Posting this once more to get a few more impressions before I decide if i want to make some changes and upload a new version. Has met with positive comments so far as to the balance between challenge and addictiveness. Please let me know what you think
6379-0000-00D8-E0F2
This is a deceivingly difficult level that pits you to stay on top of the moving cloud platforms as all sorts of twists and devious puzzles are thrown at you.
Grab powerups to help you last through the level!
Find the secret room for extra reward!
Do you have steady thumbs? Can you survive the ride among the cloud tops?
Finally had time to finish / edit my favourite level so far, it's a hard one, but fair. Mainly traditional platforming, action and tight spots. Would be interesting to hear honest feedback.
No kidding it's hard! I've been trying for fifteen minutes and can only get to the pirhnas on rails part. I love how you have put a speed run challenge at the start in a comment. Very clever.
As you like tough platforming please give my Old School P'forming level a go and feed back:
Made a new level because I wanted to try out the new checkpoint addition. Tried to make something somewhat fair but still a challenge worthy of needing checkpoints. My crude Bowser battle also turned out oddly difficult, but I didn't want it to be as simple as just running under the ol' King Koopa.
Give it a whirl if you feel so inclined.
Fear the Frozen Castle!
4F53 - 0000 - 00DD - 0E41
Have some others in my MarioMakerHub page. People have seemed to really like my Airship one.
No kidding it's hard! I've been trying for fifteen minutes and can only get to the pirhnas on rails part. I love how you have put a speed run challenge at the start in a comment. Very clever.
As you like tough platforming please give my Old School P'forming level a go and feed back:
Very cool, yeah tried to make a hard level that I would enjoy playing! I will try your level and record a real time video playthrough for feedback, thanks for playing Twin!
Liked these stages quite a bit, and the bottom two felt very "Mario"-ey. I posted as much on your miiverse page, too. It's what I hoped people would make, for the most part.
The Airship stage, while I enjoyed the idea of it immensely, and the majority of the execution was solid, I had a real problem after hitting the checkpoint. It was a little tedious to get the mushroom in that room, and then the sawblades were really slow and difficult to pass. I ultimately lost a ton of patience and ended up not trying to beat it, because for every 10 attempts I made, I only got through it 2 or 3 times. It made the next track-rail section more difficult to diffuse than I would have liked.
And please know that I say all that in knowing I'm pretty shit at level design myself. I'm not throwing stones, just trying to relate the part I thought was a trouble-spot.
Still, thanks for the jams, man! I gave you some stars!
I suppose this has been done before, but I decided to get onboard with my first level, "The Great Deku Tree," inspired by Ocarina of Time. I hope it can give you a vibe of Zelda puzzle concepts.
I plan to create at least two more levels, "Dodongo's Cavern" and "Inside Jabu-Jabu's Belly" in the future to complete the Spiritual Stones series in Mario Maker. Before that can happen, I want to see how this level goes with the world and I am open to any feedback that I can use for this level and the upcoming levels. Enjoy!
I liked this concept, and the start was neat. It wasn't as hard as it seemed. Did it on the second try. I do have one suggestion in that I think donut blocks would be better in the beginning where you have the room with the three lifts to retrieve the springboard. You need something that regenerates there. It's possible to get stuck with the springboard on the corner, and have no other recourse but to die. That or give them a mushroom after/at the start perhaps?
Also, the final drop into the room with three cannons. I didn't love the spikes. Felt like a shitty surprise and didn't have enough time to react to them. Took a forced hit there.
This was one of the series I meant to play but never got around too. God damn this was amazing. With checkpoints it was the perfect difficulty. I am simply stunned. Good job. I gotta show this to a bunch of people. They will be so impressed. I'm late to the party buy fantastic job.
It's been a few days since I made a level. Finally got down to making a short but I hope is cool one. I really wanted this to be an SMB. 3 level but the tiles lacked cohesion.
Heartfelt Dreams : (DBBC-0000-00DB-0926)
This can be a very fast paced level, though I'm sure going slow is just fine too. Either way, no overly lengthy epics here and the level expects you to know some of the game mechanics. The gimmick of the level is basically going through the layout as I started it and thinking "man I wish I could turn around faster.. BUT WAIT, I CAN!" as well as some enemy-based platforming.
I liked the boo/spiketop enemy stacking. I might use that somewhere. It was odd that you had the harder setup of those guys (over lava and had to hit multiples) before the safer one (later only had to do it once to cross a gap). Could have probably done the reverse for ramp-up. Either way, I could see you carrying this idea further in a new level to make a longer and deeper version with checkpoint thrown in. Props!
Finally had time to finish / edit my favourite level so far, it's a hard one, but fair. Mainly traditional platforming, action and tight spots. Would be interesting to hear honest feedback.
Yeah its pretty damn tough. I am glad you kept it short because it makes the level feel much better hen you get past that last part and you're like "wait that's the end, I beat it". Its kaid out well. Its sorta bullet hell like but in a good way. Gave it a star.
