Not So Random

[Zu]

Designer:		Zu
Level Set:	4HS/HS	Area 4 "High On Sweetz" Level number 15
Est. Completion:		7-10 minutes
Est. Solve:		??:??
Date Released:		July 25, 2016
Status:		Released
Notes:		Difficulty=Medium Size=Medium (32 X 48) Density=Normal to Dense
		Forum's web host
		Not yet
Statz Page image Statz Page image		Forum's web host (Zu) SwordGrunt
Statz info.
Survivorz:		1
Deathz:		0
Toolz:		3
Toyz:		8
Powerupz:		3
Coinz:		5
Secretz:		2
View The Map		929,396 bytez - Forum's web host

Level based on my recent discovery regarding mobile toyz.

It requires a bit fast reflexes at certain parts, but hopefully nothing overly troublesome.

[GooRoo]

At least one addition is required in order to play this one under Windows 10: a reachable/satisfiable CheckPoint Switch worked for me ... placed under the Baby Walker, with a CheckPoint Pyramid somewhere around the King's Fortress. (I needed a way to return to windows mode, in order to allow my Grunt to move toward the east. But I will go back to the original version and see if merely using F5 (SAVE) will work.) Under Windows 10, with the add-ons I am using in order to play Gruntz at all, the puzzle width (usable) is only one tile eastward from the Grunt starting point. An exit to windows mode seems to remove that restriction, but nothing allows a map wider than about 60 tiles (so far) that a Grunt is supposed to be able to reach.

There is an early little tricky bit of timing involving two Orange Up/Down Switches in order to 'guide' an enemy Grunt toward a space that will do the solver some good. I hope to be able to "step lively" enough to successfully complete that task.

[GooRoo]

I am one frustrated HP Envy17 and Windows 10 user! This keyboard has Function Keys requiring the press of an additional key (fn) to work, otherwise F5 (for instance) toggles the keyboard lighting.

And I am totally incapable of doing a print screen of this Quest ... nothing goes into the clipboard! When I switch to windows to my paint program, the paste from clipboard grabs an image of the current screen ... not what I tried to grab. So I need someone else to provide me with screen grabs of Statz Page images, and "View the map!" images. I can still create thumb nails from supplied images.

(I failed several times in the OU/DS mini-puzzle, and decided to create the "View the map!" and ThumbNail for this one ... the reason for my rant above.) You see, the mouse operation under Windows 10 and VooDoo loses its normal precision ... and I do not know enough to be able to correct that little problem. So when attempting to move right and left between the two OU/DSz, I would frequently step slightly north ... into space. My next attempt will be to let the SuperSpeed PowerUp run out before handing the Pogo Stick to the Post Guard. Or perhaps someone can tell me how to alter the mouse movement characteristics under VooDoo to operate in a more normal manner. (Or maybe, I just need to be twenty years younger. 74 year-old fingers not as nimble as they used to be.)

[Zu]

I did prepare a version where the space is replaced with water... perhaps this will help? dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/109892108/NotSoRandomWithWater.WWD

[GooRoo]

Jul 15, 2016 9:10:11 GMT -8 Zu said:

I did prepare a version where the space is replaced with water... perhaps this will help? dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/109892108/NotSoRandomWithWater.WWD

I believe my problem is more a lack of nimbleness than my tendency to step into space ... I would be stepping in the wrong direction, slowing me down from properly activating the switches. At any rate, I am going off-line for about two-and-a-half hours. When I come back to the computer I will make more attempts at solving it as originally designed. If I can do it, anyone should be able to do it!

[Zu]

Any progress on this?

[GooRoo]

Jul 24, 2016 8:51:05 GMT -8 Zu said:

Any progress on this?

I have to admit it ... I have not returned to the puzzle since my last post. After being stung by a Yellow Jacket wasp while mowing my front lawn, and discovering a nest in the ground under our Juniper bush, I have been in a (wasp) killer mood. Wimp that I am, I kept my efforts to the evenings, when the #$%@$!$# critters were quiescent (to avoid being re-stung). Life's other demands upon my time ... plus a faulty 74 year-old memory kept me from reloading the Gruntz CD-ROM into my only remaining functional drive, in order to resume play-testing. But this post serves as a reminder that I have Gruntzy responsibilities, as well.

[GooRoo]

That didn't take long! I just discovered another problem with playing Gruntz under dgVoodoo on a Windows 10 computer: no matter what I tried to do, I could not move my initial(?) Grunt from the CheckPoint Switch where I SAVEd the game last time I played it ... one tile toward the east, in order to pick up the Pogo Stick. I successfully re-started the game using the Restore capability of Gruntz, but could not force the game back into windows mode (which usually eliminated problems). So I am not a good candidate as a BETA tester any more. I simply cannot start these puzzles all over from the initial load; take necessary breaks; and be able to pick up after taking any sort of break, it seems. And I cannot play continuously from initial load to taking the Warpstone into the King's fortress. Just too many of life's interruptions, for me.

