Spoiler: Why does B-Bot get zapped? If you tap into the zapper field you see that B-Bot will attempt to walk down to that spot. The height of zappers is such that B-Bot can step down onto them from a higher block and even walk across them, though they will kill him. If you select a spot for B-Bot to go but the the most direct path to it goes through the zapper field, then he'll actually take that shorter deadlier path!
@retrograde - Ok, but any tips on solving it though? I can't find any trajectory that would let inertia take B to the target. And i can't think of any applicable exploits with what we have here, aside from the instability of pillars (which doesn't seem much use with this one)
@trids Spoiler: Hint #1 Both bot types are effected by the exploit mentioned in the previous spoiler. The difference is that R-Bot won't get zapped. I would suggest holding off peeking at these next 2 hints unless you're really stuck. Spoiler: Hint #2 R-Bot can step down onto the zappers if made to do so. Spoiler: Hint #3 There is also a secret movable, but there are clues for it.
Ah - thank you! Spoiler I had to look long and close to find that movable. I'd noticed the concrete blocks, and couldn't make sense of them, eventually wrote them off as red herrings. So without your help i would have missed it completely. Ok.. Solved! (tx again)
Solved, but only because of your Hint #3. Seems I struggled for the same reasons as @trids did. Spoiler Having assessed the field and realized no evident solution I thought there may be a hidden draggable. Alas, I couldn't find it. I didn't catch on to the (in my opinion, weak) clues. I had swiped everywhere in vain. Only after giving up I started reading all the spoilers, which rather ruined the experience for me. Then, only after confirmation that there was a hidden draggable did I try again. Even after finding the draggable, there were plenty of steps to make for a great puzzle. I would strongly suggest re-issuing the level with the draggable visible, or make the clues more obvious. Another alternative would be to have the first spoiler (or the title description) mention something about the clues to something hidden. Thanks for the creation!
@nGord Spoiler: Comment I do think the clues were reasonable. If you note, there are clue zappers are on each of the 4 sides, and the clue blocks are directly across from each on the north-south and east-west axes. They are also placed in a non-symmetrical position along each side. Together I think those 2 pieces of information are sufficient. My assumption was that once a player realizes that there was no obvious path to a solution that they would conclude that something was hidden, would then start looking around in more carefully and hopefully would see that there was something unusual with the way the clue blocks were placed. If you draw a line between the clues (i.e. a north-south and and east-west lines) it will zero in on spot that moves. My feeling was that making the draggable visible would make the level too easy. I did consider putting in red brick blocks instead of zappers, but they really broke up the cleanness of the level. In general I design levels that are on the harder side, that's just how I roll. I feel that there are just too many easy puzzle levels out there. In my opinion learning how to read clues in Mekorama is a skill really no different then learning one of the tricks. The amount of information that can be conveyed in Mekorama is pretty minimal given the "coarseness of the pen" here. Clues usually consist of a breaking of symmetry to make something standout, blocks which have an unusual color to draw attention, multiple blocks of single type to indicate numerical counts (sometimes in binary), the use of metal half-pillars to imply direction, or even Morse code. I've even seen audio clues. Thanks for playing.
Well explained! Thank you for taking the time to share your perspective. I have a much better understanding and appreciation now. And will be more the wiser for it in the future.
