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VLDC9 - vanilla level design contest 9

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Nimono
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Re: VLDC9 - vendace lunacy discomposed copses 9

Post by Nimono »

Wait, wasn't there a message somewhere in this level that hints how to get the secret exit??? But I can't remember where it is...
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Re: VLDC9 - vendace lunacy discomposed copses 9

Post by Koopster »

84th: OLD FACTORY by TheInsanity115
Nimono
DESIGN: 20/30
CREATIVITY: 7/20
AESTHETICS: 6/10
TOTAL: 33/60
Interesting level, though it doesn't really do anything special with the sprites.

ninja boy
DESIGN: 15/30
CREATIVITY: 10/20
AESTHETICS: 6/10
TOTAL: 31/60
This was a nice level but the ground spike balls seemed to have a slightly odd hitbox with them being too wide, I know they still fit within a 16x16 grid but they just seem off.

Eternity
DESIGN: 15/30
CREATIVITY: 14/20
AESTHETICS: 6/10
TOTAL: 35/60
Not bad, but it doesn't stand out from the rest as well. Most enemies don't pose a interesting challenge to the player, mostly due to their placement, and at parts it feels like they're mostly there to populate the level (mostly at the beginning of the level, the enemy placement on the second part is a lot better). The spikes don't add a lot to the level, either. Overall it doesn't introduce much new and ends up feeling a bit unmemorable when compared to some of the other levels in the contest. Aethetically it's decent, but some of the Map16 tiles are a bit weird-looking, and a few palettes are slightly messed up.

Koopster
DESIGN: 13/30
CREATIVITY: 6/20
AESTHETICS: 6/10
TOTAL: 25/60
Could've easily won me with Alcahest - Castle, but man - nothing happens in this level! There's no gimmick or enemy set usage defined, it's just a very linear level with a little bit of enemy dodging action. It does look fine and gives a nice "rusty place" feel, though. The spike balls are a bit too desaturated for something that hurts the player, however.

35th: KUSO LINE by Rockythetigre
Nimono
DESIGN: 20/30
CREATIVITY: 16/20
AESTHETICS: 7/10
TOTAL: 43/60
Fun level! A little bit too cramped, but there were no parts I felt were unfair. However, I must say that towards the end, having to wait out the Star if you fall between the spikes is a major issue. Since it kills you anyway, wouldn't it have been better to just have it fall into a pit so the player's time isn't wasted?

ninja boy
DESIGN: 18/30
CREATIVITY: 18/20
AESTHETICS: 7/10
TOTAL: 43/60
Even though this level has some messed up graphics if on purpose or not it still looked really good and had a nice difficulty.

Eternity
DESIGN: 19/30
CREATIVITY: 16/20
AESTHETICS: 7/10
TOTAL: 42/60
Alright, this one does a lot design-wise. A fair bit of gimmicks are introduced - some of them work fairly well, others don't, but overall this manages to be a pretty fun level. It might suffer from going a bit too overboard with the variety, though. Still, nice work.

OTHER:

Koopster
DESIGN: 15/30
CREATIVITY: 13/20
AESTHETICS: 7/10
TOTAL: 35/60
A bit of a weird level! It had ideas with amazing potential, like the floating platforms, which in my opinion could've been used WAY more. Instead, the level doesn't really focus on anything! There's a lot of out-of-place-feeling sections. It's sometimes a little cramped and spike dodging-based. I really wish you could've used your gimmicks better, 'cause I so see the potential! Also, nice starman effect on the pencils (maybe could've been colored better?)


Hounted (sic) world starts pretty weak, but tomorrow is a level I personally like (it's a bit long)
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Alice
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Re: VLDC9 - vendace lunacy discomposed copses 9

Post by Alice »

Koopster wrote:35th: KUSO LINE by Rockythetigre
b]Nimono[/b]
DESIGN: 20/30
CREATIVITY: 16/20
AESTHETICS: 7/10
TOTAL: 43/60
Fun level! A little bit too cramped, but there were no parts I felt were unfair. However, I must say that towards the end, having to wait out the Star if you fall between the spikes is a major issue. Since it kills you anyway, wouldn't it have been better to just have it fall into a pit so the player's time isn't wasted?
Seems like an odd bit of specific criticism when there's a far more egregious (albeit easier to avoid) problem with the one pokey that falls into the mole hole later in the level. If you spin jump on that one while it's in the mole hole you'll get stuck until the timer runs out.
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Re: VLDC9 - vendace lunacy discomposed copses 9

Post by Nimono »

Alice wrote: Seems like an odd bit of specific criticism when there's a far more egregious (albeit easier to avoid) problem with the one pokey that falls into the mole hole later in the level. If you spin jump on that one while it's in the mole hole you'll get stuck until the timer runs out.
it's only odd because you noticed the pokey thing. somehow, I didn't during my playthrough. I don't know how, I just didn't. They're both pretty bad, though.
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Re: VLDC9 - vestigial lofts downward concretions 9

Post by Lockirby2 »

The spike balls in the first level tripped me up as much as they did raocow.

