campaign mode

[ncrecc]

RnD is in a funny state where it comes with 3 tutorials covering a whole bunch of elements, including many RnD exclusive elements (moles, pigs, black bombs, lightbulbs, GoL)... but no levelsets to actually take advantage of those elements!

obviously this changes when you download more levels from https://www.artsoft.org/rocksndiamonds/levels/ and will be remedied a bit when the Diamond Caves/Diamond Caves 2 levelsets are included in Classic Original Games (so those elements are at least used), but for, say, the unofficial iphone port where you can't download levels, really the only place to apply the skills you learned from the tutorials is in the tutorials themselves.

this gives me the idea to bundle a selection of 100 reasonable-quality levels from the various Contributions levelsets into a levelset distributed with RnD as a "campaign" mode; a canonical set of non-tutorial levels packaged with RnD, much like how Diamond Caves has its "tutorial" levelset and then its "game" levelset. (this would probably also be a better idea than just bundling the Contributions directly with RnD; there's a lot of schlock to filter through to get the cream of the crop.)

i will probably try compiling this myself with these two threads to start:
Possibly the best levelset ever
Finding good levelsets
and i will maybe pad it with the handful of levels i designed.

if anyone has any suggestions for levels to include please chime in. (ideally these would be from self-made levelsets or levelsets already in the Contributions levelests or on the Levels & Artwork page in some way, i.e. levels for which (i presume) permission to include them in an official RnD resource has been given. or can be given, if you are the author.)

[BrownSky]

Great idea. I will send you a level. What are your thoughts about the game engine? eg only allow one, allow any, different levelsets for different engines - but that would spoil the concept, of having one 'killer' levelset???

John

[ncrecc]

Great idea. I will send you a level. What are your thoughts about the game engine? eg only allow one, allow any, different levelsets for different engines - but that would spoil the concept, of having one 'killer' levelset???

John

i was thinking only the RnD engine. the idea is sort of to simulate what RnD as a game with a set level sequence would be, key word RnD, so no MM levels, and no levels native to the BD/SP/EM engines. levels in the RnD engine but only using BD/SP/EM elements are fine (as long as they were originally made for RnD, so no recreations of BD/SP/EM levels); in my curation process i'll somewhat favor levels with RnD-exclusive elements, DC elements, or BD/SP/EM elements mixed in a way that's not possible in their original games.

[BrownSky]

Here is my favorite level of mine. It's the one my sons and I still play from time to time to try to complete it (some of my boys claim to have completed it but there is no recording or score to prove it). It is a [recreation of/homage to] Boulderdash III level N (I think) which might rule it out based on your criteria but it plays quite different on account of a) much fewer rocks, and more importantly b) the presence of certain RnD elements: dark yam yam, satellites and robots. And lenses (EMC?) and invisible sand (is that DC2?)

John

[Holger]

I think this is a very good idea!

Indeed, I hesitated to re-add the "Contributions" level collection to the base R'n'D package for exactly the reasons stated (that is, it is a large mixture of level sets and levels with very different style and quality).

However, trying to compile one single level set with "the best" levels might not be that easy, as there are really many good levels out there (and different people prefer different kind of levels). So, maybe it might be a more practical approach to compile not a level set with selected levels, but a level collection with selected level sets? The advantage could be that the included level sets could range from "easy" to "hard", from "slow / puzzle oriented" to "fast / action oriented", from "single player" to "multi-player", from "standard game elements only" to "custom elements heavily used" and so on.

I think there are already threads that have pointed out high-quality level sets worth including in such a "classic collection".

