Official Level Design Contest Voting: March/April 2008

Status
Not open for further replies.
Nev3r said:
Boinciel said:
Flooded Mine Zone has a custom enemy SOC by Nev3r. Any crashes you may find in the level are probably related to the Hindens, so you know who to blame. :P
The level crashes always at the same part of the level, maybe you're the one who is making something wrong. >>'
Umm, no. I get crashes when your enemies come on screen, when I kill them, or anything. Whenever I crash, there is a hinden nearby, dropping it's sludge. Time to bust out XWE and doombuilder, so I can actually get to the meat of the level.
 
Somehow, it doesn't crash sometimes and does crash at other times. Like I said, blame Nev3r for it. They didn't crash at all until his "improvement" revision. Sure, they were a bit buggy (And the slime lagged the game to hell), but at least they didn't outright crash randomly.
Maybe I should have gone with the old Hindens, but the new chase centers and slime. Hindsight is 20/20.
 
glaber said:
if Brandon can get away with having Triopolis Town in the contest after already being released on it's own and in Gem Plannet, then next contest I'm rereleaseing Stocking Stuffer and Frozen Battery from SCR SRB2Christmas1094.

Then why don't you report that to FuriousFox then, Glaber? No one is allowed to do it. We do not give exceptions to anyone doing it. Just show FuriousFox your proof and then it can be disqualified. Also, just because someone got away with it does not mean you do it too. That happens when we do our job, we will miss something from time to time. Deal with it and do what I say if you want proper action. Right now, your complaint is doing nothing.
 
Torgo said:
MAPA2 - Metal Spire Zone by SonicMaster - 2/10
This felt bland, it just didn't feel like anything inspired it. The problem is the various heights and small rooms. It just didn't make it flow too well.

When I found out that the map I had based it off was a joke level, I was kind of embarrassed. However, no one even knew Barlin Base Zone was a joke WAD; people took it seriously; and it was actually quite well received. It wasn't until the September/October 2005 contest when JTE revealed that his level was a joke. I thought this might be well-received as well. I made it larger and three times higher.

I actually spent a while conceptualizing this. Yep. Six floors. The dimensions are way small on purpose. In fact, I purposely made the dimensions smaller than Fail, but larger than Barlin Base Zone. I didn't want my zone to be too big. I tried to make it easy to move from one floor to another by using Intangible from Below platforms.

The scenery is bland simply because that would have taken a heck of a lot of time; furthermore, it would have caused the level to lag.

----
Oh, by the way, try to go against the rushing acid as Tails in PPZ! You'll see something different. No, not utterly special, but somewhat interesting! ^_^ Also, there is a secret route as Sonic...
 
Me and my little ol' dialup decided to do Single Player maps first. Multiplayer will come later.

Poison Prison by SonicMaster: 8/10
I loved the fact that you had multiple paths in this level. I was falling into the acid past the third checkpoint mainly because I was playing as Sonic. =_= You had some nice design, also. I could get to the secrets and even... the room. At least...I base this off of my experience of the development. *ran over*

Triopolis Town by Brandon Dyer: 0/10
Glaber says this is a level made before, yet the list says Triopolis Tower. Oops! This level will probably be disqualified because you sent in the wrong level (and because Glaber reported it.). =(

Metal Mechanism, Act 1 by Hyperknux: 6/10
Cool, but when you put it in Chaos Twilight, you'll need to fix some things. First off, the script for the black rock at the beginning isn't working. Second, you need to provide a way to get out of the slime pits if you fall in them, which includes pushing the bottom of the slime pits up so that you can actually escape the slime when you go on the springs. Finally, the turrets on the corners are a little problem because when you go to kill them, you can't avoid the slime (same goes for Magma Cavern). I liked the variety of laserbeam colors, though.

Flooded Mine by Boinciel: 3/10
The big problem is that it crashes when you get to a certain point. I really liked the new enemy, though. Oh yeah the current was a little problem, too. I thought the third switch opened up the door next to the second switch, but it ends up opening to the big room where it crashes.

