E.G.G. Base Zone - Map21 of story continues

[Hybrid]

Hi guys this is the final level's Act 1 of my pack called "SRB2 Story Continues".
For more information about the pack, you can go here - https://mb.srb2.org/showthread.php?t=40500
You can also find screenshots there.


It may sound WEIRD but this level is made of floating ruins but inside there is a super power plant.

Spoiler

v1 - Initial Release.
v2 - BugFixes.
v3 - Added a button to open the door (linedef executor) instead of simply teleporting.
v4 - Another bug fix regarding bottomless pits in the first area.
v5 - Improved the second area as well as fixed startposts.
v6 - Bugfixes, decreased crawlas, improved skybox view as well as added some helping tips
v7.1 - Something more I can't easily explain but with more visiblity even with the skybox as well as some clarity to the level.
v8.1 - Bugfixes, bugfixes, bugfixes
v9.0 - Medium changes, sloped falls at the end, removed some flaws

Actually, this level is longer than it is here, but I don't wan't to give all of the levels and throw it into releases one by one but this is kind of a "demo" for a experience of how good/bad the pack would be when it is released and actually, the first level was already into releases, so it will be last level to be in releases, next, will be the fully fledged pack.
Also, a great thanks to Monster Iestyn for helping me in many aspects of this level as well as testing it and also thanks to Prime 2.0 for giving me tips to improve the second area.

 

[Monster Iestyn]

Welcome to Releases!

 

[Burning-Fox]

I played this level, and I have to say, it is extremely... weird. In a bad way. It can definitely be improved, but I need to point out some flaws it has.

First of all, the skybox is the biggest problem I have at the moment. It looks nice and fancy and all, but it's extremely disorienting and I can't say it adds much to the actual theme of the level, sorry to say.

There was a spring that sent you into a wall and made you fall to your death, but then there was this magical button that opened up the skybox to show the way.

In general, the whole thing is extremely disorienting, and there are so many moments where I literally have to ask myself, "Okay. Where do I even GO?" It was complete trial and error that I got through the level, falling into several pits from traps that aren't clear and deducing that the only logical way to progress would be going up through a sandfall that suffocates you.

That's not something that I would've ever had as a thought in my mind while playing this game. But here, I did. ._.

You could do with adding some more clarity, fixing the strange issues where the tunnels to the next parts of the levels are hidden by the skybox, and generally just spruce things up a little bit.

 

[Hybrid]

I played this level, and I have to say, it is extremely... weird. In a bad way. It can definitely be improved, but I need to point out some flaws it has.

First of all, the skybox is the biggest problem I have at the moment. It looks nice and fancy and all, but it's extremely disorienting and I can't say it adds much to the actual theme of the level, sorry to say.

There was a spring that sent you into a wall and made you fall to your death, but then there was this magical button that opened up the skybox to show the way.

In general, the whole thing is extremely disorienting, and there are so many moments where I literally have to ask myself, "Okay. Where do I even GO?" It was complete trial and error that I got through the level, falling into several pits from traps that aren't clear and deducing that the only logical way to progress would be going up through a sandfall that suffocates you.

That's not something that I would've ever had as a thought in my mind while playing this game. But here, I did. ._.

You could do with adding some more clarity, fixing the strange issues where the tunnels to the next parts of the levels are hidden by the skybox, and generally just spruce things up a little bit.

I did not thought that I would get a review this fast enough, but here it is, anyways, Thanks.
But I did not got you on that line.

 

[Burning-Fox]

I didn't actually expect a response so fast, though, I'm not sure exactly what you're saying.

If you mean, you're not sure what I'm saying, well, basically...

Give more clarity to the people that are playing where to go. Whether that's by making it more obvious there's a death pit below that one spot, putting a sign saying to go up the sandfall, or just making it less of a penalty. Like, killing someone for making a single wrong move when it isn't at least somewhat logical to take that route is a bit steep.

