Arctangent wrote:stuff
I know that the contest has already moved on, but since we're somehow still talking about my level I feel like I need to explain.
A lot of what you're saying is actually true - I
did in fact tack the second half on in way. There was never supposed to be a second half at all because I designed the first half to be its own separate thing, but I thought that that wasn't enough to stand on its own as a level.
You have to admit that when I decided to design a second half, there wasn't really a lot of ways for me to go. There is only so many different obstacles you can have with "indirectly hitting vine turn blocks" and honestly I was running out of ideas. The one idea I
did have though was to use a cape to hit the vine turn block, so I combined this idea with the spikes and megaspikes and the flying segment evolved from there.
The two halves of the level are connected quite clearly in my mind - You have to navigate around spikes in a restrictive environment while solving puzzles. The gameplay is very different, that is true, but I would argue that the feeling of claustrophobia never actually goes away. Sure, the second half looks more open, but if you actually play the level you'd find that it is still very precise and confining (just like the first half).
The level as a whole is not about hitting turn blocks or even about flying, it's based around the admittedly vague concept of
navigating around spikes.
Your argument about abruptly introducing new gameplay mechanics only applies if the player is not familiar with them. When I designed my level I was admittedly targeting an audience that already knew everything they needed to know about flight physics, so the change in gameplay would not have a big impact on them.
I would argue quite strongly that you can built your level around very different concepts and gameplay elements, and still have all your ideas ultimately come together under a common denominator. Your example of a level based around "platforms" could actually work pretty well if you add maybe another thing the segments have in common, like the palette or the music.
I would encourage you to actually try the level out for yourself and see if the two ideas really feel as jarringly different as you think they do
TaviTurnip wrote:I'm more curious to know if the author had difficulties implementing something or had some reason within Lunar Magic to not just use the Save Level button or change the map number and thus to redirect the player.
No, the outside area is just there for the fun of it. I really wanted to add the "exit through a bush" joke as another reference to VIP3. I probably should have added some spikes in the rooms with the caged koopas though...