World: 2
Exits: 1
Theme: Forest/Swamp Castle
Music: Forest/Swamp Castle, or compose your own.
Briefing: This is the castle of world 2 which leads into the beach/reef world. It should include aspects of ruins, and perhaps a swampy undertone. It may also incorporate some underwater elements.
So, I started working on World 2's Forest/Swamp Castle this week. I am drawing some FG tiles for it right now. Here is a screenshot of what I have so far. Ignore the Layer 3 non-Cheep-Cheeps.
I think it could do with a more worn down, discolored (greenish, maybe?) palette, but the shape of and the pattern within the bricks looks pretty good!
Just a quick question, but are you planning on having part of this level take place outdoors? I think that starting outdoors would suit this level very well. I'm not sure why, maybe it has something to do with the music.
Anyway, I like the graphics, but the little spaces between the bricks look a little weird. Maybe its just me.
You know maybe it's most painful that my level DID start outdoors, before going into a mossy castle which would of had the same kind of graphics. Or maybe more painful is actually the fact that I did finish both but was by act of chance prevented from posting it on the morning before I left to go on holiday, and now all of that effort is wasted. Just throwing this out there because I need to vent... And I am aware that nobody actually cares. I just feel better for posting it, because my last explanation was deleted along with the rest of the thread. Hell knows this post probably will be for whining or some other shitty reason, but I don't care as long as someone takes a few moments to read it.
Originally posted by phenolatukas
You know maybe it's most painful that my level DID start outdoors, before going into a mossy castle which would of had the same kind of graphics. Or maybe more painful is actually the fact that I did finish both but was by act of chance prevented from posting it on the morning before I left to go on holiday, and now all of that effort is wasted. Just throwing this out there because I need to vent... And I am aware that nobody actually cares. I just feel better for posting it, because my last explanation was deleted along with the rest of the thread. Hell knows this post probably will be for whining or some other shitty reason, but I don't care as long as someone takes a few moments to read it.
Did you ever upload it?
Anyway, if worst comes to worst and I fail at this level, maybe you can still submit it. If nothing else, you have a ready-made level for your own hack?
You know maybe it's most painful that my level DID start outdoors, before going into a mossy castle which would of had the same kind of graphics. Or maybe more painful is actually the fact that I did finish both but was by act of chance prevented from posting it on the morning before I left to go on holiday, and now all of that effort is wasted. Just throwing this out there because I need to vent... And I am aware that nobody actually cares. I just feel better for posting it, because my last explanation was deleted along with the rest of the thread. Hell knows this post probably will be for whining or some other shitty reason, but I don't care as long as someone takes a few moments to read it.
Yeah, I saw the video for the outside portion of your level. I though it was a neat idea, considering how surprisingly rare it is for castles to have completely outdoor segments. The reason I brought it up is because the Swamp Castle song inserted in the rom is too upbeat to suit a dark and scary type castle, and always reminded me more of an outside castle. I suppose that another song could be used, but honestly, it is just a really awesome song. Probably my favorite one in the hack.
Anyway, my bizarre taste in castles and castle music aside, I think that andy_k_250 will design a very good level.
You've made your explanation more than clear, pheno, but as I said, I will not be antagonized here for dropping your level on you (nor do you need to look for attention now). What's done is done - after four months, you didn't produce an IPS, barely communicated in the thread at all, and refused to even give me a definitive answer besides "I don't know" when I asked you how much extra time you think you needed. There is literally nothing else I can do here - it falls back on you, ultimately, and I would have done the same thing to anyone else. If you wish to discuss this further, you are more than welcome to PM me, but this is andy's thread now and it should be kept as such.
Anyway, I like the look of the graphics, though as others have said, a darker tone may be in order. Granted, the castle theme for this world IS rather upbeat compared to what I expected, so hopefully you can work with that. If not, I'm sure someone could always whip up something else for you after the level is done.
Here is some more progress for the exterior of the castle. I'm using parts of a really nice tileset that is used elsewhere in the hack.
Oh hey, that's from the sky world, isn't it? Works surprisingly well as a swampy kind of foreground.
Is the palette finalized? In my opinion, the ground really stands out compared to the rest due to its brightness, and the water might benefit from a more greenish tint (assuming you're not having a gimmick that requires extra clean water or something). Just my two cents though - the graphics themselves are going together great so far!
There is a distinct contrast in mood between the FG and BG at the moment. The BG is so dark and moody while the FG looks rather...well not quite cheerful but on the cusp of something a bit more cheery.
Also, and this was a complaint I had with my own level after some experimentation, as well as when Lynnes added the layer 3 fog (which no one ever commented on), but I don't particularly like the brightness of the fog compared to the BG - only reason why I didn't give Lynnes the final go ahead to send in the update for the Base ROM. I think you are now the third (maybe fourth?) person using this BG. I had originally mentioned it after Lynnes showed off my level with the layer 3 fog, and I'm beginning to think it might be a good move to move color 0x03 within the ExGFX file to another color on palette 0 so that we can assign whatever tint we want for the fog without having to rely on what's already plugged in for the BG. I know I'll use the layer 3 effect for sure if we decide to do this. Maybe I should bring this up in either the W2 discussion or General Discussion to make sure it wouldn't interfere with anyone else's level who may be using this BG.
Ah, good to see my set in good use :3
But as others have said, the palettes need to be a tad darker. Not too much, just a little.
The darker part of the water have a little problem as well, it don't follow the landshape of the FG correctly. Easy fix though.
Anyway, my concept for the castle exterior is a marshy swamp, as you can see. I thought Magikoopa would be really fun to use here, since you hardly ever see him outside of a castle. I think he works really well in this dark eerie swamp. So here he is.
I should have something tomorrow or the next day showing off the first part of the castle interior.
That looks awesome! I agree that the Magikoopa is good here, it reminds me a little of the exterior portion of the Magical Trick House from TSRPR (which I think was in the swamp world.)
The level looks cool as eXcavator said, just make sure that the Magikoopa doesn't make the level too hard, remember this is still a world 2 level even though it's a castle.
I've been working on the main level of the World 2 Castle. I'm still not very certain about what BG I should use. The gimmick here obviously is Layer 3 tides. I'm still trying to decide which enemies should feature strongly here. I've been going for a plant theme since the boss here is the Dryad -- any chance we can get that inserted in the ROM? I'd love to try it out. Anyway, things are looking pretty bland right now, but I will spruce things up much more by the time I finish. [?] Miscellaneous Helpful Hints If I moderated your hack, there was apparently a 90 percent chance it was rejected.
I suggested the Pirhanglers, and I still think they'd work really well in a part of your castle (graphics are already inserted). Have you tried them yet?
Originally posted by S.N.N.
I suggested the Pirhanglers, and I still think they'd work really well in a part of your castle
I still think they should be recoded so that their jump routine is not affected by land. That would make them far more versatile instead of having to rely on completely open stretches of water for their placement.
Do you have an update for us andy? It's been a little while now, and I know you were recently working on it based off of what you said on IRC, so .. yeah.