Posting this once more to get a few more impressions before I decide if i want to make some changes and upload a new version. Has met with positive comments so far as to the balance between challenge and addictiveness. Please let me know what you think
6379-0000-00D8-E0F2
This is a deceivingly difficult level that pits you to stay on top of the moving cloud platforms as all sorts of twists and devious puzzles are thrown at you.
Grab powerups to help you last through the level!
Find the secret room for extra reward!
Do you have steady thumbs? Can you survive the ride among the cloud tops?
I actually don't think the level is very hard. Its rather fair for the firdt two sections imo. I think there is a little bullshitting in the last part. The P block in the question block is unexpected. By the time you see it and react you have a pretty high chance of being dead. Just really tight. Feels unfair. The part with tge feather as well is really easy to slip off. I am not sure why the feather is at the bottom as oppose to on a track at thr top.
But looking at the number of deaths vs clears I personally do not feel the level was that difficult.
Made a new level because I wanted to try out the new checkpoint addition. Tried to make something somewhat fair but still a challenge worthy of needing checkpoints. My crude Bowser battle also turned out oddly difficult, but I didn't want it to be as simple as just running under the ol' King Koopa.
Give it a whirl if you feel so inclined.
Fear the Frozen Castle!
4F53 - 0000 - 00DD - 0E41
Have some others in my MarioMakerHub page. People have seemed to really like my Airship one.
Played you Frozen castle. You used the checkpoint well. The main issue I found was I dont feel there is a set path I should be taking. It felt open ended and thr player was just suppose to do w/e. I don't know if that wad what you were going for but I find if a level is too spaciously open it loses a lot of focuses and opens itself more up to parts where deaths are unfairor direction is unclear. I can a good amoubt of effort was put into though. Nothing trollish or untested jumped out. Good job. Gave you a star.
I know it's annoying, but people, please: when you update a level, use your post history to update the obsolete codes (I've put the right code for CBO1 in the quote).
This being said, I love your first two levels, and this comes from someone who doesn't generally like Bob-Omb usage: it's tense but fair, very readable, not too long, it feels like Bit. Trip Runner at times. The sound effects in context are fantastic: on top of being immersive, they inform you how far you are in the level. Well done!
For the third challenge, though, the fact it's harder causes a few issues: the heartbeat, which is nice in the other two, becomes very annoying with time (I had to cut my TV sound off) - the horror/scratch effect, which cuts the music, would have been preferable. Also, I just couldn't figure out the part with the POW and the Thwomps, and I did what I guess most people will: just not bother, take a hit and run through them. Getting rid of that part would be better IMO, it'd make the level shorter and better.
I see what you mean with the sound effects, I put half an hour into uploading a fourth level.. And I couldn't stand the beeping anymore, I had to tone it down.
As for the Thwomps room, you had to throw the Bob-omb in the air for it to not be affected by the POW and throw the POW to kill the Thwomps.
Title - Companion Bob-omb K (Take it!) ID - 3536-0000-00D6-3BAC Difficulty - Slightly Kaizoish
Some Feedback:
The level felt like a early concept that needs a little more fleshing out. I like the idea of bouncing back and forth on ghosts. I think the arrows pointing to the ghosts should be removed though, they are confusing. A little more work and this could be pretty nice. I do like the ideas of the springs aiding in a speed-running scenario.
I liked the boo/spiketop enemy stacking. I might use that somewhere. It was odd that you had the harder setup of those guys (over lava and had to hit multiples) before the safer one (later only had to do it once to cross a gap). Could have probably done the reverse for ramp-up. Either way, I could see you carrying this idea further in a new level to make a longer and deeper version with checkpoint thrown in. Props!
Thanks for the feed back. The level ideas were mostly to facilitate a layout I had in mind more than to push a certain gimmick, and I ran out of layout and decided not to force the level length despite it being fairly short.
If you guys like the gameplay in the level enough though, I might see what I can do about a sequel that uses similar gameplay.
EDIT: Also, arrows pointing at ghosts are because some people don't know you can spin jump on the spinies, so I was trying to make to hint without outright saying it that you can do *something* to land on them. I'll probably just not have a hint like that in future levels if it is confusing.
So I did not know the big boot or heal could ground. And it did not know the heal could break solid blocks too. That could have some amazing gameplay associated with it.
So I did not know the big boot or heal could ground. And it did not know the heal could break solid blocks too. That could have some amazing gameplay associated with it.
Played you Frozen castle. You used the checkpoint well. The main issue I found was I dont feel there is a set path I should be taking. It felt open ended and thr player was just suppose to do w/e. I don't know if that wad what you were going for but I find if a level is too spaciously open it loses a lot of focuses and opens itself more up to parts where deaths are unfairor direction is unclear. I can a good amoubt of effort was put into though. Nothing trollish or untested jumped out. Good job. Gave you a star.
