The NSMB Hacking Domain » Garmichael's Level Design Contest!

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Hiccup	Posted on 11-07-12, 11:26 am Hi. Link ID: 18046 +0
Birdo Karma: 2799 Posts: 285/2091 Since: 06-26-11	You have to critique all of the levels. I need to find my acekard soon, or I won't be able too.

MarioSunshine

Posted on 11-07-12, 12:34 pm (rev. 1 by

MarioSunshine on 11-07-12, 12:37 pm)

Link
ID: 18047
+0

Fuzz Ball
KirbyFanatic64 (LOL)

Karma: 1386
Posts: 652/950
Since: 11-13-11

Excuse me please, I want to clarify something. For the video, I don't know why that it became as weird as it was. I'm surprised that the video goes wide as hell, because at first it wasn't. IIRC Youtube was saying it would crop some blank spaces for me, but it turned worse.

Anyway, I reupload and it looks as what I expected now.

For the blank bottom part, it's because the bottom screen path hadn't been set correctly at the time the video was made. But I didn't know how to record only one screen yet, so I thought I should hide the bottom screen first, but if it looks worse, I'm sorry.

I swear I'm not copying from you,

Hiccup. I haven't looked into your level at all. In fact, I would wait for the level pack

Dirbaio's making to play yours. To tell the truth, if I copied your level, mine would be better in trash instead of in the contest.

_________________________

Mario Bros. Super Star | PkSunshines Youtube Channel

Great games must be fun, not fancy.

Music Hacker needed! PM me if you wish!

CreativiPie	Posted on 11-07-12, 01:33 pm (rev. 1 by CreativiPie on 11-07-12, 01:38 pm) Hi. Link ID: 18049 +0
Pokey me some orange juice my hand Karma: 674 Posts: 37/699 Since: 09-24-12	For those who tried my level uptill now... Please re-download! I updated them, because there was some problems in it. Also, if at the end, the tile that supports the castle seems to stop there, just don't care about it.

Dirbaio

Posted on 11-07-12, 03:25 pm (rev. 1 by

Dirbaio on 11-07-12, 09:58 pm)

Link
ID: 18060
+4

Super Mario
( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

Karma: 10131
Posts: 2816/4458
Since: 06-08-11

So here's the patch!
http://nsmbhd.net/get.php?id=701

Levels (by submission order, except gridatttack's, that had 3 areas):

1-1: MarioFanatic64
1-2: Freeze
1-3: Nothing. (Because it has only one area...)
1-Tower: RiksKing
1-4: Dirbaio
1-5: Piranhaplant
1-Castle: Hiccup

2-1: MarioSunshine
2-2: Py_hacker
2-3: TRS
2-4: Garmichael
2-Tower: Gridatttack

I haven't tested all the levels yet (will do it right now).
If there's something weird, just tell me.

One thing I noticed.

RiksKing: your level has the weird "grid" FG effect. I looked at your level and you have sprite 324: Grassland Clouds FG effect. It shows up as a weird grid in no$gba because you haven't set sprite data properly. On your video it doesn't show up at all. I'm going to test on real DS right now. If it shows up as broken on the real DS I'll wait for you to tell me what to do: remove it or fix it or what.

RiksKing	Posted on 11-07-12, 03:54 pm Hi. Link ID: 18064 +0
Porcupo Captivated by Persona 4 Karma: 605 Posts: 205/306 Since: 01-06-12	I never noticed it. I'm sorry. But this can also be because I never play games on No$Gba. Anyway, if it still shows up wrong, can you please remove it? And thanks for finding it out, because I never play games on No$gba. _________________________ I apologize to everyone for my horrible English.

SuperMarioThree	Posted on 11-07-12, 04:00 pm Hi. Link ID: 18065 +0
Red Goomba Molto Bene Studios Karma: -9 Posts: 5/36 Since: 10-10-12	Cool! I join in this! _________________________ New Sunshine Mario Bros. https://moltobenestudios.wordpress.com/

Dirbaio	Posted on 11-07-12, 04:02 pm Hi. Link ID: 18066 +0
Super Mario ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) Karma: 10131 Posts: 2818/4458 Since: 06-08-11	The deadline for submitting your level is already over. Sorry! If you still want to participate in this round, you can donwload the patch and score each level. Or you can wait for the next contest, there will be more!

