[Open Assets] Mystic Castle Rebirth

Years ago, The Zone "Mystic Castle" was created for the mod SRB2 Halloween. It was cramped, it was a colab, and it didn't age well.

It was added to Dimension Glaber years later, and in the time that followed, I was no longer having fun with the zone. So I set out and created Mystic Castle Rebirth!

A reimagining of the old zone as 1 stage instead of 2 taking in parts from the following levels: Mystic Castle act 1, Mystic Castle Act 2, Castletania Circuit, and Haunt Field (A level that was being made for the Halloween Tech demo because why not?). The Stage as it is today is now a little better.

Originally intended for an update to Dimension Glaber, and then a ULDC entry, I have decided to release this stage on its own so you don't have to wait.

By now I'm sure you want to get a peek at this stage, so have some screen shots!





(Map is not to be reuploaded to Game Banana)

There's a lot to unpack here. I could talk about the overall layout of the castle feeling so artificial compared to the CEZ we have now (a VERY tall order, I'm aware, but I was hoping you'd be inspired by at least a few rooms), most of the level being cramped despite the opening post claiming otherwise, and generally being mostly squares, but I'm just hoping I can just chalk that up to "the original levels were TOO great of an influence, and this new version suffered from looking too much like the levels it was inspired from".

That being said, I do have one gripe that might not resonate with others: Why do you insist on porting old things to the current version? The Halloween ghosts were never repurposed into an enemy because they're awful. The old Lance-a-Bots got their sprites and behaviour changed because they were awful. CEZ got a visual overhaul no less than TWO times because the old textures were awful, yet the old versions of EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THESE is present here. The game gives you SO MANY opportunities to use new content fresh out of the box, no need for proper setups. Just let the past die for once. Please.

On the bright side, putting the old CBFS next to the new one really shows how far we've come. On the other hand, not only is it not remapped properly, but, and I cannot stress this enough, why would you literally ever conceive of doing that? I'm of the position that the past is fine to be celebrated, but it better be polished beyond recognition before that's considered.

That aside, this feels like the physicalized form of stagnation itself -- I don't think I've got much new that hasn't been said yet, but, like, after dying 4 times in a row to the crusher hallway, it finally set in that half of my time in this map would just be inevitable waiting. And wait I have. Waited, far too long. Now - correct me if I'm over exaggerating, but I swear those floating platforms take longer than making the rooms they occupy from scratch would take. This isn't even me trying to be funny, I just think that's about how full the rooms look.

Cursed/10, return CBFS to his tomb, and also the old ghosts, and also c'mon if I wanted to play old stuff I'd just boot up 1.09.4 again

"(Map is not to be reuploaded to Game Banana)"

Let's hope so....

Some of the entirely new sections aren't that bad, but it does seem like a bit too much of the old level is still there unchanged (even if the sections were moved around). I was hoping to see larger and more ambitious changes in the layout and more extensive changes in the texture-set, this being based on your current skill level.

There is also the nostalgia bit with elements from SRB2's past (old assets ect...), those who haven't been with the game since the beginning may not see the appeal, especially since some of the legacy badniks are little more than reskinned crawlas.