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== Level design and inspiration == | == Level design and inspiration == | ||
=== JoshL/JoshL1 === | |||
Josh's early levels, what would become JoshL.dat, primarily consisted of ripoffs or sequels to existing levels in CC1 or otherwise, long tedius block pushing levels that lacked in quality. The use of invalid tiles were also heavily used, thanks to the presence of this throughout CCLP2. These two sets were his prime sort of inspiration as they were the only two packs of levels he knew of at the time. This level set contained 202 levels and was submitted for CCLP3 consideration, however, no levels got in thanks to majority of them not being compatible with the Lynx ruleset and Josh not being familiar with it. | |||
Over the course of his design career, this pack of levels would later be revised into JoshL1, removing all levels containing invalid tiles and fixing other issues to make it Lynx compatible, reducing the level count to 120. This revised version includes levels that got into [[Chip's Challenge Level Pack 1]], such as [[Ruined World]], [[Heat Conductor]], and [[Design Swap]]. | |||
=== JoshL2 === | |||
Following | Following CCLP3's release, along with a year long break away from all things Chip's Challenge, Josh began work on JoshL2, the sequel to his first set. The overall objective was simply to build a set that was compatible with Lynx, which helped Josh study the key differences between it and the MS ruleset he was used to. This set contains 150 levels and would see some improvements of design quality compared to the first, such as a prominent showcase of Josh's knack of designing variety levels, part in thanks to playing CCLP3 and the vast array of concepts shown in that set. However, there still remained a few renaments of his prior set's sufferings with some heavy block pushing levels or small, short, and easy levels for the sake of quantity. Despite that, it still holds quite a good amount of original concepts. This set hosts the home to levels such as [[Frozen Labyrinth]] and [[Sapphire Cavern]] (under a different title), which also made their way into CCLP1. This was also one of many sets of Josh's to have gotten Let's Played, this one in particular done by [[Trevor Hedges]]. | ||
This set's general positive feedback eventually led to Josh joining the CC community as he was previously unfamiliar with one existing. | |||
=== JoshL3 === | |||
With the generally positive feedback on JoshL2 and with joining the level design community, Josh began the next numbered set right away. This set's prime focus was intended to experiment with a number of different ideas thanks to a plethora of level sets belonging to other designers being easily available. Sadly, this shaped into a bad direction as the set opted into several false starts such as trying pgchip's ice block patch for ice block levels, designing levels that felt too similar to the previous sets, and other design styles not blending well with Josh. This eventually unraveled into a set of levels that Josh is not fond of and considers this to be a step down in his design career as he tried too many different things at once. Although, a few of its levels like [[Squared in a Circle]], [[Flames and Ashes]], and [[California]] made their way into CCLP1 and another one, [[Duplex]], later got into [[Chip's Challenge Level Pack 4]]. This pack contains 100 levels in total. | |||
=== JoshL4 === | |||
After a brief design break, Josh started work on JoshL4 with the ultimate focus of having levels that were considered difficult. This is where he showed a real consistency in level design. A lot of his designs were improved substantially as his inspirations were becoming more set in place, mainly from [[Tyler Sontag]]'s TS0. This was made more apparent by keeping this set's total at 80 levels, double of what TS0 contained. Due to the nature of this set, it falls under some of the nasty traps, in similar nature to CCLP3's difficult levels. This was the first of Josh's sets to be ordered by difficulty instead of by design date as well. | |||
Like JoshL2, this set was also let's played, this time by fellow avid designer, [[J.B. Lewis]], who gave constructive feedback on these levels and would help shape Josh's design career further with his next project, which was striving for more friendly levels. Some notable levels from this set were selected for inclusion into CCLP4, including [[Sealed Doors in the Spacecraft]], [[Frozen Over]], and [[Fireworks Factory]]. | |||
=== JoshL5 === | |||
This set followed suit not too long after JoshL4, giving priority to easier and more fun to play levels opposed to lengthy, difficult ones. Unlike the previous set, this one is still ordered by design date, with random difficulty spikes scattered throughout the set. His consistent design style improved even further, especially with its many different styles of gameplay, along with a heavy emphasis on medium difficulty variety levels, something Josh would come to really enjoy building the most. This set was also let's played by J.B. and would later do so with the rest of his future sets listed below. This set houses many levels that were included into CCLP4 such as [[Beautiful Struggle]], [[In the Walls of Gravel Castle]], and [[Bombs Are a Beautiful Thing]]. | |||