RiksKing	Posted on 11-07-12, 05:41 pm (rev. 1 by RiksKing on 11-07-12, 05:53 pm) Hi. Link ID: 18067 +0
Porcupo Captivated by Persona 4 Karma: 605 Posts: 206/306 Since: 01-06-12	I've tested my level on my DS, and it seems that the weird FG effect can be seen clearly It's a kind of a sniper, red line, grid effect or something like that . Dirbaio, can you remove it? Or should I remove it? _________________________ I apologize to everyone for my horrible English.

Freeze

Posted on 11-07-12, 07:03 pm

Link
ID: 18069
+0

Karma: 3772
Posts: 1610/2112
Since: 06-28-11

My critiques are here now! They have some higher quality that we are supposed to do them. Just for you guys!

To the people who don't know what I mean with "wrong placed ruin tiles", here is the explanation:

If you see something unfair just contact me. I may also update this critique sometimes.

Dirbaio is not in, because the patch did not contain the underground area of

Dirbaio's Level. Sorry!

Dirbaio

Posted on 11-07-12, 07:39 pm (rev. 2 by

Dirbaio on 11-07-12, 09:47 pm)

Link
ID: 18070
+0

Super Mario
( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

Karma: 10131
Posts: 2819/4458
Since: 06-08-11

http://nsmbhd.net/get.php?id=701

New patch.
Fixed:
- Underground area in my level. For some reason it was sending me to 1-1 Area 3 instead of 1-4 Area 3. WTF. So I imported my area 3 into 1-1 area 3 and it works. But it's weird as fuck.
- Wrong midway entrance in Piranahplant's level
- Bad FG effects in RiksKing's.

~~TRS's level blackscreens on Area 2 on a real DS but not on emulators. I have no idea why. Everything seems to be right. Maybe it's the unused chain chomp without log ?~~
~~I copied the ROM again and now it doesn't freeze. Phail.~~
Nope I was testing wrong level. It freezes O.o.
BUt TRS told me it works for him. WTF.

My critiques are coming soon

Garmichael	Posted on 11-07-12, 10:07 pm (rev. 1 by Garmichael on 11-07-12, 10:07 pm) Hi. Link ID: 18078 +0
Ninji Retired staff Karma: 601 Posts: 192/229 Since: 06-30-11	Posted by Freeze The highlight of this contest should concentrate on ruins I guess. Where does it say that?

TRS	Posted on 11-07-12, 10:09 pm Hi. Link ID: 18079 +0
Doesn't actually do anything. Karma: 3042 Posts: 27/653 Since: 10-22-12	Posted by Garmichael Posted by Freeze The highlight of this contest should concentrate on ruins I guess. Where does it say that? That's never explicitly stated anywhere, but it's heavily implied given the name of the challenge: "Exploring the Sky Ruins". ♪♫♩♬

RiksKing

Posted on 11-07-12, 10:30 pm (rev. 5 by

RiksKing on 11-08-12, 05:57 am)

Link
ID: 18080
+0

Porcupo
Captivated by Persona 4

Karma: 605
Posts: 207/306
Since: 01-06-12

First I have to say that everyone did a good job at making their levels. And please, don't take the critiques too harsh,
and remember this: I'm writing them for improving your design, and not to demotivating it

.
So here are mine critiques. I did my best to write down something positive about each level

And if there's something you don't agree on, contact me.

Again. Please don't take the critiques too harsh

_________________________
I apologize to everyone for my horrible English.

CreativiPie	Posted on 11-07-12, 11:01 pm Hi. Link ID: 18081 +0
Pokey me some orange juice my hand Karma: 674 Posts: 38/699 Since: 09-24-12	Posted by RiksKing - Desert music in a Ruin Area? Yes, because desert make me think to ruins. (desert --> pyramids and ancient civilisations --> ruins) Posted by RiksKing - There were some (invisible) bricks which were put so low, it was annoying to pass it, and it was also often my death in this level. Well, maybe they're low, but how could they kill Mario?

Dirbaio	Posted on 11-07-12, 11:18 pm Hi. Link ID: 18082 +0
Super Mario ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) Karma: 10131 Posts: 2822/4458 Since: 06-08-11	lol what is it with the spoilers? Why don't people put all the critiques in ONE spoiler and RiksKing: the "entering with adoor and exiting with a pipe" in my level is because the patch is wrong.

