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MaGL X2 - Cat Planet × Pokemon OTP

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Re: MaGL X2 - SMB2 x MaGL X2 otp

Post by Katazuki »

raocow wrote:GASP

tomorrow, at least ONE frequent poster in this thread will featured!
IT'S MY LEVEL. GG ME. FOREVER MOCKED BY BEING PLACED IN THE WORLD AFTER CAT PLANET CAT PLANET.
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MaGLX2- It's the Wizard Trap! Its the best trap in the universe because you say wa and the wizard jumps out of his socks

Post by Zephyr_DragonLord »

My goodness, the quote here was so good today!
Level + Antimony2 =y. Solve for y.

(89th) CapedLuigisYoshi: Hey Buddy! Get Your Magikoopa Off My Savannah
This was pretty great. The koopa patrol was a bit rough, but that made the later two fights with the magikoopa pretty good in terms of challenge. The humor was nice to see here, too. You did some real nice work for a single weekend!

...I like how you can just deal with him with a koopa troopa shell all three times. That is sweet revenge for that one castle in SMW.

(88th) NakaTakelli: Calculating Bloopers

First of all, I really liked this level. The challenges that you made for each character were quite varied, and it makes the gameplay avoid a staleness issue. And you used math. I know someone who would absolutely adore the idea of this level! The only thing is that it was quite long, but it makes it fit for a level later in a world. The difficulty is all quite fair. Superb job here! (Also, to Horikawa... I'm more disappointed that you rated this that low than you rated MECHDRAGON's level high. Just saying.)
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Re: MaGL X2 - SMB2 x MaGL X2 otp

Post by Lunikyuu »

raocow wrote:GASP

tomorrow, at least ONE frequent poster in this thread will featured!
Well it's a good thing I was too distracted by UndertaleTM to post for the past week or so. It might have demoted me from "frequent poster" status!

Today we got to see one of the authors I was most curious to see in this contest. I thought Naka's level was pretty neat overall, if a little bit long. Some of the obstacle arrangements looked interesting and varied. The first level was pretty nice too. I thought the Savanna environment from 3D World looked pretty cool.

I think there's still a lot of potential to see interesting levels here. I enjoyed watching both the levels today. Also I can understand not being interested in the current levels, but it feels kind of rude to be all like "man, these levels are boring, I'm gonna stop watching and just skip to the good stuff after a while!". These are things peeps spent a lot of time and energy on!

e: wait, no one actually said that looking back, guess my memory failed

Also I forgot to do favorites for a while, so:

(spoiler mainly for post length purposes)
World 12 Favorite:
Behold! There is a Series of Steps! - liked the different interpretations of steps present throughout the level. Also puns =P

runner up:
Behold! There is a Truth Command - kind of a cliche plot element at this point, but I liked it anyway

World 13 Favorites:
Blargg Citadel - pretty simple short concept that I thought was done pretty well
Bowser Jr in the House - I'm like raocow, I like levels that combine jokiness and gameplay =P
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Re: MaGL X2 - SMB2 x MaGL X2 otp

Post by Penguinator44 »

raocow wrote:GASP

tomorrow, at least ONE frequent poster in this thread will featured!
EVERYBODY PANIC
REMEMBER TO SAY 'IT MUST BE ME' TO MAKE SURE IT'S NOT YOUR LEVEL
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Re: MaGL X2 - SMB2 x MaGL X2 otp

Post by GalaxyOfJ »

Penguinator44 wrote:
raocow wrote:GASP

tomorrow, at least ONE frequent poster in this thread will featured!
EVERYBODY PANIC
REMEMBER TO SAY 'IT MUST BE ME' TO MAKE SURE IT'S NOT YOUR LEVEL
I'm more sitting around wondering if I count as a "frequent poster"
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Re: MaGL X2 - SMB2 x MaGL X2 otp

Post by S1eth »

You need to have an avatar to count as a frequent poster.
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Re: MaGL X2 - SMB2 x MaGL X2 otp

Post by tirakai »

Haven't seen it posted yet so if anyone's curious, Naka Teleeli uploaded a commentary of his level on his channel (he does youtube stuff).




haven't watched it yet but description says go to 3:59 for the actual level (much of his viewers won't know about the contest so he talks about MAGLX in general first).
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Re: MaGL X2 - SMB2 x MaGL X2 otp

Post by Emral »

PARANOIA is probably my favourite level so far. The concept is awesome, though I'd have loved it if you replaced the second half of the pipe maze with another area, like you transitioned between Forest and Ghost House.

The Micro Goomba level was neat. I really don't have much to say about it, but I think the small Goombas make the level.

