Favorite Maps, Dead Edition

I've posted over 100 maps on the blog and have more than 150 map codes. Quite a bit. In honor of these round numbers, I thought I'd list my favorite maps that have died in the last month. These aren't necessarily my best, just my favorites.

    Elephant
    The Claw
    Cheese Shop
    Box Elevator
    Curtain Call

Okay, Curtain Call isn't dead yet, but tomorrow morning it probably will be.

150044 - walljump, lava, lava

This uses one of Affliction's ideas, combined with a few parts I'd been waiting to find a map for. The walls must first be walljumped, then pushed into the gap which shoots them to the top, then pushed again where they fall onto a different lava which shoots them to the left.

150024, 153921 - swimming pool

The pool is mass 1, which makes for something approximating swimming. The diving boards use an idea of Someoneelse's.

149442, 153917 - glitch maze

The shaman must build b-planks on top of the blocks. Some of them will go to limbo, others won't.

149416, 149417, 149420, 149799 - no red maps

Affliction found a nice glitch where the shaman can't build any b-planks. So I cloned a few maps, including a permanent map by Knt (adding his name).

   149416             42   no red, upside down cone (map 98)
   149417             26   no red, ladder to heaven (map 91)
   149420             25   no red, beautiful glaciers (map 72)
   149799             18   no red, knt

149376 - the obvious question

Namely: how do mice escape? If the shaman builds a b-plank on the the chocolate it'll be sent to limbo.

149115 - stop and go

I like how this one turned out, even though GO is a bit hard to read if you're not looking for it. The idea is that mice can make progress when it says GO but not when it says STOP.

Stats as of Sept 30, 9pm

    66976     62%  13400   castle moat v2
    73039     63%  14000   exploding ground v2
    75929     63%   4400   horizontal exploding ground
    80199     60%   2900   exploding ground small boxes v2
   108937     63%   6500   double double explode v2
   108982    -permanent-   exploding, tall button
   113235     61%   5700   falling pyramid v2
   115767     59%   5200   box ends v2
  
   119389     58%   3800   disappearing act
   119535     60%   3500   three buttons, tall blocks
   119549     57%   3600   temple v2
   121140     52%   3500   invisible shortcut death
   123116     55%   3300   scissor elevators
   123335     58%   3400   trapped, but not
   123524     54%   3300   disappearing funnel
   126151    -permanent-   raising exploding bridge
   126606     63%   2100   lowering then raising bridge
   127869     58%   1900   teeth
   128363     52%   1800   disappearing ice cage
   128899     62%   2000   no! button
   130283     58%   1800   new bridge
   134374     52%   1700   heart
   134744     58%   1700   shaky ground
   135281     58%   1700   falling raising exploding blocks
   136152     58%   1700   dropping blocks
   136276     55%   1600   hidden trampoline
   139581     61%    600   bridge replacement
   144318     62%    399   star
   144965     57%    312   stairway to heaven (map 91)
   145679    -dead-        fake floor
   145807    -dead-        which is true? (map 26)
   146464    -dead-        curtain call
   146955    -dead-        cheese palace walk-through (map 24)
   146977    -dead-        castle walk-through (map 2)
   147743     49%     59   curtain call v2
   149115             27   stop and go
   149376     32%     68   the obvious question
   149416             42   no red, upside down cone (map 98)
   149417             26   no red, ladder to heaven (map 91)
   149420             25   no red, beautiful glaciers (map 72)
   149442             43   glitch maze
   149799             18   no red, knt
   150024              6   swimming pool
   150044              5   walljump, lava, lava

Happy day: another "permanent" map. Affliction showed me a screen earlier that had a different one of my maps permanent (130283 instead of 126151), so I don't know what's up with that.

Important Numbers for Mapmaking

Here are some important numbers. Updated Nov 2011.

