So like Coconut Ruins 3 was going to be my magnum opus VLDC thing. Originally, it was split up into two sections, with there being a midpoint/pipe where the current goal was. The section was going to be a vertical room section using P-Balloons and chucks, which I thought was going to be pretty cool. However, due to foolishness and time constraints (the deadline was iirc 2 days away and I was to be out of town when it was suppose to end) I had to scrap it. I honestly think I could've gotten in the mid 40s with this. The second section was like halfway through planning (I had half of the tiles placed randomly throughout the screen along with scattered ideas).
Another thing I found odd rewatching the gameplay was how Jack actually used the older version of the level I sent. I edited in a quick updated one like 6 hours later with the leaves fixed so Mario and other sprites would be in front of the leaves, instead of just being in front of the tree bark.
I understand how short the level was, and was on the edge on submitting it. It should've ended up at the worst world to be honest.
Longcow warning for second red level in mountain world. Feel free to do another level in mountain world, if you feel you don't have enough content for one video. Or just do it if you don't want to do videos out of order, but be prepared for stopping recording in middle of a level.
(not to be confused with angrycow, honestly that level is my favourite of mountain world, but it's extremely long, and may as well be two videos depending on how well you do it)
I like it when levels provide light incentive to speedrun. I wish levels did that more often. On the other hand, I really wish I knew there were more than 5 Dragon Coins in The 100s Challenge before I spent five minutes bouncing off the Chuck to grab the first one.
Coconut Ruins 3 felt like an okay start to a level, but if it weren't for the previous comment in this thread I would have expected it to just be an average romp even if it was completed.
Sunset Vista had a lot of secrets and non-linearity scattered about.
I liked a lot of the obstacles and platforming in Mystic Ruins.
There's really not a lot to say about these next levels. I like the idea of 100 second challenge but your timer resets for each subscreen and the timer seems way too lenient this way. I'm sure this was due to the rules of the VLDC and not the design decision of the level though.
The other levels...yeah not much to say. Not bad, not amazing, just safe decent levels.
and yeah there is a level coming up later that can easily take a full video or even more, might wanna save the later red dot level for one video as others suggested. There's a lot more to say about that level when we get to it.
Yes, defs have the third-to-last level be its own thing. I think you can manage the three next levels in one video!
27th: THE 100s CHALLENGE by KDeee
Nimono
DESIGN: 28/30
CREATIVITY: 20/20
AESTHETICS: 8/10
TOTAL: 56/60
That was hectic! I loved how dawdling at all at some points made them tougher, while rushing through was very easy, a complete 180 of what usually happens!
ninja boy
DESIGN: 16/30
CREATIVITY: 12/20
AESTHETICS: 6/10
TOTAL: 34/60
I know the point of this level is to go fast but it doesn't leave really any time to explore for the dragon coins if you're trying to get them all.
Eternity
DESIGN: 21/30
CREATIVITY: 15/20
AESTHETICS: 7/10
TOTAL: 43/60
Fairly nice timed challenge level! It's pretty fun to play through and very well designed overall, there's a lot of variety but I feel it works due to the theme - it's pretty much several short challenges, and while they might not "connect" well the end result is still nice.
Koopster
DESIGN: 22/30
CREATIVITY: 13/20
AESTHETICS: 8/10
TOTAL: 43/60
Nice little level! There's a lot of leeway on the time limits, to the point I think the sublevels could've been made a little bit longer. The one that stretches the most is the final one, which makes sense. The level itself is a bit rompy and simple, but that makes sense considering the gimmick. I like how it varies the athmospheres and enemy sets in the three sections. The difficulty/powerup distribution ratio was gotten just right imo. Yep!