Garmichael

Posted on 11-08-12, 02:40 am

Link
ID: 18092
+0

Ninji
Retired staff

Karma: 601
Posts: 193/229
Since: 06-30-11

1-1: MarioFanatic64

Requirements: 10/10

Design: 12/20
Blind falls, unfair enemy placement, small gaps that are hard to get through as big mario, hard to tell when you can go down

Polish: 16/20
Bad camera was really bad

1-2: Freeze

Requirements: 10/10

Design: 14/20
Unfair Boomerang Bro placement in a lot of places, the second ruins part is too random without any real challenge, strange pathing

Polish: 15/20
Camera doesnt pan up enough, and there were many parts where the camera 'jumped' back and forth because of empty blocks.

1-Tower: RiksKing
Requirements: 10/10

Design: 10/20
Too many coins in weird places, the roof busy beetles are placed in annoying ways and were falling on me way too much from where I cant see, other unfair enemy placement, level branches out to some difficult areas that only reward coins

Polish: 9/20
Warp spots aren't off screen, bricks on background tiles look bad, many camera issues, found a way above the spiders where you can see web threads, vine starts on screen in the sacond ruins area, softlock possible if ground pounding vines

1-4: Dirbaio

Requirements: 10/10

Design: 16/20
The caves transitions were neat, the first star coin was too hard to get, the ruins were nice to explore but also really easy to get lost and run out of time

Polish: 17/20
Some bad tiles used and some bricks placed on background tiles, softlock possible if ground pounding vines

1-5: Piranhaplant

Requirements: 10/10
Design: 18/20
Well placed Star Coins, general level design was engaging and had some memorable moments, but also had some very uninteresting blah stretches

Polish: 19/20
The tiles used in the ruins used too many blocks and felt very random -- the same level layout could have been achieved more attractively.

1-Castle: Hiccup

Requirements: 10/10

Design: 16/20
Interesting choice of using the snail things, some awkward object placement, having to kill the snail to progress at the end of the first ruins area wasn't very obvious - this could have been done better somehow and feels too much like a gimmick, had some pretty neat areas with powers, very random and hard to tell where to go next with platforms out of sight requiring a leap of faith, way too gimmicky overall,

Polish: 15/20
Bricks on background tiles look bad, some wrong tiles, too much reliance on activators, some camera issues at the end.

2-1: MarioSunshine

Requirements: 10/10
Design: 15/20
I like the way the first area is like a mountain, secret area in first ruins is pointless - a star coin would have been good here, First ruins area started okay but got very random and full of leaps of faith, it's a pretty long level not to have a midpoint!, ruins area 2 is really random and not very much fun to explore since there are traps everywhere and you cant tell where you can and cant go,

Polish: 16/20
floating coins while not underwater are bad looking, many bad tiles in area one, camera doesnt pan up enough in ruins, the zoombing out parts are nice, the change of background for ruins part two is good, some ruins tiles are bad.,

2-2: Py_hacker

Requirements: 10/10

Design: 5/20
Most of this level looks like it was randomly generated by poorly written computer code, there are lots of design issues in this level.... overall, just very poorly designed.

Polish: 5/20
Softlocks, bad placement of things, ? Blocks and bricks on background tiles, lots of repeating graphics like

2-3: TRS

Requirements: 10/10

Design: 18/20
Making the level start with two arrows in opposite directions is cool but only if one of the ways actually leads somewhere - this would have been more elegant doing it like normal, the part where you have some breakable bricks is a trap - the player thinks theres somethign down there but you die if you try it, the rest of the level is pretty good but also nothing super special about it

Polish: 20/20
the broken pipes all over are a nice touch but its weird when PirhanhaPlans come out of them

2-Tower: Gridatttack

This level is pretty awesome, but also has some flaws. I am going to write a lengthy review of this because I think it deserves it.

The first area is great, but the base needs some work. The ? blocks (and the red flying ? block) are one tile too low. This area has sort of a Mario 2 feel to it and simulates climbing a mountain very well. Putting blocks on either side of spring boards was a great idea, to keep mario from picking them up and losing them (causing a softlock). The blocks surrounding the pipe at the top should be rearranged - I kept hitting my head on the blocks, ruining the flow. You can stack them up on the left side out of the way, and still achieve the look you were going for. The area around pipe with all the coins feels a little pointless but it's still fun.

