Gaby has been inactive for a very long time

[GooRoo]

Several of her Gruntz Custom Level Questz are like kaleidoscopes ... one image mirrored both vertically and horizontally ... a graphical technique I have often admired ... especially when one considers the ability to create a single image from Gruntz tilez!

Unfortunately, many of them are also without game-time "View the map!" images, something that I (since I can once again play Gruntz on Windows 10) am trying to rectify. I managed to complete such an image for "Flower Power".

Looking at "Venutianz", it came to me that it should be possible to separate the map into "VenutianzW", "VenutianzA", "VenutianzR" and "VenutianzP". Then, if we had the same capability of the 'Standard' Gruntz Questz, W would like to A ... R ... and P. Part of such a project would have to be to severely reduce the number of Coinz, the digging effort and breaking effortz ... and with Roidz where those effortz would still exist. The most difficult task would be to limit each quarter to a single Red Warp (a single Question Mark Switch is no problem in Venutianz ... only 4), since Red Warpz exchanging solver's Grunt with an enemy Grunt is a frequent component in the puzzlez.

I just think it is a shame that even I have been loathe to play these puzzlez, and the graphicz deserve to be seen! Otherz have expressed opinionz about the large number of Coinz, one going so far as to create a Quest with 1,000 Coinz ... as a tongue-in-cheek 'tribute' to the often extremely high Coin value of a Quest.

I am going to (re-?)play Venutianz in order to see just what would need to be done to have a complete Quest using just one quarter of the map.

Comments?

[GooRoo]

Quickly I found an easy elimination of one Red Warp ... the very first one in Venutianz could be replaced by a Blue Wormhole atop a Pyramid (any variety) and shooting the Post Guard onto a Switch to lower the Pyramid. But Gruntz locked up on me before I could see what follows the Question Mark Switch.

But the lock-up may have provided a clue as to the cause ... activity outside the view and/or explosion range. One anomaly I have noticed in several of my recent plays of Questz has been actions such as Brick breaking and explosionz may be corrupted: a black rectangle instead of the correct animation.

[GooRoo]

I am reminded of one more common 'feature' of Gaby's Questz: one Grunt goes around the four sections of the map, collecting all four Warp Letterz, exchanging Toolz to dig, then to break, etc. And twenty-one Red Warpz (usually to exchange an enemy Grunt for the original Grunt on some kind of Switch). I reached the point where the original Grunt finds the Warpstone Piece and teleportz to the vicinity of the King's Fortress, awaiting teammatez to do their thing to arrive at other CheckPoint Switchez to remove obstacles to entering the King's presence. Just finding where the GruntCreationPointz are, and determining which tool to give the newly-baked Gruntz is its own challenge.

My conclusion: Venutians is NOT a candidate for splitting into four related Questz. Just the Red Warp swapz would require the enemy Grunt to be an Object Guard with nowhere to go until a Switch was pressed by the solver's Grunt ... to be teleported onto said Switch. That leaves the (non-Red Warp) problem of sending the solver's Grunt on to the next task. Since at least twenty Red Warpz are only for Grunt swapz, the replacement task is daunting.

Another one of my not-so-bright ideas.

[SwordGrunt]

It really is a shame one cannot officially link together four (or any other number) of Questz to be played in succession as in the Standard Levelz. That's one thing that I always wanted to do.

Splitting levelz into four can be very interesting, but there definitely need to be a few quick editz here and there to add a little variety to each section if the level is almost completely symmetrical - which, looking at "Venutianz"'s image, seems to be the case.

[swietymiki]

Forgot to post a message here...

While I really respect that Gaby's levels have unique and original designs and a lot of time has been put into them (something like today's pixel art), playing them doesn't necessarily have to be as good.
In various games I support the idea of focusing more on gameplay than on decoration. When a creator tries to improve one, the second often suffers. Fitting the entire playground into a certain shape definitely restricts options for puzzles. Symmetry in these levels looks nice but I'd rather have something different to solve than the same thing 4 times... And splitting a level into 4 different ones that are almost the same (only rotated) wouldn't really make sense for me.

[GooRoo]

I just have to admire someone with the talent to produce something like Griffin, Haunted and Home Sweet Home (for just three examples). The puzzle aspect may leave something to be desired, but the background presentation is superb!

[Tomalla]

Gaby's custom levels are truly pieces of art and all of those levels were being created with this "kaleidoscope" theme in mind. The concept itself is fine as long as it's considered an art project. Unfortunately the art content is added at the cost of playability. However nobody said it's a bad thing - the levels may not be for everyone, but there are still some people who just want to "go with the flow", sit back and relax when playing the level and perhaps admire the views along the way.

Now ... trying to split a level into four separate pieces might be, firstly: considered an interference with the original author's concept and idea for the level (I, for one, wouldn't like anyone to mess with my levels and make any unauthorized changes, although I am always open for suggestions), and secondly: I find it an art for art's sake. There's no real reason to create four exact (gameplay-wise) levels, only with different puzzle arrangements and other WARP letters.

I take all levels here as-is. If I like a level (and the idea behind it) - I play through it. If I don't - I leave it, along with all possible amendments that I would make to it.

PS. When I first saw the title of the thread ("Gaby has been inactive for a very long time") I thought there would be some explanation as for why has Gaby been inactive for so long. I'm worried something might have happened to her. And so I'm a little disappointed there was nothing here in that regard. Which makes me want to ask - does anyone know anything about Gaby's whereabouts?

[Deleted]

Is there any possibility that Gaby will come back to this forum?

[GooRoo]

Jun 10, 2018 14:20:46 GMT -8 @benadnam said:

Is there any possibility that Gaby will come back to this forum?

Gaby is (like me) 'an ancient mariner', lives in Israel (a war torn nation ... undeclared) and between the natural causes of growing older, and the violence all around could no longer be alive. She is not a well-known person (outside of Gruntz) so would not be the subject of public notice if she has died. Someone closer to Israel might have access to more information than I have. It may simply be that she is one of the victims of progress ... in computer operating systems ... and lost interest in the game she may no longer be able to play.

I am most concerned that she has not even visited this Forum, between being an administrator and having created so many Custom Levelz. Even though I (for a time) was unable to play Gruntz on my newer Windows 10 computers after ones with older OSes reached the end of their useful lives, I continued to frequent this Forum on a daily basis. (Perhaps being the 'owner' gave me extra incentive, but I believe I would still have been a visitor here on a regular basis even as just "one of the crowd".) So my tendency is to believe that her absence is due to something far more serious than simple disinterest.

[Deleted]

Maybe we should send her an e-mail and see if she is OK. I remember sending her one and not getting a reply. But it was not a long time after the last time she visited this forum for the last time with her username. So maybe she didn't read it. But who knows?

[GooRoo]

Jun 17, 2018 1:56:40 GMT -8 @benadnam said:

Maybe we should send her an e-mail and see if she is OK. I remember sending her one and not getting a reply. But it was not a long time after the last time she visited this forum for the last time with her username. So maybe she didn't read it. But who knows?

Apathy is the normal state of humanity. And (we) elders frequently avoid such things as checking emails. (I am an exception in that, checking several times a day.) And when the owner passes away, family members seldom even know how to access their account in order to inform correspondents of the passing.

But when I return from church I will send an email specifically to Gaby. I have received no "failure to deliver" automatic replies to the last two Gruntz Fan emails, so the account has not been deleted.