next »

[Splee]

Well I've tried them and all I can say is these are way too fucking hard for rapture light/dark world.  In particular 7, 9, and 5.  7 is pure evil.  Or maybe I just suck.  The level design itself is very nice though.

[PsychedelicEyeball]

Well I've tried them and all I can say is these are way too fucking hard for rapture light/dark world.  In particular 7, 9, and 5.  7 is pure evil.  Or maybe I just suck.  The level design itself is very nice though.

Level 7 probably could be rendered easier by making the moving platforms slower, I'll have to experiment with that. The level's concept is definitely not orthodox and it requires practice to get it right. I can beat the level almost any time now, although it took me many attempts to get the timing right when I first made it, so I'll try and tone it down.

Level 9 wasn't designed to be explicitly difficult, so something's definitely wrong in the design somewhere. Mind telling me which parts in particular you found troublesome? That would definitely be a huge help to me.

Level 5 was designed to be very hard, mainly because this level's all about quick reaction and reflexes, there's almost no memorization or anything involved here. This will be one of the final stages in the chapter and I did want the last 5 levels to be a big challenge. I'm not entirely sure how I could make the level a bit easier without making it actually too easy.

I'll keep an eye on the other levels and see what I can change in overall to lower their difficulty. Anyway, thanks a lot for the feedback, it is very well appreciated!

[Splee]

Ok I've revisited level 7 and its not as hard as I thought it was.  I had most of my troubles this time with the beginning (me failing probably) and the end.  I ended up really enjoying that one actually.  I might write up a review for all the levels later when I have time.

[PsychedelicEyeball]

Thanks for trying the level again, although I did end up making a new version of it and I do think it plays and looks better in overall, so I'm thankful that you brought it up in the end.

I also ended up tweaking some stuff in Level 9 (I made the beginning fan weaker so the first jump should be easier and I removed some of the sawblades, notably the one on top of the level and the ones near Bandage Girl) so hopefully the level will be much easier now.

Looking toward to any future comments you might have!

[PsychedelicEyeball]

Level 13 - Butt Press



Well... there are buttons that must be pressed!

A candidate for an early, easy level (as far as this chapter goes).

I'm considering shortening this chapter to only 15 levels because I'm not too sure if I can make it all the way to 20, moreso considering the lack of interest in this chapter in overall. I don't know what I'm doing wrong with these levels and if it keeps going, I sure won't know any better.

[RockLeeSmile]

Hey, thought I'd stop by and give these a shot.

EDIT: I somehow missed reading that rockets were a main part of the theme in this chapter... I feel really stupid for being surprised by them in each level now. Sorry about that!

1) Looks nicely decorated, I like the touch of the "bulb" made of a sun in the lights. The telescope is pretty cool too and the little touches outside the play area like the salt streams.

Also really like the idea of the blade that speeds up as it "rolls" downhill. I almost thought I was looking at a gray lava ball for a second. Only criticism for that is I would have it start outside the little house you get the key in, just so you have a spot to catch your breath for a second (personally I think very important when you have rockets always on your back). At the very end, I find it rather frustrating that there is an opposition between the conveyor belt and the fan, then you add in the saws around you and the missiles outside and I didn't really enjoy that part very much. Tried it about 30 times but never made it around the last blade. Maybe just a regular floor here would be a little better... but that's just me.

2) First impression: lovely color scheme, lavender, copper, and yellow are an interesting combination. Died a bunch of times just trying to get out the bottom of the saw tunnel. I personally find lots of missile launchers in a level to be rather annoying... I appreciate that you at least locked them away for a moment. Died about 15 more times before getting to the final tunnel. I think I'm home free and them BAM right into the wall saws... cruel! I was able to beat this one. Just took a bunch of tries. Not too bad.

3) After hearing my opinion on missiles in a level, you could guess how I'm going to feel about this... I totally get what you were going for, but I didn't really find this to be very fun. Dodging missiles and doing tiny hops, then waiting in front of a wall just kind of goes wrong with me. I'm sure there is a way it could be spiced up a bit so it feels a little more dynamic though. Maybe breakable tiles in a wall you can run behind, then snipe one tile out of it for the rocket to shoot through (a set for each group of walls)? Idk, just the first thing that popped into my head.

I'd also address the use of the same rock tile in a grid across the whole bottom floor area. You do get points for adding some rock objects, but there's no reason you can't mix up the tiles too. The falling over power lines looked nice, as did the blood swamp... could probably do with a few less supports under the structure imo. Decent execution, just maybe the concept isn't as good as it could be.

