Testing and Development: Deadline-one week after comments

[Tain]

RealLink: overall really fun level,, I liked it a lot.. I don't know where it is supposed to be difficulty wise but it was pretty fun, and not to hard or easy. the p switch thing needs some work, you can get trapped,, and most of the blocks you can't get to while the switch is on, making it a difficult, but possible, jump. and theres an area where you have a bunch of erasers for no real reason and it's a misleading pit in my opinion anyways.

not all to sure what y'all are looking for but hope that helped :)

[ProfessorDemetri]

Judging from just that screenshot...
It looks like that would be a floor too.
I woulda probably just jumped right down and been all like...
"WELL FFFUUU-!"
lol

Edit for not wanting to double post So this is going to sound like a dumb question, but... I can't have a background with layer two can I?

Edit: Okay so I got around the above problem, but ...how do I make layer 2 appear above layer 1? Does anyone know?

[ProfessorDemetri]

Just cuz I'm happy what I wanted to happen is slowly but surely working lol.

OH NO! Seems as if you've enter a JRPG LULZ...
something like that, but with a tweest!

[Diortem]

XD, Prof. Demetri all the screen is lacking is an HP bar/counter for Mario. The colors combinations work well together, although adding a light texture to the white wall would make it look nicer imo.

[Diortem]

After Keckcellent's comments I've updated the level design. I'm still tweaking it a bit, but I felt like updating some progress.

I've added a custom Goal Post sprite which will morph into an predetermined enemy obtained from 2 pools of 4 entries (using the Extra Bit and X-position MOD 4). Furthermore, the sprite also acts as an actual Goal (even as a Secret Goal).

All variantions have in common that they only appear after the Midway point is reached. This adds an additional element to the level, one that only needs to be completed once (until the stage is actually cleared). This way the same level gets a different feel after the additional sprites are triggered.

[Kevinskie555]

I improved the level's overall difficulty, also working on the cutscene o thing,
Not much left really, just music (But I could go with someone else's music) and some custom sprites, and that's it, so it's near it's completion. I hope this is enough progress for now ~
Here's a pic of the boss so far:

Boss.PNG (61.03 KiB) Viewed 4312 times

If this isn't enough Progress, please tell me. C:

[Money]

Progress on my level
I'm going for a Genesis style Sonic type level, with multiple "tiers" of the level, the bottom being easy, the top being hard and difficult to get up to. I'd say I'm about a third of the way through making the level. It's my first level I've ever made, so any critiques would be much appreciated.
Also blame photobucket for crushing it down

[Cheeseofdoom]

Are we going to be using some sort of altered version of the dragon coin for the final version? If so, will it be a sprite or a block? I was wanting to have an underwater dragon coin, but if the sprite version won't work with whatever system we're going to be using, I'll find another place for the coin.

[limepie20]

I think the dragon coins are still going to be the same block but they will be altered with a patch so it should be fine.

[Cheeseofdoom]

I think the dragon coins are still going to be the same block but they will be altered with a patch so it should be fine.

The thing is through, I would have to use a dragon coin sprite, which wouldn't work if it's a patch. I'll just find another place for it.

[limepie20]

You can use exgfx to add water in the corners.

[Cheeseofdoom]

You can use exgfx to add water in the corners.

Until it's collected and leaves a gaping hole in my water :(

[TheGuyWhoIsSitting]

I didn't post this before, but is the quicksand tile supposed to be like it is now?
Demo doesn't sink all the way down, she'll go down like a tile length and start jittering up and down, same with the Enemies.

From what I can tell I have the latest base rom.

[capefeather]

Are the message box slots up for reservation, or do the people who insert the levels organize that? It just seems like it would be bothersome if two levels used the same message box slot.

[Diortem]

*edit* Limepie's post below explained that better, and even cleared up about taking over the message boxes from other levels.

[limepie20]

If you have level 5 for instance, any messageboxes you place will use level 5's messages even if they are in different levels. So you can use both level 5 messages. Message boxes from other levels are used for things like npcs so if you need to use an extra message box for that, go on the wiki and look for already inserted levels that didn't use all of their message boxes and claim it.

edit: oh wait the wiki doesn't have the message boxes anymore. I guess just ask me if you need some and I'll see which levels aren't using it.

