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VLDC9 - vanilla level design contest 9

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Re: VLDC9 - veneered liners diverse coasts 9

Post by S.N.N. »

ft029 wrote:Interplanetary uses dirt formations, bones sticking out of the ground, and other A E S T H E T I C features in a non-horrible way in my opinion.
I'm still of the belief that this level should have won the contest for being all-around fun, creative, and beautiful aesthetically. It was my personal favorite, at least.
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Re: VLDC9 - veneered liners diverse coasts 9

Post by Koopster »

I think y'all overreact too much over dirt formations and shit sometimes. Overdecorating doesn't make a level look good, but in most cases it barely hinders the experience.
I think Pyro's level looks perfectly alright. There's just a few in the mountain world that I'd call horrid.

30th: MAPLE ISLAND by Falconpunch
Nimono
DESIGN: 25/30
CREATIVITY: 16/20
AESTHETICS: 10/10
TOTAL: 51/60
Level was beautiful and fun. However, right after the midpoint, you give the player an easy Cape in the rightmost ? Block before the pipe. Since the midpoint powers you up if you're small, there's no way you wouldn't get the Cape, allowing you to completely bypass the majority of the next segment. Make sure to keep this in mind if you offer the cape in such an easy way! Also, when replaying the level to not skip the second half, I went down to 41 seconds remaining by the time I hit the goal tape. Try to make sure that the player will have at least 100 seconds left on the timer from beginning of level to finish, especially if they're hunting for Yoshi Coins! Still, well done!

ninja boy
DESIGN: 15/30
CREATIVITY: 10/20
AESTHETICS: 7/10
TOTAL: 32/60
Fun multiple type level with both land and water

Eternity
DESIGN: 26/30
CREATIVITY: 15/20
AESTHETICS: 9/10
TOTAL: 50/60
The only real issue I can see is that it could stick to a theme, right now it feels like playing three different levels, to be honest. While it might work fine in a hack, it doesn't work as well in a standalone level. Otherwise, it's a very enjoyable and beautiful-looking level - there's really not a lot to talk about, everything works fairly well.

Koopster
DESIGN: 18/30
CREATIVITY: 11/20
AESTHETICS: 7/10
TOTAL: 36/60
I wouldn't sacrifice BG scrolling for a sun but alas, otherwise this looks pretty good. The level is a good collection of gimmicks that are defined well in the sublevels, but when merged together, make it feel a bit on the unfocused side. A few obstacles seem pretty undodgeable without the help of the switch blocks, such as the sleepy fish party in the end of the underwater area and the lotus+vines setup. Overall, this is a very basic, "ok" stage.

Should mention that I found the no skull torpedo machines that don't shoot pretty neat!

13th: TRIANGLE SHIP by Skewer
Nimono
DESIGN: 30/30
CREATIVITY: 20/20
AESTHETICS: 10/10
TOTAL: 60/60
Ooooh, this level looks quite nice! I love how much it feels like a ship, even on the outside! Great job!

ninja boy
DESIGN: 18/30
CREATIVITY: 18/20
AESTHETICS: 9/10
TOTAL: 45/60
This was a fun level though the cape really breaks it and allows you skip a lot of different little item babysitting sections.

Eternity
DESIGN: 29/30
CREATIVITY: 19/20
AESTHETICS: 9/10
TOTAL: 57/60
Very nice level! Probably one of the most fun ghost-themed levels in the contest (even though it doesn't do as much with them). There's a lot of variety, but not enough for the level to feel too disjointed, and all of the mini-puzzles are really interesting as well. Had a lot of fun with it, nice work.