The second area is really good, too, but there are alot of issues with the tiles that need to be fixed. I like that you start out showing the coin, and creates a small mystery until you get to it, which is appropriately easy to do. All of the stone lifts are neat and fit the theme really well. I found the pipe right away, which is good since it's locked up and creates another mystery: "How do I get in there!!" At this point, I'm not sure if it's a secret, or the right way to go. I look aroudn for some switches but don't find any, and continue, putting the mystery into my mind where I can wonder about it. I go right and down and see a little crack to get through. The crack is one tile too short and should be opened up a bit. I hope across and find coins! By the time, the silent 'no one's lived here for a while' feeling is starting to affect me - I've found all these mysteries and no one seems to be around, and the cold sound of the wind and slow movement of the platforms with no enemies around really makes me feel like I'm alone. Well, I follow the coin trail and fall into the little cubby hole that the 'elevator' goes down into and I'm going to be squashed! Duck! Oh nice, it didnt squash me. That would have felt very cheap. I get out and follow the coins some more and think "Yes! the pipe should be unlocked now." But it's not, and the mystery gets deeper. I go right and into the pipe. More tile issues. The room feels like there's too much empty space in it and the moving spike blocks seem to ignore me mostly. I continue to the right and discover WHY there's so much empty space. The ? switch destroys the floor. At first I think I'm stuck, but then those tricky rotating blocks appear. I hop across an pretty tough, but fair, platforming section. The blocks surrounding the pipe are gone, as I suspected. This would have been made more obvious if the floor that was destroyed in the previous room was made out of the same types of blocks, and a different type of block was used under the ? switch. I make it to the pipe and go down. More tile problems.

This room is kind of bland, but surprises me at the end! The fall is pretty neat, unexpected, and a slightly different feeling that the rest of the level so far. The coins are spaced too far apart to collect them all, though. The forest foreground thing is a very nice touch.

The ghost house music is very cool mixed with a foggy forest. Moving a few things around would help here though. I found the vine leading up, and its a nice little secret, but its a little crowded. The 1 up blocks should be moved up a tile. The way it rains spiders while you're looking in the bricks is neat, and makes the area feel very creepy. This whole area is very moody and has great atmosphere. The boomerang bros and fire bros should be removed. They're placed a little unfairly, don't match the mood of the area, and no additional challenge is needed for this area (the spiders were hard enough!)

The underwater area is great. The way to it is hidden but not too hard to find (especially since the player is now looking for secrets actively). The ruins look really, really good under water, especially with the brick background. I like that this under water area isn't very big and that it gets right to the point.

I will talk about the path to the secret exit after the rest of this critique.

I take the pipe shooting up. I first notice the wall ont he right, so I go left. This area feels a bit random, and could be cleaned up some. The level layout is good, but the tiles feel too randomly choosen. The first time, I ran right into the giant spike ball. I think it would be better if the wall in front of it was destroyed with a ? Switch instead of just getting close to it. That way, the player is actively choosing to let the ball out, which would be good because soon they have to run from it! So I run from it, and end up behind it. I'm not sure what the ! block does. I see nothing changed. I go up to where the next Star Coin is. I like this path - the ruins look cool sitting on the clouds. Then I jump down and land on the spiked ball. This whole area here should be reworked so that the ball is let out when you hit a switch, and so that you can't fall on it. Maybe put it in a cage with a roof and two sides. Also, take into account that the spike ball respawns. The flying bomb things with the fire trail are an extra hazzard that isn't needed here.

In fact, this whole area here is *good*, but not *great*. It could use a major reworking. The major problem here is the flow. It's hard to tell what is the secret and what is the right path to take. Finding the star coin is easy because it feels like that's where you're supposed to go. It would work better if you took out the warp behind the spike ball and put the star coin there, then where the star coin is, put a pipe going down that leads you to the Boss fight. Overall, this area feels kind of rushed.

This level would be GREAT for a World 4 castle. It has a castle feel to it: It's a little bit of a maze, has some hard stuff in it, some surprises, and a lot of emotion and atmosphere. The secret exit is 1: Too hard to get to, and 2: not needed for a castle. I would recommend removing it and rework the spot with the spiders that get you there, removing the warp point. The level is already big enough and interesting enough that it's not needed, and actually distracts from the rest of the level.

There you go. Some design and polish issues need to be cleared up, but this is a fantastic level that I really enjoyed.

Requirements: 9/10 - You followed the spirit of the contest, but not exactly. I want to give you 10/10, but if I did, it would be unfair to the other players.

Design: 19/20
There are some design issues I think should be fixed up, but the over-awesomeness of the stuff you did right make up for the problems to deserve the 19 points score.

