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VLDC9 - vanilla level design contest 9

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10204307
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Re: VLDC9 - vacillating lignification damp coves 9

Post by 10204307 »

I'm mostly just glad that Grove of Seclusion used the factory remix. It's still sick.
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Re: VLDC9 - vacillating lignification damp coves 9

Post by Koopster »

Pyro wrote:Grove of Seclusion is basically bootleg Tragic Revolution from 8 tbh hey it rhymes
I'm surprised someone remembers my silly VLDC8 level!!!!!1

57th: GROVE OF SECLUSION by LucasRCD
Nimono
DESIGN: 15/30
CREATIVITY: 15/20
AESTHETICS: 6/10
TOTAL: 36/60
Neat idea with the Good Future/Bad Future segment after the midpoint, but I do feel the segments drag on quite a while without really introducing the same challenges... Aside from that, the visuals of the Good Future segment were quite bright and the enemies blended in a bit with the background color-wise in some cases, while the Bad Future segment made it unclear if the fire was dangerous or not.

ninja boy
DESIGN: 20/30
CREATIVITY: 16/20
AESTHETICS: 9/10
TOTAL: 45/60
This level was really fun to play even though it started off a little bland I must say the bad future is by far my favorite part of this level with the atmosphere and the color palette along with the music.

Eternity
DESIGN: 17/30
CREATIVITY: 15/20
AESTHETICS: 7/10
TOTAL: 39/60
This level didn't have a lot going on for it until the second half, but the bad/good future gimmick was actually fairly interesting, even if a simple split path might not have been the best approach to it. The design was solid but a bit generic, specially on the first half where you used mostly "standard" sprites. The good part was pretty neat (and it looks nice, even if I'm not a huge fan of the palette) and the bad part was nice too, but the harmful-looking decoration (specially the fire, which is identical to the hopping fire sprite) can be really distracting.

Koopster
DESIGN: 12/30
CREATIVITY: 10/20
AESTHETICS: 7/10
TOTAL: 29/60
My biggest issue with this level is the long/unmemorable ratio! Both sections of the second half drag for wayy too long, and they (as well as the first half) don't do absolutely anything but throw enemies at you in a very basic fashion. The level is really linear and lacks creativity and thoughtful design. :(

93rd: MISTY SWAMP CAVE by Najeraldo
Nimono
DESIGN: 8/30
CREATIVITY: 4/20
AESTHETICS: 3/10
TOTAL: 15/60
Did not like this level. The mist in the first half was layered on top of the screen, obscuring a good portion of it- not a good thing when you add precision platforming. The second half was very, very difficult to get through with the Porcu-Puffer hanging around and being weird when the camera scrolled. Overall, not that fun of a level. Needs more work.

ninja boy
DESIGN: 8/30
CREATIVITY: 7/20
AESTHETICS: 4/10
TOTAL: 19/60
This level isn't too bad but it's really nothing to special either more or less just an average Mario level. The fog though has to be one of it's worst features since it creates blind spots that you just have to try and trust yourself or wait for a gap in the fog to see what you're doing. The other not as bad but still bad feature is the puffer fish, I know it's meant to behave in a manner to cause annoyance to the player but it rubber bands just as bad as the fishing fish guy and causes a lot of instances where you're guaranteed to run into it because the level forces you to rush around obstacles.

Eternity
DESIGN: 20/30
CREATIVITY: 15/20
AESTHETICS: 7/10
TOTAL: 42/60
Pretty great design there, the obstacles were really well made overall and fun to go through. It's surprisingly challenging but still fair, except some of the jumps at the vines near the beginning of the level which were a bit annoying. I kinda feel it would be better without the mist, or at least making it a bit less obscuring.

OTHER: It kinda bothers me how a good part of the level was outside the cave lol

Koopster
DESIGN: 10/30
CREATIVITY: 10/20
AESTHETICS: 5/10
TOTAL: 25/60
I'm not sure how intentional that was, but the fog covering part of the level actually makes for a nice mechanic. Since the level is simple enough it doesn't turn into a hassle, but it's obvious that it wasn't designed with that in mind. The second half abandons that concept completely and shows how to make the porcu-puffer a pest to deal with... mostly, this level throws enemies at you in a very simple, not very thought out way. Not a "crime", but it doesn't make the level too interesting... also, nice song.


