Support NeoGAF

[aidan]

This is a fun resource for doing a bit of research on level design: http://www.nesmaps.com/maps/SuperMarioBrothers3/SuperMarioBrothers3.html

It displays the entire maps for each of the levels in SMB 3, giving an idea of how Nintendo's designers approach building a level, create nice aesthetics, handle pacing, and, also, illustrate how short a lot of the levels in the game are.

 

[Ferrio]

Going to post this one last time since I'm really curious what other people think *and* I'd like to see how the completion rate pans out. It's a very unorthodox level

"World's Most Annoying Level"

The level is really short if you know how to complete it, it's not difficult... but it isn't trivial either.

 

[CharminUltra]

We all know Mario, right? He's a cool dude. Fights Bowser, rescues the Princess, saves the kingdom. He is your all around good guy.

Or is he?

What if Mario had a secret? Something no one knows or suspects about? What if he is not at all what he seems to be?

Well, now you can find out... if you dare.

Mario's Secret (13B5-0000-0064-4691)

“Beware that, when fighting monsters, you yourself do not become a monster... for when you gaze long into the abyss. The abyss gazes also into you.”
― Friedrich Nietzsche

 

[MaxwellGT2000]

For fans of traditional ghost house levels I made this:

The Ghostly Gauntlet

E180-0000-003B-5D33

Multiple paths, secrets, ghosts, and wizards, who could ask for more? There's 3 main paths through the level, all varying in difficulty, much like the different paths you would take in a SMW ghost house. I hope everyone enjoys it, I'm going to start going through levels on GAF since the leaderboards aren't changing much right now.

Pimping out my ghost house again next to my new level.

Airship of the Giants

Code: ED1B-0000-0064-1244

I hope you guys like it, feedback is always appreciated, hoping to get one level to take off and get 150 stars so I can get those extra 10 upload slots lol

 

[Green Mamba]

Finally got around to playing this one. It's good. The progression is fun because it feels non-linear, even though it really isn't. Seeing areas before you get to them, going back to old areas under new circumstances, and the handful of offshoots give a good feeling of it being large despite it actually being quite compact. I suppose I could use a little more enemy variety (for instance, it was a nice break of pace having to navigate the spike tops to get the 1-up), and I wish a few more tools like the spiny hat were put to greater use. But as it is I really enjoyed it.

Thanks for the comments, this was probably my favorite course to design so far. I started with a basic concept of a simple maze of pipes and an idea of a shape (a dome) and basically created the basic shape and placed the pipes before sitting down and thinking--okay, now how does this play out?

 

[octopiggy]

Here's the video for WarioWare Inc. 2:

WarioWare, Inc. 2 - BAED-0000-0062-B3BB - https://youtu.be/UQwQmNZ3K1w

If you enjoy the video then I'd really appreciate you trying out the level for yourself.

A selection of my other courses.

 

[Boy Wander]

If checkpoints are not forthcoming, perhaps patch the game to allow the creator to set the number of lives allowed to finish the course. If you die, you simply start from where you died.

The problem with both checkpoints and the above idea are that it adds yet another layer of complexity for the creator. You may even lose some creativity because you could no longer rely on the presence of a power-up required to finish a particular section without forcing the player to back-track.

 

[Peltz]

This is a fun resource for doing a bit of research on level design: http://www.nesmaps.com/maps/SuperMarioBrothers3/SuperMarioBrothers3.html

It displays the entire maps for each of the levels in SMB 3, giving an idea of how Nintendo's designers approach building a level, create nice aesthetics, handle pacing, and, also, illustrate how short a lot of the levels in the game are.

Some fantastic level design in that game. I feel like maybe I'm trying to cram too many ideas and secrets into each of my levels after re-viewing what they did in SMB3 at that page.

 

[diddykong13]

I've finally got around to making my first half-decent level now that I'm back from my holiday Its short but quite a fun little challenge!

Something smells fishy...

Code:6BA6-0000-0066-5FAF

Enjoy

I need to play some of the ones on here now!

 

[Gsnap]

Thanks for the comments, this was probably my favorite course to design so far. I started with a basic concept of a simple maze of pipes and an idea of a shape (a dome) and basically created the basic shape and placed the pipes before sitting down and thinking--okay, now how does this play out?

Haha. That's the hard part isn't it? It's so easy for me to come up with a grand idea, and the put down the basic skeleton of it. But then when considering the moment to moment gameplay it's so difficult to make one decision over another. I'm working on a level similar to yours and it's really making me think.

