JUMP - Let's meet again at JUMP½

[worldpeace125]

Some trivia about the fortress level
One sky level was supposed to be made by notgoodwithusernames, but he dropped out his claim. In place of him, Daizo and Mellonpizza simultaneously and independently made a level for this. At first their levels were conflicting for insertion, because all of 96 so-called translevels(main levels that can be entered from the map) were already occupied/claimed. So I had to find a way to use sublevels as translevels, which made the ASM management as messy as a ball of string because lunar magic basically doesn't support this AND the relevant RAM tables were not extendable. The new RAM addresses are separated from the vanilla one, and the adhoc nature of the management was my excuse for the mistake in Markyjoe's level :( but hey we managed to have more than 100 translevels including warehouses thanks to it.

So yeah. To be honest, the place of this fortress wasn't a planned thing. Also Daizo just requested a custom boss for his level, so I just made one for him. It's the only reason why the boss is there. To make a relation between sky theme and the castle with giant gimmick, we arrived at a conclusion to make a reference of "Jack and the Beanstalk". So he put the big vine at the beginning of the level.

I think for me, I really like Jolpe's levels specifically because they don't try to do anything too fancy, and are just pure platforming and mostly vanilla challenges. Palatable Perturbation was obviously more based around a gimmick, but it definitely stood out from his usual design. I still liked it though. To me his levels feel like just the right kind of difficulty, because it's just trying to 'be a hard platforming level' and that's really it, and that's what the SMW engine was made for.

I'm 100% on this. And I found the challenges in his levels are planned well, and it's a huge difference from levels that are just annoying to me.

levelengine

Yeah, that's a good real example. Also he's a very good player too.

Also hey the world 5 map! It was the first submap I made for jump and one of my personal favorites. It turned out pretty good with the mix of clouds and land on the clouds. I regret making the map split in two, cause you have to restart the music if you go from one end of the world to the other. I'm a huge fan of the map theme, surprised other people don't like as much. It's just chill yo.

I remember it was your first one for JUMP, and it was outstanding when compared to other maps peeps suggested at that time. I'm a huge fan of your maps, and appreciate for taking over the most parts of the overworld. It was a very important anchor that helped this project to be actually finished! (I don't think I've said this, and I should have said earlier but forgot)

[cozyduck]

It's disappointing to see Leaping getting trashed when it's a perfectly fair level. My proof can be seen here, as levelengine beats it sight unseen with barely any trouble.

Don't worry, your next level will get way more trashed, despite being one of the best levels in the game!

[Jolpengammler]

wow, my levels either get love or hate huh :D

This level just needs 1 koopa removed..

Also how the hell do you like

Cryophobia Cavern

era64? it's crap!

It's slow, the palette hurts your eyes, and you can barely see the enemies! My least favourite of my own levels, it sucks ass! My old self is shit!

[lolyoshi]

I legitimately don't understand how anyone could contest these use of the extra midpoints (the only one was actually at the grey p-ballon room), as every room seems to demand some sort of unconventional mechanic (especially that cloud one), and it would be arbitrary to redo a section that has nothing to do with what you've trying to learn currently.

Some of the obstacles don't communicate properly on what you must do (the structures may just look confusing at first), so a death is guaranteed usually. Which helps that these extra midpoints lets the player give chances to know what he must actually do.

The opinions regarding the nerfs seemed very mixed as everyone has a similar or different philosophy on what's fair and not.

[Stink Terios]

This is probably my most hated level in the hack. Granted, I did this before it had midpoints but the main issue is still there: there are baloons, and you have to use them. No. Stop baloons forever. Pop them all and pretend they were never part of SMW.

Also never had any trouble with Luminous Leaping's normal exit, it was just a fun romp. I even found the secret exit without the P-switch through that one Banzai Bill's conpiscuous placement, but found the room afterwards annoying because I also hate clouds.

[Isocitration]

The opinions regarding the nerfs seemed very mixed as everyone has a similar or different philosophy on what's fair and not.

This. The completely bipolar reception of my levels has been the cause of much uncertainty and indecisiveness. I'll stand by the updates that have been made though, since let's not mince words; my levels are a chore, and there's no reason to force people to slog through sections they find tedious over and over.

[cozyduck]

This is probably my most hated level in the hack. Granted, I did this before it had midpoints but the main issue is still there: there are baloons, and you have to use them. No. Stop baloons forever. Pop them all and pretend they were never part of SMW.

Also never had any trouble with Luminous Leaping's normal exit, it was just a fun romp. I even found the secret exit without the P-switch through that one Banzai Bill's conpiscuous placement, but found the room afterwards annoying because I also hate clouds.

See, this level pre-patch is in my top 5. Also, balloons are great. Funny how opinions can vary this much.

