A2XT: It's Over

[Vergalon]

My reaction to seeing Zycloboo was "Really guys? Again? You already did this!" At least the rooms and their ideas were original, especially the ghost buster Banzia Bill.

What is the official names of the new bullets and thwomps used in A2MT?

That's... actually a really good question
I just heard them referred to as bullets and thwomps
(I wonder if this means the beastiary has a lot of work to be done yet...)

[Doctor Shemp]

Enemy Names
Originally they were all going to have names, and the names were put open to discussion in the A2XT subforum. Then SAJewers decided that since raocow would inevitably give them names before coming to the credits and finding out their official names, these should be the canon names, and there was no point giving them interesting names. However, some of them were still used, so we're in the odd situation of some having good names and others having obvious placeholder names. Also raocow doesn't seem to be naming them so I guess that plan's out the window unless he starts.

The current names for the bullets and the thwomps are, according to the credits, "Crusher Thwomps" for both thwomps, "Bill" for bullet bill, and "Big Bill" for Banzai Bill. I really encourage you to come up with your own headcanon names, because those names are really dull. For my part, I suggested the name "Maniac Missile" for the banzai bill replacement based on its expression and alliteration. That was one of my favourite suggestions so that's my headcanon.

Ohh No A Ghost thoughts
As you can probably guess, this is the level SAJ, myself and a few others were referring to when he said "the really in-jokey World 2 level". To my mind, this is the only level that crosses the line with in-jokes. SAJewers' World 5 level is filled with references to a game that I don't even know the name of, so obviously they all sailed over my head, but I was still able to enjoy the level on its own terms because it didn't rely on the references. If you don't know who Black Plague is however (and I don't think it's reasonable to assume that everyone will, like it is to assume that everyone knows "the Princess is in another castle" or what Lemmings is) then the level makes zero sense whatsoever. I'm not sure exactly where the line is but I think this level definitely crosses it.

[Isrieri]

GhostBuster Bill

[Ometeotl]

What is the official names of the new bullets and thwomps used in A2MT?

Thwullets and Bomps

[Septentrion Pleiades]

Oh No a Ghost is a pretty big injoke but it's pretty fun to play, even if you don't understand were it's from. It's a silly fight but you know what's going on. The important thing with injokes is that you don't make i too weird and distracting.

[Kil]

I've added the cheatcode to output your deaths as a text file

Also someone with a lot of deaths should send me their .dmo file because I only have a few deaths to test

and also you can stop sending me stuff now

[Willhart]

The ghostbuster bullet part caused me some trouble. I think I won it by placing the ghost inside the wall before I figured out the other solution.

That level is also a remake of the original big boo fight from smw. It does make sense both as a bossfight and as a custom character even though the player does not know where the ghost is from. There are things like the health bar and the cans helping the player figure out, how the boss is beaten.

This level is also very much a work of a single person and I admire how they managed to make the graphics and the reference. It got accepted to the episode because it was so well made.

One can ask, if the level would work with the default graphics too, to figure out if the level is any good even without the reference. I admit, I aimed most of my levels specifically for raocow too, so I don't really think this game is even designed to be that mainstream.

[cheez8]

I probably wouldn't have laughed nearly as hard at Oh No A Ghost if Black Plague hadn't remodeled to make his old self-destructive mechanisms even more self-destructive.

One can ask, if the level would work with the default graphics too, to figure out if the level is any good even without the reference. I admit, I aimed most of my levels specifically for raocow too, so I don't really think this game is even designed to be that mainstream.

It would be less of one, probably, but the level design surely doesn't detract and there's still a non-referential joke left behind of how this particular Boo seems to find setting up traps to kill himself utterly irresistible. It'd probably end up as a doofy little breather level that would be more funny than level-like, but it'd still work. (especially if ghostbuster bill gets to stay)

[Doctor Shemp]

Yeah, I don't think the mechanics are a problem at all. They're immediately understandable. The problem is that if you don't know who Black Plague is then the level is a boss out of nowhere referencing a time bomb out of nowhere, neither of which are ever mentioned again. Given the nature of the game though if you did remove the reference and make him a generic Big Boo, people may assume it's just a really obscure reference, like how many people assumed This Sounds Accurate was in-jokey when it wasn't.

