Run along, run along... (2ADF-0000-00B0-7255) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oHPU6JYwUHI
As the title says, you have to keep running from the first moment the level starts, as it´s a fast paced-autoscrolling obstacle course. It´s very demanding, but bit by bit you´ll be getting the hang of it and get further each time. That said, I didn´t manage to beatit (I suck, I know). I reached the part with all the Bullet Bills facing you and couldn´t think of a way to beat that, some coin guidance in that part would be nice, as putting a part of trial and error that far into the level can put players down.
I also didn´t like the part with the door, ice and vine (you´ll see me die there a lot of times), that was really insane. It´s just a personal opinion, other people may enjoy the challenge.
This course will require you to die to learn (unless you have superhuman reflexes), this is usually a questionable design choice, but as the level is so fast the negative effect is greatly mitigated. However, as it always happens with this kind of design, it will reach a point where the player might get tired of repetition. I think that all levels should be beatable on the first try, so I would put some more guidance in the trickier parts. For example, the part with the ice floor and the vines is hard and very different from the rest of the challenges as it totally breaks the pace and requires you to advance vertically instead of horizontally, but there´s a door that gives you a moment of pause and allows you to properly assess the situation, that was a very clever design decission. The part with the fire floor might also require something to hint the player that he should stop running and wait a bit. Also, as mentioned already, the Bullet Bill Blaster challenge needs some hint on what to do. I suspect I should wait for them to shoot and bounce on them? When playing I think I don´t have enough time to do that before the autoscroll gets me...
Conclusion: good and demanding fast paced autoscroll level. I´m not very fond of these type of levels because the line between a fair challenge and a cheap trap is very thin in these kind of designs and it´s usually not set right, or probably because I suck at them (I know, stop repeating it!), but this one provides good challenges and felt fair for all the part I could see. If you like a good demanding and fast paced challenge, you´ll like this level.
Ha, you're a good sport for trying my man. Don't beat yourself up over the level. It was built to be super fast, pushing instinct and reflexes really far. Not sure I'm going to adjust anything to make it easier or helping since I've seen it beat by a small handful of people first or second try (so it's doable if you're up to snuff).
Also @bolded, I can tell these types of levels aren't your bag. Ha! You're way over thinking. Just run along, run along... ;-)
BTW that bullet bill section was only near the end of the first half
Did something happen that caused my plays to go way down? Did everyone else's go way down too? Did everyone go play something else or what? Tri Force Heroes sucks. Come back to Mario Maker!
The OT also slowed down, I think the initial rush is over. Also, people are playing less 100 Mario mode and now they follow other users they like or search for good levels in the web.
Ha, you're a good sport for trying my man. Don't beat yourself up over the level. It was built to be super fast, pushing instinct and reflexes really far. Not sure I'm going to adjust anything to make it easier or helping since I've seen it beat by a small handful of people first or second try (so it's doable if you're up to snuff).
Also @bolded, I can tell these types of levels aren't your bag. Ha! You're way over thinking. Just run along, run along... ;-)
BTW that bullet bill section was only near the end of the first half
Ive some new levels that I havent shared, so here they are:
The first one is the fourth and final level of my SMB World X series. It is a castle level that, like the ones in the later worlds in SMB, has a pipe maze, although in this level there is a path without finding the correct pipe, even if it may be harder. I havent played any castle level in SMM that used the pipe maze, so I guess thats something new.
Theres probably a good reason why no one else did it.
It also has a secret area.
World X-4: 8E9C-0000-0094-5FFB
Any feedback is welcome! Ill try to play the levels of anyone who gives them a try.
Only played this one but my notes read "tight". Yep, very solid level. Well thought out jumps, nothing unfair and just very focused. Could certainly pass for a Nintendo level which is high compliment.
Getting the cloud is very easy if you seek out the first question block, from there it was a simple ride to the finish so missed out on what the rest of your level offered. Maybe position the Lukatu elsewhere to make it more of a challenge? The player also faces a pit one block after starting which is likely to catch many out on their first go.
I have a stage I would like you guys to test out. I'm trying to make it feel like you are being pursued by a predator. It is a little rough, but I would like to see some thoughts. I would love to make more fined tuned version.