 

[Paulie_C]

Some fantastic level design in that game. I feel like maybe I'm trying to cram too many ideas and secrets into each of my levels after re-viewing what they did in SMB3 at that page.

When I'm creating a level (often for my daughter), I limit myself to 3 secret 1-ups in the level. So they're like my star coins.

 

[correojon]

D5CF-0000-0059-461C
DF9E-0000-0062-85F4
BF98-0000-0059-D03C

1-2 is a bit challenging if you're thinking in terms of classic Mario.



Yeah this one is supposed to be more puzzley. I tried to make the puzzles not too obvious!

I´ve played the new Planets 1-2, it´s better than ever, the way you modified the platform puzzle is great Great level, starred!

 

[El Odio]

Copy the blocks they are on and paste them wherever you like.

Didn't know the details would copy over aswell. Thanks!

 

[Kyzon]

Many thanks to you to stream all those levels and play mine (far too easy, I will remove that star and add some mines ).

I will go back to your stream to take notes of levels ID, I loved the one with Zelda and bombs, it was awesome!

Bring it on

I'm gonna try to up my skill to beat that level with the spring wall jumps in the meantime

 

[Neki]

If you play a fellow gaffers level I think you should star it regardless of what you think, we all need stars right?

What do you guys think?

 

[kinggroin]

Going to play and report on some levels in here. Thanks I'm advance for any feedback on the two shitty levels above.

 

[kiryogi]

If you play a fellow gaffers level you should star it regardless of what you think, we all need stars, that's what I think though. What do you guys think?

I am doing this and will clear your level on top of that.

*Except on the latter if your level meets the Expert 100 Mario Skip Criteria: Spikes everywhere, insta death in the beginning (I am guilty of this and have fixed it), troll invisible blocks for platforming. etc.

 

[Neki]

I am doing this and will clear your level on top of that.

*Except on the latter if your level meets the Expert 100 Mario Skip Criteria: Spikes everywhere, insta death in the beginning (I am guilty of this and have fixed it), troll invisible blocks for platforming. etc.

Yeah I do it too, I feel like it's just good etiquette. We're all in this together!

 

[Kyzon]

If you play a fellow gaffers level I think you should star it regardless of what you think, we all need stars right?

What do you guys think?

I try to star every GAF level when I play it on stream, and also offer some feedback if I feel anything may need a little updating.

 

[Mpl90]

Reposting my most recent uploaded level; hopefully, it'll get more feedbacks now.

Name: Un inizio, tre vie...o una sola?
ID: 1C9C-0000-0064-D0BA

Brief description - It's a level with three main themes: vines, saws and Piranha Plants, with a beginning dominated by Twhomps. Each theme represent a specific mini-course: by playing each of them, you can reach the final flag. But, you'll notice how the flag is very distant from the platform where every mini-course brings on, and requires a long jump with spinning. It's quite strange that there's no way to reach the top of the pole....or maybe there is a way...a way made of different courses, all linked between each other, where you need specific items to travel between the different courses. I've talked too much though. Try it on your own and bring me your feedbacks.

@KooopaKid: I've tried your other levels, completing one of them. I like your style definitely! I see you're going with a specific theme with all of them (their names give it away of course, but the levels themselves are coherent enough between each other). All very challenging (even if not as hard as that specific point in the Twomp-Ice level), but very good to play as well.

 

[lamaroo]

I know the New Super Mario Bros games get a lot of hate, but I'm having much more fun creating straight up platforming levels with the wall jump and twirl available.

Made another pretty tough platforming only level, kept it short to keep frustration down.

 

[correojon]

I tried to be as faithful as possible to the original level.
Cast
Mario as the Chosen Undead
Green Koopa as Oscar, Knight of Astora
Goombas as Hollows
Fire Flower as bonfire
Piranha Plant as Hollow Archer
Shell as shield
Feather as sword
Red Bom-omb as rock
Black Bomb-ombs as Undead Asylum F2 East Key
Spiky as Hollow Soldier
Flying Mega Bowser as Asylum Demon

This one hasn´t been out for long and has the best star/play times ratio for the moment. Pllayers seem to be enjoying it a lot and I´ve received very positive feedback. It expands even further on what could be seen in Circular Platforms 2, has alternate paths with different difficulties which will naturally drive the player to where he belongs and expert players will be able to get to a secret treasure room.

This is my entry for the GAF Community Contest #1. A level with 2 different paths, one focusing on the feather (and platforming) and the other on the flower (and action). A lot of different cool concepts are introduced like ice platforms, circular platforms, crushing floors and walls...Everything is introduced one step at a time and has it´s time to shine. The level must be played 2 times to experience it completely.
As a curiosity, I ran out of blocks, pipes, doors and coins in the second area and had to completely redesign the ending of the level

My most popular level, it expands on the Circular Platforms concept remixing it to create new challenges. It´s a challenging and fun level, though there are many powerups so no one will be left behind.

