Thanks guys. It was quite a surprise to see both 'Homeward Bound' and 'AndBackAgain' on the levels page. I'd submitted them together a while back and wasn't sure when they'd appear.
How long did that take to make then?
It got worse as the level got bigger. Testing timers when the level only lasts a couple of seconds isn't too bad but once you've got the Armadillo bouncing all over the place and it's taking 30+ seconds just to get to the bit where you're tweaking
...and then if you get distracted and forget to pay attention to the bit you were waiting for. Hehe. Did that a couple of times.
The tricky bit was remembering that the smallest change to existing structures would totally throw everything out of whack. Connecting struts or plates to weld points, even if they didn't get in the path of the 'dillo would affect the stress and rigidity of the structure, subtly altering the speed and position of our star. The effects might not show up right away but with as many timing-reliant points as I had, things tended to go wrong big-style.
So, going back to move a strut slightly because it looks like it was at an odd angle was a big no-no. Once something served it's purpose, it was fair game but prior to that, if it worked - leave it alone.
I like how the armadillo kept touching the goal
The level started as just that elastic hammock and the swinging plate. That plate was such a pathetic way to move the Armadillo, so pointless, that I thought it was funny and kept it in. I didn't know where the exit was going to go when I first started. I just wanted to make a fairly compact level with plenty going off. I liked how several bits of the level got used in a couple of different ways so after a while, it seemed clear that the exit should be right back where he started.
Posted: Sun Jun 18, 2006 12:22 am
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