Green Hill Game Gear, Act 2 by Glaber: 7/10
Wow, I am actually impressed by a Glaber level. And a Green Hill one at that! The cut scene stuff was a little unnecessary, and so was the waterfalls taking you back to the beginning of the level, but I LOVED the remix. And it was kept to Green Hill simplicity, so that was awesome.

Undersea Palace, Act 1 by GCFreak, 0/10
Down where it's wetter, it ain't all that better... take it from me! *shot* The colormap was a problem because you could barely see the enemies. There were also some places where it was hard to move through/ hard to keep yourself from drowning. I especially don't like the rising platforms that are reminiscent of a certain Acid Missile level. In my mind, it's unplayable, just like SonicMaster thinks of Moon Temple as unplayable.

Average Score: 4/10
Too bad Boinciel's level crashes, or this would have been better.

Multiplayer comes...hopefully soon!
 
Ash said:
Single Player:

Poison Prison [SonicMaster] - 4/10
It's definitely a nice change of pace from all of that NiGHTS crap you were churning out, but still, it's not fantastic. I liked how you integrated the whole "holy crap, it's a poison prison" into the design, but it was a bit too open. You could've done so much more with that space. In other parts, it was cramped. It's a basic design: Platforms, floors, enemies, obstacles, death pits... not really any pizazz to it to leave a lasting effect of "wow" on you, or any uniqueness to give you a sense of the author's own style. I liked the horizontally moving door, but you did it wrong (just saying; you could've done it a lot better if you tried harder). One thing that really ticked me off was the area right before the end. Empty, a few enemies, and that path right above the death pit. What would've been better was slime that hurts you, and a current that brings you back at the beginning. You could easily lose a life if you don't turn and jump at the right time. A mouselook user such as myself didn't have much of a problem, but the turns are just so awkward and linear, it served no salvation for the map's design. Overall, it would be okay as a first try, but you, having experience, should be capable of a lot, lot more.

Wow. I read that over and over and over and I'm not understanding you mostly. Sure, my level's not perfect or utterly amazing. Nor does it use an amazing gimmick. But it's certainly not below average.

Not any pizzazz? Well, yeah. Not any pizzazz, really. That part is true.

"It's a poison prison!" That actually was not the idea behind it. Its theme was not an intended gimmick. I had to name it something! Originally the level header had <code>LevelName = IDKPLZKTHXBAI
NoZone = 1
</code>
The idea behind my zone was, "I want to make another WAD." That's usually a bad idea, but eventually, I got some inspiration from THZ2 as well. Three months later, this level was finished.

Done so much more with that space? Uhh...this zone is not very open. Take a look at Rocky Pass Zone and you'll see that it is quite a bit more open. But it got an 8.30. I personally give that zone an 8/10 myself.

No uniqueness? Teleporters, speed pads, zoom tubes (yes, there are two, not one), crushers, crumbling platforms (which weren't executed well IMO), NiGHTS Hoops, a Tails-Knux-only route, rush against the rising acid. Several of these have happened before, but those gimmicks stop the level from being overly generic.

Basic design? It has by my count, eight routes (one of which is secret). Most levels have less than that.

Return to beginning slime gimmick? Uh, no. Not on such an easy, easy area. An area far easier than the rush against the acid, which I know you got past, because that's where the horizontal door is. And that rush against the acid is only available as Sonic! A different route appears for Tails and Knuckles.

Having experience? I'm still quite new to this.

Empty? Yeah, there are some empty areas that need fixing.
 
SonicMaster, I think levels in SRB2 are basically just a canvas for a really great idea. If you don't have anything you're shooting for, you're going to be fabricating a level out of thin air. And, to be quite honest, that makes a bunch of crap.

...did I mention I'm looking at Mystic too? "The original idea behind Mystic Realm was simple: Extend SRB2 beyond the three zones that are included, by adding the levels that I had created on my own onto the end." See here.
 
SRB2WikiSonicMaster said:
Ash said:
Words

Somehow I saw this coming.

