Every End Is The Start (Version 1.1)

[SirBryghtside]

This is my level! (attached file)

It's called 'Every End Is The Start', because the start and end panels for the trinket and level are the same. I tried to make it in the style of the original game, but a little bit more difficult.

If anyone finds any problems with the game, thinks a level is too easy, too hard or has any suggestions, please comment!

Disclaimer: I accept no responsibility for any laptops broken due to Perfect Symmetry/The Final Stretch

Edit: My record for this level (no shiny) is 3:23 with 46 deaths.

Beat that

EDIT 2: I've added a small patch to the game, which should fix a couple of problems, as well as adding some new ones I'm sure 

Patch Notes (1.1)

-Added a second Trinket in a secret room
-Extended the opening to 'Spike Hurricane' to give players more time to react
-Added some more spikes in 'Perfect Symmetry' (sorry!)
-Removed a couple of enemies from 'Relax'
-Added a wall of spikes to the left-hand side of 'Spinefield'
-Removed a couple of spikes from 'Flippin' Hell' so you don't get impaled when you walk into the room
-Minor aesthetic fix on 'Back To Basics'

Note: I'm leaving the old version of the level available as a download - version 1.1 is the lower one on the download list)

[SirBryghtside]

No comments?

[TheoX]

Rating #009
Enjoyment: 5/10
Aesthetic: 7/10
Novelty: 6/10
Difficulty: 9.5/10
Room Names: 8/10

This level is mercilessly hard.  Not as bad as The Spiral (that is 10/10), but still really tough.  The symmetrical room gave me a bit of trouble, though the mini jumps were a new idea (plus for novelty).  Finishing Up Fast is the worst part.  I got past all the enemies on about my 70th try, only to be so surprised that I hit the spikes afterward.  You, sir, are evil.

A fairly fun challenge overall, with lots of hair-ripping on the side.  I don't know how to get to the top part that leads to the trinket, but I presume that path is even harder so I am keeping my difficulty rating staunchly where it is.

Oh, and I like the room names for some reason.

Status: Completed (all crew members rescued)

[SirBryghtside]

Rating #009
Enjoyment: 5/10
Aesthetic: 7/10
Novelty: 6/10
Difficulty: 9.5/10
Room Names: 8/10

This level is mercilessly hard.  Not as bad as The Spiral (that is 10/10), but still really tough.  The symmetrical room gave me a bit of trouble, though the mini jumps were a new idea (plus for novelty).  Finishing Up Fast is the worst part.  I got past all the enemies on about my 70th try, only to be so surprised that I hit the spikes afterward.  You, sir, are evil.

A fairly fun challenge overall, with lots of hair-ripping on the side.  I don't know how to get to the top part that leads to the trinket, but I presume that path is even harder so I am keeping my difficulty rating staunchly where it is.

Oh, and I like the room names for some reason.

Status: Completed (all crew members rescued)

Thanks for commenting! And yeah, I did find 'Finishing Up Fast' really hard too - my advice is to use the lower checkpoint on Refueling Station, and then hold down 'left'. If you time it right, you can get past the first four just by 'standing' still, and then do a quick spin round the last one. But I'm honestly surprised at myself for how evil I was there 

I thought I managed to tone the difficulty down by having loads of checkpoints after each minor bit, unlike Golden Spiral (which was absolutely ridiculous). Glad you enjoyed it, though 

Also, spoiler alert for the trinket (highlight to view):
On Quickflip (I'm considering changing that name to 'Backflip') you have to hit the flipper twice by going out and then in again. The actual path to the trinket isn't actually that tricky, but does involve one Kazio trap to rival 'THINK FAST!' 

[Ice]

I don't know about anyone else, but a lot of this stuff feels way too pixel-perfect to be enjoyable. I mean, you couldn't have spared one more space on Perfect Symmetry or Spikefield,  or one less enemy on Finish up fast? It's a good challenge I guess, but a lot of the time I was just doing the same thing over and over hoping that I would eventually get past something, and it usually worked.

