonight. Not even going to bother with ctrl-0, it takes forever and only grabs the default solution. Cleared another 10 or so today, going well until I hit a wall in the Improv5 series.
 
19543 Mods chat level Jim (2369) Sun 14 Sep 2014 10:30 SPOILER
  No, never did solve Land of 10000 Bots, that one just doesn't interest me for some reason.

As for Chaotic Assembly, all I will say at this point is my solution is definitely different. I'm contemplating making a mod to force my way, but I'm undecided whether anyone would want one.

That's kinda funny for sure that your "unsolved ones" include levels you have speedruns on, your upcoming embedded level you are working on already sounds scary.
 
19542 Mods chat level Dave (2400) Sun 14 Sep 2014 04:13 SPOILER
  Jim, I suspect a mod is coming.... that's a worry...

Did you ever solve 'Land of 10000 Bots'? When I had my triage unsolved count down to 2
(only a year ago but it seems forever now) that one was the thorn that wouldn't go away.

I still have a backlog to deal with. Funny thing is some of my 'unsolved' levels I have speedruns on, and one of them is mine. Probably time I wrote an ap to merge my player files...

About a week ago I finally got an embedded level idea I started on 2 years ago to actually work. Turning into a classic puzzle will take time, which is why I'm not playing mods at the moment.
 
19519 Mods chat level Dave (2400) Thu 11 Sep 2014 01:33 SPOILER
  Gary,
In case you haven't seen Mark's short cut, I'm uploading a quick-fix of Rewired Insanity while the speedrun on the original shows an uncooked solution.

Gary, if you'd prefer to keep the original, let me know and I'll delete mine.
 
19504 Mods chat level Jim (2369) Mon 08 Sep 2014 22:52 SPOILER
  Oh wow, I can't believe I never noticed that and I'm actually glad I didn't. I had great fun with that level. I played around with it quite a bit the last 2 days, I'm pretty sure that is the only way it could be solved.
 
19503 Mods chat level Dave (2400) Mon 08 Sep 2014 19:44 SPOILER
  Jim, the spoiler is in the level not in the comments. Look a bit 'deeper'...
 
19502 Mods chat level Jim (2369) Mon 08 Sep 2014 18:13 SPOILER
  I don't understand what you mean, when you say that you somehow unintentionally gave the solution to Superintensive Plumbing?
 
19501 Mods chat level Garygoh884 (3037) Mon 08 Sep 2014 10:36 SPOILER
  Hi Dave,

For the mentioned Wire-based levels I designed, yes. Working on such levels requires a moderately high degree of innovation, and patience - for maintaining a unique solution in the process.

Proving to have a unique solution and maintaining inituivity was my challenge to achieving peak difficulties and great designs within each level. What brought me into the development of those levels was the utilization of complex properties by Wire-based tiles. On one hand, most were used for simple and complex mechanisms - and on the other hand, discovery of such unseen properties would help creating complex and brain-intensive levels if utilized, so those were what I deduced in making such levels.

The deletion of those flawed levels were all of my mishap. One can be cookable to unethically discover the original solution the easy way. That one was Intensive Plumbing. And the other, which I untentionally gave off the correct solution - it was Superintensive Plumbing. My intentions was to work flawlessly as many levels as possible while maintaining hints of innovation. Unfortunately for some, flaws were left behind after submitting to the server. I hastily moved them to the graveyard - assumed afterwards those were 'just-for-fun' levels.

And lastly, for difficulty rating set for Chaotic Assembly, having a 7 is too easy for a few players. How would moderately-challenged players would enjoy such a difficult level as though this degree was good for them? This difficulty level could be higher. Expert players prefer to play seemingly difficult levels. Casual players prefer to play easygoing and simple levels. Getting the right rating to suit the right players is always impentuous.
 
19500 Mods chat level Dave (2400) Mon 08 Sep 2014 02:15 SPOILER
  Hi Gary,
Re. Plumbing

Intense Plumbing if not cookable would have been a great level. I'm not so convinced about Superintensive Plumbing. As for Chaotic Assembly: If rate a level first I base the rating purely on the time it took it me to solve it (1:45 ish), but I'm begining to think that D=7 might be unfairly low - we'll see.

Anyway, I have a question: Do you actually rigourously prove the intended solutions are unique, assuming they are, or just work intuitively?

Dave.

PS. New level in pipeline... give me a few days.
 
19449 Mods chat level mark (2878) Sun 24 Aug 2014 16:32  
  Nice solve Jim ....TKCS I have been playing around with this level all day .
I could not get what I had wanted but something similar.
Only just finished it but I had not seen your speedrun then.
I'm just going to throw it out there without testing as no time left.
 
19438 Mods chat level mark (2878) Mon 18 Aug 2014 09:49  
  Nice solve Jim and of course a different way.
Just solved a level in the old version and them bookmarks make a big difference.
I think there is about ten obvious levels out there for me to do but they are against a timer.
The new bookmarks will help me polish them off.
Just got to find them.
Cheers to escape !! by RAINKING a fine example of why yoy need more bookmarks.
On my first play through lots of hard things to learn but did not realise the timing element .
I'd bookmarked at the end so I can now just go back and tighten up all the elements.
I know I could have just created numerous accounts to get through this problem but then remembering which was which was to tedious.
Anyhow I got the old version to play the malformed levels (thanks Dave for info) and to tell the truth can see no difference in play to the new one. So you did do yourself a favour not updating.
Ps Nearly finished a new mod of a very easy triage level , should be fun.
 
19437 Mods chat level Jim (2369) Sun 17 Aug 2014 19:53 SPOILER
  I can't even imagine only being able to have one bookmark per level, that is a pretty significant problem. I read through most of the feedback section and it is still not clear to me if Tom is aware of the problem. Mark, I can't believe you have been solving these levels all this time without that advantage, that's pretty impressive.
 
19435 Mods chat level Dave (2400) Sat 16 Aug 2014 03:32  
  Actually, thinking back, I seem to remember that noname nailed the bookmark bug. It certainly all made sense at the time anyway. I have no idea whether he managed to compile a fixed version though...

 
19434 Mods chat level Dave (2400) Sat 16 Aug 2014 01:30  
  Hi Jim. Tom is already well aware of the 'bookmark bug' in latest version. I think it only applies to the Windows install anyway, the compilations for other platforms are still based on the old version without the bug.

I can't remember all the differences but there aren't many. Here's the few I can recall: 1. Bookmark bug!; 2. Teleport animation; 3. Anti-radiant sanity testing.

Unless someone can get the source to compile debugging it is irrelevant anyway. I've tried in numerous verions of VC++ (including 6.0 which it was originally written in, I beleive) with various versions of the SDK libs and got nowhere. Then again, I've only ever been a semi-professional programmer at best (except ASM, and that's been a while) so if Tom can't do it I'm probably pi**ing in the wind.

noname and wowei are pretty on to it and might be able to help... I'm stumped.
 
19433 Mods chat level Jim (2369) Fri 15 Aug 2014 19:30 SPOILER
  You should probably let Tom know about that, I'm sure he is probably unaware and could probably fix that pretty easily. I knew there must have been a reason I never upgraded Escape!
 
19432 Mods chat level mark (2878) Fri 15 Aug 2014 12:23  
  Nice one Jim just tried the older version and I can have as many bookmarks as I want.
In the newer version if you make a bookmark at a certain point then go a bit further and want to make a new bookmark it just ignores you.
You have to delete the old one to get a new one.
So it always keeps your mistakes and if you have found something really hard later on I'm to reluctant to delete it in case i cant remember what I did.
I guess I'm going to play the harder levels in the old version from now on.
Thanks...
 
19431 Mods chat level Jim (2369) Fri 15 Aug 2014 12:03 SPOILER
  Thanks for the answer Dave, I thought I had looked under the deleted file but obviously I did not.

Mark, congrats to getting down to 200 levels, I'm sure you will get almost all of them in the future. I'm a bit surprised about your question of saving more than one bookmark per level, I can save as many as I want and for the hard levels its common for me to have it bookmarked at 7 different points. What happens to you when you try to save a second bookmark for a particular level? If it doesn't work for you, the only thing I can think of is that we have different versions, I still use the 200704130 version, I've never updated it.
 
19427 Mods chat level mark (2878) Fri 15 Aug 2014 09:30  
  Correction 2233/2433
 
19426 Mods chat level mark (2878) Fri 15 Aug 2014 09:27 SPOILER
  Hi Dave glad to see you back , hope things are going well for you.
Thanks for answering Jim's question that was correct.

Jim nice to see you that finally got the mars done and of course you would go a different way. I had solved it simalar to that after posting level but I still did the bottom right button trick.

As for Bob 18 I've got a bookmark at 1250 moves but its got far to many early mistakes in it and my motivation for the level has dropped a bit.
Will probably have a fresh look at it next week .
Is there a way to have more than one bookmark per level?

Had a busy patch of making levels and mods and I'm out of ideas for the momment,but you need not worry Jim as I've had a level waiting for you for a while Jumble IV.
When I put the hugbot in pressing yellow was meant to(I thought at the time)make it impossible.
So I've just deactivated yellow switch so now you can't press it.

Ps my triage reads 2233/2243 only 200 to go.
Lots of large screen levels and quite a few from Carlin js still to solve before I'm totally stuck.
 
19423 Mods chat level Dave (2400) Thu 14 Aug 2014 22:34  
  Cheers Jim. Just having a dabble to shake the rust off. There's a lot of levels to catch up on, it'll take a while. Bob18 can stay on the back burner for now...

'Enigma' is presumably noname's mod 'Planetary Enigma' from the second wave of 7B7B mods (which I seem to recall you started .) It's in deleted levels.
 
19421 Mods chat level Jim (2369) Thu 14 Aug 2014 21:49 SPOILER
  Dave, good to see you are back with your speed runs, I'm sure you have a lot of catching up to do.

Mark, you mentioned Wowie's speed run of enigma as a clue to how to solve your Mar's security level. I can't even find a level called that but as you see, I did it a different way anyway. Have you tried Bob 18 yet? That's quite an involved level.
 
19405 Mods chat level mark (2878) Tue 05 Aug 2014 10:55 SPOILER
  Jim here is a clue for a rainy day.
If you use a hugbot you can open up the middle wires and attack the blue planet a totally diferent way.(leaves lot of spares)
To avoid the lazer skip at the end wowie's speedrun to enigma has a clue.
Hope you don't mind the gentle push but it is still hard .
My solution is a lot longer and more awkward than it needs to be.
 
19382 Mods chat level Jim (2369) Mon 14 Jul 2014 17:55 SPOILER
  Hi Mark, yes I did press yellow in both your previous mod and this one now. I'm sure you must know by now that I love any mod, this is a good series by you as every mod has made me come up with a new solution.
 
19379 Mods chat level mark (2878) Mon 14 Jul 2014 15:05 SPOILER
  Hi Jim,hope you don't mind playing level's that I keep modding.
Did not want to pin this comment to any of the recent levels.
In my latest mod I considered any pressing of the yellow a cook,I've solved it 2 different ways pressing yellow now.
So I've made a mod for the best soution,coming soon.
It's quite hard and took me a while to solve hope you enjoy.
Ps did you cook it.
 
19321 Mods chat level mark (2878) Sat 07 Jun 2014 12:58  
  Sorry about that deleted wrong level by accident,it then would not let me reupload so I had to put a dot in the title.
 
19312 Mods chat level mark (2878) Thu 05 Jun 2014 22:32 SPOILER
  Thats an easy , medium and hopefully hard level Something for everyone to play.
I'm down to my last 230 levels to go and there either to big and repetitive or to hard.
So I was going to mod some more of the minor leauge levels but I found the random level maker in editor.
Having fun making and solving my own so you can enjoy as well.

Ps just seen your speedrun RLR mm very nice.
Pps RLR is not as hard as it first seems many different solves for it.
 
19263 Mods chat level Jim (2369) Fri 30 May 2014 13:40 SPOILER
  Mark, for PD I didn't do it the same way as either of your solutions. It was closer to how I solved PDU, but I used the bottom left that you eliminated in PDU.
 
19260 Mods chat level mark (2878) Fri 30 May 2014 11:50  
  Nice solve on the P D Ultimate Jim,this level gets easier the more you play but it sure is rock hard to solve the first time.
Just curious for noname's mod which way did you go or was it something different.

Anyhow been working on new level for you all for the weekend it's more for fun than it is hard but maybe still a bit tricky for some.

It's another level I modded from the minor league's.

Thanks all keep on escaping.
 
19256 Mods chat level Jim (2369) Wed 28 May 2014 19:47 SPOILER
  I went into edit yesterday and found a way or two of doing it Mark, but my problem is getting the bots to cooperate. My last bot gets there too early and I can't delay it enough to get the timing right.
 
19255 Mods chat level mark (2878) Wed 28 May 2014 11:28 SPOILER
  Jim what do you call a deer with no eyes?
No idea..
What do you call a deer with no eyes no legs?
Still no idea..
There might be a deer in my latest speedrun.
 
19195 Mods chat level Jim (2369) Sat 17 May 2014 19:47 SPOILER
  No Mark, I haven't tried to download any levels since it has been broken, I'm patiently waiting for Tom to fix it. He's been on the road for a long time, judging from his latest IP address it looks like he may be in Europe, maybe you can track him down!
 
19193 Mods chat level mark (2878) Fri 16 May 2014 14:52  
  Hi all,hope your still all out there waiting patiently for Tom to fix the game.
It's took me all week to do the memoryhole levels something I once thought were to difficult,but what do I know.
The final one a slighty different way and a speedrun.

Keep hanging in because I've got a good level waiting to go.

I've tried to post like N7DOT did but not able to.

Jim have you been able to play improv 5 it's a cracking good level.

Good luck all see you soon.
 
19172 Mods chat level mark (2878) Thu 24 Apr 2014 11:39  
  Well it does not appear to work for me either.
This time when I tried to update triage I got an error message,this did not happen before.
Hope it does not take to long to be sorted.
By the way I have solved a level since his happend and you do get the solutions to download.
 
19168 Mods chat level Jim (2369) Mon 21 Apr 2014 23:03 SPOILER
  Yeah, no pic for me either, we will just have to wait for Tom to fix it.
 
19167 Mods chat level mark (2878) Mon 21 Apr 2014 14:56  
  No I can't get it either and I don't see the picture of it on the website.
I have tried for two days and two different computers.
 
19166 Mods chat level Jim (2369) Mon 21 Apr 2014 10:55 SPOILER
  I can't download the newest level from Ndot, can anyone else?
 
19162 Mods chat level mark (2878) Fri 11 Apr 2014 16:01 SPOILER
  Jim that was awesome I only just solved it in time before I go away for the weekend,thank goodness.
No wonder it took you a couple of days before the light's came on,missing the obvious created a monster.
Anyhow I weaved a different path so mod on it's way for you.
 
19160 Mods chat level mark (2878) Wed 09 Apr 2014 15:08 SPOILER
  Nice one Jim thanks,I knew you would not be to much longer.
I tried to solve this many ways before finding the solution so not looking foward to a mod(not really).
I knew this level was a little difficult because I had to play it myself.
When I made it i stuck the lazers in and tried to leave no spare bits.
I was playing it in the editor and my first solve was lost by stupidly pressing enter.
I had not even really realised what I had done and it took me a while to resovle it and there was an extra block at that point.
That is when I realised my solution to the level and out with one more block.
So it might have been a lot easier except for my mistake because my trick in solving was deffinatly not used in the first solve.

Ps had a good week this week solved at least another 20 and revenge of the computors 1.
 
19154 Mods chat level Jim (2369) Mon 31 Mar 2014 18:06 SPOILER
  Yes, I got all the rouges some time ago, I have 6 unsolved levels, mostly the old ones. Congrats on getting to 2100 done, you will be there shortly.

 
19151 Mods chat level mark (2878) Mon 31 Mar 2014 08:57  
  Ps Jim have you got slippery when rouge by Dave yet?
 
19150 Mods chat level mark (2878) Mon 31 Mar 2014 08:47  
  Hi Jim my triage reads 2096 out of 2376 so a big incentive to find 4 more soon.
Yesterday i got IBEW 349 by rip finishing off his three levels.
Everyone of them was great and intense. IBEW was not as hard but after CATOTENTAILS completion about six months ago,and looking at the other 2 there reputation was enough to put me off playing them.
All together I managed another 5 last week.
On the difficulty scale i've got everything done up to N7DOT'S The Carousel which i've not done yet.
Then up about another hundred up is where the gaps start to appear.
Most of the difficult one's are not the problem it's the middle range that gets me the most.
15 left of N7's to do so they are not all as easy as some of the ratings say.
12 to go for radiant but i won't be getting them anytime soon,still only 1 by the pie guy and still not started planetry mystery 5 bots 7 buttons series.
I don't think there is a level left that I have not looked at or a least give it a try.
So i've still got a long way to go will i ever get there i don't know,but there are levels i'm getting which i once thought impossible.
Thanks see you soon.
 
19149 Mods chat level Jim (2369) Mon 31 Mar 2014 02:04 SPOILER
  That escapement was a great level I remember, it took me forever to solve. Thanks for making a mod of it and bringing back memories Mark, I solved your mod without looking at the original so I got stuck in all the same places probably.

So how many levels do you have left unsolved now?
 
19147 Mods chat level mark (2878) Fri 28 Mar 2014 16:43  
  Only solved escapement this week did it a little different to original and speedrun.
As there has been nothing new for over a week thought I'd give you something to play.

 
19140 Mods chat level mark (2878) Mon 17 Mar 2014 09:52  
  Just one more from me Jim hope you don't mind I'd forgotten about your ball skills ending.
It took me ages to get my solution so i wanted to fix it.
There is still a little to do to finish it if all goes well.

Dave wishing you all the best and good luck in the future.
I too got made redundent a couple of years ago but I'm enjoying my semi retirement break.
Thats why I've had loads of time for escape.
I'm going to have one more year off then go back to work.

 
19136 Mods chat level Jim (2369) Sun 16 Mar 2014 18:57 SPOILER
  Evil indeed Mark, I don't think I'm going to be able to get this unless I have a major epiphany.

Dave, sorry about you losing your job but from what I have observed of you, you have the talents to find another one soon. If you get any time, try this level first.
 
19133 Mods chat level Dave (2400) Sun 16 Mar 2014 07:54  
  Jim, re my whereabouts -

I'm a tad busy right now. I've recently been made redundant, so I'm unemployed for the first time in my life. I'm snowed under with dealing with that and using my (temporary) free-time, and skills, to good effect. Right now I'm heavily involved in fitting out a charity shop evicted from their previous premises.

There are lots of levels for me to catch up on, and lots to be be modded or made, but I'm sure you can get by without me for a bit longer.
 
19132 Mods chat level Jim (2369) Fri 14 Mar 2014 18:54 SPOILER
  Mark, I tried to take away 2 or 3 things you did in level 6, but I suspect it won't cause you many problems. Especially since you said you cooked it in 1300 moves, so you probably already have seen what I forced.
 
19131 Mods chat level mark (2878) Fri 14 Mar 2014 16:59  
  Jim I guess i'll just have to wait to see how you solved 6.
I also cooked it today but it took me 1300 moves.(and a lot of time)
I was half anticipating this but there was no yellow so i have no time to reshuffle solution now.

I'm always away from my computer at the weekend till Sunday afternoon so can't play but i do read the comments page.

If my soluton is massively different their could be an 8,I doubt it will be but you never know in this game.

 
19128 Mods chat level mark (2878) Thu 13 Mar 2014 16:10  
  Not sure if no 6 is cook proof I've no time left to play,so i have thrown it out there to play for some fun.
Had to add more black to the bottom of level, check speedrun for 4 for the easy solution missed thankfully.
Have fun
 
19125 Mods chat level Jim (2369) Wed 12 Mar 2014 15:45 SPOILER
  Mark, sometimes it pays off to not see the obvious solution. I missed it on your level 4, which forced me to come up with the solution I used on 5. I will be curious to see if anyone can cook it.

Dave, I noticed you around a little bit with some speed runs, but it seems like you have been keeping a low profile lately. I hope you can get more time soon, you usually come up with some challenging variations. Kirima, you haven't been around as often either. Same for a few others, I always like when there is more activity.
 
19123 Mods chat level mark (2878) Tue 11 Mar 2014 23:05 SPOILER
  Wow Jim that took me about 4 hours barking up the wrong tree,and about the same when I'd realised the error of my ways.
I put the extra bits in to try and force my solution, and had already tried to solve 4 in this kind of fashion but give up trying.
I guess when a level gets cooked good it makes another really good level.
I could fix my level quite easily but I won't as it would be to much of a clue, I'll just scrap it.
These have been real good fun hope to dream up another good one soon,thanks.
 
19106 Mods chat level mark (2878) Fri 07 Mar 2014 15:24 SPOILER
  Had a little play on v2 its actually easier with the dalek,and you can miss out nearly everthing your way Jim.
Thats what you get when you rush things.
I'm sure it can be fixed and made better,hope you can have a tinker with it.
Back in 2 days.
 
19105 Mods chat level mark (2878) Fri 07 Mar 2014 12:41  
  Jim i've posted the other version for you to play,I will be waiting to see if you can break it.I'll be away for the weekend so won't be able to alter any levels.
Feel free to mod level as this was my intention.

Thanks have fun with half the solution or can you ignore it.
 
19084 Mods chat level Jim (2369) Wed 19 Feb 2014 16:32 SPOILER
  Its been very quiet lately, I guess everyone must be watching the Olympics.
 
19012 Mods chat level Jim (2369) Sun 19 Jan 2014 21:59 SPOILER
  I'm glad you at least had to think on scramblemods 8, those levels are fun because they are so free form. Congrats on less than 300 left to solve, I was just about to ask you how you were progressing.
 
19008 Mods chat level mark (2878) Sun 19 Jan 2014 18:49 SPOILER
  Great level once again Jim,it took me along time to do.I think it took me about half a hour to work out what needed to be done and a couple of hours on the right hand side.
But i could not for the life of me work out the last heart,and how to get it.(you know what i mean)
Did it a tiny bit different but not a mods worth.

Been catching up on some of the more difficult 4 , 5 and 6s.

Got less than 300 to go now but stil stuck on some easy rated ones.

Did one of Tom7's a differrent way so mod coming soon.

 
18952 Mods chat level Dave (2400) Mon 06 Jan 2014 15:36  
  Mark, we seem to uploading runs simultaneously yet again...
 
18894 Mods chat level Dave (2400) Tue 24 Dec 2013 05:36  
  It's Christmas! Well, it is in Kiritimati anyway, 45 minutes to go here.

Everybody have a great Christmas, and Cheers, Dave.
 
18892 Mods chat level N7DOT (2227) Mon 23 Dec 2013 20:14 SPOILER
  I'll wait to see how quickly the difficulty on ScrambleMods rises; if it is too fast I might make a new series with a more sparse scattering of objects.
 
18845 Mods chat level Dave (2400) Mon 16 Dec 2013 03:25 SPOILER
  Where did 7 come from?
 
18843 Mods chat level Dave (2400) Mon 16 Dec 2013 00:40 SPOILER
  Mark, the comment about radiant was a jocular reference to the now defunct 'malformed' series. These were made, presumably, by directly hacking the .esx file thereby circumnavigating the sanity restrictions in the editor. There was a certain 'Oh, yeah!' moment when that animation bug showed up, it was so reminscent of those levels.

I did load your level into the editor to find the key remotes. Buggered if I was going to use trial and error :-).

It's hard to know what's best for d-maps. I like orthagonality but is purely a point of style. On a complex level, they are probably more decypherable than a screen full of random spaghetti.
 
18838 Mods chat level mark (2878) Sun 15 Dec 2013 10:50 SPOILER
  Just to point out something i was not going to mod Crunches,I was going to add the speedrun.
But by the time i'd solved it Crunches II was already up.
It's a shame it happenend that way because it's an easy fix to stop speedrun solution.
Intended solution for II if not cookable would have been great to play.(i'd forgot the element)
Before i solved speedrun way i had been in an awful sticky mess with this level.
I'm going to leave again up just for a while.
Thanks again for another great level.
 
