Not actually sorry, but it's been kinda cool to come back to Bopimo months after making a level to see the chaos I've stirred up, all because my level was added to an event (thank you though, it's an honor). But I actually do have some thoughts about the level after playing it for the first time in months, and I'll share them here:

The level design is at its peak on the first floor, and at its worst on the fourth floor (Floor 3). There's a magic in the gameplay of Floor 1 that I hadn't been able to capture in the following floors. And I was well aware of this while building the level. I went from building a somewhat linear level with some organic level skips, to building a multi-routed level with manufactured level skips. Not to mention, the two frustrating level set pieces introduced in the latter sections (disappearing wall jumps and portal wall jumps). Those two set pieces might've actually been the primary source of frustration for most people, especially those that criticize the gameplay of BRUTE. And it's unfortunate that these few obstacles soured an otherwise okay level.

But I have never seen "bad level design" and "bad gameplay" be the common sentiment on any other level on this platform (at least to this degree). And I mean ANY, because I've checked! I've looked through featured levels, levels with few plays, and even levels with lower ratings. But then finally... I found one level with a somewhat similar reaction from players. It was my own "Bopimopolis Run" level from early last year that had a similar "bad level design/gameplay" sentiment from the community. I asked myself, "Is it me? Am I not capable of making a good level?"

I went back to the drawing board and sketched out level design concepts. I studied the popular levels that people seemed to enjoy. I noticed that were levels even more difficult than BRUTE, but had praises from the community. However, I already knew that it wasn't the difficulty that was the problem, but rather, it was my arrangement of platforms, obstacles, and challenges. Going outside of Bopimo, I explored platforming classics such as Tarzan Untamed for PS2 and all of the Gex games. And I think I've arrived at some key points:

-When designing a difficult platforming challenge, do not demand a precise series of inputs from the player if learning those inputs is not possible through trial and error alone (AND the player must be able to clearly see their own progress in learning those inputs through trial and error; see "Casa De Galunga" and its approach to demanding just a bit more precision with each section)
-Precision platforming should at least be easily readable and work with Bopimo's mechanical strengths. For example: If a player has trouble moving their camera at the "right angle" to complete a wall jumping section, you've already made a mistake.
-Obstacles that don't get much easier after progressing through them many times are usually poorly designed.
-The best difficult platforming challenges have a central gameplay theme that persists throughout the entire level. If that theme changes or evolves in anyway, it must be made clear to the player. See "Gilded Glideway" and its pattern of: enter new section > improve muscle memory with each unique obstacle > get closer to star with each try until you finally do > repeat. In this level's case, the central gameplay theme is 'memorization'.

TO SUMMARIZE: BRUTE is a frustrating level in its latter half with some of its questionably designed obstacles. This results in an overall unfun experience for most, especially if most of your time is spent trying to progress through a frustrating section.

The criticism on this level is valid. I just ask that people be sharper in their criticism or general feelings. And I'm not asking for a dissertation. A casual comment remarking "bad gameplay" can be replaced with "the wall jumping and portal sections were bad". If you feel all of the level's sections were "bad", I welcome you to say that as well!

Thanks for reading, apologies for the essay.

before laughabilitys video on roblox clones featuring bopimo in it, the weekly was gonna be BRUTE except we can't give a hard as hell level to thousands of new comers so it was moved to presentpalooza as it's hardest level for a cool reward

sorry if i didnt really say anything about the gameplay in my comments, you were right as to see that it was only the dissapearing wall jumps and the fourth section, really bopimo comments have very limited space and waiting a minute for me to continue my thoughts takes too long, so i would say that is more of a issue of the site, reasonably though brute is a good level decoration wise and as it is a "Hard level" the people running presentpalooza wanted a hard level for some of the better event prizes, thus resulting in this, though i think its nice that after seeing all of this you can take some glances at your level design and maybe youll make a better gameplay level, Or you know you could collab with someone good at gameplay and then decorate it (CASA DE GLAUNGA THAT WAS CASA DE GALUNGA SHOUTOUTS TO VELVET)

BRUTE was awesome wdym

honestly it was really hard and really long, i think that was the main issue (yes yes im newgen so its was hard for me)

if it was hard and decent size, i don't think people would've hated it as much; and vice versa.

it was a really well-built level tho, and I commend you for that!

thats actually really interesting

good move tho i think most ppl would've ragequitted

it was originally gonna be weekly?
does that mean it wasn't originally gonna have an item reward? because if so that is just straight messed up

Nothing wrong with the level i'd say, but i also cheese'd the hell out of it so how would i know.

Though its guaranteed that if it wasnt an event level, 80% of people wouldn't dislike it as much.

You could say this really but the level would still be good if it was long, but having parts that were bad level design-wise bogs down the whole thing, if those parts were made better it would be a good level and it would just take awhile to beat, its not really about how hard it is or how long it is but rather how much your enjoying it during that time

This is kind of true, levels being in events usually causes alot more hate because well, levels vary in difficulty and other things, people like WolfmanFur may not like gilded glideway due to their personal preferences but the general populous will because of their personal preferences, some people may just not be able to beat some levels and get mad about it or lots of things, i think limiting events to Go for all the Audiences is Stupid though so just having to deal with it is just something that will have to be dealt with, at the end of the day it isnt Tooo serious and events like presentpaloozi and fall festivo have multipble levels that could fit your own preferences, in brutes case though you could say brutes reception was kind of the same as it is now, i defintely saw alot of people saying the platforming was questionable with only Zorch saying it was cool mainly just cause well of the alot of speedrun skips (I GUESS THE LEVEL IS GOOD FOR SPEEDRUNNERS NEWS FLASH THATS THE BRUTE AUDIENCE)