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[FAN JUDGE] Just another useless feedback thread

I was bored today, so I decided to give a few levels of this years VLDC a go. Also since just quickly taking a few notes on my opinion is not that difficult to do and might even contain some tips, I decided to also give Fan Judging a go.
Please don't expect these in a regular basis, but feel to request your level and I'll try to play it asap. By the way thanks to Falconpunch, as I borrowed his screenshots (hope that's no problem ;)).
Also sorry if there are some errors in these reviews, my English is far from perfect. I hope that's not a big deal.



Name: One Effort Mountain
Author: yogui
Secret Exit: No
Yoshi Coins: Yes
3-UP Moon: No
MY SCORE:
Design and Execution: 39/50
Design Creativity and Aesthetic Creativity: 19/30
Aesthetics and Polish: 11/20
Overall: 69/100
That was a neat first entry, with a very well balanced difficulty curve. Even though it is heavily based on tile 1F0 it still managed to stand out, because of lots of clever setups and jumps I haven't seen in many other levels yet (e.g. the football-jumps for the last yoshi coins). I loved the use of the paragoombas, which behave very differently underwater. Also every single enemy in this level can be dangerous when you're not cautious (even the shelless koopas).

I'm not the biggest fan of the level's aesthetics. The background combination looks neat, however you can't see the clouds most of the time, which makes it look a tad empty. I also feel like more could have been done in the line guided rope section.




Name: Dolphin Beach
Author: Luansilva12
Secret Exit: No
Yoshi Coins: Yes
3-UP Moon: No
MY SCORE:
Design and Execution: 25/50
Design Creativity and Aesthetic Creativity: 12/30
Aesthetics and Polish: 17/20
Overall: 54/100
I wish the level would do more than just aesthetics. While I don't think the level design was bad, it definitely loses it's point in those categories.

The level didn't seem to focus on something in particular. Although the level name suggested a big focus on Dolphins, they weren't really used all that often and usally just connect one platform with the next one. I feel like a lot of potential was wasted here.

I really had trouble getting the fourth yoshi coin (not sure if it's just me) and there were a few blind jumps (e.g. after you exit the cave section).

Still I think that the enemy placement was decent and the level was overall fun to play.




Name: #1 Ludwig's Domain
Author: M A R I O W O R L D
Secret Exit: No
Yoshi Coins: No
3-UP Moon: Yes
MY SCORE:
Design and Execution: 0/50
Design Creativity and Aesthetic Creativity: 0/30
Aesthetics and Polish: 5/20
Overall: 5/100
A level purely made of precision jumps. Not what I would consider to be fun to play. Also making the level slippery as well, just adds up to the frustration.

This is not how challenging levels should be designed. Even from a "Kaizo Level Design Contest" standpoint this level would still be as uninteresting. I'd recommend just starting it all over.




Name: Mars Colonization
Author: msi810
Secret Exit: No
Yoshi Coins: No
3-UP Moon: No
MY SCORE:
Design and Execution: 36/50
Design Creativity and Aesthetic Creativity: 23/30
Aesthetics and Polish: 13/20
Overall: 72/100
I really enjoyed playing this level, although it took me quite a while to beat it, because of it's difficulty. The level gets more and more interesting as time goes on. While the setups in the first section are relatively simple, they get more difficult with every section by combining setups you've already seen (and know to avoid) with new ones.

However the problem is, that it's a fast paced level, giving you only little time to think about how to react, which leads to quite a few deaths. Maybe a few more coin guides or giving the player a bit more time to react could make it even more fun.

Also thank you for the second checkpoint otherwise I would have used savestates ;).




Name: Very Danger Lifts
Author: LHB
Secret Exit: No
Yoshi Coins: Yes
3-UP Moon: No
MY SCORE:
Design and Execution: 41/50
Design Creativity and Aesthetic Creativity: 17/30
Aesthetics and Polish: 12/20
Overall: 70/100
This is how autoscroll levels should be done. Even though the autoscroller is quite slow, the level manages to keep you on your toes. This is due to limited amount of places where you can safely stand on and enemies that are a threat most of the time. The next platform you want to jump on is only reachable at certain times (due to the distance of enemies), which always requires to player to play carefully. Also the short length, but relatively high difficulty of some jumps makes this level quite a good challenge.

Unfortunately you lost quite a few points in the aesthetics categories.




Name: Area 51
Author: PMH
Secret Exit: No
Yoshi Coins: No
3-UP Moon: No
MY SCORE:
Design and Execution: 16/50
Design Creativity and Aesthetic Creativity: 6/30
Aesthetics and Polish: 7/20
Overall: 29/100
I dind't really get what you were going for in this level. The little sections didn't really feel that differnt, with the only differnce being the graphics and type of enemies used. It felt like they were randomly thrown together, just to have some kind of variation. Most of the times that isn't really a good idea.

In my opinion a level should rather focus on one theme (for me it didn't really feel like Area 51). Also the design was way to basic for my taste, there's no setup that I still remember after playing the level. I'm not sure if I'd recommend redoing the entire level or just some sections.





Name: Dark Cloud Castle
Author: Roberto zampari
Secret Exit: ?
Yoshi Coins: Yes
3-UP Moon: No
MY SCORE:
Design and Execution: 36/50
Design Creativity and Aesthetic Creativity: 14/30
Aesthetics and Polish: 12/20
Overall: 62/100
Overall a pretty decent level. Even though the level hasn't got anything that particularly stands out, it still is an enjoyable level. I think what this level does best is the enemy placement, especially the fuzzballs which were always threatening. The second section of the level in general felt more intersting. Also I gotta say I love the room for the last yoshi coin, very interestingly done.

For my taste the first section felt too cramped in a few spots and in some spots even a little repetitive. By the way, was there a secret exit, because I didn't find one?



That's it for now. I hope these scores aren't too harsh, because I wanted to leave a little room for even more impressive levels. So I might have to change some scores in the end.