The Loan level's palette is hard to look at for me, aside from terrible contrast within graphics and too much contrast between stuff like background objects and the tileset on the overworld. It's not a good combination. The level itself is fine, although I didn't find it to be particularly interesting.
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Re: MaGL X2 - SMB2 x MaGL X2 otp

Post by Naka »

Someone beat me to posting my own video! But yeah, dev commentary on Abundantly Calculating Bloopers. I feel I treated it too much as I would an LP video...


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Re: MaGL X2 - SMB2 x MaGL X2 otp

Post by Penguinator44 »

I think Paranoia is my favourite level so far, all those surprises were well timed and even though you could sense them coming after the first couple of them they kept making my heart stop for a second before a sigh of relief.

Also for the last level I think what annoyed me about the colour scheme the most was that the player and the enemies seemed more washed out than the rest of the stage drawing the eye away slightly from the more important things.

Edit: Damn you Emral for pretty much posting what I was thinking before me while I was sorting out my thoughts
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Re: MaGL X2 - SMB2 x MaGL X2 otp

Post by Clamestarebla »

Subtle title, didn't tip me off haha.

if all goes according to plan I should get 1st place in exactly 85 years.
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Re: MaGL X2 - SMB2 x MaGL X2 otp

Post by FluffyMeatloaf »

PARANOIA
Funny and well built, ahaha. There are some bits that feel kinda misleading, (like the harmful circle of boos VS most other tricks that are kinda harmless) but that's probably the point given the name and all. Make the player paranoid.

Ninja Gaiden Inspired My Take on Micro-Goomba in This Level
Pretty nice use of vanilla, I wanna say. I like the little warship platforms in the outside part, and the Hammer Bros. made up of two Goombas / Galoombas are pretty funny.

Let's Think About Loaning and Snifit
The palette is kinda awkward looking at first, but it feels nice after a while? The Triple Deluxe music definitely makes it feel more Kirby-y. Also nice to see a secret star path that branches off near the level's start as opposed to a 'replay the level' one that most folks don't seem keen on.

These are some big fruits on this resort. I'm wondering if it's actually some sort of spongy dessert instead of a beach.
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Re: MaGL X2 - We're... dead, out of sheer luminousity.. is today the day we're going to break a thoushand demoss...

Post by Zephyr_DragonLord »

The answer is in the video. It's a good video.

Morning raocow is my favorite brand of morning video.

These levels are also good, which helps.

(87th) Garlyle: PARANOIA

I don't like most kiazo levels because they don't make their expectations clear until its too late.

Good thing is isn't that kind of level. Mostly because it doesn't kill you if you aren't afraid. I really like the direction you took this, and some of the gags here were hilarious. The pip maze was pretty long, but it's a fairly benevolent pipe maze not sent out to murder three of the four playable characters in the campaign.

(86th) Clemasterabla: Ninja Gaiden Inspired My Take on Micro-Goombas In This Level

This is much more well-rounded than your level, (Disaster) of last contest. This is also the only level where micro-goombas can hurt you, and it even ends up feeling fair because of the relative abundance of fire flowers. Also, that narrator was silly and beans. Very good job, here.

(85th) kirbyman198: Let's Think About Loaning And Snifits
Ah, recent Kirby music. It's always a fair bet for light-hearted levels such as this. That color pallet is also reminiscent of Kirby games of time past. The two paths felt pretty balanced with each other, too. ...And the ending doesn't make sense and is open-ended either way. I really like that, as well as some of the foes just greeting you peacefully. You did some very nice work here.
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Re: MaGL X2 - SMB2 x MaGL X2 otp

Post by raocow »

re: one of your comments in your video there, Naka: classic 'if it's easy for me the author then it's going to be fine!' situation there, haha! It's always, always, ALWAYS easier for the creator of the level because they know in advance what is going on and how to handle it. Always. Always always.
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Re: MaGL X2 - SMB2 x MaGL X2 otp

Post by Garlyle »

Garlyle wrote:
raocow wrote:GASP

tomorrow, at least ONE frequent poster in this thread will featured!
oh boy here we go
Ah, yes, called it.

If anyone wants to try the level for themselves, here it is. If you haven't had the opportunity to watch today's video and are seeing this, I almost want to say, play it yourself first? Maybe. Idk. That's slightly unfair to ask, isn't it?

I'll have proper commentary in a bit, once I'm actually awake and have watched things!

EDIT: Try to create a relatively harmless level. raocow dies 3 seconds in.
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Re: MaGL X2 - SMB2 x MaGL X2 otp

Post by Wolfolotl »

smol sigh of relief

every day except weekends I have to wait until I get home from school to watch the day's MaGL X2, but from the other comments in this thread I'm hyped to see the first level today!!
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Re: MaGL X2 - SMB2 x MaGL X2 otp

Post by Grounder »

Paranoia was good, but I'm not sure how I feel about having actual enemies in a level like this.

