Re: An SMWCentral Production: A game about some eggs
Posted: 10 Mar 2011, 14:33
I didn't want to make an ass of myself again, so I avoided posting on Youtube today. But I do have some comments.
Blind. Jumping. No really. Not only can you not really see the first jump of the level, but I'll bring up the Layer 2 part. The parts that had coins were occasionally less than helpful (leading to the very edge of the safe spot as opposed to the middle, which caused deaths) and it looked like its intent was for you to die to scout on ahead, because there really wasn't any warning as to where was safe with those munchers, and when on a moving platform like that, you don't have time to look around. And you need to get past that part to get the midpoint.
I realize that this is the postgame, but I have my take on varying difficulty levels:
Legitimate Difficulty Grades:
Too easy:
The first half of Vanilla SMW falls into this category. Basically... there's no real danger. Minus some input errors, there's no way to die. Every jump is easy enough, and there's enough powerups to keep you perma-big due to not getting hit.
Easy: Most of the rest of SMW. You can die but it's not engineered to kill you.
Medium: The harder parts of SMW's main game. That megaspike fort is a prime example. A tad tricky at times but you can do it in one shot without dying with a little caution and observation.
Hard: Difficult to clear without dying if you've never seen the level before, but realistically possible. Some parts of Bowser's castle and world 7 come to mind immediately.
Very Hard: Calling Tubular a legitimate difficulty is a long stretch in my books as it violates some "do not's" of difficulty, but it's the only Vanilla example I can think of at the moment. A Very Hard level is designed to kill the player. Odds are, you'll need some luck to clear it without dying, but once you know where everything is, you'll be able to clear it every time affterwards.
What disqualifies levels from the above difficulty. Any romhacker who does these as a parody, I can forgive (YCZ is a wonderful example) but anyone who does these otherwise needs a kick in the shins.
- Blind Jumps. SMw did have some, true, such as the first level of the special world (right hand side of screen 1) but the difference is how they're used. A blind jump needs to fulfill 2 critera to not be classified a dick move. There shouldn't be anywhere to land BUT land (or water) and there should be no enemies to land on/beside. One of the Void levels, I forget which, had a perfect example of "there's nowhere to land but land, but you land right next to an enemy and need to rely on luck to not land where it'll kill you."
- Reliance on luck. See last part of Blind Jumps for an example. Basically, the player should never be forced into a situation where their fate is determined by chance. Examples are blind jumps near enemies or other obstacles, enemies not spawning (Koopa hopping with an absentee koopa has killed many an LPer) Or placement-on-arrival (such as the moving floors in a ghost house; I've seen levels where you arrive by blind jumping to a spot where the hole can move below you, and you have no way of knowing where it is.) This last one can be fixed by having all transitions (Not just screens/rooms/checkpoints, but also any major jumps that basically start a new section of the level) safe spots to rest at. Invisible enemies are another example, but they get their own section. As well, you have to factor in moves like Albatoss bombing (When you have nowhere to stand but one tiny platform, a single albatoss can spell doom due to how long the bombs last) and podoboos phasing through the floor.
- Reliance on glitches. P-Switch Cloning, Spinjumping under a block when big, you name it. This was a problem I even had with ASMT, but no one would hear me out back then, either. Point being, a "glitch" means "an unintended consequence of the programming." Glitches aren't legit, for good or for bad.
- "Cheap Death Generators" basically, this applies to basically anything specifically engineered to be as precise and murderous as possible. Muncher mazes with a 1 block high gap are a good example. Perhaps physically possible, but lacking in any fun. You may be asking "why is this not a legit difficulty?" Quite frankly, because even experienced players don't want to play it. It's simply not fun in the slightest. Other Cheap Death Generators examples include invisible enemies. See also Reliance on Luck.
- Powerup Filtration. Forcing a player to be small to enter a door or robbing them of their powerups upon entering a level? It's just saying "I was too lazy to make a legit level so here, have some artificial difficulty!" Nothing like sporting a cape and a fireflower and stepping into a level to be small again. More than anything it's annoying, but it can also be quite cheap, especially in levels where it gives you a cape for one specific part of a puzzle, and then rather than add a ceiling, filters the cape so you can't break the rest of the level. Ceilings, people, you don't need to filter capes, jeez!
- Invisible enemies. You can't avoid what you can't see. It's one thing to have an enemy phase behind Layer 1. It's another thing For you to be in front while they're behind and still get hit. It was a dickmove in other hacks (Spinning Sawblade in Castle of Boswer in Hyper V at the end of the starting area, fine example) and it still is now (SMWCP's level) I mean, you're basically getting hit by what's on the other side of the street, which is bad enough when you can see it.
So what does that say for this level? Disqualified from "very hard" due to blind jumps with enemies, munchers, and thorns, reliance of luck (as raocow said, being pushed by the munchers, and consider the timing and placement of the second one coming in) and of course, cheap death generators. While it's very possible with memorizing, it's the fact that it's designed to take so many lives to do so.