Koopster
DESIGN: 15/30
CREATIVITY: 13/20
AESTHETICS: 9/10
TOTAL: 37/60
I felt the execution of this level is a little flawed. The highlight is how I can ignore the springboard or the P-switch completely in the room after the midpoint (that made me bring the P-switch to the next room and try to carry it, which was obviously annoying because of the wall-running). Also the way you sometimes ask me to use a springboard where it's not 100% required (if you do some maneuvering) clashes with how some sections demand ghost hopping. Overall... this is a rather simple level! The "puzzles" are very "solution in your face"-like, and don't add much to the level imo as they don't add a thinking factor, just break the linearity a little bit. I really dig the aesthetic work and the ways you found to replicate a ship though. Also, the dragon coin in the midpoint room is SUPER mean-spirited! >:O
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Re: VLDC9 - veneered liners diverse coasts 9

Post by SAJewers »

is dirt formations the new Tails555 land formations?
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Re: VLDC9 - veneered liners diverse coasts 9

Post by TRS »

I like the little things like small decorations and things like sprite outlines. It's when you start putting things like the monty mole dirt, things that look like level elements and not decoration, that annoys me.
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Re: VLDC9 - veneered liners diverse coasts 9

Post by S.N.N. »

SAJewers wrote:is dirt formations the new Tails555 land formations?
I think the whole obsession with dirt triangles/formations traces back to him anyway. A lot of people mistakenly followed his Hacks 101 thing to a tee, and it's a habit that still hasn't fully died yet. Thankfully, most people have gotten out of it, but a few still think saturating the level in awkward geometry looks better than it really does.
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Re: VLDC9 - vociferous loveliness dusty commons 9

Post by Lockirby2 »

Mata Hari wrote:I suspect you weren't supposed to be smishable in the boat level but nobody noticed it could happen except you

gg
I noticed, but I did it deliberately to check if it would happen.

The first level was a decent romp in terms of gameplay, but it's really hard for a romp to be "contest winning" tier IMO. 10/10 on the aesthetics though.

Triangle Ship is a level where the overall concept is great, but individual obstacles really need some work IMO. The outdoor areas were definitely stronger than the indoor areas due to the rising and sinking of the ship, but there was very little on the inside that felt new or impressive. Some parts just felt like there were a bunch of Boos dropped around. The level ends up being better than the sum of its parts, but still not 60/60 or 57/60 IMO.

As for stuff in the dirt, I do think it's a good way to add aesthetics to the level, but it's also overused by this point. Using Monty Mole dirt in a level with Monty Moles is also a bad idea.
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Re: VLDC9 - veneered liners diverse coasts 9

Post by ft029 »

quote of the day presented by
Koopster's judging wrote:I wouldn't sacrifice BG scrolling for a sun but alas
Mosts Awards:
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Re: VLDC9 - veneered liners diverse coasts 9

Post by Koopster »

same
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Re: VLDC9 - veneered liners diverse coasts 9

Post by worldpeace125 »

Koopster wrote:I think y'all overreact too much over dirt formations and shit sometimes. Overdecorating doesn't make a level look good, but in most cases it barely hinders the experience.
Overdecorating usually distracts players from focusing on the main component of game play like obstacles. It becomes even worse especially when it's difficult for players to determine the properties of objects they see, for example, whether a tile is solid or not. I agree that good aesthetic can make a level better, but only when it's done well; I felt there were many levels where decorations were done improperly, sometimes ruining the level as well. (today's levels were mostly fine with respect to aesthetics imo)
I still think there are some levels of nice aesthetic of course, and they deserve good scores for that. I just wanted to point out that overdecoration usually turns out pretty bad to one type of players like me who tries to parse the screen fast and rush through obstacles.

And yeah I agree that adding arbitrary objects to dirt could hardly make anything better. They are just cheap decorations if carelessly inserted.
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Re: VLDC9 - veneered liners diverse coasts 9

Post by Stink Terios »

Peach Beach is totally a stealth- Kirby level remake, isn't it?

Anyway, I think we're gonna see a bad example of overdecoration real soon.
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Re: VLDC9 - veneered liners diverse coasts 9

Post by Grounder »

So "overdecorating" is the mismatched graphics and/or cutoff of SMW hacking, huh?
Why don't you eat me?

I am perfectly tasty...