[ncrecc]

brownsky's level did make me realize that my own tastes were more for straightforward puzzle levels than classic emerald mine/boulder-dash style "explode all these bugs"/"get all these diamonds" levels. i might do what the web version of Sapphire Yours does and arrange the levels into levelsets by level genre (puzzle, collect-em-up, time-sensitive, casual, etc.) in order from easy to hard. with maybe 25 levels per levelset

[BrownSky]

Yes. There is definitely a place for "explode all these bugs"/"get all these diamonds" levels! Some of us like mayhem/destruction more than careful thought

[ncrecc]

curation progress so far. 73* levels across 9 categories, each of which will ideally have 25 levels at minimum**. if you do the math you will notice i have given up on my initial goal of 100 "high quality" levels, partly because i wouldn't consider even Emerald Mine and Boulder Dash's official levels particularly "high quality" (having grown up with comparatively polished turn-based puzzle games); my goal is to cast a wide net and represent all the different facets of RnD, with some interest given to levels that may be kitschy even by BD/EM players' standards, rather than trying to definitively catalogue the best of the best. (however these are all CE-less levels which definitely leaves out an important facet; i just couldn't find that many CE-based levels in the "contributions" levelsets, and those i could find mostly had ugly default-graphic CEs that weren't used very interestingly.)

Puzzle: 8/25 levels

Speed: 7/25 levels (time-sensitive or steps-sensitive levels)

Rage: 9/25 levels (mean tricks abound, including invisible walls. unfair levels in general; some endurance levels)

Technical: 7/25 levels (levels that show off or require exploiting quirks of RnD's engine)

Casual: 12/25 levels (high-concept levels that often don't take much skill and sometimes let you go straight to the goal, including "i messed around in the editor" levels)

Scavenger: 5/25 levels (collect-em-ups ("scavenger hunts"); EM vibes, could be named "Collectathon")

Work: 10/25 levels ("work" levels, as Sapphire Yours puts it, like BrownSky's level where you have to manage a large stream of something and/or do one thing over and over; also somewhat common in EM; probably some overlap with "Casual", like i plan to put some Niko's Bug Mine-esque levels here. sometimes this is like a general test of skill at traversing the caves and herding enemies)

Maze: 6/25 levels

Adventure: 9/25 levels (levels with a "game design" sort of feel; notable setpieces; often multiple puzzle or scavenger sections linked together)

while writing this post i realized that some relatively common levels do not fit into any of the above categories, those being levels with few or no collectibles where the point is mainly avoiding enemies, such as level 061 of Ben 200, "Skyscraper". maybe that could go in an "Action" category alongside some "dodge the bombs" levels i found.

there are also two explicit "multiplayer" categories that aren't very populated yet:

Multiplayer - Teamwork: 2 levels (any conventional level that prioritizes/requires multiplayer)

Multiplayer - Battle: 3 levels (multiplayer levels with no exit where the aim is just to be the last one standing, as first (and only?) encountered in Contributions 2002 - Gerrit Holl & Timen V. D. Berg; typically involves dynabombs)

* 64-ish, some are placeholders like "something from levelset xyz would be good", and some i haven't played in full (mainly the "rage" levels)
** and ideally not be heavily skewed toward "modern" feeling genres like puzzle and adventure like i'm wont to do

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unabridged notes:

