Seaside Valley Zone AKA MetalHead7's Mod (Under Construction)

I'm new to mapping/wadding/whatever you want to call it and I would like the community's opinion on what I have so far.
This is about half of the first act of a GFZ-esque zone meant to be the first level of a mod.
DL links: Finished SVZ1 Beta 0.01h (Current)
Beta 0.01g
Beta 0.01f
Beta 0.01e
Beta 0.01d
Beta 0.01c
Beta 0.01a
Release Notes: Act 1 is almost finished! Try "tunes 1" in the console, I dare you.

EDIT: I composed the music myself. I used Anvil Studio, MODplug, and Audacity. Credit to Ninian on #srb2fun for helping me rip Sonic 2 DAC samples.
Current Screenshots
Old screenshots

Pretty good! I hope you don't mind me giving some advice, though:

First off, I like the theme and ideas you've brought in to this map. The cave staircase thing at the start was interesting. But, everything seems a little too cramped. Try making the map more open, add multiple paths, secret areas, etc.

Secondly, too much crawlas. Try to have a maximum of 6 per room, or whatever.

Lastly, the map was way too short. I was a bad offender of this back when I was making Lush Lake Zone, Angel Pantheon, etc. Try to make the map last about 2 minutes long. I'm assuming this is going to be the first zone in your pack, so try not to make it too long.


Anyway, you made this music yourself? It's got potential. I recommend getting away from Anvil Studio and moving to something more user-friendly. I use Ableton Live 8, but most people start out with FL Studio. Both are fairly powerful.
...And fairly expensive.

Pretty good! I hope you don't mind me giving some advice, though:

First off, I like the theme and ideas you've brought in to this map. The cave staircase thing at the start was interesting. But, everything seems a little too cramped. Try making the map more open, add multiple paths, secret areas, etc.

Click to expand...

I tried to make the level sort of open for the most part and cramped on purpose in other parts. I guess being cramped on purpose wasn't a good way to go.
As for secret areas, I did add a few. Try getting on top of the trees or finding the emerald token :P
When I finish this, there will be emblems to collect as well, but I left them out for this release.

Secondly, too much crawlas. Try to have a maximum of 6 per room, or whatever.

Click to expand...

I agree, but I'm not quite sure what I'm doing in that aspect anyway. Perhaps you could suggest specific places that could use non-Crawla ememies?

Lastly, the map was way too short. (...) Try to make the map last about 2 minutes long. I'm assuming this is going to be the first zone in your pack, so try not to make it too long.

Click to expand...

I did say it was unfinished. That room at the end with the waterfall isn't going to stay empty. I was wondering where to go from there.
Two minutes was something I had in mind already, actually.

Anyway, you made this music yourself? It's got potential. I recommend getting away from Anvil Studio and moving to something more user-friendly. I use Ableton Live 8, but most people start out with FL Studio. Both are fairly powerful.
...And fairly expensive.

Click to expand...

Thanks! I take pride in my compositions :3
If I had any money to spend, I'd buy FL Studio, but alas, I do not.

Thanks for your help!

EDIT: Oh god, I just realized the Player 1 Start is in the wrong place. *Swears quietly*
Could I persuade you to re-download this?

Hey, this level has promise. I do indeed say. I like some aspects of it, in the way of little platforming things (I understand it's a first level in a mod), and some scenery stuff. Try to expand on the scenics more, it'll do great things.

Try to flesh out what's there, at this point. I can tell by the end that it's majorly unfinished, and so just expand on those areas and it should be fine. Also, try to incorporate path splits so the level isn't completely linear. Like add another path at the beginning (I'd do it off the stairs to bridge thing, like a hole in the wall to jump to) that connects to the end at the... end. Hm.

Also, about the music. It's there, I'd just flesh out the harmonic components more, instead of it being almost all melody as it is currently. If you wanna compose better, I'd recommend MODPlug Tracker. It's free and, IMO, the best music composition program available. Yes, I've tried FL Studio. Hated it. MODPlug has done me quite well.

One more thing: Please try and never ever use that GFZ grass texture. It's just ugly. I'd recommend scaling the GRASS2 flat from srb2.srb to 2x or 4x and using it instead. It's just better overall.

EDIT: I realized afterward that I never actually said I liked the level. Well, I like the level. :-P

Metal96 said:

Hey, this level has promise. I do indeed say. I like some aspects of it, in the way of little platforming things (I understand it's a first level in a mod), and some scenery stuff. Try to expand on the scenics more, it'll do great things.

Click to expand...

Yeah. That area with the lone tree will have a lot of scenery and secrets when I'm done with it.

Try to flesh out what's there, at this point. I can tell by the end that it's majorly unfinished, and so just expand on those areas and it should be fine. Also, try to incorporate path splits so the level isn't completely linear. ...

Click to expand...

I've never quite understood the term "flesh out" when it comes to level design. Care to elaborate? :3
I know I'm short a couple alternative paths. This will be remedied.

