Pandemonium Fortress 2 - Works in Progress

Originally posted by Dagx

-No you don't have to be big. Just throw a stunned goomba at him and ride the platform.

I tried that, actually... it just went right through him. Hammer bros have screwy hit detection.
Oh, and Shift Castle or whatever it was called is a massive win in every way possible.

Look quite nice,i played Pandemonium fortress 1 a while back but i dont think i finished it...also do you know what happend with the custom music patch? i can find it anymore ._.

Wow, this looks really exciting. I just finished the first installment of Pandemonium Fortress, and I can't wait for the second one!

(By the way, you might want to test your hack for glitches before releasing, since the first hack had a few of them. Read my review for more details.)

Hyea guys, sorry for the lack of replies. I'm putting alot of work into making the third world nice. I should be about to have a nive new BETA out for next week.

Anyway thanks for all of your guys comments on Pandemonium Fortress 1. I will be working on making this longer, cleaner, and a bit more difficult.

Finally do you guys mind I use waves for the grass in the overworl or should I change that?

I made a standalone game once, look for Seabug Stampede on Google Play.

Originally posted by Dagx

Finally do you guys mind I use waves for the grass in the overworl or should I change that?

I think you should change it. It sounds great on paper, but it looks a little too awkward.

Well things rolled together nicely and now i'm ahead of schedule. So for all of my fans here i bring you the third BETA. HERE you guys go, I hope you all enjoy the 3 new levels and the new music for the overworld. I also gave a bit more space for the Great Boo fight in Aqua Pillar.

EDIT: Also I'm thinking of working with Eggvine a bit, would you guys like me to make a YI hack?

I made a standalone game once, look for Seabug Stampede on Google Play.

Hey guys, sorry for putting the last BETa up on Rapidshare, I didn't know you needed an account there to download the files.

Anyway HERE's a brand new BETA with title screen movie (compliments of D4RK) and it's hosted on snapdrive. I've added 4 new levels and fixed a few glitches. Get back to me with your comments and suggestions.

I made a standalone game once, look for Seabug Stampede on Google Play.

The Metal Information Center
Originally posted by Dagx Hey guys, sorry for putting the last BETa up on Rapidshare, I didn't know you needed an account there to download the files. What are you talking about? I use rapidshare all the time, and I didn't even consider once having an account. Also, I'll play your betas soon. EDIT: Guys, there's a FREE button right there. >_> -------------------- Thanks to Wraith for the layout.	Will be glad to test hacks. PM me hack information and download links.
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Well snapdrive doesn't seem to like having working links so i've switched to mediafare. HERE is the new link. Hopefully this works alot better.

Also I would like feedback on the game. I've gone 2 BETAs here without any comments on the game. I'd like to know what you guys like or don't like.

I made a standalone game once, look for Seabug Stampede on Google Play.

In my opinion, you should be using custom music for every level. The music for the second overworld is better, but the blowing grass needs to go. Alright, I'm gonna give you my two cents on each and every level.
Pipeline
An excellent level. The music fits well, and while it's simple, it's fun. I've played through this one level quite a few times, actually. I still have a bit of a problem with the flying hammer bro above the pit. That's a pretty difficult obstacle to get past for the first level.
Shift Castle
Oh man. So much win here, I don't even know where to start. The only gripes I have with this level are the lack of custom music and the brown platform (you had to sit and wait for it to do a whole loop around before you could get on it). The second part was amazing... how exactly did you do that? I might just steal the idea.
Big Red Button
Not much to say here. It's kinda like an automatic level. The shell doesn't hit those flying red koopas, though.
Sunset Pathway
I know it's a really early level, but it's too short and a little too easy. It's still good, though. The palette is a little awkward; the colors of the grass should be the other way around. It should be darker at the bottom, and the black is a little bleh.
Midnight Mountain
Very fun. Slippery levels are rarely done right, even in the original SMW, but this was perfect. I have the same issue with he palette as Sunset Pathway, but other than that, you should leave it as it is. Some custom music and maybe a custom palette for the cave portion would do wonders for it, though.
High Rider
Short, but fun. You had some clever ideas with the line guides. I love the Dr. Mario music, too, but there's not much else I can say. I'd swap places on the overworld with Midnight Mountain, though.
Aqua Pillar
The first part was very clever, but some of the enemy placement in the second part is just evil, and it's certainly a step up in difficulty from High Rider. I noticed the Great Boo fight didn't make me want to kill something in sheer frustration this time around, which is good, because it's an excellent idea.
Uphill Struggle
I love the palette, but there are some edges that think there's dirt under them, some bullet bill blasters floating in the air, and pipes hovering slightly above other pipes. You fixed the glitched bonus room, though, which helps. It reminds me of Long Road except short and with better music. But for a level called "Uphill Struggle", there wasn't much uphill struggling. You could always scrap it and make it a vertical level...
Secret Grove
Not really secret since the key in Uphill Struggle is in plain sight. It needs custom music and a custom BG palette. The ropes don't actually touch the pipes, so you might want to use something less awkward-looking. The moon was pretty easy to find, too, and it let you skip a pretty clever obstacle.
That's all for today. I'll do the rest of them later.