Look, you can say "olol it has lots of stuff and it ish betr dan u tink", but you're forgetting that the overall impression is what matters most. Sure, you can have eight paths, tons of teleports, zoom tubes, whatever (by the way, it's not any more impressive that you actually USED them, considering they really aren't hard to make (though execution is key)), but if 50% or less of that is going to go unnoticed and unused, what's the point? I could easily make a circuit map with 20 different, variating paths that all are interesting, but eventually you'll found out the fastest route, and continue using it to gain an advantage. This works in the same way for SP mode; the player will use the path that is most ideal for his/her experience. No amount of features can make up for any other area that is lacking. This is similar to Forever Forest by BlueZero; there was a large amount of paths, but... it was too many! Just because a lot was put into it, doesn't mean it's going to be any better than if it were simplified. As I say often: Simplicity is bliss. (Especially when it comes to SRB2.) See what I mean?

As for the fact that you decided to attempt to contradict my entire review, I get the idea that you're basically saying, "I don't like you; I don't have to listen to you; your criticism means nothing; you're wrong." Say "no, that's not true" if you will, but it doesn't change what you wrote, and that's what it means to me.

This caught my eye after your post, though:
Gemini Spark said:
Poison Prison by SonicMaster: 8/10
No pun intended, but my response to this might spark something (not intentionally, but the majority of the community dislikes me, so whatever ). I feel that rating is biased only because Gemini is a friend of yours. I'm only saying that because you have to admit, this is true. You can't really expect every rating to be completely unbiased; it's nearly impossible to do that as human nature disallows this. You must keep in mind that an 8/10 is a very, very high rating, and that most of the SRB2 community really doesn't know how to rate properly (overrating, noobs, etcetera), so the extravagance of receiving and 8/10 is downplayed by many other maps that are not comparable to the likes of dogfood being rated just as high because of archaic design that is still praised today for the most outlandish reasons.

Just saying.

BlueZero4 said:

Without any motive to create a map, you can't expect it to really be of a high caliber.
 
Mine Maze Racing level
I played this level with blade and honestly i think it is fun but i think that the loop slows it down.
Overall 7.5/10
 
Alright Singleplayer levels incoming...

Triopolis Town: N/A

It looks quite like a race to me, some pretty cool scenery but scenery is seldom enough.

======================

Green Hill GG: 3

I've not played Super Paper Mario, but the whole concept of switching from 2d to 3d was interesting. This one looks like you've basically taken the layout and flipped it to 3d along the same sort of thing. It was pretty interesting, but the problem is that everything is way too small and it really wasn't that great of a level to begin with. I'd suggest trying to emulate the feel of the level rather than making it an identical layout.

Score: Bad-3

======================

Poison Prison: 4

Factory themes are among my favorites in Sonic levels but this one didn't quite feel as "factory" as I'd have liked. This had a few paths with some average platforming gameplay and nothing else.

Visuals:

Might I add that its actually *easy* to paint the pipe on the floors so it looks like it is running in a certain direction. Though there were only a few areas with pipes anyways, it still could have looked better. Most of it was lacking in typical factory scenery, instead looking more or less streamlined and therefore a little bland. (As a note, the colormaps were a little dark and dense and the pool with the 1-up was missing any sort of colormaps at all.) The textures that made up the level seemed quite random, rather than contributing to the level they pretty much just told you where the walls and the floors were.

Layout:

The layout felt pretty linear despite the numerous paths, I like to see a level that integrates its paths into each other so even though the path is well-defined you will be going through rooms or areas you've seen before. It would also have been nice to have areas that can't quite be considered seperate paths but allow you to cross a room in different ways.

Gameplay:

As for the gameplay, it was pretty decent, but very lacking in the usual gimmicks that make up most factory levels, and nothing really takes its place. There is some platforming, some boost pads, and a couple rooms with moving liquid. The Tails only part didn't need the rising platform, I actually would have liked to be forced to use my special flying/climbing skills there. The area with the crumbling bridge was interesting but as it was added into the level contributed to the segmented, linear feel to the layout.

