Cloud Temple - Levels 313 - 318

[Phaedrakiki]

I just arrived at Cloud Temple, and these levels are cool-looking (kinda futuristic or something.) I was eager to try these when this post first went up. But now that I'm here, I see that most of the levels (including the first 3) are timed...with doom jewels! I'm hoping I can get through them fast, cuz nothing's more frustrating than timed doom jewel levels you can't pass (and your 5 energies are used up like that! (finger snap. )

Level 313: 52 glass in :50 (4JC.) This level is tricky, because the 3-column wide sections with the doom jewels in them portal to each other (as do the ones that are 4-columns wide.) So, you have to make matches in the bottom sections to get jewels to flow thru the portals. If you don't have a match for a doom jewel in the lower left area, you can make any match there...to get the jewels moving (in hopes you'll get the color you need.) The other option is to make/use special jewels, like blasters...or lots of diamonds would be nice! I have no idea how I'll ever be able to make specials, though. So far, all my time's spent concentrating on clearing doomies. I've played this 3 times so far; that 50 seconds is over fast. The round's over even faster when your doom jewel has no match & explodes! Ugh, awaiting energy... I'm hoping I'll get the hang of this quickly, and get a lucky board with several diamonds & combo opportunities. Having only 4 colors should make it easier to create specials~

[Phaedrakiki]

I did it! Once I got used to 313's board layout, it wasn't as overwhelming as I thought. I still had doom jewel explosions occasionally, but it became a little easier to break the glass. I had one blaster + bomb combo, and the rest was regular matching and blasters/other single specials. I had one diamond (hard to make, since they can only be made after the crates are broken--only place wide enough for 5-match.) The diamond saved me from a doom jewel about to explode. Swapped it with matching color--rescued! Only 1 star, which is becoming a bad habit lately. Have to work harder, which is difficult when these levels get more & more tough!

[Phaedrakiki]

Level 314: 28 glass in 2:55 (4JC.) They added 10 seconds to this since Aileeni's post, but wow is this one tricky! I'm still trying to figure out the portals. I studied the screenshots, read the earlier post, etc.--but I'm still confused. It doesn't seem to be doing what I thought it would. The 4 separate areas that have to be blasted (twice!) are SO difficult to get. Just when you get a vertical blaster, it detonates early or gets portaled away. I'm hoping I'll get better with practice, cuz this feels impossible right now. Here go some more attempts...

[Phaedrakiki]

Well, I never did figure out 314's portals, but I still passed it (yay!) I was able to do 2 blaster + bomb combos, and some vertical blasters (some actually hitting the right spots, lol!) I was SO excited to pass; I feared I'd be stuck a long time. Having only 4 colors in use makes these less intimidating, and the doom jewels not as much of a problem as they can sometimes be...

Level 315: 10 fire in 1:00 (4JC.) The time goes by so fast on this one. I had a doom jewel explode once, but I got thru to the end the other 4 times. I tried to make lots of horizontal blasters as well as bombs & other specials. Combined a few blaster + bombs, which take out the side fires nicely, but very hard to get them all in just a minute! I also made a diamond + blaster combo, but it mostly created vertical blasters (didn't hit much of the fire at all.*) It takes a long time for the moving jewels to get in their places--a big time waster! I'm not exactly sure how the portals in this level work, either...but I don't want to waste precious clock time figuring it out, lol. Doesn't really matter, I suppose. Just gotta move fast and get the right combo opportunities to extinguish all that fire! Awaiting energy to try, try again...

*Wish I knew for sure how diamond + blaster combos are programmed to work. What dictates whether you get mostly vertical or horizontal blasters from the combined swap? The type of blaster? The direction of the swap (blaster & diamond in same row...or column?) Or is it totally random? I've tried to pay attention as I play, but I haven't figured it out yet. Maybe it is just random...

[Phaedrakiki]

Finally! Took me awhile to get thru 315--I really dislike that level. I did appreciate the fact that the fire didn't spread. But time was over so fast. And the portals kept the jewels moving so much--I couldn't make bombs, which were needed for a blaster + bomb combo. By the time I'd see an "L" or "T" config., it had become a blaster or something else. I made lots of blasters, too, but so many would detonate in the wrong places. That level's just too "fast" for me! Many times I tried a diamond + blaster, but it didn't put out much fire, if any! So, I don't recommend that combo for this level (but I only got one star, so what do I know? Lol. ) Actually, diamonds in general didn't help me much in this level. Maybe if you needed a quick doom jewel clear or to detonate a blaster in a certain spot. But there's not much time for planning here, lol! Good luck!