Find all the powerups to overcome the different challenges and help Mario find the exit. The level´s not hard abbility-wise, meaning that you won´t die easily, but finding the exit and solving the different puzzles will require that you use your grey matter.
I´ve received some very positive feedback on this one, but not many people are playing it or completing it.

This was originally my entry for the GAF Community Contest #1, but in the end got replaced by Super Mario World 1-0.5. It is an extensive feather tutorial level with lots of secrets.

Please, comment and star (if you like them enough )

 

[kinggroin]

I've finally got around to making my first half-decent level now that I'm back from my holiday Its short but quite a fun little challenge!

Something smells fishy...

Code:6BA6-0000-0066-5FAF

Enjoy

I need to play some of the ones on here now!

Took me a second to realize I had to drop and run for my life. Not bad.

 

[SonicMegaDrive]

If you play a fellow gaffers level I think you should star it regardless of what you think, we all need stars right?

What do you guys think?

I star every course I play, regardless. Especially less popular courses that few people have played. Gotta spread that love around.

 

[Boy Wander]

If you play a fellow gaffers level I think you should star it regardless of what you think, we all need stars right?

What do you guys think?

I think we should do what I expect we do anyway. Good level, Star. Average level but obvious effort, Star. Shit level, no star. To be fair though, I've played and watched streams of tons of GAF levels and I'm yet to see a level where I think "That's a bit shit".

Spoiler

Even that fucking frustrating spring-carry-jump-throw-walljump-catch level. At least I have option of throwing the spring off the screen in rage because I don't have the skillz

 

[AdanVC]

This is a fun resource for doing a bit of research on level design: http://www.nesmaps.com/maps/SuperMarioBrothers3/SuperMarioBrothers3.html

It displays the entire maps for each of the levels in SMB 3, giving an idea of how Nintendo's designers approach building a level, create nice aesthetics, handle pacing, and, also, illustrate how short a lot of the levels in the game are.

This is really useful thanks for sharing!

 

[aidan]

I'm surprised we haven't seen Nintendo promoting Mario Maker with 'celebrity' game designer levels. It seems like there's a great opportunity to get some of the best and brightest game designers to create Mario levels, and share the codes via Social Media, etc.

How rad would it be to see levels by the Meatboy team, Cliffy B returning to his Jazz Jackrabbit days, or the Treasure team turning its eye towards Mario?

 

[dead_lighter]

Bring it on

I'm gonna try to up my skill to beat that level with the spring wall jumps in the meantime

et voilà!

3486-0000-0066-1BD5

 

[kiryogi]

I think we should do what I expect we do anyway. Good level, Star. Average level but obvious effort, Star. Shit level, no star. To be fair though, I've played and watched streams of tons of GAF levels and I'm yet to see a level where I think "That's a bit shit".

Spoiler

Even that fucking frustrating spring-carry-jump-throw-walljump-catch level. At least I have option of throwing the spring off the screen in rage because I don't have the skillz

Have you tried my level yet then? I've gotten equal amounts of hate and praise for it. The hate is real though lol.

 

[Rebel Leader]

OH MY AH GOD

https://www.youtube.com/watch?t=15&v=_sxY8pELhqM


I could never do this

 

[kinggroin]

Please, comment and star (if you like them enough )

Dark Souls was aight, if a bit barebones. Liked the use of Bowser as the fat ass demon.

 

[TheSlySoul]

If you play a fellow gaffers level I think you should star it regardless of what you think, we all need stars right?

What do you guys think?

Something in me just cannot star something I don't think is fun.
I am willing to critique though and I have starred I think 95% of what I played, ha ha.

But I do agree the star system is stupid. I got 90 and need 150 to get 30 levels.

 

[BluePigGanon]

Regarding "Ganon's Lost Shrine", 7EA2-0000-0064-3CE9:

The level starts good -- Zelda level that doesn't try to be an obtuse maze, good -- but then you ask the player to make a blind leap down and immediately throw Podobos at him, and then that running sequence is the last thing I would associate with Zelda -- and there's no safe spot for when you're going from one P block to the next.

I found this a bit tedious replaying the vine bits but that may just be the fact that it's 3 a.m. and I just before got suckered into playing a damn Kaizo level. Also I was hoping to play as Ganon, damn it.

Going to bed now!

