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Topic, Game "BLockoban"

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Treazer 10 years ago
  I think you can also do it as a lvl 1 admin, because lvl 1 admins can also edit levels, so they also should be able to make a quick edit in the more tab (change title/category).
SimonM 10 years ago
  It's not hard to code such things, the problem is that Jp needs to find time to do it. Unfortunately other people can't do it, because they don't have the source code of the site. And for your 2 questions I'm afraid you can't. If you're admin lvl 2 you can check the category in the more page of the level though.
Treazer 10 years ago
  You should also put this into the topic for suggestions for the site :)
ToughMan 10 years ago
  Thanks TIMU and OMR for answering and special thanks to OMR for preparing that list. I already have it and its extremely helpful but this is a mitigation to the problem. It doesn't really solve it, i mean within the community. It requires OMR or anyone else to keep updating the list (including any recent changes to older levels) and keep distributing to everyone which as you understand is, the least, painful and time consuming whereas an addition of the category to any level's info would just be sufficient. As for the 10 levels at the homepage search it really is better than 5 but again we may reach a point (if not yet there) when thousands of levels are created and 10 won't be enough.

Coming back to each level's info, I am just posting an older thought - extensively debated within the community (I believe with Elizea, Simon, OMG, Jyxz and others) - where the key info that should appear (when the mouse is on the level's little square)in every level would be the following:
1) Status of Level (Accepted, to be edited, rejected, etc)
2) Designer
3) Category
4) Rating
5) Current Highscore
6) Your Score (to compare each time with the current HS
7) and a new item called 'Not Yet Rated by You' which will help a lot of designers getting their levels rated
I remember it was extremely difficult to code all this information but is there any progress (probably a new software or something).

Regards.
oldmanrob 10 years ago
  1) you can ask for my excel list. it was lot of work so im pleased if many people can take profit of it.
ThisIsMyUsername 10 years ago
  1) It seems like that it's not possible to find category in a easier way, but look at the color of the C icon can help you identify its category.
Green: hard
Red: medium
Black: easy
Blue: kids
BTW, oldmanrob made a category list, you can get it by sending your e-mail to oldmanrob's inbox :)

2) The homepage's search can find 10 levels, but its result is by the game's publish date, form old to new, so it means it's easier to find more bb levels.
ToughMan 10 years ago
  Hi guys. I have two questions which may be naive and I apologize beforehand if there are obvious answers to them which I am not aware of.
1) Is there an easy way to identify a level's Category or do you need to find it in the 'Showing Level' window amongst over 6000 levels?. I would expect that when you type a certain level on the quick search section the level's info would state its category (I was not able to find the category for a specific level in order to respond to a question put by my friend OMG). Have I missed that?

2) Is there a way to extend the Quick Search section to allow for more than 5 findings? There are levels you want to re-play but not be able to find them (especially when you don't really recall the exact name but part of it) because they do not appear in the findings.

Thanks in advance guys.
Treazer 10 years ago
  Same for me with Puzzle it^^
oldmanrob 10 years ago
  you guys probably don't care. but if you change the category you give me a lot of work to do with the packs. please don't do it too often.
bbdest 10 years ago
  I hope I still retain originality even with all those levels...
SuperMario 10 years ago
  there are people still overusing concepts but in a different way i think.
SimonM 10 years ago
  This game is just amazing! There are over 6000 levels, and people still create original levels!
pig 10 years ago
  @bbdest, I create levels better than I complete levels.
Treazer 10 years ago
  There are only two of my levels I didn't complete.

Getting Along (Puzzle It)
I made this level, but I was really close to completing it, never did it though. Then I asked the community and they did it, so I uploaded it.

Merging (Puzzle It)
I did this in test mode, but I never managed to complete it again...

edit: Oh, I thought this is the Puzzle It topic xD
bbdest 10 years ago
  Pig never beats his own levels, it seems like.
SuperMario 10 years ago
  I had like 2 in puzzle it at the same time.
Treazer 10 years ago
  Lol, why did you upload it when you couldn't beat it? :P
pig 10 years ago
  That's fun! My own level is in Best Levels You haven't scored on
oldmtnguy 10 years ago
  It is my opinion that all levels should be placed in the proper category. The difficulty on a level is sometimes hard to judge because we all have different interpretations of difficulty and different preferences and skill sets. I change the difficulty of levels if I feel they are in the wrong category but I don't always post a message. In fact some of the levels accepted today had their categories changed. In the past, if someone thought level was in the wrong category they posted a message on the level and it was reviewed. The level of a category can be changed with a single click of the mouse, so if anyone feels that level is in the wrong category all you need to do is let me know and I would be glad to take another look at it.
Jos 10 years ago
  I do sometimes change the cathegory of a PI level before accepting it, and I post a message on the level to see whether there's any disagreement or not.
PineappleDude 10 years ago
  Congratz Blockoban! 800000 plays!

