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Ernie15
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Ernie15
13,351 posts
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I don't know about you, but my favorite games have always been the ones where you can create your own levels. Those are the games I think have the most replay value. Whether it be SHIFT 4, Crush the Castle 2 Players Pack, Spewer, any of the other level editor games AG has to offer, or any game at all with a level editor, I'll play, I'll build, I'll conquer.

Level editor games are the reason I became interested in flash games, and the only ones I still play. They have unfortunately declined in popularity over the past few years, and new ones rarely surface, so it's up to the small minority of people who still enjoy them to keep them alive.

Am I the only one who loves building custom levels in games? I'm pretty sure I'm not. Who else is out there?

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DrElmer
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DrElmer
552 posts
Shepherd

I used to have a bit of fun with the level editors in Spewer, Red Remover, SHIFT 4, and obviously Crush the Castle which I still use, but only for the contest. Haven't done anything with the others in a long time.

Arm_Candy
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Arm_Candy
716 posts
Bard

Crush the Castle 2 Players Pack is the only game with a level editor I play on a regular basis. I will probably build more than I have lately now that my guide on how to use the castle builder is finished.

SHIFT 4 does have a nice, easy to use level editor. I built one in noitcelfeR a while ago, and I started work on another one recently that I haven't been able to beat. I would be open to trying new ones if other people were also creating levels. Any thread I start dies before anyone replies. Haha

Ernie15
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Ernie15
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Haven't done anything with the others in a long time.

What if there were contests for games other than CTC2PP?

I would be open to trying new ones if other people were also creating levels.

The SHIFT 4 Custom Map Thread could use some love.

New ones you could try include Spewer, Don't Save The Princess, Caps, enDice Complete, Red Remover, all of which already have their own thread somewhere in the lost catacombs of the Flash Games forum. I'll probably create new ones soon for some of them if the old thread has gone too many years without a reply.

Lost Catacombs is also a game with a level editor, but I don't recommend it because there's no way to share the levels.

R2D21999
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R2D21999
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Treasurer

Everybody Edits was the reason I created my ArmorGames profile back in the day. But other than that I haven't really played any level editors for as long as I did EE.

Arm_Candy
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Arm_Candy
716 posts
Bard

I built another one in SHIFT 4. The others I found the threads for, but I did not want to bring them back from being dead for so long. I tried Everybody Edits, but I did not like the controls.

If there were more contests, I would build more levels in more games.

GeoffreyXIV
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GeoffreyXIV
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Crush The Castle 2 Player Pack has been my favorite game since I discovered it two months ago, and everything that's good about it comes from the level editor, not from the campaign castles. All of the castles that are required to complete campaign mode are easy beginner levels, and once they have all been crushed with a gold medal, which takes about fifteen minutes, there is nothing left to do except see what other people have created or make your own level, so it works out when people make things that are worth playing. I try to contribute by doing the same.

Ernie15
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Ernie15
13,351 posts
Bard

If anyone wants to build a Red Remover level, you can post it in the new Red Remover Custom Level Thread.

Everybody Edits was the reason I created my ArmorGames profile back in the day.

I remember when that came out. I was looking forward to playing another level editor game, but I was disappointed by its interface. I never did quite grasp what the object of the game was, other than running around and editing things that other people made. Seemed chaotic when I played it, but I'm probably missing the proper way to play it.

If there were more contests, I would build more levels in more games.

Spoiler alert: There will be more contests.

All of the castles that are required to complete campaign mode are easy beginner levels [...] so it works out when people make things that are worth playing.

This is true with most games with level editors. You'll see it happen more often than not that the players create better levels than the developers who created the game. With a player pack, the logic doesn't really apply, but CTC2PP is one of the few player packs I've seen that's as easy as its parent game. Many of the levels were created by guys named Dim and Joel with a level editor that didn't even exist before the game came out, though, so it was really more of a half player pack. At least they got some good @SSTG castles in there.

Crush the Castle Players Pack in relation to Crush the Castle is more like what most player packs are and should be like. The levels are harder and their designs are more complex.

