Bloblake
Bloblake is the 53rd level of Rock-Alpha.dat, a custom level CC set by Rock Généreux. The level consists of a "frozen lake" with twelve blobs freely sliding around it. Some of the lake is made up of a path that Chip must slide on in order to get to a gravel tile located at (17, 31). The rest of the level is a simple item-swapper, yet extremely difficult as Chip must walk through the pink ball pattern three times to acquire the items held within it. After obtaining the yellow key, the level is just a simple walk to the exit, watching out for blobs along the way. Besides the twelve blobs moving around the level, there are also two paramecia and one glider on the lake. The frequent right turns that the two paramecia make can make the level much more aggravating when approaching the three items inside of the pink ball arena. As the hint suggests, the level was made as a revenge level due to Rock himself playing through bad levels. Most of Bloblake itself depends on luck, while others require patience or knowledge, such as the insane ball pattern in the middle:
| |
| Level set | Rock-Alpha |
|---|---|
| Level number | 53 |
| Designer | Unknown |
| Password | ZFQI |
| Hint | This level is my revenge against insanity I suffered playing through bad levels. Good luck! |
| Chips required | 0 |
| Chips available | 0 |
| Time limit | --- |
| MS | |
| Bold time | Unknown edit |
| Difficulty | Unknown edit |
| Bold difficulty | Unknown edit |
| Bold complexity | Unknown edit |
| Lynx | |
| Bold time | Unknown edit |
Since Chip is surrounded on all sides by pink balls at the start, he cannot move immediately. In order to get past the start, pressing another key (such as the space bar) will start the level and allow Chip to exit the pink ball arena. Begin by pressing the space bar to move the pink balls, then move 3L to start Chip on the path to the gravel tile at (17, 31). The path to the gravel is quite simple, with only 19 moves needed. During Chip's trek on the ice, with the exception of the various ice corners and the floor tiles Chip occasionally stops at, he is vulnerable to any blob, paramecium, or glider that crosses his path. The full route to the gravel tile from the hint tile is 3L 2D RU LD 2L U 2D 4R L. There are multiple routes to the ice skates, which is located at (28,5) and can be seen before reaching the gravel tile, such as when Chip stops at (30,3). A quick but dangerous route, assuming a blob can be located at (19,15) when Chip slides L onto it, is 6U R 2U 2R URU 2R 3U L. A slightly safer but longer route is 4U 6R 7U 2R 5U L. Once Chip has the ice skates, he must then collect the fire boots located at (1,17), which Chip passed within one tile space at the beginning of the level. A safe route that can only be executed in MSCC is to walk 4:[UL] through the ice corners. Alternate, lynx-compatible routes are 2U L 2U 2L, and 4U 3L. A safe spot to "rest" at is (15,1), since the monsters cannot access this location. From Chip's current location (which should be (25,1)), he can walk U 4L D 6L. The next part is slightly harder, as much of this area is freely open to blobs:
Here, Chip can move 3L D, putting him L 3U from the flippers. A very dangerous but extremely quick route to the fire boots is (from the position shown here) 3L D 9:[LD] 3D LDL 3D. Again, as this requires Chip to walk through the ice corner, the Lynx route would be 3L D 9:[LD] 3D LDL UL 2D R 2D, simply walking around the corner at (1,14). Once the fire boots are obtained, Chip must now collect the green key that is guarded by fire in the pink ball arena. To get to (12,9), Chip can walk either of these two routes ([D] leads to a safe spot, in case Chip is in danger):
MSCC: 2U 2R 5:[UR] R [D] 2R UR.
Lynx: 2U L 2U RDR U 3R 3:[UR] R [D] 2R UR.
Chip should now be located at (12,9), on an ice tile. This can be used as another "rest" tile: no monster will ever move to this tile. This is one of the hardest parts of the level:
Shown here is the ball pattern at the start, with Chip 3L from the start position. To ensure Chip will survive through the pink balls when going for any of the three keys, a rather difficult way to remember is when the pink balls form this formation, but it can be difficult since the pink balls move at 5 m/s. Wait until the pink ball at (2,4) here is moving U and located at (2,3) to move 3R. The same applies for the center: wait until either the pink ball at (2,4) is moving U and is at (2,3), or wait until the pink ball at (4,4) is located at (4,5) to move 4R to the green key. When moving back out from the fire tile, wait until the pink ball at (4,4) is again located at (4,5), and move to the center. For this part, do the same: wait for the pink ball at (2,4) to be at (2,3) to exit. At (0,4) in this cutout, he can simply walk [L 4U 2R] to the flippers and back. Use the same method for the pink balls, only this time you have to walk 4U from the hint tile to obtain the flippers:
From the middle, when the pink ball at (3,3) here is moving R at (4,3), move 4U to get to the red key. Now it is the opposite: Wait until the pink ball is now at (2,3), moving L, then move 3D (from the water tile). Now use the same method as before to get back to (0,4).
To get to the suction boots, assuming Chip is 3L from the hint tile, move L 4U L 2U 4L U 3L, and then either U 2L or 2L U, locating Chip at (1,1) on the full map. He must now trek back to the pink ball arena one last time. Use the same patterns as before, and this time Chip must go down to get to the yellow key. When on the hint tile, wait until the pink ball at (3,5) is travelling (in the cutout above) L, and, once it's at (3,4), move 4D to the yellow key. Do the opposite when getting out of the yellow key area: (from the force floor tile) wait until the pink ball at (3,5) is moving R at (3,6) to move 3U. Then, exit the pink ball arena as described before. The hardest part of the level is over, and the rest is a simple yet very easy-to-mess-up walk to the exit. From 1L of Chip's current location (in the cutout), move 5D 3R 2D R 3D 9R 2D, and complete one of the most difficult levels in CC history.
Trivia
- Bloblake was inspired by Rock's frustration playing through TomP1Fixed.dat.
- Despite its grevious difficulty, Bloblake has been completed by nine people.
- The Let's Fail series for Bloblake was started by Josh Lee, and the first episode can be viewed here.