Also, about the music. It's there, I'd just flesh out the harmonic components more, instead of it being almost all melody as it is currently. ... MODPlug has done me quite well.

Click to expand...

I downloaded it. It's going to take me awhile to figure out how it works -- although, now that I think about it, there's probably a tutorial on YouTube somewhere.

Never ever use that GFZ grass texture.

Click to expand...

Good suggestion. I'll worry about that after I get familiar with adding textures...which will probably be after I decide the level is finished being designed.

EDIT: You mean like this?

I realized afterward that I never actually said I liked the level. Well, I like the level. :-P

Click to expand...

Thank you! I'm glad you like it. :3

OK, I'll be completely honest.
I genuinely liked this level. I really, really did. As a first level, both for a pack and a levelcreatordesignerwadderpersonthing. I very much like minimalism when it comes to design, so I guess that's why I've always liked simple grass levels. I enjoyed the pace of the level, as well, but it ended a bit abruptly. Though yeah. Never use that GFZ grass texture. Though that water texture is <3

There are two glaring flaws to your level though:
1.) Enemy placement. Big rooms are nearly devoid of enemies, when it would make more sense to put more enemies in them, just spaced out. And small rooms are filled to the brim with them. Seriously, that secret hallway had like 9 enemies when it was, what, 64 fracunits wide? Uggghhh. I would only put 1 enemy at most.
2.) Secrets. Yeah, I get you tried your hardest but you skipped out on so many good spots, such as behind the waterfall. I scanned every inch of that wall and got nothing. It's the most obvious spot! xD(For me at least.). Try to experiment more with architecture as well. Using cliffs and ledges to reach spots with precision platforming, etc etc. Plus, the rewards you do get for reaching some areas make no sense. That whirlwind shield? How is it ever going to aid me through a straight hallway to the finish? And why is there a speedshoe box just ... there? Out in the open? Finding a hidden hole in the wall to a previously high up ledge gets me ... 4 rings. Whoop de do. That's just my opinion, though. Maybe you had some logic behind it I didn't see.

One last thing: The pool of water right in front of the endpost? Put a spring in it, or add some sort of way up. I fell in trying to explore and I had to noclip my way out. Oh, and the music is cool too.

Kirblord23 said:

I genuinely liked this level. I really, really did.

Click to expand...

I'm glad! :3

Never use that GFZ grass texture. Though that water texture is <3

Click to expand...

See my now-edited post just above yours, I have made some graphical additions. I hope you like them!

Enemy placement.

Click to expand...

Your tips are good and I will put them to use.

Secrets.

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a) Which waterfall? As you can tell, there are quite a few.
b) I agree with your ideas on architecture.
c) That whirlwind shield is there to provide another way for Sonic to enter the tree in that area. Though it would probably be better to put something else there, given the changes to that area that I have in mind...
d) Hmm. Do you think I ought to put a ring box there rather than speed shoes? That raised ground is desperate to have some kind of item there.
e) Yes, there is logic behind that hole -- but I won't tell you just what it is. ...Yet.

The pool of water right in front of the endpost.

Click to expand...

This has been remedied. There is now a short passageway up. It will be included in the next beta.

Oh, and the music is cool too.

Click to expand...

Thanks! I'm glad you enjoyed it.

I appreciate your help.

This level is interesting, the music suits the level so... I guess it's good, I like the level but maybe you can include somethings in the very spaceous areas: e.g.

, like some hedges.

Also how about make this a little bit wider:

I haven't decided what to put there yet.
Do you mean make the entrance to the beach wider, or the bridge?

The bridge should be a bit wider.

So, yeah. Finally decided to take picturessss. Time to show you what I mean.

Oh, and for the love of god PLEASE change that wall texture. Again, just my opinion, but it's absolutely hideous. I've never liked it. I actually like GFZROCK on this level. Not sure what others think though so :V

Widen the bridge.

Click to expand...

Done.

Kirblord23 said:

So, yeah. Finally decided to take picturessss. Time to show you what I mean.

Spoiler

For this, maybe a little cave in the wall for an extra area to explore a little bit?

How is there not any sort of cave behind this waterfall? At all? It's the first thing I found suspicious in the entire map.

So, there's a ledge here. There's nothing on it. This ledge is hidden fairly well IMO and a 1up would've been a good idea here.

Please, for the love of god, just remove the enemies here. The path is already narrow enough.

Hiding a ledge behind this that you can reach with the Whirlwind shield would've been a clever little thing to do. Find one secret? Access another! I could imagine an emerald token being hidden here.

Again, waterfalls = secrets. That's just how my mind works, though.

Oh, and for the love of god PLEASE change that wall texture. Again, just my opinion, but it's absolutely hideous. I've never liked it. I actually like GFZROCK on this level. Not sure what others think though so :V

Click to expand...

a) I have no idea what I would put in it. A ring monitor perhaps?
b) Hmm. That's actually not a bad idea...but I'll have to think about it.
c) I'll tell you why it's there, but not now.
d) Already fixed. There are now only one enemy in a group where before there were too many.
e) I'll tell you why that's there too, eventually.
f) Noted.
g) Done.

