World: 3
Exits: 2
Theme: Oriental
Music Options: 1, 2, 3, or compose your own.
Briefing: This is the first level in the oriental world. Consider a traditional "field" level, although incorporate aspects such as cherry blossom trees, little bridges over streams, and nifty little stuff like that. It should be relatively peaceful.
Ok, I was thinking on it several days, and I got an idea like this:
1. You're starting like in a normal oriental level. You're beating it, going right, and after some time, you see a house and a girl. The entire level has some water ponds, + polluted water ponds you die in. She can't get into home because she dropped keys into the polluted water.
2. We're continuing. Now, you are beating this level, then you see a pipe that lead into a small cave. You beat this cave and after a moment, you see a drain controller. You drain the water from the place and everything is dry now, with a little water at places.
3. You're going back, and you get her keys out of the pond. She invites you to her house, and in this house, there's a pipe to a cavern. In this cavern there's the goal roulette.
This is what I'm planning for this level. Hope you like it.
Its interesting, but a bit out of place. Are you saying that the whole mini-quest with the key would be for the secret exit? That might be a bit less out of place in a platformer. In the hack we're trying to minimalize any dialogue, but if we happened to have an NPC sprite implemented she could say "Help, I've lost my key in the polluted water!". I'd suggest the drain controller be relatively noticeable in your first run, since it's the first level of the third (technically second, due to it being the alternative in the 2-3 world split). Then her door could merely act as a keyhole.
Hmm...be careful not to make players backtrack too much unless the level is significantly altered by the drainage. It's not a bad idea, but remember that the level shouldn't ever devolve into tedium (not in this case, anyway).
I'm not sure what our stance is on NPC characters in levels. It's probably fine, but I'm thinking we should have them in more than one level if we go that route, so that they don't seem completely out of place. That's probably something we can all discuss a little later on, though, as the levels coalesce.
Thanks, but keys? I meant I will make the keys like a coin and some GFX for them. The key for the secret exit is in another place. I'll make the level as oriental as I can, I have planned how I'm going to build it. You won't even fell you are backtracking.
Well, based on the screenshots, it looks like you're using a lot of the same sprites everyone else is using. I wonder if we just haven't coded many custom sprites yet...? Even so, I feel like there's more sprites in the original game than what I've been seeing in a macro sense...that's not a jab at your level in particular, mind you, but I am getting a bit concerned about that at this point, I guess. Also, for now this is the intro to the oriental world, so I feel like the enemies should reflect that as well, even if they're just reskins.
Anyway, you're not doing much in those screenshots that speaks volumes about the level design (though I admit I like the bridge over water aesthetic), so I'll wait for more progress, I suppose. Umm...try not to forget about it this time?
Oh, and the palette is quite...brown. Adding different colors to some tiles would probably enliven things a bit.
So, it has once again been almost a month with no updates, which leads me to believe you're only updating this thread each time I nag you rather than you actually being genuinely interested in the level at all. Should I just offer it up to someone else, or are you going to start producing regular updates here? Your response, or lack of one, will answer that question for me.
I should have something witty to put here (even if it's just to update dated info), shouldn't I?
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Why the hell should we need to wait "soon" for more updates especially when your last one was almost ONE MONTH AGO? How about showing us some updates NOW?
Yeah, when I have fixed issues, I will add switch blocks, place SMWC coins in proper places, add more coins, vary it more, and fix what needed. =) "Herupu Hill", I was thinking on it, but I decided to make this quest for the secret exit, so it shouldn't be obvious. I have message boxes which give some tips about e.g. polluted water, and the drainage cave. I also actually made a part of the cave, but somewhere at the middle or at the end of this week, this cave part should be done, and soon the level will be done. I'll show the cave part then. There are also some bros there, and I hope there are enough decorations. =P I'm little busy lastly, but I'll update this thread as often as I will be able to. =)
The only thing that looks oriental about this level is the aesthetics, which were pre-made in the base ROM anyway. If you look at the other oriental levels so far, you'll notice that they're actually trying to incorporate the theme into the levels (i.e. Hadron had a lantern boat and Buddha statues, Rameau's Nephew is using Pionpis, Supertails is using a temple of drums, etc). Your level just looks totally uninspired to me.
I recognize it's supposed to be a "basic" oriental level, but as an introduction to the world, it is weak. Surely you can come up with some sort of way to make it feel like an oriental level beyond the looks. Even something as simple as dressing the sprites up in oriental clothing would help. I'll let others offer some input too, but this is the vibe I'm getting from the level ultimately.
Er, I really, really don't recommend using garbled anglicisms as the "Asian" element of the title, unless your level is intended as an interactive essay on globalization (which I also wouldn't especially recommend).
GeminiSunfall Luize
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Location: Overlord's Castle, The Netherworld
How about Hinoiri Hill? If I remember correctly, "hinoiri" means "sunset", and your level seems to have a sort of a late afternoon theme to it. I could be wrong about that but if I'm not, it could work.
Yep, 日の入り (hi no iri) means sunset to my knowledge, and it shares the "hi" beginning even if the pronunciation is slightly different, so that could work...
...on the other hand, this level doesn't scream "hill" to me. More like a river wending through a forest of cutting shadows thin trees.
And to be honest, I'm not sure the introduction to this world should be a sunset with a somewhat drab palette...but I guess that could go either way.
I pretty much share S.N.N.'s impressions. Compared to other levels in this world that are incorporating an "oriental" feel into every aspect of the design, this one seems to not be doing enough yet.
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