Level is quite thick with highly mobile enemies so you need a predetermined route to evade them or they'll quickly come on top of you. I died more times than I should for simply choosing the wrong path and not having time to navigate my way out. If trial and error was your goal then that's cool, otherwise I'd give players more space to react if they take the less than optimal route. I'd also rethink the giant Wiggler who is on top of you the moment the level starts. Nice looking level though and doesn't outstay it's welcome.
What is up with that platform at the top spanning almost the whole level? I walked the whole way back but didn't see anything to do - did I miss a secret? It's a pretty basic level otherwise, nothing inherently wrong with it other than the blind jump near the end that no-one enjoys! I'd change this or place a coin or two to give people some idea of a safe way down.
Not bad, but felt a bit empty. The platforms in particular had little happening around them and everything was pretty sparse. Otherwise it's underpinned by some solid platforming.
After what feels like forever tuning it, I'm finally ready to debut my latest level.
Snake Oil
3927-0000-00C3-B9FA
Foreman Spike has arrived at Oil Platform WC88 only to find everything in disarray and the rig covered in baby sea serpents. They seem harmless enough out of the water though, just so long as he does nothing to annoy their mother...
I've attempted to use the unique way the airship theme operates to my advantage and pull off something subtle above ground, while trying to bring a fast pace to underwater sections.
I'm really incredibly curious what everyone thinks.
I quite enjoyed this, and while I found the lower path much, much easier. The koopa jumps above could do with some tuning. The running from the Thwomp sections are especially strong.
These two levels are fantastic, and they push each mechanic to a fair and logical conclusion. I was especially impressed by how the player is taught how they can spin jump on the chomps initially.
Quite fun! Though until I read the miiverse comment I had no idea your checkpoint was a checkpoint, I thought you'd just punished me for exploring. And here I was going to mention the length being an issue.
I really like the multiple pathways, but there's a lot to the level and I feel it would be much stronger if you edited it down a bit and either focused on fewer paths or made the ones you do have tighter.
One thing though, sometimes the burners can feel a bit out of nowhere - especially when you're jumping up and run into one above you that was off-screen. It's an airship problem, and something that's hard to test for since just replaying a section over and over isn't going to tell you at what height the screen will be at that point.
Really good, plays like a greatest hits version of Super Mario Brothers. Authentic.
Old School Super Mario (Ciffs),
Still quite good. My main complaints are that for all the cheep cheeps there's a bit too many Koopa's. Also I think it's no fun having the star and just sitting there on a ride not using it, but then if you do jump down you can no longer get a high score on the flag pole. While largely meaningless in Mario Maker, getting high on the flag pole was usually the reward for the adventurous player. here you punish them for being adventurous at the very last moment.
Topsy-turvy Waluigi
Pretty good, very clever but there's a whole lot of meandering about. Still really well designed however.
The incremental powerup feature is pretty welcome too. It'll be a lot easier to make the Fire Flower (or if it works with.. whatever other Powerup) trivializing the level at least become more earned.
Frankly, I'd rather have shorter levels than checkpoints. Oh, well, at least people will stop complaining. The mushroom/fire flower thing and official Nintendo levels/event courses are more important IMO. Anyway, more feedback!
I enjoyed them all! Yours (the code has changed since, I played V.2) flows really well despite the use of P-switches, and your buddy's levels are nice straightforward SMB action, which I like very much. I'm proud to say I didn't sacrifice any Yoshi in Deathship.
Pretty difficult level, but the use of Goombas is so fun and fair it's all very manageable. I did give up after a few tries at the fight with Bowser because the fight is long and it's easy to die, and it comes after an already tough level, but I starred the level anyway.
I played, beat and liked the first two by the same author, they're fun, varied romps. I didn't notice anything negative that stood out in them. I also beat Twelve Easy Trials of Death and I'm much less into it, the level design feels a bit weird and doesn't allow much freedom, I didn't find it fun.
It's well done, but a bit long and busy visually, and I'm not really into "follow these procedures to progress" stages: when you die, you have to redo many steps where you have to wait a lot. The part with the many Bloopers got me and I didn't feel like redoing everything (I died before that, but it's then that I quit). I met that sort of problem with my Metroid stages, it's difficult to find the right balance.
