- Tree Maze, by Blacknide:
Just a maze, it seems... I gave up halfway through it when I noticed I could get over the tree midtextures.
- Day 1, by Maverick:
I like the visuals, feels like a map I would enjoy just roaming around and enjoy the view like I would in a hangout map, but gameplay wise, it ended a bit shorter than I anticipated. I felt that the mapper wanted to do more but maybe ran out of ideas or time? Either way, short and sweet, just wish there was more to it.
- Greenflower Beach, by Vitexus
Sweet level, the immersion of the stage taking place right after escaping Black Core is charming, and the slopes are pretty good too, even clever at some sections, like the one where you are sprung downhill into boost panels, so you turn back and get a jump boost from that previous slope hill to get on a upper section. Even though it was a bunch of little caves and hills that incentivize you to explore them, the ending is right there on the open, so its pretty easy to miss the rest of the level if you happen to take a left turn as soon as you get to the second section of the stage. Aside from that, I wanna see more from maps taking place after other events.
- Sloppy Slope, by Silver305:
Ok, I do like the idea of using an actual missing texture instead of just actually deleting it. I can see the potential of a map that uses technical visuals from the editor in it's advantage to make some creative and silly platformings, but this isn't it, sadly. Just some corridors and then it ends. And yeah there's a meme music there.
- Coldest Grove, by ThatOneGustavoHT:
I assume the map creator also ran out of ideas, since that's literally written on the subtitle as soon as you enter the map, and take two turns on downhill slopes to finish it. If it was really meant to be like this, that's fine, but if not, seeing as this is a LEVEL COLLAB, maybe they could have gotten more ideas and help from other mappers on this project? Kinda sad to see this, actually.
Unnamed Level, by bypigs2:
Im impressed by the camera angles used on this one, not in just visual-wise, as it is actually very helpful in revealing platforms that would be out of your way with the normal third-person camera. The height and perspective of them didn't mess any of my jumps either, so I really appreciate the care that was put into making this camera style work in this level. Having to run through these translucent walls way to smoothly change the camera angles was a very good decision too, so the player doesn't have their camera switched up unexpectedly and slipping onto a death pit or something. Even sections that look 2D actually allow the player to roam around it, which makes up for some pretty clever platforming.
I love the way each texture was added with care so their angles would fit between each different angle of surfaces, the consistency of colors for each room makes them easily distinguishable, and the fact that there are detailed structures which can't be normally seen, but are there, just adds to the immersion, which is very welcome. There's even some storytelling happening here, with the player escaping through the ventilation to reach the planet in a very detailed transition. One of my favorites on this pack, can't wait to see more from this mapper.
Viscosity, by Blacknide:
The structure of this one is pretty straightfoward, you mostly just run, jump and evade enemies. There could have been more mechanics to shake things up, since it can get boring after a while, especially since it's not really a short level either. Visuals are unique, but very simple at the same time, using the same dark and purple tiles everywhjere makes it repetitive very quickly. No powerups either, just one secret breakable wall with rings. Simple map but it can definitely be more interesting with more variation on items and layout structure.
W, by Garrean:
This map makes me feel weirdly nostalgic, but I was very happy to see this was more than just an aesthetically unique stage. The perspective puzzles combined with the minimalistic visuals were very interesting to figure out, the ending was........ w. The only downside I can see from this is the fact it can make my eyes hurt a bit from looking at the bright screen while trying to see where to go next, but aside from that, very creative stage and puzzling.
Hydroskim, by BlueStaggo:
I was honestly surprised to see how much of the level was in a straight line and still wasn't laggy, with the only obvious issue being that towering slime trail in Software, but putting that aside by playing in OpenGL, it's actually quite fun to jump between the ramps, that, even though could be a bit tight and lead you to slip onto death pits without any checkpoints, were compensated by the decent length of the level and clear direction. Im also under the impression this level was made with another modded character in mind, but im happy it plays nicely with vanilla chars, even though some slopes are very angled and slippery. The structures of the buildings and scaffolding platforms doesn't feel out of place at all, fitting very well with the visual theming of the map while not sacrificing gameplay, something that I really enjoy to see.