The second level's difficulty was a bit scattered, but it was still fun. I think the "key" puzzle is easier to solve if you've already explored the rest of the level, as you already know there's a skull elsewhere (indicating that you don't need to carry this skull anywhere), and might notice that the rest of the skeleton is a unique object.
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Re: VLDC9 - vendace lunacy discomposed copses 9

Post by Alice »

Nimono wrote:it's only odd because you noticed the pokey thing. somehow, I didn't during my playthrough. I don't know how, I just didn't. They're both pretty bad, though.
Might be bad wording on my part but that's basically what I meant, not that your criticism itself was odd but that you noticed that bit but not the pokey.
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Re: VLDC9 - vestigial lofts downward concretions 9

Post by Alice »

I bet there was a p-switch in that question block he blatantly ignored on two separate occasions. One of which was right when he was outright talking about cloning a p-switch.
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Re: VLDC9 - vestigial lofts downward concretions 9

Post by morsel/morceau »

I would like to call for an end to the eye-rolling at, sardonic remarks upon and general shaming of the use more than five dragon coins in a level. The contestants had no idea that the coins would save as they do in this final product, so if you had exclusive paths in your level it was sensible to ensure the quota of five could be met whichever way was chosen. That this leads to unintended situations where, going into one of these paths with a reserve, there are extra coins should be no cause for comment. Let us not forget that Mario World, which is perfect and excuses everything, has as many as seven in some levels (and fewer than five in at least one).
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Re: VLDC9 - vestigial lofts downward concretions 9

Post by Zephyr_DragonLord »

I would like to point out that I have not shamed anyone for using more than 5 Dragon Coins. In fact, it's a boon to have more in order to make it far easier to gather them on one trip...

Old Factory just kind of happens. Not seeing those spike balls are a threat, but there's not too much here to shock the player...

Kuso Line is... nice, I suppose. (name is less so, but I won't judge) There's just a good amount of variety in general, with the execution varying from really good to somewhat flawed. Two things that are off is that narrow corridor Pokey, and the star run, both of which are a bit too tight in terms of both space and time. It's fun on the whole, really.

I really like Aeolian Blood Moon. The background does quite a bit to enhance the feel of the level, and it just feels like you're swimming in pools of blood in general... which is a bit creepy, when you think about it. The P-Switch puzzle is pretty clever, and I like that it has two solutions for a Dragon Coin.

I think Haunted World has an 'elite ghost perimeter' in which the innards of the boundary is more haunted than the outside, explaining the general absence of ghosts.
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Re: VLDC9 - vices laying damask cascades 9

Post by ztarwuff »

Alice wrote:I bet there was a p-switch in that question block he blatantly ignored on two separate occasions. One of which was right when he was outright talking about cloning a p-switch.
Or it could be in that area at 8:16 in the video where he blatantly walked past some breakable blocks immediately to the right of where the green pipe was. Would be much funnier if the P-switch he needed was right next door to where he needed to use it.
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Re: VLDC9 - vices laying damask cascades 9

Post by Koopster »

31st: AEOLIAN BLOOD MOON by levelengine and StrikeForcer
Nimono
DESIGN: 20/30
CREATIVITY: 11/20
AESTHETICS: 8/10
TOTAL: 39/60
A bit overreliant on P-Switches. Not much else to say about the level...

ninja boy
DESIGN: 16/30
CREATIVITY: 12/20
AESTHETICS: 7/10
TOTAL: 35/60
This was fun to play and had a decent challenge to it but as far as a design point nothing really stood out to me that I haven't already seen before even with original Nintendo Mario games. The feel of the level though was really good but I feel that the podoboos in the water is just not a good match as they have a hit box right before appearing and right after they disappear causing some unfair hits from time to time.

Eternity
DESIGN: 21/30
CREATIVITY: 16/20
AESTHETICS: 7/10
TOTAL: 44/60
The level starts out simple, but there are some really nice obstacles later on, and the underwater section's P-Switch segment is fairly well done too. I don't think the Podoboos work well with the water, but other than that there's no major issue with the level.

