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[REMOVED] "The Kaizocamp" by xHF01




File NameThe Kaizocamp
Submitted:11-06-2014 04:23:41 PM by xHF01x
Authors:xHF01x
Demo:No
Length:49 exit(s)
Difficulty:Kaizo
Description:My first hack I made half a year ago. There are several flunchers in the first levels, but later the levels will look better.

In the zip file there are 4 different files: There is a german and an english version and a version with hard time limits and one without.

Have fun!
Downloads:Permanent Link


I would really love to say good things about this hack, because it's always kind of difficult for me to criticize things harshly, but... Unfortunately, I can't. The hack has a massive number of flaws that I don't believe can be fixed without scrapping it completely.

To start off, the hack is incredibly bland. It sticks to tried-and-overused ideas like shelljumping, P-switch runs, Koopa hopping, the invincibility timer, cement block mazes, bullet jumps, bringing items from earlier levels... the list goes on and on. The design of early levels is uninteresting, flat, and generally consists of cement blocks and muncher spam. It's never consistent in its difficulty, with the second level in the hack even requiring a P-switch jump despite nothing else up to that point (or for a fair ways after it) being that frame perfect. Particularly guilty is the final level; most of the levels in the hack are fairly short and usually no longer than a single room, but the final level leaps up to somewhere around 15 rooms without a midpoint, ending with... Iggy. Not exactly a difficult final boss considering the level. I admit with vanilla design you're somewhat limited for bosses, but you can still do something interesting with some of the other bosses, such as Reznor, Larry/Wendy, or the Big Boo.

The difficulty in general at least has a fair curve as the game progresses, though, and the later levels do end up significantly better than those at the start. But not by much; they still stick to the same ideas, and a few interesting levels aren't enough to cover the problems everything else has. I will say they at least look better, and the submission text isn't lying; there are in fact less flunchers in them, as they're replaced by spikes, blocks, and whatnot, and generally there's less block spam as ledges finally get used. I don't understand why you couldn't go back and fix up the earlier levels, however, as they're where the majority of problems with this hack lie.

Outside of the general level design, the hack doesn't do much else to make itself interesting. The overworld is just a square of tiles, with the only thing on it being the levels and a few pipes. The idea of a "camp" where each level is a "day" isn't a bad naming scheme nor a bad idea for the hack's basis, but it doesn't mean you have to leave the overworld covered in a mass of grass tiles. Even just turning it completely black like the special worlds would be better.

The translation for the hack, at least, is well done, though there was a message box in DAY 3 that was left untranslated (at least it's not a difficult one to figure out). I also commend you for leaving a version of the hack without the hard time limits; usually, newer Kaizo hackers believe that sticking a tight time limit on a level makes it better, and that's a bad frame of thought for a designer to believe in. So, at least you recognize that as an optional challenge, and I believe you can make better levels in the future.

Overall, this hack gets a rejection from me. The difficulty is spastic, the early level design is bland, the later level design isn't much better, and overall the hack had very little impact on me. I recommend that, in the future, you experiment with some different ideas, maybe things that are a little outside your comfort zone. Find something that will keep people interested in seeing what you have to offer, be it a non-standard use of a sprite or a new sprite off SMWC. Sure, it's not bad to borrow an idea or two from another person or have one of the common ideas once in a while, but the majority of your design should be your own and something unique to you.

Professional frame-by-frame time wizard. YouTube - Bluesky - SMW Glitch List - SMW Randomizer
THE KAIZOCAMP

I opted for the no time limit version.

The title screen shows Mario jumping up a hill and sliding down it and then jumping off a tile that's not visible because it's on the bottom row of Lunar Magic. He does the same thing three times until he goes through the goal post.

The intro is unchanged except for the message box. Insert a comma (,) after the second 'mountain' word.

The overworld is extremely bland. Mario is standing in a very empty grassy field with three pipes and several level dots each representing a day.

Now onto the levels:

WARM-UP

A very flat level with some shell-jump obstacles. After that is a long run over flat ground to the side exit.

DAY 1

The level consists of a cement block maze with a tower of Bullet Bill cannons, another Koopa shell jump, a running jump off a Goomba and finally some jumping off Bullet Bills with a Key.

DAY 2

The difficulty rapidly increases here. You start off with having to do a P-Switch jump. After two P-Switch runs you have to time the P-Switch activation right so that Mario crosses the two coin bridges after breaking the goal tape. Or if you scroll the screen to the left far enough you can make it so that Mario stops at the edge of the screen before the second coin bridge.

DAY 3

The message block is in German despite having downloaded the English version. I did some German at school and I know that Pilz means Mushroom so the message block is asking if I have one. If I don't I can't pass the line of Munchers. There is another huge increase in the difficulty. After using a glitch to spin jump through some cement blocks and Munchers there is a series of very tricky Koopa jumps where I had to use massive slowdown to get through this part. Following that are some key jumps and hopping of a Goomba to get to the Keyhole.

DAY 4

This is where I end the playthrough. I cannot figure out how to get up that gap:

A double shell jump isn't high enough.

DIFFICULTY

Kaizo

VERDICT

Because of the fluctuating difficulty, the fact I cannot finish DAY 4 and the level design not being great my verdict is to reject the hack. Test your levels thoroughly to make sure that they are beatable or you could get a beta-tester to let you know how to improve.
The Kaizocamp

Intro

Very bland intro text is used, and I think you should edit it to be
better.

OW

Blandness, Blandness everywhere.

Warm Up

Since I have little to no expirence with shell jumpimg, I decided to skip this level.

Day 1

Seven words.
Bullet. Bill. Munchers. Everywhere. So. Freaking. Bland.

Day 2
This is as far as I got before I got a game over.

Difficultly:

Kaizo


Verdict:
Rejected

Lots of edits should be made, so get to it!
#smw{-_-}