Score: Pretty linear layout with a serious lack of interesting visuals. It had pretty decent gameplay but had a lack of decent gimmicks, which is unfortunate especially for factory themes. Below Average- 4

======================

Metal Mechanism: 4

This looked like a more interesting factory level, but suffered a little more from some fairly basic flaws.

Visuals:

Might I add that it is easy to make the conveyor face the correct direction so it doesn't look odd? I have to say that I'm not altogether fond of the red/blue/yellow laser coloring shown either here or in JJames pack. I liked the look of the level in the start area, the first turret room, and the outer area. The rest neither stood out or made it feel bland.

Gameplay:

Despite a few areas which were pretty sizeable, the minute I enter a hallway I want more room. This is true in the climb area of the outer area, in the various tunnels and pipes after you re-enter the factory, and the tunnel with the lasers. Some of the open areas felt pretty crammed too, which made some areas, particularly the one with the laser and deep water, quite annoying.

Score: This level wasn't that bland, but on the other hand was pretty cramped. Below Average- 4

======================

Underwater Palace: 5

This wasn't a bad level, there were some pretty neat things, and then there was just running across a flat cliff.

Visuals:

Not to bad visually, the water made the platforms in some places look very neat. I personally dislike the MMZ textures especially when used in large rooms and there was an abundance of that in this level. While areas like the water slides were very interesting, the geysers looked very sloppy and in many places it did look very empty.

Gameplay:

Well only really interesting parts of the level were the waterslides. The rest consisted of long jumps (where I usually ended up in the water) or just trying to get out of the water before the time runs out. The geyser room was too cramped to feel right and when I was underwater there were too few air bubbles. Also usually when you enter a room where the water starts rising, it should be possible to beat the water up, not that it was long enough to be interesting anyways but...

Score: Waterslides were cool, but everything else was flat and empty. Average- 5

======================

And I'll vote for Flooded Mine later, I'm thinking 7-8...
 
Oh, c'mon, not alot of people are voting. Well, here I go.
Green Hill GG 2/10
I can't say that this level is good. It was very cramped, and didn't use very many gimmicks. The level seemed to repeat itself at times, and It ended a little quicker than what I would have liked. I liked the use of the cutscene, but not much else...

Poison Prison zone 3/10
This level was a little below average. Mostly due to the fact that the level itself was somewhat bland. It didn't have much scenery, and was very linear. The shape of some of the rooms didn't have much of a factory feel because they were oddly shaped, rather than a uniform Machine-like form. The level felt,...unbalanced alot of the time. I liked the different exits though, and your multiple paths. You also succeed in an area which I do not, and that's making levels the right length.

Flooded mine zone 5/10
Pretty good,I liked the custom enemy that was in there, thought there were some parts that were rather bland. I didn't get to play the whole way through though, due to it crashing for some reason. That lowered you some points.

Metal Mechanism zone 4/10
The level looked really cool, though I felt as if I didn't get to run at full speed once due to so many robots. There was some interesting level design, and none of it was bland, but some parts lacked flow and others were somewhat cramped. Also, nothing is more lame than falling into a slime pit, and there's no way to get out of it. You either have to intentionally die, or in my case restart the level because I had a water shield. Ew.

Undersea Palace 8/10
This level made me glad that my e-mail didn't attach my level correctly, making me unable to enter(I can't even compare my level to this one). The music fit in very good, and the level was overall fun to play. This is the one and only "Underwater" themed level that I actually like. Some parts though, I couldn't reach with just thokking. Not even Spin/thokking helped. I had to bounce off of an enemy to get to the other side(which only worked once because skims don't like to stay in one place). Also, at times I got confused, and ended up going back on the path I didn't take. I ended up very frustrated when I found my self at an already activated starpost that I recognized. Dang.
Though I think this level was overall enjoyable and I liked it.

Triopolis Town 7/10
You have succeeded in making a city level look like a city!(At least as much as it can in SRB2.) I like it's length and the use of buildings. I also found that football field rather creative. What I didn't like though, is that there is some graphical glitches due to such big sectors. I also went back on the path that I didn't take one or two times. Too bad though, because this probably won't count, seeing as you already released it before...
 
