Language…
8 users online: Daizo Dee Von, ezdeez85, GRIMMKIN,  Nanako,  Ringo,  Segment1Zone2,  Telinc1, toady - Guests: 233 - Bots: 267
Users: 64,795 (2,375 active)
Latest user: mathew

Posts by SpicySeafood

SpicySeafood's Profile → Posts

Sorry! I can't view those images there on Dropbox. You need to show them publically rather than from your own dropbox on the web. Alternatively, you can also upload them to your File Bin on SMWC, but do be aware that there is a 4MB upload limit per file.
I imagine most people here are too young for alcohol. :P
I'm not a regular drinker, really. I prefer to drink seldom or at special occasions like Birthdays, Christmas and New Year. I'm mainly a spirits person (Vodka + Whisky mixed with other beverages), which I understand is pretty weird, but everyone is different I suppose.
Your world 6 level looks interesting. I'd be careful with the munchers, though -- you don't want to place too many in your levels. It's OK if it's a minor gimmick in one level, but you probably don't want them in every level for fear of repeating 2 ways to victory.

Your overworld looks pretty fantastic! You've got a variety in terrain there and kept to a basic style without being too flashy. Do you plan on adding a custom palette to it?
Indeed, I was worrying about the filesize of the BMP files too.
I can download your images now, so I will comment on them individually.

Level 105
I assume you're going for a Nintendo-esque style. The level in general, however, reminds me of a spiced-up 105 edit. You've used the same set of sprites SMW did in 105 -- namely the sliding koopas and the Banzai Bill. Sprite sets aside, most of the enemies do feel like they're an afterthought. The sliding koopas after the first set of pipes, for example, will just casually slide off before Mario can encounter them.

Moreover, fairly "common" enemies like Koopas are used here which isn't usually the best idea. In 105, Mario had to dodge Banzai Bills in a variety of situations, such as leaning down into the ground, or jumping over them. In your hack, most enemies can be easily jumped over. This'll be more of a problem in later levels if you plan on using this concept as it usually results in cheap difficulty. I would recommend using some different sprites in later levels to vary up the gameplay a tad.

However, criticism aside, some of your screens in this level have an interesting setup, for example the use of the turn block bridges in the second half of your level and the piranha plant setups in the beginning. Overall, the level is nice in parts but suffers from 'filler' segments which ultimately drag the level down.


Level 106
This level looks more promising than the first! The first part of the level seems a little saturated with enemies though -- particularly the jumping koopas in between the piranha plants which aren't really necessary. It's often best to use sparing amounts of sprites in more threatening situations for Mario rather than saturating the level with goombas and koopas which Mario can easily jump over. As a minor point, the 1up mushroom with the walljumping seems out of place. I feel it's better being added after the message box in the second half which formally explains the walljump mechanic better. Finally, the kicking koopa shell mechanic seems interesting, but is it perhaps too hard for the second level? Overall, this level's a lot better than the first. There's still an issue of 'filler' sections being added in the level but to a lot less extent than the first level.




Sorry if I seem really negative during those reviews! I'm just trying to help, that's all. :)
Hm, this hack has an interesting concept. I like the style this hack is going for and I believe it turns out really well for the most part.

The main levels aren't particularly challenging (OK, well they're hard, but not too difficult) until you encounter the bosses who will spam you with touhou style projectiles. This isn't really a problem except the bosses seem like a difficulty spike from the main level. This, however, is negated by the fact you are provided with 5 energy "packets" which mean that Mario can withstand quite a few hits before finally dying.

Outside of bosses, the level design seems very well done. Indeed, the levels are cleverly designed to offer challenging enemy setups and sprites. The levels provide different setups each time which, so far, I have found varied and exciting. I have, on the other hand, found some sprites to be a bit confusing as to whether you can hit them or not, though. Most of the level have some sort of backtracking aspect, for example filling up your energy in the shop after the level or solving a simply puzzle to proceed onwards. The puzzles in question seem to feel a bit same-y to me later on, but this isn't too big of a deal. Speaking of the shop, the concept is quite interesting and provides a reason for collecting the coins (in this case, blue P-cards) in the levels. However, I feel perhaps a more expensive health increase could work as an item in the shop for those struggling on more difficult levels. This isn't necessary though -- just a suggestion!

Overall, I like this hack. The issue with saving I feel doesn't apply, especially for difficult hacks, since most people would either savestate at the beginning of the level and at the checkpoint (including myself), or continuously use savestates throughout the level. As a result, I say this hack should be Approved

+1
The issue here is Asar assigning freespace to one of the values used in your xkas patches. The fix is to apply the Asar patch First, then use Slogger to determine the freespace addresses for the other patches that you will insert using xkas.
Originally posted by JackTheSpades

Originally posted by SpicySeafood
The issue here is Asar assigning freespace to one of the values used in your xkas patches.

