The 2nd Custom Level Megacollab

[swietymiki]

The second anniversary of our Gruntz chat on Discord is drawing near, which means it's time for another Megacollab. Similarly to last year's event, we will be designing a large Custom Level Quest.

Everyone is allowed to join, even if one never visited our Discord, or created a Custom Level. All that's required is time and willingness to learn. In our previous collab we had 2 participants who had no experience in Quest design whatsoever and were still learning how to use the Level Editor. But in the end, their parts turned out pretty good - can you guess which ones just by looking at this image? We already have 6 people confirmed to be participating, but we are always looking for more. Post a reply here or contact us on Discord if you want to get involved, registration closes on April 4th. Registration closed.

This time, collab participants will have a choice in how much they want to do - you can sign up for designing just 1 small part, 2 small parts or 1 medium part. The exact size of small and medium part categories will be decided after the registration period ends. Here's the idea of this year's quest:

Each designer will have a defined, equally sized (in a given size category) plot for his puzzles, divided from the other areas by an impassable barrier. Moreover, the map will be split into two sublevels - first one containing small, the second one medium sections. Within each sublevel, all parts will be immediately accessible to the solver - you should figure out which section to enter based on the items your Gruntz currently have. The game will start with 2 Gruntz free to enter any of the small areas. Each section will contain items that have to be swapped with your Gruntz' current gear. After completing the first sublevel, you will be given 2 additional Gruntz (to a total of 4), needed to progress in the second sublevel. More details and designing guidelines can be found in the second post.

For people to be able to work on their parts simultaneously, each participant will be required to choose the items they want to introduce to the level (with which one's Gruntz leave the area) before the collab starts. This guarantees the next person knows what kind of mechanics they can use in their own puzzles. After everyone's finished, we'll merge all the individual parts into one using a program based on Tomalla's WWD Framework.

As usual, you can expect any news and updates about the Megacollab to be posted in this thread.

[swietymiki]

Environmental information:

- The collab's graphic set is "Gruntz in Space"
- Small parts contain around 650 tiles each, while medium parts contain 925 tiles
- Gruntz spawned in hubs start with no items
- The requirement for unlocking medium sections is the acquisition of gauntletz and shovel
- Health is being refilled in a (blank) checkpoints area at the entrance of each part
- Gruntz return to the hub via green wormholes, placed on predefined platforms

Designing rules:

a) You can't:

- Have checkpoints mid-part (use black pyramids instead)
- Use megaphones to call for items, as it might create ambiguities in the sections order
- Give ranged weapons to Gruntz that are not "helper Gruntz" (*) or AIs far from area borders
- Modify the shape of your part's borders or return platforms

b) You must:

- Make use of all items with which Gruntz enter and exit your part (specified in personal messages to each designer)
- Force the solver to use all toys and powerups given in your section
- Create a single secret leading to coins somewhere in your part
- Leave your red pyramids in a known state at your part's exit (if you use them)
- Kill or entrap all excessive player Gruntz created within your part (if you use resurrection or conversion)

Designing guidelines:

- Puzzles shouldn't be too difficult to figure out or require strict timing
- At the same time, your puzzles shouldn't be trivially easy to solve
- Try to make it clear for the solver what tools are needed to enter your part
- Aim to present more unique interactions of the tools you already have over adding new ones
- Try to not add more than 5 enemy Gruntz to your part (we can't go over the 45 Gruntz per level cap)

(*) Additional player Gruntz starting the game in your part, who are forbidden from leaving it. Preferably, they should be placed in isolated plateaus.

[Zu]

I'll take 1 small section.

[cartmantuttle]

I'll need help learning the Editor, but I'd be willing to contribute.

[MMM]

My order will be a bottle of zap cola (medium)

[BattlezM]

I should be good for a medium section. (maybe I'll also take on adding a grunt)

[Deleted]

I would like to book a seat, please. First class (medium).

[Perfect Grunt]

I would love to join, but I simply do not have the time to set up my designing environment (and, most important, SKILLS) again.

[swietymiki]

We are certainly not hurrying with the collaboration this year, it took us quite long to settle everything that had to be settled, but finally the time has come to begin designing.

This time the order of sections is a part of the puzzle, so I can't share who goes after who (even the designers themselves don't know!) or what tools they bring in.

Everyone starts simultaneously and fills their area on the map layout which is available for download from the Discord server.
All parts must be submitted before May 18th! Finishing earlier gives other people more time to test and suggest modifications.
Before reporting any uncertainties, check if they aren't already covered in my second post.

[swietymiki]

It is saddening that some participants have not taken the deadline seriously, and even a week after still have not shown any progress in regards to their part. So it seems that we will not be able to test all sections and merge them together for at least several more weeks.

Unless someone else reading is interested in contributing to the project, by any chance?

[swietymiki]

The level is now publicly available as The Yearlong Journey.