Arm_Candy
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Arm_Candy
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@GeoffreyXIV you should try SHIFT 4. I played some of the ones from the old thread linked to in the new thread and some of those are pretty challenging. You might also find you like building your own maps, since you seem to like building and playing puzzling levels in CTC2PP.

I'll come back to Red Remover. I want to beat the whole game before I make anything of my own.

@Ernie15 What we need is a CTC2PP2, with castles built by people using the CTC2PP Castle Builder. If @joeybetz still worked for Armor Games, this would be more of a possibility, but Give Up 2 was developed by @Tasselfoot and Sushi Cat-a-pult was developed by @Jimp, so it could happen if you or @CourtJester or both of you put some levels together and took them to the council of admins.

When can we expect to see the new contests?

Skeleton_Pilot
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Skeleton_Pilot
1,361 posts
Blacksmith

I used to be really into these! I don't think about them until someone brings them up, so I seldom use level editors in games, but I know I made some SHIFT 4 and enDice Complete levels... the AG search confirms it as a fact!

CourtJester
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CourtJester
6,158 posts
Peasant

BTW, just so you know, @JoeyBetz was fired from AG or he just quit. He was apparently working for a pay-for-play steam company last I heard so, since @boppins can't figure out Joey's code, chances of new stuff in CTC are remote but, we can still put together a new gamer thread and maybe the prizes could be merits and quests.

Ernie15
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Ernie15
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In response to the CTC2PP player pack idea, I don't know much about how games are coded, but from what I understand about player packs, the levels already contain the proper coding, so it could only be a matter of extracting the level from the website and putting it into the game.

The only player pack I've ever successfully put together is the Meeblings Player Pack from 2012, which is 50 levels of an easy puzzle game from when that game had a level editor. Links lead to ninjakiwi.com.

Meeblings.
Meeblings Player Pack.

The way the levels appear in the player pack is exactly how they appeared as individual levels on the old Meeblings level editor site. It was not a high priority release for ninjakiwi, so you can see that it's not much different from the original game other than the levels, which came pre-coded, and the screenshots of the levels, which would not have taken long. So it could be done.

As massive as the internet is, @Skeleton_Pilot claimed that two of the levels in that player pack are his.

When can we expect to see the new contests?

Very soon.

Arm_Candy
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Arm_Candy
716 posts
Bard

@CourtJester Elaborate on this gamer thread idea. The merits and quests sound promising, but I would like to know what we would be awarding them for.

@Ernie15 So if this players pack does happen, it would have to be simplified significantly? A list could still be put together, and it could be shown to the admins to see what they could do with it.

The list should consist of gamer levels, so not too many with the big rock and even fewer with the portal. Multi-shot levels should be used as much as they can be so it is not dominated by single-shot levels.

CourtJester
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CourtJester
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Peasant

@Arm_Candy @Ernie15 About the only thing we could get are quests for things like difficult levels and a series of levels. If you finish the whole game, possibly a merit or two...

Ernie15
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Ernie15
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There are no guarantees on any player packs, but if you find levels that you think might do well in one, you can always send them to me and I'll see what we can do with them.

Rewarding quests and merits for beating challenging levels or sets of them is a great idea. The only part I don't know the answer to is how players would prove that they beat the levels. Screenshots could work most of the time, but if two people crushed a castle, and the outcome was exactly the same, there would be no way of proving that the second player did not steal the first player's screenshot.

If there is a way to alter selected levels so that they activate the quest automatically when crushed with a gold medal, that would keep the cheaters away, but merits cannot be awarded automatically, and it may be very difficult to alter a castle that way anyway.

We'll loop in @Ferret and see what he has to say.

Shrublord
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Shrublord
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Nomad

I don't know about you guys, but I absolutely love Plazma Burst 2's level editor.

[url=http://www.plazmaburst2.com/?s=1&a=]

If there two things that I like relating to flash games: it's side-scroller, platformer shooters and level editors. Plazma Burst 2 combines both of these factors into something really cool.

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