I thought Grove of Seclusion was extreeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeemely boring for its length.
Fun fact, I recognised the author (LucasRCD) easily. At that time a Brazilian collab I've been running was actually active and LucasRCD was this newcomer guy who had been contributing with a lot of levels. Most of his works are on this "way too long, not much happening" style.

aj's level - or as I remember it, "the level with the really nice song" - I just thought was really frustrating. Not the first half though, I got through that easily and I actually quite liked the fog. My biggest trouble was with the puffer in the second half - really big nuisance. Frost/GSG/Giant Ninji found that the puffer can be slide-killed at some parts of the level, and it's also possible to despawn it if you make it go to the very left edge of the screen and run away from it, but I didn't know about/use these tricks during my judging.
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Re: VLDC9 - vacillating lignification damp coves 9

Post by Zephyr_DragonLord »

Hogwarts was pretty creative, though it did so with wizards, which are a questionable element. Making the magic follow you through a grinder gauntlet seems a bit dubious. Nonetheless, I see the appeal of it. (Though waiting for them to take down block walls kind of sucks)

Grove of Seclusion is held up by its atmosphere, I'm pretty sure... The gameplay is pretty alright, if a bit samey. (raocow has soe pretty quality commentary here, by the way...) There's just one problem, and it's that it goes on for too long. The Bad Future path looks really nice, and has some interesting setups sometimes. Also, it's a bit odd that there's two goal tapes. Good job with this, though.

I don't really like Misty Swamp Cave, however. The level would be better were the gimmick of fog just not there, and that's something that you don't want to hear. It is fully functional, however, so there is that, along with some variety. Also, I agree that the cave was out of place.

The thing with these contests is that the high placements can be anywhere (except the worst world), so no one knows what will be next for these videos.
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Re: VLDC9 - vacillating lignification damp coves 9

Post by Kles »

Misty Swamp Cave is another fantastic example of how a level can turn to shit with having only a single midpoint available to you. I absolutely guarantee it would be better received with, say, four midpoints.
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Re: VLDC9 - vacillating lignification damp coves 9

Post by Koopster »

I don't see multi midpoints as a solution there, the level isn't even that long. It could've been more compact, admittedly, but it should've really just managed the difficulty better.

35th: THE WAY OF NINJI by chineesmw
PENALTY REASONING: -2, author leak
Nimono
DESIGN: 27/30
CREATIVITY: 20/20
AESTHETICS: 10/10
TOTAL: 57/60
So many Ninjis! The level was hectic, and I quite loved how you utilized the various enemies reskinned as Ninjs, especially the Footballs. Although, their random and erratic nature made some jumps a LITTLE more difficult than they needed to be...but such is the nature of the Football.

ninja boy
DESIGN: 12/30
CREATIVITY: 13/20
AESTHETICS: 6/10
TOTAL: 31/60
Well the feel of this level was really nice and changing all the enemies to Ninjis was a nice touch but in the first half getting Yoshi broke layer 3 just kind of took a lot out of this level for me.

Eternity
DESIGN: 24/30
CREATIVITY: 17/20
AESTHETICS: 8/10
TOTAL: 49/60
The Ninji theme is used really well here, and all of the mini-gimmicks the level introduces work really well together. However, I feel a few areas go a bit overboard with the bouncing football Ninjis, specially the last obstacle before the goal. The Ninji generator pipes also really needed some indication to differentiate them from regular pipes. Regardless, this is a pretty fun level overall, great job!