Your feedback is on the money. Totally appreciate, and yeah, it was intended to be open, but I wasn't super happy about the overall flow. I tend to noodle too much when I'm about halfway into it. Bottom line was that if you just keep moving forward, there's an ending.
Thanks for playing, for the star, and the comments! My next level will likely be dead-forward and focused.
I liked this concept, and the start was neat. It wasn't as hard as it seemed. Did it on the second try. I do have one suggestion in that I think donut blocks would be better in the beginning where you have the room with the three lifts to retrieve the springboard. You need something that regenerates there. It's possible to get stuck with the springboard on the corner, and have no other recourse but to die. That or give them a mushroom after/at the start perhaps?
Also, the final drop into the room with three cannons. I didn't love the spikes. Felt like a shitty surprise and didn't have enough time to react to them. Took a forced hit there.
Thanks for playing, but did you play the original course or v1.1? I deleted the original course from my uploads several hours ago since it was too difficult for new players.
Version 1.1 is 22EF-0000-00DD-EBBE "The Great Deku Tree v1.1"
The springboard issue has been fixed. For the spikes before the three cannons, I understand it is a shitty surprise but the purpose of that is to "eliminate" the fire flower power-up (like how Link went through the final net and the fire went out in the water before meeting the three Deku Scrub Brothers).
Hope this is helpful and enjoy the better version - if you have not tried it out!
Yeah. I was aware of the wings. I just never bothered to try and ground pound with the shoe because it just seemed it wouldn't be a thing. Now I kinda wanna challenge gaf to making a great shoe/heel level. Considering it only appeared in one level in SMB3 I was sure we would see more. Guess not
Your feedback is on the money. Totally appreciate, and yeah, it was intended to be open, but I wasn't super happy about the overall flow. I tend to noodle too much when I'm about hallf way into it. Bottom line was that if you just keep moving forward, there's an ending.
Thanks for playing, for the star, and the comments! My next level will likely be dead-forward and focused.
No problem. These open style levels are hard. I honestly find that my levels are pretty boring snd safe in comparison to a lot of gaf stuff. Not a huge risk taker (trying to be more adventurous). A lot of the stuff here is so creative and well executed.
I have the same problem with waffling in the middle of a level. I tried to overcome it by try to establish 2-3 main enemies in a level ajd just building new challenges with those mechanics. To push a singular mechanic to its limits is tough but introducing 2 or 3 lightly and then just mixing them up as you go works for me. I also find picking a theme and sticking to like 4 main enemy types helps focus my levels.
As a tip. For anyone making an ice level. A cool way to simulate snow is to put cloud blocks on rails way above the level and let them fall. Since you can pass through them it doesn't kill you like other blocks. You can use donut blocks to simulate rain as well.
Yeah. I was aware of the wings. I just never bothered to try and ground pound with the shoe because it just seemed it wouldn't be a thing. Now I kinda wanna challenge gaf to making a great shoe/heel level. Considering it only appeared in one level in SMB3 I was sure we would see more. Guess not
Yeah its pretty damn tough. I am glad you kept it short because it makes the level feel much better hen you get past that last part and you're like "wait that's the end, I beat it". Its kaid out well. Its sorta bullet hell like but in a good way. Gave it a star.
Thanks Gotdatmoney, appreciate it. Aimed for a tricky / fun bullet hell feeling in some of the set pieces, but designed it so that with a few different timings you can also blast through every set piece with full speed.
That's awesome! Thanks for doing that, was so cool to be able to watch someone play the levels.
Old school P'forming is clearly my best one, glad you enjoyed that. The bombs one was just a quick concept I had and you totally broke Wall Jump Frenzy (which was the first level I did). I might try and improve those two as even I don't think they are that good.
I'll check out your other levels when I'm on next, cheers dude.
It started out as a peaceful morning in Yoshi Town. But for the Galoombas, it was the day they finally would try to take back their homeland. The day that later would become known as "G-Day".
Another absolutely brilliant level that has to be played at least twice to fully appreciate it. Just awesome! Difficulty felt exactly right this time.
Finally, I tried the Metroid Resurgence levels because I think I could only beat one of them when they didn't have checkpoints.
Tourian: I guess it's supposed to be hard because it's Tourian, but man, that final corridor almost broke me. Other than that, you captured the Metroid atmosphere incredibly well here!
Ridley: I'm not sure how much you changed, but I think this is the one I beat, and loved, already in its previous version. This time, I got stuck in the room where you get the winged boot though. I had lost the mushroom during the previous ascent and couldn't find a replacement or another way to advance.
Kraid: A good level with excellent atmosphere. A little less elegant than Ridley maybe because the backtracking feels more tedious here. I thought the first checkpoint could have been placed in a more helpful position.