=== JoshL6 === | |||
Initially, JoshL5 was intended to be last of his CC1 designs for a long while as it was assumed ideas were starting to become scarce. CC2 was also released around this time and designers were quick to put out new content for the game, including Josh himself. But after some frustration with CC2's built in level editor and a lack of an alternative, along with playing several other CC1 sets such as Ultimate Chip 4 and Ultimate Chip 5 both by [[Jeffrey Bardon]] and Zane's ZK3 and ZK3-A, he felt inspired enough to try to pursue the project. | |||
This set's focus shifted more to aesthetics and how levels look from editor view, although keeping the fun factor intact with its content, which largely emphasized unusual tile combinations such as monsters atop of certain elements that still allowed for Lynx compatibly, along with many mazes and unseen concepts up to this point. Walls of levels were prominent here as well, especially upon the final update. It was initially released at 40 levels and later updated to a total count of 90, before submissions for CCLP4 closed. Many levels from this were selected for official set inclusion, such as [[Fire Is My Enemy]], [[Nectar Meadow]], [[Flipper Departments]], and [[World of a Thousand Flames]]. | |||
This was the intended final level count for the set, however, due to circumstances surrounding the next intended design project falling through, Josh updated it one last time with 59 new levels, half of which were designed for said failed project, totaling it to 149. | |||
Josh has left the 90 level version available for download to this day, for those that prefer it. | |||
=== JoshL7 === | |||
A CCZone create competition was held February 2017, using the walls of CCLP1 to make a new level within them. Josh participated with three entries and in doing so, another string of inspiration soon followed into what would shape into JoshL7. The main focus this time being a combination of everything previously learned from the past several sets, difficulty, aesthetics, gameplay styles, ultimately balancing them all out into 70 levels. Some level genres that Josh isn't too keen on designing also appeared here, such as monster dodging and manipulation. In addition, some levels previously seen in prior JoshL sets were repurposed in this one, such as [[Trick or Trap]] using one of Josh's first sokobans and mixing it with recessed walls for a new experience. This level, along with many others like [[Drops of Jupiter]], [[Warehouse of Lost Hopes and Dreams]], and [[Fuego Ironworks]], made it's way into [[Chip's Challenge Level Pack 5]]. | |||
This is currently the last entry in the JoshL series lineup and is Josh's personal favorite. | |||
=== Walls of CCLP3 === | |||
On the tail end of JoshL7, Josh pursued a new project directly inspired by Jeffrey's Walls of CCLP4, though a project like this nagged in the back of his mind since JoshL6's production as it was attempted with CCLP1, but was scrapped for personal reasons but largely due to not having ideas for every template of that set and overall, not feeling ready for the task. | |||
Josh would instead utilize CCLP3 as a starting point, knowing its tricky wall layouts would bring new challenges into his design style. Taking everything he learned from prior sets, including other walls of levels designed, and even using concepts not seen done well before. There was a particular focus on mixing blobs with other monsters and building original sokobans that use CC elements as opposed to strictly adapting them from outside sources. Some of these sokobans were notable for being built within a two-tile wide space. [[Socket Shrine]] was the first designed level of this project, using the sockets from [[Toggle Bust]], which later got into CCLP5, along with other such levels as [[Exit Exaggeration]] and [[Apocalypse Wow]], using [[Entrance Examination]] and [[Spiral]] respectively. | |||
=== Trading Places === | |||
With the prominent walls of levels throughout level design continuing strong, Jeffrey and Josh teased the idea of building a set together that consisted of using wall templates of each other's latest level sets, Ultimate Chip 6 and JoshL7, along with several from their other respective sets to total it out evenly at 150 levels. This project ended up taking over three years, with each designer building 75 levels apiece and combining into one of the greatest level set collaborations to date. Several levels from Josh's half made it into CCLP5 as well, such as [[Fragmented Lamina]], [[Yellow Fever]], and [[Broken Paradise]]. | |||
==Flareon level== | ==Flareon level== | ||