4) OH GOD. More rockets. Although I'm not a fan, I applaud your intelligent use of them in the first room. Using one launcher to open another is good thinking. The homing saw on top of that seems a little much though... you have me dodging up to three projectiles at the same time in a smallish space.

It can take a little bit to get the floor open if you're not on top of your game, which makes it so frustrating that you will probably instantly die in the next room before you even know what is going on. There's rarely anywhere you can go to get out of the range of the rockets... and I think I've found one, but then the giant saw just runs in after me. I don't think I want to try and finish this one. WAY too many things to manage at once for my brain. Maybe just one rocket launcher on the player at a time would do a lot to help this for me. With all that I'm saying, I hope I'm not coming across as too negative, I definitely don't mean it that way at all. Just giving honest feedback.

5) Pretty colors! I was feeling optimistic about this one until I saw even more rockets... It's a decent enough concept for a level, but isn't it enough to just have to dodge the floating dude and the saws in that small space? I'm not sure how I'm intended to get through this exactly. There's no technique that I learned in the game to mitigate those 3 different types of hazards simultaneously. I tried jumping up high and sliding down, trying to stay low and move in a rhythm, trying to stay in the middle and just wait until I had to move... I like the idea behind this, but right now it's also too frustrating for me.

6) Awesome idea, way too long though. Took me about 20 tries just to get to the third room where I was AGAIN instantly killed by a rocket launcher. Adding a solid platform in the second room where the saw permeable object platform would do a lot to help. If I didn't keep dying early on, my spirit would not have been broken so easily by the rocket at the end. I find that situations that challenge my ability to jump accurately but not when I'm in a rush tend to be the most rewarding for me... your levels all seem to be about putting me out of a comfort zone so you have to hurry and dodge constantly while somehow still staying aware of what is coming up next... although I feel I have a pretty good ability to multi-task, it is lost when I also have to keep time for rhythm (hence why I can't play guitar and sing at the same time). Maybe I'm alone in this though.

The level looked quite nice, but I worry that you'll have to remove some of your light sources. Edmund told me that the rule of thumb is to never go over 2 lights(and the official editor is supposed to cap at 4). I admit I did go over myself in my own chapter, but I learned my  lesson after lots of people complained of lag. Hopefully that won't happen here too.

7) Ok, you're going to hate me for this, beautiful level (I can tell you spent a long while working on the details here), great concept... but the platforms are way too fast. There's already a lot going on, so there's no way you're going to be able to calculate all those projectiles and all those platforms while dodging the saws above and below you then line up a tough jump like that. I do really like this level though, and with some tuning, I'm confident it will be great. Sorry to say the platforms are too fast because I know how many waypoints you're going to need to edit to fix that... :P I've been there myself.

8) This one is worth noting. Visually, very cool with the clouds making a checkerboard pattern in the BG. Then the tangle of power lines in the center is a nice touch also... what's important here I think though, is that you found a better balance of difficulty versus length.

Although I've made my position pretty clear that I'm not a fan of rockets, there is enough going in the players favor that it is tolerable here. There are a couple of key blocks that will at least make for temporary bunkers against the rockets. Then even after you've died a bunch of times figuring out what's going on, you're not upset that it took you 40 seconds each time to die in an instant. I did beat this one, took about 15 lives.

9) Unfortunately you went right back to the old formula in this one. Fans, saws, 8 rocket launchers and salt... I don't see myself ever beating this one. There's too much taking control away from the player and too much forcing me to hurry. I do get that the 6 rocket launchers in a stack were mostly meant to provide an interesting visual effect as you fall though so I guess I'm exaggerating things just a little bit. Visually, this level looks just fine, but it's a bit too much for me.

10) This one is another example of taking the control completely away from the player. There are blocks that vanish in a very important time sequence but you can do nothing about it. There are saws that move in a predetermined path within closed walls and once you're on one side of them, you can do nothing about it. There are rockets that are firing at you while you're trying to comprehend just what you're actually trying to do for a strategy and it's all way too much. There's no real solid way to dodge the rockets consistently since they're usually on both sides and the area is symmetrical. I'd remove about half of the hazards in this level and that might help significantly. It's a shame too cause this one was also very visually interesting. Even the structure of the level could be really capitalized on well if you nail the flow just right.

