[Challenge/Scenic/Epic Length] Cosmic Meltdown {3 Difficulties}

*looks at all the other comments*
Oh my.
Well this is gonna be embarassing...

The level -was- good, and the story is what kept me playing, but...the enemies are way too random to be able to get through on skill. It's entirely luck-based on many of the screens.

That's not to say I didn't enjoy it, I really did. I really liked the story, but  the randomness of the enemies made some screens completely luck-based.

I give this level a B/5. *nod*

*looks at all the other comments*
Oh my.
Well this is gonna be embarassing...

The level -was- good, and the story is what kept me playing, but...the enemies are way too random to be able to get through on skill. It's entirely luck-based on many of the screens.

That's not to say I didn't enjoy it, I really did. I really liked the story, but  the randomness of the enemies made some screens completely luck-based.

I give this level a B/5. *nod*

If you haven't found all the secrets, I highly suggest you do.  If you only played through the normal ending, you've really only completed 35% of the game.

Quote from: Pumpkinbot on July 24, 2013, 23:09:21

*looks at all the other comments*
Oh my.
Well this is gonna be embarassing...

The level -was- good, and the story is what kept me playing, but...the enemies are way too random to be able to get through on skill. It's entirely luck-based on many of the screens.

That's not to say I didn't enjoy it, I really did. I really liked the story, but  the randomness of the enemies made some screens completely luck-based.

I give this level a B/5. *nod*

If you haven't found all the secrets, I highly suggest you do.  If you only played through the normal ending, you've really only completed 35% of the game.

Well, it says the difficulty gets harder with each secret you collect, and I was raging at a few choice screens after my first secret. >.< It's a very good level, that's for sure! The story is great, the tilesets are all very stylized, and having to make a level of this sheer size is admirable! I thought of making something like this myself, once~

I just could -not- imagine how hard it is with all the secrets. xP Bit too tough for me, that's my only complaint, heh.

Well, take it at your own pace, and if you absolutely have to cheat, then so be it.  Better you see the whole game.

Great level indeed! I spent all night on this without sleep, however I got stuck here since I get several abrupt teleports after telling the second mayor about the count down, and the teleports got me to middle of nowhere surrounded by endless white water, but I can see other people finish the level no problem?

Great level indeed! I spent all night on this without sleep, however I got stuck here since I get several abrupt teleports after telling the second mayor about the count down, and the teleports got me to middle of nowhere surrounded by endless white water, but I can see other people finish the level no problem?

The umbrella helps here.  Look for places where it'll get you further.

Fubaka, I'm confused. I got the red key, bringing my item total up to everything but the hologram and blue key. Where do I go next?


Edit: The passable wall to get back to the rest of the level wasn't working for me, possibly because I didn't have the red key at that point. I reached the ending, but I still didn't have the blue key. Is there some way (possibly involving God Mode) to go back to the appropriate area and get it? When ought I to have collected it?

Fubaka, I'm confused. I got the red key, bringing my item total up to everything but the hologram and blue key. Where do I go next?


Edit: The passable wall to get back to the rest of the level wasn't working for me, possibly because I didn't have the red key at that point. I reached the ending, but I still didn't have the blue key. Is there some way (possibly involving God Mode) to go back to the appropriate area and get it? When ought I to have collected it?

Without cheating, you cannot get the key without starting over.

The key is located

Phew.

Well, this level (or as much as I've seen of it) is lovely, the story is engaging, the use of shifts to extend signs / dialogue -- and provide branching dialogue trees!! -- is brilliant (and must have been exhaustingly time-consuming), and the secrets are fun to find. for you!

Unfortunately, I got just far enough in to feel hooked on and immersed in the level ...before I ran hard up against a section too difficult for my LoCP-level skillz.  I have to agree with Pumpkinbot about the randomness of many of the enemies, and how much fun it isn't to have to have perfect reflexes and luck, especially when there are multiple screens like that between savepoints.

Ordinarily, with a level I've been enjoying this much until there's an abrupt spike in the difficulty curve, I'll just go into the editor and tweak the problem room or rooms so I can go back to playing properly. Since you specifically asked players to stay out of the editor, though, I've respected that. So, I have a few questions:

1) Should I give up on further backtracking re: the ghost eye (I'm presuming there's a powerup or some other reward on the far side of all those baddies) and just proceed into the mayor's house?

2) Can I get through the mayor's house without the backtracking, once I have the ghost eye?

3) Should I maybe start over (::cringe: and avoid the ghost eye powerup?

4) Should I possibly give up on playing this level at all, unless (or until) you release a kinder, gentler version for players like me?

and

5) Are any of the animated custom objects and/or tilesets for public use? Because so many of them are so great! I'm particularly interested in using at least parts of the Wasteland sets, the Terminal Fields sets, and the Overgrown Fields set, which would work great in a level I'm working on...

@ The Jack: The easiest way to complete an adventure is to not pick up the eye. You'll only see a small fraction of the game's content, but frankly you've got to be a really good player to see it all.

Response to The Jack:

1: Obtaining the Eye puts you officially on the Harder Path.  If you want an easier game, do not collect it.  Of course, as Ego stated, most of the game's content can only be accessed through the harder path.

2: Once you have the eye, the Mayor's House is blocked off.  As it states, you must "Return to the caves".

3: (see 1)

4: I currently do not plan on releasing a peaceful version of this level.  My advice to you would be to hone your skills in KS by playing other levels.  Then, come back and see how this level feels again.

5: Yes.  You can use any of the tilesets in the level, except the ones that say you can't on them.  Also, the only CO that I would discourage you from using would be the one that is pictured in my avatar.  Unless you have a really cool idea with that particular CO, please do not use it.

With regard to the hard version of the level, most of it relies on skill and persistence rather than insane reaction times. There are a couple of screens, however, that require fantastic reaction speeds and a possibly fast computer to be beaten. These can, however, be easily beaten by using cheat mode (ask Youtube), since this allows you to become invulnerable and to teleport to anywhere you can click on.

You are definitely better off opening a second file and beating the normal version first. I assure you that it is satisfactory in both challenge and plot.


If you do try to get the best ending, it is very important that you get all the keys; I only got three in my first attempt at the hard path and had to try again. For that reason, here are progressively more precise hints to where the keys can be found.

There are a couple of screens, however, that require fantastic reaction speeds and a possibly fast computer to be beaten.

Fast computer?  I've actually played and beaten this level on an old Windows 98 before.

Frame rate can be an issue sometimes, but if you have good timing, that won't matter most of the time when playing KS.

I get input lag from changing screens a lot and it frequently kills me. I also sometimes get input lag from rapid opening and closing of the umbrella, and sometimes the game can't handle too many inputs at once (S+right+up, for example, can fail to lead to climbing on impact.)

I also maintain that hovering through a two-block-high gap covering more than half a screen while avoiding six vertical lasers goes WAY beyond lunatic.

I just got to the four-keys ending! ...Wait, there's more?!

Fubaka, I have two questions. Firstly, what's the coordinate region for the post-game content? Secondly, why does the pillars section of x1032y960 seem harder than than the corresponding section of x1036y960?