OTHER: uh, putting your name on the title screen kinda ruins the "anonymous judging" part of the contest :v (2)

Koopster
DESIGN: 17/30
CREATIVITY: 15/20
AESTHETICS: 6/10
TOTAL: 38/60
While visually cluttered and disorganized (what's with those tree pieces floating around? They look like clouds but there's berries in them lol), this has rather neat ideas! I especially like the pipes where ninjis come out of, as goofy as it looks since I can see them in the pipe's sides :p Sometimes the ninjis act a little odd, but I understand some sprites don't care much about where they're facing to and such. But well, weren't it for all the sprite replacements, I feel this level doesn't do too much in design. It's a "romp" with a lot of gimmicks that only make sense together due to the sprite replacements.


This level does a really neat thing where it's built off of one layer and there's a layer of tile 1F0 behind which makes sprites slide like that (I never saw yoshi being lost like that though, lmao). I wasn't very impressed by it though - I don't think it used the gimmicks it had nearly as interestingly as it could've. Rather cluttered too
Also it's basically impossible to get a life in that bonus room, the ninjis come out too slowly

EDIT: oh yeah, @ ninja boy's comment: in the original ROM this level was placed in a submap and getting yoshi made his message display, making the background disappear. He took this into consideration for his judging even though it would obviously be changed in the compilation, good job!

And for tomorrow: a level that escaped worst world somehow! hype!
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Re: VLDC9 - vacillating lignification damp coves 9

Post by Mata Hari »

I've not played this level so my opinion is entirely worthless but, well, this is the first level I've looked at the ranking and thought 'I don't see it'.

Just because you can kinda-sorta emulate a generator pipe by hiding a Charlie doesn't mean you actually should.

57/60‽‽‽
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Re: VLDC9 - vacillating lignification damp coves 9

Post by Stink Terios »

This level is a nightmare. A lot of it was trying to get the dragon coins, but it's incredibly easy to get hotboxed by most obstacles.
I jumped squarely on your head, I should NOT die!

Ban all footballs forever. And fish generators.
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Re: VLDC9 - vacillating lignification damp coves 9

Post by S.N.N. »

I didn't find this level as bad as others. The only sort of annoying part is the flying fish generator near the end, but otherwise, it's not too long and it has some interesting ideas.

This guy is the same person who made Tropical Stronghold or whatever it was called in the 7th VLDC that was about 6-7 sublevels long. Ended up in the worst world, so I'd say he's come a long way since then at least.
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Re: VLDC9 - vacillating lignification damp coves 9

Post by morsel/morceau »

The safe way to deal with the footballs is to wait until they bounce very high and then either (a) try to go under them or (b) try to bounce on them just before they reach the ground again.

I must take this oppurtunity to warn raocow of an incoming S-bomb! (we mustn't say hit because of the old adage, Don't count your victims before they're dispatched). Deploy anti-swearcraft measures! Man the heckbunkers! Fit profanity fuses to the *ck-*ck guns! Send out the barrage ballocks and be a dam'buster!
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Re: VLDC9 - vigor lending determined cronies 9

Post by Sugar »

I'm pretty sure that sound effect was removed in newest patch due to Someguy complaining about it?
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Re: VLDC9 - vacillating lignification damp coves 9

Post by FrozenQuills »

morsel/morceau wrote:I must take this oppurtunity to warn raocow of an incoming S-bomb! (we mustn't say hit because of the old adage, Don't count your victims before they're dispatched). Deploy anti-swearcraft measures! Man the heckbunkers! Fit profanity fuses to the *ck-*ck guns! Send out the barrage ballocks and be a dam'buster!
If you're talking about a certain upcoming (silly) level the anti-swearcraft measures have already been deployed :P
Another case where getting dragon coins drastically changed the level! If raocow found the silver p-switch in those turn blocks earlier his entire perspective of the level could be changed since he can just run under all of the fish and EASILY get that dragon coin. It's really too bad.
(Oh yeah and footballs are a very risky enemy to deal with unless they either immediately fall into a pit or into water)

At least chineesmw didn't get a super low ranking again as in VLDC7.
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Re: VLDC9 - vacillating lignification damp coves 9

Post by Kles »

