Rocks'n'Diamonds

Hi!

Well, I downloaded the game and some additional level sets and so my "levels" folder currently counts 13807 files! Sure, first I want to complete the originals. So far I've gone through the tutorials, completed Boulderdash, skipped Supaplex (I know every level by heart anyway) and at the moment I'm somewhere in the middle of Emerald mines. Great stuff so far!

But where to go next? Surely I'd spend two lifetimes to complete all of those additional levels. And so here comes a silly question: would you recommend any level set? Do you have your favorites? Something you wouldn't want anyone to miss?

Oh, as for my taste - I especially like levels that require a great deal of thinking. Action and quick reflexes are not my specialty.

Any suggestion at all would be great! Thanks!

I recommend Jürgen Bonhagen's set and BD2K3. Or if you want to play non-CE levelsets, play the additional supaplex levels
( viewtopic.php?t=137 ). But you have to wait until Holger makes the Supaplex engine, for many levels of this package are not possible now.
AND of course everyone will recommend his own levels here, so I do: try "Hard Training" of Contributions 2004 (not released yet). That levelset has some difficult thinking levels!

But you can easily complete them all in one life... let's say there's a total of 60 000 levels (the emc levelsets which will be released soon are counted with this). Let's say you have about 300 days a year to play RnD. Each day you finish about 5 levels (sometimes 20, sometimes 1, sometimes 10...) a day. 300 * 5 = 1500 levels a year. 60 000/1500 = 40 years!!!

So you can finish them all...

I recommend DrSloan's Walpurgis Flashbacks and Walpurgis Gardens as well as Alan's BD2K3. You can find the links on RnD's page, http://www.artsoft.org/rocksndiamonds/levels.html

I also recommend DrSloan's levelsets. Their excellent for advanced players, I myself have just tried to complete them, but I haven't finished.

His levelsets include:
"Walpurgis World" (30 modern-style levels)
"Earth Shaker" (32 Earth Shaker style levels)
"Earth Shaker Explosions" (32 Earth Shaker style levels)
"Walpurgis Flashbacks" (100 traditional-style levels)
"Walpurgis Gardens" (50 modern-style levels)

Note that he has Earth Shaker levelsets, i.e. old Earth Shaker levels converted to RND using Custom Elements.

I would also recommend Solomon's Key levels, Chips Challenge, and Adventures of Lolo if I just could make them, I've started converting them all but not much progress (I hope that with future CE options avalible, it will become possible)

Zomis wrote:I would also recommend Solomon's Key levels, Chips Challenge, and Adventures of Lolo if I just could make them, I've started converting them all but not much progress (I hope that with future CE options avalible, it will become possible)

Cool! I'm looking forward to playing them...

> Oh, as for my taste - I especially like levels that require a great deal of thinking. Action and
> quick reflexes are not my specialty.

Then you really should give these two levels a try: "The Bug Machine" and "Game Inside". Both levels are "one-level-levelsets" with full custom artwork by Juergen Bonhagen. They require a good amount of thinking (especially "The Bug Machine") and are not easy (at least not for me), but may exactly be what you're looking for! :-)

See the page "Levels & Artwork" on www.artsoft.org to find out where to download them!

Zomis wrote:I also recommend DrSloan's levelsets. Their excellent for advanced players, I myself have just tried to complete them, but I haven't finished.

Just tried playing a few levels. My god, I didn't realise how hard they are. One of these days I promise I'll make a beginner's set...

Does Secret Command count? I dunno but its pretty fun
u can find the link around the forum

Grunt002 wrote:Does Secret Command count? I dunno but its pretty fun
u can find the link around the forum

all levelsets count. Also non-CE levelsets.

Dr Sloan wrote:Just tried playing a few levels. My god, I didn't realise how hard they are. One of these days I promise I'll make a beginner's set...

IMO we have lots of 'beginner' levelsets, the fact that yours are hard makes them more attractive. But that's, as I said, my opinion. If you wish, you can make something easier, but please don't hesitate to make some more difficult levels as well.

> IMO we have lots of 'beginner' levelsets, the fact that yours are hard makes them more
> attractive. But that's, as I said, my opinion.

I second this -- especially the "Walpurgis" sets are hard, but a lot of fun playing. As they are proven to be solvable (by their solution tapes), you always know that they can indeed be solved and you should continue trying. And they are "hard" without being "frustratingly hard", I think.

Holger wrote:And they are "hard" without being "frustratingly hard", I think.

I disagree. But that might, of course, be because I haven't spent so much time on solving them. I've managed to solve a few levels though.

bojster wrote:IMO we have lots of 'beginner' levelsets, the fact that yours are hard makes them more attractive. But that's, as I said, my opinion. If you wish, you can make something easier, but please don't hesitate to make some more difficult levels as well.

but don't you have moments that you just want to play levels which are not so difficult? like the original boulder dash levelset. I like it as well as the harder levelsets!

Martijn wrote:but don't you have moments that you just want to play levels which are not so difficult? like the original boulder dash levelset. I like it as well as the harder levelsets!

Nah, I like to push the limits. :P

>but don't you have moments that you just want to play levels which are not so difficult? like the original boulder dash levelset. I like it as well as the harder levelsets!

The original BD was rock hard when you had 3 lives, and no handicap. It's much easier in R&Ds.