So out of the 10, I think I actually finished either 3 or 4 of them... Maybe if I kept hammering at them for a really long time I could have figured out more than I did, but I just didn't really feel like if I did win, it was because I mastered the concept at hand, it would usually be a win more by twitch reaction time or dumb luck. I find that a bit counter to what I personally like about SMB. Keeping in mind this work is just following one consistent design ethos and I'm not saying in the least that you're not capable of producing work that would be everything I want it to (and it's just my personal opinion and taste anyway). I can clearly tell you have a knack for design from your work regardless of if I happen to agree with what you set out to accomplish in it.

I hope you don't take any of this criticism the wrong way and I hope there are a few nuggets of info that help you out and are useful to you. If there's anything I can do to help, let me know. You know where to find me!

Best wishes,
RockLeeSmile

[cousinoer5]

I love the chapter overall so far, I'm more difficulty tolerant, though there are some cheap shots I'll outline below. So let's get started!

1. What can I say? It's a good level, though the fan at the end is just plain evil!

2. I like the race at the beginning, the level's not too difficult, but that ending is sneaky! (though it isn't as evil as the fan, it's easy to dodge, it'll just catch you off guard if you're not paying attention)

3. Rocket walls! Good concept, but it does seem to lack a little something. Perhaps try to spice it up with zombie meats or a fly.

4. Another ending trap that'll kill you if you don't stay frosty, though all the dodging and stuff you have to do up until that point makes it a bit more crushing.

5. Psychedelic! (haha) Love the lights, very pretty. I love the design too, so simplistic, yet quite a brutal level. I love it personally.

6. Good concept, but it's too long like RockLee said. Imo, Bandage Girl should be behind the lock in the missile hut. That little saw launcher at the beginning suddenly becoming a factor is a neat concept too, but it makes the level too evil, perhaps use a trick like that on a shorter level.

7. Very difficult, the transition between the first and second part is hard to pull off. Perhaps you could put in a crumbling block or something to let the player get their bearings.

8. A very neat introductory level, short and sweet, not too difficult, but sets the tone for the missile fest ahead.

9. Another sneaky ending trap, there's really no way of knowing that saw is down there going in blind, which leads to a cheap death unless you act quickly. It's kind of tricky timing that part anyhow, so getting to the end to learn the timing is a bit of a grind. Then the missile comes through the salt and saws. Tone down the ending quite a bit, and the level will be better for it. I still love the ingenuity of the design though, it's kind of like unlocking a path, except without keys.

10. Very Cotton Alley-esque, I can forgive the difficulty since it's an endgame level, but the saw at the very beginning is kind of unnecessary. I may have a tiny bit of lag causing it, but sometimes it kills me when I'm hugging the right wall.

All in all, it's a very nice chapter. Very difficult at times, but I'd be a hypocrite to hate that! Though a couple parts dip into unfair territory, and a nasty trap right at the end is bad in most cases. (though I like the trick in level 2, it's not unfair since you can see it, but if you just slide down thinking you've won, you're dead.)

Here's some general comments for the new pictures:

11. I can see some blind rockets coming from the areas where you go down after unlocking a section, that's problematic. I liked Masterblaster, and this level looks like a step up. One thing though, are there zombie meats in this level? I see things that look like them, but it's hard to tell since they're silhouettes, and there's decorations that look like them.

12. I love multiple path levels! I can't see anything wrong from the picture.

13. Looks like an interesting concept, I can't wait to play it!

I personally would love to see this be a complete 20 level chapter. If you want more people to give feedback, perhaps you could put that in the thread title. I did that with my chapter and got a surge of responses pretty quickly.

I can't wait to see more!

[PsychedelicEyeball]

Thank you both for your opinions, you guys both have a pretty interesting opinion about the levels and this should actually be of great help. I'm definitely going to tone down most of the levels to remove problematic sections (like the fan in Level 1, the rocket at the end of Level 4 and the sawblade below in Level 9 just to name a few... if I name all of them, this post will be very long!)

All in all, I've never really happy with Level 3 and the comments I have received just makes me think this level should be scrapped and replaced with something else. There's always been something bugging me with this level, whether it was in the looks or the gameplay. But then again, it's a pretty early level so it has to be expected. There'd be no point in making it harder because I found the level pretty hard the way it is and since the concept of it is plain, I don't see why the whole thing wouldn't be changed.

RockLeeSmile, I can understand your frustration with Level 5 because it's indeed very difficult. With this, I attempted to create a level void of memorization and patterns and have the entire gameplay based on quick reaction times and reflexes. There is no guaranteed method to beat this level every time and that was why I found it intriguing. With that said, I have attempted some changes to make it more accessible by replacing the rockets with homing saws instead, opting for slower projectiles for the player to dodge. Having only the fly beast and the saws would make for a boring level.