[keckcellent]

limepie20/capefeather: I am not using any message boxes in my level so Level 23 message boxes can be used by capefeather.

Diortem: First, I haven't had as much time to play this level as I just started a new, not-so-great job. But:

I love the new random sprite generator. There are two faults with it though. First, I don't really understand the whole 'midpoint' thing. As the type of level-player who explores, I love to go right when I have the chance to. So, playing your new level version, I went right as far as I can and saw nothing, no goal, no reward, no nothing other than what you had before largely. I don't understand why things only appear after hitting the midpoint. Maybe you can have your own reward for going left and keep right the way it is. Secondly, while running right, I was able to dodge most of the sprites being created without any problems. I just ran past them. I would recommend slightly changing the level so you have to navigate around the 'goal posts' and deal with whatever you just created rather than being able to run right through them.

Just a last little message about my level. I posted it in the clearing thread just now but as I mentioned there, I am still not happy with the name. If you've played it and have any better suggestions, I would be open to it. Also, a bonus graphic I made for my level but never used.

If I were to use this, I would probably switch the two wheels.

[EDIT by Tails_155] It's best to put spoiler tags around images of others' levels.

[GanonTEK]

GanonTek: The candle flame palette looks kind of bad. It looks like something that didn't get fixed with the A2MT spriting and paletting. I would just eliminate it because it fades in and out with the Magikoopa thing anyway. The muncher yoshis could also use work. Other than that, the one thing that drove me crazy with your level was the number of reset blocks at the end. Other than maybe the time consideration, it didn't add to the challenge and just frustrated me. I might be missing the point but I didn't like that.
EDIT: This thread may be useful for the candle flames http://www.smwcentral.net/?p=viewthread&t=40859

hi, sorry for not getting back to you earlier.
Well, reset blocks are better than death but I'll see if I can reduce the number.
I'll see what I can do. Thanks for the feedback :)

[Gwaur]

Posting at the last minute again.

I've made my level's foreground a little bumpier than it was to make the foreground be a little more in line with the style of the background. Here's before:

Level11F_old.png (346.51 KiB) Viewed 4137 times

And here's now:

Level11F_nyy.png (357.76 KiB) Viewed 4137 times

The changes are in the full level picture quite minute visually, but of course much more noticeable when actually playing. I think some of them might make performing certain stunts a bit more challenging. For now I fall through the ground at some bumps, so I'll have to carefully go through each of them to make sure every bump has exactly the correct tiles. Thus, I don't think I can give a playable ips file just yet.

[Diortem]

Keckcellent: Yeah, I noticed some of the parts you mentioned myself. My, this is a pretty long spoiler comment below.

First remark: The idea was that once the player goes right he goes through several obstacles, but not to find the goal post. Then after hitting the midway point the then 'cleared' area becomes filled with the 'goal tapes'. Since you're on the far right the player could take that as an actual goal and forget the message from the beginning to take care when approaching it and thus crash into the Splittin' Chuck's located there.

At first I thought of an On/Off block. That would have also done the job, but I figured that going through the same process over-and-over again could feel tedious. A mechanic like that is seen in some of raocow's videos, and didn't work out too well. I wanted to avoid it, but all the same I felt like sending the player to explore both ways through the level.

After hitting the midpoint, whenever the player (re)enters the level all the enemies & real goal will be present. This progress is stored in the game thus relaxating the go-all-over-the-level-every-single-time constraint somewhat. In my level the midway point makes the player start at the same location, so instead of skipping the first half of the level like conventional midway points the progress is stored in a sense that you replay the same section, but it has now changed.

But I guess I overcomplicated things by doing this in the process. Midway points have always (well mostly) been optional. I think I'll remove it (it's fortunately only 2 ASM instructions :)), seeing that it feels rather pointless.

Second remark: You're pretty right about that one. I tried to experiment with the enemies and only Homing Bills are ideal for the design as it currently is, since they track you down anywhere and fast. But it felt too monotonous to only generate those. I also tried to work something out with like 2 or 3 Missile Bills instead, but positioning them at the correct height is rather difficult given a generic situation. e.g. Using the current user's height would fail miserably if the player is jumping at the time, and spawning them too close to the user is just lame.