Koopster wrote:I don't see multi midpoints as a solution there, the level isn't even that long. It could've been more compact, admittedly, but it should've really just managed the difficulty better.
Sheer length is not really a good measure of when midpoints are appropriate, though. If you have a dense and very challenging level, I don't see the issue with having midpoints that are only 20 or so seconds apart in the event that the player manages it perfectly (not that the cave level was an example of this - just an extreme example).
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Re: VLDC9 - vacillating lignification damp coves 9

Post by S.N.N. »

FrozenQuills wrote:If you're talking about a certain upcoming (silly) level the anti-swearcraft measures have already been deployed :P
Only against the F-bomb. If you don't blink, you can still catch a glimpse of the fabled and feared S-bomb.
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Re: VLDC9 - vigor lending determined cronies 9

Post by Lockirby2 »

I liked this level a bunch, but it had too much stuff, both in design and aesthetics. The obstacle right before the goal (that Eternity pointed out) was basically just about running through and hoping not to get hit. To be fair though, that is probably the worst obstacle in the level. Still, I think the Ninji generators were pretty cool.
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Re: VLDC9 - vacillating lignification damp coves 9

Post by Nimono »

Mata Hari wrote: 57/60‽‽‽
I GENUINELY ENJOYED IT, OK!? D:
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Re: VLDC9 - vigor lending determined cronies 9

Post by Mata Hari »

No that's not OK. I will sue you in a court of law in Trenton, New Jersey.
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Re: VLDC9 - vacillating lignification damp coves 9

Post by Classtoise »

Voltgloss wrote:My opinion: both of today's levels would have been vastly improved by cutting their length by half.
Grove definitely feels like three full length levels mashed into one.
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Re: VLDC9 - vigor lending determined cronies 9

Post by 10204307 »

What a fascinatingly bizarre level. Also, the tags are right, ninjis are cute.
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Re: VLDC9 - vacillating lignification damp coves 9

Post by Le Neveu de Rameau »

S.N.N. wrote:Only against the F-bomb. If you don't blink, you can still catch a glimpse of the fabled and feared S-bomb.
I should take this time to note that while its derivation from more familiar terminology is logical enough, I had never before encountered (nor considered) the term "S-bomb". Honestly, I sort of wish I still hadn't, as it's an exceedingly unpleasant mental image. It also sounds like a much greater public health hazard than its voiceless labiodental fricative cousin, so one has cause to question the authorities judgement in quarantining the latter while letting the former's insalubrious miasma mingle with our precious life's breath. Such hirsute, leporidian cerebrality have I ne'er before crossed paths with in the wild.
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Re: VLDC9 - vigor lending determined cronies 9

Post by Zephyr_DragonLord »

...It is in that way that all of the toilets within a 200-mile radius were non-operational. It is for this reason why we leave this lingual cacophony only in huddled whispers. ...Or in public conversation, as no one seems to care, anyways.

That aside, I liked The Way of the Ninji. Even if it was decidedly non-vanilla. Imagining Ninji as fish or footballs is a pretty hilarious mental image, and one that makes the previous ones of wizards and fog fade away. It's pretty challenging, too, and in a pretty fair way. Though Yoshi kind of... freaks out on some of the ground here. The little flaws here and there (such as the flying ninji section) do add up, but don't detract much from the overall experience. It simply makes it less than stellar. It's still a great level, and you're great, too.
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Re: VLDC9 - vigor lending determined cronies 9

Post by Ometeotl »

Mata Hari wrote:No that's not OK. I will sue you in a court of law in Trenton, New Jersey.
Even if you win, you lose because you had to go to Trenton.
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Re: VLDC9 - vigor lending determined cronies 9

Post by jayScribble »

Second level: Accurate representation of a large, light-moderated Twitch channel experience.
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Re: VLDC9 - vigor lending determined cronies 9

Post by SAJewers »

I thought it was funny.
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Re: VLDC9 - vigor lending determined cronies 9

Post by Stink Terios »

Streamside is fantastic, it's a shame that it has a redundant exit.

The first level is just... really, really bad.
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