85th: COCONUT RUINS 3 by Nin
Nimono
DESIGN: 18/30
CREATIVITY: 14/20
AESTHETICS: 8/10
TOTAL: 40/60
Short and sweet. I didn't really see anything that made me think “Coconutâ€, though I definitely saw the “ruins†everywhere!
ninja boy
DESIGN: 10/30
CREATIVITY: 5/20
AESTHETICS: 7/10
TOTAL: 22/60
Level looked good and had a nice pacing to it and then just kind of ended
Eternity
DESIGN: 16/30
CREATIVITY: 11/20
AESTHETICS: 7/10
TOTAL: 34/60
The level had some potential, too bad it was that short/rushed. Design was interesting (other than the slight slope abuse, maybe) and aesthetically it was fairly interesting (and surprisingly SMW-esque).
OTHER: Fairly minor, but the background bricks should probably be a bit darker.
Nimono
DESIGN: 28/30
CREATIVITY: 16/20
AESTHETICS: 10/10
TOTAL: 54/60
Excellent level! Quite liked the bonus room you made! Although, I'm left wondering why you had so many switch blocks around. Wouldn't it have been more interesting to only have used one or two types to lead to secrets/bonuses? Either way, quite fun!
ninja boy
DESIGN: 12/30
CREATIVITY: 10/20
AESTHETICS: 9/10
TOTAL: 31/60
Well this level was getting pretty good but then just ended which is a shame. It looked really nice but it was just way to short.
Eternity
DESIGN: 14/30
CREATIVITY: 12/20
AESTHETICS: 8/10
TOTAL: 34/60
The split paths in this level probably did more harm than good. Might be just me, but the level was a bit lacking in enemies - the length was fine, but there were a fair bit of empty sections so the level was a bit underwhelming overall. Aesthetically it's fairly nice, though.
Koopster
DESIGN: 20/30
CREATIVITY: 11/20
AESTHETICS: 9/10
TOTAL: 40/60
A good-looking stage, pretty nice to explore, well constructed overall, with some nice enemy dodging action, focused on what it sets to do, just doesn't do much out of the ordinary! Though I do like the usage of the switch blocks. Maybe you have even used too many :p
54th: MYSTIC RUINS by slakkmichael
Nimono
DESIGN: 23/30
CREATIVITY: 15/20
AESTHETICS: 5/10
TOTAL: 43/60
Hah, I expected a Sonic Adventure joke at the beginning, and was disappointed when it didn't happen...until the very end. Nice setup there! On the level itself, it was a nice little romp! Definitely felt like something Nintendo would make. Though, it didn't feel very ruins-y to me, either in the usual sense or as a reference to Sonic Adventure...
ninja boy
DESIGN: 14/30
CREATIVITY: 12/20
AESTHETICS: 9/10
TOTAL: 35/60
Only really thing I have to say about this level is I wish it was a bit longer since it was picking up a nice pace but then just kind of ended. I another nice little detail was making the boulders into spinies which wasn't needed up looked nice.
Eternity
DESIGN: 16/30
CREATIVITY: 15/20
AESTHETICS: 5/10
TOTAL: 36/60
I'm not sure if making the stems hurtful as well was necessary, even with the warning in the message box. Anyway, the level was decent, with some nice obstacles and average aesthetics. Second half was pretty interesting, and in general I'd like to see more of these moving platforms, you used them in some pretty cool ways.
OTHER: Surprisingly "generic grassland"-esque for a level named Mystic Ruins lol. I tried, but there's really not much else to comment on.
Koopster
DESIGN: 18/30
CREATIVITY: 11/20
AESTHETICS: 8/10
TOTAL: 37/60
This doesn't look as much as a "ruins" level as the title made me expect! It's more like a grass-cave type of area. Aesthetically it looks a bit too cluttered due to the excess of deco, but the palettes are good. The level starts off on the unfocused side, but the second half has some interesting platforming bits. Still, it ends up as a very basic, rompy and not very memorable level! I kinda wish you used wall-running more; I really dig the use of that + the P-switch in that one section in the first half.
