Custom-panels (channel)
#custom_panels is a channel where people post Witness panels that are mostly full of original content. Notably people who finished the game and wanted more Witness content can check out the channel. This channel allows for extremely interesting and difficult puzzles not normally seen in vanilla Witness[1].
Channel Content
The channel has 2 main types of puzzles. Puzzles that explore new symbols/gimmicks, and Puzzles with existing symbols/gimmicks.
Puzzles exploring new symbols/gimmicks
Most of the time, this set of puzzles explores a symbol/gimmick and tutorializes how it works. There are multiple ways to tutorialize such puzzles, such as:
- Explaining the symbol's rules directly.
- Showing examples of the symbol being satisfied/unsatisfied.
- Posting a set of images and using discord to query answers.
- Creating a set by porting the correct set of solutions to Looksy and using the foreground option to make the symbol. (The most quality and effort needed)
- Combination of the above.
It is required that this set requires either Looksy or a screenshot and an editor to work. There are also a few tools that can help the process, such as Kube's Symbol Editor The main guideline is to try to communicate the player about the rules of the symbol in a "good"[2] way. This guideline can be ignored for artistic purposes. There are lots of design guidelines that are recommended to be followed and for some examples, check out Kate's Guide and Prod's Guide.
Puzzles reusing existing symbols/gimmicks
Sometimes, the set of puzzles uses these elements to make a challenge. It can be easy, hard, have lots of modded symbols, or just vanilla witness symbols. There are lots of ways to craft such puzzles. Engines included are The Windmill, The Witness Puzzles, Looksy, and WTW. The Windmill and The Witness Puzzles have a feature to post puzzles online (although The Windmill's sign-in is defunct.). Looksy and WTW allows for modded symbols to be used. Bigger puzzles should follow some pen and paper puzzle guidelines.
Artifact of other puzzles
In previous times there were non-witness puzzles in the channel posted before, but at some point the mods separated the witness puzzles with the other puzzles. #custom_puzzles became the new location for puzzles.
History
Unknown: (Former) #custom-puzzles is created.
Unknown: The Windmill is created.
Unknown: The Witness Puzzles is created.
Unknown: Looksy is created.
Unknown: WTW is created.
Unknown: (Former) #custom-puzzles is renamed to #custom-panels and #custom-puzzles gets created in place of it.
Unknown: Kube's puzzle randomizer tool is created.
Unknown: Kube's symbol editor tool is created.
Unknown: Kate's design guide is created.
Unknown: Prod's design guide is created.
Notes
- ↑ Because Jonathan Blow is a coward.
- ↑ Good is subjective in this case, it can mean in a way that guides the players into thinking more polished rules at a smooth pace, or communicating a complicated rule well.