Posts by FrozenQuills

i hope i don't eat a shoe again

first two screens or so

Wow this looks so pretty already.
If this level is going to be based around the roulette powerup somehow that would be amazing.

I wonder if the bug is related to this
Nonetheless this is really cool, and the aesthetics are nice as well.

DOWNLOAD

oh man have a vid

there's also an entirely separate bottom path to explore.

also this is actually almost done but i'm not showing the rest because spoilers

(only has 1 exit)
(music is Mt. Seishun by S.N.N.)

EDIT: Here are some images as well (with a hint of the second half)

thanks guys!
I added a download to the first post. I would appreciate any feedback I get (especially the room right after the midpoint since I need to know if it isn't too hard or awkward)

I think the IPS file is corrupted because I'm getting garbage graphics in the level.
Judging from the screenshots though it looks pretty good. I like the palette a lot.

I would darken the background of the red castle part or make it a different hue.
The outside night castle looks pretty cool though!

Oh wow thank you all for the wonderful feedback .w.''


I actually have a second midpoint for the room after the "go quick" area.
Once you get the 1-up in the dark room you enable a second midpoint; a door appears where the midpoint is and you can go in there to get to the dark room immediately. If it didn't show up for you could you let me know?
I will take note of the trial and error sorta gameplay that could happen in the second half though. I'll make it more lenient. Thanks!


GDI NOT AGAIN

I used a clean rom as well. I'm not sure how you managed to break it but I'll look into it.
Also if anyone else doesn't see the door by the midpoint after getting the 1-up in the dark room (and dying) let me know. (maybe I need to use a p-switch door?)
IPS has been updated btw. (trying a p-switch door midpoint now)

EDIT: Little neat bonus room I wanna show off


Also, since I really am not sure if the 2nd midpoint was really working, I took PunkToro's idea and placed the midpoint right after the fast paced section.

A bit better yeah. Maybe try to increase the saturation for the background a bit as well.

Well I played the level and man you're going to get full marks in creativity.
But the design is... questionable to me. Like there are so many places where losing yoshi or even losing your shell means that you have to die. Speaking of which, I died a ton on this level not due to not figuring out the puzzles but just trying to execute them.
Then again I like never use yoshi in any levels and I'm not a pro SMW player, but I suggest giving more leniency to the puzzles or adding reset doors/pipes (although I realize doing the latter means easy 1-ups from transferring yoshis over, so that might not be the best). I honestly don't know how the judges will fare though.
As for specific things though, during the first few urchin jumps sometimes the first urchin will fall much farther than the second, making the jump impossible (probably because I'm trying to dodge the charlies and regain yoshi right before than part).
And sometimes I manage to get a 1-up instead of a red yoshi because I go through the turn blocks too fast.
But yeah this could be really good with more leniency and stuff.

I found the yellow and blue yoshi parts to be the hardest imo. You need to not lose either shell for the yellow yoshi (and not get stuck either) and it's hard to aim the blue shell throws for blue yoshi while dodging fish (at least for me).

I also forgot to mention that there are a few "blocking urchin" spots where you can just tank through and still get yoshi after (I think a disco shell one and a blue yoshi one are like this)

BTW I think you can make anti-1-up-factory-resets by having reset pipes or doors near the top of the screen and make them only accessible by vines.
However, I can see the judges/others be completely fine with dying due to messing up the puzzles. It's just not in my personal taste lol.

Okay I made a lot of aesthetic changes (with some layer 3 shenanigans in the first section!) and some minor ones. This will probably be the IPS I'll submit.
I'm also trying the p-switch midpoint again since I really didn't like the other way. If someone could verify that it works by dying in the 3rd section after getting the 1-up that would be fantastic. I pretty much did it word for word as to how it's done in Municipal Swimming from last year so I can't see how it doesn't work for someone else.

Yeah the reaction time in the pit is way too short. I think this can be fixed by either extending the fall or removing additional spikes near the coin trails. The majority of the level being super yellow including the coins and the spikes also doesn't help; both should stand out more and the background should be dimmer.

Also some minor tidbits: I'm not sure how to get past the volcano lotus and hammer guy pair without getting hit, and the disco shell section should have a powerup beforehand (rather than a yellow switch block) since you really don't want to die after the pit section.

Everything else looks good. Pretty difficult but fair level actually.

Is it just me or are there a ton of night themed levels this time around?
The popularity of urban themed levels is pretty rad too.

Just a few things:

In the first half, it's possible to bullet jump to the higher platforms instead of using the trampoline, but the camera doesn't follow you if you bullet jump, so you're left to do the charlie parts afterwards without knowing what's above you. (not sure how to fix this though)

There are a lot of points where you have to hold the jump button to get across stuff, especially for the wall run part. Although people should know to do that for the one block wide pits, I'm not sure if they'll find that out easily for the wall run part. Probably not a big deal considering the audience here but I'll note it.

The "nice" part can be a bit overwhelming with the ceiling swoopers to the point where it's near impossible to jump across the ropes without getting hurt, although I think rushing helps a lot.

Anyway, this is super creative and not too challenging but still pretty difficult. Cool level.

Oh I'm talking about that one triangle run right before the last p balloon. It's very difficult and I think I had to hold the jump button to get to the very top triangle part.


I said I THINK rushing helps, but not really now that I'm looking at it because of the enemy and rope placements. There is also this last part before the door which is impossible if you don't gun it or get lucky.


Also one mushroom is way too few for this part. There's a lot of filler the players have to go through before the nice part that this needs at least two mushrooms. (which is another critique btw)

Using the rock background tiles as slopes/blocks is actually really interesting. However it REALLY needs to stand out more from the background though so I suggest making the background dimmer/darker or changing it to a different one.