Geyser Gush Zone

Status
Not open for further replies.

TehRealSalt

(σᴥσ)
Sonic Team Junior
Kart Krew™️
A simple level that I worked on for way too long. Features lots of vertical platforming, some custom enemies, and a teensy bit of slope-play towards the end.

Also included are ten emblems; one for beating it, five are hidden in it, and four for record attack (one being an extra devtime trial). Can you get them all?
 

Attachments

  • Geyser Gush Zone.png
    Geyser Gush Zone.png
    93.7 KB · Views: 1,646
  • scr_geysergush.zip
    1 MB · Views: 1,105
Last edited:
Rubber stamped and ready to play!
 
Man, I've been waiting to see this for soooo long, and I'm not disapointed. I love it. It's amazing how you used such a simple gimmick in so many ways and all.
Found four of the in-level emblems by exploring for my first playthrough as the whole level was extremely appealing for me to explore, I missed the 4th one, I think?

Uh yeah, in case you still didn't get it, I'm nosebleeding.

also bouncy upside down spring shell <3 <3
 
Love it!

(took me 10 minutes to beat first time around, though. that dark room with the geysers cut by netting was EXTREMELY tough to nail the timing on entering and leaving the geysers, jsyk)
 
No way! I've been waiting wayy too long for this oqo

It's been a while since something has bothered me, but hearing one of those bouncing spring shells without seeing it is creepy
No, seriously.

The level was really fun. Not that I can elaborate much
 
Last edited:
I really like the slope work! Very simple and i loved the map overall!

When i heard the bouncing spring shells i was genrally creeped out to continue the level (i play with surround on so it was even worse and it was like a mind game!)

Other than that i love this level!
 
I didn't particularly like it. The textures were too varied bringing too much colour to my eyes. The "water current" idea isn't executed well and some characters may struggle getting through this map with that in mind. Also, unfitting music.
 
What is this doing here? This should be in OLDC. I loved it.
Physics: 1 p (The slope inclution was good, but it should be in all parts of the level, and not in the ending)
Design 2 p (Granite Lake + Seaside Hill, nothing wrong I guess)
Music: 1 p (It was ugly, sorry)
Character's adecuation: 1.5 p (Unbelievably hard with Sonic, easy with T & K)
Dificulty: 2 p (It was hard, perfect for extra level)
Overall, 7.75/10, Good.
 
I love this map just as much as the others. The textures (combination of checkered and plain grass especially) blew me away, and the music fit well enough. Mechanics were fun, level design was open yet fun and rarely feeling empty. I'm looking forward to getting the rest of the hidden emblems! But I've got a little something here worth checking out:
AptInbornDolphin.gif
Holding UP and LEFT, I used the upward momentum after being butted off the wall to up-glide onto the platform. I can't make it from the left side. Pretty sure Knux isn't supposed to get up here this way, but I may be wrong. Didn't spend too much time playing the level the way it's supposed to be played. :P
 
Last edited:
I loved this level! From the screenshot I was taken aback by the all the strange colors the level has on display, but the second I booted up the level I was pleasantly surprised at how well everything actually meshed together in practice. You said that you put a lot of time into this, and it certainly shows! No one really notices the placement of flowers and other scenic objects unless it's done horribly... no one except me :) Let's just say you did a terrific job. Additionally, the amount of overlapping in some rooms is just heroic. I hate doing stuff that overlaps in SRB2 since each new overlap is its own sector with its own tag and bleh. You make all this overlapping look natural and effortless in your level, which deserves some kind of award. Replaying the level more than a few times as each character, I actually really like that the overall layout of the level is relatively simple and not complex as, say, ACZ1, even though the rooms themselves have a good amount of complexity. The pieces of the level feel distinct and clear, and are therefore satisfying and approachable to explore when looking for the emblems. And with all the hidden emblems of course I had to get them all! When people would tell me to make sure my map is explorable, I'd always complain that there wasn't anything in SRB2 really worth exploring for. While this is somewhat true for non-level-pack wads, I think that emblems (even though mechanically useless) are a great motivator for some stupid reason. I guess it's like Achievements and Trophies from the big official games - useless but motivating. Anyway, the emblem variety and placement in this level are top-notch and well worth exploring for.