TooManyToasters, I freaking love you man. All I took every bit of criticism you had and I plugged some solutions into my levels. I tweaked some palettes, Placed some enemies in better locatiions, I'm even gonna rename uphill struggle.

Also here's the secret to the second part of Shift Castle. Change it to a layer 2 level "Level mode 2". Set it to no vertical scroll. Set the Layer 2 Horizantal scrool to "Variable". Put on an autoscroll sprite. Make a layer 2, test, retest, tada!

I made a standalone game once, look for Seabug Stampede on Google Play.

The Metal Information Center
Haven't gotten the chance to play the Betas yet, but I guess since my second playthrough of the first Pandemonium Fortress is finished (just haven't made and uploaded the videos yet), I'll go ahead and download the latest Beta and give feedback later. EDIT: Will comment on the levels I was able to complete on my first run. Northern Outpost: Nothing much here, and the pipes don't lead anywhere. Decoration? Sunset Pathway: Unaware that the Red Switch was truely to the right, I start here, and run was pretty smooth. Not a whole lot going on, but good for an early level. Pipeline: Intro level. Not bad, maybe more kinds of enemies and/or having obstacles would make this better. Nice Yoshi's Island song. Shift Castle: VERY hard for an early level. I almost lost all of my lives here. Big Boo battle is VERY clever (love the Sonic 3 Boss music), as is the moving castle parts section in the middle of the level (though it's not very forgiving if you don't move right away). Big Red Button: Started with 2 lives here, down to 1 when switch pressed, because of a certain Blue Koopa at the beginning. <_< Red Background is too much red, but nice for a change to the almost all blue background of SMW. Midnight Mountain: Love the MKDSRR music. Not bad, the only thing I would make a note of is to make it more obvious to go down the pipe at the end. Someone (else) might try to see what's past it and fall down the pit. High Rider: Typical platform riding stage, though the Saws' behavior is more effective here. Dr. Mario music is good as well. Aqua Pillar: Some clever parts...I'm really liking the creativity for the Big Boo battle, Dagx. Only complaint is that the time is a little too short (was in the Chuck section with less than 100 sec. left). Uphill Struggle: A little on the hard side for World 2 with all the pits, especially at the Bill Blasters. Secret exit is a tad too easy to get, maybe have the player bring the key up the vine to make it a little more interesting. This cost me lives later on after the secret level. Secret Grove: First comment: Big relief. No comment on the level, though the 3-up Moon is WAY too easy to get (it REALLY helped me out, though, I went from 1 to 5 at the end). Misty House (forgot the second name): This is where my game ended (I didn't use save states for once). It's too hard. The white mist actually makes this level much harder, since you can't see anything it floats over (I lost my second-to-last life falling into a pit after unknowingly hitting the block containing the P-Switch). The Boo Rings are just far enough away where a glitch occurs that makes the second ring appear twice and spin really fast. Not a problem for me, though. Still haven't figured out the directional coins block puzzle (AzureBlade49 is the one that dislikes the block, not me. ), but I did find the Key's location. Lost my last life falling down a pit just after grabbing the second P-Switch in that Boo Ring. -_- Some problems carry over from your first hack. Some levels are a tad too short, and the difficulty, though stable, tends to jump around (two VERY hard levels mixed in with mostly easy-normal levels). Some people feel there should be a steady increase in difficuly, but I'm fine with this. Big Boo battles are probably the most clever ones I've seen yet, and some nice music choices as well. No comment on the "green water" in the OW, but it is pretty weird. o_O You're probably full on beta-testers, so I think I'll spread the word of Pandemonium Fortress 2 when the hack is complete, like I'm doing Pandemonium Fortress 1. -------------------- Thanks to Wraith for the layout.	Will be glad to test hacks. PM me hack information and download links.
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Alright, here goes.
Misty Mansion
I'm just gonna stop commenting on the lack of custom palettes/music. It should be obvious where I stand on that now. The palette choice was good for this level, though, but the mist was a bit annoying (Several times, I've killed myself because I couldn't see the turn block with the P-switch, so I bounced right into the pit when I hit it). Still, this was a great level, and it really reminded me of the ghost houses in the original SMW. The secret exit was awesome, too. Sometimes the boo buddies spinning around the platform with spikes would move twice as fast, though... not sure if that's a glitch, but it's kinda cool either way.
Putrid Puddle
Great theme, and the SM64 music was an instant win. When you first posted the video in the screenshots/video megathread, I thought it was a little bland, but it's not bad. The first part is very unique, not in level design, but in overall theme. The second part could use a new FG palette, though; try making the colors a bit more similar.
Dinos and Diamonds
I like the first part, especially the dark palette that makes it look like late evening, but the pipes look weird. Really weird. They look comic-y and cool, but they don't fit in with the other palettes at all. Almost every time I play this level, I jump past the pipe at the end of the first part and kamikaze into the pit because I can't tell I was supposed to go into the pipe. You should make it a bit more obvious, because it just looks like another piece of scenery.
The second part was very well designed, but the BG palette burned a hole in my pupils. Tone it down... a lot. If nothing else, change it completely and rename the level. You might want to try melding some of the ground squares together with corner tiles, but it might look better as is. The FG palette looks good, and the level was pretty well designed. I liked the nonlinearity of the second part, but it couldn't hurt to make it a little more non-linear.
Fiery Freezer
It's been done before. Not only in Banjo-Tooie and Super Mario Galaxy, but in PF1, too. My advice is to scrap it, replace SHift Castle with something easier, and put Shift Castle where Fiery Freezer is on the overworld.
Gloomy Grotto
Oooh, plot development. This was a nice theme, and it would be perfect for a nonlinear level, but it was just as linear as the others. Don't get me wrong, it's a good level (using a super shell to grab coins from a question block was genius), but a nonlinear level once in a while is good for mixing things up. The BG palette was nice, but when the fast BG scroll set in, the contrast between light and dark put a strain on the eyes. Keep the flying grey turnblocks, but put them in a different area with a more monotone background and it'll be much better.
P.S. You should make Secret grotto more rewarding and swap places with Supply Area. Supply Area is too hard to find, and Secret Grove is too easy to find. Now, it wouldn't hurt to give my thread a little nudge towards the top of the page, would it?

