"Under Wraps" (Version 1.2.1) [Featured in Bonus Roundup Part 3]

[Shuhasu]

OMG I'm been featured! I'm so honored 

While exploring, you come across a distress signal. You follow it and start to explore the place...



Update Log:

Version 1.2.1:
-Added Crucial Missing Spikes to "Quick Reflexes"
-Deleted a Rogue Script that I forgot to delete.

Version 1.2:
-Removed Most spikes from "One Way Ticket" and all spikes from the vertical tube in "Transport Tube."
-Eradicated all single tiles from existence, except those involved in art.
-cut the amount of enemies in "Security Lock 001" by 40%.
-Made sure you can not miss crew mates In "CAUTION: May contain pits" and "Cave-In."
-Fixed the one-width tile floors in "Cavern" and "Control Room."
-Fixed "A Fork in the Gravity Flux" to have wider hallways.
-Fixed the last RAE in "We Really Need to Fix These."
-Fixed the platforms in "Quick Reflexes."
-."..And 005" No longer has a roof or floor.
-Removed two spikes from "Black Hole Maintainer."
-Fixed the grammar in "Couldn't Have Said It Better."
-raised the floor on "Maybe Alittle..." while also changing the moving platforms.
-Added some more scripts

Version 1.1
-"Transport Tube" fixed.
-In "Cave-In" you can see the floor now. 
-Typos Fixed.
-Made "Quick Reflexes" Look better Visually.
-Added scripting to replace text (except in CAUTION: May Contain Pits.)
-I believe the Hidden Floors in "Control Room" are cleared, I couldn't find any.

[Habstinat]

Spectacular level. Here are some things I've noticed that could be improved upon though:

-In "Transport Tube", there appears to be a missing block on the left side.
-In "Cave-In", the floor is hidden by the room title. This makes it hard to navigate. Even if it was done on purpose, it seems a bit "exploiting graphical glitch"-y to me and I would just raise it by a tile.
-In "We Really Need to Fix these", "these" should have a capital T. There are also lots of one-width blocks with odd edges.
-It's best to keep your level names consistent. I would just capitalize every word, but if you insist on keeping "it" lowercase, make sure you do it for all the level titles. There are a few inconsistencies.
-In "Quick Reflexes", there are a lot of spikes without blocks beneath them. They look a bit ugly in my opinion.
-A lot of the "Try the top path first" type of texts could easily be fixed with some scripting. Set flag1 to true when you finish the first path, then make the second path open only when flag1 is true.
-There are some hidden floors in "Control Room".

I really liked "Control Room" though -- It gave me some sort of "free" feeling that I haven't gotten from any other VVVVVV level yet.

Great job!

[Shuhasu]

Okay, I noticed some things too as soon as I uploaded it, so I'm gonna go fix them. this is why I need some bug testers

[Terry]

I really like this one.

[Habstinat]

Okay, I noticed some things too as soon as I uploaded it, so I'm gonna go fix them. this is why I need some bug testers

Oh, and I forgot a really important bug:

-In "Maybe alittle..." (which should be "Maybe A Little..."), it's possible to separate the first two vertically moving platforms by standing partly off the ledge. This can really screw up the room as you can't go backwards into another room (to reset the platforms) and there is a checkpoint in the room. You can also separate the final two platforms, which can make the room near impossible to complete without restarting the level.

Thanks a lot for fixing this up.

[Shuhasu]

Actually one thing I haven't figured out in the game is Scripting, could you show me how I could handle those texts I have in the game to make them scripted?

edit edit edit: content removed

[TheoX]

Rating 004
Enjoyment: 7/10
Aesthetic: 9/10
Novelty: 6/10
Difficulty: 9/10
Room Names: 7/10

Let me start by saying this is a REALLY good looking level.  You made a lot of neat looking stuff that is very unique.  However the difficulty fluctuates absurdly.  Security Room 001 is by far the hardest room, and it's what, the fourth room?  Took me at least 100 tries to get past, and I almost gave up.  Other than that though, the level is really enjoyable.  I like some of your rooms gameplay-wise, especially "Suspense" - very neat and fun.  Add at least one checkpoint to Security Lock 001 and it'll be golden in my book.

Status: 100%'ed

[Shuhasu]

Rating 004
Enjoyment: 7/10
Aesthetic: 9/10
Novelty: 6/10
Difficulty: 9/10
Room Names: 7/10

Let me start by saying this is a REALLY good looking level.  You made a lot of neat looking stuff that is very unique.  However the difficulty fluctuates absurdly.  Security Room 001 is by far the hardest room, and it's what, the fourth room?  Took me at least 100 tries to get past, and I almost gave up.  Other than that though, the level is really enjoyable.  I like some of your rooms gameplay-wise, especially "Suspense" - very neat and fun.  Add at least one checkpoint to Security Lock 001 and it'll be golden in my book.

Status: 100%'ed

Hmm, If i do get more complaints about that part, I'll lessen the enemies, but there is a checkpoint right outside that room 

[TheoX]

I think my main problem with that room is that the difficulty is based on doing extremely difficult things repetitively.  Compare this with Terry's "Veni Vidi Vici (etc)".  The latter (though easy for me now) drove me crazy the first few million times I tried it, but it was an interesting challenge because each section was unique.  Security Lock 001 is more mind-numbing and makes me screw up more, not to mention the timing has to be super perfect because of the slidey physics of VVVVVV.