Stats as of Sept 29, 11am

    66976     62%  13200   castle moat v2
    73039     63%  13700   exploding ground v2
    75929     63%   4300   horizontal exploding ground
    80199     60%   2700   exploding ground small boxes v2
   108937     64%   6300   double double explode v2
   108982    -permanent-   exploding, tall button
   113235     61%   5500   falling pyramid v2
   115767     59%   4900   box ends v2
  
   119389     59%   3600   disappearing act
   119535     60%   3300   three buttons, tall blocks
   119549     57%   3400   temple v2
   121140     53%   3400   invisible shortcut death
   123116     55%   3000   scissor elevators
   123335     58%   3200   trapped, but not
   123524     54%   3000   disappearing funnel
   126151     63%   2900   raising exploding bridge
   126606     64%   1900   lowering then raising bridge
   127869     59%   1700   teeth
   128363     52%   1600   disappearing ice cage
   128899     62%   1800   no! button
   130283     58%   1700   new bridge
   134374     51%   1400   heart
   134744     58%   1500   shaky ground
   135281     58%   1500   falling raising exploding blocks
   136152     59%   1400   dropping blocks
   136276     55%   1400   hidden trampoline
   139581     61%    500   bridge replacement
   144318     60%    284   star
   144965     52%    193   stairway to heaven (map 91)
   145679    -dead-        fake floor
   145807    -dead-        which is true? (map 26)
   146464    -dead-        curtain call
   146955     41%     65   cheese palace walk-through (map 24)
   146977             42   castle walk-through (map 2)
   147743             16   curtain call v2

146464, 147743 - curtain call

This is a nightmode map, where regular mice start as high as they can--and there's a small gap on the bottom where the black overlay cuts off. So they can just see the cheese and hole--and the shaman's head. The shaman must run through the hurdles and push the ice block to save the other mice. I made an earlier version of this that was tougher for the shaman to finish.

145679, 145807, 146955, 146977 - some fake grounds

The picture and code is for the clone of Which Is True?. The ground is fake like on the usual level (no safe cheese), and I've added invisible ground covering the bottom hole so the shaman must build to the top one. All of these fake ground maps are a little glitchy--the ground will spasm around if you jump on it. My favorite is the clone of Castle, which glitches the least.

   145679    -dead-        fake floor
   145807    -dead-        which is true? (map 26)
   146955     41%     65   cheese palace walk-through (map 24)
   146977             42   castle walk-through (map 2)

Map Shifter

I've been shifting my maps by hand. For example, I'd create things centered at Y=300 and then add 100 to every Y-value when I was finished so I could hide all the mechanics. This was relatively quick and painless, but if I wanted to shift by 50 or 55 it would require a bit more thinking--simple arithmetic, but quite time-consuming.

So, I finally decided to learn some javascript and came up with the following map shifter. You just need to paste the map code into the box, specify the shift amounts (positive x and y values correspond to shifting right and down), and click "Get Code". Then the code for the shifted map will be pasted into the second box. You can copy the code easily by clicking in the box, pressing Ctrl-a to select all, then Ctrl-c to copy. I might add support for mirroring maps (flipping them about X=400) later, although it's a bit more complicated.

Edit: I've added a flip option, which will take place after the shift. If you have any problems, let me know in the comments.

November 2011 update: Both shifting and flipping should work now, and flipping should work on scrolling maps. However, you'll still have to do runes manually.

Stats as of Sept 27, 11am

    66976     62%  12900   castle moat v2
    73039     63%  13400   exploding ground v2
    75929     63%   4000   horizontal exploding ground
    80199     60%   2400   exploding ground small boxes v2
   108937     64%   5900   double double explode v2
   108982    -permanent-   exploding, tall button
   113235     61%   5200   falling pyramid v2
   115767     59%   4600   box ends v2
  
