KIMOKAWAIII Is My Origin, KIMOKAWAIII Always Waits And Is Intensely Interested

[EcafRegnaleb]

I'll put my level reviews here, updating as I play.

Spoiler:

The Zone: First things first, the music is pretty grating. Other than that it was amazing. Or, well, as amazing as a speedmap can be. It was hella long though.
Wasted Wayward: I had to play as Tails because... well... I'll let you in on a secret: I'm not very good at videogames. Then it turned out to be really short.
Ruby Castle: Why are there so many PITS? Thankfully I can't lose all my lives, just all my sanity.
Quandary Canyon: This is pretty good! I can't think of much else.
Abandoned City: Oh, wow! If I didn't know better, I'd say this wasn't your first level! The music is pretty groovin', too.
Lush Meadow: OH WOW IT'S THIS SONG! At first I couldn't figure out where to go, but then I found DE W- er, the way forward. Then I got lost again.
I found my way back, yet again, however. Actually, it seems getting lost happens a lot in this level! It's really fun though.
Magmor: Pretty good! Nice music as well!

[RomioTheBadass]

Found a bug in Raspberry desert and thought I should post it here:

* In Singleplayer, If you die after touching the Checkpoint, the door (which you unlock by pressing the first switch) gets locked, Making it impossible to backtrack and continue the level.

[Rumia1]

I'm still getting a crash in OpenGL on Cutout Warehouse unless I explicitly type out the gr_solvetjoin command in the console before going to the stage despite the fix included in the WAD.

[Twins'R'Awesome]

So, this is something I have cooked up after I played most of the maps individually, and I gave my short thoughts about them. Although I have noticed one thing that is a common issue.

Some of the music is way too quiet. Namely VGZs.

And Lush Meadow's vgz is missing some percussion. Possibly something that is 32x related since the drums do take advantage of the pcm chip in the 32x.

Otherwise, more good levels than bad ones. Excited for this.

NOTE: Some of this stuff may be outdated, also I mention "Sonic 4 Syndrome" Sonic 4 syndrome, in my terms, is when the player loses control and gets bounced everywhere by springs. Annoying and restricts control, but short and you regain control quickly.

[TehRealSalt]

@Twins'R'Awesome: It's true that some music is too quiet due to odd SRB2 limitations, the format that's typically bad about that is SPC, or SNES music. I feel like most of the VGZ/VGM music is pretty good about volume.

Here's the first batch of reviews from me! I'll try to get to the rest soon. Most of these were played with Sonic and Knuckles!

Spoiler: Reviews

The Zone (Boinciel)
Very nice stage that demonstrates good grasp on the fundamentals of gameplay. Nothing outstanding is presented, but what is here feels very polished, especially for a speedmap! I complained about it before, and you did put springs to shove the player away, but I still think the exit's still a bit hard to see. The spring help tell that isn't the way forward, but there still isn't anything guiding towards the exit itself.

Wasted Wayward Zone (PersistantRubine)
NOTE: I recieved an update that fleshes out the level more since I wrote this. I will revisit this one in my next review post.
Simple little level. All I can really suggest is to add in more alternate paths, or maybe length, since it does lack from replayability. I like the ending. :p

Ruby Castle Zone (Shiron)
Awesome level! Very pretty and nails gameplay. The main thing I would suggest is to give the switch-activated doors their own unique texture that stands out from the rest of the level; it's hard to figure out what a button did sometimes.

Quandary Canyon Zone (RomioTheBadass)
This is most definitely your best level yet! It has a totally different feel to your previous entries; it has open and fluid gameplay, and a nice and consistent theme. I think my main gripes are the usage of heavy-handed arrow textures to tell the player where to go, and that the quicksand on one path doesn't let you move around at all, which makes that path a whole a lot more annoying than it should be as Sonic.

Abandoned City Zone (Micheal12345)
I love, absolutely LOVE, tons of optional content, even if the point's just to look at something or a few items. So this level really appeals to my senses! There's a lot of heart put into this, I can tell. If anything I just want MORE items in these buildings to grab! Three main complaints, though. First, the block platforming over pits in a bunch of places just feels lazy; I would've preferred just walking through a corridor. Second, I'm not a fan of one of the paths because it kinda ditches the city theme and I lose the rich vibe I was getting from the rest of the level. Third, this lift is really mean and has crushed me several times.

Lush Meadow Zone (Flare957)
I remember a long time ago, a bunch of jerks came along and you were made fun of your WIP map pack. I'd know, since I was one of those jerks.