Thanks for putting a save point outside though, if I had to do the top AND the bottom in one go I would have just put down the level forever, which would be a shame cause the rest of it is so cool

[Habstinat]

Actually one thing I haven't figured out in the game is Scripting, could you show me how I could handle those texts I have in the game to make them scripted?

Sure. I'm actually quite new to scripting myself, but I'll give this a shot.

First, you should block off the area you want the player to go in second with either Warp Tokens or Gravity Lines. (If the path is horizontal, obviously gravity lines won't make sense)
Next, make a script box at the end of Path 1. Make sure the player will enter the box when he completes Path 1. Make it link to "path1complete" when prompted.
Next, go into the script editor (ESC) and edit "path1complete". This is all you need to make it say:

Code Select Expand

flag(1,on)
Then create a script box that covers the entire room where the paths fork, so as soon as you enter the room it activates. Make it link to "checkpath1".
Go into the script editor and edit "checkpath1". Here's what it should say:

Code Select Expand

ifflag(1,clearpath2)
Then, edit "clearpath2" to say this if you chose Warp Tokens to block the path:

Code Select Expand

destroy(warptokens)
Or this if you used Gravity Lines:

Code Select Expand

destroy(gravitylines)
That should be the simplest solution.

(Note: I have never actually tried scripting in-game and this is just based on what I've found on the interwebz. You may not be able to edit "clearpath2"... If you can't, try creating a script box in some impossible to reach place that links to "clearpath2" so you can edit it.)

[Shuhasu]

Okay Made some Changes finally
-"Maybe Alittle..." Got some minor changes here and there:

-"transport tube" fixed
-In "Cave-In" you can see the floor now 
-Typos Fixed
-Made "Quick Reflexes" Look better Visually

-Added scripting to replace text (except in CAUTION: May Contain Pits)
-I believe the Hidden Floors in "Control Room" are cleared, I couldn't find any 
-miscellaneous touchups

Reposting the Link in the first post!

[Shuhasu]

so has anyone found any new bugs? sorry for double post ^^

edit: I found some myself, forgot to put the control room back up, and I also fixed "Maybe Alittle..." some more download changed

[Terry]

I was gonna try the new version, but I can't seem to find the link?

[Shuhasu]

I was gonna try the new version, but I can't seem to find the link?

jjjjust uploaded a new one, the forums screwed up on me for a moment. It should be there now ^.^

[Terry]

Hey!

So, like I said, I really liked this level, and that's why I wanted to take some time to write some proper feedback for it. I hope this doesn't seems a bit harsh, I'm only writing so much because I liked it, and I'd love to see you polish up the rough edges on this a bit.

Here are a few particular issues I had:

One way ticket: I never like it when a room opens with an unavoidable death trap, and the spikes right beside the door here mean that's very likely, which it's a shame when it's the second room in the game. What I'd probably do myself here is just removing the spikes on the floor and have the conveyors extend to the wall.

Security Entrance: Single tiles looks a little weird with the lab tileset! Maybe make the tile connecting the gravity line have two tiles instead? This is also an issue in the following rooms: Security Lock 001 (upper gravity line), Warp Disturbance, We really need to fix these, and Overdone it with the spikes.

Security Lock 001: The sequence of eight enemies at the start here looks pretty cool, but it's a little tedious especially right at the start of the level. It might be worth making this a little easier - how about giving more floor space, and using enemy bounds to make it so they don't go down as far?

CAUTION: May Contain Pits: It's possible to totally miss the crewmate in the room to the right here, which is a big problem - I think it might be worth restructuring this section to avoid this, if you can.

Cavern: Unfortunately the room name obscures the bottom row of this room, which looks bad - it's probably a good idea to move it up one tile.

Warp Disturbance: I'm not really a fan of intersecting vertical/horizontal gravity lines, but that's just a personal thing really

Security Lock 003: I REALLY would have liked an extra checkpoint in this room before the drop! It's rarely fun to have to repeat tough challenges you've already beaten.

Cave-In: Again, it's possible to miss the crewmate here (although unlikely). Still, might be worth making sure, in case some doesn't pick them up and gets stuck later!

A fork in the gravity flux: Got a bit lost here! Did you change this so that you have to go right first? Good One other thing with this room, though; VVVVVV's not really good at landing in platform gaps less than four blocks high, which makes this room feel a little awkward. Might be worth giving the player more space at the entrances (and either narrowing it further along so it fits with the connecting rooms or making the connecting room entrances bigger)

We really need to fix these: I'm not sure, since it happened so quick and I immediately hit a checkpoint, but there seems to be a room alignment error here! (Or an RAE, as I guess they've been dubbed now, heh)

Quick Reflexes: One of the bottom platforms intersects the wall, should probably be moved over one!

...And 005: There's a roof visible here - it might look better to use enemy bounds? I dunno though.

Maybe alittle...: The spikes on the ground might look better if they were raised a tile! (even if you have to move the roof up one too) (suggestion, if you put tiles along the entire roof that the platforms hit, it'll force you to flip underneath the first platform, which is a more interesting challenge)

Couldnt of said it better: Should probably be "Couldn't have said it better"

Black Hole Maintainer: Having spikes on the floor on the top right is a little awkward, as you might very well walk right into them when you walk left.

Control Room: Roomname obscures the floor here for violet!

I think that's it! Like I said, I really liked this level, and I'm looking forward to playing whatever else you come up with