Hey guys, so back into the swing of things I have uploaded my 10th level (finally used all my initial slots!!). For this one I wanted to emulate/something similar to what you would see in a real mario game so I didn't go crazy with anything. I challenged myself to try and build the challenges off of mainly 4 enemies with a heavy leaning on munchers. I use some progressive power ups and there are lots of hidden lives. I would love if you guys played it and gave your feedback
Thanks for playing, but did you play the original course or v1.1? I deleted the original course from my uploads several hours ago since it was too difficult for new players.
Version 1.1 is 22EF-0000-00DD-EBBE "The Great Deku Tree v1.1"
The springboard issue has been fixed. For the spikes before the three cannons, I understand it is a shitty surprise but the purpose of that is to "eliminate" the fire flower power-up (like how Link went through the final net and the fire went out in the water before meeting the three Deku Scrub Brothers).
Hope this is helpful and enjoy the better version - if you have not tried it out!
Just uploaded my first course called Baby Steps! Code is DBEF-0000-00E0-91C2. Any and all feedback is appreciated, as I'm still learning my way around this limited toolset.
Just uploaded my first course called Baby Steps! Code is DBEF-0000-00E0-91C2. Any and all feedback is appreciated, as I'm still learning my way around this limited toolset.
Nice level! I really enjoyed it. I was pleased to see the checkpoint as it's quite long but contains lots of good ideas - I especially liked the room where you have to keep descending past magikoopas. All in all, a very fun level.
I made a quick new one today, I'd appreciate a play!
Bouncing Bombs! 2091-0000-00DF-D1B7
Its a one room challenge, can you dodge the bombs and use them to your advantage?
It started out as a peaceful morning in Yoshi Town. But for the Galoombas, it was the day they finally would try to take back their homeland. The day that later would become known as "G-Day".
Some random feedback:
Another absolutely brilliant level that has to be played at least twice to fully appreciate it. Just awesome! Difficulty felt exactly right this time.
Finally, I tried the Metroid Resurgence levels because I think I could only beat one of them when they didn't have checkpoints.
Tourian: I guess it's supposed to be hard because it's Tourian, but man, that final corridor almost broke me. Other than that, you captured the Metroid atmosphere incredibly well here!
Ridley: I'm not sure how much you changed, but I think this is the one I beat, and loved, already in its previous version. This time, I got stuck in the room where you get the winged boot though. I had lost the mushroom during the previous ascent and couldn't find a replacement or another way to advance.
Kraid: A good level with excellent atmosphere. A little less elegant than Ridley maybe because the backtracking feels more tedious here. I thought the first checkpoint could have been placed in a more helpful position.
Loved your level! Great theme. I literally loled when the yoshis started running for their lives. Perfect difficulty and very clever puzzle there at the end. It took me a minute to figure it out, but it felt really satisfying to complete.
It started out as a peaceful morning in Yoshi Town. But for the Galoombas, it was the day they finally would try to take back their homeland. The day that later would become known as "G-Day".
Fun theme, pretty clever. Was enjoying the pure zaniness of it until the second checkpoint. I had a hard time there figuring out how to get that P-switch with the endless goomba pipes. I died like 10 or 12 times before finally giving up. If there's a trick to it, I missed it. Initially it was difficult due to obfuscation, but I figured the only way up was by bouncing off the large goombas in mid-air as one would drop down off the ledge.
The kamikaze goombas riding on the backs of buzzy beetle (in your miiverse picture) made me laugh, though!
Hey guys, so back into the swing of things I have uploaded my 10th level (finally used all my initial slots!!). For this one I wanted to emulate/something similar to what you would see in a real mario game so I didn't go crazy with anything. I challenged myself to try and build the challenges off of mainly 4 enemies with a heavy leaning on munchers. I use some progressive power ups and there are lots of hidden lives. I would love if you guys played it and gave your feedback
Great level! Really enjoyed myself, and even though I died a bunch, it was just because I was being careless and mucking around looking for secrets. I liked finding Kuribo's shoe, and the high/low road for portions of the level. But I got so used to it by the time I lost it and had to restart at the checkpoint flag, I was all stepping on Munchers with Mario's bare feet. I got conditioned, I guess. Haha
I liked it a lot! I think i single handedly lowered the win rate though by like 5% lol, it took me like 20 tries. Thats just because i suck at video games though
I liked it a lot! I think i single handedly lowered the win rate though by like 5% lol, it took me like 20 tries. Thats just because i suck at video games though
I'm actually curious about two things you didn't mention: the downwards staircase and the room you enter from the door right after the large monster part. What did you think about them? In an earlier revision, the former was actually optional, but then I realized most people would have missed it entirely and decided to make it part of the main progression. Felt like a bit of a bold choice, but I'm hopeful it will be appreciated.[/spoiler]
I can´t remember those parts as I´ve played many levels in the last days, I´ll give it a replay and comment back. Better yet, I´ll upload a recording of the level.
Ill leave my stage again in case anyone can give it a go:
Temple of the thousand mirrors
9531-0000-00D9-AE16
There are lots of secrets here and took quite some time to complete it. Ill be playing some of the levels posted here as well!