18837 Mods chat level N7DOT (2227) Sun 15 Dec 2013 04:18  
  (I do appreciate the positive response though!)
 
18836 Mods chat level N7DOT (2227) Sun 15 Dec 2013 04:00 SPOILER
  Shame, Crunches was supposed to use a certain method which my original solution for Crunches II used. The first Crunches was before I had found a solution requiring this, and I was unable to get the intende solution to work without extra stuff. In addition I guess I did not fully cook proof II, as the intended solution method for it is impossible in again.
 
18835 Mods chat level Dave (2400) Sun 15 Dec 2013 03:36 SPOILER
  Nice job with 'Crunches'.

Unfortunately, it does seem that I solved it more or less the same way Mark did, making v2 redundant. This does alter the fact that it was a very enjoyable level.

Maybe Jim will mod it soon too, you know how narky he is about redundant pieces... nudge, nudge. I'm calling a night...
 
18826 Mods chat level mark (2878) Fri 13 Dec 2013 08:11  
  Dave woke up to your comments on bugs and hacks,as for a bug i don't think it is it's just a bit slow.If you put the transponders where you say and also leave the original two where they are it won't let you move.
As for hacks i'm not that smart.
I knew my solution was way off the mark but i must admit i do like your shortcut at the end.
When i'd finished making the level i was so tired(partly still hungover) i could not think straight enough to solve nicely.
As for orthagonal d maps i'd never even heard of the word till you mentioned it last week.
Hope you don't think i was trying to mislead with all the lines as i thought the puzzle was ok without them,but if i did not hook them all up together all the remotes kept disappearing and it looked scruffy and too obvious.
I never set out to make a level like this it just evolved as i was making it.
Glad you liked it.

Ps did not understand am i doing a radiant,maybe is it because i have not solved fireworks?
Actually i have not solved that many of radiants,they must be i think the toughest set of fun levels out there.
I know how a lot of them are done because of the editor but it does not mean i can solve them.

 
18818 Mods chat level mm (690) Wed 11 Dec 2013 17:57  
  :-) I'm glad I've got this right! So once more (without "spoiler": Happy Birthday to you, Mark, have a lot of fun tonight and I'm wishing you all the best for the next 45 years!
 
18817 Mods chat level mark (2878) Wed 11 Dec 2013 15:38  
  Yes that is correct Kirima,thankyou very much i'm in the middle of a new level so i shall save you a slice of cake.

It started of as another simple level with no real puzzle to it,but then i got an idea how to make it more interesting.

I'll be hungover tommorow that's for sure so i'll get back to work on it in a couple of days.

Going out in ten minutes i'll do my best not to get to drunk.

Thanks again, hope everyone has as much fun as me.
 
18816 Mods chat level mm (690) Wed 11 Dec 2013 14:17 SPOILER
  I'm not sure if I got this right, so if ever: Happy Birthday! ;-)
 
18813 Mods chat level mark (2878) Wed 11 Dec 2013 07:37  
  Here is your 43 run,there is less because my lowest was 42.(I deleted all solutions except original)can't find it now.
 
18812 Mods chat level Dave (2400) Wed 11 Dec 2013 03:54  
  One school year but 1 calendar year and 4 months, I still need a 43 run. Don't do anything I wouldn't (this is a pretty non-restrictive request)!

Cheers, Dave.
 
18811 Mods chat level mark (2878) Wed 11 Dec 2013 00:56  
  Hi Dave that's the second time.was about to post speedrun 52 told me i had record only for it not to be by the time i pressed enter.
Got to go to bed now 5.30 in the morning stayed up to post new level on the right day.
I see you made 44
 
18780 Mods chat level N7DOT (2227) Sun 08 Dec 2013 14:56  
  Hmm... mark, maybe the laser death aspect of the laser maze could be removed? I'd prefer that players not have to do any of that low style stuff to get to the first exit. (just remove the four visible lasers in that maze)
 
18778 Mods chat level mark (2878) Sun 08 Dec 2013 14:43 SPOILER
  Seems you have been busy Dave and after reading your earlier comments i've decided to make Exit 1.
I had a third solution to it so i hope my mod forces it.
I really liked this level and gave it 10 for style first time around.
Also read your comments N7 and you might also be tinkering with this hope this does not stop you.
Have fun level coming soon.
 
18776 Mods chat level Dave (2400) Sun 08 Dec 2013 04:55 SPOILER
  N7. Exit one is worthy of a level in its own right. To be honest, I haven't got very far with my plan because I've been somewhat sidetracked by other level ideas for a while. A mod won't spoil the idea, I'll just add it to the inventory of things to be deployed later. Please do not hold back on my account.

You already know what needs to be done to get exit one ... The fastest option (thus far) uses 2&3 (2 traps 3) but there are other ways: my first solve used 3&8.

Xeno has a new one based on a old Milton level, should be up very soon. I have other levels in the pipeline but nothing even close to ready so don't hold your breath.
 
18770 Mods chat level Dave (2400) Sat 07 Dec 2013 04:23  
  OK, I'll have a quick try at explaining the transponder version because I'm never going to upload it anyway. I never fully tested it because it wasn't good enough but ...

You have a grid full of panles with crossovers in bizzaro and park transponders on it. The panels map to an identical grid of remotes with blocks in bizzaro. The remotes map back to the same spots on the original grid. If the bizzaro grid is fired horizontally from the right from it will turn all the crossovers making a path to the rightmost transponder, repeat from the left. Fire across the original grid, any number other than 2 or certain cases of higher even numbers will fail, 0 cancels out. Higher evens than 2 can be ignored anyway. Refire the same way to reset the grid to its original state and repeat vertically. Hope this makes sense ...
 
18769 Mods chat level Dave (2400) Sat 07 Dec 2013 03:23  
  PPS. I am still clueless about your dalek/teleport direction reversal mechanism. Every time I tried I came unstuck with multiple consecutive reversals.
 
18768 Mods chat level Dave (2400) Sat 07 Dec 2013 02:08  
  N7. Continuing from previous comment outside of the level comments ...

I'm curious, you are full of interesting ideas, how far did you get with this before? The difficult bit is testing two axes using only one 'singularly active' piece without introducing a huge maze of remotes. (by 'singularly active' I mean a piece that can only switch over one other cell). In the transponder version I mentioned before, the transponders are 'multiply active' because they are used as both a trigger and part of the test procedure allowing a bi-axial test for exactly two pieces on each line on both axes, this makes the zero test redundant.

The final implementation using 'singularly active' pieces (ie. spheres) only checks for an even number on each axis but is backed up by a 'fail on zero' test. This only works becuse four in a line is not possible without failing either the 'zero test' or the 'parity test' somewhere else.

PS. If you solve these levels every dalek dies, if you fail they don't. If you have access to a large enough monitor (I only have this at work), the animation of the test procedure, especially for Queens, is really good. :)
 
18758 Mods chat level Dave (2400) Fri 06 Dec 2013 01:31 SPOILER
  I've got a couple more levels for the 9x9 series. Nine queens is pretty simple, it was just fun to implement with the self-imposed restriction of an orthagonal d-map.
 
18756 Mods chat level Dave (2400) Mon 02 Dec 2013 22:16 SPOILER
  Mark, after you suggested 9x9 I just decided to build the level and hope I would be able to figure out a way of solving it afterwards.

Never been much of a chess player, I've always prefered games with a mixture of skill and chance.

Jim, I think you've nailed it with Improv 2.5. I don't think I'll be taking it any further either.
 
18745 Mods chat level Jim (2369) Mon 02 Dec 2013 15:48 SPOILER
  Thanks Mark, I'm glad you enjoyed it. On my 2nd attempt at the 9X9, I was only 4 moves away but I have been unable to better that since.... as for chess, it was the first thing I did online. I used to play the speed chess versions, two minutes for each player to make 40 moves then I think it was 5 seconds additional for each move over 40. I haven't played that in years now though, but was super fun at the time.
 
18744 Mods chat level mark (2878) Mon 02 Dec 2013 13:36 SPOILER
  Jim i think that 2.5 was fantastic it took me a fair while,great usage of all the blocks.
With thinking time and wasted moves it took me nearly 500 more to do first solve.

When i went to score it i again scored the wrong level.I scored the deleted level as i wanted to see Dave's cookrun.
I've lowered deleted level score to what Dave put.

Really enjoyed it and i won't be adding anymore,think i'll leave 2.4 up for now.

Dave thanks for making the 9x9 i've had a couple of goes following my pattern and i'm getting closer.
I don't think i'll solve it to soon though because it so annoying to get close and not solve it i'm probably just going to have one try a day.
Failing that i'll have to read up on math side of it and try and do it that way.
Did you now how to do it when you made it or did you just solve it?
Is it being a larger square easier than the 8x8?
When i said i knew how 8x8 was done it did not mean i worked it out it was something i'd looked up years ago after being set lot's of chess puzzles.
Not even played chess much pretty rubbish at it,but i used to go to a social club where a wise old chess player used to set me problems.
I'd go back the next week with the answer memorised courtsey of the internet and he thought I was smart.

Thanks to all see you soon.
 
18743 Mods chat level Dave (2400) Mon 02 Dec 2013 00:30 SPOILER
  Jim, you were one step ahead of me! You uploaded the fix at the same time I was posting the cookrun.

Ignore previous comment. We'll have to time it better next time :)
 
18742 Mods chat level Dave (2400) Sun 01 Dec 2013 23:04 SPOILER
  Jim, I'm unlikely to have time to mod 2.5, so have uploaded alternative solution as speedrun.
 
18710 Mods chat level Jim (2369) Fri 29 Nov 2013 22:00 SPOILER
  Dave, I love the solution to 2.2, it was the hardest to find for me and the best of the series in my opinion.
 
18709 Mods chat level Dave (2400) Fri 29 Nov 2013 18:50 SPOILER
  2.1b is not really the way I would like to see this ultimately go, mark's efforts are truer to the original idea. It's food for thought, cook away...
 
18706 Mods chat level Dave (2400) Fri 29 Nov 2013 17:43 SPOILER
  PPS. Please upload any distinctly different solutions to the Rook's problem. The number of solutions is unknown, but they are numerous, so it would be interesting to see how varied they are.
 
18705 Mods chat level Dave (2400) Fri 29 Nov 2013 17:24 SPOILER
  PS. Kirima, are you out there?
 
18704 Mods chat level Dave (2400) Fri 29 Nov 2013 17:07 SPOILER
  Oh dear (to put politely)! I've just seen the speedrun on 2.2. We have a problem: 2.2 doesn't force the bit I want to force, 2.1a doesn't force the bit you want to force. 2.2 has to go but first I need to decide whether to just fix it or mod 2.1a. Ideally, it should force both bits, but I don't see a way yet.
 
18702 Mods chat level Dave (2400) Fri 29 Nov 2013 16:00 SPOILER
  It happens Mark, I did exactly the same thing with LOT16.1, which is why it currently shows 3/3 solved instead of, correctly, 2/2. I'm quite surprised it is so low but these 'Grab the Dalek'-esque levls do seem to cause a bit a trouble.

So, as you requested, I have modded Rook's Tour to 9x9, maximal being, as you know now that you are in the Doughnut Club, 472 (or 474 steps in the implementation. Upload coming shortly. I have not been able to find any solution online, so this one will have to be solved properly. To be fair, it's actually not that hard if you approach it right. This is a good thing because any attempt at a brute force solution would take until next Easter! Also put blue back to red, I think it is safe this time.

Not looked at Improv since your comments, will be in touch ...
 
18701 Mods chat level mark (2878) Fri 29 Nov 2013 12:14  
  I've rated my own level by accident(Improv 2.1a)so I reset the score to 5 5 5 I will average it out after it is solved.
I was scoring the one below which i had not scored straight away as i could not decide.
I got very lucky on it and did not know to put.
 
18698 Mods chat level mark (2878) Fri 29 Nov 2013 06:38 SPOILER
  Dave when i got up this morning i awoke to a few levels and improv 2.2.
Last night i had already made a better version of 2.1 but left it as i've deleted enough levels lately.
When i saw your 2.2 and it was similar looking to what i'd already made i deleted hoping it was not a spoiler for yours.
Spent about an hour trying to mod your level then i found a flaw (check speedrun) easy fix i guess.
Anyhow i've reposted 2.1 with the different ending version 2.1a.
Sorry all for messing about but i do like this level,and i can still see harder things to come.
 
18686 Mods chat level mark (2878) Thu 28 Nov 2013 17:30 SPOILER
  I thought improv was too good to give up on so i've had another go.
I see that you have been very busy with your own level Dave so i've tried again.
Your new level is to me even though solved is very hard to see how it works.Iv'e not rated yet as i knew how to do it but 9 or 10 for style and effort.
Discovered another flaw in escape,and that is if someone delete's a level your bookmarks get lost.
I had a short go on rooks before i went out and managed 327,just needed fine adjusting.
I was desperate to see Jim's lucky find but i was a little bit merry and my brain won't work after a couple of beers,so i had to wait till today and start all over again.
My solution not like yours at all but there are probably many.

Anyhow after talking to you last time i managed to get all 15 books on pdf for free.

Without you saying what the level was about in title i might not have twigged.
As for what is next could you strech it to a 9 x 9 i don't know how that is done or if there are any answers available.
All in all another great level but as easy as knoting doughnuts together.
Cheers have fun.
 
18679 Mods chat level Dave (2400) Wed 27 Nov 2013 18:23 SPOILER
  I'm glad you found that quite quickly, Jim! We'll call it a lucky accident. I thought I had thoroughly tested, clearly not thoroughly enough.

Not worried about the solution because this is a classic puzzle, like solitaire (one-left), nim, and many others, the solutions are out there. It was great fun to implement and I was absolutely determined to do it in way which resulted in an orthagonal d-map (nearly). Credit to N7 for finally providing the inspiration and motivation.

I could resist building in a 'Clocking Out' type counter. The count used won't help there .).
Not sure what to do next ...

P.S. I have tried a number of variations of the Rook's Tour idea but so far all have trivial solutions.
 
18674 Mods chat level N7DOT (2227) Wed 27 Nov 2013 01:28  
  My reversal detecting mechanism required one mechanism for each of horizontal and vertical, so it required 3 mechanisms still.
 
18673 Mods chat level Dave (2400) Wed 27 Nov 2013 00:45 SPOILER
  N7, I haven't figured out your dalek/teleport direction reversal detector but don't worry about uploading it just yet, I have found another way. I now have three separate mechanisms: one which only triggers on horizontal reversal, one only on vertical reversal, and the third only on either change of axis; each of these requires 3 bots, that leaves me with 6 bots and loads of space... it 'should' be enough.
 
18664 Mods chat level mark (2878) Tue 26 Nov 2013 15:26 SPOILER
  Nice run Dave i was hoping i'd stopped being so blind to the obvious but not so.
I'm sure you can improve improv,how about a number 3.
I was kind of treating this level like a new series as N7 hinted.
 
18659 Mods chat level Dave (2400) Tue 26 Nov 2013 00:20 SPOILER
  Mark, that is the second solution I mentioned earlier. Nice job finding both!

I won't go into it any more details about how many ways there are to do each of the three counts because that is a big spoiler in the right hands. Suffice to say, you've got this well sussed.
 
18656 Mods chat level mark (2878) Mon 25 Nov 2013 12:59 SPOILER
  Very nice level Dave,very satisifying when you find the last number needed.(blue for me).
I found 15 different counts between 49 and 100 before solving not looking anymore.
Never came up with any logical way to work the out the count just brute force.
Uploaded my solution but you probably already knew that.
Found a few different ways to find some of the other numbers,but only 1 for red and blue.
Not to sure with the eight, might be a bit mean but it is very solvable if you want to do it.
Thanks look foward to your next.
 
18654 Mods chat level N7DOT (2227) Mon 25 Nov 2013 03:29 SPOILER
  Dave, It's possible to measure direction reversals with one dalek for horizontal and vertical each, but it takes up a fair amount of space (a decision tree using teleports to connect the nodes)

I won't upload my prototype so as to avoid spoiling the style points.
 
18653 Mods chat level Dave (2400) Mon 25 Nov 2013 00:03 SPOILER
  N7, been thinking about RetCon. I long had in mind a similar idea where the space you've just left would flip if you changed direction. RetCon inspired me to get the mechanism working because it could be used for an implementation of something else. So far it works if you change from vertical to horizontal and vice versa but doesn't yet detect back-tracking. Just have to rethink 'slightly' to incorparate this too with the 15 bot limit, I will get there, very close.
 
18640 Mods chat level Dave (2400) Fri 22 Nov 2013 17:14 SPOILER
  Oops, for 'remotes' read 'transponders' in the non-spoiler below.
 
18639 Mods chat level Dave (2400) Fri 22 Nov 2013 16:57 SPOILER
  Mark,

The Art of Dalek Programming has such a messy d-map that it's hard to see what the mechanism is. The underlying puzzle is simple: just focus on correctly filling the 3x3 square one piece at a time and you should quickly see what the 9 rows of 3x3 possibilities each are for.

I was hoping that Clocking Out would be difficult enough, without being too difficult, that you'd have to resort to logic rather than luck .) If I haven't miscalculated, there is only one set of counts that will work. There are two arrangements that will produce it but they are almost identical anyway. If I have miscalculated, I'm sure I'll read about it here soon.

I know of 43 count sequences which will acheive the 5 separation by inserting straights and remotes into 8 bit counters. How many of these are possible with the pieces given, I have no idea. The 'close but no cigar' 46-51-56 and 41-46-51 sequences both require an additional 2 pieces. As a point of interest, every count under 40 is possible with straights and remotes inserted into an 8 bit timer. I said I had been playing about with this for a while...
 
18638 Mods chat level mark (2878) Fri 22 Nov 2013 12:25 SPOILER
  Been away from escape a couple of days two nice levels to come back too.
Like you Jim i first stuggled with Retcon but i was trying to do it with the wrong idea in mind.

Dave looked up aforementioned person could only relate maybe the chess levels,or am i missing something.
Anyway went again now i'm more experienced and had a look at N Queens by Alois.
I did not realise first time of playing there was "5" answers to this well constructed level.
Completed all but one of Alois level's the Art of Dalek Programming remains unsovled I can't find any logic to it,is there any?

Spent about an hour guessing on the new level Clocking Out,Can get seperation of the timers but not lucky enough to have came up with solution yet.
Love to know what move you was on passing into the first red square But don't tell me unless i start begging .(not for a while)
Going to get the pen and paper out for this and go through all the options, which may take ages.
 
18635 Mods chat level Dave (2400) Thu 21 Nov 2013 23:13  
  I already changed it from 4 to 5 and back to 4! I could not make my mind up. Jim has handsomely compensated for my indecision :)

re early mods levels:

I agree. That was the original intention: rate the level up to stop it being automatically ditched into minor leagues and then correct it once the next mod had been released. In reality, it just gets forgotten about once it's in the graveyard.

You've got a couple of these levels still in triage btw.
 
18634 Mods chat level N7DOT (2227) Thu 21 Nov 2013 21:53 SPOILER
  Remember, if you ever feel feel your rating for a level was off, you can change it with ctrl-r ;)

This reminds me that we should probably reduce the difficulty ratings on the initial mods levels (4 difficulty for no challenge is silly!)
 
18631 Mods chat level Dave (2400) Thu 21 Nov 2013 04:10 SPOILER
  Jim, you are probably right about the rating for RetCon: I should have stuck with 5. It was an enjoyable level, I got all 14 quite quickly but kept blocking my exit route.

Anyway, I've been playing about with timers for a while so thought it was time to read through my notes and try and make a new level for once. Usually when I make a scratch level it gets broken. If it can't be broken, it won't be easy, if it can be, we have a new bag of tricks to play with anyway.

Sorry about the long and winding road to the exit but it was the only way without things getting to messy. I've since thought of a much better implementation but it's too late now.
 
18623 Mods chat level Dave (2400) Mon 18 Nov 2013 02:35 SPOILER
  Mark, look up Martin Gardner. Better still, look up some of his books. You will find a lot of stuff which has been implemented on Escape. You may find things you can implement yourself. I do have one level inspired by these papers sitting in /mylevels, one day it will get round to cookproofing it...
 
18620 Mods chat level mark (2878) Sun 17 Nov 2013 15:55  
  Escape not just a game but an education..
I did not know who Reuben Garrett Lucius was.
I'd never heard of a turing machine I thought at first it was touring spelt wrong.
Now i know who C Dudley Langford is...

I must admit i did read the puzzle on Langtons cube's.
I did not really understand what was meant until after solving the level,and a google search produced nothing.
Langford's cubes a different matter,short clip on youtube to explain.
 
18610 Mods chat level mark (2878) Sun 17 Nov 2013 05:43  
  Hi N7DOT,from your last couple of comment's about the chat level and it being buried i'm guessing you don't know this.

When in any directory instead of scrolling down press
Ctrl + a .... Sorts out into alphabetical order.
Press any letter you like jumps straight to it.For example you want to play Saftey glass by Tom 7 in the triage.
Open up triage..Ctrl + a....press...s there it is.

Just in case anyone else does not know.

Ctrl + t ..... sorts by author.
Ctrl + v ..... sorts your unsolved to the top.
 
18609 Mods chat level Dave (2400) Sun 17 Nov 2013 03:49 SPOILER
  Nice one N7. Mini Puzzles is a strange level (this is meant as a compliment): Room 1 is brilliant, room 2 is just irritating, room 3 ..., room 4 is room 4, the end twist is cool. There are so many ways of solving this we'll be swapping speedruns for ever more. Cheers!
 
18607 Mods chat level N7DOT (2227) Sun 17 Nov 2013 00:38 SPOILER
  I'd love to see a 'learn a trick' based off the slider trick in AMC 22 (3551) - but of course, I would be fine if you don't want to make one, Dave. After all, we wouldn't want anything to be too much of a spoiler!
 
18602 Mods chat level N7DOT (2227) Sat 16 Nov 2013 21:56  
  I'm not really in a position where I can easily play spades, but as I have enough active interests and addictions that maybe that's a good thing :P

One of the things I have been playing quite a bit of recently is Tom's implementation of scrabble called Muddle. You can play alone or with others online and try to find 'cool words' or new words. It says it's cooperative but it can be competitive too.
 
18601 Mods chat level Dave (2400) Sat 16 Nov 2013 00:48 SPOILER
  I'm liking spades (only been playing against computer opponents). The nil bid is a nice twist. I don't imagine it would be so easy to pull off against human players. Anyway, I have to leave it alone, I've enough addictions already.

I was fooled by LaT18 too. I spent at least 5 minutes just staring at the screen before it dawned on me. This wouldn't be so bad if wasn't a trick I've used myself...

Mark, in the unlikely event I ever find myself at a loose end in Coventry, beer and crib it is; crib players are few and far between these days.
 
18597 Mods chat level Jim (2369) Fri 15 Nov 2013 20:35 SPOILER
  I finally got 16.1 and 16.2 - whew.
 
18589 Mods chat level Jim (2369) Fri 15 Nov 2013 15:13 SPOILER
  LOL Mark, don't say I didn't warn you!
 
18588 Mods chat level mark (2878) Fri 15 Nov 2013 12:42  
  Hi Dave that game sounds like a variation of Whist people play it differently all over.
My favourite game was also Crib,but none of my friends play cards except Poker or stupid non skill games.
I was brought up in a card playing family playing cards every Saturday and Sunday morning,sometimes domioes.
I have very fond memories of the days way back then when older relatives were still around.
I'm very adaptable to any game of cards and started playing poker about 20 years back.
I used to go to the casino to play in small tournaments 3 or 4 nights a week.(always turned a monthly profit)
I only gave it up with the advent of the internet as younger players were catching up to quick.
I don't consider myself a gambler and when my edge had stopped i stopped playing.
I started playing again when they made a pub poker league and these players are just as clueless.
Poker seems to be so easy to play but you never stop learning,knowledge is everything in this game.
People that have only played for a month and think there experts are the easiest to take money from.
I may well become a spades addict Jim as i really enjoyed it.
After playing another couple of hours and understanding the point system i bid my first nil and succeeded,but my partner was a computer and playing perfectly.
To be good at cards you still need to be lucky to win which thankfully i am.

My latest levels have been on hold, you can thank Jim for that.
 
18587 Mods chat level Jim (2369) Fri 15 Nov 2013 11:15 SPOILER
  Dave, that game you used to play in the UK sounds interesting. What makes spades good is that besides being a challenge to bid your hand right and being in synch with your partner is any hand that has a nil (card play then changes drastically). Ive been playing this game online since 1996 and haven't gotten bored with it yet. If any of you brainiacs here ever get really interested in the game, let me know, I would pard you online at some spades site.