Originally posted by "Dagx"

Also here's the secret to the second part of Shift Castle. Change it to a layer 2 level "Level mode 2". Set it to no vertical scroll. Set the Layer 2 Horizantal scrool to "Variable". Put on an autoscroll sprite. Make a layer 2, test, retest, tada!

Genius. I might use that for one of my later hacks... giving credit where credit is due, of course.

Heya guys, thank all of you for your criticism and comments. I've taken them all into consideration and have added 6 more levels to the game. hopefully you guys wil enjoy it.

HERE is the new BETA. Just a couple comments.

1. Aqua Koopas will probably be cut, I just needed something to be a new bonus level.

2. Fiery Freezer will remain unless I come up with a really great castle to replace it with.

3. I'm starting to run low on level name ideas so if you have any please share them.

Enjoy.

P.S. The new BETA will also be available on the front post.

I made a standalone game once, look for Seabug Stampede on Google Play.

Heya guys. I feel bad that I haven;t been posting any new BETAs or screenshots so here is a big 'ol parade of screen shots.

Here are some screens from my new and improved overworld:

New, toned down palette for "Dinos and Diamonds".

Gloomy Grotto got a bit more gloomy

Brand new Subworld.

Enjoy

I made a standalone game once, look for Seabug Stampede on Google Play.

EPIC WIN on that great boo boss fight music and your levels are well designed as well. One thing I want to know though, is the boss fight music an original creation or based after something from another game?

Boss fight music is from Sonic 3.

And now that this thread is back up I'd like to bring out the 6th BETA. HERE it is. I hope you all enjoy it.

EDIT: Oh, and here is a screenshot from a new level i just finished. What do you guys think of the colors?

I made a standalone game once, look for Seabug Stampede on Google Play.

I just played BETA 6. Golden grove was an awesome level. I think you really should do let's plays

Oh and thats a great colour you have there.

I haven't played the beta yet, but in the screenshot you posted, are you supposed to run away from the Monty Moles? If so, I see a chance where the player can duck and jump over the two without getting hurt. As for the color scheme, I'd tone down the green on the foreground, for it is way to bright. AS IF I KNOW WHAT TO PUT HERE.
Hack Status: Cat Adventure Deluxe -100% Undone Derp.	Since 2006

I actually had to go out of my way for the top monty mole to be a problem. i just figured it would look better for the screenshot.

And i suppose I'll tone down the foreground a bit. I'll probably just grey it out a bit.

EDIT: There, how does this look?

I made a standalone game once, look for Seabug Stampede on Google Play.