I do think asar is capable of finding freespace that has not been written to yet. It probably also checks for RATs tags which all the patches in the patch section MUST have.
If not, I'd lose faith in asar :<


I know! The issue I was pointing out was Asar finding a correct freespace slot then inserting an xkas patch with the same freespace slot afterwards.

I'm happy you got this sorted out as well! :)
Replies:-
Originally posted by DarkComplexion

Btw, did you overwrite the flopping Cheep Cheep sprite under the Piranha Plant and that's why the stem is red, is that a custom sprite or what?


I've applied the Piranha Plant Fix patch to prevent the VRAM error. I've put a red stem on as I prefer it red as opposed to green. Thanks. :)

Originally posted by Neidave
And somehow the leveldesign reminds me of my older levels


Hope that isn't a bad thing...

Originally posted by Neidave
Edit: Think about adding an HDMA-Code to the background - It would look nice in my opinion!


That's an excellent idea! I've since added a blue-ish HDMA code to the background.




Sizzling Sands
So! I've designed a new level of this hack which I'm naming Sizzling Sands. It's meant to be a desert level which utilises Firebars -- that's what the custom sprites are in the image below. This time, I've decided to show a full-level PNG instead of a few screenshots as I feel a full-level image would better show the design of this one.


I'd appreciate any thoughts and comments. Thanks!
Here's a few hacks you might be interested in:-
The Senate
SMW The After Years
Super "Mario" World 2
The Essense Star
The Cookie Crisis


If you need any help on how to play the hacks here, you will need a Clean SMW Rom (Google for that -- we can not link to ROM sites for legal reasons) and Floating IPS. Patch the IPS file following the instructions on this page and then play the file using an emulator of your choice.
You've got some good enemy placement there which fits in with the terrain to provide a reasonable challenge to the player. Keep it up!
After reviewing this work, here are my thoughts:-

Design wise, this hack could do with some improvements. There's plenty of time to do that, though, so don't be discouraged! Some levels have particularly strange setups with sprites that make it quite difficult to dodge certain enemies. This was achieved by a mixture of tight corridors, an an abundance of enemies in a particular area, challenging enemies in early levels (The Divine Koopas), or screens in which it is difficult to maneuver around the enemies. The actual level design itself is decent for the most part, but issues with playability regarding certain sets of enemies (and objects, which will be explained further below) ultimately drag this hack down.

Moreover, there were also certain obstacles in levels that were either not apparently that they were solid or not, or alternatively obstacles that are extremely cumbersome to navigate through. An example of the latter would be the cement blocks in which you had to use your fire powerup in order to destroy in the pyramid level. There's mild slowdown, and other minor minor issues like cutoff, which is present in a select few levels and the bosses in this hack.

In conclusion, I agree there should be work done on this hack to improve it. I feel that the design is OK, but hasn't been extensively tested by the author. This is supported by the fact that the hack is labelled as having "Normal" difficulty whereas the cheapness of certain enemies, bosses and objects make it unreasonably difficult. I recommend, for the author, to hire some Beta Testers in the Testers for Hire thread to get a more detailed outlook on what needs adjusting on this hack for the next release.

Best of luck in the future, but for now I feel this hack needs to be Rejected

+1
The fact that you can not proceed after the Yoshi's House level indicates to me that the hack wasn't extensively tested before submission. This, indeed, is reason enough to remove the hack.

Looking into Luar Magic, this is an error on the author's side. He/she has put Luigi's Icon on the correct starting place instead of Mario. I've gone ahead and reviewed the rest of the hack for courtesy of Aurel so they can fix errors in the main hack as well.

The level's split into several key areas. The first of which is a beach area which is quite bland in appearance and ultilises several basic koopas/goombas in a plethora of uncreative and easy-to-avoid setups. Furthermore, graphical errors are present which include incorrect graphics on Spinies and minor-to-moderate amounts of cutoff. Not much thought went into this area which is kind of surprising given the later areas.

The next few areas, which include a castle and cave level, which includes good level design for the most part until the very end of the cave segment where the author has fallen back on a few screens long bridge which houses nothing but goombas and koopas which are easily able to jump over. These segments, which I often call 'filler' segments often seem very out of place in hacks. Often, it is best to make shorter levels that are good all-round than longer levels which lose their touch halfway through.

Next, we resume our trek on another castle area which takes complete disregard to graphical style much alike the beach level at the beginning. This time, however, we are on a mound of brick tiles which confusingly act like ledge tiles. The level design's average in this level, but the lack of graphical flair again makes me think some additions in this hack were an afterthought and instead the author was trying to get this released as quickly as possible.Finally is a skyish level with throw blocks which again has adequate level design but feels somewhat like a last-minute addition.