   119389     59%   3300   disappearing act
   119535     60%   3000   three buttons, tall blocks
   119549     57%   3100   temple v2
   121140     52%   3000   invisible shortcut death
   123116     55%   2700   scissor elevators
   123335     58%   3000   trapped, but not
   123524     54%   2700   disappearing funnel
   126151     63%   2600   raising exploding bridge
   126606     63%   1500   lowering then raising bridge
   127869     60%   1400   teeth
   128363     53%   1300   disappearing ice cage
   128899     63%   1400   no! button
   130283     59%   1400   new bridge
   134374     51%   1100   heart
   134744     58%   1100   shaky ground
   135281     57%   1100   falling raising exploding blocks
   136152     58%   1100   dropping blocks
   136276     54%   1100   hidden trampoline
   139581     62%    340   bridge replacement
   144318     65%     93   star
   144965             40   stairway to heaven (map 91)

The shaman-centric 134374 Heart continues its slow death.

144965 - stairway to heaven (map 91)

This is a clone of map 91, Ladder to Heaven, where steps fall down after a short time. The last step is heavy and shoots the others out of place.

144318 - star

I wish I could've figured out another place to put the cheese and hole, because it's fun to keep jumping around the star (although I don't know why).

Stats as of Sept 25, 11am

    66976     62%  12500   castle moat v2
    73039     63%  12900   exploding ground v2
    75929     63%   3500   horizontal exploding ground
    80199     61%   1800   exploding ground small boxes v2
   108937     64%   5500   double double explode v2
   108982    -permanent-   exploding, tall button
   113235     60%   4700   falling pyramid v2
   115767     60%   4100   box ends v2
  
   119389     59%   2800   disappearing act
   119535     59%   2600   three buttons, tall blocks
   119549     58%   2600   temple v2
   121140     52%   2600   invisible shortcut death
   123116     55%   2300   scissor elevators
   123335     58%   2600   trapped, but not
   123524     54%   2300   disappearing funnel
   126151     62%   2200   raising exploding bridge
   126606     63%   1100   lowering then raising bridge
   127869     60%    900   teeth
   128363     52%    800   disappearing ice cage
   128899     63%    900   no! button
   130283     62%    900   new bridge
   134374     54%    600   heart
   134744     57%    700   shaky ground
   135281     60%    600   falling raising exploding blocks
   136152     57%    700   dropping blocks
   136276     55%    700   hidden trampoline
   139581     66%    128   bridge replacement

139581 - bridge replacement

The bottom block continually falls out and is replaced by another that falls from above.

136980 - vote yes

It was about as persuasive as I thought it'd be: not very.

Stats as of Sept 24, 11am

    66976     62%  12200   castle moat v2
    73039     63%  12600   exploding ground v2
    75929     64%   3300   horizontal exploding ground
    80199     61%   1600   exploding ground small boxes v2
   108937     64%   5000   double double explode v2
   108982    -permanent-   exploding, tall button
   113235     61%   4500   falling pyramid v2
   115767     60%   3900   box ends v2
  
   119389     59%   2600   disappearing act
   119535     60%   2400   three buttons, tall blocks
   119549     58%   2400   temple v2
   121140     52%   2300   invisible shortcut death
   123116     54%   2100   scissor elevators
   123335     58%   2300   trapped, but not
   123524     54%   2000   disappearing funnel
   126151     62%   2000   raising exploding bridge
   126606     63%    800   lowering then raising bridge
   127869     63%    600   teeth
   128363     54%    600   disappearing ice cage
   128899     63%    600   no! button
   130283     63%    500   new bridge
   134374     56%    377   heart
   134744     58%    418   shaky ground
   135100    -dead-        hidden ice
   135281     63%    369   falling raising exploding blocks
   135453    -dead-        math fail
   135463    -dead-        hidden ice v2
   136152     59%    366   dropping blocks
   136207    -dead-        hidden lava 
   136226    -dead-        hidden chocolate
   136276     54%    348   hidden trampoline
   136980    -dead-        vote yes
   139581             45   bridge replacement

Stats as of Sept 23, 10am

    66976     62%  12100   castle moat v2
    73039     63%  12400   exploding ground v2
    75929     65%   3100   horizontal exploding ground
    80199     61%   1400   exploding ground small boxes v2
   108937     64%   5000   double double explode v2
   108982    -permanent-   exploding, tall button
   113235     61%   4400   falling pyramid v2
   115767     60%   3800   box ends v2
  
