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[sh00takai]

Anyhoo, I was wondering, wouldn't it make more sense to call the Cheetah Man level Cheater Boy, as opposed to Cheater Man? Since it's Meat Boy, you know?

I see your point and I agree, it would describe the level better from SMB point of view. But, as the idea is to give a clear hint about the original game, I think changing both words from the title is a bit too much in this case. If Cheetah Men wasn't such an obscure game I could easily change it. What about Cheetah Boy?

***

To anyone who's interested, a little status update.

I uploaded a video to the OP about the newest stage, which isn't from Simon's Quest like initially intended but from Ice Climber. The level from Simon's Quest came out horrible and I immediately discarded it. I'm somewhat satisfied with Ice Climber and decided to use it as a replacement for Simon's Quest. In the video, you can see a slow run + speedrun.

I've been struggling with Contra now for days and I've already made two levels from it that both suck ass. They are fun to play but do not look anything like the original Contra. It will probably take some time until I get that one finished. I think I'll move on to Rad Gravity next because I have a bit different idea for that level.

[Stokes]

The Castlevania level is pretty neat.

[Stevolutionary]

I like Ice Climber, but i'm not too sure about the lasers as they don't seem to fit thematically and seem a bit of an out of place hazard. I think possibly colouring fireballs white would be a lot better as they'd look like snowballs and would fall down the level like a pachinko machine.

Other than that, I think the rest is good, and love the eagle replacement for BG at the top!

[sh00takai]

The Castlevania level is pretty neat.

That's nice to hear.

Btw, I would like to rename Castlevania now that Simon's Quest was a failure. I'd also need a name for Ice Climber level. Ideas, anyone? Oh, and I'm seriously thinking about naming Cheetah Men as Cheetah Boy at the moment.

I like Ice Climber, but i'm not too sure about the lasers as they don't seem to fit thematically and seem a bit of an out of place hazard. I think possibly colouring fireballs white would be a lot better as they'd look like snowballs and would fall down the level like a pachinko machine.

Other than that, I think the rest is good, and love the eagle replacement for BG at the top!

Hey, white fireballs is a pretty cool idea! I'll try using them.

[Stevolutionary]

Btw, I would like to rename Castlevania now that Simon's Quest was a failure. I'd also need a name for Ice Climber level. Ideas, anyone? Oh, and I'm seriously thinking about naming Cheetah Men as Cheetah Boy at the moment.

I think Cheetah Boy is fine as well, as for the other two...

For Castlevania one idea is Pot Roast Boy. Pot Roast is the iconic food powerup from the series that is called Tasty Meat in the Japanese releases.

For Ice Climber, I can't think of many witty ones at the moment, but it shouldn't be hard to find something mountain climbing related.

[sh00takai]

I like that Castlevania name. I immediately saw Alucard smashing walls to discover hidden pot roasts in my mind.

Ice Climber has some different enemies in the Japanese / Western editions. There are seals in the Western one and beaked yetis in the Japanese one. The game was also released on the Nintendo Vs. System...

Hmm.
Seal gut parka boy (the characters wear Parkas in the game)?
Mallet Ballet (mallet is the main weapon in the game and after I add snowballs in the level, climbing it will look like a ballet)?

Eh, I can't come up with anything cool at this point.

[sh00takai]

Tiny update. I added a new video about Ice Climber to the OP. I made some effort to include nipple's and Stevolutionary's ideas in the mix. I hope you guys meant something like this.

[Stevolutionary]

Love the changes, but i'd argue it needs a few more snowballs and a little less snow.  

Reasoning being, NES games were often quite basic in how they represented things, and Ice Climber really didn't have any snow - it was literally as you had it originally - grass, rock, ice!

I think a bit of snow is good, but it shouldn't detract from the Nes-ness by overwhelming the 3 colour design which is iconic.

As for snowballs, I think these are a really good hazard and should just maybe have one more? Ideally it'd be coming from near the top, and would make the climb harder by preventing you from just side-wall jumping to the top on the final stretch which is a little easy at the moment.

Regarding names, I shall have a good one for you within 24 hours!!! 

[PsychedelicEyeball]

I have to say that I initially ignored this level pack's progress because the levels were way too hard in the early development stage, but I have to say it is starting to look nice. Although, I think some of the levels you have made recently (The Mega Man stages namely) might be still too difficult. I have problems clearing the first jump in the Skull Man stage and I found the end of the Mega Man 2 level to be kinda obtuse (you have to hide behind the platforms near the end to avoid the lasers before you reach Bandage Girl, right?).

The Castlevania and Ice Climber levels really look neat and I'll keep an eye out on this.

[sh00takai]

Love the changes, but i'd argue it needs a few more snowballs and a little less snow.  

I was thinking about both of your points and I actually continued developing the stage after uploading that youtube video. I like the amount of snow but you're right, it distracts from the original design. I'll try to reduce it to make the level look more obvious. About the snowballs, I'll definitely add one to the top. Now that I found the object that "eats" lava balls, I can place them anywhere without having to worry much for limitations in devmode.

I have to say that I initially ignored this level pack's progress because the levels were way too hard in the early development stage, but I have to say it is starting to look nice. Although, I think some of the levels you have made recently (The Mega Man stages namely) might be still too difficult. I have problems clearing the first jump in the Skull Man stage and I found the end of the Mega Man 2 level to be kinda obtuse (you have to hide behind the platforms near the end to avoid the lasers before you reach Bandage Girl, right?).

The Castlevania and Ice Climber levels really look neat and I'll keep an eye out on this.