[raocow]

controlling a balloon is like controlling a flying bathtub and is the worst, but the level has ample regular platforming segments and puzzles so it balances out

[Ometeotl]

"Okay, so first I want to make an auto scrolling P-balloon level with power ups that you have to avoid, then I want to make a level where you have to manipulate Lakitu's cloud in odd ways to get through, then I want to make another auto scrolling P-balloon level but with other P-balloons you have to avoid and then finally I want to make a level all about Yoshi with limitless wing capabilities!"

"You only have one level slot."

"...Challenge accepted."

[cozyduck]

"Okay, so first I want to make an auto scrolling P-balloon level with power ups that you have to avoid, then I want to make a level where you have to manipulate Lakitu's cloud in odd ways to get through, then I want to make another auto scrolling P-balloon level but with other P-balloons you have to avoid and then finally I want to make a level all about Yoshi with limitless wing capabilities!"

"You only have one level slot."

"...Challenge accepted."

I think there's enough thematic consistency by virtue of this being a level exploring different means of aerial locomotion for Mario.

controlling a balloon is like controlling a flying bathtub and is the worst, but the level has ample regular platforming segments and puzzles so it balances out

Balloon flight > Cape flight > Cloud flight >> Yoshi flight.
Come at me, peeps!

[Fapnoob]

That level was enjoyable to watch. You know its a good series when i watch a 20min episode of a single level without fast forwarding.
Was the solution to the part raocow did weird just let yoshi get hit by fuzzy?

[Zach808]

It's disappointing to see Leaping getting trashed when it's a perfectly fair level. My proof can be seen here, as levelengine beats it sight unseen with barely any trouble.

Don't worry, your next level will get way more trashed, despite being one of the best levels in the game!

I'm not sure that level will get thrashed in the same way. The gimmick's easy to understand, and the level's easy to read, though hard to execute. Plus there are no janky control issues. Not sure what people will be able to rip apart besides "It's too hard".

As for today's level... Yeah, maybe this level really did need those midpoints in retrospect, for the sake of making it more fun. It's a good level, but doing the P-balloon sections over and over gets repetitive. I actually liked the non-balloon sections a lot more, since they involved some pretty creative, if simple puzzles.

[Ryrir]

"Keep a Positive Altitude" is definitely in my list of the best JUMP levels. I really like (almost) everything about it, even the balloon parts! It's another case where the level was really designed with the autoscroll in mind, and it's really neat to see how well the autoscroll and the balloon gimmick worked together. The part with the cloud can be a bit more tricky, because "throwing your cloud" isn't something you do very often - but since clouds seem to have a tendency to teleport where the player is, it's somewhat more generous than it looks like. The second half of the level is just super fun to play, the whole gimmick with avoiding the balloons so that Mario will deflate in time is just such a unique and cool idea. The vertical part is just as great, especially the final fall where you have to catch up to the yoshi.
I know that at this point I'm just gushing over the level, but I really do think that it's super amazing!
Also yeah, you were supposed to get hit by the fuzzy at the part where raocow didn't know what to do (you get hit, remount him on the other side of the pipe, fly up and then drop him through the green springy thing to the midpoint area).
There is also the aspect of the two extra midpoints being added in v1.02, but in contrast "Chains of Atrophy" I feel pretty neutral about it this time around. I think the level didn't necessarily feel annoying or too hard when it only had one midpoint because it's not a puzzle level. In a level like "Chains of Atrophy" you really don't want to replay the same puzzles over and over again after you've figured them out the first time, whereas in a level like "Keep a Positive Altitude", it's a pure platforming challenge and you know what you did wrong every time you die, so playing through the level again doesn't feel as aggravating. I feel like both versions of the level are equally fun to play through.

[cozyduck]

Incidently, does anyone here know where the music in this level is from originally? (Same question for world 6 overworld as well)

[Ryrir]

Incidently, does anyone here know where the music in this level is from originally? (Same question for world 6 overworld as well)

According to the soundtrack made by era64, the song on the world six submap is from TalesWeaver and called "Sunrise", but I couldn't find it on youtube. Today's level used "Puppet Panic Zone 1" from Sonic 3D Blast (it's one of those cases where the spc port is arguably better than the original).

[mellonpizza]

On the topic of bosses, at one point we did consider custom bosses in place of the koopalings, but it kinda just never got any progress. I suppose it could be contributed to the fact some ideas were too ambitious...

[Sugar]

wow, my levels either get love or hate huh :D

This level just needs 1 koopa removed..

Also how the hell do you like

Cryophobia Cavern

era64? it's crap!

It's slow, the palette hurts your eyes, and you can barely see the enemies! My least favourite of my own levels, it sucks ass! My old self is shit!

I disagree with your claim of palette hurting eyes. It's bad, but not to this level. For me, it even helps to make environment seem more realistic (although I bet people will complain about it).