Level 6 was first supposed to end with Bandage Girl being found beyond the missile hut, but I guess I just felt really sadistic the day I made this level. I suppose I'll change it back the way it was initially. At least I have some extra material for a new level now!

Everyone's concerns with Level 7 have already been answered because I already changed the whole level (although it's not uploaded yet, it'll be done after I make the final 2 levels to warrant another release). The platforms are much slower and I added in a solid platform between the two parts to make the transition between both halves easier (it was almost impossible to do with the new platform speed).

I just guess I messed up with Level 9's difficulty, I didn't expect the level to be that difficult. I have attempted a few changes to the level to make it easier and toned down the ending to make it less brutal.

I'm still conflicted with Level 10, I might be attempting a version of this map with far less disappearing blocks and see if it fares better, but then again maybe the idea of planning your path ahead of time was not a good idea for the level. I'll make the level less trial-and-error-ish, I thought about placing smaller gears so that the player can wade around the place better without being locked up in places. As for the starting gear, it was supposed to be a scare element, but I'll do away with it if lag leads to death.

Level 11: There are no zombies found in the level, it's cruel enough as it is. There were rocket launchers found in the shaft because I didn't want a sudden blank in the level, maybe I'll just replace them with saws or a rotating turret.

Hopefully I can get the difficulty to be satisfactory enough, although I'll probably tend toward the levels being easier because I really overshot my difficulty target by a few miles (Sorry cousinoer5, hopefully I'll be able to release a dark world pack just for you, featuring the levels in their early sadistic designs ). Anyway, I'm really glad I'm having feedback about this so I have a clue about what I'm doing, but if anyone else wants to chime in and offer their two cents, then please do so!

RockLeSmile and cousinoer5, thank you both again for the comments, whether they were positive or negative. I can't stress this enough.

[PsychedelicEyeball]

Level 14 - Ministry of Love



Since I realized a lot of these levels involved really tight hallways and corridors, here's a level to switch things up a bit. A "Salt Factory" meets "The End" type of level.

[yarinsl45]

LOOKS SUPER OLD!!!!!!!

[PsychedelicEyeball]

Level 3 - Breakaway 2.0!



Same concept, entirely new execution. Will also appear much later in the chapter since it's a lot harder. This replaces Level 3, which I thought was plain and didn't play too well.

Only one level left before there's a new release, which should be notable since all of the old levels should be a bit easier this time around.

[PsychedelicEyeball]

Level 15 - Beautiful Ground Zero



Can't believe it took me this long to have a level featuring zombies and gravity wells in a Rapture-based chapter. Oh well, better late than never.

With that said, there's a new release of the chapter featuring the 3/4 of the chapter. Most of the hard levels have been done, so the rest of the levels that remain should be shorter and easier to suit the first half of the chapter.

The other levels have been toned down in difficulty (although keep in mind it's supposed to be a very hard chapter in overall) so if some of you had difficulty playing those levels, I'd recommend trying them out again. Hopefully they won't be as brutal this time around.

With that said...

DOWNLOAD LEVELS 1-15 here!

[PsychedelicEyeball]

Level 16 - Animal Farm



I wanted to post several levels at once since I figured it'd be better that way, but since devmode will be disabled today, here's the last new level for the chapter until the editor is released.

[PsychedelicEyeball]

What the hell, might as well go and finish making the last 4 levels and upload this.

Level 17 - Mog Hat



A quick level involving small blocks and maggots. Obviously, the key is a trap since it opens the way for a new rocket launcher to shoot at you. The key can be avoided with some precise jumping. The platforms get wider near the end so the level gets easier.

This probably will be either Level 2 or 3 in the pack. It shouldn't be too difficult, although getting the bandage is one hell of a challenge. If you can get the bandage, chances are you'll be able to finish the entire chapter.

[Splee]

This might be my new favorite chapter now.  I love all the levels, and so far have beaten all of them except for one. 11.  I can see maybe retrieving one key in the section below, but I think 2 is too much imo.  I really love all the levels other than that though.  Perfect balance of hard and fair.  7 seems to be a bit too easy right now though, I think maybe adding a couple more obstacles and it would be perfect.  Also 3 is really epic, when I finished it I felt so awesome. :3  I can't wait for you to finish this chapter!  

EDIT: I remembered one more thing.  On 12 the top path was so very much easier than the other one.  I don't know if that was on purpose but I wish it was a bit more balanced.