Not seeing too much Ninja Gaiden in the second level, though I'm probably mistaken.

No idea what was going on with the pallet in the Snifit level.
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Re: MaGL X2 - SMB2 x MaGL X2 otp

Post by Dragon Fogel »

I tested Paranoia and absolutely loved it, so I was really looking forward to seeing it come up. Surprised to see it before some of the other levels I tested, though; not to knock them or anything, I just thought this one was great.

I wonder when the next level I tested (or made) will show up? At this point it feels like any of them could show up any day now.
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Re: MaGL X2 - SMB2 x MaGL X2 otp

Post by RedMageSusie »

Today's levels were great! Paranoia might be my favourite of the bunch, mainly because I loved the flavour. The pipe maze was a bit weak, but it didn't last too long, so it's fine.

The micro goomba level looked fun, but I can see the tiny sprites getting annoying. It probably wouldn't bother me too much though.

The loan level was amusing, but I trouble making sense of it. Still looked solid though, and the second exit was decent, unlike most of the second exits we've seen.
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Re: MaGL X2 - SMB2 x MaGL X2 otp

Post by Dog In Da Grass »

Glad I kept watching! Today's video was great~

I don't normally do level reviews and such but what the heck?!

PARANOIA:
That level was amazing! kept me on edge and i'll have to play it later myself too!
(slightly disappointed it didn't have the same DDR song by the same name but that's whatever, maybe I should pick something up in the unused level names if they allow us to use used names :P)



Ninja Gaiden level:
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But really I loved the layout of this level. Super creative use of backtracking and tightness of the half-screen made things really tight and fun to watch (probably to play too but I didn't get a chance at that x3)

Sniffit Loan Sharks:
It's like somebody cranked up the colour and contrast on the TV! (I used to love to do that for no reason when I was a kid)
Very solid level design, I feel it deserves it's place where it is.
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Re: MaGL X2 - SMB2 x MaGL X2 otp

Post by Ometeotl »

Snifits make pretty bad loan sharks considering they have guns strapped to their face.
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Re: MaGL X2 - SMB2 x MaGL X2 otp

Post by Garlyle »

ALRIGHT developer commentary for PARANOIA I guess.
"Even though it's called paranoid, I guess paranoid means, y'know, you're gonna be afraid, but it's gonna be mostly unfounded."

raocow nailed it pretty early. That was what stage was conceptualized around. Paranoia is characterized by the fact it's imagined, rather than genuine; a sense that everything is out to get you when it's not.

I've been following raocow for long enough to have seen a number of SMBX levels that used event trickery to startle and surprise. There was one ghost house level that particularly stood out to me, because its first half did all sorts of crazy involving this. Suffice to say when I saw my list of levels and saw "paranoia" on there, I knew what I had to do.

That said, it wasn't easy to do. It's easy to create a level that just has surprise deaths and trolls; it's harder to get a level that actually invokes a response in a player to be forming that kind of paranoia about the level itself. Player paranoia falls apart pretty quickly if the level is actually 100% innocent and nonthreatening. There had to be just enough real potential to take hits that you didn't completely lose your caution and sense of danger. You realise it's not as dangerous a level as it looks, but you still have to keep on your toes. It's that alternation - it's not dangerous, oh crap suddenly it is, except actually it wasn't, except actually this next thing was - that let me manage to keep surprising raocow throughout. Watching him have the reaction to the sinking level at the start ("oh no oh no oh NO uhh") was exactly what I wanted to see and hear from players. ...Well, I can't say I expected him to jump off, but that's the fun of it!

Beyond that though, I also wanted to try to play with how a player's personal experience outside the level could impact it. That's why the level transitions into a ghost house - let's face it, I don't think many people like ghost houses in fangames because they're often just cruel and confusing and rude. It's also what inspired the platform ride, on a similar principle to danmaku titles (and commented on by raocow in one level in ASMT) - even if most of the danger on screen is completely irrelevant, it can still add a degree of nervousness to the player.

That's also why a Pipe Maze happened! Pipe mazes are rude as hell and I don't know if anyone actually enjoys them much. But this one is - like the rest of the level, admittedly - pretty much entirely linear, despite the feeling of being bounced around all over the place. And mostly harmless. I do think I was starting to stretch my best ideas thin though by that point, and it does work a bit better from a designer's standpoint than a player's. A pipe maze you can't get lost in has a level of meta I liked and wanted to do, but I guess it is hard to realise that when you probably get through it in one shot! Oops.