Actually your code sent me to your Abandoned Fortress level, which I liked! Nice use of Thwomps, you stick to a theme but it doesn't get old. I went to your profile to play I've been here before, and I LOVED it. It's very atmospheric and original, I completed it with only 32 time left!!! I felt like Dale Cooper in Twin Peak's Red Room. Well done.
Same thing than CrisKre's level but much more: in your level, I felt more like a viewer than a player. A lot of mechanics don't actually require thought or skill, you just have to go through them. The part with the trampoline and the very high jump is also a bit confusing: since the scrolling doesn't follow Mario, you think there isn't any platform there. I then died at the flying Bob-omb part and quit.
I love how your level is extremely fast paced and everything is lethal, but designed in such a way it's immediately readable and fair. I starred, but couldn't leave a comment though, comments are blocked on your profile.
I don't think the parts with blocks on rails with nothing but coins to collect work. You won't risk falling for mere coins, so you just wait, and it's quite long with no action.
Yeah, my levels tend to be designed without checkpoints in mind (and I believe even if you are making a long level it should be tested without checkpoints) and I intend to keep it that way. I just happened to end up making a level that ended up too long so that'll be an exception for me.
The incremental powerup feature is pretty welcome too. It'll be a lot easier to make the Fire Flower (or if it works with.. whatever other Powerup) trivializing the level at least become more earned.
Well, looks like I'm going back on my promise not to tweak and reupload my levels. With the news of checkpoints on their way, I will go in and fix my MEGAfied levels according to everyone's comments.
I'd expect a robust 'world system' to be included in the first paid DLC package. I mean, if it lets me make full worlds like SM3, World and NSMBU, then I'll gladly fork over $15 for it.
A paid DLC for Mario Maker like music creator would be nice as well. I'm not interested in using it much, but I know many people disappointed by its failure to be included in the base package.
Nice update. Super happy about checkpoints. I give up on a lot of harder levels as it's just too tedious to replay the first half if the second half is the more challenging.
Im soooo stocked about checkpoints! This changes everything!
Also, here's my new level:
Corona Mountain: hat beats lava
F368-0000-00C6-3146
I've been shying away from NSMB theme since launch- i like oldschool sprites-, but frankly had a lot of fun with this. Its shorter and easier than my other levels, but still filled with secrets. Lets see if you guys can find the spiny hat!
Id love some plays and comments!
Here is a video of the first sections of the level:
Not bad, but felt a bit empty. The platforms in particular had little happening around them and everything was pretty sparse. Otherwise it's underpinned by some solid platforming.
Noted. I can't really disagree that it's a bit empty. I was considering adding some unnecessary flair beneath the existing platforms. I still don't have the full suite unlocked, but I think I'll change it to a mushroom level once I get those tools, or perhaps an airship level so it feels more natural to be mostly up in the air.
I'd expect a robust 'world system' to be included in the first paid DLC package. I mean, if it lets me make full worlds like SM3, World and NSMBU, then I'll gladly fork over $15 for it.
A paid DLC for Mario Maker like music creator would be nice as well. I'm not interested in using it much, but I know many people disappointed by its failure to be included in the base package.
Oh man, if I could throw down tiles to make my own stupid little world maps, that would be amazing. Bonus points if I can choose how it animates when a level is completed like in SMW.
Great update! The checkpoints are nice, but the incremental powerups are a must, it was a huge oversight to not have them in the base game. Its also good that this opens the possibilities for more items in future updates.
I didn't get a sense of a maze. Yes I went down one pipe and went backwards, but then I just continued on without going down any pipes and got to the end.
Well, I didnt want the whole level to be a maze like 8-4 in the original SMB, but I included a part that was inspired by it. I also allowed a non-maze path to not frustrate players, but maybe it was a mistake.
Great! Thanks for trying my levels!
I played your level Hunted in the sunken ruins:
I think you succeeded on the feeling of being hunted by a predator, but I probably died more times because of the bloopers and cheep-cheeps than the wiggler. If you want to lower the difficulty, you could reduce the number of enemies or add a mushroom.
Only played this one but my notes read "tight". Yep, very solid level. Well thought out jumps, nothing unfair and just very focused. Could certainly pass for a Nintendo level which is high compliment.
That is indeed high compliment, thank you!
