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| 13B (Phase 1: Happiness) - 2dareduck/Rameau's Nephew |
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Forum Index - Events - SMW Central Production 2 - World 9 and Boss Threads - 13B (Phase 1: Happiness) - 2dareduck/Rameau's Nephew |
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| Posted on 2012-03-03 06:38:04 PM |
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Hoi there.
Just checking in to confirm that
A) I did indeed survive my return journey, with little damage to anything but my sanity (but really, that was in a pretty shoddy state to begin with, let's be honest), and
B) Mr. Duck and I have indeed been tinkering about on this section; indeed, you can seen a video of an extremely rough version of a small portion of the segment here. Obviously the final version is to be polished up considerably, the enemies turning into abstract shape people, and all sorts of additional dancing (non-sprite based, non-harmful) abstract shape people will be added as scenery, lots of pretty colors thrown about, maybe some trigger-based animations, etc., etc., but at least you can understand what I meant by the general idea of a noisy and increasingly rowdy (and thus increasingly dangerous) party in an attempt to wake up the Dreamer.
So, a general question...what exactly are we aiming for with respect to the length of these sections? Would about twice what we have in the video be appropriate here? As suggested elsewhere, we don't want to wear the player down our demand infinite endurance, and indeed having a certain degree of rapid-fire change only fits with the general theme here, but at the same time, we want to leave each section enough time to establish its own identity. What strikes you a about right?
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| Posted on 2012-03-03 06:52:58 PM |
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Length?
Think of of the 8 doors of Bowser's Castle in Super Mario World. I think that's about right.
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| Posted on 2012-03-03 08:01:45 PM |
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Those were, however, far, far shorter than memory might lead us to believe (take a look at the corresponding contest for a nice visual example)--indeed, the section seen in the video probably already probably exceeds the length of one of the Bowser's Castle doors, and yet is still probably shorter than most players would find satisfying. As such, we probably want to aim for something a bit longer than that--but not too long, lest the level as a whole begin to test the player's patience.
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| Posted on 2012-03-03 08:10:41 PM |
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Originally posted by Rameau's NephewThose were, however, far, far shorter than memory might lead us to believe (take a look at the corresponding contest for a nice visual example)--indeed, the section seen in the video probably already probably exceeds the length of one of the Bowser's Castle doors, and yet is still probably shorter than most players would find satisfying. As such, we probably want to aim for something a bit longer than that--but not too long, lest the level as a whole begin to test the player's patience.
0A (10) screens then?
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| Posted on 2012-03-04 02:47:51 AM |
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The amount of screens in the video multiplied by 2.5 should be good, or else around 0a or 10(hex), loong enought to not seem a small sublevel, but not excedenly large.Also, it should last, lets say 100-150 SMWseconds, as some large levels may play for a short time(that first automatic part), and short levels that are complex can go on for long.
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| Posted on 2012-03-27 01:19:23 AM |
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Hey, 2dare & RN: Do you guys what's your stance on this? I just realized that with three levels done and submitted today, we might as well start getting the other one over and done with.
So yeah.
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| Posted on 2012-03-27 05:12:47 AM |
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Fear not, we haven't been idle; we've created a basic version of the entirety of the section, which I'm currently fiddling with to make a bit more droll while 2dareduck works on some graphics for Mario's co-revelers. We should have another little something or other to show off for you folks just as soon as I work out a few kinks here and there.
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| Posted on 2012-03-28 06:05:37 AM |
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Aright, here's yer little something (specifically another video, this time showcasing the entirety of the sublevel). I doubt I need to mention that the graphics and music are placeholders, but you see those graphics and music there (and I'd be very impressed if you do see the music)? Those are placeholders. That said, I do worry a bit about the musical aspect, since, as you can see, a rather fast-paced tune is called for here, which really isn't the nature of the (admittedly lovely) track S.N.N. was working on for this level. I had been meaning to ask if he'd be willing to spring for both a fast and a slow version of the tune (since I imagine Anger would likewise benefit from a more rapid-tempoed track), but then I heard that someone else wanted a backwards version, and I imagine adding a third version on top of that would sort of be tantamount to losing the whole purpose trying to use the same song for every section. Ah, my.
