New level, a standard obstacle course:
The Castle of 100 Perils
6MS-VR7-G1H
You know those levels that centre around a gimmick? This isn't one of them! Three rules behind this level:
- Being some classic Mario action
- Using many different obstacles - each obstacle is present in a single section
- Allowing different play styles and paths (mostly, an upper and lower paths with ways to go from one to the other)
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About:
Great level, you can see the amount of work that has gone into it. I've made levels involving this sort of duplication work and it's always a nightmare!
Anyway, played Luigi's Recto/Verso Mansion. This level was awesome. I liked it more than the original Recto/Verso level you made. My only question is why did you add the winged Kuribo boot at the end? Is there something in Luigi's mansion similar? It just seemed out of place.
Otherwise I loved this.
Thanks, glad you liked it!
In the end, after you get through the door in the tower, you're in the graveyard. You first get in that area with the Dry Brones and the P-switch getting out of the pipe, and it's designed for you not to be able to get out - after you do get through the door, you're in the verso side of the graveyard, so instead of the P-switch, the Kuribo gets out of the pipe to help you out. Also, it helps you get to the top of the flag pole.
I didn't even
try to go for the World Record here, as I knew
CaptainMatilder would have destroyed it anyway.
The design here is top-notch, yes, even the giant Crosses which feel very weird in a Mario game. The coin collecting was very fun and with the exact right amount of difficulty.
I just have one remark/question.
Did it have to be a recto/verso level.
It was especially apparent for me the whole way through, even though I read the title and new the concept. It could have been (and it is) a very fine level either way, so I hope it wasn't too much of a pain to reverse everything to fit the theme. :)
Thank you, glad you enjoyed it! There are graveyards in both Luigi's Mansion games, and I really couldn't suggest those without crosses in the SMB style. Also, there have interesting shapes (like when you go into them)!
For the Recto/Verso mechanic: here, it's simply about spatial consistency - you get through doors, so the area on the other side has to make sense spatially. In Luigi's Mansion games, spatial consistency is important for exploration, like: "there should be a room in that empty area, so there must to be a secret passage here" - in our case, it helps to remember which area you've explored or not. In open areas, the design is reversed and "nearly the same but not exactly" in typical Ghost House fashion. The idea here is mostly to make the Mansion feel like a logical, real place, even if it's weird/spooky at times.
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Super Mario Maker 2 discussion:
People bitched about character costumes locked behind 100 man mario. I guarantee people would play way more random levels if they did that for this game. There is no incentive to play endless unless you are chasing leader boards. You can find better levels online or in popular or in game search. But those do 0 for new people's exposure. The issue imo is that the game does jack shit to entice players to play random levels via the main mode. They absolutely need some real unlocks behind a new mode.
I personally hated costumes locked behind 100 Mario, it was horribly frustrating, and back then, there wasn't much more random plays. The core of the problem is simply the gap between plays and number of levels - the only way to correct this is to create a cheaper/free for online subscribers SMM2 version that only features Endless modes. Then, there would be tons of plays because you'd have a lot more players than creators.
Likes are hard to come by. People just don't like levels. I wouldn't take much from it personally. Again. The game doesn't give any incentive to like things so it has to come from players just saying this is cool.
There's an indirect reward: when people rate levels correctly, you have way more chances to play a good level and avoid a bad one. Of course, this requires a bit of maturity, and currently, the game is mostly played by teenagers who don't give a fuck. Still, Mario vs. Donkey Kong Tipping Stars tried to have tons of incentive to give stars and get some, and it ended up being a clusterfuck, 95% of levels being star dispensers with no design whatsoever. I still think the separate application would be the only solution.
In my experience, they're getting stingier too. I used to get a roughly 1/3 like rate on my popular levels, but now it's more like 1/4 or 1/5. I've even noticed the same thing with the continuing plays that Rainbow Rush Galaxy gets from being in the all time top 100, so it's not just that my levels have got worse! Even the sell-out speedrun level I did wasn't much liked! Unfortunately it seems like I need 1/3 at least to increase maker score, so my score has just been bobbing up and down at around the same level for a couple of weeks now.
Same phenomenon happened with the first Mario Maker: at times, people playing the game are mostly teenagers, and those mostly don't like levels. I've had teenagers play my whole set of levels without a single like - if they don't like my work, why do they keep playing it?
Is there a bug in the game where the red coins collected before a checkpoint are sometimes not saved?
No, it's an old Super Mario Maker problem: pink coins are saved, but not keys. Once you collect all coins and obtain the key, if you die,
and even if you didn't touch a checkpoint after obtaining the key, you lose all your progress. It's probably to avoid who knows what obscure issue.
This is extremely annoying, and created the convention to put a coin near the locked door, and have nearly no hazard after the door. That way, you keep that coin for last and can't lose your progress. Of course, most people will think: "oh, a free coin", collect it right away, collect all coins, die, see their progress hasn't been saved, think: "WTF WORST LEVEL EVER", boo the level, and quit. Oh, well.
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Feedback:
Déjà Boo 9 : Art Show
(Or as I call it: my own personal Hell.)
ID: 2C7-PDY-8FG
Lots of great things in this level of course, and you deserve tons of praise for pushing the Ghost House concept to new heights... but to be blunt, it's
WAY too long and complicated. I died
twice because of the time limit. First, I heard the 100s left music when we're supposed to activate the P-switch for the P-door: I got the key near the skull, ran all the way to the locked door, opened it hoping to see the end flag to make it just in time, and... uh, another locked door! I died.