Thanks for the feedback. It is a blind leap, but I dropped in that arrow to be taken very literally: fall straight down. If you drop anywhere in that area none of the podobos are near you - but yeah, if you just leap wildly off the cliff, who knows where you'll land.

The running thing was more of a playing-with-switches thing, which to me is Zeldaish. I also try to balance whatever I'm asking the player to do - so after a couple minutes of very careful maneuvering with little room for error, I thought it would be satisfying to have an open area where you can just sprint. You're right there isn't a safe spot at the end of that one leg, it depends on you listening to the tick-tock music and leaping to the next spot knowing it'll switch before you land (a nod to Mega Man, heh). But I'm probably going to continue revising this basic map, and the running section will turn into more of a using-switches-to-navigate-a-simple-maze section.

And yeah difficulty is tricky in this with no checkpoints. That's why I try to load the roughest stuff in the mid-section of the level, so if a player dies he doesn't have a HUGE walk back to where he was.

 

[dead_lighter]

I'm surprised we haven't seen Nintendo promoting Mario Maker with 'celebrity' game designer levels. It seems like there's a great opportunity to get some of the best and brightest game designers to create Mario levels, and share the codes via Social Media, etc.

How rad would it be to see levels by the Meatboy team, Cliffy B returning to his Jazz Jackrabbit days, or the Treasure team turning its eye towards Mario?

they made a video with Michel Ancel that hyped me a lot. His adaptation of pacman design to mario maker is awesome. There is this video where miyamoto plays his level.

 

[kinggroin]

Please, comment and star (if you like them enough )

Super Mario World 1-0.5 was fun. Very laid back compared to other levels from GAFers. Was great just flying around without much fear of dying

 

[Agent Unknown]

Darn, wish I hadn't missed sixfortyfive's streams, maybe I'll catch the next one.

My last two levels are bombing. It seems like if they don't immediately catch fire, there's no comeback.

I've noticed this too. I have ten stages uploaded. My first eight stages earn me stars and plays every day but my last couple which I uploaded within the last three days are struggling.

 

[Dooman]

I played a course yesterday were there were kameks in a small area but there was no axe at the end. I found out when I played it again that kamek can remove the goal (Axe or flag) until you go off screen or kill the kamek. Didn't know kamek can do that.

 

[Kyzon]

et voilà!

3486-0000-0066-1BD5

What's the stage called?


ALSO, I'LL BE STREAMING IN ABOUT AN HOUR AND A HALF 2:00PM PACIFIC TIME.

Quote this post to find a link to the stage list, so you can add your stage. 1 per gaffer please.




I'm really only adding a couple that I missed last time to the list. Other than that, it's up to you to add yourself.

I'll be at www.twitch.tv/xindicate_gaming and I'll post again when I'm about to go live.

 

[aidan]

What's the stage called?


ALSO, I'LL BE STREAMING IN ABOUT AN HOUR AND A HALF 2:00PM PACIFIC TIME.

Quote this post to find a link to the stage list, so you can add your stage. 1 per gaffer please.




I'm really only adding a couple that I missed last time to the list. Other than that, it's up to you to add yourself.

I'll be at www.twitch.tv/xindicate_gaming and I'll post again when I'm about to go live.

Thanks, Kyzon! Love your stream.

 

[Sephzilla]

What's the stage called?


ALSO, I'LL BE STREAMING IN ABOUT AN HOUR AND A HALF 2:00PM PACIFIC TIME.

Quote this post to find a link to the stage list, so you can add your stage. 1 per gaffer please.




I'm really only adding a couple that I missed last time to the list. Other than that, it's up to you to add yourself.

I'll be at www.twitch.tv/xindicate_gaming and I'll post again when I'm about to go live.

awesome!

 

[Kyzon]

Thanks, Kyzon! Love your stream.

awesome!

Can't wait to try out your next levels

 

[Boy Wander]

Have you tried my level yet then? I've gotten equal amounts of hate and praise for it. The hate is real though lol.

#!?!@£ the big piranha plant
#%$^ the ghost circle
%$^% the big Dry bones.
Really $%$^ The Red Koopa that cheap-shotted me when I went through a door as Peach!!!!

I can't even throw the damned spring.

Spoiler

Decent level. Difficult though - bit too much for me! Starred.

Edit: How many fucking Haunted Labs does Boo have?

 

[kiryogi]

#!?!@£ the big piranha plant
#%$^ the ghost circle
%$^% the big Dry bones.
Really $%$^ The Red Koopa that cheap-shotted me when I went through a door as Peach!!!!

I can't even throw the damned spring.

