The Downward Spiral

eninrutas · 05-26-2011, 02:36 AM

Would it be possible to patch in a Reset and/or Randomise button (say, the "r" key) for those of us who've gotten into an endless cycle of dying? At some point exploring the negative levels I found myself facing waves of impossible enemies that kicked me to something like -16 before I decided to go to the Settings folder and wipe it clean.

Speaking of which, if I merely wipe the bookmark.hash and bookmark files it gives me the same level 8 each time. Any reason for this?

woko · 05-26-2011, 11:13 AM

That's what I thought. What you need is just:

long range
many hearts

eninrutas · 05-27-2011, 01:47 AM

Right, tried it again. Got to +19 but a losing streak kicked me down to -5, and I guess I have to ask: why the escalating difficulty if you're kicked down a level as a result of death? Shouldn't it be easier if you're dying as a result of incompetence? This is getting kinda frustrating.

Lord Blade · 05-27-2011, 03:34 PM

I agree. There's something wrong with the difficulty curve here.

I get killed, and am now facing harder enemies.
I get killed again, and there's more enemies, with massive screen filling shots.
I get killed again, now there's lots of enemies with screen filling shots that actively chase after me.
Etc...

I'm stuck and can't get anywhere.

It's nice to say "you just need this". But I can't get that. I can't get anything. I usually can't even reach a single powerup without getting killed.

So basically there's no point in playing anymore.

jasonrohrer · 06-05-2011, 02:27 PM

What you guys are describing only happens in "negative world", where difficulty is inverted from how it works in the normal levels.

In normal levels, difficulty increases as you go up and rise out of yourself, and difficulty decreases when you die or otherwise enter yourself.

In negative levels, difficulty increases as you go more negative (where else could it go? It can't get any easier than level 0!). So, this means that when you get killed and knocked "down" a level, more negative, it actually gets harder. It's totally possible to get trapped down there, or go super-deep and see insane difficulty modifiers, etc.

However, if you ever get trapped down there, your bookmark DOES NOT remember negative levels. When you restart your game, you'll be back on level 1. So, if you're trapped down in negative world, just quit the game and start it again to un-trap yourself.

07-03-2011, 07:34 AM

There's negative worlds too? Any way to get to them besides dying?

jasonrohrer · 07-06-2011, 10:45 AM

The ONLY way to get to them is to enter yourself.

Because Level 0 always has no enemies in it. So it's impossible to die in Level 0.

So, work your way down to level 0, and then enter yourself. Negative world.

But, given the above posts, you've been warned!

BattleLaf · 09-25-2011, 04:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jasonrohrer

The ONLY way to get to them is to enter yourself.

Or a power-up.

05-26-2011, 02:36 AM	#1
eninrutas Join Date: Feb 2011 Reputation: 90 Posts: 646	The Downward Spiral Would it be possible to patch in a Reset and/or Randomise button (say, the "r" key) for those of us who've gotten into an endless cycle of dying? At some point exploring the negative levels I found myself facing waves of impossible enemies that kicked me to something like -16 before I decided to go to the Settings folder and wipe it clean. Speaking of which, if I merely wipe the bookmark.hash and bookmark files it gives me the same level 8 each time. Any reason for this?

05-26-2011, 11:13 AM	#2
woko Join Date: Mar 2011 Reputation: 17 Posts: 250	That's what I thought. What you need is just: long range many hearts

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05-27-2011, 01:47 AM	#3
eninrutas Join Date: Feb 2011 Reputation: 90 Posts: 646	Right, tried it again. Got to +19 but a losing streak kicked me down to -5, and I guess I have to ask: why the escalating difficulty if you're kicked down a level as a result of death? Shouldn't it be easier if you're dying as a result of incompetence? This is getting kinda frustrating.

05-27-2011, 03:34 PM	#4
Lord Blade Join Date: Mar 2010 Reputation: 0 Posts: 49	I agree. There's something wrong with the difficulty curve here. I get killed, and am now facing harder enemies. I get killed again, and there's more enemies, with massive screen filling shots. I get killed again, now there's lots of enemies with screen filling shots that actively chase after me. Etc... I'm stuck and can't get anywhere. It's nice to say "you just need this". But I can't get that. I can't get anything. I usually can't even reach a single powerup without getting killed. So basically there's no point in playing anymore.

06-05-2011, 02:27 PM	#5
jasonrohrer Jason Rohrer Join Date: May 2011 Reputation: 14 Posts: 57	What you guys are describing only happens in "negative world", where difficulty is inverted from how it works in the normal levels. In normal levels, difficulty increases as you go up and rise out of yourself, and difficulty decreases when you die or otherwise enter yourself. In negative levels, difficulty increases as you go more negative (where else could it go? It can't get any easier than level 0!). So, this means that when you get killed and knocked "down" a level, more negative, it actually gets harder. It's totally possible to get trapped down there, or go super-deep and see insane difficulty modifiers, etc. However, if you ever get trapped down there, your bookmark DOES NOT remember negative levels. When you restart your game, you'll be back on level 1. So, if you're trapped down in negative world, just quit the game and start it again to un-trap yourself.

07-03-2011, 07:34 AM	#6
AlienHuntinYeti Guest Posts: n/a	There's negative worlds too? Any way to get to them besides dying?

07-06-2011, 10:45 AM	#7
jasonrohrer Jason Rohrer Join Date: May 2011 Reputation: 14 Posts: 57	The ONLY way to get to them is to enter yourself. Because Level 0 always has no enemies in it. So it's impossible to die in Level 0. So, work your way down to level 0, and then enter yourself. Negative world. But, given the above posts, you've been warned!