Don't have much to say today lol, other than I'm glad to be back in my computer because posting four commentary boxes would've been absolute hell
Well, these levels were pretty easy to clear... too bad they aren't as easy to judge.
The 100s Challenge feels pretty nice. It's simple, but fast series of challenges that simply feel good to clear. Again, the Dragon Coins add a bit to this. Though the last one is just... there.
Coconut Ruins 3 is just tragic. Ends way too soon for its own good. Solid start, though.
Sunset Visa... THE GROUND RETURNS. But yes, it looks pretty nice. And plays pretty nice, too. Those switch blocks saw liberal use here, which is a nice contrast to never seeing them... which basically means the difficulty is highly variable. Dragon coins are a little confusingly placed, but this is otherwise good.
Mystic Ruins... nice Sonic reference at the end there. Gameplay's solid, too. Muncher wines are nicely implemented, momentum platforms are always neat.... good job with this.
TRS wrote:Half-embedded blocks as an aesthetic choice need to die.
I don't even see how they can exist. I never got that good at lunar magic
It's easy-peasy in the Map16 editor; you can choose whatever 8x8 graphics tiles you want a 16x16 block to consist of. just take the top two tiles of a question or concrete block, put use the top tiles of a piece of ground as the lower tiles, and Bob's your uncle.
But yeah. The first time I saw these type of blocks, I seem to recall in being it in a sort of buried ruins environment, where it was clever and thematically appropriate. But now people seem to haphazardly throw them everywhere and anywhere, so they've long since lost their charm, and have all the originality and subtle good taste of a garden gnome.
Hilly Desert is really an alright level, but man those palette choices are really distracting. I think this is one of those cases where the judges were so put off by the palette to the point where the gameplay was affected by it, hence the really low placement.
Vanilla Secret 1.5 is as vanilla and SMW-y as it gets. Pretty nice overall imo.
And Aero Plains is probably the safest level in the contest. It has berries in the ground for reasons. Yeah.
The level right after though is probably the UNsafest level in the contest, so good luck to raocow in the next video.
Re: VLDC9 - valleys lugging desert caverns 9
Posted: 23 Jan 2017, 14:34
by Kles
Sure feels like the judges used a strong combo attack on Hilly Desert. It wasn't that bad.
Re: VLDC9 - valleys lugging desert caverns 9
Posted: 23 Jan 2017, 15:46
by Grounder
rip jayscribble's avatar
Re: VLDC9 - valleys lugging desert caverns 9
Posted: 23 Jan 2017, 17:13
by raocow
you guys where right about tomorrow's video being a one level deal, but the way y'all where speaking I was expecting some kind of hell monster, not something I had a blast with..!
Re: VLDC9 - valleys lugging desert caverns 9
Posted: 23 Jan 2017, 17:15
by S.N.N.
The level itself is actually super creative, but the reception has been very hit or miss for it. If you're not good at puzzles and/or figuring out some of the quirkier SMW tricks, then it can be hell.
I loved the normal exit personally, but struggled with the secret exit.
Re: VLDC9 - valleys lugging desert caverns 9
Posted: 23 Jan 2017, 17:20
by Sugar
To be fair, I only said the level is long, not angrycow :).
I loved this level (it's one of my favorites in this ROM hack), but it is really long.
Re: VLDC9 - valleys lugging desert caverns 9
Posted: 24 Jan 2017, 00:03
by Koopster
92nd: HILLY DESERT by LucasGamer3000
Nimono
DESIGN: 11/30
CREATIVITY: 9/20
AESTHETICS: 4/10
TOTAL: 24/60
This mellow yellow fellow wasn't all that special. Just a romp with a few enemies thrown around and the palette was a bit too bright. HOWEVER, I did like the idea of using only yellow-colored objects, excepting the springs, throw blocks, P-Switch, and Chuck! Perhaps next year, you could make a full-on Color-based level, where you have to swap between red, green, yellow, and blue, swapping the enemies' colors accordingly, as well as blocks' functions; turn blocks become throw blocks, and vice versa, for example!
ninja boy
DESIGN: 14/30
CREATIVITY: 10/20
AESTHETICS: 4/10
TOTAL: 28/60
Very simple level but it was a little over saturated with the yellow color and all the rock graphics in the ground which just made the level a bit painful to look at.
