Weekly map discussion 3#: Assembly line

RDs.The-dts-guy wrote: weekly map discussion or it can be better described as review. Every week I will be picking random map from PQ's map pool (excluding bonus and tutorial categories for now, custom levels may happen depending on how this goes), here you can share any opinions, share positive things you liked about the map or just point out pros and cons and express all the anger you have to the person who made the map

Continuing spirit of short levels 3rd map of the week: Assembly Line

Author: Pablo Vasquez
Category: Intermediate
Level: 23
Desc:"Save the Gems from the furnace of this hellish factory."
In the old Standalone build of PlatinumQuest, this level was the final expert level (no level order was assigned). The level was also supposed to be quota, requiring 6 Gems to beat..

Praise it or destroy it, it's up to you now!

Scenery is okay because it's just the same interiors copied and pasted. I would like it more if it had like pump stations or hoppers or something like that.

This level is HELL to speedrun though because of the moving obstacles. It just seem so random to me but in actuality it's not. Plus it has the high friction texture as the floor, so that adds to the difficulty.

I'll give it a 6/10 (average).

Finally, a level that I can absolutely flame!

This level was originally Quota, requiring 6 gems to beat. It should have stayed that way or have been raised to 7 because of that stupid last gem! There are obstacles everywhere, and they seem to be thrown onto the level like a shotgun blast. The result is a cluttered mess that looks ugly and is not fun to play at all. I also dislike how the same interior was copy-pasted, which shows that this was rushed through the assembly line.

OH WAIT, THIS IS A PABLO LEVEL.

We still have worse levels out there...
I rate this a 1/5.

I personally like this level in odd way, I love how original and beautifull it is and scenery is fine too, however I did expected some movement in some of those static assembly lines. I have played it when It was quota and I have to admit it was a lot better that way, the last gem felt like fun challenge instead of frustrating chore. Now the fact that you know that theres no room for error just adds to the frustration of getting the last gem. Dodging the boulders also feels like some random hazard course since the pins are so high up that you can't see when they will drop.

Owerall I'm still pretty positive about this level, I liked to run arround it from casual perspective and trying out different paths
.
Weak 8/10 from me.

Some more stuff from discord in case someone forgets to post it

RD - it's one of those levels that the more runs you do it gets more fun
and in the end it's actually pretty easy level once you learn couple of boulders
the first impression of level is great, but learning part feels punishing and the further you play the more interesting it gets

HP - yeah it's just that you have to memorize what you do, there's no effective strategy in it
a superhuman player could look at all the blockers right away and time them perfectly, but as it is it just relies on either luck or memory

RD - also am I the only one who though that you will have to jump down to assembly lines below?
HP - yeah that's another thing i said, scenery is so detailed and extravagant that the gameplay is underwhelming by comparison

Kurt - i TOLD em to SCRAP the gems that were SIDE BY SIDE
there should be a button on assembly line to stop the conveyer belt because the gems are already assembled to begin with so its a waste of power

Short review: No.

Longer review: This level sucks.
The gems move too fast and the par time is EXTREMELY constricting. I still think I beat this level by a fluke.

I mean I think Pablo is a good guy but his levels can get ridiculous.

I'm never a fan of levels with unpredictable obstacles, this being one of them. I do think the concept is neat and its probably the best-looking level by Pablo in PQ. The idea of getting the gems before they disappear behind the wall at the back is very clever. Overall I think the design/idea or concepts are really nice but gameplay lacks a little bit.

I'd give it a 7.5/10

I'm a huge fan of this level as the scenery/theme of this level look absolutely fitting for this challenge. The moving obstacles challenge your reflexes on getting the gems and avoiding those obstacles.

I rate this level 10/10.

Despite the fact that I always loved Pablo's levels, I used to deeply hate Assembly Line the first time I played it.

The reasons are multiple : in the trivia, they say this level's mode was Gem Quota, and I think it should have been stayed that way, because, and here's the second reason, that would avoid players to chase after that last gem always busting out while the time is almost up!

Last reason : the pistons' fastness. They are way too fast and frustrating to anticipate.
Even if sometimes, my timing is really bad, getting always trapped between those stupid pistons (often while the clock is ringing) makes me wanna smash my keyboard just like the Angry German Kid.

The only 2 good points of the level are the original concept, and of course, the design/scenery being pretty neat.

To conclude, I'm not saying this level is good to throw in the water closets, but this level is probably the definition of frustration and annoyance. Everything is against you, even the gems! This is one of the least levels I like playing in PQ. Sorry, Pablo, but Megalopolis was a lot better than this mess.