SDS2: Devkit / Level submissions / Level testing AKA "The Thread"

[MonkeyShrapnel]

Completed my first draft of 3-2. Woo.

Edit: Thanks be to tangy for some new tiles, plus the underwater suction Lua

[tangy]

I went over this with MonkeyShrapnel on discordhaus but for posterity I need to post it here.
I made some extra Special-ish recolors of the water level tiles and some extra overworld bgos (the castle, the white topiary) and I also wrote some lua so you can add whirlpools if you make your own water levels.



The lua is right here, if you want to use it copy paste it into your level's standard lua file in onTick:

Code: Select all

	-- WHIRLPOOL
	
	Defines.player_grav = 0.4
	for k,v in pairs(BGO.getIntersecting(player.x, player.y, player.x + player.width, player.y + player.height)) do
		if v.id == 164 then -- WHIRLPOOL BGO
			Defines.player_grav = 0.8
			player.y = player.y + 0.1
		end
	end

smbspecial-water-castle-etc.zip

(47.28 KiB) Downloaded 99 times

[KobaBeach]

that's so based breastie

[PSI Ninja]

I finished 8-2, an underwater level with Lakitu. There's a bit of custom Lua to make sure that Lakitu respawns at the correct y-coordinate, which I got permission from tangy to write.

I can't judge the difficulty of my own level. It should be pretty hard, although I have no problems beating it. Also, I don't know if there are going to be cutscenes at the start of the level like in the original game. I assume that would be handled by tangy, so the level just starts underwater.

[tangy]

Gonna mirror my thoughts that i said on discordhaus: this level would be way better suited as an 'extra' level. I still haven't figured out whether or not I want to do those, but if i do, this will be a perfect fit. It's too wild and complicated for the main game in my honest opinion.

EDIT: Looked at the latter half; this is 1000% an extra level. you even spelled out good luck with blocks. it could not be more on the nose. Keep this level handy, but I'm looking for something else for 8-2 proper

[PSI Ninja]

Done with 4-2, an underground level. I don't know which is the underground music, so I just chose something different from the grass and underwater themes. Things should be more basic this time around, but it may have ended up being too gimmicky. Not sure if gimmicky levels are appropriate for this collab, or if something more plain is preferred.

Since I tend to underestimate the difficulty of my own levels, I can either tweak some of the setups, or it can be moved to a later slot if the level is too hard for its placement.

[tangy]

Played through it. This is way more in line with what I envision. Here's a couple of things:

1. The underground music is a2xt_blood.ogg
2. You should have some kind of pipe opening thing at the beginning. Doesn't have to be more than a screen long. Preferably player controlled, and maybe there's room for a secret thing. Think like the beginning of MonkeyShrapnel's 3-2 kinda.

otherwise it's pretty grand, exactly what I'm looking for, thanks for make

[tangy]

More specific thoughts now that I'm done with errands:


This cache of bricks on the edge of screen 4 is the perfect spot to hide some multi coin blocks.


The hidden block above the pipe here is too easy to stumble into to have a 1up inside it, in my opinion. I'd change it to have a coin, and move the 1up to the bricks above (highlighted green) with an additional hidden coin block (highlighted white) to get to it.


Both of these suggestions harken to 4-2 in the original Superb Demo Sisters, which has a really similar setup.

EDIT: Something like this is what I mean by the opening pipe screen:

[Nimono]

I'd like to try for 1-4, please!

My Discord is nimonosolenze! Out of curiosity- seeing the whirlpool showcase you did gave me inspiration for some underwater castle level making use of that- would that be something acceptable to make, or no? (Obviously not as 1-4, but in general, since I noticed others are claiming multiple levels; might try another level in the future!)

[FireSeraphim]

Pencil me in for 1-3. My username on discord (as always) is FireSeraphim.

[tangy]

Here is FireSeraphim's level if you want to play it! It seems done enough, and it's exactly the kind of level I'm looking for. I did make a couple of tiny edits to bring it more in line with 1-1 and the rest of the levels, but all of the meat is exactly the same as how FireSeraphim sent it to me

EDIT: Revised version

[Heavy Sigh]

I'll take 2-2, should be fun.

[Raptarr8]

Threw together a first draft for 1-2, not sure if the difficulty is good. Added some pit shadows for the stage to give some distinction between the first pit and the other ones in the stage.

[tangy]

Okay, I have a number of things to say about your level. Lots of screenshots so I'll put em in spoilers.

The Joke In The Beginning

This is more along the lines of what I meant when I said 'hide something'. Still good though. There's no saying it will survive because I'm not sure whether it'll be funny in the context of the game or not

The Transition

Kill this screen transition. It's really cool in a vacuum, but I don't think it works because of how different it is from every other level I've received so far. Find some way to seamlessly transition section 2 and section 3. Or you could change section 3 to be overworld-themed and put the goal at the end there. Or just replace it with a pipe, I guess!

I also think there should be a checkpoint right around here:

The Warp Zone

This project won't use warp zones. Please replace it with something else. The vine warp is fine, possibly, but there should be a regular above-ground bonus zone.

Enemies Coming Out Of Pipes

This gimmick is once again fine in a vacuum, but it's both too complicated for pure smb2j and not wacky enough to become an Extra Level. So I suggest killing it. The level already has some pretty inventive setups with the falling platform. I definitely think the level could be solely focused on those and still be fine, even if you run out of ways to use them and have to shorten it a bunch.

Because of the breadth and depth of the edits I want you to make, I choose to reject w/changes for now. thank you for reading

[tangy]

UPDATE: I have removed the deadline for signing up. The project is going at a leisurely enough pace that August 1st is an infeasible deadline.

ALSO I DONT HAVE THE SPOONS FOR IT RIGHT NOW but watch in the coming days for a devkit update

[KobaBeach]

ALSO I DONT HAVE THE SPOONS FOR IT RIGHT NOW

storey of my leif (from fire emblem 5)

[tangy]

hey guys if you want to continue this project you can. my external drive died and im currently feeling no want to continue work at the moment. the project in its current state can be assembled fairly easily with the devkit and all the links in the spreadsheet

[tangy]

Good news: Got my drive awake long enough to back everything important up. But still, the project can be reconstructed solely with what's here. Not gonna touch anything until the new drive gets here.

[KobaBeach]

Good news: Got my drive awake long enough to back everything important up. But still, the project can be reconstructed solely with what's here. Not gonna touch anything until the new drive gets here.

take your time sib