Chocolatey Shenanigans! - SMWC's Chocolate Level Contest

[Paragraph]

Gotta agree with flameofdoubt's points there. It was OKAY, I guess, but some kind of "wow" factor like in many before clearly was missing, and after a while watching it...it even got tedious. Of course, we're fortunate having raocow around, but I don't see me playing this alone and not get bored after a while or shaking in fear of a stupid death because I don't want to abuse tools (also, I don't know how to rewind so there).

Strangeness.

I hope the next levels will clearly show why they're high up!

Simon

[StarkMaximum]

raocow, I think the word you were looking for while mulling over the fact that you called this one-level hack "not a real hack" was "pretentioius".

Also I'm slowly starting to get tired of that cave music used in Omega. It was used in like, what, three submissions so far?

[Kristian]

reghrhre's Score:

Supertails:
SCORE: 84%
ST's comments: A massive level, this one had very clean, polished SMAS graphics and music that fit
very well. Probably the most impressive thing about it was the way each distinct section had different graphics and gameplay style, representing different areas such as forests, skies, and jungles. It was fairly easy, but the length meant you had to repeat a huge amount of the level if you died. I did notice a section in which you could jump on the top of the level and fall in the dirt though. The use of switches in the level was great too. Overall, a very good level where hard work shows through.

SNN:
SCORE: 77%
Comments:
+Consistent graphics style throughout. Loved the SMB3 atmosphere.
+Solid, non-linear design, although jumping from theme-to-theme felt kind of random at times.
-Couple of glitches and slowdown issues. I noticed you left the timer enabled in the area right after the cave (with the Underwater City music).

Roy:
SCORE: 86%
Comments:
+ Nice level design. Good use of the hidden switch palace. A long level, too. The name really fits well.
+ Decent graphics. I like seeing SMAS tilesets, even though nearly everyone uses them.
I didn't find any bad-looking palettes - in fact, some are even better than the original ones.
+ Ports are okay.
+ Nice status bar rearrangement.
- I encountered a bit of slowdown in a few areas, such as the triple platform area, but that's pretty much it.

I almost spelled his name right on my first try, too, but I left out an r.

[Hitotsumami]

The newest level was pretty freakin huge. I was a bit surprised at how larger it was, but also at how empty it was. Like some other people said it didn't have anything that would make me go 'wow'. The little secret doors and areas were pretty interesting though and well hidden. I probably wouldn't have noticed some of them if I was just playing it through regularly.

[megamario]

I wonder if people would hack SMW stuff into SMB3 as much as SMB3 is hacked into SMW if SMB3 was more hack-friendly.

I also wonder why no one tries to hack in SMB2 more. Or at all.

[TheChrisD]

That one was way huge. I never would have had the patience to do all that myself.

[shaman]

todays level and the mistery locked door...

maybe it opens when you get all the red coins?

[StorageBin]

By that first red coin, there was a chain leading up. Maybe I missed something, or maybe there's something up there?

[rubberfishy]

The Wind Waker music gave the today's level a nice atmosphere but its not really the kinda atmosphere that suits a Mario game imo. It wasn't a bad level but I'm not sure how it got to 7th place.

[flameofdoubt]

Some interesting points:
You missed a room raocow, but no real content. I checked in LM and there are no other exits or places.
That locked door is Never open.
The yoshi coins do nothing.
The level is broken.
-If you go through the left-hand of the two first doors, then go through the door at the end of that room, then return through the door you spawn near, you get led to a TEST screen and instantly die.

Nice graphics and all but i'm not sure why this level was so high? It looks like it's a level just before a boss, and the broken window is foreshadowing for the next level...but...yeah. Doesn't make sense as a contest entry unless it's pulled from another hack he did or something.

[Classtoise]

Todays level was really lackluster. Is it possible this one was farther down and the list was jumbled? I mean the overall look of it was really off and the sprites looked ridiculous, and on top of that the setting seemed so...arbitrary. Nothing seemed to be important or have any real placement.

This level seems really high up for no reason. I don't think I'd even place it in the top 20.

[kilon]

I actually thought this was another level.
But this one was just unfinished in my eyes. The atmosphere was good, a bit empty in places but nothing to bad when something big happened at the end. And that went missing. Possibly it jumped through the window because it felt it should have been placed first and now it is angry.

[Kei1ro]

Anyone else notice the Chocolate rain on the title screen of Spade's level?

[GauRocks]

The joke's on you, raocow. I'm not going to order sole for my last meal!