On a related note, I have made a little progress -- anyone want me to post the latest version, which includes emblems (and some useless experimental stuff)?
EDIT: Also, has anyone found the emerald token? Nobody's mentioned it.

A: It doesn't need to be just walk in the hole and get a prize. Make it a little mini-area, and if you explore deep enough you get a prize. Or yeah you could just hide a monitor in there and remove that ugly rock the ring monitor is currently on.
B: Yes, I've already found it. It's a bit too easy to find. It's not hidden very well, unfortunately.
C: Yes, please post.

---------- Post added at 09:54 PM ---------- Previous post was at 08:45 PM ----------

Holy shit! What did you do to the thing? The filesize just bloated from 1.5KB to 9.7MB!

Oh, fuck, I accidentally left in a seven minute song I was considering using for Super Sonic music. I was going to cut it down at some point.
Jeez, that was dumb. I'll update it tomorrow, I have sleep to get. School in the morning and such.

EDIT: Wad updated, file size is now 642 kb. After some thought, I've decided to focus all of my SRB2 efforts on actually making the level, rather than doing silly things like adding Super Sonic music. However, I will also be working on creating gimmicks for other zones. I made rocked-up Twilight Zone music a while back, and I was thinking about creating a night level that used it. It's in musicslot 176 right now if you want to hear it. ...But listening to it now, it's not that good.

OK, so as the level is now, I'm loving it. There's just one little thing I have with it: CHECKERS. CHECKERS ARE EVERYWHERE. Seriously. I like that you upscaled GRASS2 so it's not hideously ugly from far away, but you used it on nearly EVERY SINGLE FLOOR. Try using GRASS3 on base floors, and GRASS2 for platforms/higher up floors. As it is now, checkers everywhere make the level look a bit too busy. And when I asked to change the wall texture, I meant the new one. Not GFZROCK. I liked that. But again, your levels, not mine. I'd say once you have this act done and completed, submit this into releases. It's quality stuff.

EDIT: Here's a slightly altered version of your wad to show you what I mean. I hope you don't mind. All I did was change a few flats.
http://www.mediafire.com/?m3vabisi4bm2b1s

Is that tree texture the one from minecraft?
Well, I'm going to have to try this out later.

@Kirblord23: I think I did the opposite of that. Large sectors are checkered and small floors are not. I thought the large sectors looked boring with the regular grass.
@Gamerman14: It is indeed, and please do! :3

MetalHead7 said:

@Kirblord23: I think I did the opposite of that. Large sectors are checkered and small floors are not. I thought the large sectors looked boring with the regular grass.
@Gamerman14: It is indeed, and please do! :3

Click to expand...

Actually, you didn't do ANYTHING. EVERYTHING is checkered and it just is painful to look at.

Ok, I have legit things to say now. Get ready for some CC!
My first thing is, I like the music. It's not amazing, but It's a nice, original score. I thought it was to loud, but my game had the music set twice as loud as the sound effects so It might have just been me.
Trying to figure out where to go at first confused me. I didn't get a screen shot of it, but, I think you should put a arrow sign on the beach pointing where to go. Give it a beat up, hand painted look. Like, I'm thinking some kind of wooden sign. Heck, I might even make it for you. The tree branches are a bit hard to stay on a little latter, but that's not a big deal as they are for bonus items...
And now my first screen shot.
The spring that leads here didn't quite work the first time. Maybe make the platform bigger both ways?
Second, this stump had a red wall glitch as sonic, but when I came back with tails...
Yep, it fixed itself... Dafuq? (nice stump texture btw. is it original?)Well, That wasn't the least of my problems...although didn't see any more redwall.
THIS. POOL. NEEDS. AIR. I know it's not very long, but, I would feel more comfortable with some air bubbles. Also, It's kinda boring in there. at least add some rings. Heck, add some killer fishies. Not too many, just enough to be a mild annoyance. Finally, the end is nigh....
And boring! why is there nothing on this beach but... beach!? Add some scenery, enemies, rings, anything! this is sonic! there's never supposed to be a dull moment.
So, basically, this level needs... more. More rings, more enemies. You got to keep us engaged. Even just add those shiny golden halos we all love so much. It may seem pointless, but think about it. inside us gamers there's a primal urge to collect shinny things. Just adding a few rings can make the level that much better. Well, I'm probably exaggerating, but you get the point.
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In conclusion, cool,story bro, but you left out a few details. I give this a 3/5 and a lovely note on the side of the paper to your parents saying "So much potential. needs improvement!"

That redwall isn't a redwall. It's a button. It lowers the platform that the ring box is on so Sonic can get to it. It's not there as Tails or Knuckles because they can just fly/climb up to the box.