Ill be playing some more levels and comment.
Awesome stage! I think you make the best layouts in SMM: there are lots of meaningful secrets at every turn that are hinted while going through the main path and the main path twists around itself to make you loose a reference, so the level seems bigger than it really is. I replayed this 3 or 4 times after completion so I could find all the secrets, great work! Two minor complaints: There were some hidden vines that only took you to some coins, that felt a bit unrewarding, specially when compared to the rest of your secrets. You always give great rewards (fire flower, spiky helmet...) so this shined specially in the opposite direction. The first time I jumped around searching for an invisible block with a 1-Up or something but couldn´t find anything.
The other minor complaint is about the secret you can reach after getting the star: you have to jump on some tight platforms with Dry Bones. Unfortunately this is too hard: you are already running to use the star, the path can´t really be foreseen, the jumps are very tight and there´s ice on the platforms so it´s very easy to fall and once you do you won´t be able to try again. I think you should make the platforms wider and remove the ice.
As I said, those are minor complaints, I loved the level, you are currently one of my favorites SMM users.
Thanks! I can tell by your levels that you, like me, enjoy to get lost and to explore. You are one of the few who have managed to complete the level. I tried to make it claustrophobic and to put secrets along the main path, both things where inspired by your previous levels so it means a lot that you enjoyed it
Some feedback!
Neat and surprisingly huge level! I happened to get stuck twice in the small room where you get the
spiky helmet
, when i mistakenly removed the floor under both doors (by picking up the coins bricks had turned into with the P switch). The second time it actually happened to me on the other side of the door, right before entering the room, so I could backtrack through the corridor.
Thanks! I think a lot of people think they´re getting stuck in this level when they really aren´t...if you went into the small room and got the powerup, then backtracking through the other path was the right thing to do...you missed the entrance to the center path that would´ve taken you out of of that section. My fault for not making it clear enough, sorry
I admit I quit after (like many others, according to comments) I mistook a spiky hat dispenser for an exit and got stuck. There are some really good things in the level, like the pacing at the beginning, but it's a bit hard to read and could use a clearer visual structure. Some parts are also a bit too narrow to move pleasantly (I'm thinking about a very narrow turn with a fire bar and a mushroom dispenser in particular).
Thanks, I will fix the spiky hat dispenser and will give a bit more space to the fire bar part, I wanted it to be claustrophobic but I may have overdone it in some places. I´ll also try to make the main path clearer somehow.
Genuinely gave this a try but there is a lot of places to get stuck and a lot of confusing parts. I can tell a lot of hard work was put in it though. Maybe will try again.
It seems a lot of people are getting stuck in this level (or think they are stuck in some situations) when they really aren´t. In the long horizontal room there are 3 paths:
Top path: Follow it to acquire the Kuribo shoe in the small room. Once you do so, you exit and can unlock a Kuribo Shoe dispenser. Then, you go through the bottom path in the opposite direction to acquire the helmet at the end (or beggining, depending on hwo you look at it), which allows you to enter the center path.
Bottom path: Follow it to acquire the helmet in the small room, then exit to the top path to unlock the Helmet dispenser. Go through the path to get the Kuribo Shoe at the beginning, to be able to travel safely through the center path.
Center path: the Spiky Helmet is required to open access and the Kuribo Shoe is required to travel it safely by walking on Munchers and killing the Spike Tops. At the end there are Helmet, Shoe and Mushroom dispensers as well as the exit and a checkpoint.
You can choose the top or bottom path at the beginning of the room, get the powerup and then return through the other path to get the complimentary powerup to access the center path. It´s like my stage Wiggler´s Steampunk Tree but in horizontal instead of vertical, much smaller and using powerups instead of PSwitches to unlock the way forward. I tried to make the center path more attractive by filling it with coins so the player wants to go there but it seems it´s not enough, I should make the entrance to the center path stand up more and simplify the overall layout of this part...
I´ll be recording some levels, if you want yours in quote this list and add your level at the end (1 per user):
Not Tomorrow ~ Lisa Dies (2AAF-0000-00D6-F2D2) by Jocchan
We can do it. Together. (5D32-0000-00D6-C166) by Wariuzzo
2-1 might be my favourite from a platforming perspective, pulling off the final cannonball section with the coin countdown was so satisfying.
I somehow managed to slip off and perish right in front of the goal so I'm glad there was that one last checkpoint.
The concept is nice, but given the way Super Mario Maker handles scrolling and cannonball persistence, and the fact you don't know the level layout before playing, the mechanics create many unfair situations, especially in the long "right to left" part with Wigglers (I simply ran out of cannonballs to jump on because the game deletes the off-screen ones).
That's part of the fun. You have to handle the scrolling yourself and save the maximum of cannonballs to reach the end.
correojon did it on his first try so it's really not that hard. There's also a checkpoint at the beginning of this section.
