Well, I've just finished playing it (although, being the current time it is, I'm barely conscious... ;D), and I'm pretty much agreeing with what Mystic says. I'll run you through level by level:
DMZ1 -
- Throughout the WAD, some of your textures seem to have some interesting glitch with the F_SKY texture; I'm playing in OpenGL, so I've not yet tested to see if that happens in software. Either way, it's something you should look into. ;)
- I generally quite liked this map. Though yeah, Mystic did make the point of having to start the level again if you fell off, which a few starposts can alleviate; furthermore, this is made worse by the fact your lava is irritatingly hard to get out of! In the uh, 'big lava pit with the hidden 1Up', there's a distinct lack of springs in there. Having fallen in there WITH rings, I can tell you that it's just an exercise in frustration, having to thok back to the spring and pick up rings along the way - similarly with the um, 'bit with the small '|' shaped platforms, the platfom is *JUST* out of reach, forcing you to fall down and try again, and there's no real reason why this should be the case, prompting irritation.
- I did like the way you hid the Chaos Emerald token. Innovative use of the fire shield and a treat for the observant. =)
- Perhaps a slight overuse of Jetty-Synns for a normal difficulty map.
DMZ2 -
- Thus map was far more frustrating. The rising/falling lava section is simply too difficult for a player that hasn't run through the section before; though that's not as bad as the large lava pit with the thin platform in the middle - the player isn't able to easily see that this rises and falls; considering that it's a linear route to that point, the player is rather trusting that the pit they've jumped into won't lead to their death. I can see WHY you have the lava rise and fall, but the use of a linedef executor ONCE the player has fallen into the pit would be a much better, fairer idea - the player has a chance to see the lava rise and make a mad dash across the pit (incidentally, I didn't check this map with Knuckles, but did you check to see if he can actually make it across that in time? I suspect he could, but it'd close...!)
- Further to this, there are a few too many Jetty-Synns floating around here; they work in Aerial Garden Zone as you can clearly see them in the massive spaces you work in, not to mention the platforms are bigger, so as to allow more manuverability. With platforms and rooms of this size though, generally the only warning you get that there's even a JS in the room is when you get thrown off the platform into your doom.
- That said, there were some neat tricks used here, such as the fire blocks to act as a nice shortcut for players with fire shields and let the player see their next goal which is tantalizingly out of reach. Despite the OTT difficulty, the rising/falling lava over the platforms is a good idea and would work well with modification (slowing the lava down, decreasing the difficulty of the jumps). Whilst the lava maze IS a bit of a break in flow, I accept that user made levels are SUPPOSED to offer a unique challenge, even if it's not necessarilly what the Genesis Sonic game designers would put in.
DMZ3 -
- Eggman is fireproof? Blimey! It was quite a suprise to see him emerge from there, but in any case, the only problem with this is that I'm pretty sure the player has to creep up to Eggman to trigger his emergence from the lava, which is bit... meh. That aside, standard boss act fare, no complaints here.
I had recorded a demo to help you work out areas of improvements, but it ended up being about 20 minutes long, so that might be somewhat tedious now (it also stops in DMZ2 due to a Game Over).
What Mystic said - it's a step in the right direction. With a few changes, you'll have a very nice map on yours hands. Keep posting any revised versions you may produce - I look forward to playing them! =)
--
Johnny