Look at where you are now. This is one of the best levels I've played in a long while. It has polished gameplay, multiple routes, and lots of variety; I find it really tough to think of anything I dislike about it. I applaud you and your rise in talent.

Magmor Zone (Glaber)
It's really interesting to see you take on a more harsh, gimmick-based map after your previous two entries were open, easy-going levels. I think it's rather well executed! If I have anything to complain about, it would be a lot of places where you're expected to stop and charge up a full spindash to launch off a slope, and a lot of long drawn out segments where you're just platforming on blocks in lava.

Scarlet Palace (.Jazz.)
One of the prettiest maps I've seen in SRB2! It's amazing what a few recolors to unify a color palette together can do to a level. On top of that, it's also got a firm handle on what makes Emerald Hunt fun! Lots of unique areas that are easy to identify, it's big enough to get lost in but not too big that it's difficult to find anything, and it's fun to map the layout of the place in my head. I'd suggest making the breakable jail bars more cracked-looking though, since the current hint isn't very noticable.

Cutout Warehouse Zone (fickleheart & toaster)
Definitely the most creative level I've seen in a while; never thought that mid-textures could become a gimmick! I think the Knuckles path is my favorite bit.

Azure Paradise Zone (Lazy MK)
Really cool visuals, but the checkpoints are spread really thin and it can be really tough to figure out where to go due to springs that might suggest that you can go a certain way. At the very end, there's also this bit with yellow springs against a wall that can be really finicky and awkward.

Dimension Disaster Zone (Lat')
Beautiful, and I love Sonic CD special stages, but really should be smaller. I find myself feeling like I've gotten just about everything at around 2-4 UFOs left, and the lag from how big the room is can be pretty bad. I also kinda wish there were more positions for the time capsule to spawn at, and/or that it gave more time; it gets incredibly tedious backtracking to the same spot and sticking around it to maximize how much time you get from it.

Sunken Shafts Zone (Inferno Dragon)
I can already sense your improvement over your SUBARASHII works. It feels a bit cramped in spots, and the Hot Shelter path is incredibly confusing and I haven't been able to beat it, but good effort.

Desolate Woods Zone (Manimi & Strike)
The cutscene was really unexpected, haha, I like it! To criticize, I don't really like how the hooks and pulleys are introduced over pits in a lot of places, and the flies should have a minor sound or visual cue before they charge.

Cosmic Valley Zone (davee0)
Incredibly pretty, and there's some interesting rooms in spots! My three major gripes with it though, are how small some of the platforms can be, how annoyingly steep some of the slopes can be for Tails and Knuckles, and the severe lack of checkpoints. It's not fun how far you can get sent back because you slipped off a slope into a death pit, checkpoints should be before and after every important bit. Oh, and that ending trap is pretty mean, especially for Sonic!

Robotnik's Fortress 1 (Swift)
I'm a fan of how it just feels like there's a lot going on. I think the colormap is really strong, and there's a spinning mace segment that's really hard to do as Knuckles. There's also a button that opens a gate, which it's hard to remember where that is. Good stuff, though!

Lilac Acreage Zone (RoyKirbs)
You've got a hard-to-hate mapping style that's hard to criticize. It's just pleasant and relaxing to play through, even if it doesn't have much to make it stand out. Your easter egg is also amazing and freaked out people when I played it in a netgame :P

Decrepit Plant Zone (TrustyGun)
Insanely good, I'm just sad it's so short! Extend it, I'd love to see more from you!

Pure Rock Zone (Goldenhog)
I like this map, despite it stealing about 20-25 lives from me when I first played it. This has been mentioned before (and in other maps in this review), but you really need more checkpoints; a LOT more. I said earlier that checkpoints should be before and after everything important, and I want to heavily emphasize that for this one. The thing is, letting people retry from the challenge that they made it to wouldn't make it less hard, it'd make it less frustrating. There's a difference. Super Meat Boy is tough, but each level can be completed insanely fast and you can restart it instantly. The time it takes to retry what you're struggling with is the difference between "Fuck! This is hard! I'm gonna keep trying!" and "Fuck! This is hard! I quit!"

That came out a bit long, but I just know that you're intentionally aiming for a hard map, and I wanted to explain why more checkpoints will not undermine that. Especially since it's gonna take way more than 3 lives for someone to beat it for the first time :p. To reemphasize, I do like this one! I find it cathartic to have something that challenges me like this in SRB2.

