Topic, Game "BLockoban"

  I guess it this also depends slightly on the admins' personal preferences. I don't mind if someone creates a new level out of an old rejected level, as long as they don't expect me to notice by myself that the level has been updated. I don't care if I re-evaluate an old rejected level or evaluate an entirely new level. However I do prefer to be given notice about old updated levels through a PM, rather than game comments.

I have not looked much into this particular situation, so my statement only applies to the general case. Since it is my personal opinion it also only applies to the game in which I am an admin (JG2).

  That's what I do in Jump Gear 2, but as for BLockoban, I'd like to have all my levels accepted, but I do understand an admin's point of view, even though I have little experience administrating my own game.

  When evaluating levels, if a level is not acceptable, we either reject it or tell that it needs some editing to be acceptable. The difference between these 2 is pretty significant as we don't have any easy ways to find recently updated rejected levels.

When evaluating levels it's much easier to see the new unevaluated levels than see all the older rejected/to be edited levels. If we mark a level rejected it means the amount of work to make that level acceptable is almost the same as just making a new level and uploading that which is what we would prefer.

I understand you may want to get rid of your rejected levels but it just means more work for us and achieves very little. Even I have some rejected levels, and sometimes (not very often) I'd go look at them and laugh how bad the levels were.

  Yes, I understood that, and that is why I commented on Unecessary so that admins could see that I wanted it re-evaluating, however they must not have noticed.

  Manufan, our levels weren't rejected levels. Admins only look at the still be evaluated ones

  I have already commented on my level Unnecessary (BLockoban), asking that it should be re-evaluated (it was previously a different, rejected level). However it appears that whilst others have been evaluated, this is not the case for my level, which I am sure was not intentional. Please could someone evaluate it? Thanks. :)

[Edit] Please see Indirect Solution (BLockoban) and Polar Switch (BLockoban) also.

  Though so, I'll remake it now :)

EDIT: It is possible now

  @Matthijs, the level isn't possible. You need an extra block to match the last one, since not all of the blocks are on the same "grid," if that makes sense.

I mean:

XXXXX
XOXOX
XXXXX
XOXOX
XXXXX

Blocks on the X "grid" will not be able to move onto the O spaces without help. At the end of this level, you end up with one block on the "O" grid and one on the "X" grid. This happens because of the way the blocks are set up in the corners.

In general, levels where none of the goals are A: next to another goal or B: next to a wall require at least two extra blocks to solve.

  This is a better way to link the level:

Comrads (BLockoban)

[ lvlid=36094 ] (without free spaces)

  HELLO LINK OF POSSIBLE LEVEL

Hey can someone solve this level?

  Welcome back! Nice to see you here again. :)

  Just thought I'd say "HEY!!!" and that I'm back playing this wonderful yet brain stretching game. I don't even know why i stopped playing =P

  gaminsky,
re post 1 month ago congrats on new status
(in my opinion) the officials should not be changed, removed or altered. That being said adding an official would not be out of line. There are so many levels that may be considered. Camo has created levels in every category that could qualify. A few years ago he created several to teach his sister the game that were awesome, some of which could be looked at as learning/ starting levels. Any time I solve a Murat is a wow day for me. Again how can you pick one? Toughman made a level few years ago that I have not been able to solve yet.( I revisit it often) It stands out in my mind as one that should be official; White Shepherds.

  http://www.bonuslevel.org/games/pack_my-kids-and-easy-levels_733.html

Hello Blockoban community, does anyone want to play my new pack. I created this because I need some help solving these. I have been struggling trying to find the solutions to. I've spent some 2-3 years to solve. Once I beat these I will have solved all kids and easy levels. Then the next challenge: MEDIUM AND HARD

I need to take a break for a few days, my brain is fried.

  I'm back! I added 7 new levels also.

  So, they added remixed versions of the songs?

Funky!

  I've come back and to see you GIS with that is something we've all been waiting for, a new level 2. You deserve it! :)

  The advantage of a second pack is that oldmntnguy can also edit it, which means he could easily moderate the pack as well.

  Yes the pack is a good idea. And from the levels in the pack we can vote the official offical level no. 250.

  Having the new official as well as the extra officials pack are good ideas IMO.

And yeah Bump Me Out was a great one SM, good call :)

  I'm looking for a level that has everything of a good level, nice design, clever concept and doesn't require too many moves (about 50 max). It's going to take a while to finally settle on a level, but we have all the time in the world for that!

[edit]
I spoke about it with Elizea and he brought me onto an idea:
If we just make a second pack off officials (it will be a bit harder to access because there would be no separate tab for it) that way we can add as many as we want and consider it an extension of the officials.

  My level Bump me out (BLockoban) had at least 2 votes.

  Seeing as I've designed about a quarter of the levels for this game, figured I should weigh in... lol.