I also tried one of your levels, Goombas play ball:
Cool idea, with a mechanic that is not seen often. It is quite challenging, but not unfair. I didnt have much time to play, and the stage is a bit long, so I couldnt beat it today. Maybe it could benefit of one of the newly announced checkpoints?
Hehe no problem!
Let´s see how checkpoints work, maybe you´ll start each stage with 3 lives, that would give great value to hidden 1-Ups and even coins!
Some more videos:
Lonely Lagoon (6785-0000-00BA-E591) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FRRR3Pc06SU
This level suffers from the usual weakness of most water levels: the high mobility allows to make most challenges trivial. For example, you can bypass both bosses by just swimming in a straight line, though the attempt of having an underwater boss is something worthy of recognition, it´s something I haven´t seen before. However, I miss some continuity in the mechanics, some focus in a single mechanic and evolving it through the level; as it is the level feels like a succession of inconex challenges.
There was a flaw with the PSwitch which was hidden on top of a pipe: if you are big Mario you can´t press it and as the SMB style doesn´t allow to grab things it beomces unusable.
The last swim in the big lagoon to the goal with the Fish Bones was neat, I liked that. The last scare with the loose Chomp was nice as well.
Conclusion: Not a bad level, but suffers from the usual flaws of water levels.
Super Mario Rugby (0BEE-0000-00C2-CC0F) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3gVWUrMh5NM
I didn´t manage to beat this one (I should make a series and name it "Watch correojon fail at SMM"), but I enjoyed it. Really nice presentation and theming and cool gameplay ties with the Rugby theme. I was thinking of making a soccer game using Goombas as the ball but I wasn´t able to come up with a cool way to use this in challenges, however you came up with some neat things. The level gives you little time, which is nice for setting a fast rythm, but hurts it a bit in some challenges where you have to think of a solution or do some "complex" actions. Also, loosing the "ball" means that you´ll have to restart. It´s a short level, so it facilitates that the player just gives it "one more try".
I was stuck at what seemed the final goal before the public but couldn´t come up with a solution
By any chance, is there a hidden block over the 2 yellow blocks that gives a star? It just occurred to me and I can´t remember if I tried that
.
Conclusion: Cool level and awesome theming, but the time limit somewhat crashes against the nature of some of the challenges.
Glacier Cocktail (9E99-0000-00B3-4A19) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TC6o-7-w_PA
Really good level, as expected from Dimentios. I don´t know exactly what it is as your levels always seem so simple, yet there is something that makes them incredibly enjoyable.
This is an ice level where the author has mixed partially iced platforms with moles, bottomless pits and ice blocks falling from above. It´s a mix that feels very natural once you play the level and is used to create some nice challenges. Later in the level falling platforms are also thrown into the mix as well. Everything is introduced gradually so the player has time to understand and master each component as the challenges slowly increase in complexity. It´s awesome how, by manipulating simple parameters the author is able to create new challenges that force you to act differently. These parameters are no fancy stuff, just something basic like platform width and height, surface covered by ice, enemy starting position, ice block falling rate or jump distance. Thanks to all of this the level flows very nicely, it all feels really natural.
To tell the truth I didn´t understand what all the fuzz about your previous levels was about (I played some of them and thought that they were good, but not stellar). However now that I´ve forced myself to play one of your levels with a more critic eye I think I get why you have such recognition as a creator. I think I´m going to replay your older levels and look at them as I did to this one, I´m sure my opinion on them will change completely. I was taking for granted many things that you do really good.
That´s the best thing about this level, if you just play it you´ll enjoy it and it´ll feel good, but you´ll probably won´t appreciate all the masterful craftmanship that´s behind it. If you stop and take a look more closely at what´s really happening you´ll be impressed by the careful design behind it.
Conclusion: Awesome level to play and great to study to learn more about amazing design.
Rosalina wakes up to discover that she is lost in an unknown galaxy. Traverse through fiery depths, icy caverns, metallic corridors and overgrown jungles as Rosalina races against the clock to make it back to her ship.
I started playing it, but was doing so bad at the ice planet that I preffer to leave it for tomorrow and play it with a fresh mind. I´m liking a lot what I´ve seen so far.