16.1 and 16.2 I have been trying to trap the bot somewhere (like maybe the bottom right hand corner) but I can't pull it off.
 
18584 Mods chat level Dave (2400) Fri 15 Nov 2013 01:47 SPOILER
  Never really played poker myself. Spades reminds of another partnership whist game I used to play in the UK many years ago, I cannot for the life of me remember what is was called. Usual basic rules. Trumps are fixed before each deal by a cut. The dealer places a bid for the combined partnership total after viewing his hand (his partner's hand is kept blind on the table until after the bid is made). We played four points for hitting the bid, one point for one either side, -2 for 2 out, -3 for 3 out etc. It is a brilliant, obviously communication is only permitted if you don't get caught .) The fact that the strength of only one hand is known leads to some very interesting stategies.

Cribbage and canasta are still my all time favourites.

PS. Jim, I don't know how much 16.1 and 16.2 which teach you about the Grab the Dalek mod, you know all this stuff already, but they might get you in the right frame of mind. Both solutions (known so far) require the same number of free blocks (i.e. there are three stuck near the switch), and beleive me, I have looked and looked for a solution with one less.
 
18582 Mods chat level Jim (2369) Thu 14 Nov 2013 21:27 SPOILER
  I started out playing poker, once I discovered Spades I never looked back. Take my advice and don't get hooked on it, you will be like me and forever behind on escape levels. I am enjoying all the learn a trick levels, I got them all now except 16.1 and 16.2. I think the fact that I cant solve those are why I never was able to get noname's Grab the Dalek level. I did get Rouge Like Revampired (solved it a different way) about a week ago and saw both tricks then, but so far that still hasn't helped me with all the other ones. I went away from those levels a few days after that, I will go back to them in the future. Its always nice to keep a few stumpers around for a rainy day.
 
18581 Mods chat level mark (2878) Thu 14 Nov 2013 19:37  
  Hi Jim how you doing?
When i went out last night i was playing small stakes poker won about $30.(just found out the pound sign does not work in the comment box).
No i did not know spades but i do now spent the last 20 mins playing,enjoyable game.
Hope you like the new set of levels i made,some of them are meant to help.
16.2 by Dave took me quite a long time earlier today.I did it the speedrun way about 100 moves more.(yes there are 2 solutions so far)
I thought someone would take a block out but not two of them.

Got a couple of ideas left to make a few more,mostly everything you need to know about my levels or mods.
Would not dream of spoiling other peoples levels,not on purpose anyway.
I like the fact they are simple and to the point but maybe not a dead cert for the beginner.

How you getting on in rouge like level's and have you spotted the clues?

Having an early night tonight 00.20

See you all good luck..
 
18579 Mods chat level Jim (2369) Thu 14 Nov 2013 18:02 SPOILER
  What kind of cards do you play Mark? Ive played a lot of spades online over the years so I'm curious if you know that game?
 
18570 Mods chat level N7DOT (2227) Wed 13 Nov 2013 20:21  
  Right now I'm working on implementing a certain math puzzle in Escape, so it will be a while before I add a new level. (well, there is another one that's more well known and is still just a concept right now.)
 
18566 Mods chat level mark (2878) Wed 13 Nov 2013 17:24  
  Nice mods Dave as always,just noticed them ten minutes ago.
Tried desperately to solve both only managed the one.
Going to meet friends for a beer and a game of cards.(won't be fit to solve the last one till tommorow)

Glad to see you speed run both ways of trick 15.
Hope you don't mind me making these levels,this is the only place i could think someone might be stuck in a R L level.
With me i always want people to be on the same page.

 
18552 Mods chat level mark (2878) Tue 12 Nov 2013 20:04  
  Hi mm,for my last mod whatever harder have a look at Learn a trick 9.(thats why i made it)
Where could that be applied,does not work on Dave's level.
Still hard even when you get the trick.
Good luck...
 
18551 Mods chat level mm (690) Tue 12 Nov 2013 19:39 SPOILER
  Congrats guys! I am desperately clueless... (No matter if it's called WM or RL)
 
18549 Mods chat level Dave (2400) Tue 12 Nov 2013 18:30 SPOILER
  A litte tweak and the original solution works on the non-mod. It also makes one trip back a forth across the level completely redundant, so it's actually quite a bit shorter that way.

I suggest you take the speedrun Mark, it's yours (for now).
 
18548 Mods chat level Dave (2400) Tue 12 Nov 2013 17:44 SPOILER
  Ah. That should make it more interesting.
 
18547 Mods chat level mark (2878) Tue 12 Nov 2013 15:43  
  Just read my last comment, it might be a little confusing.
When i said under the laser i meant in the y layer.
 
18546 Mods chat level mark (2878) Tue 12 Nov 2013 15:31  
  Super level Dave however i did it differently again.
I'm not going to mod it, there are plenty of them already.
Liked your solution and if you want to find mine add a patch of rough under the left hand laser.
If you don't want to do that just ask and i will post solution 1454.

Adjusted previous level scores down a little.
 
18545 Mods chat level Dave (2400) Tue 12 Nov 2013 15:22 SPOILER
  Yes, as far as I am aware the solution will solve the earlier 'Rouge-Like Re...' series except 'forever'. I say 'The solution', but if I know you, you will find another way :)

I think I would have 'eventually' beaten VM21 if it was a solitary level simply because what appears to be the logical order to the various tasks is, in fact, the correct order. Acheiving these tasks and positioning the bots etc. ready for the next phase is another matter. It would have been a very long haul! It would have also have involved pencil and paper planning and probably a resort to the editor to create a series of test levels starting from various intermediate checkpoints. Drastic but probably necessary, it's served me well before, Assembly Line comes to mind.

This kind of approach doesn't really work that well on something like the Rouge-Like Re levels because everything affects everything else, there is, for instance, no clear half way point. The only real checkpoint is the first entry into the bottom left room.

PS. I completely missed the Learn a Trick hint. In truth, I've only just twigged which one you are talking about.

PPS. Have you tried your idea on R-L-L?
 
18544 Mods chat level mark (2878) Tue 12 Nov 2013 06:46  
  Congrats on both levels Dave.
My first 10 thanks.I don't know whether i'm pleased or frustrated at the moment,your mod has just blitzed my solution.(back to the drawing board for me)
Your dalek panel is killing me.
My solution was my one and only solve of noname's whatever a different way,it took hours and is a bit tired.(needs a speedrun).
I was trying to help with the learn a trick but you obviously did not need it.(Did you notice?)

VM21 that is a very satisfying solve.
If someone had just made VM21 no mod series do you think you could have done it?
I remember when you first put the balls in and it was not to easy then.

As for keeper's of the rouge mods i would not have a clue.
My last solution solved all except whatever forever.
I'm guessing that your new solution will solve all as well.
Off to play however now..
 
18542 Mods chat level Dave (2400) Tue 12 Nov 2013 02:55  
  VM21 done, thanks for the heads up!
 
18541 Mods chat level Dave (2400) Mon 11 Nov 2013 20:38 SPOILER
  Right. Finally done Mark's 'whatever harder'. Very different solution again. To be fair though, I did start out trying to attack it as intended.

I suppose at some point, maybe when we are all on the same page, we should have a bit of a clear out of these levels.
 
18513 Mods chat level N7DOT (2227) Sun 10 Nov 2013 17:26 SPOILER
  It's a bit tedious to talk using a level in the grave yard and will probably become more tedious over time. I don't know of any perfect way to remedy this, but a possible way to discuss these hings would be to use the 'test' message board at msg.spacebar.org/f/a/s/msg/disp/1 as it does not appear to be used by any of Tom's other sites.

@mark: I see what your going for now, but I can't think of any good ways to fix it without making it too obvious.

Also, I suggest that we not make a 'lear a trick' around the basis of wowei's 'protection' level, as that one does a good job already of using that trick.
 
18510 Mods chat level mark (2878) Sun 10 Nov 2013 16:04 SPOILER
  Hi N7DOT,
What i was saying was they won't all look like a trick.
Learn a trick 9..
is the biggest trick,spoiler iv'e got. That is why i was so intent on fixing it.(previously 6)
This one inparticular is not just for new players.
Ps i like your solution,but it is my solution that is the trick.(hint ,hint).
 
18490 Mods chat level mark (2878) Sat 09 Nov 2013 10:39  
  Just a few more levels,not really tricks in all of them buy i started to call them Learn a trick so i'll stick with it.
Most of the levels are just simpler versions of some of the things you would have to do in some of my levels or mods.
There not intended to be hard just fun.
 
18472 Mods chat level Dave (2400) Sat 09 Nov 2013 01:59  
  That's it from me. After a 15 hour shift followed by a few beers, one speedrun is enough! Good night all.
 
18457 Mods chat level mark (2878) Fri 08 Nov 2013 10:55  
  Just a few levels thrown together quickly,i suppose we have all been guilty of only trying to make hard levels.
It was actually quite fun to make a few,might do a few more later.
Nice one Kirima,thats what happens with ten minute levels.
Take that back sometimes it happens with one i spend ages on.
All the best keep on escaping...
 
18450 Mods chat level mark (2878) Fri 08 Nov 2013 07:52  
  I was only thinking along the same lines as you N7DOT the other day.
If the levels at the top are two hard for beginners what will make them stay..
The Ctrl + E function is great but how does anyone know about it?

What would people think about making a "Learn a trick" series.


Ps as for easier levels "Ice world 1" these are the kind of levels i don't solve very easily at all.
 
18438 Mods chat level mark (2878) Thu 07 Nov 2013 22:21  
  Been very busy trying to solve the new level myself.
I thought this was possible when i found my new trick,but it was mighty hard to do.(not the trick)
Never even noticed new level or speedruns as i was so busy playing.
 
18436 Mods chat level mm (690) Thu 07 Nov 2013 18:14 SPOILER
  Dave, actually it is very similar to yours, but thanks anyway for uploading yours!
 
18433 Mods chat level Dave (2400) Thu 07 Nov 2013 17:00 SPOILER
  Finally given up on the idea of getting a mod out of my Whatever solution. Now uploaded. Would be interested to know if you came up with something similar, Kirima.
 
18429 Mods chat level mm (690) Thu 07 Nov 2013 15:43 SPOILER
  I finally solved whatever, my solution is slightly different as well, but probably not worth any mod. I have no clue at all to forever yet, but will keep on trying for a little while. Concerning VM21: that's still a big "?" to me as well and the hints do not help at all as I might not even understand them, LOL!
 
18423 Mods chat level Dave (2400) Wed 06 Nov 2013 23:23 SPOILER
  PS. Mark, I had a brief look at VM21 after reading your clue. I think I'm beginning to see a glimmer of light in on the horizon. If I have interpretted correctly 'work hard' is no understatement! It may be a while till sun-up yet. :)
 
18422 Mods chat level Dave (2400) Wed 06 Nov 2013 23:19 SPOILER
  I should add that my slighly long-winded solution to Whatever doesn't work on Forever because I used bomb 13 in, to all intents and purposes, the same way as noname. Bomb 10 however... Still pondering...
 
18421 Mods chat level Dave (2400) Wed 06 Nov 2013 19:31 SPOILER
  Well, I made pretty hard work of Whatever, eventually solving it yet another way.

Not uploading solution method yet just in case there's a mod in it. There probably isn't but I need a bit longer to ponder.
 
18417 Mods chat level mark (2878) Wed 06 Nov 2013 08:52  
  Hi Nexxus,great to have new players especially those that create new levels so welcome.
Here is a little tip for you...
When you join Escape the levels at the top of the triage are probably to hard or don't make sense but there are many fun levels for all abilities out there.
So when in the triage directory press Ctrl + e .. Then scroll to the bottom or press the end key.
This will sort the levels out into a solvable list,Just start at the bottom and work your way up.
If you notice this advice you will have a lot more fun and learn lots on the way.
Good luck ...
 
18413 Mods chat level mark (2878) Tue 05 Nov 2013 23:36  
  I was going to upload my solution to noname's level as it's massively different to the orignal.
But then i noticed i used one piece less so obviously a mod.
 
18408 Mods chat level mark (2878) Tue 05 Nov 2013 11:33 SPOILER
  Wow noname strikes again,when i made my earlier comment i did not realise Re-whatever was up.
This is exactly the level i first made before taking out the rough because i could not solve it.
What i said about rouge like levels and playing them a lot is not helping me now.
The only good thing about playing this level so far is i've possibly found a new trick,but its not helping me so far.
Great level noname....
 
18406 Mods chat level mark (2878) Tue 05 Nov 2013 05:24 SPOILER
  I've spent hours on Rouge Like's playing what i thought was all the possibilities.
It's such a simple looking level but until solved so hard.
There is definitely more,the bad idea was not testing revamptiring,especially with you about Dave.
If it's breakable you the man to do it,and i'm sorry if it spoils anything before.

VM21 i did not get the clue at first and was wondering If Jim really wanted some love or money.
Just as i was half way through post 18280 it dawned on me what was meant.
Previously i had said for love nor money i can't get the loose grey in and down.
I did not know if that was possible and as i said before there are 4 different ways to the half way point VM20 move 650.(your solution)
So as i could not have 4 bookmarks i was redoing all the scenarios then trying to solve.I got fed up with it then gave up,thinking Jim must have done something impossible.
Well here is your big clue...
VM20 move 650 the bots are correct but the teleport needs to be there.
Then for love or money you must try harder to get the grey in and down.
Hope this helps you a bit.
 
18404 Mods chat level Dave (2400) Tue 05 Nov 2013 04:09 SPOILER
  No Mark, it was a good idea! It would have taken me a while to solve as intended. I'm sure there is room for a further twist yet...

Changing the subject: I have tried many times to find an exploitable weakness in Rouge Like Like. It is begging to be modded, but Max levels are hard nuts to crack.

Changing the subject again: Still haven't got a clue about VM21. I also have no clue as to what the clues mean!
 
18402 Mods chat level Dave (2400) Mon 04 Nov 2013 23:49 SPOILER
  Kirima, I think you may have deleted prematurely. I haven't tried it yet but at first sight it looks like the uncookable one of the pair. Sorry Mark, I couldn't resist a flaw like that. It reminds me of my many similar cock-ups.

Jim, if you don't want to spoil Revampired, avoid looking at the original solution of Revamptiring. You already know the key, what I will add is: the route to it is surprisingly direct.
 
18400 Mods chat level Jim (2369) Mon 04 Nov 2013 19:52 SPOILER
  I did see your comment on Rouge Mark and I saw your mistake but so far it hasn't helped me solve the latest rouge ones. I'll go back to them in the future.
 
18393 Mods chat level mark (2878) Mon 04 Nov 2013 16:05  
  Congrats mm that was a toughie,trust Dave to spot the flaw in the level and so quickly.
I knew what i had done wrong the morning after i posted it but did not think it mattered.
Jim if you read my very first comments on Rouge Like then spot the flaw in Revampeed it should help a little.
Any way I was waiting for another solver as i have a mod to make you work that little bit harder.
 
18370 Mods chat level mark (2878) Sat 02 Nov 2013 22:59 SPOILER
  It took quite a while and lots messing about to come up with the my solution for that.
I was then blinded by the easier options i was trying to force a harder solution after playing Jims mod.
Nothing ever goes right first time for me.
I'm going to leave it deleted for now ,not even sure if it,s fixable.
I thought it was funny when it got 6 by the first solver and solved so soon after the effort it took me to get there.(New it would be Broke)

Thanks again.
 
18368 Mods chat level Dave (2400) Sat 02 Nov 2013 22:17 SPOILER
  Hi Mark. I found the new Locker level way simpler than the previous ones. I found the blue actually helps rather than hinder and opens up more options because it allows more manoeuvrability. Will look into it more tomorrow if I have a chance. Try and solve without ever putting the the blue steel on the blue panel and you will see what I mean.
 
18362 Mods chat level mark (2878) Thu 31 Oct 2013 19:57  
  Not from me there's not I had 136.
Well done on getting them all...
 
18361 Mods chat level Dave (2400) Thu 31 Oct 2013 18:55 SPOILER
  Well I've shattered the speed record on Maze Runner III by an amazing 1 move! Is there more?
 
18357 Mods chat level mark (2878) Thu 31 Oct 2013 12:10 SPOILER
  Nice level Dave i might not have solved so soon without the hint.
Did it slightly different and a little quicker but all the major pieces exactly the same great spot by you.

Ps there is a speedrun to catch for someone in maze runner III.
 
18356 Mods chat level mark (2878) Thu 31 Oct 2013 08:59 SPOILER
  Well it's very nice to have you back Dave,you had been gone quite a while i see you have been busy catching up and great speedruns.
Glad you liked the Red locker room levels as i really enjoyed (struggled) with Jim's version.
When playing Jim's version i found a couple of different things to do and was hoping you might have a mod coming.
Was not expecting it to be revampired,haven't played it yet but i'm about to.
As for kicking myself maybe just a subtle one i know what you are on about and just resigned myself to the fact it did not matter.
As i have said before the mods came as i solved the levels,except rouge which i'd been playing around with for months only to mess it up last minute.(wonky mouse control)
I still think it's a good fun level and i'm off to try and solve your version..
VM21 is very painful and i'd even given up on it until Jim's subtle clue.On the whole it must be one of the hardest levels i've ever solved and if it was not part of a series it for me would have been impossible.
Thanks good luck to all.
 
18355 Mods chat level Dave (2400) Thu 31 Oct 2013 02:38 SPOILER
  Hi all, it's been a while. Hope you are all well. If you haven't guessed, I've been extremely busy with other projects.

Have managed to catch up on most of what I've missed, only VM21 and The Worst Is Behind You Again to go. I don't hold out much hope of cracking either quickly. I struggled with the predecessor of The Worst...

Continuing the discussion here: Yes, the Rouge level can be cooked. Any solution to 'Revampired' (it is Halloween) should work on 'Revampeed'. I think you may kick yourself a second time, mark. I am not planning on leaving 'Revampired' up indefinitiely but I thought you might enjoy being forced to solve it the other way.

Nevertheless, I really enjoyed playing it. Mark and Jim, I also really really enjoyed the Red Locker Levels, took me ages, good fun, and helped me get my Escape head working again. My solution was quite similar to Jim's in the end, it just had N-S and E-W phases swapped over at various stages.

The solution to Maze Runner III was also my original solve of II. Spotted the trick in Fourth Contact SBF quite quickly, nice cook, easy to find when your looking for it but I would never have spotted it otherwise.

Cheers, Dave.
 
18313 Mods chat level mm (690) Sat 12 Oct 2013 15:32 SPOILER
  Hi Mark! " Your kind" of treating this level had already been a "cook" many years ago, i.e. level 849, and because of this someone had created that two times like level! ;-) But still I think your own new way to solve it is pretty elegant as well! I'll have to take a deeper look to it, I'm not yet sure if it will be cookable or not.

How about modding the newer mod-level? (I don't think that it would be my turn.)
 
18312 Mods chat level mark (2878) Sat 12 Oct 2013 11:13 SPOILER
  Hi mm, had a bit more time to look at rouge level again, i was in a rush last night when i deleted and reuploaded.(hence spelling mistake)
It was a genuine mistake the dot dissapeared but your very smart solution will still do with a little alteration.
I'd been playing with this level for quite a while trying to uncook it.Which i thought i done ,in a earlier version i turned all the walls blue so they could not be pushed when changing them back i slipped and covered up the dot and forgot to put it back.
I wonder how many more ways it can be done as the origanal has several just as good solutions.
Anyway thanks for loading your speedrun to show my mistake.
Good luck to all.
 
18305 Mods chat level mark (2878) Thu 10 Oct 2013 07:12  
  Yes Jim that level took me ages too,i had a bookmark halfway for over four months.Finally solving the wrong way as usual.
Anyway i've been working on another mod for quite a while for you to play.
It's nearly ready i'm just testing hopefully all the possibilities of it not going wrong.
Hope you and anyone else likes it,it will be up soon.
 
18302 Mods chat level Jim (2369) Tue 01 Oct 2013 09:20 SPOILER
  I'm glad you liked it Mark, your solution to Red Locker Room Revamp was equally impressive, I'm not sure I would have discovered that if I had to.
 
18301 Mods chat level mark (2878) Mon 30 Sep 2013 10:15 SPOILER
  Wow finally done it Jim that was a great solution.When i said i had an idea how to to it i was so wrong.I had been going down the wrong path for ages and nearly give up.
The extra bits were just an afterthought by me just to keep symmetry, they could have been placed anywhere.
Anyhow glad they wasn't Great level thanks Jim.
 
18299 Mods chat level mark (2878) Fri 27 Sep 2013 10:32  
  Wow Jim thats another great mod from you,at the moment i think i know what to do but i can't quite execute it.
Just to let you know i'm having plenty of fun and games with it.
I only solved the original two weeks back and i was trying all these things out then.thats when i realised there's probably a good puzzle inside.
I also solved 3 of your modded levels that where together, Four Squared (V3) i thought that was a great find.
The 3 levels i modded i did as i solved them it was just coincidence they came together.
Fourth contact was just a fluke i looked at my solution,now you have solved it,it's probably an easier solution to the original.
I now find if stuck on a level it better to take a break and come back to it. So i will play it again later.
I've just solved another level and im working on the speedrun,it will be up soon .
Thanks good luck all.
 
18289 Mods chat level mm (690) Wed 18 Sep 2013 16:01  
  Congrats, Mark!!!
 
18285 Mods chat level Jim (2369) Tue 17 Sep 2013 22:28 SPOILER
  Congrats Mark, I knew you would solve it.
 
18282 Mods chat level mark (2878) Tue 17 Sep 2013 15:14  
  Thanks Jim that was great, you inspired me to have another go.
I found the extra love and money and solved virtually the same way as you.
I now see what you say about Dave's being harder find.As i did not need to find any new tricks but just order them the right way.
Anyhow a big fat 10 as promised.
 
18281 Mods chat level Jim (2369) Mon 16 Sep 2013 21:14 SPOILER
  Yes Mark, that's your clue.....congrats on reaching 1880!!!
 
18280 Mods chat level mark (2878) Mon 16 Sep 2013 17:51  
  Hi mm i am fine hope you are well,i had to give up on Jims mod as i was finding impossible.
Since giving up ive solved some great levels especially numbots.
Ever since Jim commented on it i was always giving it a go with no clue where to start. (I dreamt about it one night and it gave me an idea and solved it a very short while later.)
Done over 100 levels rated 5+ some i would say are a bit harder than ratings say.

Yes Jim i would love a clue,i think everyone would i hate seeing the level at the bottom of the difficulty list because no one can solve it.
So i send you my regards,and best wishes and as much love and money you need,or is that my clue.

My new tally is up to 1880 with lots of levels looked at and left,I've done many levels i first thought i could not do.

Good luck to everyone,
Hope Dave comes back soon.
 
18279 Mods chat level Jim (2369) Mon 16 Sep 2013 11:13 SPOILER
  Hi MM, its been a while since we heard from you, hope all is well. Have you tried VM21?

Mark, if you need an additional clue for VM21, you need more love or money~!

Dave, are you still out there?????
 
18278 Mods chat level mm (690) Sat 14 Sep 2013 18:27  
  How are you all doing?
 
18259 Mods chat level Jim (2369) Thu 08 Aug 2013 16:21 SPOILER
  Mark, you are already on the right track. IMO, Dave's solution was harder to see then mine.
 
18258 Mods chat level mark (2878) Thu 08 Aug 2013 14:08 SPOILER
  Hi JIm, sorry to be so confusing i've checked out the other scenarios again.
If you go from the half way stage 650 moves in Dave's original you have the hugbot by the stop sign bottom left if you dont trap the hugbot there it will be half the way up the black corridor ready to join the other hugbot thats at the top of the black corridor.
Before getting the stop sign out you can level of the bots by the two houses then move on to the halfway point.
I'm deffinatly not on about the dalek or the hugbot trapped bottom right.
I've done so much on this level and am completly out of ideas.
When Dave made 20 i'd allready gone half that root in 18 before finding 19 answer.
I've now been trying to bypass more of the first half of the level but that seems impossible.
Turning the laser off by the exit seems to be my main problem.
For love nor money i can't get the loose grey block in and down.
Maybe you did the level so differntly i'm completly on the wrong track.
I really want to do this level as it is fantastic and if i can you automaticly get a big 10.
Thanks again.

