"Reactor Disaster" - A Fully Scripted VVVVVV Adventure!

[TheoX]

I actually finally got a page on my website dedicated to this level: http://www.pixelships.com/misc_vvvvvv.html

Pixelmusement is your website?  I used to be addicted to Pixelships Retro for a while.

I need to finish this level!  I forgot to!

[stormi]

I enjoyed this level very much, having discovered it directly in the second, easier, version.

Here are 2 glitches I think I found :
- you can enter the generator without rescueing the crewmates (except the professor who is in the way). Then when you reach the last one, you're stuck and can't really win. Yes, I did it on purpose
- I'm not sure, but I think that the counters for the 5 down, 2 up, etc. sequence is not reinitialized when you die (via the R key). Thus you can't win even with the good sequence afterwards (I tried it many times, and had to restart the game from the beginning to get the good ending). In fact, I think that when someone enters the first hole after having done anything else, the sequence should be reinitialized. I would thus forgive you when you lose count and have to start again. Alternatively, we could be allowed to go out by the left, which would reinitialize the counters.

Best regards

Samuel Verschelde

[Gemini000]

- you can enter the generator without rescueing the crewmates (except the professor who is in the way). Then when you reach the last one, you're stuck and can't really win. Yes, I did it on purpose

AFAIK, there's presently no 100%-accurate way to determine if you've rescued someone through scripting. I will definitely add a way of checking this once and if the commands to do so are added to the scripting system.

- I'm not sure, but I think that the counters for the 5 down, 2 up, etc. sequence is not reinitialized when you die (via the R key). Thus you can't win even with the good sequence afterwards (I tried it many times, and had to restart the game from the beginning to get the good ending). In fact, I think that when someone enters the first hole after having done anything else, the sequence should be reinitialized. I would thus forgive you when you lose count and have to start again. Alternatively, we could be allowed to go out by the left, which would reinitialize the counters.

That's intentional. The world is glitching out and unstable so you need to follow the pattern exactly. If you mess it up or interrupt it in any way, it's not going to work and you will make Victoria sad.

That said, I didn't know about the R key... Next time I update the level I'm going to make it so that if you use the R key during that final sequence you immediately get the bad ending!

[damatman]

AFAIK, there's presently no 100%-accurate way to determine if you've rescued someone through scripting. I will definitely add a way of checking this once and if the commands to do so are added to the scripting system.

You could put a script around the crew member with a flag in it? then surround that with checkpoints so you have to checkpoint before you die. That would make it about 99% accurate I suppose

[BillyTheBanana]

Holy crap, this level was so much fun! My favorite of all the customs I've played so far. My only request is to change the ending so that if you get the bad ending you can kill yourself with R and then do it right (I tried that, but it just got the bad ending again).

Sorry to bump an old thread, but this level deserves to be played by more people.

[ieatatsonic]

I'm stuck at the part after faulty crusher. What am I supposed to do?

[Buttons]

I absolutely loved most of the level, but the ending was super mean. If you have the warp token on the left side of the screen like that, people like me are gonna jump into it right away just to see what it does. So much of this level's design is about taking leaps of faith and sometimes (okay, okay: often) ending up with a grizzly death, but that only works because the game won't send you back very far when you're unlucky. To subvert that at the very end and require players to start over? Not cool man.

Awesome challenges throughout (I'm one of the people who did the compactor puzzle the hard way), but it was sad not to be able to finish it.

[art begotti]

Holy wow, I just finished this level for the first time (I think I couldn't find a trinket when I first started playing it and forgot to return to it before). I got both endings... and you don't know the chill that went down my spine when I got the bad ending first. I'm happy I made a relatively recent save so it didn't take long to get back and find the good ending, but that first ending absolutely took me by surprise.

Very good level altogether! I thought the level of the challenges was just right (though I'm somewhat of a masochist), and the plot and dialogue were well written. I'd definitely recommend this level to others to play!

[art begotti]

I just realized that what I played before was version 1, not version 1.1. I went through the latter version, and... I guess I'm disappointed by the dip in difficulty. Again, I am somewhat of a masochist, but I was surprised to see some of the extra checkpoints and removed spikes that I enjoyed conquering the first time around. I did like the extra couple of rooms inside the reactor though, so I can't decide which version I liked better. Are you saving copies of all versions you've made? Perhaps it's worth considering keeping a "easy" level and a "hard" level for people who like one end of the spectrum over the other.

[Gemini000]

I'm stuck at the part after faulty crusher. What am I supposed to do?

After the message from your communicator, just follow the professor's advice: Run straight left and don't let go!

Funny thing: I was trying this level out with Flip Mode engaged and the solution to the Faulty Crushing System doesn't work. I'm reluctant to fix it in case I have to fix it yet again once the next VVVVVV version comes out. >_>;

I absolutely loved most of the level, but the ending was super mean. If you have the warp token on the left side of the screen like that, people like me are gonna jump into it right away just to see what it does. So much of this level's design is about taking leaps of faith and sometimes (okay, okay: often) ending up with a grizzly death, but that only works because the game won't send you back very far when you're unlucky. To subvert that at the very end and require players to start over? Not cool man.

When I made the level, I wasn't aware there was a key you could press to reset yourself. As a result, I expected people would save after the final message about how to survive the final puzzle and I wanted it to feel very intense in that, if you screw up even slightly, the universe is over.

I just realized that what I played before was version 1, not version 1.1. I went through the latter version, and... I guess I'm disappointed by the dip in difficulty. Again, I am somewhat of a masochist, but I was surprised to see some of the extra checkpoints and removed spikes that I enjoyed conquering the first time around. I did like the extra couple of rooms inside the reactor though, so I can't decide which version I liked better. Are you saving copies of all versions you've made? Perhaps it's worth considering keeping a "easy" level and a "hard" level for people who like one end of the spectrum over the other.

I do indeed still have both the original and v1.1. I reduced the difficulty after comments from Terry and also to get around some pixel-precision issues that required moving less-precisely to survive, as absolutely perfect timing actually resulted in death, and I also fixed a few bugs and added some scripts. (For example: Right at the very start in v1.1, if you ignore the first terminal you get a different cutscene!) I don't intend to update the level again until the next version of VVVVVV comes out.

...and I'm hoping that sooner or later VVVVVV will offer a hardware acceleration option and a smooth 60 FPS just like old retro games. ;)

[oposdeo]

that part at the end NOT COOL i just felt like going into that warp portal and BAM gotta start the whole map over. YA COULD AT LEAST HAVE ADDED A "please save your game" MESSAGE SOMEWHERE IN THERE. or at least have added a warp token back to the terminal. that really pissed me off. now i'll never see the ending on a higher note. the scripting was excelent and the level design was smooth and clever 4/5