I´ve uploaded a new course: RtDL7: Cookie Mountain Mine CBAD-0000-00C6-7A5C
Mario´s journey has taken him to Cookie Mountain. Things have changed a lot since Mario last visited this place and now the mountain is a mine from which Bowser is getting the resources to fund his army. The uncontrolled drilling of Bowser´s minions has severly damaged the structure of the mountain and serious seismic activity is taking place more frequently in the zone...
Mario must descend deep into the mine to sabotage it, but...will he be able to get out?
This is the first stage in which I´ve let the theme guide all the design of the level and the gameplay mechanics. I´ve also put a lot of effort in the decorations, for example at the start of the mine the walls are thin and hollow as they´ve already been emptied, however as you get deeper into the mine they gradually get thicker and house minerals and gold. Some enemies are used both as decoration and as gameplay challenges.
Hope you enjoy it and please send me some feedback
Checkpoints added. I remember getting into a heated debate with some people here about checkpoints. Slighty polishes my ego knowing they added them and exactly how I said they would implement them was how they did it. So many levels are gonna benefit hard from them. If you can add them without having to take down a level I will add some to a few of my levels
Plains starts familiar but has a nice difficulty spike as it progressed, but I really loved cliffs. I could tell enemy placement was very thought out and it was a blast. Decent challenge but extremely fair.
Thank you! Actually, the cliffs stage went so well IMO that I revamped the plains one so it's improved up to the same level. The height variations of the typical cliff level goes very well with the way cheep cheeps behave in Super Mario Maker, the mechanics are similar to SMB3 levels with Big Bertha lurking below.
This comment really pleases me because it's exactly what I was looking for. I "fused" classic plains levels, underground levels (I was afraid people would miss the underground part) and Lakitu levels. I spent a lot of time replaying SMB1 to get the logic and mechanics right, especially since the physics are totally different.
Old School Super Mario (Ciffs) (5302-0000-00BE-7132)
Still quite good. My main complaints are that for all the cheep cheeps there's a bit too many Koopa's. Also I think it's no fun having the star and just sitting there on a ride not using it, but then if you do jump down you can no longer get a high score on the flag pole. While largely meaningless in Mario Maker, getting high on the flag pole was usually the reward for the adventurous player. here you punish them for being adventurous at the very last moment.
The thing with red cheep cheeps in Super Mario Maker is they follow you if not in water. So if you never kill them and don't go to the underwater area, they add up and can form a pretty dense crowd. I tried to test several typical player behaviours so it always stays manageable, and I never had problems with koopas, in fact they help getting rid of cheep cheeps. But it's pretty tough to predict every configuration.
For the ending, I wanted to allow different strategies/possibilities: use the star and stay on the ground, use the star and go on the platform and try to touch the cheep cheeps to get rid of them (they can still touch you on the platform, so the star is useful), miss the star and stay up to avoid the cheep cheeps... also, you can stay down, kill the cheep cheeps with the star and collect the coins, then go back to the platform because it resets.
Thanks for all your feedback. With this one I wanted to make sort of a maze level where you have to orientate yourself and mentally map how everything is connected. I thought it was a waste that the typical "dual worlds" level is in fact nearly always linear.
I loved it, but the first time you come out of the water is really confusing. You intended to suggest a loop there, when in fact it's not a physical loop, but is supposed to suggest time has passed and the Wigglers hatched? At first I thought I made a mistake and missed a path, it's only in retrospect after beating the level I guessed the intention (if I'm right). The settings and action are very well done, though, like the use of Foreman Spike or the high quality of the underwater parts.
Not sure if my feedback will be helpful, but since it was nicely asked, here we go... Egg Carrier Yoshis! has a very smart mechanic, but I don't see how it's possible to survive the second puzzle...
you're supposed to swallow the egg with Yoshi, run on the conveyor belt, jump and spit the egg, then jump out of Yoshi, and land on the newly hashed egg on the spikes? That'd be very difficult to pull off, and the egg takes too long to hatch?
The Pits and the Pendulums is similarly too difficult for me, I'm not really into spin jumps, so spin jumping on jiggling Chomps is not my thing. I'm more into tons of "easy" elements assembled together so the whole is challenging, rather than one precise difficult task to accomplish one after the other. But it's a taste thing.
I played some of your levels tonight. I had to stop because I can't really afford a new tv, gamepad, windows AND EVERY FUKKIN THING ELSE THEY MAKE ME WANT TO SMASH.