For me, the level felt like a really neat silhouette level gimmick, except you can tell more details than you usually could in such a level. The enemies are visible well enough.

It's slow, yes, but I think that worked to an advantage of a level. For me, the level felt like The Tower of Power (a VVVVVV level). The slowness requires taking a careful approach to a level, because deaths have a quite strict penalty. And the level still stays challenging, even after playing it for a bit. It also allowed really neat moving Layer 2 challegnes that just wouldn't be possible in a faster-paced level. Layer 2 scroll is really slow, which is why you don't see it often, but I think this level used it really well.

The gimmick with enemies ignoring Layer 2 also reminded me a lot of Punishing Pothole, but I believe you used the gimmick better than Punishing Pothole. I'm surprised I don't see more of that gimmick myself, but I believe it's because designing a level around it is hard.

(fun fact about Punishing Pothole: its sequel (which is a Kaizo level that pretty much requires savestates, unlike Punishing Pothole which was just JUMP late-game hard) uses the same music track as Keep a Positive Altitude... perhaps this level is a reason why I got a Kaizo level feeling from Keep a Positive Altitude I talk about below)

Incidently, does anyone here know where the music in this level is from originally? (Same question for world 6 overworld as well)

According to the soundtrack made by era64, the song on the world six submap is from TalesWeaver and called "Sunrise", but I couldn't find it on youtube. Today's level used "Puppet Panic Zone 1" from Sonic 3D Blast (it's one of those cases where the spc port is arguably better than the original).

TalesWeaver - Sunrise

As for Keep a Positive Altitude, I will say I liked the old version of level. Sure, it was hard, you had to repeat a lot when you die, but it also gave that Kaizo level feeling, except it was more fair. When I died, it was my fault only, which encouraged me to continue.

[cozyduck]

Today's level used "Puppet Panic Zone 1" from Sonic 3D Blast (it's one of those cases where the spc port is arguably better than the original).

Man, you weren't kidding about the spc version being better. Also, the song sounded familiar to me, but it's been so long I played this game that I didn't recognized it anymore.

TalesWeaver - Sunrise

Thanks.

[nathanisbored]

I also liked Keep a Positive Altitude. I played the pre-patch version, and it was a hard level, but fun hard. I really liked each section. I really enjoy levels that play with the physics in cool ways. I don't think the extra midpoints were a bad idea, but I liked it either way. It's really crazy how mixed the opinions are on levels like this. And people saying whether the level is too hard for world 5 or something, well it unlocks a star warp, so imo it should be a notable difference is difficulty. Anyway, the P-ballooning is done well and it really isn't that strict at all. Like the first room is probably easier to sight read than Tubular as a whole.

[Telamon]

still <3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3 Iso.

[Validon98]

...Yeah, I had a feeling when I started this level yesterday that raocow's decision to split the video into two videos was a good idea, and I was right. I don't think I even got past the first ballooning section because secretly I don't think I've ever done SMW ballooning before this level so I never understood how awkward it was... oh boy is it awkward.

Despite that... whelp I see Iso likes making long puzzle levels. I do think the inclusion of multiple checkpoints is nice, because I can't imagine, much like Chains of Atrophy, that redoing earlier sections would be the most fun thing in the world. It does bother me slightly that those checkpoints didn't exist in earlier versions, I can't imagine redoing so much of it in one go, because this level looks like the equivalent of at least 1.5 fairly sized levels. Reminds me a little of some SMBX levels that got way too big for their own good that didn't have at least a Luna Tower-type checkpoint. X_X;

Other than that it's a nice kind of puzzle level, I suppose. Execution's tough but I think it's still doable?

Next time I don't know what's up, I think I'm going to stop trying to get ahead in my own playthrough and just go back and do World 3 and 4 cleanup.

[Ditocoaf]

I really like this level philosophically, but am glad I'm not playing it myself.

[aterraformer]

The opinions regarding the nerfs seemed very mixed as everyone has a similar or different philosophy on what's fair and not.

This. The completely bipolar reception of my levels has been the cause of much uncertainty and indecisiveness. I'll stand by the updates that have been made though, since let's not mince words; my levels are a chore, and there's no reason to force people to slog through sections they find tedious over and over.

The addition of more checkpoints allows for more accessibility to experience some extremely clever level design without people outright quiting or plopping save states every 5 seconds. If people don't like it, they can play v1.01 or simply avoid the midpoints. I see the word "nerfed" thrown around so often, and I disagree. Checkpoints are quality of life updates, a nerf would be straight up reducing the difficulty of a particular design or downright removing it.

[raocow]

yeah the rampant usage of 'nerf' is, I believe, creating a false idea of what happened in the update, and made people way more sour on the idea than they probaby should be.

[Grounder]

It's a nerf because it removes the difficulty (tedium) of the level via checkpoints.

Stigmatized term or not, it is accurate.