Flooded Mine: 8

I'm going to ignore the crash in the scoring because it only happened occasionally and I was still able to complete the level. I felt this was really the only decent level in the contest, and one of the better ones I've played in a while.

Visuals:

People never use custom textures properly which is such a pity, because they looked really good in here. I would have liked to see more custom visuals, but what was added was implemented quite well. There were shafts, fences, tracks and carts which were sparse but looked pretty good. I don't like the MMZ textures but I won't hold it against a level.

Layout:

I quite liked the layout of this level. I never got lost, and the path ahead was pretty straight forward, but there were two totally different paths with many ways to branch from one to the other. I liked the Knux only shortcut as well. The lower area reached through the water was pretty neat,

Gameplay:

Although I would have liked to see some gimmicks, it didn't feel lacking. The button pressing path was straightforward and actually quite fun. It was the last room where it usually crashed, but it was avoided if I wasn't looking towards the Hindens when I entered the room. It was also great to see a new enemy that wasn't a recolored crawla and proved to be an interesting though not exceedingly threatening enemy.

Score: The entire level was great and although it didn't quite stand out in any one area, it itself was a solid (give or take a crash) and thoroughly enjoyable map. Outstanding- 8

==========================

For easy tally and comparison:

Poison Prison: 4
Triopolis Town: N/A (0)
Metal Mechanism: 4
Flooded Mine: 8
Green Hill GG: 3
Undersea Palace: 5
 
Flooded Mine Zone act 1: 6/10

This stage was good, but it wasn't my favourite one. Time to say about some of the flaws.

Some parts of the stage was very bland, and lacked in scenery, and a bit of a challenge. Also some gimmicks such as the CEZ act 2 button gimmicks are not fun at all. Try not to have too many of them. Maybe 1 is ok, but not 3 buttons in total though. I liked the new enemy though, and also the big water area was a right pain. I had to get the whirlwind sheild, and use the double jump to get air. Not good. Add some more bubbles, and better escape routes next time. Other from that, good.

Green Hill Game Gear: 4/10

Ok, but some things need to be said here. Most of the underground area was cramped. The beginning should have a bounce-like effect into the cave like in the originall game gear. Also, add some scenery like flowers with the DEM1_4 flat texture to add some better scenery in. One more thing is the music does not sound exactly like the GG version either. Change the music next time. Also the level header on level select is broken. Fix that too please.

Poison Prison Zone: 6/10

This one was pretty decent. But there were some things I'd want to say about it.

The design was good. Different gimmicks, and a variety of areas to explore. But it was some of the design was very flat, and linear. Also your transparent sectors are a bit weird. Try using glasstex, and #000 (the igher the number increases the darkness, but not too dark though. I'd say somewhere around #060 - #065 would do. Try adding some more gimmicks e.g. more lasers. I think the rising dangerous water was a bit overused, but that's just me. Anyways good map.

Undersea Palace: 6/10

Very nice piece of work there. It was more better than the one I beta tested a few days ago. The gimmicks were nice thought of. I like the water currents. However there were only a few issues to state here.

.Some areas were a bit bland and lacked in scenery. Add some more to make it look nicer.

.The last giant underwater area was a bit of a pain. Add some bubbles there. I drowned on a few occasions just about getting to the end bit. Also it's software glitchy as well whilst moving forward whilst underwater in the last part. other from that. Nice one.

Triopolis town: 6/10

Again, another nice wad, some very good design here. Although I'd like to say a few things here.

.Try and make better escape routes in some areas especially the grass area. It was a right pain to find a red spring in a very bland spot. Some of the design was pretty flat, and linear too in some spots.

.Add a different variety of enemies in. Having a mix of enemies is good, but don't overdo do it by having too many of the same type of enemy in. I'm kinda trying to learn from this myself. I think there was too many crawlas in a few sopts crowded together. Try and spread them out a bit. This stage would be better as a race stage if you did some design tweaks on it.