The problem lies in the moment that the trigger occurs; i.e. when Mario is exactly above/below the tape. I was already thinking of making it a bit more like a proximity mine that triggers when you get close to it. How close would mostly depend on the enemy to be spawned. Do you think that would be an improvement? However, that would make it more like a clone of the exploding turning block...

[Patgangster]

after a little bit of working on it to fix something and lots of more time spent forgetting about this, I figured I'd throw my level in here for a final test before I'll actually submit it.

Here.

[Ometeotl]

[quote]I didn't post this before, but is the quicksand tile supposed to be like it is now?
Demo doesn't sink all the way down, she'll go down like a tile length and start jittering up and down, same with the Enemies.

From what I can tell I have the latest base rom.[/quote]

Yeah, unfortunately, it's been doing that for awhile now. Hopefully it gets fixed soon.


Anyway, I made some slight modifications here and there, so here it is again.


EDIT: Dunno why the quote tags aren't working.

[Diortem]

Patgangster: I liked your use of enemy set in combination with a level context you usually don't find them in. It worked out pretty well imo.

Some minor things: One of the Dragon Coins is just there over the turn block. If you happen to jump up the turn block just before it becomes solid while being small the only way to get out is by dying or rewinding the section. Since it is one tile I suppose any player will be smart enough not to make the jump at the last moment if they were little.

The Castle music in the first area... It felt a bit out of place in the cavern. I think you did this deliberatly to prevent having the same music playing throughout the entire level. It wasn't bothering me, but I'm sure there's more suitable custom music for it (if you feel like inserting it). Otherwise it would work for me.

Nice use of Sumos and Bouncin' Chucks! The variation in Chucks sometimes made me do something silly like the very last bouncing one. I thought it was just a Chargin' Chuck like the two before it and jumped right into it. XD

Ometheotl: The color schemes in the level you made are very original and outstanding in more than one way. Great use of backgrounds outdoors and enemy combinations as well, just like the end of it being a blast. ;)

It's a bit strange to see the castle entrance sequence at the start of the level just to find Demo outside the castle entrance in the actual level a second time.

I felt like the difficulty differs rather eradically from simple to very hard from section to section. Apart from the fire bars I could just almost climb up in a straight path continuously most of the time not getting in danger from bills or bros almost all the time. Most of the sprites like the Homing Bills are designed to attack Mario on horizontal direction and have a rather difficult time following him vertically. By adding some more ledges to the tower you could force the player to go left & right a bit, and thus giving the enemies a fairer chance of attacking. Some of the other parts like the indoor sections for the coins are really giving me some trouble. The first area with the 3 fire bars at the end required very precise timing for me to get through.

The Pitchin' Chuck and a one or two Thwomps had some graphical issues. I hope you can do something about the former cause they look strange, when they're jumping. Also the Flying Hammer Bro didn't appear most of the time, because there were too many sprites on the screen (a single Flying Hammer Bros takes up a lot of capacity).

[VideoGuy]

Okay, I haven't reported anything in a while, but here's what I have to show:

Protip: Click 'Open Image in New Tab'

And now, to give them some context:

My level's gimmick is going to be racing an inanimate object (most likely a goal sphere) through four levels, where you have to get from one goal post to the other before it does. I'm still finishing up the ASM aspect of this, but I have the level geometry mainly done. Keep in mind anything cutoff at the end is just for testing/design purposes and will be removed. Any thoughts/criticisms on the levels themselves?

[Patgangster]

Some minor things: One of the Dragon Coins is just there over the turn block. If you happen to jump up the turn block just before it becomes solid while being small the only way to get out is by dying or rewinding the section. Since it is one tile I suppose any player will be smart enough not to make the jump at the last moment if they were little.

Fixed anyway, didn't think of that.

The Castle music in the first area... It felt a bit out of place in the cavern. I think you did this deliberatly to prevent having the same music playing throughout the entire level. It wasn't bothering me, but I'm sure there's more suitable custom music for it (if you feel like inserting it). Otherwise it would work for me.

fdgifdhiugdhfgfkjdhgfkjdgffkhgd. I tend to test without sound so I didn't even notice. This happens on AT LEAST half of the levels I make. I've changed it, but I never bothered to learn how to insert custom music. If anyone could find a good track for my level and teach me how to insert it and/or insert it for me, it would help :D