Horsecircuit, by Blacknide:
I was first under the impression this was another of those silly maps with some effort put into making it work, but I can see how this could make up for some fun horse racing maps. But this one in particular.. I get it, it's supposed to be challenging, but I couldn't get past the second loop at all, before I gave up. So, cool funny horse, but this felt more like a rage map or something. If that was the point though, congrats!
Shattered Sanctuary, by raphaelko62:
I think map has some atmosphere going on, telling some story about ancient ruins being explored by some suspicious technology, but aside from that, there's not much to say gameplay-wise, which is basically running and jumping and trying to not die to enemies, zero gimmicks to add some depth to it.
The rooms were a bit too scaled up, making it unnecessarily spacious to run around, while looking very empty, with enemies too spread out from the main path you're supposed to go. Random enemies too, doesn't seem to have a focus on three or four of them, which is usually ideal. The ending looked like it was about to lead to something else, but since it just ends there, this map left me with an underwhelming feeling.
- Kalo-Frigo, by Enes2gamer:
Very cool (and hot) mechanics!! Being schorched kinda like Mario 64, except this isn't as annoying at all, getting through tight platforms felt quite challenging and fun actually, that was executed pretty well, especially since it doesn't punish you if you miss the platforming. The snowball was nice too, especially the sections which you need to break the ice blocks to make way for the snowballing. Smart combination of the main mechanics.
- Sigma Tidal Palace, by Othius and Radicalicious:
I wanna do a more proper review of this one balancing-wise once im able to get a server full of players to play this one on match, but as an Emerald Hunt map, its pretty good! Visually wise, it's stunning, I am happy with the scale of it, nothing looks too large or too tight unlike some other updated ringslinger maps, and the rooms are pretty well condensed, and the use of slopes for all the visuals are magnifcent. Once you get some of the layout in mind, it's pretty fun to "orbit" around it non-stop, which makes it ideal for ringslinger maps.
- Break Zone, by Goober:
Ummmmmmm... I kinda wanna know more behind the reasoning of this level, don't really wanna take it as a "joke" stage or just a "break room", because aside from that, I really wish I could say something more than... It's a map with two sectors.
The Unused Classroom, by Neon:
ITS DELTARUNE! Never played it but I do love seeing some indie reference here and there, and this one is great at it, with a very awesome opening full of detailed decorations that made me feel pretty excited to see how they would incorporate more elements from the game, and then... it was over, very quickly. Aw, I do hope this level gets updated in the future, because there's loads of potential here for a great map, this can't be everything that they wanted to do.
Sigma Station, by Markius:
I guess a troll map hehe, I usually prefeer these kind of maps when you can try to figure out whats bound to happen and evade it when you try your hardest.. This one doesn't allow that for most of it, which is fine, but I do wish there could at least be checkpoints so you don't have to go all the way back to the beggining, but thats probably the point of it. The turret room was confusing for me, because I did not notice the button was blocked so I stood stuck around there for a few minutes... I don't think I see many trolls map out there, so this was funny to go through, for a bit at least.
Contaminated Caverns, by Markius:
The brightness was definitely too dark for most of it, but the light coming from the roofs of the cavern and the bright goops evaded that issue in a few rooms, and even though the level was a bit short and didn't make more interesting uses of it's gimmicks through the level, the alternate routes are nicely balanced. Wish I could say more, but it could have been longer and add more ways to play with the mechanics currently present.
Dark City, by Avalice:
Knuckles dies. The rest lives... Except Ray for some weird reason, since I tried other addons and they worked just fine. It was actually... weirdly intriguing to go through the maze while trying to not get scared by the crushers, which they did a lot. There's probably an inside joke im missing here, but that's fine.
- As for the SLDC in general:
As decent as this level pack is, I feel like im missing a lot of important context behind the reasoning of some of these maps, since I see some of them as "joke" or very early unfinished maps, and then there's actually a bunch of very well designed maps.
Lots of these stages seem to have been worked by just one dude, and maybe they got suggestions and improvement ideas from other people on the project, but since I wasn't part of the server which this project was taken on, I hope to see more of the collaborative aspect of it when the SLDC sequel is finished, where the collaborators help each other making the BEST that THEY CAN BE, thats what I enjoy from collabs... Rather than being just a level pack that anyone just throws anything for the sake of it, which is the impression that I got from some of these.Maybe that's the point. But that's just what I am able to express from my perspective.