Cool. I'm glad this looks better in your eyes now. The pack was initially very unbalanced and I've tested the routes and toned the general difficulty down a lot during this process. I guess that's the number one reason why the development is so slow at the moment, but who cares if it results in playable levels.

I have to agree with you about the Megaman levels. In Skull Man stage, there's a bit too much going on in the beginning. I'll try to do something about it and modify the first lava ball shooter so that it would be easier to get past it. I'll probably make the saws a bit slower too. In Megaman II, you can actually reach bandage girl before the laser reaches the top of the building but it needs some well timed jumps. Waiting for the laser to rise over the screen is boring. I'll probably make the laser pointing to right shut down soon after reaching the top. That way it won't take so many deaths to figure out what to do.

[Stevolutionary]

Hmmm. Still struggling for names... Mallet Ballet may be the best, but as they don't really rhyme when pronounced, it is a little forced.

How about Mt. Meat?, or W17 (the most difficult class of real-life Ice Climbing), or Frostbite for 'frozen meat' you get climging a mountain, or Freezer Burn which is what happens to meat that gets spoiled when left in the freezer for too long?

All a bit crap i'm afraid.

You could maybe call it Mallory or Tenzig in honour of the (possibly) first man to scale Everest but died up there so can't be confirmed, or Tenzig Norgay who accompanied Edmund Hillary on the first proper ascent.

[Breakdown]

How about something fairly synonymous with Ice Climber?  "Arctic Ascent" has a nice ring to it I think.

And while it's been locked in for a while, I think a perfect title for the Faxanadu level, given its design, is "I Used Key."  Granted, it's a fairly obscure reference to a game that's pretty obscure to begin with, but nothing says NES like a little engrish, and it'd be a great nod for people who know the game.

Have yet to try these myself, but they look really good.  Looking forward to a full chapter.

[Stevolutionary]

My take on names is that to be in keeping with the main game's convention (and a number of fan ones) is that they need to be a bit dark or obscure or cynical. Arctic Ascent, while nice, is a bit too descriptive and clean and wholesome for the average Super Meat Boy chapter.

[sh00takai]

Hmmm. Still struggling for names... Mallet Ballet may be the best, but as they don't really rhyme when pronounced, it is a little forced.

How about Mt. Meat?, or W17 (the most difficult class of real-life Ice Climbing), or Frostbite for 'frozen meat' you get climging a mountain, or Freezer Burn which is what happens to meat that gets spoiled when left in the freezer for too long?

Nah, your suggestions are never anywhere near crap. I think Frostbite describes the level best and it has a nice sense of humour behind it, so I think I'll use it for now.

And while it's been locked in for a while, I think a perfect title for the Faxanadu level, given its design, is "I Used Key."  Granted, it's a fairly obscure reference to a game that's pretty obscure to begin with, but nothing says NES like a little engrish, and it'd be a great nod for people who know the game.

Thanks for checking out the progress. Heh, "I Used Key" is an extremely cool reference for those who are familiar with the game and it even describes the level's idea well. I initially tried to use the word "Golds" in the level's name (that's the reason the keys are golden) until Stevolutionary suggested the current awesome name. Damn! You're making this hard for me. I'd really really really love to use both names.

***

Oh, and a small update. I edited the previous levels yesterday. I'll link some kind of a playthrough video about them once I'm done with 15 levels.

Here's a list of noticeable changes:

• Megaman II
  - The lasers now turn on/off every two seconds
  
• Megaman IV
  - Using the shortcut path in the beginning is now slightly easier
  - Tweaked the first traps
  
• Bubble Bobble
  - Edited the camera boundaries and added some (mostly decorative) spikes to the final room
  
• Cheetah Men
  - Edited the final part with the randomly flying platforms
  - attached fans to the "naked" flying saw shooter and laser
  
• Castlevania
  - Added a bandage. Getting it forces the player to find a way under the stairs and use a completely separate route to reach bandage girl.
  
• Ice Climber
  - Reduced the amount of snow, modified the traps
  

I think I'll continue editing Castlevania and Cheetah Men stages tonight for a bit. After that I'll create Rad Gravity.

[Stevolutionary]

I agree that I Used Key is a great name as it goes with the key chase nature of the level, but unless familair with Faxanadu, which is quite obscure, you'll have no chance of guessing the source.

Using Google to search for "I used key" (in quotes) and NES gives just 15 results, and none for Faxanadu unfortunately.

A search for Haxanadu not only gives results for your videos and topic posts on the first page (as it's obviously a very uncommon word) but crucially gives Faxanadu as a suggestion in the Did you mean: bar.

I think the rule for names is the more obscure the game, the more the names need to pass the Google test. For example "U Rad?" and NES brings up Rad Gravity as the second result, with only Rad Racer above it. "Cheetah Boy" and NES brings up the source on results 5 and 6, and "Cheater Men" and NES brings up none on the first page, but crucially gives you the real game with the Did you mean: bar, so both work.

Regarding changes, I wouldn't alter the lasers on the platform for Megaman, as it will allow you to skip the danger by going under the lasers and using the side platforms to travel up, as well as wrecking the forced scrolling tribute. If the problem is only on the top laser, then i'd only alter/remove that in some way, as the forced scrolling is the heart of the concept.

Also, i'm not a huge fan of adding many bandages, but if you're paying tribute to the Castlevania hidden one, then i'd suggest putting one on Bubble Bobble may work, as Level 99 is home to the super secret warp door, so it'd be good to maybe have the bandage appear in the same place as you reach the end to force a dangerous backtrack maybe? Backtracks are annoying though...