The officials debate has always been a tricky one. Undeniably, level quality has improved drastically on the whole (think new designers such as Murat, Monty, Simon, TM, and so many others), and very few of them have officials here when some of their levels clearly deserve the distinction. Look at levels like Crosshairs (BLockoban) compared to Collapse (BLockoban), Seal the Envelope (BLockoban), or Little Tactic (BLockoban). However, there's the counter-argument of how deleting old levels basically means that people spent time improving their scores for [almost] nothing.

I think the idea of adding a 250th level is objectively good, though. As I've designed more levels than I've played, it's hard for me to choose my favorites (I do really like Collapse (BLockoban) and Beacon (BLockoban)), so I'll just post a few of mine that I've really enjoyed creating and playing.

Overlap (BLockoban)
Overlap 3 (BLockoban)
Thin Transfer (BLockoban)
Nothing to Lose (BLockoban)
Red Manuever (BLockoban)
Stand And Fight! (BLockoban)
Fusion Chamber (BLockoban)
Tails (BLockoban)
Cross-Street (BLockoban)
Orbits Enclosed (BLockoban)
Hall of Fame (BLockoban)
Toll Booth (BLockoban)
Little Ambassadors (BLockoban)
Break the Chain (BLockoban)
Sky Tiger 2-Remnants (BLockoban)
The Trick (BLockoban) <--(I know it looks easy, but I've stumped so many people on the mobile with this one!)
Rough Construction (BLockoban)
Little Pyramid (BLockoban)
Slippery Containment (BLockoban)
Blue Column 2 (BLockoban)
Complex Circle (BLockoban)

And of course, a notorious one for me because of the lack of scores (and I love the design),
White Key (BLockoban)

There are others, too, but A: I don't want to make too long of a post and B: I don't remember them all... ;P

Even if these aren't the best levels, hopefully they at least remind people of ones they like. I know dingdong's Fission Chamber spinoffs of Fusion Chamber were very fun, for one.

  Keep the officials as they are. They are the core of the game. Each level and style serves to teach and challenge. They could be added to, but only if truly unique, multiple solutions...all that makes certain levels fun and challenging. That said I think that if there is a level that is felt should be official let it be said and if enough people agree/feel the same way go for it.
All the best to you gameinsky.

  I didn't even think of the category highscores.
Yeah, I think it's best to do what Simon said. Turn the nasty 249 official levels into a nice round 250 and maybe move some of the misplaced ones, but that being about it.

  I agree with Simon, I don't think removing official levels is a good idea. People would lose their official levels and the scores would be totally messed up, because they won't get updated for every user in the score tab, especially because many of them will never return to the site.
We had a similar situation in Path 4 Mouse when adding the Tutorial category and moving some Easy levels into it. The scores there are still wrong.

  What about just one official, to make that ugly 249 into 250. But I wouldn't remove officials.

  Thanks Toughman.
I agree with most of what you said, and would more than gladly kick out some of the more outdated officials.
However, it's still JP's game and I am unsure on his thoughts about removing some of the levels.

I reckon we could ask him his thoughts on that matter, and if he is ok with it, we can rebuild the officials from scratch.
I would like to hear more opinions from more people before settling on a plan.

Officials serve two main purposes on this site. First of all, like you said, they're the main campaign. The first levels that people will play will be those. And it's important that they're good to give a good first impression.
On the other side: they are what kept the site going for a long time. A lot of people created levels in the hopes of one day getting an official. Or a dozen, or maybe even a hundred. (Elizea and Gundu have achieved that feat) So having a steady inflow of officials raises the activity of the site.
Blockoban doesn't need it as much, but I agree with starting from scratch with the officials. Whilst still keeping some of them.

There is one game that needs a more severe reconsideration of officials and that's Rolling Turtle (the difference is staggering, levels that would be immediately rejected nowadays are official)

If enough people want that in Blockoban, I could ask JP And then we could start making a list of levels.

  Congrats GiS for your title! Well deserved! Now, as to your suggestion about new officials (and especially the frequency of adding new officials ie one per month) I have to admit that ta first glance I am extremely sceptic about it. Unless one rearranges the officials (that is remove more old ones before adding fewer new ones) simply adding new levels defeats the purpose of having the officials. Officials, in my mind, are meant to attract new players and are kind of (or should be) used as a game teaser. In that sense new members will be willing to try out the official category, score some points, try all sort of difficulty levels before actually being able to create new levels and contribute from another aspect to the game. Having said that, imagine someone that has new ideas trying to first beat 700levels before being able to create one on its own. I think official levels should not exceed 150 in any game but I am open to different views. In any event, I think Blockoban, more than any other game of this community, needs to reconsider/reevaluate its official levels from scratch. I know it is painful but many levels have become extremely old, obsolete (for official not per se) and do not provide any real challenge. Having said that it would be totally inappropriate to pick a level from more than 7000 to become official from the top of my head (that is without do some serious research which may take at least a month).

Again, nice job GiS! I am usre you will stand up to occasion and meet the needs of this community! I will do my best to assist you in any way possible!

  If I had to pick a new official, I would choose To the Walls (BLockoban) and put it between Maize (BLockoban) and Go through (BLockoban) (116 and 117).