Polish: 18/20
There is some really good polish, and the level has such personality! But so many tile problems!!! Again, I think the great stuff balances the bad stuff, but not enough to give more than 18 points.

MarioFanatic64

Posted on 11-08-12, 02:42 am

Link
ID: 18093
+0

Roy Koopa
The guy who does things.

Karma: 12764
Posts: 569/2796
Since: 07-01-11

Here's my critiques!

Fr33ze:

+ You've allowed plenty of exploration throughout the Ruins, and you've made it fun to see what was coming up next.
- Though I saw a few misplaced tiles as I played through it, for example there is a solid-on-top structure in the second Grassland area that the corner has been misplaced with a top-middle tile.

Design - 20/20
Polish - 18/20
Requirement - 10/10

RiksKing:

+ The Design is pretty good, you've put time in the placement of your objects and you've met the requirement.
- Unfortunately the entrances let you down here, for future reference you should make sure Mario is off-screen when he uses vertical entrances. As they are now, they don't look very good.

Design - 16/20
Polish - 15/20
Requirement - 10/10

Dirbaio:

+ It was great of you to not only meet the requirements, but take it one step further and include an Underground area, the layout of the Ruins area is well planned out, and it seems you realy put the exploration factor of the level first.
- However, while your layout of the Ruins were good I think you made the level too "open". When I was playing through it I felt lost a lot of the time, as in I felt like I wasn't heading towards the Flagpole. You also have a few graphical problems with the HSDB tileset in the first Area, some tiles were place that put "holes" in the scenery behind it.

Design - 17/20
Polish - 18/20
Requirement - 10/10

PiranhaPlant:

+ I LOVED your level design here, as I was playing it it felt like you knew exactly how I play, and the level really flowed like a river for me. The Cloudy FG effect is nice for establishing the Sky element, and what is better is that I can still see everything behind it clearly.
- The Windy music in the Ruins got old... fast. That's all I have to criticize, really.

Design - 20/20
Polish - 17/20
Requirement - 10/10

Hiccup:

- I'm sorry to say this, but from the beginning this level felt broken. As I was playing through it, I found myself opening the level up in the editor just to see how to get past the next obstacle. There was a glitch in the second Grassland area that got me trapped above the screen until the time ran out. I actually began to get a but frustrated with the gimmicky nature of the level. This level just didn't feel finished to me. Forgive me but this is the absolute truth, I couldn't really find anything good about this level.

Design - 9/20
Polish - 9/20
Requirement - 10/10

MarioSunshine:

+ There is so much to EXPLORE in this level, you really built the level well with a great combination of sprites. I thought it was also a nice touch to add yellow sky at the end, it felt as if time were actually moving in the Mushroom Kingdom.
- There was no Mid-Way Point, which made the level a bit harder than it should have been, in the first area, the sunlight effect jumps around as you get higher, and the second Grassland area felt pretty hollow and empty for it's size.

Design - 18/20
Polish - 19/20
Requirement - 10/10

Py_hacker:

+ This level felt like a kind of Gauntlet level, with one challenge after another rather than a constant flow of enemies and platforms. +1 for originality, though it did feel repetitive after a while.
- However there were a few things I didn't like. The tiles you used for the Ruins' "supports" were constantly repeated over and over again, it made me feel like I was running through the scenery of a cheap cartoon or something. I understand why you made the ground levels on the Bottom Screen to make the Ruins feel higher, but it means you can't use your powerup in the item storage, the Bottom screen should be used sparingly.

Design - 17/20
Polish - 14/20
Requirement - 10/10

TRS:

I couldn't play the level because it crashes when I go into the Pipe in Area 1. But I looked at it in the editor.

+ Your level looks very nice, you've taken advantage of sprites creatively, yet it's not a spam-fest of activators and bouncing/moving platforms. Very nice level.
- The only downside to this level that I can see is it's linear nature, it seems to be too much of just a path from A to B.

Design - 18/20
Polish - 20/20
Requirement - 10/10

Garmichael:

+ It was creative of you to use the HSDB Grassland for a Forest theme, I was not expecting that but it was a nice surprise, your level design is stellar.
- There is one part of the level I don't like though, that is the second entry to the Ruins. As your jumps have to be precise, it can become a pain having to go back and hit the ? Block to get climb the vine back up over and over if you miss. Also like Piranha Plant's level, the Windy music is boring and dullens the Ruins areas.