Metal Mechanism: My map, can't be rated though.

There is my rating list. Thanks for feedback on my results at the moment. Appreciated.
 
Flooded Mine Zone, 3/10

Having the level crash like that is an automatic four-point dockage from me. Nev3r’s SOC caused the zone to crash twice on me. Therefore, I made a personal copy for myself without the SOC data so I could actually complete this level (yes, I still have the broken one with me). The level design is solid and fun. FMZ’s main gimmick is really just its theme, which didn’t feel that awesome to me personally, but it was kinda cool. The stage needs even more gimmicks, though. Also, I hate how your elevator once crushed me unexpectedly. I went in there thinking there might be something in there, and I got crushed. Looks to me like you made them slow so this wouldn’t happen. Unfortunately… Perhaps some Intangible from Below platforms would help? That would give you a good reason to make the elevators faster. Though it’s not the highest-rated from me, it was the one that played the best. It also was the most fun. But you gotta make sure your levels work, dude.

Undersea Palace, 3/10

I like the theme of the level, but going back in this level reminded me how much utter fail there was at the beginning. At least it doesn't have fail around every corner like Moon Temple Zone has. First, a look in SRB2DB shows that the map splits twice, but I had a hard time trying to find those areas. Second, we’re supposed to use #0000FFJ. Not #0000FFP. I sometimes had to put face closer to the screen to see what was going on. Third, it doesn’t have the greatest sense of direction. I got lost a lot in this map. Fourth, you don’t have enough Air Bubble Patches. When one stays underwater for a while, there should be more of those. It was especially annoying at the part where I was supposed to hop from platform to platform underwater with Crawlas on each ledge. I would miss the last or second to last platform and I couldn’t get back to the springs in time. And then I’d have to start from the beginning because of your fifth problem, the lack of Star Posts. Sixth, the Skims. There’s an area near the beginning where I would hit a spring to get back up and hit a Skim on the way up or the way down. Seventh, the stage needs more rings, especially at the beginning. Putting them on the sides puts them out of view unnecessarily.

I really like the invisible wall thing to stop me from cheating as Tails to get to the first Star Post. The waterslide gimmick was sweet! The music was also pretty! Also, the bobbing platform crushers were sweet. A lot of the visuals were awesome, too, sans the colormap. This definitely isn’t the best stage in the contest, but it by far had the coolest gimmicks!

Triopolis Town, 0/10

This stage should be disqualified for breaking the rules. If it didn’t break the rules, my vote would be a 2/10. It’s straight and flat. All the effort was put into the scenery. I actually rather liked the scenery. It’s awesome how the framerate was still not bad considering the freakishly huge amount of scenery you put in there. But scenery isn’t what makes a stage fun. A stage with this much scenery should be a NiGHTS stage, not a regular stage. The gameplay is really lame. Run, run, run, run, run, run. That’s pretty much it. I don’t think this should be totally deleted, though. Turn it into a NiGHTS stage and it could be VERY good.

Metal Mechanism Zone Act 1, 6/10

While this caused me frustration, this one was quite good. The beginning area was simply awful as Sonic. I actually liked the THZ2-esque turret placement and terrain shielding. However, when you sprung up onto the platform to get to the button, it was hard not to get hit. When you did press the button, the turret could still hurt you. THZRAIL does not have properties associated with it. You must use invisible FOFs along with the THZRAIL to make it solid. Furthermore, to kill a turret, submerge it deep into a water block. The worst part was the slime pits that came packaged with the turrets. Some were too deep. The rings bounced high enough that you couldn’t pick them up. I had to go to the springs and I would die on my way up. Getting out of slime pits is one of my weaknesses in SRB2 gameplay, but it’s just really lame that I would die on my way up to dry ground. Also, trying to get the Liquid Shield resulted in HOM when coming out that room.

However, as Tails, I managed to just skip that part by flight and go to the THZ1 part of the map. The THZ1 part was a heck of a lot better, more fun, and more interesting. It managed to stay rather solid to the end of the map!

