Bringing the thread over from the C3 forum. This is my new project that I've been working on for some time. Star Seeker is a hack that draws heavy inspiration from games like Super Mario 64. This means big, open levels with a focus on exploration and multiple objectives to complete in each level. Collect stars by exploring the levels, solving puzzles, collecting red coins, fighting bosses, and more.
This is one of the best uses of the new(ish) free form levels. I really hope this goes somewhere! Looking forward to what levels you come up with.
Thank you. Now it's time for the first real update since the C3 thread.
I've heard feedback from you all regarding the red coin star and the underwater section being a bit confusing. I've been working on cleaning this area up to make it a bit easier to navigate.
First off, I've managed to add in some decorations (graphics from Flagpole1up). Although I have more tiles I can use if I start eating into FG2, palette space is the real limiting factor here. I'm not sure I'll be able to add much more. Hopefully this helps make it feel a bit less same-y though.
Additionally, I've been working to simplify the layout a little bit by removing some junctions, as well as adding some more coin trails. This turns the red coin star from less of a hunt to more of a challenge to avoid the enemies "guarding" the coins. Here's a preview of the new layout. Please forgive the coins appearing as red squares, this is what I see in LM when I work with it every time.
(Large screenshot, click to view it in full size)
Finally, I've made use of Katrina's new message box patch. Since message boxes no longer use layer 3, this opens up more possibilities for message boxes to be used.
This is an extremely cool hack! It has a lot of polish for a demo and it was a lot of fun to play. I think you managed to translate the 3D Mario style to 2D quite well and I'm looking forward to seeing how far you can take this structure!
btw, this looks like an extremely large wave... there's not really any easy fix for it but it looks super janky when the horizon of all things can scroll. maybe i'm just a nut for caring about things like this tho
I'll give some more detailed feedback as I go, I think you deserve it for putting so much effort into this. Sorry that the first thing I pointed out was a negative, I'll make sure to throw in more positive takes too
allow shy guy emojis in post footers you cowards!
I can see what you mean, but as you can see from the other screenshot, the background is already quite jank as a result of being 2 separate backgrounds I've combined lol. There might be a way I can make use of some more janky stuff to change the background scrolling settings. It's something I'll have to look into.
I like the first level a lot. The little previews of each star path were great and made it a lot easier to find your way (and also you can skip them!) so that was much appreciated. The music on this level kinda sucks. It's really bland and doesn't really get me into the mood to play. I found that this stands out quite a bit because all the other songs in the demo were good and fit their areas very well. Sand castle music? Bomb. Boss music? Great! Town music? Hiya! Beach music? I'm pretty sure this is what the dreams I can never remember sound like.
I like the health system you have going on. I think 3HP is a good amount. The hearts that you can just reuse indefinitely are fantastic as that lets me be a little reckless, which is honestly more fun than having to play super careful all the time. It also lets you create more challenging sections by just not placing hearts there while letting the "main hub" of each level be more welcoming. I'm a big fan of the fact that the game doesn't pause when you get hit.
The hub is very fun to move around in, but there were a few times that I wasn't sure where I would land. Maybe add the look up/down mechanic some hacks use?
I found a bug with , for some reason it creates smoke puffs when it touches the sloped ceiling. Very strange.
I really like this little bouncy victory animation Mario has! It made it feel really good to collect stars.
I wish Mario could watch , like in Pokémon. Funny meta references in the next update or I riot!
I know level 2 is unfinished but I like the aesthetic a lot. The music is great for it too! Also the horizon doesn't scroll vertically, so I can't even nitpick here! About , maybe they could have a different shape to make it more obvious that they're different? The bouncy ones have the same shape as the non-bouncy ones and they both have a really warm tone, so it wasn't obvious to me that they were different. Maybe I'm just stupid though
I didn't take any screenshots of it, but the first boss was neat. I really, really appreciate that you can just jump on him instead of having to wait for him to give you an item to throw. Waiting is my least favorite game mechanic so I'm happy you're not using it lol
Overall this hack is very based and I look forward to seeing more