Design - 18/20
Polish - 18/20
Requirement - 10/10

Gridatttack:

+ I was REALLY impressed with this level. It was an interesting and challenging puzzler and the twist that brings you down to a "Haunted Ground Ruins" area was very creative. It took a turn from the predictable level design and I liked it, it worked well and the addition of a Bowser Jr. fight at the end was the icing on the cake, a great level indeed.
- More windy music, grrr.

Design - 20/20
Polish - 19/20
Requirement - 10/10

New Super Mario Bros.: Clone Tag Team 1+2 / New Super Mario Advance + Take 2 / Super Mario: Endless Earth
My two greatest assets have been mental stability and being, like, really smart.

Ninjifox

Posted on 11-08-12, 05:24 am

Link
ID: 18094
+2

Micro-Goomba

Karma: 577
Posts: 7/19
Since: 06-19-11

So here you have it. My crap critiques

1-1 (MarioFanatic64) ----

I thought this level was really fun at first, but I got frustrated pretty quickly at what seems like several cheap shots throughout it. For example, I kept dying at the start while I was unfamiliar with the level - not that this is a bad thing per se - but I died several times on the starting zone just because I was sick of waiting a couple of seconds after every death while the two Goombas sauntered off-screen.

I can't really fault the first ruins area, aside from one issue which killed me unfairly the first time I got there: the swinging ropes are placed in such a way that you can glitch into the ground. The first rope sent me into the ground and I fell down to my doom. The rope next to the Star Coin allows you to go even further into terrain, but at least that won't kill you...

The midway grassland area also feels like a cheap shot to me- the piranha plant and koopa are placed there so that you pretty much ALWAYS have to be hurt, until you figure out that you have to wait for the koopa to turn around and go a safe distance away.

Another thing that I really didn't like is that there's various pits which entice you in to look for secrets and then kill you because it looks like you'll be able to walljump out... and then you can't. At one point, there's two pits which both look the same- one takes you onwards in the level, the other one kills you. That's not fun

On the design front, the level looks good, doesn't feel repetitive and I couldn't find any tiling or camera errors. It could do with some tweaks and fixes, but I'd already consider it an above average level.

Challenge Requirement Met: 10/10

Design: 13/20
Polish: 17/20

1-2 (Freeze) ----

This is a pretty awesome level that's unfortunately marred by some issues. The first area abuses Boomerang Bros, which are a pain to dodge because of the tight passageways and the boomerangs following you around for what seems like ages.

Other than that, I quite enjoyed the various explorable areas and the large amount of camera flourishes (though they are glitchy at times). There was one noticeable tiling error in the midway grassland area which I'm surprised was missed.

I can't really complain about the gameplay, aside from the Boomerang Bros- I wish those would have been toned down a bit; it makes the level hard to explore without constant deaths.

Challenge Requirement Met: 10/10

Design: 17/20
Polish: 17/20

1-3 (Nothing) ----

This level is a bit of a mixed bag. There were no tiling errors or camera issues, but the star coins were practically impossible to find. The ruins also seem to have somehow disappeared. It did get the "Sky" bit down right, though, so I'll give them that.

Challenge Requirement Met: 1/10

Design: 3/20
Polish: 19/20

1-Tower (RiksKing) ----

I was not impressed by this level. Progress paths are broken and there are strange camera glitches. I felt like I was getting lost- I somehow wound up in the midway point zone after falling and the camera screwing up badly -and the layout made little sense.

The terrain is almost completely devoid of decoration and there are a ton of unrelated sprites used. There were a ton of little things I saw that didn't look good to me: repeated mushroom tiles in the grassland areas, the strange "loose arrow" sprite with no backing tiles, background ruin bricks with cut-off edges, bushes with parts growing out of thin air...

You can get stuck and have to restart if you throw your springboard into a bottomless pit in the first area.

Challenge Requirement Met: 10/10

Design: 9/20
Polish: 5/20

1-4 (Dirbaio) ----

This level is full of Goombas and Koopas, and... not much else. One big beef I have with it is that there's a few points where you can have a Goomba unexpectedly fall from above- this shouldn't happen! I also noticed a few tiling errors in the grassland areas, and progress paths don't work.

One thing I quite liked, though, was that there was an underground themed area to differentiate the level a bit from the others. The colour changes in the ruins tileset were also pretty cool.

