MaGL X2 - Cat Planet × Pokemon OTP

[CloudyCloud]

See the trouble with the slide is that sliding is secretly kinda finicky, your exact path depends on stuff like how fast you're going when you enter the slide, where you first press down, maybe what buttons you're holding too but I'm not sure on that. I'm sure h2643 could follow the coin trail perfectly every single time but any other player wouldn't know how they entered it - perhaps not even that it matters.

Also I realise I'm getting to be a broken record about this at this point but why do all these SMBX community levels have textboxes explaining virtually every mechanic of the level? Just about any player will know on seeing a long slope with coins on it that they're supposed to slide, just as they'd try the golden mushroom before just assuming they're supposed to tank a hit to get the second star. Explicitly stating that the dragon ACE coins are how you get the second star is a nicety I suppose but could've been indicated without a textbox with even a hint of creativity, and maybe I'm just a little biased having played SMB2 but honestly I believe if you think that fake water is swimmable you probably deserve what you get when you jump in.

Inb4 s1eth agreeing on what you said.

Because it seems like what he will complain about also.


Anyway, that slide. <_<

I think a standard/formula is needed to make the slope where every player can slide easily.

As in, any kind of SMBX physics formula calculation.
(Too bad, I forgot physics already. I only remember Maths.)

[Arctangent]

For whatever reason, both Mario and Luigi slide differently depending on wether you have a powerup or are small.

Huh. That's actually a clever, neat little touch.

It's just also pretty unintuitive coming from the main Mario games and very difficult to catch, so I'm not really sure if it fits being in an engine that's both based on a commercial game series and has a level editor. Bit of a shame, that.

[SAJewers]

For whatever reason, both Mario and Luigi slide differently depending on wether you have a powerup or are small.

Huh. That's actually a clever, neat little touch.

It's just also pretty unintuitive coming from the main Mario games and very difficult to catch, so I'm not really sure if it fits being in an engine that's both based on a commercial game series and has a level editor. Bit of a shame, that.

Yeah, it's one of the stupid things SMBX does that's unintuitive to new people.

[S1eth]

You could replace the ACE coins with STAR coins. Seeing a STAR on those coins might help the player realize that collecting STAR coins will be rewarded with a STAR.

So, today's level. I've seen a youtube video of it being played before.
I clearly remember the slide, the springboard, and the waterfall where you need to use the springboard.
So, I think this may be one of those levels that weren't originally made for the contest, but just slightly tweaked and submitted.
I cannot find the video anymore (I thought it was maybe on bossedit's channel?)
Does anyone else remember seeing the level, and maybe have a youtube link?

[SpoonyBardOL]

Wow, it's a shame that an otherwise really neat level with lots of flavor ends on a sour note thanks to SMBX's wonky momentum.

[Learning-Timebuster]

You could replace the ACE coins with STAR coins. Seeing a STAR on those coins might help the player realize that collecting STAR coins will be rewarded with a STAR.

i think the ace coins were used because theyre a smb2 asset

[Zephyr_DragonLord]

We could also record our own audio files, and use that for narration... Now then, for today...

OK, I'll explain what happened: It's SMBX Physics.

For whatever reason, both Mario and Luigi slide differently depending on whether you have a powerup or are small.

Gah... this is delightfully bizarre. I thought it was raocow getting tunnel vision and not realizing that he was not sliding from the top of the slide. Though in his fairness, slides shouldn't have a margin for error that small.

Now for the rest of the level.
...raocow, think of the whales, okay?

(33rd) h2643: Back In My Day, They Rubbed In Dreamland

Other than the slide (which is not a big deal anyways), this feels a whole lot like a SMB2 level. And that goes a long way in catching my attention. You did well in recreating enemies and environments from SMB2, including the whales! While this doesn't have the personality of the level yesterday, this is still a great level in its own right.

[Willhart]

I wonder if small Mario accelerates faster due to less air resistance and less friction. The level itself was pretty okay graphically and had some neat pathing. It reminded me of some of the earlier SMB2 levels from this contest thanks to the similar graphics, but it was easier to play and probably more consistent/coherent in design. The secret exit not ending the level was a nice thing to have too.

I'm pretty sure that raocow could have cleared those caps if he managed to get to the top speed via running or something. The message block may have confused him a little there too. Just pressing down was not enough in this case.

[Alice]

Also I realise I'm getting to be a broken record about this at this point but why do all these SMBX community levels have textboxes explaining virtually every mechanic of the level?

While it may be a valid criticism overall it's not exactly too unexpected if you know raocow is going to be playing your level since he does kinda have a history of missing some really obvious things all too often.

[TaviTurnip]

Also I realise I'm getting to be a broken record about this at this point but why do all these SMBX community levels have textboxes explaining virtually every mechanic of the level?

While it may be a valid criticism overall it's not exactly too unexpected if you know raocow is going to be playing your level since he does kinda have a history of missing some really obvious things all too often.

I agree with raocow being a knob sometimes but I respectfully disagree that levels need this kind of textbox :P I had the 100% exact same reaction to the textbox in this level, basically "well I had doubts that this was a SMBx community level but now don't, lol" more or less with a playful roll of the eyes.

Also the whole powerup slide subject is reminding me of a thing in SMW that I was never certain whether I was tricking myself or it was real. I always felt like small Mario had one pixel higher of jump height (running or not? I'm not sure) than Super Mario or like small Mario had extra acceleration to reach the same maximum jump height or something really janky like that. I don't know what it was. But it always felt like small Mario could reach maximum jump easier in SMW for me, and I've never heard anybody say this in any sort of Mario game except me.

VIDEO GAMES?! THOSE EXIST.