Then, from the checkpoint, I redid everything until that locked door, found the key in the music note, unlocked the door expecting to finally see the end flag, but discovered there's a
whole other sequence after that. I found the big mushroom, broke the pictures (it's great), found three coins - but where is the last one? I ran around, came and went, and oops, the 100s left music played
again... I couldn't find that coin anywhere, tried desperately to break the blocks leading to the blue pipe located to the right, wondering if we're supposed to do that... and died.
I respawned at the second checkpoint, ran around, broke tons of blocks wondering if I wouldn't get stuck, then finally found the last coin at the whole other end of the level, locked after the scrolling on the left. "Oh, it's finally over", I thought, then stumbled on yet another puzzle: I couldn't become small Mario again, and there was no way to get to the locked door no matter what I did: pipes were locked, passages were too small, I couldn't get to the door whether the switch was on or off, and the 100s music started playing
again. At that point, I admit I just gave up.
Maybe it's my fault, maybe I fooled around too much or maybe I was too slow or didn't pay attention enough, but I don't think the average player is going to be much quicker/smarter than I was. You can make two or three levels out of this one, it's too big and long and complex IMHO. Making it shorter and more intuitive wouldn't ruin its great qualities, on the opposite.
The Secret Of Cold Cold Mountain
LPS-FNH-4BG
I liked it! I like how the level shifts its settings and tone, and the James Bond-esque "underground base destroyed" narration!
I deleted Skyway Shipyard; it was too long and as a result, since I couldn't space out the 2 checkpoints without it punishing players too much, I decided to split it up into two parts: Skyway Shipyard 1 and Skyway Shipyard 2. As a reminder, I always try to make standard Mario levels so it's nothing super fancy or technical, but I did put a ton of work into trying to make this series challenging but fair, and above all, fun.
I liked both your levels, but I have a few remarks. First, in SS1:
- The part with cannons and red Koopas and seesaws is so hard to get trough without taking a hit that it's way simpler to just accept taking a hit and rush through it.
-
In that section, the position of the Thwomps suggests there is something hidden above (a pink coin, perhaps), but if you get on them by Z-spinning, you can't get out or die out of it.
- I don't know if it's intended, but to get the pink coin on the top near this area, you intuitively believe the P-switch unlocking the coin is generated, whereas it's a single-use P-switch. If you try to redo the P-switch activation to get the coin after missing it, you have to kill yourself. Also, some coins you missed may transform into blocks when the switch is activated, and mess your jump/fly to get the coin.
- After the giant Thwomp/Banzai Bill part (IMHO the Banzai Bill is too much, the first time you don't intuitively jump and you take a hit), there is an area with two Galoombas and many blocks. The blocks are supposed to be neutralized with a switch, but you can be tempted to use your cape and get locked there with no way to get out or die (it happened to me).
- Getting the third coin in the area can lead to unfair hits: you can't see the cannons at the top, so when you climb by jumping on cannonballs, you just see them at the last second and get hit without being able to do anything.
- The arena with Boom-Boom is SO crowded with tons of cannons and a fire bar that we cheese through it hugging the left wall.
- I got all other coins, but didn't understand how to get the last one.
In general, I'd remove a few obstacles/enemies that spoil readability and flow, but I did enjoy it a lot.
In SS2:
- In the grinder/Bullet Bill/burner/fast conveyor belt area, either the Bullet Bill or the burner is too much, if you don't know the level by heart, it's impossible not to get hit.
- After the checkpoint, why put deadly hazards in the part that invites you to rush through the door if you fall? It slows the pacing down.
- Hiding a pink coin in an area you access if you fail is a bit cruel IMHO.
Like SS1, the level feels too punishing IMHO. I quit after I got killed in the area with red Koopas hovering over spikes, the segment before that is long, and I couldn't get cannonballs to synchronize right again like the first time.
Last time, I told you the map wasn't really useful, but this time, it's vital :-p !
Great level, with a mind-bending final like you do so well!
EVERYBODY LOVES ELEVATOR LEVELS
426-R0J-MWF
Based on the "elevator level" beat em up trope, just try to stay alive until you reach the top.
It's a nice idea theoretically, but there are issues:
- The rails covering the whole area hurt readability.
- The camera centres vertically on Mario, which means we have half a screen height to see things coming.
- The first time, I took the gaps on the sides that allow the shell to get out as a way out, and died.
- It's impossible to see the bombs coming at the end.
In fact, you could achieve the same thing in the SM3DW theme with crates floating on lava, and have a full height screen and no rails.
Nice level, maybe a bit slow.
Feijoa Forest
P1H-6H2-48G
A traditional SMW forest-themed level with Red Koopas, Goombas and Wigglers.
Nice level! The red Koopas and the orange Wigglers pop against the green background.
67D-9GB-2LG
Go give it a play
Visually amazing, but the mechanic itself is quite limited and frustrating IMHO.
Treetop Treasure
8B3-DNQ-J1G
Coins in the air are a bit frustrating to collect because if you fail, there is a long time of redoing stuff between each attempt.
Here's my recreation of Donkey Kong. If you played "Super Zero World," you might catch on that the final boss of that level set was my proof-of-concept for this creation - which I think turned out better than I originally expected!
It's charming! It's a bit too fast-paced and chaotic with infinite spawning (the spawning is irregular), and the first part is the weakest IMHO (layout isn't really similar), but it's fun, and the last part is very impressive - I was surprised to see it worked just like in the original!
Sky Chase Zone: Reimagined
23P-6LG-V3G
I didn't really get into it. I have problems when the whole area is covered with tracks, I feel we can't see anything. Also, you can just crouch as little Mario on the top right platform and go through everything without doing anything.
