Topic, Game "BLockoban"

  Thank you all! Hopefully my ideas will not run down too fast.

And if TM read this comment: Good luck with your real live!

  TM and his wife had their 3rd child several months ago. He has too prioritize his time. Just as many others have had to. Unfortunately, the mature players also have a life,

  @jos, I think he is around, he is solving the levels anyway. Good work so far on the levels, nice quality for sure, keep it up hah.

  Officially, welcome back Jos, you've been missed :)

  Ah welcome back Jos. Thoughman still plays levels.

  Of course! And I've already made 2 accept and 1 unevaluated level to rack your brains!

Where is toughman btw?

  JOS??????????????

YOU'RE BACK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Are you going to stay? 8D

  Sth about a level-pack I guess (to much text for me too) and with criteria for the levels of the pack. I think jyxz is right about the dummies.

  So much text... 0.0

Well, I think we should keep things the way they are....

  Why is my Big-O-Ban:fusion level rejected?
edit: If it was because it's impossible I made it possible.

  The legendary PA will be missed here.

  lol @Jyxz I understood it the first time ;P

@magnacumlaud meh, I'm lazy. ;P

  I... Won't say anything anymore...

  seems some r really unable 2 listen better 2 read or do not like 2 use their brain

  Hah just to clarify for the second time I didn't say no dummy blocks, I said no EXTRA dummy blocks, which means if you can solve a level without a certain block it has to be taken out. That's all, what this is intended to do is make sure each level entered has had the required amount of care and refining to make it the best level it can be. For example jasper's recent level Tower Defence was a great challenge and I loved the level however if he wanted it included in the pack he would have to go back and refine it adding or taking out attachments and making sure that he has the exact amount of required white blocks (And by required I mean REQUIRED to solve not the same amount as the targets hah). Sorry for the confusion!

Edit: I know my rules my not be relevant anyway just thought I'd clarify!

  Lol
Dynamo I was joking!
BTW you should change your avatar to an 8 ball.
It's so much cooler!

  Azz, don't bother hinting, it'll just make them ignore you even more.
Its up to them whether or not they make you trusted, you won't be able persuade them.
'Trust' me. =P

  I think i'm earning more kudos in blockoban!
People are liking my levels!
Maybe they are even starting to trust me!

  I think that the pack should be made by the whole community and with a few people who co-ordinate it. And the pack should definately contain a level of the 20 best designers, as their levels are best rated. And I like the Idea that all levels should be completable in under 100 moves to keep tedious levels out. I would like to make the pack, but I think jp should make co-editors for packs, because making such a pack can be time-consuming.
About the dummy problem, if the dummies are needed to complete the level, then the level can be entered, according to me.

  The only problem is the thing with dummy blocks, sometimes dummy blocks are important for the design, and some people like to make their levels symmetrical if possible.

Disallowing dummy blocks prevents that.

  I think Jyxz idea including his 5 rules is a great, interesting and challenging plan. For me, I absolutely trust him and Simon: to make decisions concerning the new second official pack.
I prefer definitely Jyxz idea than Elizeas!

  Elizea, that's a very great alternative!
+ 1 support

  Interesting. I remember that me and gameinsky had this conversation in the chat like a year ago... I think.

After the topics "New official levels" got abandoned, I've felt that officials are no more what they used to be. No more official levels pretty much ever came to games which we didn't really like. I think JP invented the pack idea partly because of this (if I remember right).

I can't say I like the situation as it is. People still somehow think that the amount of official levels make you "better" level maker or something.

The slideshow on front page was a try to highlight new good levels without making them official. It was working quite well for a while.

I guess we could have somekind of adding "points" to levels. Then 10 new levels (made that week) with most points would get to front page under "best levels of the week". User profile could show the amount of levels you have that are accepted, official and the total amount of levels you have had in the "best levels of the week".

The good point in this is that the levels are chosen by community, it can never become too "crowded" like official levels (too many of them) as it resets every week, but it still gives that feeling that you've made a very good level (:

  The second official pack idea was suggested to JP, the results are visible and are known as "levelpacks"

Unfortunately, JP is too busy in real life, so I'd be good if JP could "chose" someone to be the second official pack leader.

  If I were to make such a pack in JG2, here's how I'd do it.
1. Assemble a team of 5 people (Me and Pof will be two of them)
2. Tell the community to post on/notify the team about any excellent levels they might find.
3. Once or twice a month, us in the team will take a look at all the good levels we and the community've found, and then make a list of those we think could be in the pack.
4. Send the list to JP.
5. Add the levels that got his approval.

No rules conserning the size of the pack, or how many levels one creator can have in the pack, or how many different creators' levels we'll have to put in.

Of course this won't work as smooth in BB as in JG2. JG2 has a smaller community, fewer levels and no level categories to worry about. That's my current plan, but constructive feedback and suggestions are always welcome.

  Let me start by saying I was all for this idea when it started, and I still am. But now I have some concerns over how the plan has evolved. I really like the idea of a second set of official levels, but we cannot decide to do this on our own. We are not the game creator nor have any business calling a level official or even acknowledged without jp's permission and approval.
The pack idea is a fine alternative, but it would need a different title. Say Players Favorites for instance. And we would need to come up with a voting system to choose the submissions. A pack containing levels chosen by Jyxz or Simon would be either Jyxz's Favorites or Simon's Favorites.
I agree that a fair system to choose is going to be difficult because of personal preferences and the friend factor. We are all highly intelligent players and I respect everyone's input. So let's continue to discuss this and come up with a firm proposal that I can present to jp.
If it ends up as a pack, jp has already told me that he will be able to place a link somewhere on the game page like he offered to do for the difficulty level packs when they are finished. So keep the comments coming and let's hear what you all have to say.

  I dont think the rating system is very reliable LMR but yeah of course if anyone thinks a level should be in it speak up!

  The first criteria should the highest rated levels. As obiviously they represent the best of that particular style. Also, the task should not be limited to one person, as each player has design/style preferences.
Perhaps several people from the upper echelon could submit thier top 25? 50? choices. There would be an overlap of choices which would create an overall list.

  Yeah "EXTRA" dummy blocks meaning blocks you dont use etc. etc. if they are 100% necessary it would be better if they had targets too but ya I am saying blocks that don't need to be used at all to attain a solution.

  @Jyxz that sounds great :)

About the dummy blocks though, I have a question, what if the dummy blocks are needed?
For example, my level Galaxy Dome (BLockoban) (I don't think it's official material anyway, but as an example)
In that case the dummy blocks are needed and placing goals for them would not only constrict the solutions but make it excessively hard to find the right way to solve it, and therefore I think it's better to have dummy blocks rather than goals. If this situation arises, are you just going examine it on a case-by-case basis?