   119389     59%   2500   disappearing act
   119535     60%   2300   three buttons, tall blocks
   119549     58%   2200   temple v2
   121140     52%   2100   invisible shortcut death
   123116     55%   1900   scissor elevators
   123335     59%   2100   trapped, but not
   123524     54%   1900   disappearing funnel
   126151     62%   1800   raising exploding bridge
   126606     64%    600   lowering then raising bridge
   127869     63%    460   teeth
   128363     53%    470   disappearing ice cage
   128899     62%    430   no! button
   130283     62%    362   new bridge
   134374     57%    259   heart
   134744     58%    141   shaky ground
   135100    -dead-        hidden ice
   135281     62%    217   falling raising exploding blocks
   135453    -dead-        math fail
   135463     50%    163   hidden ice v2
   136152     61%    176   dropping blocks
   136207    -dead-        hidden lava 
   136226     34%     97   hidden chocolate
   136276     59%    188   hidden trampoline
   136980    -dead-        vote yes

Quite a few of the newer ones have dropped significantly since yesterday--heart -6%, shaky ground -7%, hidden ice v2 -10%, dropping blocks -7%, all with roughly twice as many votes.

Stats as of Sept 22, 10am

    66976     63%  11900   castle moat v2
    73039     63%  12300   exploding ground v2
    75929     65%   3000   horizontal exploding ground
    80199     62%   1300   exploding ground small boxes v2
   108937     64%   4900   double double explode v2
   108982    -permanent-   exploding, tall button
   113235     61%   4200   falling pyramid v2
   115767     60%   3600   box ends v2
  
   119389     60%   2400   disappearing act
   119535     60%   2100   three buttons, tall blocks
   119549     58%   2000   temple v2
   121140     52%   2000   invisible shortcut death
   123116     55%   1800   scissor elevators
   123335     59%   1900   trapped, but not
   123524     53%   1800   disappearing funnel
   126151     62%   1700   raising exploding bridge
   126606     64%    500   lowering then raising bridge
   127869     62%    383   teeth
   128363     51%    372   disappearing ice cage
   128899     64%    314   no! button
   130283     62%    283   new bridge
   132570    -dead-        semicircle
   132639    -dead-        semicircle v2
   132970    -dead-        box elevator
   133547    -dead-        orthogonal elevators
   133604    -dead-        up
   134374     63%    128   heart
   134744     65%    141   shaky ground
   135100    -dead-        hidden ice
   135281     61%    134   falling raising exploding blocks
   135453     50%    141   math fail
   135463     60%     93   hidden ice v2
   136152     68%     57   dropping blocks
   136207     45%     51   hidden lava 
   136226             44   hidden chocolate
   136276     62%     79   hidden trampoline
   136980             41   vote yes

The last of those five shaman maps is at 63%, so maybe it was just that the other four sucked. I might slow down on making maps, they take a lot longer to get voted on now that the threshold's been lowered to 50%.

136207, 136226, 136276 - hidden lava, chocolate, trampoline

In the middle of the ground is invisible lava (slightly toned down), which gives mice a boost as they run to the cheese. I also made a couple maps in the same vein with chocolate and trampoline ground.

136152 - dropping blocks

The buttons on the right lower the blocks, eventually revealing cheese and the hole. One guess what the button on the left does.

135463 - hidden ice v2

There's ice hidden behind the middle of the center block.

135453 - math fail

I reward wrong answers here--kids who can't do basic arithmetic have it bad enough already.

135281 - falling, raising, exploding blocks

I think the title explains it well enough.

135100 - hidden ice

There's ice behind the top part of the platform, so mice can't climb it.