AND I'LL STEAL YOUR SOUL! :twisted:

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Re: VLDC9 - veneered liners diverse coasts 9

Post by Sugar »

Just a warning.

There is a level with green orb door soon.

I have no idea why it has it, it's only slightly above average.

Like, to a point where I think rest of resort world will be trickier than that.
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Re: VLDC9 - vaporish lagoons delightful chucks 9

Post by snoruntpyro »

We're coming up on the Memetastic Adventure guys
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Re: VLDC9 - veneered liners diverse coasts 9

Post by a guy »

yogui here, talking on behalf of a guy. About my level:
Stink Terios wrote:Peach Beach is totally a stealth- Kirby level remake, isn't it?
Sort of. Not a remake but this is heavily inspired by Aquaplanet from Kirby Superstar. You can recognize it with the first part with half water and the bubble cave.
It originaly had the music from Aquaplanet that fitted better, but was changed for the collab due to limited space.

I made it in the sunset because sunset are nice colors. And so when you exit the cave sunset is gone and it's the night.
Transparent water and sky gradient is nice. Because of that there's no background. I could have used a custom layer 3 background but didn't know at the time how they really work (it's still a "new" lunar magic feature for me).
Mmh there's some things I could've changed like the ambush lotus at the end and others little things, but I'm pretty happy with the results.
I made this level for fun, didn't cared about my placing. But knew I would not place too low because this level is nice.

The flame appearing on the pillars when getting the 5 dragon coins is just a nice little touch. I first wanted to do something more crazy and make fireworks appears but it was too hard. Maybe for a next level.

nice
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Re: VLDC9 - vaporish lagoons delightful chucks 9

Post by FrozenQuills »

Riverside Canopy I feel is pretty nice, actually. It's not often you see chucks and turn blocks used creatively and so extensively in a level, and it's pretty fun. It could have placed a bit higher.

Peach Beach originally had Kirby music, and it is very inspired from the Kirby games itself with its gimmicks. I really liked that level as well; the beach parts are very open and nice looking, and the bubble part is unique and cool.

Nightswimming is one of my favorites in the contest. Many people expected the gimmick of backtracking without water, but I still found it impressive to try to design a level that's playable both forwards/underwater and backwards/above water. It also looks amazing.

Also one of raocow's favorite designers is coming up and I'm excited... :)
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Re: VLDC9 - veneered liners diverse coasts 9

Post by Zephyr_DragonLord »

raorao made a hokey-pokermans reference?!?1 oh man!1!

Alright, more level judging. I liked this bunch even better than the last one, and that's an accomplishment... Water World is good world, it seems.

Riverbed Canopy is Charlie central, but it really isn't that bad. There was a bit of yelling of "raocow! You can spin jump. That's a good thing to clear block walls..." But you know what? That's also what makes him the perfect playtester. He's so stubborn that he finds ways to break thing purely on accident, or find problems with the intended solution. But most of this level's problems in comparison to others is pretty sublime, which is really telling us how important the little things are these days. Even though you can argue that there isn't much room to dodge.

The following level, Peach Beach, is a perfect example of this in action. While it might take inspiration from Kirby, the pink water really fits the level, and the air bubbles look REALLY nice. And it plays perfectly naturally, too. And the ending is beautiful. yogui, you made a good level this time, and I commend you for it. Also, this feels right at home in a full video game.

Nightswimming manages to be even better than Peach Beach, which took me by total surprise. The moon is just great. Looks great, feels great... This level's a beautiful thing, and pretty much every part was well thought-out. Going through the same area twice, and making it fresh as well is a genius move, and again, this feels like it belongs in a quality game. Great job here.
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Re: VLDC9 - vaporish lagoons delightful chucks 9

Post by Koopster »

worldpeace wrote:things
I in fact agree with you. I just think there aren't that many examples of aesthetics that hinder gameplay in this contest. A bunch of levels are very overdecorated but not in a hindering way.
But I did forget about the probably most glaring example in the resort lol

79th: RIVERBED CANOPY by MercuryPenny
Nimono
DESIGN: 14/30
CREATIVITY: 14/20
AESTHETICS: 5/10
TOTAL: 33/60
Quite fun! I enjoyed the multiple uses of the Chucks, although it's possible to kill them all before an obstacle you can only clear by luring one of them forward...

ninja boy
DESIGN: 13/30
CREATIVITY: 10/20
AESTHETICS: 5/10
TOTAL: 28/60
I have nothing to much to say about this level it came and went. I can say though I could see this being a special world level of the original SMW.