[Phaedrakiki]

I'm actually stuck on level 320 right now, but I want to finish what I started, hehe. While I was playing the remaining levels of this island, I kept notes in one of this thread's comment boxes on my laptop. I had a bunch of tabs open, doing a gazillion things at once. Of course, Murphy's Law struck, and I had to force close my browser. I was hoping the auto-save feature would save me, but no--lost all my notes. So bummed! I wanted to add the basic info on the remaining levels, but my memory's pretty bad. At least my screenshots will help with the stats, lol~

Level 316: Dig 11 meters in 55 moves (5JC.) No changes since post #5. This one took me quite a few attempts to pass--that darn super dirt really can trip you up sometimes! If you don't have a blaster + bomb, you need the right blaster type aimed in the right place. So many times my specials would detonate early...or other things would go wrong. Can't remember how I passed this, but I'm sure it was fun, lol!

During one round I combined a diamond and bomb (pretty sure it wouldn't help me with my super dirt, but I couldn't remember exactly what that combo did, and my round wasn't going very well anyway.) Here are before & after screenshots:



The diamond + bomb is circled in pink in the first photo. The 2nd photo is taken right after--but you can see the super dirt is not affected at all. I guess I always assumed a diamond swapped with a bomb made an explosion and also cleared the onscreen jewels the same color as the bomb. It always seemed to so something else, too (all that twinkling, haha) but I never paid that close attention. All I knew is that the combo's effective on glass & regular digging levels...but definitely not super dirt, as shown here. So what does a diamond + bomb combo do--exactly? (The "advanced combinations" section of the Jewel Mania - Basics thread says this combo makes a larger explosion (than a bomb,) but that's not what happened here. I don't think it's the "full story" either, unless it's changed over the course of the game, maybe? If someone knows for sure (who pays attention better than me, lol,) please post. Next time I go back to play a lower level, I'll try to pay attention...see if I can figure out what *exactly* the combo does. (I'm also still wondering how diamond + blaster combos are programmed--my question from post #14...)

[Phaedrakiki]

Level 317: 38 glass in 40 moves (5JC.) No changes since post #6. I passed this one on my 2nd try, which surprised me (because it looks SO challenging--got lucky for sure!) The 1st round I played, the screen re-shuffled, cluttering the board with black boxes. It made it very difficult to create special jewels to blast those L-shaped areas. But my next board was great. I remember I did a blaster + bomb combo towards the bottom early-on in the round. I think it blasted the lower L-shape, but I still see black jewels there in the photo below. But I guess they would've been pulled to the bottom L from the upper one (or maybe I'm not remembering correctly...) There were other good combos & well-aimed blasts in that round. Wish I could remember them (my notes! waa-waa *tears*)

This is one of the few levels on this island where I understand the portals completely (at least, I think so, lol.) A cleared jewel in column 6 pulls jewels through 4 and 2 (in green 2, out red 4, in green 4, out red 6.) The same thing with columns 1, 3, & 5. And then the L-shapes portal to each other...blasting the bottom L pull jewels through the portals from the upper one.

I've added some screenshots:



In the first pic, there's an area that didn't fill in with jewels for some reason (circled in green.) Luckily it didn't stay that way...it did start working again. Not sure if it's a glitch, or maybe it has something to do with the black jewel in the other L-shape? Maybe until you clear the bottom one, it won't pull a jewel through the portal or something? Oh, wait--that's not it bcuz there's already a turquoise jewel above it, which had to have come through the portal. Hmmm...

Anyway, I'm not sure why I took the 2nd screenshot. Maybe I was just realizing how my game wasn't looking very good...2 glass left, no good combo material in sight. But I made a match, and because of the portal movement, got some good blaster set ups. Plus, the moving jewels automatically broke that top glass in column 1. In the 3rd photo, I'm down to my last move with 1 glass left. I looked at the final glass in the upper L-shape, and then couldn't believe it when I saw I had that yellow blaster and the perfect set up to detonate it! Only 1 star, but I'll take it. And I'll definitely play this one again. Very fun!

[schnuffles]

I'm actually stuck on level 320 right now, but I want to finish what I started, hehe. While I was playing the remaining levels of this island, I kept notes in one of this thread's comment boxes on my laptop. I had a bunch of tabs open, doing a gazillion things at once. Of course, Murphy's Law struck, and I had to force close my browser. I was hoping the auto-save feature would save me, but no--lost all my notes. So bummed!

Way to take your posts seriously; I love the commitment!!

Keep it comin', Phaedrakiki!

[Phaedrakiki]

Lol, thanks Schnuffles! I haven't forgotten your request for portal feedback, either. I thought I'd do the levels all at once, after I finish the last level...

[finnth12]

I'm stuck on 315 although it's cool feature but again timed level are so intense, lol.