Ps is everyone else stuck or just not playing at the moment.

Pps great to see wowie getting a speedrun even if it did not last long,just like to say that your levels are great and i have about 4 left to do.
 
18257 Mods chat level Jim (2369) Thu 08 Aug 2013 11:51 SPOILER
  Hi Mark, welcome to my world of the last month or so. I'm having a bit of trouble understanding what your 4 scenarios are, I guess I don't speak fluent Escapese. I'm not exactly sure which hugbots you are referring to, you aren't talking about the Dalek, are you? Maybe it would be more clear to me if you told me what scenario applies after move 650 in Dave's VM20 origial solution? I see a hugbot and dalek top right with a teleport not there, with a hugbot bottom left and another hugbot toward the bottom right. That doesn't exactly fit any of your scenarios, which is why I'm confused.
 
18256 Mods chat level mark (2878) Thu 08 Aug 2013 08:26 SPOILER
  Wow Jim what have you done?
I was a bit rusty on VM series and had to refresh myself on it, I've now done that and amd trying everything possible to no avail.
I have to be honest and say i Have not got a clue how to do this now which is very annoying to me.
Unless i'm mistaken the way i see it is there are 4 ways to get to the half way point move 650 in vm20 Dave's original solution.
1. two hugbots top right teleport by heart there.
2. two hugbots top right teleport not there.
3. one hugbot top right one bottom left teleport not there.
4. one hugbot top right one bottom left teleport there.

Are any of these scenarios right or am i barking up the wrong tree.

On all of these levels i have never been so clueless as what to do.
After Dave's mod i thought that was it nothing else possible.

If you could see your way to lend a little help i would be gratful otherwise i'm afraid this will stay unsolved for me,and i can't bare the thought of that.
Thanks
 
18251 Mods chat level Jim (2369) Sat 03 Aug 2013 22:22 SPOILER
  I'm finally caught up again after all these weeks. I ended up doing various models slightly different (I think) so I may do one more mod to that soon. That surely was a classic series, you people are truly amazing.
 
18246 Mods chat level mm (690) Wed 17 Jul 2013 18:47 SPOILER
  Dave, it seemed so and might have been my turn, I first thought so, but your number 20 already is more than evil and IMO certainly does not need any further "improvements". (I have been thinking about a mod, but holy goat, who am I to even try to...?!) Congrats, your level really deserves 10-9-8!
 
18243 Mods chat level mark (2878) Wed 17 Jul 2013 11:22 SPOILER
  Hi all,with help from 18 and 20 i have made a revamp of 19 that possibly forces my solution to 19.
As i think these levels are getting near to the end now i think this should stay as a keeper.
It would also be nice if noname could mod 18 to one solution.
We could then keep them for future players or returning masters.
As soon as 20 came out i knew what had to be done as i spent hours on 18.
Don't want to say to much but it would be nice to get some levels on the front page.
 
18239 Mods chat level Dave (2400) Wed 17 Jul 2013 07:10 SPOILER
  What this means Kirima, is that you have to do do the next mod :)
 
18235 Mods chat level Dave (2400) Wed 17 Jul 2013 05:48  
  I should point out that I had probably spent over two hours, on and off, on 18 without success before 19 was uploaded. Then I decided to carry on working with 18 but look for a solution that would fit both. From that point it still took another couple of hours.

All these levels are definitely 9s in my opinion. I have noticed that when we solve a new mod using part of a solution from an older mod, we tend to forget how difficult it was to get to that stage in first place.

I'm going on the road for a couple days, so I may or may not be around but, in all likelihood, not. Cheers.
 
18232 Mods chat level Dave (2400) Tue 16 Jul 2013 23:43  
  noname, I really liked your 18 solution, no wonder it took you so long to find it. I'm very glad I didn't have to find it!!! It should be blocked in 20.

The original to 20 uses my solution to both 18 and 19, cook away...
 
18230 Mods chat level noname (559) Tue 16 Jul 2013 21:04 SPOILER
  Well, my solution to 18 still works in 19. Anyway, if I have to pull of Mark's really interesting solution all by myself, I might get a headache, so maybe it's fortunate that I don't have to do so... (or unfortunate? :)
 
18227 Mods chat level mark (2878) Tue 16 Jul 2013 17:57 SPOILER
  Wow VM18 what can i say that was hard, really liked your solution noname very cheeky,no wonder you got a headache.
I solved it in a very different way so a mod coming,you might still be able to do it your way but i tried and failed.
 
18224 Mods chat level noname (559) Mon 15 Jul 2013 01:35 SPOILER
  16 and 17 each took me several hours to solve, and I got a headache after solving 17, so I decided to take a rest from Escape for a few days. Anyway, my first solves to 15 and 16 were pretty similar to the original solutions, but I solved 17 differently.
 
18223 Mods chat level Dave (2400) Sun 14 Jul 2013 19:05 SPOILER
  Hi Mark. Just finished 17, wasn't able to look at it over the weekend. Still took me over 2 hours and I already knew a lot of the tricks from when I was messing about with ideas for 16. It seems I missed one detail, I don't want to spoil anthing so I won't say any more at this stage.

As you say, it will be very interesting to see which way the others first-solve 16. Who knows, there may be another loophole yet.
 
18221 Mods chat level mark (2878) Sun 14 Jul 2013 17:09  
  Hi Dave and everyone else,back from the weekend away and i've had time to study your solution for 16.
Well that was a stroke of genius by you and if i had not solved a different way i think i still be playing it come christmas.
My solution is still very hard to do but probably not as difficult as yours.
But who knows we all think a bit different,anyway i automaticly give the level 8 as it had 2 answers maybe more,but on reflection and understanding the original solution i'm changing it up.
 
18220 Mods chat level Jim (2369) Sun 14 Jul 2013 03:58 SPOILER
  Finally got 15, it doesn't work on 16. Will have to work on 16 and 17 another day, they look very difficult.
 
18219 Mods chat level Dave (2400) Sat 13 Jul 2013 06:51  
  It sounds like you are pretty close Jim. I would love to know if your first solution to 15, when (not if) you get it, also works on 16 or 17. I haven't had a chance to work on 17 yet, it may have to wait a few days and even then I think it's going to take me a while.
 
18218 Mods chat level Jim (2369) Sat 13 Jul 2013 02:01 SPOILER
  I finally made it to 15 but very stuck on that level. I can get the laser to the right of the exit turned off, but then I can't get the rock in the last column to the right to turn off the last stop sign. Or I can get the rock to turn off the last stop sign, but then I can't use it to turn off the laser.
 
18216 Mods chat level mark (2878) Fri 12 Jul 2013 15:41 SPOILER
  Wow Dave once again an unbelievable level took a good 3 hours of playing and lots more thinking about at work.
Well you will be pleased to know i did it a lot differently so a mod coming.
As far as i can tell with a quick look the mod is ok,as i only just solved your level in the nick of time.
I'm out for a couple of days in 15 mins time so i threw in a quick mod with first solve solution and no testing.
If the mod forces my solution it will be hard to believe.
I'll be checking comments but can't play.
Good luck for now and thanks again.
 
18207 Mods chat level Dave (2400) Wed 10 Jul 2013 21:12  
  Glad to hear it Jim. By the time you catch up we might have figured out what to do with spare bit!

I know what I want to do with it, but haven't yet found a way of making a really worthwhile mod out of it.
 
18206 Mods chat level Jim (2369) Wed 10 Jul 2013 13:28 SPOILER
  I'm still out here, I just haven't had much time to play lately and probably won't for a few more days yet. Level 9 is the last one I solved, so I see I have a lot more to do yet. You three made some great levels, congrats!
 
18198 Mods chat level Dave (2400) Tue 09 Jul 2013 20:02  
  Yep, that's funny!

Think it'll help if I use my reading glasses while playing?
 
18197 Mods chat level mark (2878) Tue 09 Jul 2013 18:44  
  Ha Ha Kirima,you just done basicly the same as me at the same time.
After Dave's comment thought i'd play it again.
 
18193 Mods chat level Dave (2400) Tue 09 Jul 2013 16:54 SPOILER
  I was wondering what you were talking on about, Mark. The 14 solution is ctrl-0 compatible with the original 13, I tested it when I made the mod. It doesn't work on the 'new' 13 because you moved the second panel up a space. All you have to do is import the original 14 solution and step up/left instead of left/up at move 935/1149... done.

So there are 4 known basic solutions so far:

1. Bomb in Mark's place. Use panel mechanism.
2. Bomb in my place. Use panel mechanism (my first solve).
3. Bomb in my place. Ignore panel mechanism (slowest method - see 14).
4. Bomb in Kirima's place. Use panel mechanism (speedrun).

PS. Not had a chance to look at 15 yet.
 
18192 Mods chat level mark (2878) Tue 09 Jul 2013 16:12  
  Last comment by me already proven to be false,nice solution Kirima.
I did test your bomb place but i could not make it work that way.
The levels not as good as first thought, i'll get rid of it again in a few days.
 
18186 Mods chat level mark (2878) Tue 09 Jul 2013 11:22 SPOILER
  Hi Dave again,i've just been studying your solution to 14 and i'll call that the normal starting way.
As far as i can tell that way can't solve 13 you have to learn your cook level to be able to do the ending.
So i think i should reload it.
 
18184 Mods chat level mark (2878) Tue 09 Jul 2013 08:58  
  Hi Dave i've fixed 13 now do you think it's worth loading as a keeper.

 
18181 Mods chat level mark (2878) Tue 09 Jul 2013 08:19  
  Wow Dave that was great fun and prety tough too.So you never found my easier solution to 13.
I'd been playing around with 13 that much my bookmarks for the level stopped working so i started again so i did not have to solve the whole level again.
In the original 13 i'd changed the last grey panel to useless.
As soon as i uploaded i had the feeling of dread it may be cooked,but it looked so hard i left it.The trick in my solution was getting from the top rooms to the bottom at about move 888.
Anyway i solved yours slighty different bomb placement which i'm not to sure if it's tougher so i'll do a quick mod with my first solve solution for you to play.
 
18178 Mods chat level Dave (2400) Mon 08 Jul 2013 21:01  
  PS. Are you still out there Jim?
 
18177 Mods chat level Dave (2400) Mon 08 Jul 2013 20:43  
  Blind as a bat!

I had spent over an hour on VM13 and was just putting the final part of a solution together when a stray bot stepped on the new panel and another one popped up. Never noticed it before that point... daft idiot!

Maybe we can spin-off one of the 11 style levels later with the blue walls back, it would be interesting to see just how many mods it would actually take to decookify the level.
 
18168 Mods chat level Dave (2400) Mon 08 Jul 2013 02:31  
  I've probably made 12 more rigid than I would have liked. If anybody has a more original bomb ending and needs to rollback part of this mod to make it work, please be my guest.

I've only managed to come up with one possible new idea for the bomb (i.e. without blowing up a bot retaining wall) but it would have involved too many changes.

PS. I woke up at 4 in the morning, just in time to catch the last few games of the third set! Wishing I'd stayed up and watched the lot now!
 
18166 Mods chat level Dave (2400) Sun 07 Jul 2013 22:44 SPOILER
  So I've now caught up again. Didn't rate 11(again) because I ctrl-0ed it from 11. 12 should fix up some of the loopholes, but will probably open up some new ones too, so cook away...

PS. I uploaded 11b with my solution to the other 11 levels. Thought this might be more fun than just revealling the cook.

PPS. I think you made the right decision going for 11(again) in favour of 11.
 
18158 Mods chat level mark (2878) Sun 07 Jul 2013 15:20  
  Yes i do prefer VM11 again, and it also leaves more scope.
It was just that it was a solution i found in my original level so i edited out,even though i thought it was better find.It also uses the main part of the level i was trying to be tricky with.
I'll get rid of 11,
 
18156 Mods chat level mm (690) Sun 07 Jul 2013 14:05 SPOILER
  I see! In fact that's been the reason why I had introduced my "quod erat demonstrandum" example. Anyway, I prefere the second (again) version because I couldn't cook any of the necessary steps and of course also because of the final that seems more elegant. I'd vote for again and would continue our game using that verion. What do you think?
 
18154 Mods chat level mark (2878) Sun 07 Jul 2013 12:24  
  I'm watching the tennis as well,
When i did not want to touch the bomb it was before your example.
I thought the brakes had to come off from the start,and you would have to of come up with something really special as not to ruin the whole level that we had so far.
 
18153 Mods chat level mm (690) Sun 07 Jul 2013 11:24 SPOILER
  Hi Mark, I see the problem, but at this moment I can't see how to fix it? I've tried some things, but as I am watching the Wimbledon finals, I am kind of distracted. BTW: I remember when you had announced that you definitely won't be willing to do the bomb-mod, and now you did it even twice! ;)
 
18150 Mods chat level mark (2878) Sun 07 Jul 2013 09:05  
  Hi Kirima,i spent a long time messing with VM10 trying to get something different from what we had allready seen.
The thing was i could just about cook the level every way without making one exit impossible.
I have uploaded my alternate level just for you to see the problems i was having.
Different exit this time.
My solution is not very good as i done it off bookmarks.
I know it was not my turn for a mod but just throwing this out there,as it's basicly the same level just a different ending.
 
18147 Mods chat level Dave (2400) Sat 06 Jul 2013 22:14  
  La bombe est arrivee! Cheers Mark.
 
18145 Mods chat level Dave (2400) Sat 06 Jul 2013 20:54  
  Hi Kirima. Yes, I'm still here. I'm also tiling the bathroom! Still haven't had time to play 9 and 10 yet, and am unlikely to for a while.
 
18144 Mods chat level mm (690) Sat 06 Jul 2013 19:34 SPOILER
  Hi Dave, how are you?! I "saw" you uploading a speedrun, so I know you are around... -> I'm waiting for the bomb to be launched! ;) Have fun, good night all and have a good and positive weekend!
 
18103 Mods chat level mm (690) Thu 04 Jul 2013 17:58 SPOILER
  Hi all! I am very glad that we could prove that our dubious bomb CAN be used in an intelligent way, YES! :) -> Remember: a few days ago we had been kind of scared to even touch it... ;)

I'd love to continue the original game from now on, I hope we will get to number 10 ASAP because I am really really curious to see number 11!

I had been a little bit "concerned" when I had been uploading my template demanding such a crazy bomb-rule, but now I feel quite happy about it because I am sure, positive that it will work out just fine. Thank you all for playing the bomb-exploring game, it had been a lot of fun!


 
18098 Mods chat level mark (2878) Thu 04 Jul 2013 13:32  
  Took a while to get 117 for the top,but i've 88 for the bottom.
 
18090 Mods chat level Dave (2400) Thu 04 Jul 2013 04:21  
  It seems the bombs have gone ballistic already. The main thread will be interesting.

PS. noname. If I was forced to solve 7A the intended way, which at first sight seemed the only logical method, I would have rated difficulty much higher. Please leave this up until for a little while because it is a very elegant solution.
 
18085 Mods chat level Dave (2400) Wed 03 Jul 2013 20:10  
  Fun little challenge Mark!
 
18084 Mods chat level Dave (2400) Wed 03 Jul 2013 20:08  
  Bottom 90, Top 117
 
18083 Mods chat level Dave (2400) Wed 03 Jul 2013 19:59  
  Had another go and improved on bottom score. Bottom 90, Top 129.
 
18082 Mods chat level Dave (2400) Wed 03 Jul 2013 19:39  
  Hi Mark. Had a quick play with your idea of unlocking the VM7 bomb. Beat you to the top with 129 but haven't got the bottom solution below 114 yet. It is clear we are attacking this problem very differently. I Will keep trying.

Renamed Level 2 was one of my very very early solves (28 Oct 09 - 1092 moves!), long before I knew of the existence of speedruns let alone beating them. I went back through and redid most of the levels in 2011, hence I have a lot of speedruns from that period, many of which I imagine are beatable.

There's a lot to be said for experience. I wonder if the 2011 Dave would have beaten your run in 10 minutes... I don't think so.


Kirima, if you start playing with bombs, you make joining the party irresistable!!! :)
 
18079 Mods chat level mark (2878) Wed 03 Jul 2013 10:11  
  Pps it took me more than 30 mins to do last post as VM8 was not there before i started.
 
18078 Mods chat level mark (2878) Wed 03 Jul 2013 10:07  
  Ha ha,nice one Dave you reclaimed your speedrun.The funny thing is I only solved that level yesterday.
After solving any level i always watch the other solutions and i stole it from you anyway you left an easy 6 at the end.
It took me about 10 mins of checking to see where you even got the 2 back from.
For some reason i must have thought this level was harder than it actually is,it only took 5 mins to solve,but when i first played ages ago i left it all in a muddle.(just goes to show how much you can learn at this game)
I remember bumping into this level in the comments section because of the bad language title it had.
Thats the first time i got the deleted level directory so i could look at it.(lev914).
Fair play to you mm you gave him a bit of a roasting back in 2005,your comment was very funny.

Anyhow talking off speedruns and the bomb in VM series, just for fun i'd edited the bomb back in 7 to see what could be done.
To bottom exit i managed a 98 and top exit a 155 and it was quite a bit of fun to do,can anyone top these scores.

Its nice to see you back again Kirima after your little break and once again another nice speedrun.
I had just finished VM7 and was checking to see if any other mods where out when i clocked your speedrun 5,I had got smaller solutions in the bank and was very tempted to redo 7 without red panel to test Dave and Jim.In the end i thought that would be unfair.

Ps i think its nearly as good to have owned the speedrun for a while as it is owning it out right,at least you get your name up and they don't take that away from you.
I don't know how many speedruns i've stolen by shaving bits out of them , But at a guess this must be how most of them come about.
It would be nice if all the speedruns were saved so i could see the beaten one's as well.

Pps i remember reading a comment from Jim some time ago,don't remember what level that he felt he owed Tom7 loads of money for all the free entertainment he'd had.
I really know what he meant by that now and thank Tom7 so much.
 
18072 Mods chat level Dave (2400) Wed 03 Jul 2013 04:31  
  Hi M. Welcome back, I was wondering when you would show up again. All the mods on VM have been by Mark (odds) or myself (evens) so it could do with some other input. I'm in two minds about the bomb as well, it's going to have to be one very good mod unless it just ends the level with a final choatic flourish. We'll see, I may get inspired nearer the time, but no good ideas yet.

PS. Mark. Sorry about the speedrun on RL2. After I saw your run pop up I decided to go back and play the level again and came in two moves quicker. There must be a couple more to be clipped off yet.
 
18069 Mods chat level mm (690) Tue 02 Jul 2013 19:24 SPOILER
  Hi everyone, I'm still trying to catch up after a small hiatus of almost 10 days. I've got the Various Models, wow, you guys had done an extremly clever job during my absence! I'll need some more time for the block pushing problems, hopefully those won't turn out to be too difficult?!

Concerning VM: holy goat, I'm already curious: who will be willing to do the 10th mod...?! As far as I can judge the situation right now, this template seems to be predestinated for a split-off, I guess we might want to keep a kind of straight forward series with the bomb exploding whereever as well as one more subtile split-off? We'll see, I'm certainly looking forward to whatever will happen!

At the moment, I can't mod VM because I'm kind of not yet really into it, i.e. I don't know the last level well enough to be able to figure out anything decent, I'm sorry. I just wanted to let you know that I'm still around and that I still do have the intention to play our game!
 
18050 Mods chat level Dave (2400) Mon 01 Jul 2013 01:37  
  PPS. I've got wandering apostrophes again ;)
 
18049 Mods chat level Dave (2400) Mon 01 Jul 2013 01:35  
  PS. I haven't fiddled with the bots... I'll leave that to you.
 
18048 Mods chat level Dave (2400) Mon 01 Jul 2013 01:33  
  Mark, thanks for modding VM, don't know why you were so reluctant, somebody had to do something to get the series moving again. I've had another go to try and jemmy things along a bit further. Annoyingly, I saw a better mod idea after I uploaded... too late now, maybe later.
 
18043 Mods chat level Jim (2369) Fri 28 Jun 2013 22:24 SPOILER
  Nice addition there Mark, like you said, its a very hard level to mod but you found a good way to do it.
 
18041 Mods chat level mark (2878) Fri 28 Jun 2013 15:36  
  Hi Dave , i was really reluctant to play with various models 2.
IMO it was the best first mod we ever had,it was no walk in the park.
But saying that its not a complete level, no one else was having a go so i have.
I could not put anything loose inside so I played with the bots instead.
 
18038 Mods chat level mark (2878) Thu 27 Jun 2013 22:48 SPOILER
  Very nice mod JIm,
I think the level was going a bit stale so this mod more than welcome.
I've just changed one block to rectify a mistake i made earlier.
My solution is very scruffy once again.you should easily take 400 off it.
 
18036 Mods chat level Dave (2400) Thu 27 Jun 2013 21:51  
  I don't see how you could have made that work using green either. I'm happy if the series continues from here, but will wait to see what the others think. This procrastination is partly due to my deep-rooted democratic principles and mostly due to the fact that I can't think of a good way of modding it yet :)

FYI. I did solve as intended.
 
18034 Mods chat level Jim (2369) Thu 27 Jun 2013 19:04 SPOILER
  I really wanted to keep Green, but couldn't figure out a way for it to work without changing it to Red.
 
18033 Mods chat level Dave (2400) Thu 27 Jun 2013 18:51  
  Came back after a couple of days to find three new mod blocks levels, and a solution length which has doubled... Consequently, decided to go straight from 9 to 11. Jim, I'm not sure about some rules, I think you broke them all! However, 11 adds something which gives those 2000+ first solve moves some point, so who cares about rules :)
 
18013 Mods chat level Dave (2400) Mon 24 Jun 2013 22:46  
  Finally got around to playing some blocks levels... Sorry Mark, couldn't leave your switches and lights alone!
 
18007 Mods chat level Dave (2400) Sun 23 Jun 2013 22:47  
  Ha ha, nice one Jim. A few of the things I was playing with in MT14b prototypes have turned up in 17c. I also totally bypassed the intended solution in 17b. Will need a rethink now.

Kirima, if you want to roll back VM and maybe take out some of the bizarro stuff, go for it.
 
18005 Mods chat level mark (2878) Sun 23 Jun 2013 17:09  
  Ps forgot to mention in my last post,which is the reason why i even posted.
Kirima i'm easy with Mods levels i'll always go with the flow ,I dont mind what anyone does.

Thanks.
 
18004 Mods chat level mark (2878) Sun 23 Jun 2013 17:02  
  Hi Kirima, dont worry about cooking VM5 i knew that would pobably happen anyway.
I spent my time more trying to get a clever ending to the level,but could not make that work either.

Anyhow i've once again fell behind on the other mods thinking levels.(not even tried them yet).
After cracking the single file levels i've spent most of my spare time just playing Max's levels,most of them are devilishly good.
Well I got about another 10 that i could not do before and i've pushed my triage to over 1700 with them.
Try and catch up with MT levels this week some time if I can.For me it just seems harder to go back to levels once i've been playing others.
Getting to the point now where levels to play are going to be serious thinking jobs that take way to much time.
1800 maybe six more months if lucky.

Good luck everyone,by for now.
 
18003 Mods chat level mm (690) Sun 23 Jun 2013 13:13 SPOILER
  The Variable Modelling series is more and more confusing me, i.e. those tiles that are not visible on the playground, things are hidden and it's not possible to understand what is meant to be done. When I made the template, I've had in mind that finally maybe 3 or 4 of the tiles I had placed in the bizzarro world would be activated. The tiles had been an OFFER, and I've never ever had the intention to force the use of those tiles. I wish we could go back a few steps!? What do you think?
 
17994 Mods chat level mm (690) Fri 21 Jun 2013 21:21 SPOILER
  Dave, I did upload what I had had so far, maybe we can work it out?! Thank you for describing what you had intended, but I didn't really get it as it sounds pretty abstract in my ears!
 
17992 Mods chat level Dave (2400) Fri 21 Jun 2013 20:02  
  ... You will also notice that a blue block in bizarro has changed to green. Still wont let you through the portal, but gives top access to the switch... part of a planned mod along similar lines which never happened, so I left it in as a bit of a teaser.
 