[Septentrion Pleiades]

The problem is that if you don't know who Black Plague is then the level is a boss out of nowhere referencing a time bomb out of nowhere, neither of which are ever mentioned again. Given the nature of the game though if you did remove the reference and make him a generic Big Boo, people may assume it's just a really obscure reference, like how many people assumed This Sounds Accurate was in-jokey when it wasn't.

Errant text give the impression of injoke in particular. Stopping the bomb is however a easily recognizable trope so I don't think think Black Plague was nearly as bad as anything in This Sounds Accurate. I really think it was a positive experience overall.

A2XT's list of bad choices

• Bad noises
• In-jokes that ruin the flow of the experience
• Recurring text that seems like in-jokes
• Not enough Hat-Bunny Gijinkas

[Narolas]

Poison Tree- Very cool atmosphere here. This is a great example of how to use default graphics to make a level that feels like it's own entity. The level really needed those pipe openings, from what I know. The level creator wasn't particularly fond of them, which was made clear by a cut NPC. I think the area in the second room with the 8 or so fire-spitting plants is kind of unfair and spammy, but the rest of the level is pretty genuinely fun.

[/ispoiler]

Yea, I really REALLY regret doing that.
I think I was having a bad day and just added the NPC out of spite, which was really dumb.

All in all, the feedback was great, and made the level much much better as a result. I might have disliked how the pipe entrances changed the look of my level but they were necessary, so i'm happy people pointed it out. Tbh I could've easily replaced the graphics or something to make it fit better.

The fire spitting room : man have people been pointing it out every time, and when I made it I never even thought it could be a problem. The thing is, with the vines leading to the pipe, the idea was that you'd see the pipe and slightly rush to it before the plants would have any time to really hurt you. The amount of plants doesn't even matter in that sense (in fact there used to be more and I removed them). But I get that it wasn't as obvious to a good amount of people, so maybe the room could've been changed a tiny bit to make the pipe more obvious and more "GO HERE NOW" type thing, again maybe a graphic replacement, or some sign/person telling you to run for it.

I also understand other people's comments about the difficulty, but i've always thought the level was short enough (and the midpoint well placed) to counterbalance it, since I really really liked making a "tricky precise platforming" kinda level and didn't want to make it easier than this. Also people had problems with vines and controllers which I wasn't expecting :(

Lots of good comments on it as well though, so i'm happy ! I'll definitely try to do at least a couple levels for Episode 2.

[tigermoon]

Anyone got a translation for what a certain individual in that first building said? My Belkan is rustier than my Lemmings skills.

As for the level level, I'm pretty sure I did about as good as raocow on it. I'm really looking forward to how he's gonna tackle that next level, though. That's gonna be fun. :D

[Dragooner]

-10 points for the german text. At least ask someone, who can actually speak german.

[Doctor Shemp]

-10 points for the german text. At least ask someone, who can actually speak german.

There was a YouTube comment from someone else who does speak German and who provided a translation of it, which was:

"Oh God...

My friends have begun fighting against the Holy Empire, and I wanted to prevent them from doing something foolish.

But suddenly... something happened... and before I knew it, I was in a strange forest town!
And what's worse, I can't even understand everything I read or hear anymore. It's as clear as mud!
[This is a pun. She literally says "I only understand train station!" which is a German proverb meaning "I don't understand anything."]

Oh, if only someone would meet me who could understand German. Then I would be...!

Oh! Hello! You're a good person. Would you help me?
Could you tell me where the next Magi-Entrance is?

Oh, I'm sorry! I didn't know that you're on your own adventure.
Oh well, good luck! Good bye!

(My God, what have I done to deserve all this...?)"

Is there an error that they didn't notice?