[Evertone]

god i need to get my name changed to inferno dragon on here


Haha, I'm glad the Hot Shelter part was kind of confusing, because it is a puzzle room after all. You say it's incredibly confusing, though. How do you think it's confusing?


If you tell me which parts feel a bit cramped, I can make them a bit larger. YES BOIN I DID TRY DOUBLING THE X AND Y SIZE AAAAA


Review coming soon... when I can be bothered to beat The for the first time as well as all the other levels x_x

[ManimiFire]

Updated Desolate Woods due some changes:

• Removed some pointless Hook Points and added Auto Hook Points in different places.
  
• Now the eyebots won't instantly fly at the target, first they'll charge and after a few moments they'll fly at it.

[RomioTheBadass]

Glad you guys and girls like the map :) I've considered all of your criticism and changed stuff that needed to be changed, First I have changed the angle of some hallways to make sure player doesn't accidentally go opposite to where they're supposed to, this makes the arrows useless so I removed them, Also I have polished the visuals in the hallway section to the left of the beginning area and tried to make the Horizontal springs more obvious to make sure players don't miss them, also thanks for bringing my attention to the Quicksand Salt, I have changed it so that the player doesn't get stuck there.

One last touch, I have added heatwave effect to all of the outdoor areas, this should hopefully be the last update, Thanks for you feedback everyone, It was fun making this map and I'm glad it didn't turn out horrible :P (File updated in the original post).

[glaber]

updated magmor
http://mb.srb2.org/showpost.php?p=800518&postcount=148

[Goldenhog]

Thanks for all the feedback! It seems the consensus is "dude, where are the checkpoints?" and reading your posts made me realize how uh stupid I was about their placement. When I update the map next there should be several more checkpoints dotted around.

As for the space countdown section: You're not supposed to beat it in your first try. You can, and the more power to you if you could, but there's a spring that takes you back up the shaft you entered from. The idea was that players who correctly judged they wouldn't make it to the top in time would try to return the way they came, see the spring and bounce to safety before jumping back down with a renewed air counter, as many times as needed until they succeed. That's partly the reason why it never crossed my mind to put a checkpoint there. I'm not sure how to convey to the player that spring's existence without shoving them onto it or using arrows, but I'll see what I can do. (then again, I'm adding a checkpoint right before that section so maybe I'll just remove that spring? since the punishment for failure is no longer so excessive)

By the way, is anyone else having weird issues when double-spacing their posts here? It somehow keeps turning into quadruple-spacing when submitting the post or previewing it (not a big deal because if you remove the extra spaces at that point then it'll stick, but it's never happened before)

[Jazzz]

Scarlet Palace received an Update!
Get the new version on the Original Post.

The map slot is now MAP01.

[EcafRegnaleb]

Download: It's attached
Title: Snow Halation Zone
Submitters: EcafRegnaleb
Credits: N/A
Maintainer Notes: I promise it's not a joke level

[Revan]

Updated Raspberry Desert:

- Starpost removed (I really have no idea how to fix the button issue)
- Added indicators for the buttons

I really hope it won't be confusing this time

[RoyKirbs]

I'm going to focus on maps I found issues in that are currently (to my knowledge) unresolved:

Spoiler: Biosatelite Zone

The end bit with the Supersonic Boost required to crash through walls didn't sit right with me due to there being no indication of...what is necessary to complete the section. As far as I was aware, Sonic was running exactly as he should as he always had and walls were randomly not breaking. Perhaps give the boost more emphasis with some sort of boost-launcher mechanism? That way, contextually going extremespeed would at least be sensible. Also marking off the breakable walls with a breakable texture would help a lot.

Also the polyobject room really should be something else entirely since it's so hard to tell where the lasers are going to appear in relation to it.

Spoiler: Acidic Plains

The level itself is entirely fine, just please PLEASE tone down the acid effect? Perhaps set it up to ease in colors rather than flash them a bunch? I genuinely have a problem with flashing lights.

Spoiler: Icy Hot Cave

There's...a whole lot of nothing in this one, mostly just a hallway with random powerups that really don't help all that much and enough rings to more-or-less negate any risk of ring loss. I would suggest at least varying-up the terrain and have platforming sorta...exist. And also tone down the amount of needless powerups.

Spoiler: Amethyst Aqueducts

This level is mostly fine for what it is, it just needs a couple adjustments.

For one, please raise the timers a second or two higher than what they are. I find myself only just making it past certain sections whether they be the platforms or the gravflip puzzles.