17991 Mods chat level Dave (2400) Fri 21 Jun 2013 19:56  
  ... This forces you to use the cook on the disappearing tile but takes the transponder out of play anyway. Hope it makes a bit of sense.
 
17990 Mods chat level Dave (2400) Fri 21 Jun 2013 19:51  
  I have got a non-cookable fix for the disappearing tile... it involves introducing a green lamp near the heart and locking the transponder to it by using red floor underneath. Unfortunately, I can't upload it as that mod is sitting on the computer at work.
 
17989 Mods chat level mm (690) Fri 21 Jun 2013 19:17  
  I totally forgot about the "i", thanks for reminding me, so I did install a mouse and did configurate it properly and the mouse does draw rectangles, that's all I do know so far. (It didn't work my usual mac-way pressing ctrl as a substitute for windows right mouse.)
 
17988 Mods chat level mm (690) Fri 21 Jun 2013 19:06 SPOILER
  Thanks, Dave! :) I've solved 20 right away, and afterwards I've been trying to find a mod for something like a combination of 14a+19 as well... What I've found so far is cookable, same problem as 14a which can easily be cooked, i.e. the other solutions do still work. (I haven't been aware of that fact & no-one told me, but then I did realize it myself.) -> I haven't found a better decent solution to let disappear that tile yet.
 
17987 Mods chat level Dave (2400) Fri 21 Jun 2013 18:11  
  Congratulations! 20 is only 18 the way I should've done it in the first place, I'll delete 18 soon. Plenty of scope for turning the screw further.

I spent a while making mods for 14a, that's why I haven't even played, let alone modded, the 'blocks' series yet. There are plenty of options, but failed to find a satisfactory one which shut out all the tricks used later in the main series.

Did you get a chance to play with 'i'?
 
17984 Mods chat level mm (690) Fri 21 Jun 2013 15:51 SPOILER
  Noname's 19 requires more or less my 18 solution. -> Off to take a look at Mark's 20 where my solution won't work...
 
17983 Mods chat level mm (690) Fri 21 Jun 2013 15:12 SPOILER
  Happy dancing lady! :-) Thank you all! My solution of 18 is slightly different, so now I'll have to take a look at 19 & 20, but probably my solution is already modded?
 
17981 Mods chat level mm (690) Fri 21 Jun 2013 07:25 SPOILER
  Dave, concerning illegal bookmarks: I might have seen that, but I'm not totally sure if this is what you had meant: the editor does bookmark illegal things all the way up to that illegal step, when you watch the bookmarked play, the player will just stop there and it will tell you that the next step is illegal.
 
17980 Mods chat level mm (690) Fri 21 Jun 2013 07:19 SPOILER
  I've placed a break underneath the bomb, so now it can't be touched for the moment, but we'll still be able to see its original timer set to 9! ;)
 
17977 Mods chat level mark (2878) Fri 21 Jun 2013 06:45  
  Yes Dave you are right i was just typing a comment to say ignore that comment about black,if the level gets tricky and clever enough the bomb might not help anyway.
 
17975 Mods chat level Dave (2400) Fri 21 Jun 2013 06:30  
  I don't think that is a good idea. What if the key to level is opening the bot release point at a specific point in the wall? Not much point if you put a sign up saying 'place bomb here'. Just thinking ahead...
 
17972 Mods chat level mark (2878) Fri 21 Jun 2013 05:51 SPOILER
  Ha Ha Kirima we were playing at the same time,i really like your new level but see dangers with bomb ahead.(its already been abused).
If the purpose of the bomb is to maybe free the bots later ,how about turning the walls black then whoever wants to release bots can add a blue tile.
 
17968 Mods chat level Dave (2400) Thu 20 Jun 2013 21:44  
  I would almost be inclined to make inclusion of the bizarro world 'stuff' compulsory. It would add a bit of a new twist to the way we have to develop the level.

I so want to blow up a wall, that bomb is just too tempting!

PS. Kirima, you may find going round in circles quite useful... hint.

PPS. When I made VM2 I saved and it auto-recovered an earlier bookmark, even though the edits meant the bookmark has illegal moves in it. Never seen that bug before, has anybody else come across it? I re-saved the level with a different name to keep the insane version on file.
 
17964 Mods chat level mm (690) Thu 20 Jun 2013 19:44 SPOILER
  Dave, I actually did get a glimpse of a feeling that the main problem is sitting up there in that upper right compartment! I'm always missing one tile somewhere... -> same problem as usual, one tile is missing. I can easily get them all out there when I put the slider the other way! ;) I'll certainly continue trying to find the solution, but right now my brain is turning around in circles, I bet I urgently need a break from any modular thinking at the moment, hopefully some distance will help to see clearer?! Good night!
 
17962 Mods chat level Dave (2400) Thu 20 Jun 2013 19:15  
  PS. re MT18. I don't know how far you have got with this level. Have you worked out how you can get all the yellow blocks out of their room without changing the slider direction?
 
17961 Mods chat level Dave (2400) Thu 20 Jun 2013 19:02  
  Hi Kirima. Quick 'i' tutorial:-

Get the MD5 of a SOLVED level (e.g. Modular Thinking 16). Go into Modular Thinking 18. Do not move from the start position. press 'i' and enter the MD5 of 16 (2fd717f4600478982e44d7461ea9856e). If it works the move counter will change from '0' to '0/xxxx' where xxxx is the length of your default solution to MT16 (e.g. '0/1473') as if you had done those 1473 moves and then undone them or pressed 't'. You can then use 'o' or 'p' to play through the old solution inside the new level. It will stop at the first illegal move, in this example it should be about 500 moves in. Press enter when the illegal move prompt comes up and you can continue playing from that point as if you had just done those 500 moves.

This is NOT a hint, just a quick example! I'm not suggesting your first 500 moves of 16 will help with 18.

As I said, it can be used in slightly different situations, but I won't go into that now.
 
17960 Mods chat level mm (690) Thu 20 Jun 2013 18:53 SPOILER
  Jim, thank you, I've already explored almost everything, 14a might count as a proof?! The only thing that I have not been able to spot yet is the proper way to solve those last levels..... ;( It is always the exactly same thing: I can fallow you guys to more or less exactly one step before the end or final level! I have no clue why this happens all the time, so in the meantime I'm wondering if this could be a question of my female brain that certainly is working a little bit different?! ;) (Isn't this a nice excuse?!)
 
17959 Mods chat level Jim (2369) Thu 20 Jun 2013 18:24 SPOILER
  For Modular thinking MM, make sure you use that 5th dot properly to help you use all the resources that are available to you.
 
17957 Mods chat level mm (690) Thu 20 Jun 2013 18:10 SPOILER
  15 degress less, YES! It's midnight and only 20 degrees Celsius outside! :) I'm feeling so much better and trying to cool the house right now.

Thank you all for trying to help me again! But I just don't get it... :( I neither get the "i" thingy nor our last mod-levels. But I think I've finally understood the "zero" feature. (At least I had got that MD5 number before, but it is really annoying to type it as just copying the number doesn't work.)

As I couldn't solve those evil levels, I've been working on a new template with bots on two sides. I'm going to upload it and we'll see what will happen, hopefully you'll like it?


 
17955 Mods chat level Dave (2400) Thu 20 Jun 2013 17:19  
  PS. I found Hugbot Research Lab the best level for learning bot manipulation, but Single File is a good one too. Mind you, I still haven't beaten Land of 10000 bots, so what kind of expert am I? ;)
 
17954 Mods chat level Dave (2400) Thu 20 Jun 2013 17:08  
  I stand corrected. It was John Lewis who posted the 462 run. It was also JL who uploaded the original adaptation of 'success' so maybe he gave up the solution on purpose, who knows? Sorry Eric.

MD5 is the checksum of a level which is used to identify it. It appears as a 32 digit hex number (look down at the level title whilst typing a comment and you will see it).
 
17953 Mods chat level mark (2878) Thu 20 Jun 2013 08:13 SPOILER
  Ps it was not Eric that posted first speedrun someone else did.
Ever since i've been reading comments i always rememeber vaguely what i've read.
I'd always been trying to work out the level that you speedrun and regretted.
It makes sense to me now its a level i've not completed.
I had a look at the level last week and read all the comments ,then did not bother with it .
Yours and Radiants chat just blew me away.
I had no idea how to do this level when i first stumbled into it spent my time trying to kill the hugbots.
I now know thats wrong,bot manipution i've still not cracked if theres more than 2 bots.
I have not played another level this week Modular Thinking was enough,i'm going to give single file a few hours to see what i can come up with.(fingers crossed i might do it,let you know if i have any luck)
 
17952 Mods chat level mark (2878) Thu 20 Jun 2013 07:38  
  Made a mess of last post as i did not think it through enough.
What i meant or should have said is,if in the first version of the level there is a block that is not movable but also not needed you still have to walk around it.
Then in the modded version it is taken out, if you cross the path of the block which is now not there that is when the solution for modded version ends.
Hope this is a bit clearer.

I also like you Dave am a bit lazy but i still don't know the "i" function.
When pressed it asks for MD5 of level i don't know what that is or what to type.
I think this would be handy to know so when i make a mod eg avalanche 4Gf i would not have to sit swaping from screen to screen doing about 6 moves at a time just to get the best solution.
 
17949 Mods chat level Dave (2400) Thu 20 Jun 2013 02:16  
  I always find myself typing 'it's' instead of 'its'. I know what I should type but my finger ca'n't stay away the apostrophe.
 
17948 Mods chat level Dave (2400) Thu 20 Jun 2013 02:08  
  Sorry Kirima, my clue was not intended to be as cryptic as that, should've thought a bit more about the wording... Before you leave the bottom left room you must return the sliders to their original orientation, the 'evil' slider is there to force you to do this, it serves no other purpose.

I'm clearly much lazier than Jim. If a mod shares say the first 1000 moves with a previous solution, as sometimes happens, I just 'i' it in and only do the changed bit manually. e.g. Avalanche 2. It's also really handy time-saver when the change in a mod is so subtle that it, or it's effect, is hard to spot. It can be used in other situations but they are very rare.

Ctrl-0 will import solutions from your player file, it doesn't care or know which level they originally related to or where the level is located. However, it will only check those solutions against levels in the current directory. That's why Optimization 462 will grab Eric's spoiler speedrun from the Minor Leagues version. I guess, at some point, many of us have uploaded a speedrun and regretted it later, I know I have, but once you've done it there is no going back (see the Single File series for an really good example... but ultimately it directly led to the creation of Quintuple File).
 
17947 Mods chat level Jim (2369) Thu 20 Jun 2013 01:34 SPOILER
  I finally caught up with the modular thinking series, don't give up MM. I've been trying to solve them as long as you and I finally saw something new that was the break-through on level 18. Dave, thanks for that Ctrl-Down suggestion, I never knew that one and it helped immensely in viewing the bots on the bottom of the screen.

I've only used CTRL-0 once since I've been playing this game, its probably a coincidence but after using it that one time, I had the problem with my bookmarks not saving properly. If a mod for a level requiring 1500 moves is necessary, I just do it again, its no big deal to me.
 
17946 Mods chat level mark (2878) Wed 19 Jun 2013 17:38  
  Hi MM,its how you solve the level that counts.What i meant by that say there is a block in the way in the original solution you solved, so you walk around it.
But if the modded version has a wall, hole or electric in its place it will not Ctrl +o.
THats because it only rememembers exact solutions.
Even if you only walk over one tile that changed to something solid but theres loads of space around it , Ctrl + 0 can not recognise solution.
It happened to me in Modular Thinking when you took out a slider by the yellows.
For me to get Ctrl+0 to work i had to pretend the slider was there and push it to the side.
Hope this message is clear written in a rush ,i'm going down the pub now.
Its been the best day of the year over so far 23 degrees, so its making me thirsty.
By for now
 
17945 Mods chat level mm (690) Wed 19 Jun 2013 17:00 SPOILER
  Hi Dave and Mark, thank you both for trying to give me a hint! Mark had been right, I didn't get that cryptic one, I just had not been sure if I just don't read English well enough or if I'm too silly to understand? (Also abbreviations are very difficult for me, or shortcuts, sometimes even typing errors can become difficult.) Unfortunately, the hints didn't help... :( I think I'll give up for the moment.

Thanks Mark for trying to help me to understand ctrl-zero! What do you mean by "but the thing is, it how you solve the previous level that counts"?

Dave, snow sounds wonderful! Over here, we are suffering, it's not even summer yet, but already way too hot and the nights are tropical as well. The forecast says that by Friday, it will get 15 degrees Celsius cooler, so I'm looking forward to the weekend!
 
17941 Mods chat level mark (2878) Wed 19 Jun 2013 08:00 SPOILER
  Hi all,
MM i found out something yesterday that you was inquiring about a few days back.That is Ctrl +0 does solve from levels sitting in other directories,but the thing is, it how you solve the previous level that counts.
When i first found out about Ctrl +0 it was about March time and it solved "optimization 462" had no clue why.
I was looking at the level comments for that level yesterday and it dawned on me there was another level called 9999 in the minor leagues.
That was a very sneaky fishing exercise, which even radiant clocked.
Then someone went and speedrun it anyway.

Dave did know Ctrl + down but its my sheer confusion with the rest of the level that lies ahead it makes me think i've done the bots only to find i did not number them correct.
When i'm playing levels i don't know the answer to i get block in the back of my mind that stops me from thinking straight,and economy of moves does not even come into play.
Was going to do a more subtle mod for 20 which would have involved placing a dissapearing red panel where noname rested the red ball in 19,when he was sorting green ball out.
I think it would have worked but then i took no chances and plopped in the obvious.

Ps your cryptic for Kirima is a bit confusing maybe its not a cryptic but we should stay on the "LEVEL".
Up and down is just no good.
 
17938 Mods chat level Dave (2400) Wed 19 Jun 2013 02:40  
  Mark, if you use ctrl-down you can scroll the screen down. It wont let the player go closer than three spaces from the edge, but this is easily enough to have the bottom rows on screen while working in the middle room.
 
17937 Mods chat level Dave (2400) Wed 19 Jun 2013 02:29 SPOILER
  Back in town and back up to speed on ML. Was puzzling away on 19 when I suddenly realised my 'mistake' in 18, so quickly did 20 and ctrl-0ed 19. I would be very surprised if this series is over and we don't see noname's ideas creep back in a revised form. We'll see what happens when everbody is on the same page.

Hi Kirima, re the naughty slider: Sometimes things may seem impossible because they actually are .) Don't let yourself get sidetracked, or is that downtracked? Once you get one of these levels the others should fall into place.

PS. Got an Antarctic storm coming in tonight. They're expecting over a metre of snow overnight in some places down South. I haven't seen snow since London 2007, and although I do sometimes miss proper Winters, I think I'll wimp out and stay up North and settle for rain and gales!
 
17925 Mods chat level mark (2878) Tue 18 Jun 2013 09:30 SPOILER
  Whats confusing to me is i,m not very good with yellow blocks and i have to keep going back to old solutions to see what i did before.
Also the amount of times i've been so close and think i've sovled you run into same problem you just thought you fixed half an hour earlier.
Hope you get your hint.
Been working on a new but smaller template,with a few rule changes , to see if it will make a totally different puzzle.
I'm not so sure it will work but want to try it anyway.
Ps i would not mind a bit of that sunshine we hardly get any these days,a day or two then its raining again.
 
17924 Mods chat level mark (2878) Tue 18 Jun 2013 09:15 SPOILER
  Hi mm, just noticed you were asking for hint about yellow slider,
Well as its not my "LEVEL" i would not like to spoil it.
Sorry i could be of no help,in this game we have to be "LEVEL" with each other.
 
17923 Mods chat level mm (690) Tue 18 Jun 2013 09:00 SPOILER
  Wow, congrats Mark, you've got it within minutes! Don't you use brackets to zoom out when you can't see the entire playground? Actually seeing the bot helps a lot to prevent them from doing weird things. (I wish I could solve 18 and continue playing the mod-game, as over here it's getting hotter daily and I can't work because of the heat.)

May I ask you: what is confusing? Is it the fact that the level had been pretty loose?
 
17922 Mods chat level mark (2878) Tue 18 Jun 2013 08:31 SPOILER
  Wow it took me about 15 mins of playing 19 to even spot the change another 15 mins to try and solve it and was confused all over again.
Then i looked at my 18 solution that i nearly uploaded and i'd allready solved 19 before it was born.2519 moves does not seem so bad now.
Every time i play this level i still get the bots wrong half of the time it takes me to the bottom left corner before i find out.(But thats what happens when things are not in view).
I've adjusted my rating of 18 back to an 8.
 
17919 Mods chat level mm (690) Tue 18 Jun 2013 03:54 SPOILER
  Hopefully 14a will add a little fun? I'm still struggling with 18 and desperately running out of ideas and longing for hints: I wish I knew if the new "yellow" slider should be on a vertical or on a horizontal position? I think knowing this would help to prevent working 1000 steps in the wrong direction...!

One more remark: I've getting the impression that we're somehow back at a similar point we had been before! I guess we could upload another bunch of MT-mods, but I'm wondering if this really could add a lot to the level, at least at this point? Don't get me wrong, I like the level a lot and it's fun to play, but sometimes I just still think that once in a while, it could make more sense to just upload the solution instead of adding more mods.

Or maybe it's just time to start a new project?

Anyway, have fun with 14a! I'm already curious if it will be cooked right away or not?!
 
17913 Mods chat level mark (2878) Mon 17 Jun 2013 11:47 SPOILER
  Solved 18 and i'm still confused.
Was praying once i realised i was able to solve it,it was going to be a different way.
Well it was my solution 2519, and thats the only difference.
Executed new trick a bit later in level making it a bit harder for myself.
Will upload if you want somthing to disect or maybe laugh at.(let me know)
 
17912 Mods chat level Jim (2369) Mon 17 Jun 2013 04:21 SPOILER
  The 9th greeting is Esparanto, not sure what the 5th one is. I'm really stuck on 17 and 18, been trying to solve them for quite some time now with no luck.
 
17907 Mods chat level Dave (2400) Sun 16 Jun 2013 20:03  
  Anybody know what the 5th and 9th languages in Carlin's greeting are?
 
17906 Mods chat level Dave (2400) Sun 16 Jun 2013 19:45  
  Never heard of a 28th before...

Old school'mates' do keep turning up on facebook including a few I can't remember at all, but I don't actually make any contact, not really my thing. I really haven't got much in common with any of them any more anyway. Bumped into one guy who I used to go on the lash with (...the good old days before anybody worried about proof of age!) in a pub about 10 years back and that's the only time I've seen any of them in the last 20 years.

I'm afraid 18 will involve running around a bit (unless you cook it), but not that much more. Sorry about that, I would prefer a more compact solution but the nature of the level doesn't really allow it. Next time we go smaller.

Carlin made some great levels, and some very repetitive ones. I would love to see some new ones in the former category. Certainly has plenty of ideas.

PS. There can't be many tricks hidden in triage that you don't already know by now.
 
17905 Mods chat level mark (2878) Sun 16 Jun 2013 17:49 SPOILER
  Ps i just went to a school 28 year reunion party last month,odd number i know.
I would not have went but they held it my local club so me and my pals would have been there anyway.
Dont recommend them its only the nosey people full of questions that turn up.
Also you hardley recognise anyone and people just stare at you all night.
Even if they had one for your school it would be a long way for a rubbish night.
 
17904 Mods chat level mark (2878) Sun 16 Jun 2013 17:33 SPOILER
  By the slider i meant for Ctrl +0 to work i needed to push the horizontal one to the right.
As it was not in 17 i called it invisible,when i did the level again i just pretended it was there Ctrl+0 worked.( Would have been quicker to just do 16 but i wanted to see what would happen)
 
17903 Mods chat level Dave (2400) Sun 16 Jun 2013 17:23  
  I think the timing of the end of the stick was about the same for me. but then I think we went through the system within a year of each other (5th = 1985/6).

What do you mean by 'invisible slider'?
 
17902 Mods chat level mark (2878) Sun 16 Jun 2013 17:03 SPOILER
  Fially got time to catch up with 15, 16 & 17 actually skipped 16 as i only saw one change.
Ctl + 0 did not solve 16, i never moved invisable slider out the way.
Must say these are some of the most confusing levels ever even though i done all 3 now i still mess them up.
I've had a look at 18 and i have a good idea but its just more going round in circles again,going to give my brain a rest for now.

I think i've had my best week ever on escape well over 15 levels 7+ thats why i fell behind.
Shame really as i did 15 so differently i could have made a mod,but 16 took care of it that i could not.(solution in back of mind for 18)
Really hated block pushy levels but now i don't think there so bad, "extraction" being the latest one to be ticked off.
They look so simple there's no tricks but until a week ago they were just to hard for me.

Nice to see Carlin Js appear,who in the past has some really nice levels.(about 50% done)new level was a bit to easy though.

Ps Dave i remember that stick you were talking about,not got many fond memories of it.
I think it was in my last 1 or 2 years at school they got rid of it.
 
17897 Mods chat level mm (690) Sun 16 Jun 2013 08:03 SPOILER
  Right now, that new yellow floor seems very annoying to me! But I already like the way the bottom left compartment works, that's a great addition as it seems to make much more sense the way it is now. The level becomes more and more vicious and I hope I'll have time to try again later.
 
17896 Mods chat level Dave (2400) Sun 16 Jun 2013 03:49  
  Thinking 18 was inspired by the way I solved 17. Could not force that solution and close out the existing one, so made some other changes instead. Whether this is a good idea or not remains to be seen...

I only had a proper look at 17 earlier today. It took just shy of a couple of hours. Had I been forced to find Kirima's more elegant solution it would have taken a lot longer.
 
17893 Mods chat level Dave (2400) Sat 15 Jun 2013 23:06  
  You'll be happy to know it is getting pretty stormy now.

Solved 17 slightly differently. I have been toying with a mod but I can't get it to work properly and not entirely sure I can. I have other things I need to get on with so it'll have to wait for now.
 
17892 Mods chat level mm (690) Sat 15 Jun 2013 19:55 SPOILER
  I just love rainy and stormy weather, and 17 degrees Celsius sounds just perfect to me. Have fun with number 17, you've kind of forced this nod and I just couldn't help uploading it ;) Good night!
 
17891 Mods chat level Dave (2400) Sat 15 Jun 2013 19:31  
  Temperatures are quite comfortable here (17C at the moment) but I'm not sure you'd like the persistent rain we seem to be stuck with this week. Roll on spring!

Haven't speedrun 17 because I haven't solved it yet :)
 
17890 Mods chat level mm (690) Sat 15 Jun 2013 19:15 SPOILER
  Dave, it's getting very hot over here, I wish I could be at your place right now, I'm longing for cool weather! And I'm waiting for speedruns for number 17 as well! Wishing you all a hot and/or cool Sunday, GN MM.
 
17882 Mods chat level mm (690) Fri 14 Jun 2013 20:21  
  Dave, thank you so much for your explanation, I really appreciate it as I didn't get "it" at all! Thanks for ctrl-e as well, that's pretty interesting and you're right, it might be a better indicator for difficulty than actual rating seems to be.

There had been a 2009 version for Mac, but it didn't work, I can't remember what exactly had been the problem? I also remember having had a bookmark problem as well, that had been very annoying, but that had been years ago and I thought it had been solved?!

I know I'm missing the transporter animation, but I have no clue if there might be anything else that had changed? I don't care about animation, and I'm glad my bookmarks to work smoothly.

 
17879 Mods chat level Dave (2400) Fri 14 Jun 2013 19:37  
  PS. At least I know how to parse an .esx file and create insane levels now! Four years too late, but never mind...
 
17878 Mods chat level Dave (2400) Fri 14 Jun 2013 19:31  
  Have been looking at the source code over the last few days, that's how I discovered ctrl-e. Tried compiling in VS2008 and VS2012, but neither will recognise or convert the project file correctly. Got rid of all the code errors but can't get the linker settings right yet (work in progress). C++ is not my strong suit.

I really want to try out noname's fix for the bookmark bug. Does anyone know which version this was originally written in?
 
17877 Mods chat level Dave (2400) Fri 14 Jun 2013 19:17  
  I knew it wouldn't take you long :)

I had no idea that there wasn't a new compiled version for MAC. Apart fron the sanity checks, I don't think your missing out anything! Not having to deal with the bookmark bug must be good! It definitely makes difficult levels harder to work with.