And i was the one that got it ;)
Treazer 10 years ago
  I agree with Simon, although I also agree with omr.

I think a level can be in the "fitting" category and even one category harder.

When a level is 2 categories (or even more) harder or a category easier, I'd change it.
SimonM 10 years ago
  I think levels placed on a category too high, is not bad. When people will play the medium and get an actually easy level, it's some pause. In the other hand a level placed in the category too low, it could be frustrating.
oldmanrob 10 years ago
  there is something i would like to discuss here: the categories. in the last days some very easy level that imo should be in the category kids has been got the category easy or even medium. now my question. shouldn't the admins change the category when this happens. i know it would be a duty more for you, omg. and probably one you would not like to have. what do you think about outi it? and what do the comunity
think about this situation?

edit: i read your message on Have to go (BLockoban). so it's something you do sometimes, why not more often?
SimonM 10 years ago
  Only 2 more official levels!
oldmtnguy 10 years ago
  Thanks to Elizea, gameinsky and Simon for the kind words, and to all of you site members for your support over the years. As an administrator, sometimes this job can be frustrating. at times I have been told that I am too critical, slow, self absorbed or dictator like. I have just passed my third year anniversary as an administrator and between playing levels and evaluating them have put in thousands of hours of time on this site. The great majority of these hours have been fulfilling and fun, but occasionally metered with some periods of frustration. I hope that I have succeeded in keeping this game interesting and enjoyable. And intend to keep participating as long as I am able.

edit: And thanks to you designers, for the recent flood of new levels. I am trying to get to them and catch up as quickly as possible.
SimonM 10 years ago
  'as forgotten just like the rest of BL' I think there are more games that bursts with activity, but yeah OMG does a fantastic job here!
gameinsky 10 years ago
  Agreed with Elizea.
Admins happen to make mistakes (they're human after all), but it's indeed not always easy to judge a level.
however, respect your admins even when they do that, it's after all a volunteer job. OMG could easily bail on the game and then it would be as forgotten just like the rest of bonuslevel atm. But he isn't, he stays here and makes sure that blockoban, as his responsibility, still bursts with life. This easily makes OMG stand out as one of the better admins.
Elizea 10 years ago
  Ehm hey everyone. I've been watching this discussion of where goes the line of acceptable and not-acceptable level for few days now.

The thing is, any level that gets accepted gets to the front page. It's not just "well, some people might find it fun". I'd like to point out, that if I ever saw a level I didn't find acceptable in any game, but knew some of the more hardcore fans of the game would like to see, I'd reject them and comment them. That way the level doesn't end up on front page but anyone who plays the game on a regular basis will find the level (of course you wouldn't be able to save your score, but still).

Tho, it is the admins choice in the end. While anyone can express their opinion about the level, there are different ways to do so. There is a difference between "This level isn't really good imo" and "Why would you accept this horrible level?!". As long as the discussion is kept polite and non-offensive, there is no reason to not have it on a public topic.

Also anyone who hasn't evaluated levels has no idea how hard it is. You might think it's easy to say what level is acceptable what isn't, but it's not. It's very easy to misjudge a level and just in general to draw a line between acceptable and non-acceptable levels.

I'd also like to thank everyone making levels for their work. It really makes me happy to see how active the Blockoban community is, even my activity here has decreased significantly. Also my thanks to OMG who has been spending a part of his free time evaluating levels here for so long (: You are awesome.
oldmanrob 10 years ago
  i did it manually and i don't know how to put it online. i send you a pm.

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Play Game "BLockoban"

First post of the topic

jp 16 years ago
  sound on / off added (burfy's feedback).
16 official levels now. All levels are great. I must say I'm a big fan of Psychotronic's levels (thx Psycho). When a level is "only" accepted, it doesn't mean it will not be official one day, it's just I'm not sure for now.
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