Code: Select all

(note: niko böhm found 2002 Rüdiger Schäfer worthwhile enough to record tapes for & fix broken levels; 100 levels, check that out)
			Puzzle
- Paul E Collins III - Deadly Rooms of Death
- 2002 Equinox Tetrachloride II 036 - Cross-Platform Pearl (really clever multi-layered puzzle)
- 2002 Equinox Tetrachloride II 038 - One Must Fall (easy short level with a fun aha moment)
- 2003 Paul E Collins III 006 - Pileup
- Small Magic Ball & Bombs Puzzle
- 2002 Alan Bond Level 009 - Ka-Plunk! [have not yet completed; tight ish on time]
- 2002 Jerome 044 - Open (good fun little "align the nuts" puzzle, very vanilla EM feeling but nice to have something explicitly like that)
- 2002 Jerome Kunegis 087 - Side Crunch (one neat little yam puzzle with some nice art)
			Speed - time-sensitive or steps-sensitive
- 2002 Equinox Tetrachloride II 025 - Give Me A Little More Time
- Step-by-Step Training
- Contributions 2003 Ryan Pineda - Bomb Levels 012 - Maze of Race
- 2002 Equinox Tetrachloride II 016 - Travelling Salesman Problem
- Thunder (from Rocks'n'Donuts)
- Lead Us Not Into Teleportation
- 2002 Jerome 046 - Butter
			 Rage - mean tricks abound, including invisible walls
- 2002 Gerrit Holl & Timen V. D. Berg 013 - Dansen Big Kaarslicht ["you're a miser!"; maybe first level. dunno if this is really rage it mainly just feels weird and has elements that could potentially be in a rage level]
- 2002 Alan Bond Level 002 - Dang It!! [have not completely played]
- the pyramids level in Paul E Collins III [have not completely played]
- 2002 Equinox Tetrachloride II 044 - Plumb Crazy (the whole point is just you get lost in the blue pipes)
- 2001 Glenn Alexander 008 - Out Of Control (down to the end where you think it's a basically free diamond collecting spree but there are rocks crushing everything)
- 2001 Glenn Alexander 013 - Tubes of Hell (more annoying than anything; good "easy" rage level)
- 2002 Jerome 043  Drop - extremely long and has a section where you literally just guess which way to go next like a coin flip, five times, and if you guess wrong you lose.
- 1999 Kimball Robinson 021 - Run!  Run!  Run! -- whole marathon level. never found the red key (it is hidden in plain sight, you have to remember where you saw it a few minutes earlier or be curious enough to explore a weird cranny) and found out at the very end i needed it. maybe good for adventure category. *VERY* long and probably a nightmare without save tape & load tape. defunct email address needs to be redacted
- 2000 Ben Brenwaithe Ben 200 - 031 - Get Past! (easy, short, random, frustrating)
			Technical - engine trick levels
- 2002 Equinox Tetrachloride II 037 - Life's Ups and Downs (weird slip-back-and-forth behavior)
- 2002 Equinox Tetrachloride II 039 - Reversible Reaction (canonizes the trick used when going for high-score in niko bohm's dynabomb tutorial)
- paul's Strawberry Yam
- some similar paul levels that made me feel like "is this a level or a bug report?"
- 2002 Equinox Tetrachloride II 069 - Extensible Architecture (growing walls act slightly slower than you can push rocks)
- 1999 Kimball Robinson 022 - Snap Diamonds While They Fall. (pretty easy but *very* neat)
- 2000 Ben Brenwaithe Ben 200 - 038 - Come Out!! (trivially easy but very surprising and a good example of how weak explosions are to the player)
			Casual
- selections from abby king's levels
- selections from sylvan hancock's levels
- some of the art levels from 2002 Equinox Tetrachloride II
- 2001 Glenn Alexander 008 - Days Of Our Dearies ("I added the robot to give you something to do, aren't I considerate?")
- 2001 Glenn Alexander 014 - Ondooroff (ending is surprisingly tight)
- 2001 Glenn Alexander 017 - Follow Zat Bug! (just a bunch of stupid zzt esk pingponging, stupid, but the image of rockford vigilantly tailing the bug to the point where he has to slow down to make sure he doesn't crash into it is delightfully comical)
- 1999 Kjell Kristiansson 007 Bouldercheess Level
- 2001 Glenn Alexander 018 - Escape From Glenn's Head (feels like a casual level but the time limit is tight enough that it took a couple tries, but not properly difficult enough to be a speed level either. just have it be a late Casual level)