So a new volunteer for BETA test/verification of this ... and any future Gruntz Quest submissions is needed.

[SwordGrunt]

I tested this level shortly after Zu finished it

[GooRoo]

Jul 25, 2016 16:08:42 GMT -8 SwordGrunt said:

I tested this level shortly after Zu finished it

Ah! "I see, said the blind carpenter, as he picked up his hammer and saw" ... I should have sent this out long ago!

[Rik]

I cant get the car toy gruntz to the black switch near the "?" switch
which holes must you dig to fill it with a cake
The car ride random.
I do not see the pattern to get him on the black switch.

and when he is on the black switch the rolling ball are so fast that he kill me to ??

[SwordGrunt]

You can manipulate the direction he will go to if there is no other available direction

For example, if you fill the hole below the Grunt, he will have no choice but to go right. Then hitting the orange switch at the right time will force him to keep going right. And from there you can make a reliable path to the switch.

[Zu]

Basically, you need to dig up the cupcakes in a way where, once the orange pyramids are raised, there is only one direction the enemy grunt can go. You need to raise the pyramids whenever the enemy grunt is about to step onto a bricklaying tile.

If you really can't figure out which cupcakes to dig up, then see this map: imageshack.com/a/img923/1729/6rZlO0.png

[Rik]

Aug 3, 2016 6:49:06 GMT -8 Zu said:

Basically, you need to dig up the cupcakes in a way where, once the orange pyramids are raised, there is only one direction the enemy grunt can go. You need to raise the pyramids whenever the enemy grunt is about to step onto a bricklaying tile.

If you really can't figure out which cupcakes to dig up, then see this map: imageshack.com/a/img923/1729/6rZlO0.png

Thanks

And for the last level with the green and purple gruntz i did hit 1 purple gruntz with my boxing gloves on the black switch and take the wings .
So it was easy and did not need the bomb gruntz ?? not need the green gruntz to stand on the 2 purple switches ??
I fly on the red switch and bring the warpstone to the fort.
Got the perfect

[Zu]

Wait, what? How did you do that? As far as I can tell, there's no way to push an enemy onto the black switch without being crushed by the black pyramids.

[Rik]

Aug 4, 2016 5:44:55 GMT -8 Zu said:

Wait, what? How did you do that? As far as I can tell, there's no way to push an enemy onto the black switch without being crushed by the black pyramids.

I push the enemy to the black switch and when i push him on the black switch i can step fast back ??
Enemy stay on the down black pyramid in front of de black switch.
I stay on the other black pyramid , hit him on the black switch and i move fast 1 step back !

[Zu]

I edited the level to accommodate for this unintended solution... there is nothing more heartbreaking than finding out that something that should work, does not, simply because of the game's quirks.

Either way, congratulations on reaching the end.

[GooRoo]

dgVoodoo allows me to at least start Gruntz puzzles, but my reaction time (or a delay in the emulation) prevents me from moving the first Post Guard through the Orange Pyramids to the Black One-Time Switch. Mouse movements are delayed just enough that I cannot manage more than two Orange Up/Down Switch presses to limit the Grunt on a Pogo Stick to movement in the direction I need him to go. He always jumps back onto a raised OP ... and 'game over'. So I am going to go back to the 'Standard' Quests, to see if I can play anything successfully on this Windows 10 laptop. So many Quests to try to play (some, again!) by our Designers, only to be thwarted by the inadequacies of the software (couldn't be these 74 year-old fingers ... nah, the software) on this 'improved' computer operating system. Perhaps there is a truly usable OS back-level emulator that will allow me to play as-if on a Windows Vista (the last OS that actually worked, for me) computer. Otherwise, my only recourse is to re-connect my wife's old desktop computer, and do the 'sneaker net' thing in order to play my favorite game.

[GooRoo]

I googled "Windows Vista on Windows 10" and found something that helped ... slightly. Right click on the Gruntz.exe file, select 'properties' and 'compatibility' and also use 'run as administrator', and I could get through the first Orange Pyramids puzzle. Unfortunately, I could find no way to get around the right edge of the map restriction, so could not move my Grunt far enough toward the right edge to do whatever may need to be done over there. More experimentation required to find a way to exit to windows mode, which seemed to resolve the margin problems in my earlier attempts. I really want to get into this one, since it is narrow, and I only need about four tiles more movement toward the east to be able to cover everything. Mouse response is still less forgiving than running on Windows Vista (or XP/2000/ME), requiring more tries to get through areas requiring a certain level of precision in mouse movement ... but perhaps patience will prove to be a virtue.