Graphically, the foes seem here are to be replaced with abstract shape people, just sort of partying it up and not necessarily paying much attention to their physical environment, hence their tendency to be just as likely to damage themselves or each other as they are Mario (who isn't really intended as a target, just an unfortunate bystander. I'd also like the add some further shape people (made from layer one objects) who actively aid Mario along his way, serving as the cause for our hero's being propelled upwards and forwards at parts (e.g. that bit at the beginning after Mario hits his head on the ceiling), and also making for a little crowd surfing bit at the end rather than the current mysterious air bounce. Speaking of the end, I'd also like to add a gong or bell (or perhaps a line thereof) which produces the thunder effect when Mario crashes into it (I tested this out already and it's not an unpleasing effect) for reasons I've detailed in the General Discussion thread for this level. And of course lots of other visual bells and whistles would be nice to add as well, but we'll need to wait until the general ęsthetic components of the level are developed a bit more before worrying all too much about that aspect.
Anyway, how does the length seen here strike people? In the above video, my gameplay time clocks in at just under a minute and a half, which strikes me as appropriate here; it's enough time to thoroughly establish the theme without trying the player's patience when presented as one of a chain of five sublevels. But what sayeth the vox populi?
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| Last edited on 2012-03-28 06:56:46 AM by Rameau's Nephew. |
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| Posted on 2012-03-28 06:26:52 AM |
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I found this one is going in the right direction of fun/happy. I liked the usage of the blocks created for the sounds with the level, it adds to the mood. I think the length of the level is about right, around the 90-120 second range is perfect. I think it could be a smidge harder because this is the final boss area and there were times where areas felt a little bit easy, but I think the idea is coming together very well.
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| Posted on 2012-03-28 07:58:19 AM |
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I suspect the video might give a slightly deceptive impression as far as difficulty goes, since being one of the designers and having played through the level so many times I can navigate it in my sleep (no, I'm just joking; I don't actually sleep), I pretty much know the optimal way to breeze through a number of obstacles which would probably trip up someone playing through without such insider knowledge. Ah, but, in either case, that's a dial which can quite easily be rotated a touch higher should the situation demand as much.
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| Posted on 2012-03-28 04:52:07 PM |
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Wow! I love this already! The Bounce Block Unrestrictor Patch used to be part of the base rom, but SNN took it out because no one was using it.
Those Note Block would really be awesome if it had bounce sprites! We'll have to contact SNN about it though!
(and maybe I could change my level's brick blocks with ones with bounce sprites too!)
EDIT:
It reminds me so much of this level!
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| Last edited on 2012-03-28 04:56:03 PM by Punk Sarcophagus. |
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| Posted on 2012-04-11 12:21:01 PM |
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Okay, so it's been a week since the last post here. Any updates? Be it large or not?
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| Posted on 2012-04-11 05:07:46 PM |
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Well, I was going to post a video of a preliminary version of a BG we'd been considering, but it seems that neither my crappy recording program nor YouTube seemed to like it very much. You can see a rather grimy video which doesn't capture the disco-ball-like palette animation terribly well at all, though, but that probably doesn't do it justice.
Otherwise, we're sort of champing at the bit waiting for a useable version of the FG graphics so we can start making something of a proper layout instead of relying on the current placeholders. Hopefully that should be available quite soon now, though...
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| Posted on 2012-04-11 07:08:55 PM |
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Cool. I'm really looking forward on this phase here.
and I still think bounce sprites should be used
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| Posted on 2012-04-12 11:00:46 AM |
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Originally posted by Giant Shy Guyand I still think bounce sprites should be used
It be said, shall it be done!
I've never used that patch but i'll look in to it to see how it works.
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| Posted on 2012-04-12 12:27:18 PM |
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Originally posted by 2dareduckOriginally posted by Giant Shy Guyand I still think bounce sprites should be used
It be said, shall it be done!
I've never used that patch but i'll look in to it to see how it works.
We'll have to ask S.N.N about it though - since it is a ROM thing.
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| Posted on 2012-05-03 11:44:29 AM |
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So what is going on with this guys? The new tileset is ready, so do you have anything planned?
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| Posted on 2012-05-03 01:48:27 PM |
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Yes we have been planning since the start. We have the basic level design all set, I just have to go and redo it with the appropriate graphics and BG that RN made and it'll be ready for some testing.
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| Posted on 2012-05-13 11:14:21 AM |
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Got anything for us? It's been a week.
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| Posted on 2012-05-13 07:29:43 PM |
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We'll have an IPS in just a mo, but until that mo, here's a peak at the level with the proper graphics inserted (a great deal of the particulars subject to change, of course):
 
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Forum Index - Events - SMW Central Production 2 - World 9 and Boss Threads - 13B (Phase 1: Happiness) - 2dareduck/Rameau's Nephew |
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