- 2002 Gerrit Holl & Timen V. D. Berg 014 - Boring (slightly tricky with the timed gate managing. a little redundant to Ondooroff)
- 2000 Ben Brenwaithe Ben 200 - 028 - How Many Can You Get?
- 2000 Ben Brenwaithe Ben 200 - 032 - How Many Can You Get?
- 2000 Ben Brenwaithe Ben 200 - 067 - Penguins (aesthetically pleasing, interesting to optimize)
			Scavenger - collect em ups ("scavenger hunts"); EM vibes
- Contributions 1996 Martin Herrmann 011 - Nameless Level
- Contributions 1999 Kimball Robinson 009 - sky falling II (possibly befitting a "survival" category like Sapphire Yours)
- Contributions 1999 Kimball Robinson 024 - Ordinary Cave, Find The Keys. (surprisingly fun and short since you can just hide under a wall and snap away the gems to help clear up the flow (alongside the yams))
- Contributions 2003 Paul E Collins III 009 - Carnival (pretty difficult, like a freeform set of puzzles)
- Contributions 2004 Negundo - Rocks'n'Diamonds 009 - Dynablaster (very cute, very blow-stuff-up-y)
			Work - "work" levels, as Sapphire Yours puts it, like BrownSky's level where you have to manage a large stream of something and/or do one thing over and over
- 2004 Doro's Soko-Dash 02
- 2004 Doro's Soko-Dash 12 Lichter
- BrownSky's level
- 2004 Eden Corbin - Bananas Journey - 004 Alien Trouble 2 [really long and slow] [Something worth noting: I was tempted to put this in "Rage" for how tedious it is and how little progress you make - and how far you get kicked back if you die.]
- definitely something from 2004 niko
- 2001 Glenn Alexander 019 - Heartbreaker (easy, not *quite* stringent enough to be puzzle)
- 2001 Glenn Alexander 020 - Head Bangin' (easy but asks that you kill the yams from bottom to top to waste as little gems as possible, and has a long start)
- 1999 kimbal 008 - hide from --it-- version 1! - neat work level that doesn't actually require as much work as suggested
- 2000 Ben Brenwaithe Ben 200 - 036 - Kill Him Again (easy small)
- 2000 Ben Brenwaithe Ben 200 - 039 - Kill With Rocks. (easy small)
			Maze - maze levels
- 2004 Niko 007 - Free the Penguins (tight time-limit but not sure if possible to complete in time from your first playthrough)
- 1999 kimball robinson 005 nameless level - maze where the path you take fills in behind you constantly, takes a few retries
- 2002 Conor Mancone 4 - Maze - similar "path fills in behind you" thing
- 2002 Jerome 049 - Your Friend (very short Tux maze)
- 2002 Jerome 034 - Biomaze (or see if there are any biomaze levels where the annoying "bunch up in the corner" behavior is a nonissue; finished this level by holding "fast forward" for half a minute. this level really could've given you a few dynamites)
- 1999 kimball 016 - Is Red Enough Of A Hint? -	maze composed entirely of key doors that are all gray except red (the starting key). a little tedious but it's really satisfying knowing once you collect the blue key the whole level is freely navigable
			Adventure - levels with a "game design" sort of feel; notable setpieces; often multiple puzzle or scavenger sections linked together
- 2004 Eden Corbin - Bananas Journey - 003 Alien Trouble 1
- 2002 Gerrit Holl & Timen V. D. Berg 007- The Truth Is The Way [a little boring, oh well]
- 2004 Niko - 025 Choose
- 2001 Glenn Alexander 006 - Light Industry (good short easy)
- 2001 Glenn Alexander 007 - In Control (less short and some aha moments but still relatively easy)
- 2002 Jerome Kunegis 035 - Pearl (there's a cool little moment where you blow up an approaching robot with a bomb)
- 2002 Jerome Kunegis 036 - Orb (maybe more puzzle? with the puzzle being the very end, "how do i explode the orbs without dying")
- 2002 Jerome Kunegis 047 - Way (really fun, has a cool return bit)
- 2002 Jerome Kunegis 099 - Grand Finale [haven't played; here or rage depending on how this level conducts itself. it's pretty long]

(also, large levelsets to pull levels from in a pinch:
	Jerome
	Equinox Tetrachloride II
	Niko
	Alan Bond
	Gavin Davidson ("the best levelset ever", still haven't perused much)
	Paul E Collins II
	Ben 200 (mainly easy / casual stuff)
)