Spoiler

Decent level. Difficult though - bit too much for me! Starred.

Edit: How many fucking Haunted Labs does Boo have?

<3 At the comments. I probably could maybe make it so the Red Koopa doesn't hit the player upon exiting that door. But there's a rhyme and reason to why it's so heavily guarded. It's a shortcut! But also to teach you, do not follow arrows in my level.

While SixFortyFive made the same comment about "When did Boo have a Haunted Lab" lol. I figured it'd be a neat theme while I was playing around with gigantic enemies. So it's kinda like an abandoned lab filled with monstrosities or so the theme goes. But thats why you see vines all over the level as well. Maybe more like Boo's Garden or Greenhouse would have been better? In any case Thanks for Playing!

 

[CharminUltra]

What's the stage called?


ALSO, I'LL BE STREAMING IN ABOUT AN HOUR AND A HALF 2:00PM PACIFIC TIME.

Quote this post to find a link to the stage list, so you can add your stage. 1 per gaffer please.




I'm really only adding a couple that I missed last time to the list. Other than that, it's up to you to add yourself.

I'll be at www.twitch.tv/xindicate_gaming and I'll post again when I'm about to go live.

I'll be watching for sure.

Added the level I just posted in the last page.

 

[Roo]

What's the stage called?


ALSO, I'LL BE STREAMING IN ABOUT AN HOUR AND A HALF 2:00PM PACIFIC TIME.

Quote this post to find a link to the stage list, so you can add your stage. 1 per gaffer please.




I'm really only adding a couple that I missed last time to the list. Other than that, it's up to you to add yourself.

I'll be at www.twitch.tv/xindicate_gaming and I'll post again when I'm about to go live.

This will be fun.
Will add the one I made a week ago just for the lulz

 

[lamaroo]

What's the stage called?


ALSO, I'LL BE STREAMING IN ABOUT AN HOUR AND A HALF 2:00PM PACIFIC TIME.

Quote this post to find a link to the stage list, so you can add your stage. 1 per gaffer please.




I'm really only adding a couple that I missed last time to the list. Other than that, it's up to you to add yourself.

I'll be at www.twitch.tv/xindicate_gaming and I'll post again when I'm about to go live.

What kind of levels do you usually like playing?

 

[diddykong13]

et voilà!

3486-0000-0066-1BD5

Just played it and left a comment - really enjoyed it, very funny to play with everything going on, but figuring out the puzzle was good fun

 

[jnWake]

What's the stage called?


ALSO, I'LL BE STREAMING IN ABOUT AN HOUR AND A HALF 2:00PM PACIFIC TIME.

Quote this post to find a link to the stage list, so you can add your stage. 1 per gaffer please.




I'm really only adding a couple that I missed last time to the list. Other than that, it's up to you to add yourself.

I'll be at www.twitch.tv/xindicate_gaming and I'll post again when I'm about to go live.

Added a level. Hope I get home early enough to see you suffer/enjoy it.

 

[Kyzon]

I'll be watching for sure.

Added the level I just posted in the last page.

This will be fun.
Will add the one I made a week ago just for the lulz

Thanks!!! Today will be a great day.


Also, for anyone who wanted to try a stage from last stream, I've made different tabs on the spreadsheet. So you can click over to the second one and see all the IDs of the stages. I'll keep doing this in the future I think, and keep them organized by date. Also, the page is locked so nobody accidentally edits it

What kind of levels do you usually like playing?

I'm more so on the side of what would you like to see me play of yours. I enjoy pretty much anything that's not a kaizo type of stage where it's immediate death upon spawn. That said, I don't mind difficult levels at all, and I find it really rewarding if I'm able to complete them. (Gaf had some toughies yesterday.)

Added a level. Hope I get home early enough to see you suffer/enjoy it.

If you won't be home feel free to add it a few lines down to give yourself time to catch me bumbling through it, haha

 

[correojon]

Super Mario World 1-0.5 was fun. Very laid back compared to other levels from GAFers. Was great just flying around without much fear of dying

Yeah, it's a 1-1 so I wanted to make it easy, but still people always tell me my levels are easy, I'll work on that.

Dark Souls was aight, if a bit barebones. Liked the use of Bowser as the fat ass demon.

I put in all the enemies of the level and copied the level layout almost 1:1. Unfortunately Dark Souls relies on combat for it's gameplay and I found no way to replicate that without overpowering the player or straying too much from the original concept. I would have liked to force the second fight against Bowser, but there's no way to do that We need events implemented in the editor, it would open so many posibilities...

Thanks for playing and for the comments!