Now for the bad part... the maze is cool at first, but as a rather bad Mario player, I found it ridiculously exasperating. I kept dying on the huge amount of Goombas and Koopas and got sick of having to repeat everything over and over again. And why isn't there a midway point?!

Challenge Requirement Met: 10/10

Design: 13/20
Polish: 18/20

1-5 (Piranhaplant) ----

I really enjoyed this level. I don't have a whole lot to say here... it was simple and straightforward but it looked good and was fun to play. Difficulty was well balanced and there weren't any cheap tricks that caught me out. I didn't find any tiling or camera errors.

Challenge Requirement Met: 10/10

Design: 19/20
Polish: 20/20

1-Castle (Hiccup) ----

Ah, yet another one. Progress paths are broken. Should have expected that...

Otherwise, it's a bit of an interesting level. There were some different mechanics in play which I liked, but I think they could have been executed better. I think the tiling could have made better use of the ruins tileset as well. It's also a little strange to see the swinging platforms outside a castle level and the punchy enemies outside a snow level, though I don't think that really makes the level worse.

Challenge Requirement Met: 10/10

Design: 12/20
Polish: 15/20

2-1 (MarioSunshine) ----

WORKING PROGRESS PATHS! YES!

This level was pretty nice and made good use of the tilesets. I liked the climbing zone in the first grassland area, and the use of zooming cameras in the rest of the level.

One thing which bugged me a bit was the low Y scrolling bounds, but I can live with that. On the other hand, it wasn't really a problem because there were few enemies in the level which could catch you out. One of the critiques mentioned that as a bad thing, but I actually think it made the level a lot more fun- I could actually focus on exploring the level instead of being killed constantly.

There are a lot of different platform sprites used, and a couple of them look a bit out of place (like the closing yellow draw bridge) but I won't let that detract from it.

Challenge Requirement Met: 10/10

Design: 18/20
Polish: 19/20

2-2 (Py_hacker) ----

This level can only be described as object soup. Not fun to play or to look at, really. There's not much else I can say...

Challenge Requirement Met: 10/10

Design: 6/20
Polish: 3/20

2-3 (TRS) ----

The camera jumped a bit, but otherwise I couldn't find any issues. This was a nice little level with good design, just nothing particularly unique (though it's hard to come up with something new after having seen so many levels...)

Challenge Requirement Met: 10/10

Design: 17/20
Polish: 19/20

2-4 (Garmichael) ----

A pretty excellent level, there's nothing I can complain about. It shakes things up a bit by using the forest background for the grassland zones.

Challenge Requirement Met: 10/10

Design: 20/20
Polish: 20/20

2-Tower (Gridatttack) ----

Once again.. I don't have much to say. This is an awesome level, I found no issues in it.

Challenge Requirement Met: 10/10

Design: 20/20
Polish: 20/20

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RiksKing

Posted on 11-08-12, 05:57 am (rev. 1 by

RiksKing on 11-08-12, 06:15 am)

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Posted by py_hacker

Posted by RiksKing

- Desert music in a Ruin Area?

Yes, because desert make me think to ruins.
(desert --> pyramids and ancient civilisations --> ruins)

All right, I can edit that.

Posted by RiksKing

- There were some (invisible) bricks which were put so low, it was annoying to pass it, and it was also often my death in this level.

Well, maybe they're low, but how could they kill Mario?

When I jumped to those invisible blocks, (when you don't know where they are), most of the time there was a Koopa around, and if you jump against it, you are also jumping right against the Koopa.
It's a bit an annoying death.

Posted by Dirbaio

and RiksKing: the "entering with adoor and exiting with a pipe" in my level is because the patch is wrong

Okay, it was just to mention. I didn't tally it in the scores

Posted by Treeki

You can get stuck and have to restart if you throw your springboard into a bottomless pit in the first area.

Actually, the springboard respawns if you go away and get back. Also, you can jump to that part from the high platform too

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Freeze

Posted on 11-08-12, 02:05 pm

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Posted by Garmichael

Camera doesnt pan up enough, and there were many parts where the camera 'jumped' back and forth because of empty blocks.

Where doesn't it pan up enough? Also where does the camera jump back and forth? I can't find both of those things.
At the first starcoin it jumps back, because of an intentionally placed scroll sprite. It is placed, because I wanted to hide the secret zone from the left, so you can't see it.
Sometimes I set a top limit for the camera to avoid blind jumps. If you mean this with "does not pan up enough", that's unfair. How else should I have done it, to avoid the blind jumps?

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