Reposting it for a few more plays as I think this one is very fun :
Feedback on Fire Spikes in Reversible Cave:
I have to say I didn't have any fun with this one. I got stuck once, ran out if time once, it's a maze, with respawing enemies, it's too cramped, with lots of waiting between spikey enemies and rotating firebars. There's a lot of stopping and basically no flow at all. I gave up. Sorry! ^ ^
That's part of the fun. You have to handle the scrolling yourself and save the maximum of cannonballs to reach the end.
correojon did it on his first try so it's really not that hard. There's also a checkpoint at the beginning of this section.
I have to say I didn't have any fun with this one. I got stuck once, ran out if time once, it's a maze, with respawing enemies, it's too cramped, with lots of waiting between spikey enemies and rotating firebars. There's a lot of stopping and basically no flow at all. I gave up. Sorry! ^ ^
Thanks for the feedback! I think the main problem is in the reversible room, I´m going to simplify that part a bit and make it wider so it´s easier to go through it and it doesn´t halt the pace so much. The rest are almost pure platforming sections and in the few cramped spaces with Spike Tops left you can just take them out with the Kuribo Shoe and the Helmet. In general, I think I need to guide the player better through the level.
Fun theme, pretty clever. Was enjoying the pure zaniness of it until the second checkpoint. I had a hard time there figuring out how to get that P-switch with the endless goomba pipes. I died like 10 or 12 times before finally giving up. If there's a trick to it, I missed it. Initially it was difficult due to obfuscation, but I figured the only way up was by bouncing off the large goombas in mid-air as one would drop down off the ledge.
The kamikaze goombas riding on the backs of buzzy beetle (in your miiverse picture) made me laugh, though!
I can´t remember those parts as I´ve played many levels in the last days, I´ll give it a replay and comment back. Better yet, I´ll upload a recording of the level.
Awesome stage! I think you make the best layouts in SMM: there are lots of meaningful secrets at every turn that are hinted while going through the main path and the main path twists around itself to make you loose a reference, so the level seems bigger than it really is. I replayed this 3 or 4 times after completion so I could find all the secrets, great work! Two minor complaints: There were some hidden vines that only took you to some coins, that felt a bit unrewarding, specially when compared to the rest of your secrets. You always give great rewards (fire flower, spiky helmet...) so this shined specially in the opposite direction. The first time I jumped around searching for an invisible block with a 1-Up or something but couldn´t find anything.
The other minor complaint is about the secret you can reach after getting the star: you have to jump on some tight platforms with Dry Bones. Unfortunately this is too hard: you are already running to use the star, the path can´t really be foreseen, the jumps are very tight and there´s ice on the platforms so it´s very easy to fall and once you do you won´t be able to try again. I think you should make the platforms wider and remove the ice.
As I said, those are minor complaints, I loved the level, you are currently one of my favorites SMM users.
Feedback on Fire Spikes in Reversible Cave:
Thanks! I can tell by your levels that you, like me, enjoy to get lost and to explore. You are one of the few who have managed to complete the level. I tried to make it claustrophobic and to put secrets along the main path, both things where inspired by your previous levels so it means a lot that you enjoyed it
Thanks! I think a lot of people think they´re getting stuck in this level when they really aren´t...if you went into the small room and got the powerup, then backtracking through the other path was the right thing to do...you missed the entrance to the center path that would´ve taken you out of of that section. My fault for not making it clear enough, sorry
Thanks, I will fix the spiky hat dispenser and will give a bit more space to the fire bar part, I wanted it to be claustrophobic but I may have overdone it in some places. I´ll also try to make the main path clearer somehow.
Thanks for trying.
It seems a lot of people are getting stuck in this level (or think they are stuck in some situations) when they really aren´t. In the long horizontal room there are 3 paths:
Top path: Follow it to acquire the Kuribo shoe in the small room. Once you do so, you exit and can unlock a Kuribo Shoe dispenser. Then, you go through the bottom path in the opposite direction to acquire the helmet at the end (or beggining, depending on hwo you look at it), which allows you to enter the center path.
Bottom path: Follow it to acquire the helmet in the small room, then exit to the top path to unlock the Helmet dispenser. Go through the path to get the Kuribo Shoe at the beginning, to be able to travel safely through the center path.
Center path: the Spiky Helmet is required to open access and the Kuribo Shoe is required to travel it safely by walking on Munchers and killing the Spike Tops. At the end there are Helmet, Shoe and Mushroom dispensers as well as the exit and a checkpoint.
You can choose the top or bottom path at the beginning of the room, get the powerup and then return through the other path to get the complimentary powerup to access the center path. It´s like my stage Wiggler´s Steampunk Tree but in horizontal instead of vertical, much smaller and using powerups instead of PSwitches to unlock the way forward. I tried to make the center path more attractive by filling it with coins so the player wants to go there but it seems it´s not enough, I should make the entrance to the center path stand up more and simplify the overall layout of this part...