To explain:

Windows is different. The player and level files are not stored in the main program directory but in a hidden directory in the user's account. This is why some deleted levels which come with the download of the game get permanently stuck in triage unless you manually delete that triage directory. (The level is deleted from one Triage directory but not the other but it is moved to Graveyard, so the same level appears in both Triage and Deleted Levels - there are about 30 of these ghost levels). This is nothing to do with Tom's source code, as that is the same whatever the platform, but something to do with the way SDL handles file save operations in different versions of Windows (under normal circumstances this behaviour is correct and desirable, just not in this case). The up to date versions of the player file and level directories have not been saved to the main Escape directory since Windows XP, so just copying it onto another machine will not work (as Mark found out), but the game documentation has not been updated accordingly. Copying a player file into the game directory will still work, but backing up from the same location is pointless. I should really stick this lot on feedback and flag it as a bug report (...again).

Manual installs of multiple versions of the game will not cause any problems (I have 3 on this machine: 2005, 2007, 2009), but running the setup utility will overwrite your menu and desktop links rather than add additional ones, not a major problem, just annoying. It does, however, seem to create new versions of level and player data for each version, but I'm not sure if this is 100% safe, so I have erred on the side of caution and avoided downloading level updates in the old versions.

Hope this makes some kind of sense... DC
 
17876 Mods chat level mm (690) Fri 14 Jun 2013 17:59  
  Finally I've got the Modular Thinking levels all done, this feels great! As usual, I had been blind and just didn't see one possibility. The annoying thing is: this happens to me way too often... My solution for 16 is slightly different, but I think it's not worth adding another mod.

I've been reading the recent comments here and I just don't get it?! I'm playing the old version (from 2007), as there is no new version for Mac, and I've got multiple copies of the game on my computers, I can open all those copies and play multiple escapes on my iMac without any screwing-up problems. I copy my "main-escape" whenever I think about it, just in case and as a back-up, and all my bookmarks and solutions and ratings will be copied as well.

In my "Quarantine: Impossible Levels / Bugs"- folder there are 19 levels, I've solved 15 of those and don't know either if the rest is actually solvable or not?
 
17875 Mods chat level Dave (2400) Fri 14 Jun 2013 16:35  
  Mark, I play on multiple machines. Only one copy of my player file has my personal ratings for a particular level. I ctrl-0 the solutions around and try to maintain one file as the master copy, but personal ratings and interim solutions still tend to get lost in the melee.

PS. Of the Bob's levels, I think Bob 3 took me the longest.
 
17874 Mods chat level mark (2878) Fri 14 Jun 2013 10:48 SPOILER
  Once again i thank you ,I'd got 6 of Bob's levels done and a few bookmarks halfway but they where getting a bit hard so i was leaving them.
Did not spot at all Bob 14 was a chess board,a problem i was set a few years back.
Much easier now with the internet, i think i must have set the slow run 323.
I solved the first knights with the turks tour,but this did not seem to work for Bob14,unless it was just me.
So i pulled up some random picture off google worked first go, and as they say "Bobs your uncle".

You should not have to remember which levels you have rated there is 6 coloured squares after the author's name of a level,in directories.
The 3 on the far right are global ratings ,and if theres 3 to the left of them they are the user ratings.
 
17871 Mods chat level Dave (2400) Fri 14 Jun 2013 07:04  
  Actually in some ways ctrl-e (if you allow for upload date) is probably a more realistic difficulty sort than ctrl-d. It definitely highlights a few levels which I found harder than the ratings suggested: Three-quartered Arena, Almost nothing but hard, Compression 2, etc. Also nice to see Flows up there, never a d=9 level admittedly, but definitely in my all time favourites list. Slightly puzzled by Bob14 though! (or to put it another way Knight's Tour so deviously modded that it has exactly the same solution!)

I'm going to have to try and remember which ones I haven't rated and do so (easier said than done).

Been trying to work on some new level ideas but keep getting interrupted by work, rebuilding the bathroom, etc.. I had loads under development a couple of years back but lost them in a hard-drive crash, the prototype of Seven Bots was all that I recovered.

PS. Utterly failed to find a version of escape older than version 200510120, and that's only thanks to radiant's link. Also, pieguy's site is still a no-go zone, only a few pages (e.g. pgpatch) are accessible, and I haven't been able to track down a copy of pi^2 anywhere else.

PPS. Good night.
 
17868 Mods chat level Dave (2400) Thu 13 Jun 2013 21:48  
  It's Single file. I'm fairly confident Jumps is impossible.
 
17866 Mods chat level mark (2878) Thu 13 Jun 2013 21:24 SPOILER
  Ive got 6 from 10 so at a guess you have either done jumps or single file.
i have not got them 2 versions from triage yet.
I got 4 of radiants levels in old version but i have not solved brokoban 1 in triage .
the other i did not get was the face full of bots level.(think ive played a similar level but can not remember it name)

Ctrl = e got me about 10 easy levels to play from the bottom of the list.Solved by many but rated higher than they should be.

Ctrl + e and devin's new scheme has pushed triage count past 1650.
 
17865 Mods chat level Dave (2400) Thu 13 Jun 2013 20:01  
  The oldest version I've found so far is Oct 2005. Many of the quarantine levels, including The Dalek Question predate this by about 6 months. Of the 10 which pass the sanity test in the current version, I've only got solves for 7, not including The Dalek Question. No idea if the other 3 are actually solvable or not but I haven't managed to do it.
 
17861 Mods chat level mark (2878) Thu 13 Jun 2013 11:08 SPOILER
  As feared i did have to lose my levels folder but the only levels i need i can just take them back from escape directories.
What happened was i could see extra levels in the quarantine folder so i copied them into my levels only to find out i copied the graveyard by mistake.
For some reason though my latest mod was not named on a file so i had uploaded from within the game.
I,d spent over half an hour copying speedrun and bookmarking it till i got bored and had not solved it.(thats might be why it was not showing as a file) so i had to quickly solve and upload.
I had got a much better ending to add to it
from original level.(not as fast as speedrun)

Great information once again Dave ,got the old game and i've had a tinker on them.
Is the dalek question possible in this version or is there an earlier version out there some place?

Ps great speedrun on 3 i love the way instead of uploading my solution just make a mod and you show me how its done the right way.
seems you put all the hard work into that solve it can be done 4 quicker.
last 2 G down not up.I think you should claim it.

Off now to start reclaiming my levels back.
 
17860 Mods chat level Dave (2400) Thu 13 Jun 2013 02:53  
  Playing the 2005 version is interesting when you are used to the current one! Just trying to dig a bit deeper into quarantine.
 
17856 Mods chat level Dave (2400) Wed 12 Jun 2013 20:09  
  First time I've used the 'i' function in a while!
 
17854 Mods chat level Dave (2400) Wed 12 Jun 2013 17:19  
  Hi Mark

Easiest way to play the Malformed levels (credit to radiant):

Go to "tinyurl.com\escape2007". Your are on Windows. An install of the old version will screw with your current one, so download the ZIP version, not the install file. Download, unzip, and run it from wherever you unzip it to. Create a new player, level update quarantine only, and away you go.

PS. Only briefly looked your 'new', Revenge. No idea as yet, I did it the intended way.
 
17853 Mods chat level mark (2878) Wed 12 Jun 2013 17:15 SPOILER
  Was not going to upload my latest mod just yet i wanted to clean up the solution first.
But i have a feeling i might lose my levels folder,been messing around trying to get missing levels to look at and ended up with all deleted levels in the folder.
I know how to sort it i think but i might lose some of my levels in the process.
My solution is as about as tight as it gets till the last room.(taken from Dave's speedrun).
I think this mod does add a bit of difficulty but who am i to judge.
Have fun back soon.

Ps 4Gf four grey first
 
17849 Mods chat level mm (690) Wed 12 Jun 2013 16:44 SPOILER
  I'm desperately trying to solve the latest mod levels as well as the red balloon... No clues at all! :-( I think I will give up for the moment.
 
17847 Mods chat level Jim (2369) Wed 12 Jun 2013 14:05 SPOILER
  I didnt try it, but you would have to put a check mark to get the quarantined levels in order to get the Revenge of the malformed levels. It also may depend on what level of Escape you have whether you can actually still get those levels.
 
17842 Mods chat level mark (2878) Wed 12 Jun 2013 09:06 SPOILER
  Wow do i feel mighty right now , i've been after that level for months,thanks for your hints Dave but they only really made sense when it was done.
I had a brainwave yesterday and changed the blue blocks to red,i was then able to solve after about another 2 hours.
Yet again i did not do it the right way.

Revenge of the malformed levels,i saw all the comments about a month back and really wanted to take a look at them.
I dont have them or cant find them is there any way of getting them.
 
17839 Mods chat level Dave (2400) Wed 12 Jun 2013 06:09  
  PS. For anybody who doesn't know what I'm talking about: See comments on 2641,2,3,5,6,7 and 3128 for an explanation.
 
17838 Mods chat level Dave (2400) Wed 12 Jun 2013 06:00  
  So 19 Oct 2009 it is, and they are not recovered solutions. The first triage level I remember solving is Shark Tank and that also has the same date. QED

That coincides with my recollection of the Revenge of the Malformed Levels series being right at the top of the list the first time I updated. Obviously, I was utterly clueless at the time, and they got banned pretty quickly. Only went back and did them a couple of years later after being prompted in a comments chat with radiant. Definitely, a fun little exercise when you fancy a break from 'ordinary' levels.
 
17828 Mods chat level Dave (2400) Tue 11 Jun 2013 17:41  
  Ah, I thought that might be the case! I've only got computer.dat and pi.dat. Will keep trying. I'm intrigued by the other 11 rooms.
 
17827 Mods chat level mark (2878) Tue 11 Jun 2013 17:24 SPOILER
  Hi Dave acording to chips wiki its in Pi^2.dat.
Nice solution i was trying third last room like that and could not see that way was possible.
 
17825 Mods chat level Dave (2400) Tue 11 Jun 2013 16:43 SPOILER
  That's a blast from the past!

The new avalanche only required minor adjustments of old runs. With this series, things are tightish until you hit the bottom right room where you can pretty much shuffle the deck any way you please.

I'd leave it up for now and see what the others think.

Funnily enough I was looking for the original Avalanche 2 after your comments before. Anyone know which level in which level set? I've only got a couple of Pieguy sets. His website seems to be down or I'd just go and grab the lot.
 
17821 Mods chat level mark (2878) Tue 11 Jun 2013 13:15 SPOILER
  Well as you know i never solve the easy way,so i have made a mod of "avalanche" which is a mix of me solving 1 & 2.
Dave could you let me know if its a worthy mod or not, as i do value your opinion and i'm not easily offended.
If not worthy of this already great level i will delete.
Thanks have some fun.
 
17820 Mods chat level mark (2878) Tue 11 Jun 2013 10:34 SPOILER
  Hi Dave thanks for that advice,cut copy and pasted into notepad i will be going over it with a great deal of rigour soon.
At the momment i'm hooked into "avalanche" done 1 today and 2 this week noname mod next.
These are levels i thought i'd never do as not really a block pushy person.
Well as someone mentioned chips challenge i looked into it,found out the pieguy originally made these so to get a feel for his games i've gave them a good go.
No need to play cc as there is lots on youtube to watch.
There is a chips wiki channel and a J B Lewis playthrough channel which is quite interesting.
I had a little go on the game but dying and having to start over i dont like.
Any how when i watch the speedrun and originals of avalanche they are done a whole lot easier than i made them.
Avalanche 2 i made harder for myself by putting all 4 grey blocks in last room first.(try it if you haven't allready)Then watched your speedrun make it look easy.
Finding these new levels to play and being hooked on trying to get a pieguy done i've fell behind on mods,catch up soon if i can.

Ps there is some real good players over there in chips land and recognize some of the names from here.

Pps Jim im going to score RotRb 8 8 6 it is a very good level,but i'm kicking myself for knowing.Would have been a mind bender for me of that i'm sure.
 
17808 Mods chat level Dave (2400) Mon 10 Jun 2013 16:36 SPOILER
  PS. Any more than one move in and you can't manoeuvre properly. The level is basically solved (or not) in the first 150 moves to get the left side sorted right, the rest is routine putting the blocks away.
 
17807 Mods chat level Dave (2400) Mon 10 Jun 2013 15:40 SPOILER
  Morning (Evening) Mark.

ctrl-e sorts by the 'Solved' count in the ratings.

I've had levels like Play Escape 2, and there have seemingly been dozens of them, unsolved for ages. You begin to get the hang of bot-shoving in the end, doesn't make it any less annoying though. I tend to attack these levels like this:

Rule 1. Turn on bot numbering and beware number 1.
Rule 2. Get as much as you from the inside without releasing the bots.
Rule 3. When you do have to work with bots clear the smallest rooms first whilst you have the fewest bots to worry about.
Rule 4. Leave the outside as intact as possible, it's your best ally.
Rule 5. Take the outside line on the non-exit corners. You don't want to be collecting corners at the end.
Rule 6. Leave plenty of hearts near the exit to manoeuvre with at the end.

The rest is patience and worn out 'u' key.

For revenge 3: Yes, grey must go in. Two greys in, one out of the way, and three blues together.
 
17805 Mods chat level mark (2878) Mon 10 Jun 2013 08:39 SPOILER
  So its not just me then i'm losing solutions all over the shop.
I collect every speedrun and different solution i can catch only for about half of them to dissapear.
I now even run solution threw and bookmark as my solve and they still go.
THe weardest one is dialetic in delete files as i hold speedrun for that level yet it is not solved in my folder.(i dont rate or speedrun deleted files anymore but at that time i had not got one and wanted to see how it worked)

Ploding along in triage 31 since last milestone there getting harder to find nice levels to play.
I've probably looked at every level and realisticly think 1750 to 1800 is all i can achieve.
I have not done 1 level yet thats against the timer and have only 1 hard block pushy sokoban type game.(avalanche 2).
I haven't and don't think i ever will get one by the pieguy ( i now know who he is )but i do understand the levels if that makes any sense.Mod 14 and wrong parity being the only 2 i have a chance at but not even going to try them yet.
Good look with " block cipher " Dave.
Thats a level i dont understand one little bit i dont even understand the comments about the level.

Revenge 3 is what i keep playing but to no avail i can start that level grey grey or grey blue but not getting much further.
if someone could help me on the opening moves i might be able to stick with it a bit more.
for example unless i'm totally wrong grey has to go in first but does it go all the way across or just one move in.

Jim dont no how to rate RotRB yet as i solved it my own way and your solution just fit the other 2.
I dont know if i would have found it without a struggle.

Ps i can't be that good at this game i cant do "play escape 2" without getting a faceful of bots and then quickly giving up.

Pps Ctrl + e works but i cannot work out what the order is about.

Thanks all.
 
17803 Mods chat level Dave (2400) Mon 10 Jun 2013 05:50  
  Then again, I only discovered ctrl-e today, so what do I know?
 
17802 Mods chat level Dave (2400) Mon 10 Jun 2013 05:33  
  The MD5s are different... can't make sense of it yet.
Another inexplicable thing: A couple of days ago I 'lost' all solutions to gnomme deux. No other levels, just that one...
 
17801 Mods chat level Dave (2400) Mon 10 Jun 2013 05:24  
  I did just ctrl-0 it no problem. Funny thing is when I did that my solution and my tick against the second version mysteriously disappeared. So, I tried deleting all solutions from all of these levels except for my original solve of the first one, close escape, go back in, and the solutions are gone for all the levels except for my 1548 first solve of the original. However, every time I ctrl-0 anyb of them your 1222 run pops up from nowhere.

Got me stumped!
 
17800 Mods chat level Jim (2369) Mon 10 Jun 2013 05:03 SPOILER
  Sorry Dave, you cant CTRL 0 this one, if its any consolation, I had to do it over again too. A weird thing happened to me on modular thinking 15, after I uploaded that it didn't even show that I solved it when I got back into that level. It didn't save any bookmarks for that level either.
 
17797 Mods chat level Dave (2400) Mon 10 Jun 2013 04:38  
  Hi Jim, I just ctrl-0ed your upload but to be fair I rated as previous because I didn't spot the mistake the first round!
 
17787 Mods chat level Dave (2400) Sun 09 Jun 2013 19:46  
  PS. My first, and so far only solve, was about 1900 moves and the same as yours in the important aspects. May try and tidy it up later if I have time.
 
17786 Mods chat level Dave (2400) Sun 09 Jun 2013 19:35  
  Nice job Mark! The ratings are a realistic comment on the series at this stage, and not about the job you did :) Even though I started with a pretty good idea of how to attack it, it still took a while.

I think that has formally answered the question about whether we should stop at this point with a very loud and resounding NO. I would have been extremely surprised if 13 didn't have a cook of this nature, it was never intended as a fait accompli, which is why made no comment on the subject of stopping.

Will leave 13 up just for now to see if anybody wants to keep it as an intermediate level. Onward...

The respite from all the 'mods' yestertday did give me a chance to finally knock off The Wrong Parity. Pen and paper solution took about 5 hours in the end, would have been quicker if I hadn't completely missed the whopper of a clue in the title! Two more to go before I finally have no choice but to make an attempt at Block Cipher. Also finally downloaded the SDL libraries, so I may have a tinker with the source code. How's your triage quest going?
 
17785 Mods chat level mark (2878) Sun 09 Jun 2013 16:38 SPOILER
  Spent quite a while playing 13 the wrong way to see if i could do it differently, so i could make a mod for you to play Dave.
Hope you get even a third of the enjoyment i did out of "Red Balloon"
 
17779 Mods chat level Jim (2369) Sat 08 Jun 2013 23:39 SPOILER
  MM, my level can be solved by looking at a previous deleted version. I would have never solved it in a million years if I hadn't seen it.

Mark, it takes a while to fall asleep sometimes if I have a level that is bothering me. So far, no nightmares though!

Dave, I'm working on a version that brings the red bot and the remotes back into play. Its always dangerous however, because it is supremely difficult to stop all the cooks and I don't want to do anything that gives away your solution to red balloon.
 
17774 Mods chat level mark (2878) Sat 08 Jun 2013 21:17 SPOILER
  Hi back after my 2 day break,i see Dave your funny as well as clever nice one.
Just speedrun red balloon which was a tidied up version of my original solve, bet you can tidy it a bit more.
Its to late to look at mod 13, dont want to fry my brain before going to bed.
Done that many of times before and i end up dreaming blocks.
Dreamt up many of good puzzles whilst i'm sleeping but they dont make any sense in the morning.
Does this game pop into anyone else's dreams?
 
17771 Mods chat level Dave (2400) Sat 08 Jun 2013 18:39 SPOILER
  One counter-example that immediately comes to mind is Nice Airport. Where would that level be without the misdirection and redundant parts? noname's mod could probably get away without them because it has a great puzzle within the puzzle, but the original wouldn't be the same.

Mind you, The Only Dalek is the perfect counter-counter-example. So that's that theory out the window!

It does seem to be an unfortunate side effect of multiple modding that you inevitably end up with clutter. Somehow getting rid of it just doesn't feel right, it's like deleting other people's work, and I don't feel particularly comfortable doing that without their permission. So most of tends to get left behind in the hope that it will be re-incorporated later.

I would be happy with a cleaned up version of the Red Balloon, but I would be much happier to see a version that brings the red bot and remotes back into play in a meaningful way.
 
17770 Mods chat level mm (690) Sat 08 Jun 2013 17:58 SPOILER
  I see what you mean and in general, I do agree. But once the ancestors of a level are deleted, those "red herrings" just don't make any sense any more, at least in the triage folder. To me, the triage folder had always been the place to go, I never really cared too much about the other folders. What you're saying does make a lot of sense once the history of a level is important - but once the ancestors are deleted, there is no more "history".

I do understand your point, but I also understand my point of view.

Good night, and I'm wishing you all a lovely Sunday!
 
17769 Mods chat level Dave (2400) Sat 08 Jun 2013 17:41  
  I half agree. If it was a brand new level I would totally agree.

I can only speak for myself, but I tend to leave the redundant bits in as a matter of historical interest. The level has developed organically and they show the process. Clearly in both levels the red bot is out of play, and in the Red Balloon, the three remotes are out of play because they no longer do anything worthwhile. The same applies to the bomb, the space has to filled with something so why not leave it there. Everything else is used, in fact some of the other mechanisms have developed more purpose.

The trick to Jim's mod will also be needed in my version. In most other respects the intended solutions are very different, even though the Red Balloon solution is backwards compatible.
 
17768 Mods chat level mm (690) Sat 08 Jun 2013 17:10 SPOILER
  And it's me again... How can I get a solution from a level that is sitting in the triage folder when it's ancestor is in the minor leagues? I guess I can't, can I. But you did it, Dave! How?
 
17767 Mods chat level mm (690) Sat 08 Jun 2013 17:02 SPOILER
  Hi Dave! Thanks, I'll try again, it obviously is working, I always thought it might not work because I'm playing on a really old version of the game as I'm on Macs.

I'm stuck on both levels... And it's annoying!

But I really like your modded Mod level! It's lovely how you've managed to integrate my last tiles, you did exactly what I had more or less imagined, but of coures you did a way much better job than I had in mind.

BTW: let's have a little talk about style: the DC5 level somehow has lost some of it's style points IMO. It had been better before, now there are lots of things integrated in it that are not used any more, and in general, I don't like that. Some red herrings are ok, but too many? If that red bot is not in the game anymore, so why does it has to sit there? It just doesn't make sense to me. It's not a critique, I'm just generally speaking. I usually would not rate a high style if levels do show such things. If I could solve that level, I'd do a mod and eliminate whatever isn't needed, I think that would give us a great base for former mods. What do you all think?
 
17766 Mods chat level Dave (2400) Sat 08 Jun 2013 16:45  
  I did wonder why you posted there. Continued from 3563:

Ctrl-0 only works on the directory you viewing at the time. You just need to come out of triage, go into Minor Leagues and run it again.

Are you stuck on Jim's DC5 mod or mine?
 
17761 Mods chat level Dave (2400) Sat 08 Jun 2013 01:59  
  PPS. I'm not sure that one tapestry 950 years ago qualifies Bayeux as a 'tapestry town'. It's a bit like classifying Coventry as a place where the women ride naked on horseback...
 
17760 Mods chat level Dave (2400) Sat 08 Jun 2013 00:22  
  Thanks noname. I have been having a play around with computer.dat this morning. On reflection, I think you a right that 5 and 10 are probably the only levels worth implementing (6 is clearly practically impossible). The force floors in 10 only ever move ice blocks which reduces the problem considerably and it certainly looks like it can be done, but my prototype mechanism is very cumbersome and certainly nowhere near worthy of upload.

PS. Mark, you're forgetting me for a start. I may be a Londoner but I live about as far away from there as you can get (Strictly speaking: I live as far away from a spot in the Sahara just outside Tangiers as you can get whilst being confined to the surface of the Earth). :)

 
17754 Mods chat level mark (2878) Fri 07 Jun 2013 07:02 SPOILER
  Hi all,
Hey Jim i was about 2 hours into the red balloon when i got to where your at and thought i'd cracked it.I went running to the exit pleased as punch that it was done only for the door to dissapear.How daft did i feel then, i put the dissapearing door in.
I also thought you was from USA because when i kept saying grey you would say gray.

Dave what's the 4 continents am i missing something i only make Europe and North America.

The Blue Bayou was one of my early favourites that i could not solve,and always wondered why it was changed from a nice flatland river into some kind of tapestry town.

Yes Dave i do like the levels where you roam free but one error early can scupper the level,but you don't necesarily know that.

I had a check list of levels i really liked and always come back to, finshing it the other day with the "dont turn" levels.
That level is so simplistc looking and obvious what needs to be done but sure is hard for a beginner.

Had a quick go on mod 13 looks good and tricky but i have no time to play now for a couple of days. I'll still be checking comments,see you all have fun.
 
17753 Mods chat level noname (559) Fri 07 Jun 2013 07:00 SPOILER
  Re Dave: It has been a long time since I last played computer.dat. If I recall correctly, they are mostly just block pushing levels. Levels 1, 4, 9 have already been ported here. Levels 2 and 3 are easy to port, but they are also relatively easy. Levels 7 and 8 involves iceblocks, which are easy to implement in Escape, but I'm not sure if we want more of those block-pushy levels (though IMO level 8 is more difficult than 1-3 or 7). I actually tried to implement level 5, but the result isn't very natural as my implementation involved self-targeting transports in the place of water, so I did not upload it. I don't think Level 6 can be implemented. There are huge difficulties in implementing Level 10 due to those force floors, so I'm not sure if this can be implemented (though part of it may be doable). In any case, if you think the community wants more of those hard block-pushy sokoban-like levels, just go ahead.
 