Eternity
DESIGN: 15/30
CREATIVITY: 10/20
AESTHETICS: 5/10
TOTAL: 30/60
The level's fairly underwhelming as it is. It has potential, as Chucks do have some really interesting uses and I've seen some really neat setups on other levels in the contest, but in this case they're fairly nonthreatening for the most part, some even suiciding before the player even reaches them. And, other than the Chucks, the level doesn't have much - ot's a simple, linear level that could have benefited a lot from more polished enemy placement.

Koopster
DESIGN: 17/30
CREATIVITY: 13/20
AESTHETICS: 6/10
TOTAL: 36/60
This does some interesting things with the chucks to an extent. I like the part where you have to hit an invisible block to make the chuck jump to where you need him for example! But in general, this level felt empty, like, there's a lot of room between one section and another with no action at all. I feel you could've gone further with the level in general, but regardless, it is pretty alright.

28th: PEACH BEACH by yogui
Nimono
DESIGN: 21/30
CREATIVITY: 16/20
AESTHETICS: 10/10
TOTAL: 47/60
This level felt just like a Kirby level. I like that!

ninja boy
DESIGN: 20/30
CREATIVITY: 15/20
AESTHETICS: 7/10
TOTAL: 42/60
Very well made level with the switch between grass and non-grass land around the water and the air bubbles in the second portion. At first with the coconuts I though you made your own graphics until I realized they were just pokey bodies nicely done.

Eternity
DESIGN: 20/30
CREATIVITY: 15/20
AESTHETICS: 8/10
TOTAL: 43/60
Simple but still pretty fun. It doesn't do anything special at first and stick with a simpler design stile, but it works. The cave subleve, however, is very interesting - the "air bubbles" are pretty neat, and it mixes regular and underwater sections really well.

Koopster
DESIGN: 20/30
CREATIVITY: 16/20
AESTHETICS: 7/10
TOTAL: 43/60
A rather simple level with some really neat ideas. I really dig the falling coconuts, the air bubbles in the cave and also the peach temple thingy at the end, super cool! But ultimately I feel this level did not take as much benefit from the ideas it used as it could. It's still pretty fun and solid, though! Also really, the outer sections could really use a background, especially the sunset version :| Just a random idea (that prolly would've taken too much effort), but I could see a half-hills, half-underwater BG working greatly in there~

11th: NIGHTSWIMMING by WhiteYoshiEgg
Nimono
DESIGN: 26/30
CREATIVITY: 15/20
AESTHETICS: 10/10
TOTAL: 51/60
Quite an interesting level! Liked how the level feels nonthreatening at first, but then you hit the midpoint and suddenly you have to redo it drained of water, and the return is far more difficult.

ninja boy
DESIGN: 19/30
CREATIVITY: 15/20
AESTHETICS: 8/10
TOTAL: 42/60
This level was very well built with a nice challenge to it and the use of back tracking but in 2 separate level modes was a nice touch. The aesthetics weren't anything special but the use of color made up for it making the level really feel like a bright moonlit romp through the land.

Eternity
DESIGN: 28/30
CREATIVITY: 19/20
AESTHETICS: 10/10
TOTAL: 57/60
The idea itself is nothing mindblowing, but the execution is brilliant. The atmosphere overall is fantastic, and the obstacles are really well made, even when going back through the level with no water. I don't see line guides in water levels often, but they work surprisingly well (and still work with no water, as said before).


