General Discussion Anyone playing the new Story levels?

Yes,finished all levels

 

I haven't played any of the master's levels nor any in the story.

 

Good point. I didn't even look at the levels to say 'yes' I've played that one. That was my point to Martin way back, why put levels within your game that most players have already played as I have no desire to play them again?

 

@Meko Guy

Really? Why?

And how did you learn to make best levels then?

 

I played the original 50 in v1.1 but that was it. Why replay what I already have played or as in the master's levels, may have played? I don't revisit any levels that I've already played.

 

I haven't played any levels at all

 

There are actually a few new levels without a win block that must be completed by getting all the stars. But, in general, I think that making the stars optional turns them into collectibles for completionists rather than making them the main goal of gameplay. I've seen this sort of thing in a lot of games, and I think it adds depth and increases replayability.

The first time I played the Story levels, I did probably exactly what Martin expected -- focused on how to get to the win block. That was challenge enough when I was just starting. When I finally got through all the levels, I thought, "What now? Wait, what are these stars?" And I explored the levels in more depth. So I think they serve a valuable purpose in that context, although I get why they aren't used more in Forum levels.

I wonder about "most". I'll bet there are a large number of players of Mekorama that have never once made it to the forum. It's clearly advertised in the game, but it is a leap to make use of it. You have to get out of the game, figure out the QR code system (the camera method is probably simplest for those not tech-inclined, but does require pulling up the website on a separate device), deal with the QR codes occasionally not working, figure out where on the forum the levels are, figure out where on the forum levels are that you can actually play without being bewildered by tricks that are old hat to Forum Masters or have a high level of difficulty with no in-game hints. Each one of those barriers Martin has overcome by putting a curated list of playable levels with hints right in the game. The only Master level that I can recall makes use of what I would consider a trick is Pipeline by Richard Fu -- it is difficult to impossible to win unless you figure out how to freeze R.

 

Anyway (sorry if I have too many comments here!), re: the new levels, here are some of my thoughts:

1. If you play only one new Story level, I recommend #36 "No Mr. B I Expect". What is that outrageous creature down below??? (And how did he actually get something with that big of a head to move without falling over?) Similarly, "Risky B Longings" (#47).
2. I saw L bots for the first time. A logical addition, and gives more flexibility to level creators. One repeated use was to have a symmetrical level with an R bot on one side and an L bot on the other. But L bots felt less compelling to me than I expected.
3. Home Security (now #28) was simplified. Getting the extra star previously required using two hidden draggables -- both hard to find and hard to operate. This totally had stumped me before. All YouTube walkthroughs I found but one (BULECOOL, maybe?) didn't even bother to show how to get the stars.
4. Travel Block Aid (#35) is a fun one for seeing if you can get B into weird places using AutoPilot.
5. Figure of Reach (#37) is a cool design & (I think) new.
6. The one I had problems with was "All Around Ride" (#24). If you turn the level around 180 degrees, you see a star on a draggable. You can easily get to it using Autopilot Falling. But I've found getting back to the level to be unstable. You apparently use the paddle to club B down the ramp & under the stone ledge, but it often doesn't work for me. OHHHHHHHH! I should have known that there would be another way to get it without using an Autopilot trick. Silly me! LOL.
7. There were a few levels with rotating parts that I first solved by having B climb on them in weird ways (if you turn them very slowly with B on an edge...), and then discovered a much more straightforward solution.