On a more serious note, I can't rate today's chocolate content because I don't feel like opening the level up in Lunar Magic to confirm my suspicions. I'm thinking it was just a graphics swap and a clever use of nearly identical screens, in which case, the chocolate content is minimal. But without a closer look, I can't be sure that there wasn't something more subtle going on.

For those of you who were really, really excited about this level getting a rating and don't care about an explanation or how accurate it is: banana split.

[Supernova]

Yeah today's level was really anti-climatic. The place felt empty, but the atmosphere and graphics were really nice - and when I finally though something would happen, there's that broken window and everything - it's the end. I expected to see an interesting boss fight, a story or at least.. something. Seems he had not enough time to finish the level?

[Hitotsumami]

Good job raocow! This level, however, doesn't seem to stand up to the position it got in the contest. The first half had barely any enemies and the second half had barely anymore. There were not real puzzles either, unless you count trying to figure out how to get into that first door.

[LightSlei]

Was more impressed with just the Goomba boss from before then this. This really doesn't hold it's worth. SNN want to explain how this ranks higher because I don't understand higher then some of them before.

[Kristian]

Well here's his score, LightSlei. You can compare with imamelia's, which I posted a few days back.
Spade's Score:

Supertails:
SCORE: 93%
ST's comments: A really fun, unique level to play. It was excellent to see hand-drawn graphics and they were done well, even utilizing ExAnimation. The level was pretty big and there was quite a bit to explore, and while the layout occasionally felt confusing, it was varied and unique. The music suited the area well too.

SNN:
SCORE: 81%
Comments:
+Love the graphics and the music. They fit in very well the level's theme.
+Great design overall .. it felt rather non-linear for a bit. The difficulty seems pretty nice as well.
+The general layout of the castle was pretty stylish.
-The ending felt a bit anticlimactic. Oh well.

Roy:
SCORE: 78%
Comments:
+ Interesting background graphics, other graphics are also quite pleasant.
Intriguing music, doesn't really fit with the level though, because there's no-one who wants to defeat you or something. It's a castle, but yeah...
+ Level design was decent, it's always good to have multiple paths open.
- The fact that you had rain on Layer 2 but not in the area in which Mario was walking around, was quite... odd.

OVERALL SCORE: 84.0%

I was hoping raocow would check out YI2... Heh heh heh.

[raocow]

So basically it's high up because of supertail.

Gonna level with you guys, I was kinda left wanting with that one!

[megamario]

So basically it's high up because of supertail.

Gonna level with you guys, I was kinda left wanting with that one!

I think we all were. Especially after #8, this one seems more like in the 15-ish range.


also "varied and unique"? Seriously?
Seriously?

While I'm thinking of it, I like the castle graphics, but the enemy sprites are a bit...well ugly. Like, I've seen worse, but they certainly won't win any beauty contests. OK Maybe the goomba.

[dk382]

So basically it's high up because of supertail.

Gonna level with you guys, I was kinda left wanting with that one!

I have to disagree with Supertail's entire rating philosophy. It seems like he rates very good levels poorly simply because they're a little linear, while messes like this level are rated highly because there's lots of doors and a boring empty castle to explore. To each his own, I guess, people like different things in their hacks, but I can't help but disagree with at least parts of almost every review he's given of the top ten.

[kaijyuu]

Meh. I disagree with Roy more than Supertails for most of the levels.


TBH I think they were all looking for different things in the level. Supertails was looking for originality in terms of assets (graphics, music, ect), SNN was going for overall fun and some technical concerns, and Roy was looking for more traditional platforming with non-linearity and pretty graphics.

That's just the vibe I got though. I can't read their minds or anything so xD

[Aqualakitu]

I can't blame you for not being able to finish the level, I couldn't fix it until the deadline.
For everyone who hates megaupload, here's a direct link from SMWC's file bin:
http://bin.smwcentral.net/5517/aquacontestlvl.ips

Looks like you liked the level, even though it had so much exploration and places to go.
And there is nothing more to find than the 3 exits.

[Hitotsumami]

Nice job again raocow! I thought the level overall was interestingly designed. It had a lot to it. I more for linear levels, but a couple of secrets off path are pretty interesting as well.

[raocow]

Well, I liked it a lot because it was still mostly linear. Like, yeah, you backtrack and stuff, but you end up backtracking by following the 'line' foward, so I don't mind in that way, since you're still experiencing foward momentum through the thing.

The best way to make an open-ended game for me is to make it seem linear :D