[FluffyMeatloaf]

Back in My Day They Rubbed in Dreamland
Some nice SMB2 assets at work with a level that's built well for the most part. The whales from that game do seem like a rare sight in other things, also. As for the slide, it might've benefited from not having radioactive panzers of doom in light of wonky physics at work again.

Guess that's it for the book reading, though. The library was kinda huge with its level selection, though the area itself feels like it's on the smaller side of things?

Anyway, I decided to link the levels again for upcoming favorite picking, though I wasn't aware of the extent of the thread's update so I just removed links Horikawa already covered. Will say the library starts at 52 (Ivy's), though, I think. Probably.

40th - swirlybomb: 'Ewww! the Magikoopa Are All Covered in Rind!!!!'

39th - ztarwuff: 'Behold, There Is a Ring! Look!'

38th - Lunatic Quark: 'Chain Chomp in The Canada'

37th - Isrieri: 'Personally, I Think That Mario Is Missing Is a Very Observant and Fantastic Experience. I Captured That Here'

MaFAB 4th - Dragon Fogel: 'The Orochi'

36th - DiogenesKC: 'Banzai Bill Castle'

35th - McKnackus I: 'Spiny Castle'

34th - Dragon Fogel: 'Personally, I Think That SMB2 Is a Very Imaginary and Abandoned Experience. I Captured That Here'

33rd - h2643: 'Back in My Day They Rubbed in Dreamland'

I mean, I guess I could've left the other links in to save a click or two, but ehh :P

[warpio]

I remember specifically in SMB3 that you only needed to tap down once on the slope and then let go and it would carry you the whole way through. you don't need to HOLD down while going down the slope. would that have made a difference in this situation?

[Willhart]

I remember specifically in SMB3 that you only needed to tap down once on the slope and then let go and it would carry you the whole way through. you don't need to HOLD down while going down the slope. would that have made a difference in this situation?

raocow would have maybe retained the momentum on that second slope instead of stopping due to Mario ducking at the bottom of that slide.

Edit: My favorite level on this world was 38th 'Chain Chomp in The Canada'. It was very high quality, used unique gimmicks, had a fun story with nice ending and a lot of enemy variety too. It looked like a lot of fun to play.

[Alice]

I agree with raocow being a knob sometimes but I respectfully disagree that levels need this kind of textbox I had the 100% exact same reaction to the textbox in this level, basically "well I had doubts that this was a SMBx community level but now don't, lol" more or less with a playful roll of the eyes.

I probably worded that badly but I wasn't actually meaning to say the textboxes are necessary, lol. That was mostly just a joke about how raocow misses some super obvious stuff sometimes and how having textboxes at those times would be helpful.

[Sebby19]

You would think after the first 3 deaths, he would have started sliding from further up the hill.

But yeah, I knew something was wrong when he wasn't reaching the first coin trail.

[Penguinator44]

Wow I'm surprised I survived the library so many levels that I loved

Milk Regret, Menacing Duck Hunt, Enjoyable Chain Chomp, Fatguy surrounded by Fatguys, Can't Handle the Youth and Spiny Castle were the ones that brought the biggest smiles to my face but damn I've loved just about every level from this world.

[raocow]

well you gotta make up your mind because now it's time to do that FAVOURITE WORLD 17 LEVEL YO thing!

[Crow]

On one hand raocow was being dense and not starting from the top of the slide. On the other hand it never worked as intended to begin with. I don't see why the munchers had to be instadeath though

Also raocow could've just like, started from the midpoint to practice the slide then reset the midpoint when you think you've got it down instead of having to play through half the level every time just to get there, which is what I would've done

[ohmato]

To be fair, I had to include a textbox explaining the elven spike-bouncing mechanic (although it wasn't just a blatant "remember player, do this and this!") in my entry because a couple of the playtesters did not actually know that was a possibility. The creator doesn't need to be criticized for trying to cover their bases, but I will say there are better ways of explaining mechanics through text that are still in line with the setting.

[Alice]

well you gotta make up your mind because now it's time to do that FAVOURITE WORLD 17 LEVEL YO thing!

Was Iso's level this world or world 16? I can't remember. If it's this world then his is. Otherwise it's the spiny castle one.

I don't see why the munchers had to be instadeath though

While the level of the munchers could've been changed to account for it where they're at in the level you can't jump out of the pit so it's easier to just have them act like lava so it's instant instead of drawn out.

[Crow]

In the pit, yes. the ones on the right raocow died to several times though, no.

[Ignoritus]

Honestly I can't really get behind the "well this mechanic wasn't like this in the original games!" argument because even so in a lot of those deaths you can clearly see that Mario was still gaining momentum when he hit the jump. Might have been a bit frustrating the first time for a veteran to be confused by the differing mechanics, but to be fair I don't think this one can be entirely blamed on the level. My only real question is why failing the slide needed to be made instantly fatal? I guess they figured it was ok right after the midpoint, but didn't really consider their secret star?

[raocow]

for the record I am not blaiming the level, but because of where my mindset was, I was looking at different things to 'change' to make it work, if that makes sense.

[TaviTurnip]

for the record I am not blaiming the level, but because of where my mindset was, I was looking at different things to 'change' to make it work, if that makes sense.

I was basically afraid once again that everyone was going to come crashing down on this level and call it bad names because of your experience :< I'm happy that it came to an interesting discussion about slide mechanics and the hows and whys.

Sorry that you had trouble though D:

[Imaynotbehere4long]

Just thought I'd chime in to say that raocow wasn't the only one who had problems with that level's slide (see Blue Leaf's comments):

http://www.smwcentral.net/?p=viewthread&t=78687

Also:
https://youtu.be/0E6wSCPeMZo?t=314

It's weird seeing all of these levels I recognize from other places pop up in MaGL X2.

I've seen a youtube video of it being played before.

Was it the one I linked to above?