I´ll be recording some levels, if you want yours in quote this list and add your level at the end (1 per user):
Not Tomorrow ~ Lisa Dies (2AAF-0000-00D6-F2D2) by Jocchan
We can do it. Together. (5D32-0000-00D6-C166) by Wariuzzo
Thank you sir! I think by playing your levels we have similar design philosopies. On your criticism, thank you and very constructive stuff as always. With that level in particular, the leaf and flower reward rooms where the two main secrets. If you look at them, both rooms containing them look like faces. I wanted to make a flower and leaf spirit sanctuary of sorts. Its very difficult to transmit certain ideas, and i wish the game would allow a level description. But yeah, that's why i made other secret areas less impactful this time :/ you are right in that the star platform trail is tight. I actually expanded them from the original layout. It was SUPER tight before lol.
Spinies tend to spawn faster than you can shoot them, so it will take some quick reaction time to get out of there without a hit. The initial spinies are good enough.
You can also use fire piranha plants instead of spinies. I think that fits the deku tree theme better.
It's taken me until the checkpoint update to finally try one of these Metroid stages, only tackled Brinstar so far but man, it really felt like Brinstar.
So with that in mind I look forward to trying the rest at some point soon as well as your more traditional stages.
Thank you! I did spend a lot of time on visuals and atmosphere in the series in general, and in this level in particular: since Brinstar is slower, the settings had to be especially immersive.
This was one of the series I meant to play but never got around too. God damn this was amazing. With checkpoints it was the perfect difficulty. I am simply stunned. Good job. I gotta show this to a bunch of people. They will be so impressed. I'm late to the party buy fantastic job.
Many, many thanks! The levels previously had some good feedback, but it seemed rather niche, they were overlooked for some reason (I guess the old name played a role in this). Also, they had a high percentage of people starring but not completing them, meaning people liked the levels but found them too hard or didn't want to redo everything when they failed, which is understandable given the methodical nature of Metroid gameplay. The levels are certainly all much, much better with checkpoints, which is amusing since you and I argued about checkpoints near the beginning of this thread, in part due to a misunderstanding (I didn't mean to say checkpoints were negative, just that their lack was a design choice that made sense). I'm glad Nintendo updated the game to bring them in thanks to user feedback, it certainly was worth complaining about and I was wrong in that area: it's in part your opposition to this decision that helped you enjoy my levels, so thank you.
Finally, I tried the Metroid Resurgence levels because I think I could only beat one of them when they didn't have checkpoints.
Tourian: I guess it's supposed to be hard because it's Tourian, but man, that final corridor almost broke me. Other than that, you captured the Metroid atmosphere incredibly well here!
Ridley: I'm not sure how much you changed, but I think this is the one I beat, and loved, already in its previous version. This time, I got stuck in the room where you get the winged boot though. I had lost the mushroom during the previous ascent and couldn't find a replacement or another way to advance.
Kraid: A good level with excellent atmosphere. A little less elegant than Ridley maybe because the backtracking feels more tedious here. I thought the first checkpoint could have been placed in a more helpful position.
Tourian is designed to be draining/stressful, but in reality it's not that hard when you keep calm and do things methodically (like in NES Metroid, actually). Even without checkpoints, it had a surprising percentage of people who completed it, I guess the amount of recharges/the dispenser in the second part helped keeping it addictive. It did beg for checkpoints, though, and it's much better now. The Mother Brain segment is indeed evil, but it's on purpose, I really wanted to translate the NES experience. On the whole I think its apparent simplicity (there aren't many enemies or that many elements) and readability keep it fair.
Kraid is less streamlined than Ridley indeed, but I wanted to convey the strangeness of that zone in the NES game, which for example explains
the completely optional area at the top right, like in the original
. I understand your point of view about the first checkpoint, but the thing is, Metroid levels have a powerup chain, and it's not easy to implement checkpoints in the middle of that chain, so that first one is there to save time and encourage the player, hinting he's heading in the right direction. The level is actually pretty quick when you know what to do (especially thanks to the "powerup checkpoints", where a powerup unlocks a dispenser of the same sort).
As for Ridley... last time, you actually sequence broke, which helped me notice an issue:
you skipped the whole boss fight by jumping out of the black boot, and avoided breaking the bottom of the underground bridge - I didn't think the boot would give a big enough push
.
This time, you weren't actually stuck, you could have gone back into the pipe because the powerup dispenser there was designed to let the powerup fall. But it certainly wasn't intuitive, so since there also was a (minor) issue in Brinstar, I edited Brinstar and Ridley to fix everything... which made me delete and reupload six levels (all Metroid plus two Old School Super Mario levels) because I wanted to keep them all in the right order in my level list (not just because I like things to stay tidy, but mostly to make browsing easier for visitors). The area that puzzled you is definitely clearer now, and on top of that, it made me do changes which made that spot more fluid and interesting IMO (
there is now a gateway right under the pipe, which makes respawning the winged boot easier if you lose it because of Rocky Wrenches, and in the vertical area with cannons, you now have to jump on cannonballs to proceed - and the dispenser is directly under the pipe now
Each level is inspired by a NES Metroid area: Brinstar focuses on traditional powerup use in a slow, methodical puzzle/adventure level with an atmosphere close to Super Metroid, Kraid is more action-focused, Ridley is all about secret passages (like the original Norfair/Ridley levels), and finally, Tourian is straight action against the Metroids, Tourian's defence system, and Mother Brain.