Stats as of Sept 21, 11am

    66976     63%  11700   castle moat v2
    73039     63%  11900   exploding ground v2
    75929     65%   2900   horizontal exploding ground
    80199     62%   1300   exploding ground small boxes v2
   108937     65%   4700   double double explode v2
   108982    -permanent-   exploding, tall button
   113235     61%   4000   falling pyramid v2
   115767     59%   3400   box ends v2
  
   119389     59%   2100   disappearing act
   119535     60%   1800   three buttons, tall blocks
   119549     58%   1800   temple v2
   121140     51%   1700   invisible shortcut death
   123116     55%   1600   scissor elevators
   123335     59%   1700   trapped, but not
   123524     53%   1600   disappearing funnel
   126151     61%   1500   raising exploding bridge
   126606     63%    435   lowering then raising bridge
   127869     61%    351   teeth
   128363     55%    268   disappearing ice cage
   128899     65%    231   no! button
   130283     62%    213   new bridge
   132570    -dead-        semicircle
   132639    -dead-        semicircle v2
   132970    -dead-        box elevator
   133547    -dead-        orthogonal elevators
   133604    -dead-        up
   134374             48   heart
   134744     64%     73   shaky ground
   135100             39   hidden ice
   135281             49   falling raising exploding blocks
   135453     53%     54   math fail
   135463             14   hidden ice v2

Not surprisingly, four of the five the shaman maps have died, and the other only has 48 votes.

134744, 156455 - shaky ground

The ground bounces up and down.

134374 - heart

To get to the cheese the shaman must break a heart...

133604 - up

The arrows and balloons and partially-made aircraft should give the shaman enough of a hint that the cheese and hole are above the screen.

133547 - orthogonal elevators

I thought this was a neat idea. Mice can go left-right when the elevator is up, but when it lowers, that route is blocked. Similarly, mice can ride up and down the elevator, but they can't get off on the middle floor.

132970 - box elevator

The shaman starts trapped in the first elevator--he must figure out to summon a small box below him to push himself out. Then he can use the same idea to lift the mice to the cheese. The bottom of the elevator can be pushed out in case the shaman needs to clear it of boxes.

132639 - semicircle v2

Another map where the shaman is separated from the other mice.

132570 - semicircle

There's a couple of horizontal planks behind the title bar, with a small gap in the center for the shaman to escape.

Stats as of Sept 20, 11am

    57270   -dead- 12000?  sliding cheese palace (map 24)
    66976     63%  11500   castle moat v2
    73039     63%  11700   exploding ground v2
    75929     65%   2800   horizontal exploding ground
    80199     62%   1200   exploding ground small boxes v2
   108937     65%   4100   double double explode v2
   108982    -permanent-   exploding, tall button
   113235     61%   3800   falling pyramid v2
   115767     59%   3100   box ends v2
  
   119389     59%   1700   disappearing act
   119535     60%   1600   three buttons, tall blocks
   119549     59%   1500   temple v2
   121140     52%   1500   invisible shortcut death
   123116     55%   1300   scissor elevators
   123335     60%   1400   trapped, but not
   123524     53%   1300   disappearing funnel
   126151     62%   1100   raising exploding bridge
   126606     62%    353   lowering then raising bridge
   126937    -dead-        double trap
   127869     62%    265   teeth
   128363     54%    222   disappearing ice cage
   128744    -dead-        circle ferris wheel
   128899     70%    167   no! button
   130283     65%    120   new bridge
   130689    -dead-        invisible and invalid
   131111    -dead-        temple v3
   131155    -dead-        just invalid
   132570             33   semicircle
   132639             36   semicircle v2
   132970     29%     58   box elevator
   133547             34   orthogonal elevators
   133604     37%     70   up

Box elevator is one of my favorite maps. :(

Stats as of Sept 19, 10am

    57270   -dead- 12000?  sliding cheese palace (map 24)
    66976     63%  11200   castle moat v2
    73039     63%  11500   exploding ground v2
    75929     65%   2700   horizontal exploding ground
    80199     62%   1100   exploding ground small boxes v2
   108937     65%   4100   double double explode v2
   108982    -permanent-   exploding, tall button
   113235     62%   3400   falling pyramid v2
   115767     60%   2900   box ends v2
  
