by V4nKw15h » Fri Jun 12, 2009 3:47 pm
I deliberately put a swing section in this level to get some of you guys building your first swings, so I'm going to give a few tips to get you all going.
It doesn't need a complicated swing to do what is needed here.
Here are some tips, which is what the whole concept of this level is about:
The most basic swing is two metal bars supporting a metal plate in a triangle shape. On a level like this you would build it upside down and balance it so that it falls over and catches the dillo as the dillo falls off the edge. This type of swing doesn't add much power to the ball, it will just change it's direction.
The smoother you time the catch (no big bang into the swing) the more of the balls energy will be retained. Obvious really.
Add a second metal plate to it hanging off the bottom from one corner(or the top while it's balancing upside down) and it's easy to make this second plate spin around and smash into the ball, as it slides off the main plate, and bat it across the level. It's this second plate where most of the power comes from. This second plate swings around very fast and has lots of energy. If you take a look at 90% of the swings me and Cresta make you will see this extra second metal plate doing most of the work. Without it the swing is very weak.
None of that is difficult to do. The hardest part of all of it is balancing it upside down so it rolls over at precisely the right moment. That's all about zooming in to the max and tweaking the nodes (I'm sure you all do plenty of that already). No more than 5 minutes work to balance it just right so it falls at the right moment. Tweak the timing of the fall to catch the dillo exactly how you want it.
That's the basics of swings.
However, this basic swing doesn't quite have enough power to knock the dillo hard enough in this level.
So your final tip. The more weight you put into the swing, the further it will hit or throw the ball. You can see that in action in my big ass swing from the last A league. It throws it so far simply because the swing is so heavy. However, for this level you don't need anything like as big as that swing.
As I said, I designed the level to get you all building and practicing swings, and I designed it so you don't need some weird crazy swing. You need very little more than a basic swing and all the tips you need to make it are written right here.
If I see everyone building a swing of some type I will consider this level a resounding success.
As a final note: even if you all made identical swings based on what I've said here, that's cool. There is still plenty of room for variety in getting it up the first ramp and obviously building the catcher.