Having a completely invisible star as the final gag is something I am more proud of than I ought to be. I had to be very careful with that ending as a result though, because I didn't want players getting stumped and feeling like they'd missed something and then running back into a goomba or down a pit or something.

One thing I've said a few times is that I had no idea how this level would score! This level definitely sits in the "highly variable fun score" category because it's so tied to player experience, and could easily have tanked in score if any of the judges hated it. That said, there were just certain solid limitations to how high I figured I could have scored. Three chief areas I expected to have lost points:

Use of the character: Yup. Nothing special was done with Luigi, so there's a couple points.

Graphics: Surprise, this is actually my first level in SMBX! Hell, I hadn't designed a Mario level since "I need to breathe!" back in ASMT! With that though came a certain degree of just figuring out how the tools work and building things in a very utilitarian sense, rather than doing anything visually super refined or inventive. I don't think I comitted any sins, but it's not a particularly impressive level visually.

Music: Probably definitely shouldn't have just stuck with 'Vanilla' tracks. There was a specific feeling I wanted to achieve for this level's music - "Wait, that's not quite right". When music is just subtly mismatched with the level in some way, or not quite doing what you expect it to do, it can be unsettling. What I hoped to find was SMB tracks in a slightly different soundfont or something; what I should have done was messed with the tracks I did pick in Audacity or something. Either way I knew I wasn't going to score much here, and I think that's one of my bigger regrets.

...Well, that and not having a segment where the sprites were completely reversed despite your controls handling as normal. But that idea came up afterwards.

Bonus for Dog In The Grass: Had I of been able to find a good way to make that happen I very well may have. Sadly I didn't. Should have left the capitalization as per the song though!

Anyway that was a WHOLE LOT OF WORDS. I'm super happy people seem to have enjoyed it! And given the other two levels in the video I think I can feel good about placing where I did - I hope this kind of uniqueness and charm is going to stick around as we move forward.
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Re: MaGL X2 - SMB2 x MaGL X2 otp

Post by KayhemMaus »

Yay a string of levels! \o/

Commentary, Day 91 [Good lord, Week 13 completed and we're still in the top 100 O_O];

87th, Garlyle: 'PARANOIA' - Best use of the given name in the entire contest so far! You are MEAN! I love this level! I think raocow forgot the theme of the level on the red donut blocks, they weren't solid and none ever fell so I think they were fake donuts. And the exit joke was great! Good job Garlyle!

86th, Clemasterabla: 'Ninja Gaiden Inspired My Take on Micro-Goombas In This Level' - The Ninja Gaiden esque structure of the level was interesting, and the micro goombas sure were annoying looking, but too much text! Should have been a bit more concise, I feel. Nice effort though.

85th, kirbyman198: 'Let's Think About Loaning And Snifits' - What an odd little nonsense level! Is this your first level? I feel like the water was an oversight. The colours were interesting and the plot did raise a bit of a chuckle from me. Not a bad effort. :)
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Re: MaGL X2 - SMB2 x MaGL X2 otp

Post by Katazuki »

Oh please Dog, if you're going to suggest them to use a song from the PARANOiA series in the level, then you could've at least suggested PARANOiA ~HADES~.


Anyways, onto the review!

PARANOIA is done very well and I have to wonder how this scored lower than my level. Nothing much I can say about it other than the fact that it's like a fake kaizo level if anything. But the pipe maze was indeed mostly filler in my eyes compared to the level's theme.

Ninja Gaiden Inspired My Take on Micro-Goombas In This Level was sorta cool, but could've probably done a bit more in regards to the Micro-Goombas and actually have more Ninja Gaiden in this level. When I see Ninja Gaiden in the name, I expect unfair difficulty! (But of course it's a good thing that wasn't the case.)

Let's Think About Loaning And Snifits was filled with Kirby's Triple Deluxe music! Hooray! I believe it's more branching paths that a secret path since there wasn't too much of an attempt to hide the path at all. But either way, I do like the variety given in the separate paths. Now I know I have to trust Thwomps with my loans and not Snifits. Though to be honest, I think Bowser Jr is most trustworthy one to trust giving a loan.

EDIT: How do I keep on getting top page? This is my 3rd top page post or something.
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Re: MaGL X2 - SMB2 x MaGL X2 otp

Post by Willhart »

If I had the first name, I might have gone with some different direction with it. Could have been a bit too ambitious target though.
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From the game "Paranoia"

The Goomba theme on the second level was interesting enough. Some of the enemies were missing death animations though. Having to go all the way outside to reach the first floor was funny.

I'm not too sure about palette changes on the third level, especially since it kind of seemed to just tack it on. I'm not quite sure of even what it was supposed to be from. The level itself was kind of okay, if a little random. It used couple of specific enemies throughout the level, which is one way to give the design some integrity.
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