   119389     61%   1400   disappearing act
   119535     61%   1300   three buttons, tall blocks
   119549     59%   1300   temple v2
   121140     52%   1100   invisible shortcut death
   123116     55%   1000   scissor elevators
   123335     60%   1100   trapped, but not
   123524     53%   1000   disappearing funnel
   126151     62%    800   raising exploding bridge
   126606     61%    285   lowering then raising bridge
   126937     52%    240   double trap
   127869     62%    215   teeth
   128363     52%    145   disappearing ice cage
   128744    -dead-        circle ferris wheel
   128899     69%    104   no! button
   130283     60%     65   new bridge
   130689             38   invisible and invalid
   131111             33   temple v3
   131155     39%     53   just invalid

How does a map with 63% after 11900 votes die just 14 hours later? It's mathematically impossible of course.

131111 - temple v3

The temple falls down slowly, and later the bottom falls out.

130689, 131155 - invisible and invalid

Mice will phase through the invisible ground, and hit the bottom with enough force to bounce up--not high enough for the cheese, but high enough to reach the small planks, which they can then walljump to get the cheese. I submitted this a second time with normal ground.

130283 - new bridge

The button on the right will explode the bridge, and the button on the left will raise a new bridge, in the same place as the old one.

Stats as of Sept 18, 8pm

    57270     63%  11900   sliding cheese palace (map 24)
    66976     63%  11000   castle moat v2
    73039     63%  11300   exploding ground v2
    75929     65%   2700   horizontal exploding ground
    80199     62%   1000   exploding ground small boxes v2
   108937     65%   4000   double double explode v2
   108982    -permanent-   exploding, tall button
   113235     62%   3300   falling pyramid v2
   115767     60%   2700   box ends v2

   119389     61%   1200   disappearing act
   119535     61%   1200   three buttons, tall blocks
   119549     59%   1100   temple v2
   121140     53%   1000   invisible shortcut death
   123116     56%    900   scissor elevators
   123335     62%    900   trapped, but not
   123524     54%    800   disappearing funnel
   126151     62%    700   raising exploding bridge
   126606     63%    216   lowering then raising bridge
   126937     52%    214   double trap
   127869     58%    159   teeth
   128363     52%    110   disappearing ice cage
   128744     53%    105   circle ferris wheel
   128899     76%     55   no! button
   130283             32   new bridge
   130689             18   invisible and invalid
   131111              0   temple v3
   131155              0   just invalid

Well, there's one in the 70%'s! Of course, only 55 votes, but I haven't seen anything that high (by anyone) for a few weeks.

Also, this is my 100th post on the blog. Didn't really expect to make this many, not to mention this quickly.

Stats as of Sept 18, 3am

    57270     63%  11600   sliding cheese palace (map 24)
    66976     63%  10700   castle moat v2
    73039     63%  11000   exploding ground v2
    75929     65%   2500   horizontal exploding ground
    80199     64%    800   exploding ground small boxes v2
   108937     65%   3700   double double explode v2
   108982    -permanent-   exploding, tall button
   113235     62%   3000   falling pyramid v2
   115767     60%   2500   box ends v2
  
   119389     61%   1000   disappearing act
   119535     61%   1000   three buttons, tall blocks
   119549     59%    900   temple v2
   121140     53%    700   invisible shortcut death
   123116     56%    600   scissor elevators
   123335     62%    600   trapped, but not
   123524     53%    500   disappearing funnel
   126151     65%    402   raising exploding bridge
   126606     63%    138   lowering then raising bridge
   126937     52%    125   double trap
   127869     61%     88   teeth
   128363     51%     52   disappearing ice cage
   128744             50   circle ferris wheel
   128899             28   no! button

They looked over the permanent maps today and undid a bunch of them, including two of mine. Whatever. Still haven't seen a map in the 70%'s, and I've been looking.