Hunter_Orion
Member
I'm glad to see you're still around making levels, fawfulfan. And despite a long hiatus from the forums, I've actually been keeping good track on the progress of this level pack. I did enjoy this new twist to the srb2 universe, and wanted to share exactly what I thought of it, along with a few inquiries.
Sunshine Atoll Zone
The start of both these levels are amazing. A very well constructed island atmosphere then followed by a leap across the trees. A really good impression for a first level. Those beanstalk structures are pretty unique. Am I correct to assume that they are actual sectors that makes it possible to climb on them? Along with Tyler52, I did notice that those logs do have the sludge effect. These zones only took one real attempt to complete, but hey, it's the visuals that won here.
Eruption Conduit Zone
Conduit?? *checks wordreference.com* Works for me. That is to say, this place does indeed fit its name. The first act was far more difficult than the second, mainly because of all the scrambling around on the lava just to find a way to get off. I did like a lot of the machinery based obstacles, such as the gears and the elevator. Along with the first zone, this one took one attempt...as Talis. Sonic didn't get that lucky.
Drowned Downtown Zone
Now this is an amusing concept: a city with rainy weather, being subjected to random floods that can occasionally have currents. At any rate, it sure is a detailed city, a harbor, a subway, a back alley, even a bathroom. At least in the underwater parts, you supplied plenty of air. I did notice that one of your bubble generators doesn't match where the pipe is at. If this is an accident and you need to know where, I'll attempt to get a snapshot of it if I pass by it again. I died just once or twice with Sonic and Knux mainly for underestimating water physics.
Snowcap Nimbus Zone
This is a pretty fun level, minus all the jetty-syns. Seriously, this place is crawling with them. Why do you love them so? I usually dont mind a few of them, but a lot of them at once gets annoying. At least you do give plenty of space to outrun/kill them. Anyways, the level itself has some cool gimmicks, like the fireflower button, and the oil does really make for a nice effect, especially since you followed the laws of chemistry when designing this level (making the oil float on top of the water).
Gritty Columns Zone
I can almost hear Indiana Jones from somewhere yelling "It belongs in a museum!" You have a lot of speed traps here, that's for sure. Difficulty combined with eye candy...good combination there.
Fume Shaft Zone
Yeah, I let my guard down here...big time. I didn't make the same mistake. Fans that push the player into instant kill acid...yeah, you're definitely making it harder. The custom enemy was a welcome addition, but it kinda sucked that you could just zip by him without even giving him a chance to lay out more drops. I also thought the fan section with the mines was cool, I kinda wished it was longer. Now my question for here has specifically to do with this section I just mentioned: with non-lethal acid followed by bottomless pits, what's the point behind making the acid non-lethal if I'm going to die anyway? Aside from this, visuals still make this level very cool to look at.
Liftoff Gantry Zone
*back on wordreference.com* ...Ok, now that I've learned two new words, this level is an extremely difficult ERZ. With that said, the concepts added into this level were a lot of fun, especially in the 2d section of the 2 act...well, up until "oh f***, laser!" I did notice the vacuum section in that part does present problems in co-op: there is no real way to reset it if the player(s) die, making it a cheap shot if you enter the room without knowing the airlock just opened.
Spacewalk (?) Zone
Respectfully hard of a level, but my fastest run for either act is an average of 15-20 minutes, and that's in net-game mode, switching between the three characters, sometimes including silver and his gravity-defying abilities.
Alien Armageddeon Zone
Got anything better than the title screen music? Ah, I don't care much about that, I listen to alternate soundtracks for some levels anyways (for instance, Pump man's theme goes pretty well with DDZ). You've got quite a level here. You've pulled out all the stops on both design and difficulty. A lot of walls here hate Knux, but this level is totally epic. It was very satisfying to make it all the way through to the end of both acts, and I felt proud that I escaped with one life to spare (out of the 15 I took in there)
Overall 9/10
You have put your heart and soul into this level pack, and it definietly shows. And you've certainly improved since your 1.09.4 map-making days (you were good back then, yes, but now you're better). I sign off this review with high hopes for this level pack. Good work, man. Keep it up.