[docopoper]

The fire spitting room : man have people been pointing it out every time, and when I made it I never even thought it could be a problem. The thing is, with the vines leading to the pipe, the idea was that you'd see the pipe and slightly rush to it before the plants would have any time to really hurt you. The amount of plants doesn't even matter in that sense (in fact there used to be more and I removed them). But I get that it wasn't as obvious to a good amount of people, so maybe the room could've been changed a tiny bit to make the pipe more obvious and more "GO HERE NOW" type thing, again maybe a graphic replacement, or some sign/person telling you to run for it.

I also understand other people's comments about the difficulty, but i've always thought the level was short enough (and the midpoint well placed) to counterbalance it, since I really really liked making a "tricky precise platforming" kinda level and didn't want to make it easier than this. Also people had problems with vines and controllers which I wasn't expecting :(

Lots of good comments on it as well though, so i'm happy ! I'll definitely try to do at least a couple levels for Episode 2.

Don't use a sign if you intend on doing that in the future. For the most part you want things to be visually obvious instead of using text since text really breaks the flow of a level. This is especially true if you're telling the player to rush. Ideally you'd want the fire plants to be on screen a bit before shooting but because of the way they work this isn't much of an option. I think if you want to do that sort of thing in future a restructure would be a better option.

As for the difficulty; it's not that big of a deal. It's within the acceptable bounds for the game I'd say. If it were way too hard we would have told you to nerf it as we had to constantly do with

Johnson McCain and the Communists

(and it's still regarded as a a big difficulty spike).

And yes, you should definitely do more levels for episode 2. You're a good level designer.

[Dragooner]

Is there an error that they didn't notice?

The english translation is alright, i was talking about the german text itself.

[Willhart]

The asmt music is really nice. We got to listen a lot of it today.

[SAJewers]

Can't wait to see raocow's reaction to the Clown Car tomorrow.

Don't use a sign if you intend on doing that in the future. For the most part you want things to be visually obvious instead of using text since text really breaks the flow of a level.

There's also the fact that people who don't understand English won't know what to do if you use text.

[jayScribble]

Giant letters are running these levels today.

I don't know how to describe "Farina Station", other than it's extensive in it's design.

"Edge of the night" is a level of fair difficulty in terms of platforming, but the "luna's armpit" hint is certainly hilarious, even without it's context.

[Sebby19]

Wow, raocow found something that I didn't. I'll have to go to that non-exsistant part of the library myself.
Rao, the only other things you missed is some alternate text after certain events:
-After finding the rotten sandwich, the hungry goblin will move to the other side of the door, and lament some more.
-When the 4 raocoin bros. come to the 5th one, they each say something. The 2nd one will offer one ice flower. I think the Toad on that floor will say something different as well.
-After the Leek statue appears, all the Toads on that floor change what they'll say. One will move to the hidden entrance and gloat. He's funny.

There was a missed opportunity by the train tracks. There should have been an event where if you go on the tracks, the train will come by and kill you if you don't get out of dodge right away. You'll hear the 'ding-ding-ding' get louder, while headlights in the tunnel come closer.

[S.N.N.]

So question about a potential easter egg in the towns...

Do the "raocow" NPCs spell out "Hey there" or something akin to that? The first one was an H if I recall, and this was an e, so...

[Unaniem]

Can't wait to see raocow's reaction to the Clown Car tomorrow.

inb4 he beats the level using a different vehicle on his first try and leaves it at that

[docopoper]

Can't wait to see raocow's reaction to the Clown Car tomorrow.

inb4 he beats the level using a different vehicle on his first try and leaves it at that

Most of the other vehicles are almost impossible to use so good luck. xP

[ano0maly]

Was Spiritia supposed to be someone's avatar? Usually characters outside ASMT or Mario are for avatars of talkhausers.

[Willhart]

Was Spiritia supposed to be someone's avatar? Usually characters outside ASMT or Mario are for avatars of talkhausers.

I don't think it was anyone's avatar. There was an Elsen there too.