Eternity
DESIGN: 14/30
CREATIVITY: 12/20
AESTHETICS: 4/10
TOTAL: 30/60
Fairly generic level. It doesn't really do anything special design-wise, but it's still pretty solid. The cacti don't really seem like decoration, though (right now they look harmful), and the random opening in the wall early on is very misleading - it seems like it could lead to somewhere, but it doesn't (except maybe the afterlife, or its Marioverse equivalent).
Koopster
DESIGN: 11/30
CREATIVITY: 7/20
AESTHETICS: 5/10
TOTAL: 23/60
PRIME example of "focus on aesthetics instead of level design"! What's the most unfortunate is that this level doesn't even look that good :c The presence of only one color makes it kinda boring, and even a bit eye-searing since it's all yellow. It's also super overdecorated and looks kind of messy. Yeah, the design is very straight-forward. It's just a lot of platforming and very "occasional" enemies or obstacles that aren't really cohesive.
65th: VANILLA SECRET 1.5 by glitch4
Nimono
DESIGN: 18/30
CREATIVITY: 13/20
AESTHETICS: 6/10
TOTAL: 37/60
Fun level reminiscent of the original Super Mario World. A little on the “eh†side, though, not much special about it.
ninja boy
DESIGN: 13/30
CREATIVITY: 12/20
AESTHETICS: 5/10
TOTAL: 30/60
This was a pretty decent level, straight forward with a nice difficulty.
Eternity
DESIGN: 15/30
CREATIVITY: 15/20
AESTHETICS: 6/10
TOTAL: 36/60
This level feels like it's actually two levels condensed into a single entry (a few other entries did the same). While both halfs of the level could work alone, as the level design is actually fairly fun, due to how the level is structured right now neither was as developed as they should have been.
Koopster
DESIGN: 20/30
CREATIVITY: 13/20
AESTHETICS: 7/10
TOTAL: 40/60
Oh, so this is like a transition between the cave and mountain parts of vanilla secret? Nice! For one thing, this feels straight out of SMW, except it doesn't really have much of a primary focus as it's just a "cave then grassland level". Still, I think this was fun. The secret exit was hidden in a way I think SMW would've liked to do it too. So yeah, "it doesn't do anything that's too special, but it's still enjoyable" kinda thing!
No points out for this by the way, but next time remember to fix the background scrolling!
44th: AERO PLAINS by Paperdomo101
Nimono
DESIGN: 28/30
CREATIVITY: 18/20
AESTHETICS: 10/10
TOTAL: 56/60
Pretty level. I like the variation in terrain!
ninja boy
DESIGN: 16/30
CREATIVITY: 12/20
AESTHETICS: 7/10
TOTAL: 35/60
A fun rompy level that I could see being an early game Nintendo level.
Eternity
DESIGN: 14/30
CREATIVITY: 13/20
AESTHETICS: 7/10
TOTAL: 34/60
Decent level, has some interesting obstacles and aesthetically it's also fine, but it's a bit too generic. Also, blocking the player until the P-Switch runs out at the cave sublevel is completely unnecessary as it ends once you exit the pipe anyway. Mot much else to comment, as design-wise it's pretty solid.
Koopster
DESIGN: 17/30
CREATIVITY: 9/20
AESTHETICS: 8/10
TOTAL: 34/60
A 1-1, basically. It looked pretty good and was pretty fun to play through, it just doesn't do much, and in my opinion is a bit too long for not being all that inovative.
Second time I have trouble what the levels in the video were lol. MOUNTAIN WORLD EVERYONE
I'm extremely excited for tomorrow's video. I agree with SNN about the level's reception.