You could simply make it so you encounter the sandfall on the way, and it isn't on the right. There's a lot of things you can do really to make it more... obvious, but at the same time not so obvious that you can ONLY go that way. Maybe alternate paths could help you out. I dunno.

Just keep working and improving, you'll get somewhere eventually, I'm sure of that.

 

[Hybrid]

Ok I got you, I will update it, but not now, it late night so tommorow

---------- Post added at 11:41 PM ---------- Previous post was at 10:59 PM ----------

v6 - Bugfixes, decreased crawlas, improved skybox view as well as added some helping tips

 

[Golden Shine]

Oooooooooooo man. I got high as kite from playing this level. It's probably the most disorienting thing I've played since KodaChrome Void Zone. But that's fine, learning points and whatnot.

First, give your levels some more space to work in. Don't be too afraid of a player not clearing a gap. Be afraid of them not realizing there's an instant death pit nearby. Those things have to be painfully obviously there. Generally the maximum distance for an intended jump is what a full-speed Tails could leap over without flying. After that, it starts feeling like sequence breaking.

Try not to have your next level's skybox(as in thok barrier projecting the sky, don't remove the actual skybox.) obscure many parts of the level. It feels extremely weird to walk through a cave with only the inner walls rendered, and suddenly find an all-new part of the level hidden behind all these obscuring skyboxes. It's disorienting as hell.

Now you don't need to feel obliged to perfect this level specifically. With all the gimmicks here it seems like you were trying master Zone Builder's features, and I think you've succeeded with flying colors on that end. Now you just wanna work on your design. If you pay a bit more attention to what a clueless player could do upon running around your level for the first time, you can avoid them getting frustrated/confused while still giving them an adequate challenge. (Getting level testers mid-way through development helps.)

 

[Hybrid]

Spoiler

Oooooooooooo man. I got high as kite from playing this level. It's probably the most disorienting thing I've played since KodaChrome Void Zone. But that's fine, learning points and whatnot.

First, give your levels some more space to work in. Don't be too afraid of a player not clearing a gap. Be afraid of them not realizing there's an instant death pit nearby. Those things have to be painfully obviously there. Generally the maximum distance for an intended jump is what a full-speed Tails could leap over without flying. After that, it starts feeling like sequence breaking.

Try not to have your next level's skybox(as in thok barrier projecting the sky, don't remove the actual skybox.) obscure many parts of the level. It feels extremely weird to walk through a cave with only the inner walls rendered, and suddenly find an all-new part of the level hidden behind all these obscuring skyboxes. It's disorienting as hell.

Now you don't need to feel obliged to perfect this level specifically. With all the gimmicks here it seems like you were trying master Zone Builder's features, and I think you've succeeded with flying colors on that end. Now you just wanna work on your design. If you pay a bit more attention to what a clueless player could do upon running around your level for the first time, you can avoid them getting frustrated/confused while still giving them an adequate challenge. (Getting level testers mid-way through development helps.)

Thanks a lot for this review! It helped me a lot to improve it !
So...
v7 - Something more I can't easily explain but with more visiblity even with the skybox as well as some clarity to the level.
EDIT - IT IS 7.1.

---------- Post added at 11:16 PM ---------- Previous post was at 11:11 PM ----------

Sorry for the repost, but my edit button is not working anymore.
Anyways, here are the changes-
Decreased crawlas
Removed pits in 2d section
Skybox viewpoint set up to view things correctly
Speedbreaker :P

 

[Hybrid]

v8.1 - Bugfixes, bugfixes, bugfixes

 

[Hybrid]

v9.0 - Medium Changes here and there

-Sloped falls at the start
-Removed some flaws of the level
Also added more helpful arrows

EDIT - Also improved the 2D Gravity Section a lot, you will notice when you play 0_0

 

[Hybrid]

Guys I need a little help, for some reason, the sloped falls at the start is giving shadows along with its colormaps... Any suggestion how to fix it???