The gimmick:
As others have said, the geysers were mostly well-executed but sometimes a pain. This is partly to do with the weird way SRB2 accelerates you when you enter and leave water current blocks (my SUGOII entry Abandoned Airbase Zone has an area where this problem is very-much exemplified), and it's partly to do with the size of the geysers themselves. I think they're just too small. The netting idea was absolutely brilliant, separating the pieces of the geysers so that the player can only use one segment at a time, but the actual use of them tended to get frustrating because of how small the streams were and how precise of movements the player sometimes had to employ to use the geysers effectively. If you're still fiddling with this level, I'd upsize all the geysers. All of them!

The ending area:
Did the development of this level straddle the implementation of slopes? The last two major rooms of the level don't quite feel like they fit the rest of the map, especially the room before the endsign cave. It's just kinda awkwardly shaped and the implementation of slopes feels weird. Honestly, I'd have that slope ramp that launches you into this room instead launch you into an endsign. Because its inclusion feels like a really good song that repeats the chorus exactly one more time than necessary. The pacing of the level would've been just that much better without the room. This is my personal opinion, but take it as you wish. One thing that I think I've only recently learned about mapping is that sometimes it's just as important to delete a bunch of work as it is to complete a bunch of work.

Otherwise, absolutely stellar level. This thing deserves a second act and an inclusion in a level pack. I even did the record attack for the time and rings emblem. I never do that! I'll still never do the score emblem, though, so I guess that I didn't actually get them ALL...

...unless perhaps you tell me the score required and a hint of how to get it...?
:)
 
Last edited:
@Ice: Thanks a lot! I'm glad to hear someone enjoying my first real SP mapping effort. The overlapping rooms that you've mentioned is probably my absolute favorite part of the map and what I'm most proud of.

My least favorite parts of the level were the bits that I used the gimmick, yeah; in honest retrospective I think I would've been much better off not having one. Especially the path split off into the underground cave where the geysers are cut by nets, that's obviously the worst, urk... The other path is so much better and I considered just nuking that room. I enjoyed how it met up with the other path way too much and I didn't have any other ideas for it, though :x

Most of the level was before slopes, and I didn't have many places to retrofit it, yeah. Except it wasn't made on the edge of slopes becoming a thing; basically, I planned to put this in a level pack, and those last couple rooms were a start to act 2. I decided to merge it into act 1 when I decided with my mapping partner that it'd be better off not in the pack. In fact, that's what prompted this release out of nowhere. I should remove them, but I still really like the flow that room has when it's standalone without the rest of the level before it. EDIT: This is much later, but I realized that you meant the room with the rock pillars in particular. In that case, I sorta agree that room has weird flow, despite loving how the rock pillars come together.

I don't recall the score required, but I do remember that I made this back when I didn't exactly know decent ways to make good score attack emblems. So I instead took about like, 1/2 or 3/4 of the perfect bonus, just so I could say "I have a score emblem in this!" Now that I actually have a clue of what I'm doing for those, I would definitely have an actual route to take and a simple goal to achieve to get the emblem.

So overall, this was a bit of a learning experience for me.

@YevaEV: I blame all Knuckles paths that rely on Knuckles' jump being like, 16 units shorter always feeling so shoehorned in. Either way, I'd probably keep that in if I end up updating this because that's just an amazing display of persistence to me :p
 
Last edited:
Wow, I am so amazed, the gimmicks are very good, I see all this time you spent working on this level was actually worth it, I found one texture missing:

attachment.php


The FOFS made the levels visual even better. It has the good implementation of slopes, i consider geyser gush one of the best levels i have ever played.
 
There appears to be a problem with the Devtime emblem. Although I got a time of 1:10.00, I didn't get the emblem.

FineUnawareGourami.gif
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Who is viewing this thread (Total: 1, Members: 0, Guests: 1)

Back
Top