Oh yeah, another thing I just remembered, there are a lot of rooms where you enter and have less than a second to react to not die (Or no chance at all). I find rooms like this really annoying (the space station 2 section of V-Stitch in the main game for example, I usually run right into the spikes.) I realize that here it's a main part of the challenge, but I usually try to design things avoiding that, or at least give the player enough time to react the first time.

[SirBryghtside]

I don't know about anyone else, but a lot of this stuff feels way too pixel-perfect to be enjoyable. I mean, you couldn't have spared one more space on Perfect Symmetry or Spikefield,  or one less enemy on Finish up fast? It's a good challenge I guess, but a lot of the time I was just doing the same thing over and over hoping that I would eventually get past something, and it usually worked.

Actually, I can give exact answers to all of those.

One more space on Perfect Symmetry ruins all the challenge. I think you might mean Spinesweeper, and one more space would ruin that, because then you'd be able to flip in the space between the spike 'blocks', which would take away half the challenge. If you mean Spinefield, I'm pretty content with how I got that to go, not really sure what the problem would be. For Finish up Fast, I actually removed two enemies when I was testing, and without the last one, again half the challenge would be taken away (you can literally stand in one place to avoid all of them).

And I did say it was in the style of the original VVVVVV, and 'doing the same thing over and over hoping that I would eventually get past something' was something I considered a major part of the original game.

Oh yeah, another thing I just remembered, there are a lot of rooms where you enter and have less than a second to react to not die (Or no chance at all). I find rooms like this really annoying (the space station 2 section of V-Stitch in the main game for example, I usually run right into the spikes.) I realize that here it's a main part of the challenge, but I usually try to design things avoiding that, or at least give the player enough time to react the first time.

Yeah, I'll concede there were some problems here. But I'm about to add a little patch - should fix a lot of that. But 'THINK FAST!' was deliberate.

[Ice]

Yeah, I was aware that think fast was meant to be like that (the name any everything.) I'd have to disagree with the original VVVVVV being like that though, every time I did something, I felt like I was actually making progress, and after playing it enough I can go from beating the game in an hour to beating it in 20 minutes. I feel like even if I were to play this level again, it wouldn't get any easier. But anyway, I guess this is all personal opinion. I guess I actually haven't talked about stuff I enjoyed yet, so I feel kind of like a douche. I ended up getting the trinket and figuring it out myself (I actually tried going that way the first time I played, but decided to do it after) I was more curious about where the path leading off from the trinket went more than anything, and that one way room made me laugh, because I had remembered seeing it earlier.

[SirBryghtside]

Yeah, I was aware that think fast was meant to be like that (the name any everything.) I'd have to disagree with the original VVVVVV being like that though, every time I did something, I felt like I was actually making progress, and after playing it enough I can go from beating the game in an hour to beating it in 20 minutes. I feel like even if I were to play this level again, it wouldn't get any easier. But anyway, I guess this is all personal opinion. I guess I actually haven't talked about stuff I enjoyed yet, so I feel kind of like a douche. I ended up getting the trinket and figuring it out myself (I actually tried going that way the first time I played, but decided to do it after) I was more curious about where the path leading off from the trinket went more than anything, and that one way room made me laugh, because I had remembered seeing it earlier.

But then again, my record for the unpatched level is 3.23 with 46 deaths

It does get easier, trust me 

And I don't mind, I was really looking for constructive criticism - I'm going to make another level soon, should be much bigger and more awesome!

[Damn It AL to Hell]

Good level! (then again, the worst one I've seen is one of mine  ) But it is awesome, good story, no bugs that I've seen, so congratz! You get a 10/10 !

[SirBryghtside]

Good level! (then again, the worst one I've seen is one of mine  ) But it is awesome, good story, no bugs that I've seen, so congratz! You get a 10/10 !

Wait, my level had a story?

[Damn It AL to Hell]

Yeah, kinda