Koopster
DESIGN: 27/30
CREATIVITY: 16/20
AESTHETICS: 10/10
TOTAL: 53/60
At first, I was confused and misleaded by the big amount of paths I was offered, but it all made sense in the end. This level was so good! For what I'd consider an action/exploration level, this was really super fun. I think some of your decisions were a bit questionable though, and when I say that I think about the first dragon coin puzzle which you can screw up easily (if you go a bit to the side the yellow koopa will spawn and get killed). On the other hand, some of the setups in this level were amazing, like the hop the munchers to zigzag the shell almost right afterwards. So to me it just evens out :p


raocow seems to have missed the moon thing in the map
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Re: VLDC9 - vices laying damask cascades 9

Post by Grounder »


Why don't you eat me?

I am perfectly tasty...

AND I'LL STEAL YOUR SOUL! :twisted:

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Re: VLDC9 - vices laying damask cascades 9

Post by Lockirby2 »

What a weird level! I think there was a couple too many powerups here, allowing the player to be very careless without any repercussions. I also think it should have been more clear that the secret exit could not be obtained by solving a puzzle in the area with the keyhole. Other than that, the swimming section was pretty nice and the level struck a good balance between exploring and action.

BTW, the P-switch intended to be used to get the secret exit was not in either of the ? blocks raocow ignored. It was under the breakable turn blocks that raocow ignored right after the brown blocks.
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Re: VLDC9 - vices laying damask cascades 9

Post by Voltgloss »

It's already been discussed upthread, but today's first level just reinforces the conclusion that Boo Cloud + regular platforming = not much fun. Boo Cloud maneuvering demands more precision control, such as via swimming (as in original SMW) or grate climbing.

Apologies if this was previously divulged, but from what source is Spooky Land's overworld theme? I concur with raocow that it's supremely catchy.
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Re: VLDC9 - vanquished landings dire compounds 9

Post by FrozenQuills »

Ruins on Blood is a weird level. I actually kinda like the aesthetics, but it has issues with some obstacles and the boo cloud in the second half. There's also a one tile gap that's hard to see since it's covered by a wooden column, and I fell into it several times lol.

Tropical Stronghold reminds me of dire dire docks mostly because of the music and the environment. It's a really nice level that actually used the boo cloud well (albeit short) by combining it with nets, and it had the underutilized green bubbles too. I'm surprised it only got 74th tbh.

ALSO, VLDCX starts in like an hour over at smwcentral, if you guys are liking this series and would like to join the next vanilla contest.
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Re: VLDC9 - vanquished landings dire compounds 9

Post by Money »

Boo cloud would be so much more handleable in a platforming environment and could lead to actual interesting gameplay if there were half as many Boos. Of course that wouldnt be vanilla, but just saying I dont think the idea is unsalvageable.

I have an idea for a level that's been floating in my head but I dunno if I'll participate in VLDCX, I've only really done one level in Lunar Magic and that was years ago, not to mention this ideas a lot more in depth and would actually require learning how things work. Idk, tho, we'll see what happens.
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Re: VLDC9 - vanquished landings dire compounds 9

Post by raocow »

I wonder if I should participate...
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Re: VLDC9 - vanquished landings dire compounds 9

Post by Lazy_ »

you should
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Re: VLDC9 - vanquished landings dire compounds 9

Post by Sugar »

raocow wrote:I wonder if I should participate...
Do it!
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Re: VLDC9 - vanquished landings dire compounds 9

Post by Nimono »

raocow wrote:I wonder if I should participate...
You should! You should! You should! :D I think we'd all enjoy seeing what you come up with ^_^
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Re: VLDC9 - vanquished landings dire compounds 9

Post by snoruntpyro »

DOOOOOO EEEETTTTTTT

Put a morsel shrine in your level
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Re: VLDC9 - vanquished landings dire compounds 9

Post by Mata Hari »

Wait, the next vanilla contest is coming up?

I want to participate but I probably won't ever understand what's going on, my life is a kind of perpetual fugue state
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Re: VLDC9 - vanquished landings dire compounds 9

Post by raocow »

this is when I remember that I don't remember my smwcentral dot net password
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Re: VLDC9 - vanquished landings dire compounds 9

Post by Mata Hari »

Haha I lied, I can't be bothered to learn Lunar Magic.

e: OR CAN I???
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Re: VLDC9 - vanquished landings dire compounds 9

Post by Ometeotl »

So what was the moon in today's first level made from?
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