Probably quite a late response, but i still wanted to answer this. And i waited until i was able to play both "Purple Waves" and "Dude, Jill", so i knew what you were talking about and could comment on these points.
Originally posted by FrozenQuillsI did understand that the vanishing allows for simpler designs of rooms.
The best way I can put this is that while I did give a lot of creativity points for the vanishing gimmick, the gameplay experience itself wasn't that creative. It is a good embellishment, but it wasn't a core feature. The looping gimmick however, is great for a creative gameplay experience.
Thank you for the explanation!
I think i get what you're saying, basically, the experience the player has when playing the level isn't as unique, as in, despite my level doing the vanishing in a unique way, you're still playing two versions of the same room. I think that's what you mean with it, right?
I guess i can see it now, and why you did the comparation with my level, that despite having unique ideas, having the level require the player to do something unique counts as well.
Originally posted by FrozenQuillsTake PURPLE WAVES for example. The gimmick is about manipulating the water level so that you don't die; this has huge implications in the gameplay where you either have to avoid or step on platforms in order to figure out how to progress.
Similarly, "Dude, Jill" has you figure out how to stay on smashing layer 2 or maneuver through very unusual arrangements of it.
That's primarily why those levels got a 30/30 in creativity for me.
Though i will say, having played the two levels you mentioned, i don't entirely agree with it.
The fact i see is, while the levels are unique in the way they are played, having the player doing things that i haven't seen before, i'd say the execution can be flawed at times, and that is something that counts for me as well. The levels might have a great idea, but something they are missing (especially Dude, Jill) is a way to make that unique idea be a fun gameplay gimmick and actually be intuitively playable by the player coming to them (as in, the player can come to the level and actually understand how it plays, instead of being just a trial and error experience).
In Purple Waves this isn't that big of an issue actually, and i did like it a lot. The problem with it is mainly how unforgiving it is, as any mistake is an instant death due to the deadly water. I also think the camera scrolling gimmick could have been introduced a little bit better, and made more intuitive as to how we can control the camera.
But well, for this level, i get a part of it is figuring things out.
Dude, Jill on the other hand has a big problem with execution.
While figuring out how to stay on Layer 2 and stuff might be clever, the creator seems to go mad with it, in the end favoring the difficulty and unusual setups over the actual enjoyability and funcionality of the level. The whole fact that most of the level is made with Fast Smashing shows that, as Fast Smashing is awful to work with as platforms! It isn't like a moving floor, it moves so fast that it plays as if the entire floor instantly disappears, and it's so sudden that it's really hard to react to! It gets worse due to the fact that most of the level is played over lava, so any mistake is an instant death.
I know some of these might seem more Design related than actually Creativity related, but for me, a part of being creative is coming up with a way to execute your idea so that it functions nicely and is fun to play. If the gimmick is more of a hassle than actually an enjoyable part of the gameplay, then it wasn't creatively implemented into the level.
In fact, what stood out the most for me in creativity were the Lakitus throwing Spinies in the water! That was a really clever use of water physics with sprites, and it was executed really well!
Originally posted by FrozenQuillsYou still did well in creativity though! A 27/30 definitely isn't bad, and I did address the vanishing and looping gimmicks as contributors to the creativity in my review.
Yes! Thanks for that!
Again, i didn't mean to sound ungrateful with my comments or anything, i know 27/30 is a great score!
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