OTHER: loved the fish ghost trains, you should have used them more through the level lol

Koopster
DESIGN: 24/30
CREATIVITY: 16/20
AESTHETICS: 10/10
TOTAL: 50/60
Haha, I remember trying to make a level with this gimmick before, and it sucked :( But this doesn't! It really plays differently between the two states, as the grinders and blurp fish act as different obstacles. Really simple concept but it's really well done. I missed more swimming and non-swimming-only ideas though. Like, I feel you could've used turn blocks and flopping fish a bit more often!


getting the hang of posting these from my phone kinda. aaaaa
Riverbed Canopy has a neat concept, but it felt bland in execution to me. I think it wouldn't hurt to use enemies other than chucks and koopas and mix other concepts and gimmicks in.
PEACH BEACH, originally capitals, it pretty simple but good, which I believe is exactly what it strived to be!
Nightswimming I was a bit underwhelmed about, probably because I had made a level exactly like this in the past, which wasn't very good. I knew this was the gimmick the moment I saw the first screen and I wasn't very impressed by the execution honestly. It's still not a bad level. I think 50, maybe one or two points less, suits it well.

!!! raocow !!!, if you think you do not deserve to make a one level video because of dragon coins again, read this spoiler:

there's one dragon coin in the midpoint room


And after tomorrow's first level you'll be presented with an extremely interesting choice :o
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Re: VLDC9 - veneered liners diverse coasts 9

Post by S.N.N. »

GlitchMr wrote:Just a warning.

There is a level with green orb door soon.

I have no idea why it has it, it's only slightly above average.

Like, to a point where I think rest of resort world will be trickier than that.
Never understood why it was green door'ed either. I think there were plans to remove the door in 1.11, but it was overlooked.

Granted, there is one particular room in it that is really, really stupid and obnoxious (the falling one), but the rest of it is great. That room alone is probably why the score was brought down.
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Re: VLDC9 - vaporish lagoons delightful chucks 9

Post by 10204307 »

ninja boy wrote:Fun multiple type level with both land and water
ninja boy truly is the master of understatement

We're now rapidly approaching my favorite level in this world.... Normally I can't be bothered with hard levels, but this one manages to be compact enough to make dying less painful. (with the exception of one of the last rooms)
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Re: VLDC9 - vaporish lagoons delightful chucks 9

Post by Ometeotl »

All this talk about ugly ground decorations and no one brings up the godawful half a question/cement block buried at surface level?
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Re: VLDC9 - vaporish lagoons delightful chucks 9

Post by Le Neveu de Rameau »

Ometeotl wrote:All this talk about ugly ground decorations and no one brings up the godawful half a question/cement block buried at surface level?
It seems the municipal authorities tend to get a touch peeved when you go around uprooting paving slabs.
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Re: VLDC9 - vaporish lagoons delightful chucks 9

Post by SAJewers »

Ometeotl wrote:All this talk about ugly ground decorations and no one brings up the godawful half a question/cement block buried at surface level?
never understood that, tbh
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Re: VLDC9 - vaporish lagoons delightful chucks 9

Post by FrozenQuills »

All this talk about needless/mindless decor reminds me of a certain level in Super Famicom world...
Can't wait for raocow to reach that one lol
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Re: VLDC9 - vaporish lagoons delightful chucks 9

Post by TRS »

ninja boy wrote:The aesthetics weren't anything special but the use of color made up for it
I too prefer my levels to have color.

Nightswimming was one of my favorite levels and I'm disappointed it just barely missed best world.
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Re: VLDC9 - vaporish lagoons delightful chucks 9

Post by Sebby19 »

Huh, you were still a Machinima partner all this time until now? Who knew. I just assumed you quietly quit that some months ago (after you got onto Patreon). It's not like Machinima ever made it's presence known, except for that one time they privatized the majority of your vids (with good intention).
Speaking of that privatization incident, there were still 2 vids that were left private. I guess it's alright to make them public again, eh?

Would you care to give more details on those policy changes? I don't really pay attention to Machinima, but I am curious what the prompt was.
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