I've been shying away from NSMB theme since launch- i like oldschool sprites-, but frankly had a lot of fun with this. Its shorter and easier than my other levels, but still filled with secrets. Lets see if you guys can find the spiny hat!
Id love some plays and comments!
Here is a video of the first sections of the level:
Did play some of your guys stages tonight and recorded them while I was at it, with a bit of commentary.
Now, the video quality is pretty meh, but I figured it might be good enough for watching your own levels get played as feedback
My commentary is probably hard to understand, too, I put down the game volume after the first part so it should be better after that, will sit closer to the micro when I do this again next time though.
The videos are on twitch as they are still getting rendered for youtube. Just tell me if you want to watch a part on youtube instead.
Part 1 including (starting at):
Axiom - Snake Oil
Neki - Traveller of the Cosmos (5:00)
Part 2
Neki - Traveller of the Cosmos (continuation)
Jocchan - Super Dude Bros. II 1-2 (0:12:30)
Schlomo - Escape from Koopatraz (0:21:00)
Schlomo - Dino cloning Lab (0:25:10)
WoopWoop - Cloud Bully (0:38:00)
CrisKre - A bob-omb of Ice and fire (0:44:20)
CrisKre - Corono Mountain: hat beats Lava (1:01:25)
Kirk - The Ghostess with the Mostest (1:06:40)
Anteo - I've been here before (1:25:20)
correojon - RtDL 4,5,6 (1:37:30)
I asked YouTube for clarification, this is the part they said I was "noncompliant" with:
"You agree not to use or launch any automated system, including without limitation, "robots," "spiders," or "offline readers," that accesses the Service in a manner that sends more request messages to the YouTube servers in a given period of time than a human can reasonably produce in the same period by using a conventional on-line web browser. Notwithstanding the foregoing, YouTube grants the operators of public search engines permission to use spiders to copy materials from the site for the sole purpose of and solely to the extent necessary for creating publicly available searchable indices of the materials, but not caches or archives of such materials. YouTube reserves the right to revoke these exceptions either generally or in specific cases. You agree not to collect or harvest any personally identifiable information, including account names, from the Service, nor to use the communication systems provided by the Service (e.g., comments, email) for any commercial solicitation purposes. You agree not to solicit, for commercial purposes, any users of the Service with respect to their Content."
Lonely Lagoon (6785-0000-00BA-E591) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FRRR3Pc06SU
This level suffers from the usual weakness of most water levels: the high mobility allows to make most challenges trivial. For example, you can bypass both bosses by just swimming in a straight line, though the attempt of having an underwater boss is something worthy of recognition, it´s something I haven´t seen before. However, I miss some continuity in the mechanics, some focus in a single mechanic and evolving it through the level; as it is the level feels like a succession of inconex challenges.
Thank you very much for your feedback, but I will clarify a few things.
1) The Lakitu encounters are not boss fights; the change in music is simply meant to telegraph their arrival
2) I put the P-Switch there on purpose because I like presenting risk/reward scenarios to the player
Did play some of your guys stages tonight and recorded them while I was at it, with a bit of commentary.
Now, the video quality is pretty meh, but I figured it might be good enough for watching your own levels get played as feedback
My commentary is probably hard to understand, too, I put down the game volume after the first part so it should be better after that, will sit closer to the micro when I do this again next time though.
The videos are on twitch as they are still getting rendered for youtube. Just tell me if you want to watch a part on youtube instead.
Part 1 including (starting at):
Axiom - Snake Oil
Neki - Traveller of the Cosmos (5:00)
Part 2
Neki - Traveller of the Cosmos (continuation)
Jocchan - Super Dude Bros. II 1-2 (0:12:30)
Schlomo - Escape from Koopatraz (0:21:00)
Schlomo - Dino cloning Lab (0:25:10)
WoopWoop - Cloud Bully (0:38:00)
CrisKre - A bob-omb of Ice and fire (0:44:20)
CrisKre - Corono Mountain: hat beats Lava (1:01:25)
Kirk - The Ghostess with the Mostest (1:06:40)
Anteo - I've been here before (1:25:20)
correojon - RtDL 4,5,6 (1:37:30)
