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Karashta's Keyboard World by BuckeyeB_06

File Name: Karashta's Keyboard World
Submitted: by BuckeyeB_06
Authors: BuckeyeB_06
Demo: No
Featured: No
Length: 23 exit(s)
Type: Standard: Hard
Description: Karashta is a streamer who plays hacks using a keyboard, rather than a controller.

All is well until his keyboard is stolen...

Take a trip across the USA to find it.

Screenshots:
I'll have to reject the hack due to a multitude of issues which ultimately come down to the hacks presentation and overall Level Design.
First off I want to say I understand the appeal and fun that can come from making a hack tailored to a Streamer as they'll enjoy it quite a bit seeing references and jokes that they are used to however if you are submitting something like this to the site I feel like it should be accessible to the larger audience you are presenting it to.

I'll start off by saying I really liked the idea of the Map looking like the USA however it's very sloppily done with larges amount of cut-off that is created. Spending some time making unique tiles for the Map would of really made it special but as it stands it quite messy.

The presentation of the hack is overall quite bad with many levels having large amounts of cut-off as well as bad palettes which really don't compliment the Level Design at all.

Some levels have interesting gimmicks but most of them share the same faults. I'll be going over some of the main issues I found with some images for them as well.

The Title Screen "Keyboard" gets cut-off when you click Start and choose a Save File / Players. You could take the time to make a different Keyboard that looks like one rather than using existing tiles.

In some levels you use the Bottom Layer. In Lunar Magic there are options to let the player see this layer as when playing the game you can't so the player can't see the Springboards to help you get across certain gaps.

The usage of certain Slope Tiles allows Mario easily to get into walls that he shouldn't be in. This appears a lot during the hack.

There a large amounts of cut-off which can be easily avoided. Whilst some minor cut-off here and there is not an issue it is here as its present in every single level.

Starting with the American Football level is the introduction of levels with really strict timers. I understand wanting to create a sense of urgency but with this level and others you pretty much need a perfect run which requires trial and error to know what way is quickest. It's not something I'd encourage in a hack that classes itself as Standard Hard as the challenge doesn't come from the design but rather the arbitrary small timer that's there.

The Climbing Chicago level isn't enjoyable as having to hop from 1 tile vines to the next is not fun and can be really tedious as these tiles don't act too smoothly in some cases. Also needing to ride the Number Platform into the pipe as it's falling isn't an obvious thing to a lot of players and can make it annoying to fall and make it respawn if you even consider that is something you can do. The level also features some rather tedious jumps relating to Springboards and Hurt Blocks that will kill Mario very easily.

The Swimming Lake level is odd in the fact instead of Water you are swimming in Line Guide Tiles which can make jumps trickier than they seem as the area of the water is large than the line so angling yourself for jumps can be tough. It's another level that has the same set-ups repeat over and over as well which is a issue that gets worse later on through the hack.

The Yoshi Coin Feeding level is great and creative in concept however it's really ruined again by another super strict time limit which just makes a it chore to get through.

The Koopa Net level again suffers from just having similar set-ups over and over with the presentation been pretty bad due to the odd palettes and cut-off littered through out the level.

The Texas Gold Mine again suffers from a really short timer as well as the next section having the player jump from floating Swoopers over a large pit. The level started well but its the timers again making it not fun to play.

The Big Boo Fight requires a perfect run in order to beat in time which again makes a fight tedious rather than fun. This could be made better by simply adding a bit more time if you still want that sense of urgency.

The Saltwater Lake level has some bad cases of glitched graphics which can be easily fixed with ExGFX. There are also some unfair set-ups in which if Torpedo Ted's appear you can get stuck in small tunnels and not be able to evade them in time.

As I approached the end of the hack I noticed the same issues as well as some latter parts of the hack using existing Mario levels as a base. (such as the Back Door/Final Room of Bowsers Castle) There were also some other levels that were more tedious than fun such as the Cape Flying Level.

Overall a few of the interesting ideas get overshadowed by the amount of issues regarding Level Design and Presentation.
Like I said at the start of this Rejection Log I get the idea of making something for a Streamer however if submitting it the site then it should meet our standards as well as been enjoyable to a wider audience who may choose to play it.
The hack will need a lot of work in order to be accepted so I would start by addressing the presentation issues such as cut-off before then moving onto Level Design and making the necessary changes.

Screenshot Link
File Name: Karashta's Keyboard World
Submitted: by BuckeyeB_06
Authors: BuckeyeB_06
Demo: No
Featured: No
Length: 23 exit(s)
Type: Kaizo: Light
Description: Someone has stolen your keyboard!
Make your way across the USA in search of clues to help get it back!

This hack contains your typical spin jumping on stuff, riding disco shells and a few levels with tight timers.
This hack does not contain kaizo blocks.
While I wouldn't specifically call this an introductory Kaizo hack, the overall difficulty should make it playable by new Kaizo players.
Screenshots:
This looks like a hybrid standard/kaizo mix so i'll do my best to judge it as such.

Overworld- The overworld while a good idea, lacks massively in execution. It looks very ugly as is, the tiles don't match up and is very messy. I think you can make something good if you put a bit more time in here.

Hardcore Parkour- This level feels very empty. The enemies aren't really a threat.

Colombus, OH- Its just a bunch of chucks placed into the level, no obstacles, no clever placement of chucks, its just chucks.

Chicago- This level is a bit better in terms of design than the rest so far, you've got some clear ideas happening. The presentation is a bit off. Graphical mistakes such as cutoff (floating pieces of ground or ground that ends ubruptly) and weird color choices hold it back.

Minneapolis, MN - Very repetitive jumping in and out of water over and over again with little change. Water graphics are very strange and confusing. Hard to find the secret because the camera.

Tallahassee, FL - A decent idea but again its repetitive and flat. You need to take your ideas and make actual levels with them.

Houston, TX - Once again the gate sections are very empty with little threat or challenge.

Austin, TX - This level gets tedious very quickly. You have an extremely slow waiting section which you cannot speed up followed by a section where you are running at full speed and dying trying to guess where to jump on the bats, the coins didn't help me much.

Grand Canyon Switch- Probably the level most akin to kaizo, still a bit empty. There are long sections where im just waiting for the numbers to count down with nothing in sight.

Denver, CO - The screen isn't set to scroll up so you can't find the hint coin, unless you build p speed and jump around.

Salt Lake - The seaweed act like escalators. I enjoyed your idea of going through the level twice. Lots of cutoff

Tiger King - Repetitive.

Fargo - The graphics are a complete mess. Its hard to tell what is solid and what is not.

From here on out its basically the same complaints. Some levels have good ideas but are executed poorly, usually done in a very repetitive way instead of taking the time to make interesting levels around the idea. Cutoff is still everywhere and the graphics can be very confusing at times.

This is going to take a lot of work to be acceptable on smwcentral. Levels will have to be reworked from flat & repetitive levels into something where the design compliments the level ideas.

I read the previous rejection log and a lot of mistakes that were pointed out are still present in this hack. So time needs to be taken before you resubmit.