17752 Mods chat level Dave (2400) Fri 07 Jun 2013 03:48  
  PS. I do know how to spell Antarctica :)
 
17751 Mods chat level Dave (2400) Fri 07 Jun 2013 03:45  
  Jim, I thought you were American, that's why I put your name up. 'Blue Bayou' was the giveaway, no BrE speaker would use the word 'bayou' (to be honest, I didn't even know what it meant until I looked it up). So, we've got 4 continents covered in the Mods levels, 3 to go, but I don't hold out much hope for Antartica!
 
17750 Mods chat level Dave (2400) Fri 07 Jun 2013 01:21 SPOILER
  Done a Mod mod. The idea was to bring as many as possible of the new bits from Kirima's last mod into the game. May have gone a couple over the 10 changes. Can't guarantee the uncookability, in fact I'm pretty certain it will need tightening up, but the underlying solution shouldn't be affected.
 
17748 Mods chat level Dave (2400) Fri 07 Jun 2013 00:02  
  I've never been to the States (flight transfers excepted) but somehow I feel I know that town...
 
17747 Mods chat level Jim (2369) Thu 06 Jun 2013 23:21 SPOILER
  The game isn't completely in European hands, I'm in USA. Currently living in the small town of Stuporville as I can't solve the Red Balloon ones. I can get to the exit in 1100 moves but need a bot to take me the rest of the way, so obviously I'm doing it the wrong way.
 
17746 Mods chat level Dave (2400) Thu 06 Jun 2013 21:15  
  After reading Kirima's comment, we have a new series series theme: Eurovision :=) No danger of running out of level titles...

Got a vague idea where Gary and noname are but I have no idea where Jim is from though.
 
17744 Mods chat level Dave (2400) Thu 06 Jun 2013 18:51 SPOILER
  Hi Mark, glad all over that you liked it like that :) Nice little shortcut. I'm not sure I want to edit it out because the core solution is basically the same and any further added security at this stage might be too much of a spoiler. If it gets properly cooked the story changes.

I don't know about you, but I've always liked levels which maintain a high level of difficulty despite being not too rigid. It's nice to play around with them and try and find those little shortcuts. Unfortunately, as you know, trying to create that kind of level so often leaves a major vulnerability.

I have no idea what to do with the Mods series yet, add more toys or try to work in Kirima's new bits? Will have a think about now I've caught up with everything again.

Question for noname: as you are the expert on these, do you think it would be worth trying to implement more of the other computer.dat levels here?
 
17742 Mods chat level mark (2878) Thu 06 Jun 2013 14:59 SPOILER
  Hi DAve just added one for you to play on ,i dont think it adds any difficulty for you but you will find my solution.
Maybe you could edit it out if you want your solution is much better.
 
17740 Mods chat level mark (2878) Thu 06 Jun 2013 12:44 SPOILER
  The red balloon has just popped,that was awesome i dont know how you did that?
A well and truly great level which i'd normaly give 10 but i'm taking all my 10 scores back.
If there's levels i cant do then they must be the 10's.
It does not matter if tricks are spoiled a bit(a lot)There sitting in a level they deserve.
I've been playing this level nearly 5 hours and bear in mind i allready knew it quite well.
Not so sure about wanting to give you a nudge in future,i think you knew you were on to a winner when you put the red in the title.

 
17735 Mods chat level Dave (2400) Wed 05 Jun 2013 21:49  
  Yep, got it. Not seeing the wood for the trees again. I really thought Jim had pulled of a different trick.
 
17731 Mods chat level mark (2878) Wed 05 Jun 2013 20:31 SPOILER
  Yes it was me that solved, not noname . And i do think i mentioned it. Comment at 16.46 .
I gave it a 7 7 but i think its harder than that.
But its easy when you know how..
 
17730 Mods chat level mm (690) Wed 05 Jun 2013 19:53 SPOILER
  Mark, you're an English man, like Dave. This game seems to be in European hands. I remember those DC5 songs playing on the radio, especially Sha-na-na-na, when I had been a little girl over here in Switzerland. I'm born in Zurich and bread in Maienfeld. It's nice to know where you are guys! Good night.



 
17729 Mods chat level Dave (2400) Wed 05 Jun 2013 19:28  
  Wasn't me. I was busy working on a mod of my own which is now on hold. Mark would've commented. My guess: noname.
 
17728 Mods chat level mm (690) Wed 05 Jun 2013 19:19 SPOILER
  Mark, don't ever feel disappointed just because of this game or because of a level you've tried to create, it will work out, I'm positive! Your initial level had been a great playground, and I am positiv it will work out just fine. It certainly is hard to create great levels, and I'm glad we're working as a team, it helps a lot and I think I'm learning a lot as well, I could never ever create a great level all by myself, but I do have a feeling that I'm getting better, slowly, but constantly. I know how you must feel, but it's just not worth feeling bad about such a thing! Hey, this is just a game, and it is supposed to be fun! But on the other hand: I do admit that I've had similar feelings, of course, sometimes I can hardly believe how stupid and blind I can be! Blind and silly and more than silly... Sometimes I'm just blind because I think that I had been creating some genious solutions or possiblities, and I'm even more than blind because I'm so very happy with my own capacities, I do feel proud and well and everything is wonderful. For one second, after only a moment someone will come up with a whatever cook and will make me feel like an idiot! :-) That's how it is, and I think it's good that it is exactly how it is, because I like it! It's a challenge, and I love challenges. I bet you do, too, otherwise you would not play this game! ;-)

Hi Dave, I'm curious to see your next mod of our official modding level! After more or less 10 days off, I first thought I could never ever get your strange bot-mechanisms, they seemed impossible at first sight...

Jim, holy goat, I've got no clue to your new fix of Mark's musical 60-ties level! I can't get that red bot out of it's booth. But I'd need it! Someone had solved and rated this level, so it must be possible!?
 
17726 Mods chat level Dave (2400) Wed 05 Jun 2013 17:37 SPOILER
  Thanks, I didn't spot Kirima's upload. It's basically the same method I used, so no point in uploading mine anyway. They don't diverge at all until after the second bot is released and even then the differences are in minor details only.
 
17724 Mods chat level mark (2878) Wed 05 Jun 2013 16:46 SPOILER
  At a quick glance i think it works and both tricks nice.
No time to try and break got to go out.
A few more subtle changes to make it more olayable perhaps Nudge nudge Dave.
 
17723 Mods chat level Dave (2400) Wed 05 Jun 2013 16:43 SPOILER
  Hi Kirima, glad to see you're back with avengence! I haven't had time to catch up on the Mod series yet. Just a question re the DC5 levels: My cook involved preloading both sliders to the right-hand wall of the 'tunnel', does this sound similar to yours?
 
17720 Mods chat level mark (2878) Wed 05 Jun 2013 16:21  
  I do agree with you mm i sure this can be fixed love to see Dave do it.
I have been through every emotion with level from elation to dejection.
Before i posted this level in the first place it was uncookable but to obvious and i thought the trick deserved more.
I actually hated myself for being so stupid for a couple of days when it was cooked for the second time.
Anyway the secret is well and truly out but i think it does deserve a level.
Instead of being the "MaD Jirks" i think Dave should think we are the Dam Jerks.
 
17719 Mods chat level Jim (2369) Wed 05 Jun 2013 16:07 SPOILER
  I think I may be able to fix it, let me take a look.
 
17718 Mods chat level mm (690) Wed 05 Jun 2013 15:43 SPOILER
  Thanks, Mark! I bet the level can be fixed without too much yellow, it just feels as if we'd almost be there... I guess it's Dave's turn now?!
 
17716 Mods chat level mark (2878) Wed 05 Jun 2013 15:28  
  This is what i realised yesterday after it was to late.
There's always going to be a shelf or ledge to rest on unless everything goes , then we have no misdirection.
Or we could just coat everything yellow.

Ps i like your bot work mm.
 
17709 Mods chat level mm (690) Wed 05 Jun 2013 11:49 SPOILER
  Got all DC5 levels without using any tricks either, and now I'm wondering how it would make sense to mod, too: -> hi Dave! ;-)
 
17704 Mods chat level mark (2878) Wed 05 Jun 2013 08:44 SPOILER
  Hi all. Hey Dave i was wondering wher you had gone.i knew it was not that you could not solve them.
Any how i like MaD Jirk it would be great if yuo could find a fix to the dc5 problem and just make it one solution.
With me i dont care who gets credit for any levels i participate in.I just want them to be good and fun,and as i said before i always seen this as your level anyway.
The funny thing is i had to lose ownership of the level before i found out what it could really do.
If i could only test my levels better i would be a lot happier,but i can never see past the staight line in my head.
Mm great to have you back and i can hear your singing now.
 
17703 Mods chat level mm (690) Wed 05 Jun 2013 07:47 SPOILER
  Mark, I see, sha-na-na-na, can you hear me singing? I had not been aware of your reference to DC5. I've been kind of off for a week and am trying to catch-up.

 
17702 Mods chat level Dave (2400) Wed 05 Jun 2013 07:26  
  Hi Guys, back up to speed on the DC5 series. Didn't need to use the 'method' on any of them. Obviously don't want a mod forcing the cook but I don't yet see a fix... it's late, long day, maybe tomorrow.
 
17701 Mods chat level Dave (2400) Wed 05 Jun 2013 04:33  
  Jidark? It does lack a certain je ne sais quoi. What about 'MaD Jirk'?... it also works if Kirima joins in.
 
17700 Mods chat level Dave (2400) Wed 05 Jun 2013 02:23  
  Been away on business for a couple of days. Middle of nowhere, no internet!!! Got a bit of catching up to do! I'll work through them in order, so I may be a while.
 
17699 Mods chat level mark (2878) Tue 04 Jun 2013 16:08 SPOILER
  Just discovered one more variation of your method Jim why am i always to late.
 
17698 Mods chat level mark (2878) Tue 04 Jun 2013 15:49 SPOILER
  Your welcome Jim,
Hopefully between the three of us we have finally got to where we started from.
 
17695 Mods chat level Jim (2369) Tue 04 Jun 2013 14:03 SPOILER
  I got mod 7 last night finally before I went to bed (thanks for ure help Mark), will now try to catch up later when I have some time. Welcome back MM, there are some tough ones (at least for me) out here to keep you busy.
 
17693 Mods chat level mark (2878) Tue 04 Jun 2013 10:55 SPOILER
  Sorry mm if you were confused,The titles are all song titles from "The Dave Clark Five"
It was a homage to the central trick in the levels of wich you allready know.
i dont think these levels are susposed to be a series the first ones were just bad mistakes.
Dave tried to help fix the mess for me and Jim made it a better level.
The name changes are really only to try and future proof this level for new players.
Sorry for any inconvenience to you.
 
17692 Mods chat level mm (690) Tue 04 Jun 2013 10:11 SPOILER
  Mark, recently you did upload a level and there are several mods of it, but it's titel has changed already four times and the author's name had changed several times as well. For me, it is already almost impossile to identify that "serie" in my folders or to find the levels that "kind of" in fact do belong together, I'm having difficulties to find the sequals of that first level called *The trick is "Catch us if you can"*. I am confused! Don't get me wrong, it certainly is your choice, but I just thought I should tell you that it is a pity that that "serie" isn't easy to find.
 
17691 Mods chat level mark (2878) Tue 04 Jun 2013 07:51 SPOILER
  That was a great level Jim got me going anyhow, but as you see i did it a different way so one more mod.
As for modular thinking i think you will kick yourself as i think you have alresdy solved it but not realised.
Forget the about the hugbots,kick the ball on laser panel step left done.
 
17686 Mods chat level Jim (2369) Mon 03 Jun 2013 18:24 SPOILER
  Ive tried that a bunch of times Mark, guess I need to do it at the right time. Will step away from this level for a bit, maybe that will help.
 
17684 Mods chat level mark (2878) Mon 03 Jun 2013 17:37 SPOILER
  Hi Jim want you in on this series as it does get a little harder,
Daves the master of that, so kick a ball on the panel.
 
17662 Mods chat level mark (2878) Sun 02 Jun 2013 12:19 SPOILER
  I quit with this level now . why did i have to have multiple copies in my levels then stick out the wrong one.
 
17659 Mods chat level mark (2878) Sun 02 Jun 2013 10:37 SPOILER
  DJ's in the house will know my
"Achy breaky heart"
"jerk it out" lyrics.
"glad all over"

Just a little cryptic for credit
 
17648 Mods chat level Dave (2400) Sat 01 Jun 2013 00:29 SPOILER
  Of course, but rarely, if ever, with any success. Can speedrun on 6 stubbies as I've just proven, but it took me a while to work out that is 3.49 pints (UK - US ones are smaller).
 
17642 Mods chat level mark (2878) Fri 31 May 2013 05:13 SPOILER
  Another day another dollar.
Yesterday started of bad got better ,then failed miserble.
It started when my 1600 had been pushed back to 1598 2 deleted levels.well i found a pocket of levels and did 8,annd with devin's 4 i now looking a healthier 1610.
Thanks J & D i did catch all of the flaws,It was my fault trying to tempt people to go the wrong way.I could have left it simple but i thought throw something else in the mix and you two might get 10 mins fun before realising.
Glad its Friday as i always go out at night for a few beers.(My second favourite Hobby).
Has anyone ever tried to play this game drunk even simple levels dont look possible.
Thanks all.
 
17637 Mods chat level mark (2878) Thu 30 May 2013 19:56 SPOILER
  Yet again another good idea up the swanny,feel stupid all over again.
Its always dangerous bombs and blues,
Sorry for ruining your good secret.
 
17631 Mods chat level Dave (2400) Thu 30 May 2013 19:11  
  Don't worry about it, Mark. I once thought the same thing and, if you're anything like me, you will get stalled now and again.

I found once I got to that point that solutions came like buses: One here or there and then you get a session where things just fall into place and you nail a whole bunch of them, then things tick over nicely for a while until you hit the wall again. It's kept going like that, right down to now. About 8 weeks ago, having not solved one for months, two of them fell into place within an hour. Then no more progress until I finally ticked off another one yesterday.

Genius is no substitute for sheer bloody-minded determination, but sometimes you just have to wait until you're in the right mindset.
 
17623 Mods chat level mark (2878) Thu 30 May 2013 06:54 SPOILER
  1700 not coming anytime soon,down to 1 or 2 levels a week.
It gets harder and harder to find a level i can beat easily.
Dont think i will ever get close to finishing triage.
1600 was not a level i really thought out as noname's speedrun proves.
I just threw it together in about 10 mins.i like the speedrun even though the level is not "done" when its done if you know what i mean.
 
17618 Mods chat level Dave (2400) Wed 29 May 2013 17:07  
  Looking forward to tomorrow's 1700 level :)
 
17613 Mods chat level Dave (2400) Tue 28 May 2013 15:27  
  Ni Mark, I was planning to delete it anyway. Just though I'd leave it a up a few days for fun.

By searchable comments, I meant 'text' searchable rather than searchable by level. I sometimes recall non level specific things which have been discussed in comments and without remembering which level the discussion was in there is no easy way of finding them again.

I usually find it quicker to pull up level comments by getting the level number from the game, pulling up comments for any random level and overwriting the level number in the URL "...bar.org/f/a/escape/level/3537?spoilers=1"
 
17611 Mods chat level mark (2878) Tue 28 May 2013 09:48 SPOILER
  I think i panicked when i saw mods 21 and 22 so i put off playing them .
As i'd been busy on other levels and had forgot most of the torture i went through.
just played themm done 21 the hard way then realised hold on a minute what am i doing.
Any how gave 22 a style of TEN that was for the solution it was wicked.
I would have never of thought of that in a million years.
I dont like to tell you what to do as i dont want to sound insulting But i would delete that level.
Just imagine if some of the old masters come back oneday you could put that into a level of your own and catch them out.
Just a thought have fun.
 
17610 Mods chat level mark (2878) Tue 28 May 2013 08:48 SPOILER
  Hi Dave ,glad you took your time to look at dungeon or you would have not understood how much of a rip off it was,also how can it be so rubbish when its the same game.
I only slightly remember it but your right there was a problem with the controls and i think you only got a few undo's

I have just been reading your comments again and the bit you mention about searchable comments.

Well i have always searched comments let me tell you how.
In google i type (escape level spacebar) followed by name of the level. sometimes you need the author as well but not often.

Ps are you trying any of the other puzzle games.
 
17609 Mods chat level Dave (2400) Mon 27 May 2013 19:18  
  Wow! Dungeon is a total rip-off and not a good one. I guess there is no way to copyright a game concept.

Electricity is water, hugbots are knights, daleks are evil knights, sliders are carts, and lasers are dart-shooters. When two evil knights crash they turn in to some kind of pile of dead bodies and armour. Everything else is the same including most of the graphics ideas. I note that Tom is only creditted as a level author and even that is hidden away in a readme.

It was clearly made after the introduction of bots but before bombs. Instead it has pink spheres based on the ones used in CC. I will be generous and assume the idea was to take Escape and try to merge in CC elements but it never got that far.

Graphics quality is terrible as are the controls, so I would advise anybody else thinking of having a look not to waste your time.
 
17608 Mods chat level mark (2878) Mon 27 May 2013 12:49 SPOILER
  Robotic secret service....Not so secret anymore ha ha
 
17606 Mods chat level mark (2878) Mon 27 May 2013 11:00 SPOILER
  Pps all the games and answers i had i lost when my computer crashed.
I only really wanted escape by that time anyway.
Never played chips challenge as it for some reason would not download onto my earliar computers and never tried again.
 
17605 Mods chat level mark (2878) Mon 27 May 2013 10:49 SPOILER
  Hi all.
I brought my first computer about 1999 just to play games on.
I love logic and puzzle games and have played qute a few before i found escape.
Cassetto
Roll a bll to win
Zeps dreamland
They are probably some of the better ones . but they only had limited levels .Ive also played a direct copy of this game called
Dungeon
It has exactly the same named levels in it but the electric is water and the hugbots are some kind of wizards i vaguely remember,but i did not play it much did not like it.
Now for a secret that might blow you away.
I remember exactly how and why i got escape as it is on a great website with hundreds of free games all catgorised into differet genres.
The website is( caimen free games )if you search that in google you will find it.
Escape comes up in puzzle section page 8 and the picure used is rouge like. and they give it a nice but short review.
I wish i found this game earlier but better late than never.
Hope this information does not mean i lose you all for ages.
Some of the games ive played would also be compatable with escape but as Tom says no plagirism.

Ps A remote level was the first noname level i ticked off the hearts were not the problem for me it was not understandig the bizzaro world ending that got me.
Ive only one of nonames to go now after getting secret passage this week.
Just guess was a nightmare as i went through all the posistions logicly to get the answer.
(did not know the level editor then)
Anyhow enough from me for now have fun and let me know how you get on with mentioned website.
 
17601 Mods chat level Dave (2400) Mon 27 May 2013 02:46  
  Jim, just been for a reccy. Looks like they right are in the middle of building a another LP release right now so the chances of getting any attention are about zero squared anyway. Just had a play of a couple of Joshua Bone's new levels - and, yes, the time limit is still as irritating as ever. Funny thing is CC levels are fun to build but so annoying to play.
 
17599 Mods chat level Jim (2369) Mon 27 May 2013 01:48 SPOILER
  Well Dave, I don't know if its allowed there, but if it is that would be a perfect place to tell other people about this game. I have to believe anyone that likes that game would like this one too.
 
17598 Mods chat level Dave (2400) Mon 27 May 2013 01:09  
  Jim, I'm not a huge CC fan for the same reasons as you, I only discovered it because of Escape. It was never included in the release of WEP I had many years ago, only later found out that some games were editted out of the early UK release. That said, it is a very interesting game, not least because the level creators prefer to incorporate the bugs into levels rather have the game fixed, but Escape wins every time as far as I'm concerned.

I don't have any direct contact with anybody. Could try posting on the CC message board... may catch the attention of John Lewis or Davis Stolp but I would bank on it.
 
17597 Mods chat level Jim (2369) Mon 27 May 2013 00:34 SPOILER
  Wow, I didn't even realize CC was still around, this escape game is so much better. You don't need reflexes and especially you don't need to restart from the beginning of the level when you go ne too many squares by mistake. As soon as I found this game, I wasn't even interested in CC any more. So Dave, if you have some way to communicate with some of those old players still, tell them to head back this way!
 
17596 Mods chat level Dave (2400) Sun 26 May 2013 22:49  
  You won't find the original Chip's Challenge for MAC but I think you can get a MAC version of TileWorld which is a better option anyway. It may not come bundled with the level set files, but they are easily available.
 
17595 Mods chat level Dave (2400) Sun 26 May 2013 21:36 SPOILER
  For A Remote Level imagine the heart-framers on a chess board. Which colour is the square underneath the last one you collect?
 
17594 Mods chat level Dave (2400) Sun 26 May 2013 21:32  
  Born and bred East London. Probably would have ended up somewhere on the continent, instead of here, if I wasn't quite so linguistically inept ;)
 
17592 Mods chat level mm (690) Sun 26 May 2013 21:20 SPOILER
  I see. I've tried to find/download/buy Chip's Challenge, but couldn't find a version for Mac.

You're right, I must have been playing Myst at that time, too, Riven at the sequals came later. Uru is online now, for free and it's even possible to play it on a Mac. The graphics look good and the game works smoothly. But it's not as challenging as the others had been.

So you've been living in Europe? :-)
 
17591 Mods chat level mm (690) Sun 26 May 2013 21:12 SPOILER
  PS: A Remote level: it is annoying. Dave, I can't see that board you've been talking about. And I can't understand why it's got such a low "difficulty"? To me, it looks like at least an 8...
 
17590 Mods chat level Dave (2400) Sun 26 May 2013 21:10  
  Pieguy, Joshua Bone, and, especially, John Lewis have been busy in the Chip's Challenge camp.

Myst and Riven. That takes me back a few years, was living in Holland then so it must have been about 2001, think the others came later. Loved them, but I dread to think what the graphics on the original would look like now!
 
17588 Mods chat level mm (690) Sun 26 May 2013 20:41 SPOILER
  I do remember that once in a while, different players did try to "push" the game. Without any success. Only now, after all those years, we are finally trying to get in touch with eachother and to kind of talk or chat, thanks to Mark's idea to create this chat-level.

I still don'l know what Tom7 might think about this... But as he has always wanted to just let the game go, he might even like it? I've always been wondering why people would stop playing this game? Where are all those people who've been playing the game in the beginning? Max, Brian, John Lewis, Henri, jcreed, Joshua, mjn, pieguy, and radiant, wowei? I'm just glad that noname still is around amd wowei shows up once in a while!

BTW: I did discover the Sokoban-concept because and after Escape!
 
17587 Mods chat level Dave (2400) Sun 26 May 2013 19:58  
  I couldn't agree more Kirima, and quite a few of those 3000ish players are N7DOT :=). Question to all: How did you come across the game in the first place?

About 4 or so years ago, I found a ancient copy of Sokoban on a back-up disk, played through all the levels and started wondering if the concept had been taken further. A search of the net revealed quite a few games which I downloaded and tried one by one. They were all unsatisfactory until I chanced upon Escape which was maybe about the 5th one I tried. Even then, it took me a little while to really get into it.

These are many many reasons for the lack of players but I think the biggest one is lack of profile. Just pretend you don't know about Escape, type something like 'block pushing puzzle game' into google and try and find the first hit. Only the determined or the already initiated will find it. This profile will have gradually dropped over recent years as the battle for high placement on the search engine lists has intensified. Social media based games, sponsored mobile apps, and heavily pushed commercial releases have more or less totally bumped Escape out over the last 4 years. This was the main reason I thought of resurrecting the FB page, but maybe that wasn't the best idea, I guess we'll just have to think of a different way.

I also think the lack of in-game or searchable comments is a big problem when it comes to retaining new players. I seem to remember that radiant had an idea for implementing a forum, does anybody recall this?
 