Green Hill Zone GG, 1/10

This is LAME. The gameplay is very boring; and I managed to run around in circles several times until I saw the red springs. Those springs, being crucial to complete the level as Sonic, were hidden. This is BAD. The Blue Emerald needs to be removed as well; I can tell that its presence means it was part of Green Hill Zone GG. Seriously, Glaber, stop porting stages. Find inspiration elsewhere, e.g., other OLDC maps.

Poison Prison Zone, NA/10
The GLASSTEX made it look really bad in OpenGL. Sigh. Well, I did get inspiration from other things while making this level. It wasn't totally created out of thin air. Also, you'll find other gimmicks in some of the secrets...

My beta tester did not see the lack of factory feel as a problem, nor did he notice it. Neither did I. So I left this as is. What kind of factory gimmicks are you looking for?

------
Can't rate the multiplayer maps, but I did notice this:

I can tell that Barren Ambition is quite poorly designed. Its gameplay is so much like Slumber Circuit. This is bad. I don't know if it has that run-out-of-Drill-dash problem like SCZ, but it might; the lap time is just too long. 54 seconds for a lap? This does not have nearly enough obstacles. Also, when browsing through it, the camera got stuck at the finish line and I couldn't move. I couldn't get out. I did like the Bumper linking gimmick at the beginning of the level, and the scenery was just fine.
 
Oh great... I could have finished Mech Mountain Act 2 if it weren't for my computer not working. I was without my XP, but on my ME, for all the rest of the time I was banned, and my computer has only just been fixed today!

Anyway, I've only just downloaded these levels for this contest, and I'll vote them when I've played them all.
 
BlueZero4 said:
SonicMaster, I think levels in SRB2 are basically just a canvas for a really great idea. If you don't have anything you're shooting for, you're going to be fabricating a level out of thin air. And, to be quite honest, that makes a bunch of crap.

...did I mention I'm looking at Mystic too? "The original idea behind Mystic Realm was simple: Extend SRB2 beyond the three zones that are included, by adding the levels that I had created on my own onto the end." See here.

Yep. My goal eventually came to be me trying to make the best level I could at this point. PPZ did get some inspiration from THZ2, and I searched levels/Wiki to get ideas for gimmicks. A creation isn't automatically dumb if it didn't have any original inspiration behind it. I improvise a lot of music on the piano, but I'll do it just because I can; they still sound quite cool.

So what about Mystic Realm? A great deal of Mystic's levels in Mystic Realm are wonderful. (Verdant Forest needs fixing, though.) I mean, lot of his stages don't really feel that gimmicky. But most of them are 7/10 and 8/10 for great design. In my opinion, Prismatic Angel Zone Act 1 would be a 9/10 for its nearly flawless build and extremely consistent difficulty curve. (Loss of point for overly static feel of the level.) Heck, I can't get far on PAZ1 at all. But it's almost completely flawless.

Chaos said:
That Undersea Palace Zone blows any other level out of the water. THE best level I've seen in all my years of srb2. The level was nice, long, and challenging, unlike most levels. I'd give it a 10/10.
This is exactly what I think of Dandjr Palace Zone. ^_^
 
SRB2WikiSonicMaster said:
I can tell that Barren Ambition is quite poorly designed. Its gameplay is so much like Slumber Circuit. This is bad. I don't know if it has that run-out-of-Drill-dash problem like SCZ, but it might; the lap time is just too long. 54 seconds for a lap? This does not have nearly enough obstacles. Also, when browsing through it, the camera got stuck at the finish line and I couldn't move. I couldn't get out. I did like the Bumper linking gimmick at the beginning of the level, and the scenery was just fine.

Huh? That finish line glitch never happend to me nor sb (beta tester). Also keep in mind that Nights circuit stages are still in their early stages and in my case, Barren Abition was an improvement over Endless Mine. Your stages may be futher alnog than mine are, but just wait untill I catch up.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Who is viewing this thread (Total: 2, Members: 0, Guests: 2)

Back
Top