It's great that you enjoyed it, Rao. It stopped me fro nitpicking on it in the comments. But as for me, if I see levels like this, I whip out the cheat codes because it is simply not worth my time.
Blind. Jumping. No really. Not only can you not really see the first jump of the level, but I'll bring up the Layer 2 part. The parts that had coins were occasionally less than helpful (leading to the very edge of the safe spot as opposed to the middle, which caused deaths) and it looked like its intent was for you to die to scout on ahead, because there really wasn't any warning as to where was safe with those munchers, and when on a moving platform like that, you don't have time to look around. And you need to get past that part to get the midpoint.
I realize that this is the postgame, but I have my take on varying difficulty levels:
Legitimate Difficulty Grades:
Too easy:
The first half of Vanilla SMW falls into this category. Basically... there's no real danger. Minus some input errors, there's no way to die. Every jump is easy enough, and there's enough powerups to keep you perma-big due to not getting hit.
Easy: Most of the rest of SMW. You can die but it's not engineered to kill you.
Medium: The harder parts of SMW's main game. That megaspike fort is a prime example. A tad tricky at times but you can do it in one shot without dying with a little caution and observation.
Hard: Difficult to clear without dying if you've never seen the level before, but realistically possible. Some parts of Bowser's castle and world 7 come to mind immediately.
Very Hard: Calling Tubular a legitimate difficulty is a long stretch in my books as it violates some "do not's" of difficulty, but it's the only Vanilla example I can think of at the moment. A Very Hard level is designed to kill the player. Odds are, you'll need some luck to clear it without dying, but once you know where everything is, you'll be able to clear it every time affterwards.
What disqualifies levels from the above difficulty. Any romhacker who does these as a parody, I can forgive (YCZ is a wonderful example) but anyone who does these otherwise needs a kick in the shins.
- Blind Jumps. SMw did have some, true, such as the first level of the special world (right hand side of screen 1) but the difference is how they're used. A blind jump needs to fulfill 2 critera to not be classified a dick move. There shouldn't be anywhere to land BUT land (or water) and there should be no enemies to land on/beside. One of the Void levels, I forget which, had a perfect example of "there's nowhere to land but land, but you land right next to an enemy and need to rely on luck to not land where it'll kill you."
- Reliance on luck. See last part of Blind Jumps for an example. Basically, the player should never be forced into a situation where their fate is determined by chance. Examples are blind jumps near enemies or other obstacles, enemies not spawning (Koopa hopping with an absentee koopa has killed many an LPer) Or placement-on-arrival (such as the moving floors in a ghost house; I've seen levels where you arrive by blind jumping to a spot where the hole can move below you, and you have no way of knowing where it is.) This last one can be fixed by having all transitions (Not just screens/rooms/checkpoints, but also any major jumps that basically start a new section of the level) safe spots to rest at. Invisible enemies are another example, but they get their own section. As well, you have to factor in moves like Albatoss bombing (When you have nowhere to stand but one tiny platform, a single albatoss can spell doom due to how long the bombs last) and podoboos phasing through the floor.
- Reliance on glitches. P-Switch Cloning, Spinjumping under a block when big, you name it. This was a problem I even had with ASMT, but no one would hear me out back then, either. Point being, a "glitch" means "an unintended consequence of the programming." Glitches aren't legit, for good or for bad.
- "Cheap Death Generators" basically, this applies to basically anything specifically engineered to be as precise and murderous as possible. Muncher mazes with a 1 block high gap are a good example. Perhaps physically possible, but lacking in any fun. You may be asking "why is this not a legit difficulty?" Quite frankly, because even experienced players don't want to play it. It's simply not fun in the slightest. Other Cheap Death Generators examples include invisible enemies. See also Reliance on Luck.
- Powerup Filtration. Forcing a player to be small to enter a door or robbing them of their powerups upon entering a level? It's just saying "I was too lazy to make a legit level so here, have some artificial difficulty!" Nothing like sporting a cape and a fireflower and stepping into a level to be small again. More than anything it's annoying, but it can also be quite cheap, especially in levels where it gives you a cape for one specific part of a puzzle, and then rather than add a ceiling, filters the cape so you can't break the rest of the level. Ceilings, people, you don't need to filter capes, jeez!
- Invisible enemies. You can't avoid what you can't see. It's one thing to have an enemy phase behind Layer 1. It's another thing For you to be in front while they're behind and still get hit. It was a dickmove in other hacks (Spinning Sawblade in Castle of Boswer in Hyper V at the end of the starting area, fine example) and it still is now (SMWCP's level) I mean, you're basically getting hit by what's on the other side of the street, which is bad enough when you can see it.
So what does that say for this level? Disqualified from "very hard" due to blind jumps with enemies, munchers, and thorns, reliance of luck (as raocow said, being pushed by the munchers, and consider the timing and placement of the second one coming in) and of course, cheap death generators. While it's very possible with memorizing, it's the fact that it's designed to take so many lives to do so.
It's great that you enjoyed it, Rao. It stopped me fro nitpicking on it in the comments. But as for me, if I see levels like this, I whip out the cheat codes because it is simply not worth my time.