17585 Mods chat level mm (690) Sun 26 May 2013 19:50 SPOILER
  Jim, I can't remember how I've had found it, all I know is that I've been trying to find (online) any intelligent game after having played the "Myst" series which had been the first games I had ever been playing on my computer. Ever since I'm looking for sequels or anything worth even thinking about it, but I haven't found anything ever since. *Escape* is my only found and my great exception. (Hopefully this makes sense?!)
 
17584 Mods chat level Jim (2369) Sun 26 May 2013 19:41 SPOILER
  Only 3000 registered players, that is only because this game continues to be mostly a good secret. I'm curious to know how all of you discovered this game, I remember at the time trying to find more levels of Chip's Challenge at the time and this game came up with my search. Otherwise I would have never known about it.
 
17582 Mods chat level mm (690) Sun 26 May 2013 19:32 SPOILER
  PS: I will be "off" for at least one week or more and won't be able to continue our mods-game.
 
17581 Mods chat level mm (690) Sun 26 May 2013 19:30 SPOILER
  Dave: wow! Thank you for these answers! That's so sweet. And of course: it does sound so very easy, but on the other hand, surely, positive(!), it won't be easy at all & once I'll take a intense look at all of this, I'll certainly feel completely lost again. But that's o.k. I've always been pretty good at mathematics, but only as long as it had been a one and only theoretical problem. I have no clue how to adjust maths to normal or practical life - or to things like a game! -> But one day I will get myself into Mods 14, and I do know me, once I'll be into it, I won't want toquit easily, so I'll be stuck. Eighter way. ;-)

 
17580 Mods chat level Dave (2400) Sun 26 May 2013 18:23 SPOILER
  Kirima, the thing with mathematical problems is they can be usually be broken down and viewed from a much simpler angle. This is how I see the basics of the Mod 14 problem in everyday language as a pen and paper problem (bearing in mind that I haven't finished it yet):

1. You can ignore the spaces between the hearts and treat the game as a tour of a 14 x 14 chess board visiting each square once and only once.
2. The panels force predetermined moves between two squares which must be taken every 14th turn.
3. (The parity bit). As 14 is an even number, these fixed moves can only possibly be made in one direction, i.e. from the white square to the black one.
4. Because, the path must be non-overlapping and must visit the corners, it is possible to fill in even more of the route.

The rest should be simple, but it isn't. ;)
 
17578 Mods chat level Dave (2400) Sun 26 May 2013 16:36  
  Correct, both Mod 14 and The Wrong Parity remain on my list. Never properly looked at at Block Cipher and probably won't until these two are out of the way.
 
17577 Mods chat level mm (690) Sun 26 May 2013 16:29 SPOILER
  --->> Ha, Dave, I got it, you must be talking about pieguy's level called +Mod 14+! Holy goat, that one seems very annoying to me. It just doesn't appeal to me at all, it looks like I would have to get some paper and a pencil, and it looks as if there is some kind of a mathematical secret behind, so that level just looks too theoretical to me.

----------

Completely different topic: ever since I've discovered *ESCAPE*, I'm astonished, no, more than that, I am weirded out by the fact that only such a few people worldwide seem to play this game! At this moment, there are about/almost 3000 registered players. ONLY! I think that this is weird. I would have expected millions of people loving this game!
 
17576 Mods chat level mark (2878) Sun 26 May 2013 16:17 SPOILER
  Hi i think Dave meant the level called Mod 14 by the Pieguy.
 
17575 Mods chat level mm (690) Sun 26 May 2013 16:04 SPOILER
  Mark, no problem, I had just been kind of confused when you had been talking about your panel as I couldn't find it, only later I did realize what you had meant.

Thank you for trying to help me with 1/2 arena et alteri... Henri (Doom) has created some adorable levels! I am aware of the facts you're talking about, but that knowledge doesn't help me. Once in a while I just go back to those levels and try again, hoping that one day I will just see the solution!

Dave, now that Mark is talking about it I do remember that you had been asking about Mods 14. I just don't get the question...? If ever you're talking about All mods 14, that laser beyond the blue panel didn't bother me. Probably it should have?

Mark, are you talking about Robotic secret service by Max? Just try to think easy! Bots are our friends, I guess you have forgotten this fact and I bet you must be on some really complicated way. Hopefully this will help?!
 
17574 Mods chat level mark (2878) Sun 26 May 2013 13:38 SPOILER
  Sorry mm, i should have said your ball..
 
17573 Mods chat level mark (2878) Sun 26 May 2013 13:14 SPOILER
  Hi mm, as i was blasting my way through the triage i came across halved arena and did really like that level,as with all the henri k levels.
It hooked me enough to be one of the first i came back too when my speedy progress was halted.
I'm not going to say it was easy as that would be insulting but it did not pose to much of a problem for me.
Halved arena is the key to this series as it holds answers in the bookmarks for the other levels.
So lets see if i can give you some hints how you do it..
1st as you know kicking a ball or a gold block moves a robot and not you this is the key.
2nd you have to get the bottom dalek to kick a ball..
Hope this helps you on your quest more hints if required.

Ps Anyone i would really like a hint on Robtic secret service.

Pps Dave when you said you were trying Mod 14 that is one i thought i was able to do at anytime but i'd left it because it was to big . I've now had a proper look at it understand the problem and ouch.
I never really understood before what you meant about pen and paper to solve a level (except the sudoko level)
 
17567 Mods chat level Dave (2400) Sun 26 May 2013 02:35 SPOILER
  As Mark says, Rouge-Like-Like is spoiled by the uploaded solutions to Rouge-Like. Whether, you choose to use that information is up to you. If not, there is a pretty good hint below :)
 
17556 Mods chat level N7DOT 3 (2490) Sat 25 May 2013 15:56 SPOILER
  Rouge-Like was definitely a difficult one, but i have to say I have no idea how to accomplish Rouge-Like-Like. Those panels at the end are really annoying.
 
17553 Mods chat level mark (2878) Sat 25 May 2013 15:41 SPOILER
  Thaks for that answer Jim it gives me great encouragment to carry on .
As for levels it must be Rouge like that made this game for me,i was an absolute novice when i tried to crack it i'd only done about 100 levels but i wanted a hard one under my belt.
After two long weeks of trying with no sucsess i tested the water with a comment on another level (need help) is all i put and Dave answered.
So i realised there was other people out there, So i asked my question on rouge like got reply From radiant,Dave and mm .
No help on the level but plenty of encouragement,then Dave told me about bookmarks speedruns and the N button wich i'll always be gratefull because that changed this game for me.
Anyway stuck with the level and cracked it i was so chuffed.
Did not have the same torture with rouge like like,the answer was in the bookmarks so i dont know what is was like for you guys playing..
After that i decided to start at the bottom of difficulty levels and work my way up.If it was a little hard i left it i was getting hundreds of levels a week.
Gnomme trois IMO is the hardest level ive done but i have got all the nice airport series those are the last levels i spent lots of time on and they are very doable.
I exhausted every inch of them levels and dissected every comment for a clue.
All the wrong ways i kept going gave me ideas for levels so i learnt the level editor.
My favorite level must be slippery when rouge as i thought it was genius and i loved the fact people were modding my level to make it better and better.
Thats how i came up with the idea we are the mods.

Back to rouge like's honestly if i played them now i dont think they are as hard as rated even though great levels.
Is rouge like like were the bot trick originated as it springs up all over the place now,and once you know it the levels are not to difficult.

Thanks all.
 
17542 Mods chat level Dave (2400) Sat 25 May 2013 04:08 SPOILER
  Anybody want to start a new series???
 
17541 Mods chat level Dave (2400) Sat 25 May 2013 01:23 SPOILER
  It would be great to see Tom back, but what about Max, the master of deception!

Numbots was one of my later solves, if I had to solve it before bot numbers were viewable then I would have gone through a few sheets of paper in doing so! The first '9' level I cracked was rouge-like-like (which in retrospect makes me wonder about the rating), I remember it sitting there in isolation with its little tick when I pressed ctrl-d.

As far as stupidly simple levels that took way to long to solve go, the winner for me is A Remote Level. A couple of days after I first played it I walked past a shop window, saw a chess board, and thought 'you idiot the solution is there in black and white', how I missed it is still a mystery to me.

I do struggle with radiant's levels: the All Together, Assembly Line, and Cut to the Chase Levels took me longer than I am prepared to admit to. I guess multi-bot levels are not really my thing.
 
17540 Mods chat level Jim (2369) Sat 25 May 2013 00:05 SPOILER
  I've been playing this game for about 7 years I think. I remember when I first DL'D it, there were 1200 levels and I was hoping just to be able to solve 90% of them. I had just gotten past the 1000 mark when my computer crashed and I had to start all over again. It took me about 6 months to get back to the same point. To answer your question Mark, there were lots of levels I felt I would never solve, but gradually I would go back and get most of them. Some of them were years later, those were the most satisfying when I finally got them. MM, I agree those revenge of the computer ones were tough, each one took me seemingly forever. All the other levels everyone mentioned took me a long time to solve also. Once I got most of the 1200, I got new levels and by that time it was up to 1800. I never really got current until the levels were to about 2000, and that's when I registered my name finally.

There are plenty of great levels, but I think one of my favorites is Henri's Numbots. If you haven't solved that one yet I won't spoil it, but what happens to the Dalek when you grabbed the heart took me my such surprise, it stopped me dead in my tracks! I just started at the screen and said "That's fantastic!" Loved it. Newark's Liberty Airport by Tom was another one I spent an eternity on, I sure hope Tom gets re-invigorated some day and makes new levels.

Congrats MM on solving 19 and Mark on solving 20. I really thought we were going to have a difficult time making these hard enough without using bombs or free-running bots, boy was I wrong!
 
17539 Mods chat level Dave (2400) Fri 24 May 2013 23:39  
  PPetcS. Thinking about good players, we haven't heard anything from wowei or radiant for a while and I am really beginning to miss their input.
 
17538 Mods chat level Dave (2400) Fri 24 May 2013 22:47 SPOILER
  Putting computers aside, some of my favourite levels are the ones that force you to plan your solution with old-fashioned pen and paper. I loved Dimensional Trap in this respect.

Hint 2: The key to Nice is realising why one teleport lands a bot directly on the switch. You have to see that first, only then will it become clear that there is only one possible way to use the bomb! The rest is routine. Enough said...
 
17537 Mods chat level mm (690) Fri 24 May 2013 20:55 SPOILER
  PS: It's so very true, R5 is the most evil of those series. But all of them, R1 - R5, are some of my most favorite levels ever, because they are small size and they do look so simple.
 
17536 Mods chat level mm (690) Fri 24 May 2013 20:26 SPOILER
  Thank you Dave for your tipps! I guess I will have to read those comments again. I've always been astonished by the fact that people use their computer or mathematical skills to play this game, either way, to create levels or to solve them! I just can't imagine how this can be done? It certainly sounds faszinating to me, but I can't do it. So I'm just playing the game "the old fashioned way" and this feels comfortable to me.

Mark, I love watching those downloadable solutions and I always hope to catch them all! It is great to watch how other brains work, and I think that I can learn a lot by just watching different ways to solve a problem.
 
17535 Mods chat level Dave (2400) Fri 24 May 2013 19:20 SPOILER
  Hi Kirima, did you ever figure out what the 'sneaky central trick' that Tom refers to in the comments on Nice Cote D'Azur might be? They all have the same core solution, if you can solve one, you can solve them all. Bots and teleports...

Knight's Tour is a well know problem and you can find solutions all over the net. Knights and Rotations is an original Potetz creation, very very clever, and horribly tricky. Have tried many times to implement the Rook's Tour problem but just can't get the mechanism to work.

The next level I want to work on is Mod 14. I suspect you have done this one. How long did it take you?


PS. Nice one Mark, didn't think you'd be far behind.

PPS. Revenge 3 is by far the easist but Revenge 2 is also straightforward, the other 3 are evil! Couldn't crack 5 so I wrote software to discover the, only known to pieguy, speedrun. That was quite an undertaking, because the problem space is massive and the shortest solution is not the same as the 'optimal by pushes' solution, it was as much of a challenge as solving it by hand. Got me back into high-level programming after years of only working at machine level. Only resorted to this approach on 4 levels that I can recall, in two cases I now regret doing so, in the other two, R5 included, I don't. Did speedrun Assembly Square with computer assistance but only after solving by hand and finding out how stupifying simple noname's computer solution was and how many thousands (probably millions), of solutions there are! Even so, it can only be solved in the editor unless you are some kind of mega-genius.
 
17534 Mods chat level mm (690) Fri 24 May 2013 16:56 SPOILER
  1/2 arena, or 3/4 arena or whatever: those levels seem impossible to me, for example, and I wish I had a clue or at least a hint! I would love to solve those. I've solved one of those "knight and rotations" levels and that's o.k. for me, I don't need to solve it's sequal. Disappear here? I'm disappearing and that's it! Keep off the grass? Ok, I will do so! No clue. The only ones that are bothering my mind are the Cote d'Azur levels by Tom7, I wish I could finally solve them, but I've been unable to find any clues, for years.
 
17533 Mods chat level mm (690) Fri 24 May 2013 16:41 SPOILER
  Don't get me wrong, there certainly are levels that are seem to make me feel "rrrgggghkwwckckrwrrr"!
 
17531 Mods chat level mm (690) Fri 24 May 2013 08:26 SPOILER
  So many new comments! Congrats Dave! Wow, you guys seem to be very successful! There was a time when I had only about 10 levels left, but right now I'm at 2053/2169. It doesn't really bother me any more that there are levels I just can't solve, that's just how it is and it's kind of o.k. for me. There are levels that are just not appealing to me, too, either too huge or they inquire too many annoying steps, or else they don't seem logic at all. Mark, I think the most satisfying moment had been when I finally had solved all of those revenge of the computers levels! ;)

 
17527 Mods chat level mark (2878) Fri 24 May 2013 07:09 SPOILER
  Wow Wow Wow.
It was not ten minutes ago i was sought of saying i'll never solve it.
Thought i'd have a sneaky little try again after not playing for two days.
Done it in five minutes, so much relief.
 
17526 Mods chat level mark (2878) Fri 24 May 2013 06:35 SPOILER
  Ps progress is a lot slower now as the levels left for me are either hard or hold not to much interest.
Not got one by the pieguy keep trying revenge 3,as i think it looks the easiest, but after about 10 to 20 moves i know ive gone wrong.
A question for anyone.
When you got down to the last 400 or so did you think you might not be able to do them,thats the feeling i get with me.

PPs love reading the comments its as mm said ,it does not feel such a lonely place.
 
17525 Mods chat level mark (2878) Fri 24 May 2013 06:17 SPOILER
  Congrats also i knew from your last comment you would do it next time, not going to be the same for me.

Just to share with you a level i really liked and came back to all the time,which shows my progress in the game is Bots our are friends.
I ticked it off about 3 weeks back.

First i could not get in the room.
2nd i could not get out the room
3rd i could get out the room but thee exit was blocked
4th i was now getting close realised what needed to be done back to problem one couldn't get in the room. A few more tries later job done.

A level i would like to solve is Robotic secret service. it looks so simple but a the same time looks impossible.

What i have learnt over the last few months is if you keep playing the levels you do get better. Levels i first thought impossible, some of them are actually quite easy.
 
17524 Mods chat level Jim (2369) Fri 24 May 2013 01:36 SPOILER
  Congrats Dave on 19 and 20, I could tell you were close on 20 and it was only a matter of time. 2164/2169 for me too, Land of 10000 bots is one I never solved also and I have no plan of ever trying it again. Getting bumped randomly all over the screen just doesn't appeal to me.
 
17523 Mods chat level Dave (2400) Fri 24 May 2013 00:22  
  Right! Done it! Took a break after solving 19, came back to 20 and solved it at the first attempt. What's really annoying is that I had been working on exactly the right basic idea for a couple of days, I was just looking for a more complex solution when an easy one was staring me in the face. Solving 19 probably didn't help much in terms of stategy, but certainly helped in the sense that it unfogged my mind.

Curiously, I have first-solved all of 15, 17, 18, 19, and 20 (16 was mine anyway) using the intended solution, which is pretty unusual for a mods series.
 
17522 Mods chat level Dave (2400) Thu 23 May 2013 21:38 SPOILER
  I'd say that's pretty rapid progress, Mark! Especially when you consider that the sheer quantity of 'old levels' you are catching up on is much greater than when I was in your situation.

I think I discovered Escape in 2009 but only really start playing seriously in 2010. The best feeling was being able to ctrl-v and see all the unsolved levels fit on one screen for the first time, that would have been about mid 2011, so bit over a year of serious playing. Down to knocking off remaining unsolved levels at the the rate of about one every couple of months, so give it another year... er, maybe ;). However, as 3 of them are pieguy's, it may take a bit longer.
 
17521 Mods chat level mark (2878) Thu 23 May 2013 19:31  
  Well done Dave just seen speedrun 19.

When i started this game escape Balls by alex was on top of the list so ive been playing 7 months max.
i have just under 600 left to go but i like to solve every new level as they come.
Have not done dont shoot yourself by Dave or the last 2 mods by noname.
I have plenty levels to choose from and one day ill try planetry mystery series.
I dont really like the sokoban type levels as much even though thats what brought me to this game.
yesterday and today ive had a rest from 20 and ticked off all the auto generated levels,I thought some of them were a lot harder than the 3's they were scored.
 
17520 Mods chat level Dave (2400) Thu 23 May 2013 19:24 SPOILER
  PPS. I do have another method of recovering the red, without losing a transponder in the corner... doesn't help though! Maybe I'm making the same mistake as I made on 19 of looking for the complicated and overlooking the simple. :)
 
17519 Mods chat level Dave (2400) Thu 23 May 2013 19:05 SPOILER
  Hi Jim, done 19 now. No idea how I failed to see it before. I don't immediately see a clue to 20 there though but will have a better study of it a bit later.

In answer to your question my triage shows 2163/2169, unsolved includes All mod cons 20 and Block Cipher. The most irritating unsolved level for me is Land of 10000 Bots.

PS. I think the 2169 total shows incorrectly as about 2200 on Win7 if you haven't manually dumped the 30ish stuck levels.
 
17517 Mods chat level Jim (2369) Thu 23 May 2013 18:20 SPOILER
  I'm curious how many unsolved levels people have left and how often you go back to try to solve them. For me, I have 5 left, but the only one I try to solve periodically is Soko_Very_Hard.
 
17516 Mods chat level Jim (2369) Thu 23 May 2013 18:14 SPOILER
  I understand a certain level driving you crazy after a while. I took a day off without thinking of these mods, and came back and got a fresh view of them which helped me a lot. For level 19, its important to think of the most efficient way to get the blue sphere back into the top left hand corner and back out again. Being able to push the red sphere down one like Mark suggested, makes that easier. For level 20, believe it or not, there is yet another way to get the red sphere out of the top left corner. Once you discovered how, the rest is easy.
 
17515 Mods chat level mm (690) Thu 23 May 2013 17:36 SPOILER
  Congrats, that's awesome, Jim!

I think I'm going to give up. At least for now. These levels are driving me crazy and make my head spinning around in stupid circles while I'm not progressing at all. I'm totally stuck.

Mark, please don't wait for me to catch up because you might wait forever... ;) I think "All mod cons" is done, at least the original game, so feel free to start a new game. Dave might fix his spin-off mechanism, but anyway, we can continue those spin-offs later.

Wishing you all luck, too!

 
17513 Mods chat level mark (2878) Thu 23 May 2013 12:47  
  Moved to graveyard:
deleting level before it gets dumped in minor leagues.
We still know where it is if anyone wants to talk.
 
17512 Mods chat level mark (2878) Thu 23 May 2013 12:42 SPOILER
  Wow, well done Jim i noticed it did not take much time to do 20 after yoy got 19.
Knowing how to do 19 does not help me on my quest for 20 did it for you.
Im not going to give up on this level but any hints sublte or not would be gratfully recieved.
I think the mods series has been a grate success and would love to start another soon but but not until everyone is up to speed.
As for hints if the others dont want them they dont have to read them,but im sure they wont mind.
What i'd really like to know is what you do in the first room before leaving.
Good luck to all !
 
17507 Mods chat level Dave (2400) Thu 23 May 2013 03:22 SPOILER
  Jim, the funny thing is it hasn't helped me at all. Following Mark's instructions for 19 lands me in exactly the same predicament I find myself in with 20. Clearly, I have two working methods for the first half but can't crack the ending.
 
17506 Mods chat level Dave (2400) Thu 23 May 2013 00:41 SPOILER
  I agree, always one piece short.

Recently been working on the "don't bother putting the blue in the top middle room because it's to much hassle" approach. Unfortunately, I always seem to find myself with everything done except the for the blue ball ball irresolutely stuck on the wall one cell below it's final target (or somewhere equally inconvenient)...

Maybe time to back to a different approach.

 
17496 Mods chat level mm (690) Wed 22 May 2013 17:28 SPOILER
  Thank you for answering, Mark. I guess I've already tried it all, and of course I just can't think of any possible things I haven't tried yet! Not using a slider indicates that the blue sphere holds the laser, but also indicates that a tile will be needed in the left corner of that compartment in the middle in order to get that blue sphere out there. That tile will be missing elsewhere! Anyway, whatever I do, I'd need one more tile. And not using the blue sphere to hold the laser absolutely seems worse.
 
17495 Mods chat level Jim (2369) Wed 22 May 2013 17:12 SPOILER
  I like the idea of discussing levels, but I hate the idea at the same time if that makes any sense. From Mark's comment of not using a slider, I was able to solve level 19 in a half hour, mainly because that was the missing element I never even considered before. So for me, it was TMI. Half of me is very grateful b/c it put me out of my misery of thinking about this level, but now that I know, its like Tom always says - once you know how to do a level, you wish you figured it all out by yourself. I loved the solution by the way, another great level. Onward to 20 now for me (the torture level is sure to go up).
 
17494 Mods chat level mark (2878) Wed 22 May 2013 17:03 SPOILER
  mm if you start the level the the same as 17 when blue sphere holds down left laser you can push 2 balls up to a transpoder tile.
before leaving the ballroom you can push that tile in both directions leave it one space below red panel. You will be able to get it back to turn green and blue later.
clever usage of slider positioning is also needed as to get the blue sphere back a different way.
 
17493 Mods chat level mm (690) Wed 22 May 2013 16:09 SPOILER
  I've got no clues at all & those two levels are driving me crazy, too. Trying to solve them is a torture, I agree. Mark, not using a slider doesn't seem to help, at least I can't find a persisting reason? And how can it be that the answer is like 17 as there is no possibility to turn off yellow. 18 suddenly seems so easy, but doesn't help at all for 19 and 20. I wish I had not introduced that panel to fix 17 as now I don't know if there is any other purpose for that stupid panel! I've tried cicking green out to the right before turning of green, but can't get the green ball back in place without loosing tiles I'd need later. And getting red out of the compartment the second time seems to need a tile, the lazer doesn't help... And and and...

But thanks anyway for introducing this chat-level and for trying to help us! :-)
 
17492 Mods chat level mark (2878) Wed 22 May 2013 08:54 SPOILER
  On my level you deffinitly dont have to kick out the green,i have tried that way so many times proving to myself that it cant be done that way .
Only then about a hour later when i have no options the other way i think to myself why is it i cant kick out the green and try again.
my level answer is like 17 answer but just a longer version.
On first visit to ballroom with the bot dancing free i take all the balls out except the green.when you put 2 back in dont use a slider.

Somtimes i wish i never made 19 because 20 is torture to my mind. Good luck
 
17491 Mods chat level Dave (2400) Wed 22 May 2013 05:38 SPOILER
  A. Not found a way yet without kicking green over at the start or losing blue. Only found dead ends on the kick out the green option... so far.

Q. Can you get blue out at the start without moving grey from it's initial position or kicking green over? Seems impossible, but I may have missed a trick.
 
17490 Mods chat level mark (2878) Wed 22 May 2013 04:11 SPOILER
  Can i get the red sphere on its panel without leaving the grey one on the left wall?

(example question)

Ps feel free to ask me any questions i will allways answer.
Going to work back in about 8 hours.
 
17489 Mods chat level mark (2878) Wed 22 May 2013 03:57  
  'Mods chat level' uploaded by mark:
Thought this maybe a good idea so we can talk about levels and ask questions.
This way we can talk about a current level without giving to much away.