BTW, Schlomo, from what you said, you should enjoy Brinstar if you haven't played it already (and this time you can finish Ridley). Anyway, many thanks to you, Nocturnowl and Gotdatmoney (and all the others who posted on Miiverse) for the nice and useful feedback! It seems the checkpoints (and new series name, probably) really help people getting into the series, which I'm very happy about given the ludicrous time I spent on it.
I love mazes, so I enjoyed Get Busy Movin or Get Busy Dyin. The very end with its slow autoscroll is a bit cruel, though, since the player is very tight in time at that point - if you die there it's unlikely you'll try again.
For the basketball level, I admit I'm not much into bombing walls or trampolines, so the combination isn't for me ;-) !
I loved it. Visually it's really distinctive, it has a real identity. Powerups are used well (I kept the spiky hat for a pretty long time and I loved how the level kept being designed so I could use it, like killing Dry Bones through holes in platforms). Layout is unusual but always very clear, so it's all very positive. The ice blocks make the name of the level fit. Bravo.
The fun of automatic levels without their boring aspect! A real rollercoaster! Only thing: in the first segment, there is a fire flower trapped, and you can technically get it even if it's annoying to do, and it turns out you don't need it (in fact it makes later sections less smooth), the level would be better without it. (Also, I stupidly rushed to the Yoshis near the end and got stuck, but looking 2 seconds at the layout would have showed me it was a bad idea.)
That was fun indeed. I also stumbled into a weird level with very cool ideas in the torture chamber that is the Expert 100 Mario Challenge:
(Japanese name) 4FF3-0000-00D9-C200
Good thing I didn't autoskip that one. There are issues (it's very "Mario Maker Japanese"), but man, some concepts are really, really good, borderline awesome. Very fun.
Well you did indeed play a few already so don't feel obligated. Though if you do feel so inclined it could be worth knowing how some of the my older stages have fared with checkpoints added, in particular...
Swinging Snappers
(8C2E-0000-00D8-1FE0)
Propeller Podoboo's Pursuit
(3610-0000-00D8-376D)
Sorry, took me a bit longer than usual to play. Mario Maker loves having connectivity issues for me from time to time. Ok, I do already have you followed. I've played so many people's levels that I can't keep track of their NNID--GAF relationship!
Loved both levels. I always like well-executed chomp levels and this was balanced and rewarding. I also really liked PPPursuit. The fire makes a perfect clown-car pursuer because it isn't too aggressive, but also has the added danger of not being easily dispatched until the end with the awesome assist. It was fun having to balance slowly moving forward will constantly bumping him backwards. Starred both.
I can´t remember those parts as I´ve played many levels in the last days, I´ll give it a replay and comment back. Better yet, I´ll upload a recording of the level.
Thanks! I think a lot of people think they´re getting stuck in this level when they really aren´t...if you went into the small room and got the powerup, then backtracking through the other path was the right thing to do...you missed the entrance to the center path that would´ve taken you out of of that section. My fault for not making it clear enough, sorry
I mean that turning the bricks used as ground below the doors into coins with a P switch rendered both doors unusable, so (unless I missed something) the first time I got stuck in the small D shaped area, with seemingly no way out.
Loved the first part when I played it a few days ago! But I agree that the second part (right to left) is a bit too long, though, and despawning cannonballs makes things harder than they should be.
It would probably work a lot better if the sequence was shorter.
Made a new level during the weekend almost without intending to while messing around with the tools. I stepped a bit outside of my comfort zone and made a themed level with a gimmick (but still has some secrets and alt paths of course):
You cant save Peach drunk Mario!
B48B-0000-00E1-CBD7
After a heavy night of clubbing and partying Mario sets out on Sunday morning to save the princess with his senses heavily impaired from intoxication. There seems to be no one home from the club in Bowser's castle... or is there? Can you find the secret skinny mushroom and get through the hazards in spite of your hangover?
There is a little surprise cameo at the end of the level as well. Would love some feedback and plays guys!
My final Mariovania course: Mariovania Stage 6. It ends my Castlevania NES remake series. The stage itself is short and pretty easy, but the original course doesn't really translate well to Mario world, however I still wanted to finish the series so here you go.
Mariovania Stage 6 (68AC-0000-00E1-DC16)
It's also my first stage to include check point, so you don't have to restart the whole level (despite being short) if you die. Now onto something totally original next.