Speaking on platforming, dropping the bouncy property of the fofs would instantly help out all platforming regarding those invisible platforms. Since the player doesn't necessarily know if they're bouncy until just...bouncing into the deadly death pits. They also clash with the non-bouncy pathways in terms of rules.

The statue-specific switches shouldn't use the same design as the player-specific switches. Perhaps turning them into straight-up buttons instead of pass-through porters would help.

The second switch in the waterslide room is a little hard to spot in time to save your life from the instant death obstacles.

Spoiler: Abandoned City

This map is entirely fine on a design standpoint, it just needs far less GFZROCK than is currently around. I'd highly recommend embracing the heck out of the DCZ texture set or the city textures found in the asset packs for a bit more visual flair.

...oh I also updated LAZ with some fixes to a texture leak, and just some random detail additions because I felt like it.

[Tripel the fox]

I've updated the wad, and it no longer crashes (though only up to 14 players can play the level, but that should be fine if I cant get more players).
I've also added some emblems for score, time attack, and max chain, as well as a new map (MAPPV) that allows for multiplayer, which could be an unlockable or something (or not used at all, it wasn't hard to get working as it was pretty much already done).

[Firework917]

Hey guys - a small update for Morning Heights! There's some small things changed, and some (questionably) big things... or rather, thing.

Skybox Fix (Thank you, Monster Iestyn!) Iestyn pointed out how to fix the HOM effect at high places - turns out it was a glitch with how SRB2 renders walls itself. I've applied this fix to the spawning area since I know it won't change; when the final area is, well, finalized, I'll apply the fix there as well.

Colormap Fix (Thank you, Jazz!): Jazz showed me how to fix the colors on places with a Control Sector - like the floating platforms after the first ramp jump in the final area. This has been fixed everywhere.

New Starting Paths: There's two starting paths instead of three like before! These will instead be used as enemy placements and general premonition to other parts of the level like the ramps. This part, of course, still isn't done.

New Music: I've replaced the old song with a new Genesis track from everyone's favorite music god Tim Follin. It's from an unreleased game, Time Trax, Mission Briefing. For those interested in the old song, it was Sundance by Purple Motion - he was famous for being a really big name during the demoscene of the 90's.

That's all! Expect bigger things to come!

...P.S. I added a signpost too. Now you'll know where to go when you're done adventuring.

[Nintensis]

Sleeping Egg got an update!

Changelists :

- Another large pogo spring centered area added to the map
- Last two areas in the map are slightly buffed in difficulty to match the rest of the stage
- File size reduced
- Smaller circular platforms no longer have sloped edges that lead to unfair deaths
- More secrets added to the map

[ManimiFire]

Updated Desolate Woods due some changes:

• Changed the new enemies' death sound to sfx_pop.
  
• Allowed the record attack in the standalone wad.
  
• Changed the time you need to reach for the time emblem.

[Lat']

Dimension Disaster has been updated!

• The map is still big, the goal was always for the player to learn to make a route for themseilf to bust all UFOs in the most efficient way possible, which can only be done through trial and error and knowledge of the map.
• Added and changed ever so slightly a few textures.
• Added a few more silos to block rendering and increase performance for Software in some convenient spots.
• Time UFO now gives 50 instead of 30 seconds.
• Hitting a Time UFO will divide your time bonus at the end of the stage.
• HUD now displays the Rings Multiplier (should make it easier to understand how to get the Rings emblem)
• HUD now also displays a timer for the Speed Sneakers
• Fixed the bot not spinning with the player while using a fan
• Fixed being able to walk on the sides of bumpers: Please do tell me if your overall framerate performance worsens, because that might be it (It does additional checking because someone forgot to push touching_sectorlist to Lua!!!)
• Improved collision detection with bumpers, you shouldn't be able to hug them anymore, go hug your trash waifu instead.
• Speed pads no longer iterate through lines when you touch them (ouch), so this should increase performance for whoever had their game doing a microfreeze while their potato CPU was doing god's work.
• MapLoad no longer resets the variables by itself, this has been moved to a MapChange and should fix conflicts (notably with PF_FORCESTRAFE)
• All netplay synched local vars are set to nil outside of this map to lighten $$$.sav (you know, Puyo Puyo needs those extra kilobytes!)
• All Lua lumps have been merged so Sal has no additional work to do!

[ManimiFire]

Emergency Update:

• Fixed the pulley's issue (now I've checked).