I'd say this hack feels a bit rushed. You are obviously capable of pushing out fairly decent level design -- as evendented by the castle and first part of the cave section -- but this hack ultimately lacked the polish required to be accepted on SMWC. Most of the issues here revolve around sprite placement which appears to be a little on the lazy side most of the time.

As a result, this hack should be Rejected

+1
Replies:-
Originally posted by Yushe
And is it just me or does the first level look like a yoshi's island level...


I'm not sure! It could be that the first level's vanilla styled as opposed to Sizzling Sands so I guess it might have a more SMW-ish feel to it.

Originally posted by Neidave
It's just the multiple paths that remind me of my own older levels, which is why I am most likely going to have fun playing the complete Hack!


Cool! I like an element of non-linearity in my levels, but I don't consider it a necessity. Sometimes, I like making more linear levels as seen below. :P

Originally posted by Arireyano
I hope you mainly focus on the Level design since it looks like you focus more on the graphics rather than the gameplay itself.


I do focus on level design more and use graphics as a means of spicing up my levels and making them look unique. What makes you think otherwise?




Ocean Olympics
This, I suppose, is a more 'back to basics' level idea. This is inspired by the more linear levels of SMW. I've got a Porcupuffer plus dolphins here used in (hopefully) creative ways plus with torpedo teds causing Mario a nuisance near the end! This time, I'm going to show a video of the level so you can hopefully see it more in-action. I'm... not really happy with how the turned out though, but you might feel differently. Whilst watching, though, I'd request that you ignore the following:-
-Claustrophobic segments in a few segments. I plan on raising a few of the ceilings in this level to prevent this.
-the lack of custom music in the level.

So, without further ado, here is the video:-
Humongous Video Link!

As usual, please comment if you like/love/hate it!
@YCZ: It looks like an interesting idea but the different shades of castle blocks makes it really confusing to tell what's solid and what isn't. As an alternative, perhaps that vanilla rocky background would fit well within the level?
The gimmick itself, though, is fantastic and I look forward to seeing more of what's involved in this level.
Originally posted by Egadd
comments


I'm sorry, but you are just being unnecessarily rude there. He/She may not have created the best hack in the world, but it's one thing to point out errors and another to insult him/her. The idea of these reviews is to help guide the author onto the right track, not to completely discourage them from SMWC or hacking ever again.
Um, could I possibly get some replies on the previous video? I'd rather not show off any new content until I can see what is good/bad about what is already shown. Thanks!
The level's looking great so far! The choice of palettes for the winter section is simply stunning. From a level design standpoint, it's impressive -- a level does not have to be completely non-linear to constitute good design.
Sea's Profile
Want your work critiqued? Send me a PM!





Currently Testing: Nothing
Current Status: Open!
Type of Tester: Play Tester, Bug Tester, Proof Reader
Difficulty Restrictions: No Kaizo hacks, please.
Max. Amount of Levels/Worlds: Any




Description:
Hello! I'm SpicySeaFood. I'm an experienced hacker, and have been hacking for some time. I can help test in your projects for bugs as well as play-ability.

I'm normally quite perfectionist so I'll report back all issues and bugs I can find. I mainly specialize in level design testing and proof reading more than bugs/glitches, but I can assist in all matters.

I send my results in a Private Message showing my review for every level plus each level's major strengths and weaknesses so you can gauge how good each individual level is.
Testing usually takes anywhere from one day to a week depending on several factors including how many hacks I am testing and the length of the hack.
I look forward to seeing you!
This hack has potential, but ultimately it fails in delivering.
Firstly, I should point out that I have not played MGU2, so I can not comment on the similarities between these two hacks.

The difficulty of this hack is quite jumpy. Most levels are fairly middling in difficulty with the exception of a few excruciating sections which require quite accurate timing to perfect. Aside from those sections, the levels play out decently. The level design isn't fantastic, but it is enough to pass through here. I'd recommend reading APPALLED to get a better grasp of what constitutes better level design for future projects in order to improve that further.

In other issues, some of the graphics clash in some levels mostly due to a realistic foreground and a cartoony, lesser detailed, Background or vice versa. In addition, a few palettes could do with changing as well, as some of them don't look too great to me.

The overworld, however, is OK, but it feels a little flat. That is, most of the island clusters are on one 'level' meaning there is not much variety in your overworld terrain.

Overall, this is a promising hack which let itself down in a few areas. The key thing you need to look out for is difficulty consistency in your levels. On average most levels should be around the same difficulty from start to finish. I will end my verdict with Reject for now.

+1
Love the style of hack you're going for!

The variety of environments you have used is great. Everything seems to fit together regarding the graphics and the level design, too!
If I had to make a minor suggestion, I would watch out for the quantity of enemies that you are using in your levels. A few areas look rather empty (Screen 4), whereas others look jam-packed (Screens 5 & 8). I can't really tell if this is consistent throughout your hack, but it's something worth mentioning.

Otherwise, you're doing a great job. :)