Sunshine Atoll Zone
The start of both these levels are amazing. A very well constructed island atmosphere then followed by a leap across the trees. A really good impression for a first level. Those beanstalk structures are pretty unique. Am I correct to assume that they are actual sectors that makes it possible to climb on them? Along with Tyler52, I did notice that those logs do have the sludge effect. These zones only took one real attempt to complete, but hey, it's the visuals that won here.
Eruption Conduit Zone
Conduit?? *checks wordreference.com* Works for me. That is to say, this place does indeed fit its name. The first act was far more difficult than the second, mainly because of all the scrambling around on the lava just to find a way to get off. I did like a lot of the machinery based obstacles, such as the gears and the elevator. Along with the first zone, this one took one attempt...as Talis. Sonic didn't get that lucky.
Drowned Downtown Zone
Now this is an amusing concept: a city with rainy weather, being subjected to random floods that can occasionally have currents. At any rate, it sure is a detailed city, a harbor, a subway, a back alley, even a bathroom. At least in the underwater parts, you supplied plenty of air. I did notice that one of your bubble generators doesn't match where the pipe is at. If this is an accident and you need to know where, I'll attempt to get a snapshot of it if I pass by it again. I died just once or twice with Sonic and Knux mainly for underestimating water physics.
Snowcap Nimbus Zone
This is a pretty fun level, minus all the jetty-syns. Seriously, this place is crawling with them. Why do you love them so? I usually dont mind a few of them, but a lot of them at once gets annoying. At least you do give plenty of space to outrun/kill them. Anyways, the level itself has some cool gimmicks, like the fireflower button, and the oil does really make for a nice effect, especially since you followed the laws of chemistry when designing this level (making the oil float on top of the water).
Gritty Columns Zone
I can almost hear Indiana Jones from somewhere yelling "It belongs in a museum!" You have a lot of speed traps here, that's for sure. Difficulty combined with eye candy...good combination there.
Fume Shaft Zone
Yeah, I let my guard down here...big time. I didn't make the same mistake. Fans that push the player into instant kill acid...yeah, you're definitely making it harder. The custom enemy was a welcome addition, but it kinda sucked that you could just zip by him without even giving him a chance to lay out more drops. I also thought the fan section with the mines was cool, I kinda wished it was longer. Now my question for here has specifically to do with this section I just mentioned: with non-lethal acid followed by bottomless pits, what's the point behind making the acid non-lethal if I'm going to die anyway? Aside from this, visuals still make this level very cool to look at.
Liftoff Gantry Zone
*back on wordreference.com* ...Ok, now that I've learned two new words, this level is an extremely difficult ERZ. With that said, the concepts added into this level were a lot of fun, especially in the 2d section of the 2 act...well, up until "oh f***, laser!" I did notice the vacuum section in that part does present problems in co-op: there is no real way to reset it if the player(s) die, making it a cheap shot if you enter the room without knowing the airlock just opened.
Spacewalk (?) Zone
Respectfully hard of a level, but my fastest run for either act is an average of 15-20 minutes, and that's in net-game mode, switching between the three characters, sometimes including silver and his gravity-defying abilities.
Alien Armageddeon Zone
Got anything better than the title screen music? Ah, I don't care much about that, I listen to alternate soundtracks for some levels anyways (for instance, Pump man's theme goes pretty well with DDZ). You've got quite a level here. You've pulled out all the stops on both design and difficulty. A lot of walls here hate Knux, but this level is totally epic. It was very satisfying to make it all the way through to the end of both acts, and I felt proud that I escaped with one life to spare (out of the 15 I took in there)
Overall 9/10
You have put your heart and soul into this level pack, and it definietly shows. And you've certainly improved since your 1.09.4 map-making days (you were good back then, yes, but now you're better). I sign off this review with high hopes for this level pack. Good work, man. Keep it up.
