pastel
How to get the rail ring etc.
Oh, I didn't think of doing that. I figured there was a way to get it, I was just unable to find it.
How to get the rail ring etc.
Most of the people who say that are lying. The top level designers all had their period of learning, longer for some, shorter for others. Take Fawfulfan for example. He started mapping in 2008 and didn't make his first universally liked SP map until 2011. Take Blade and KOTE, both developers, who also went through a series of failures back in the 1.09.4 days before finding their foot as mappers. That's the way it is for everyone. Becoming a good mapper, especially for single player, takes time. This is just the second map you released, you shouldn't be surprised you aren't making masterpieces yet.I've been designing levels for about six months, and from what I've heard from the rest of the community talking about their personal accomplishments, their levels were much more widely liked after six months of practice than mine, although that could be because the community's standards were lower back when they started, or they could be exaggerating things for bragging purposes.
SOCs aren't paid attention to because they're rarely more than small diversions that lose their appeal after a few minutes. Good levels, on the other hand, can provide you with hours of entertainment.The most profound reason that SOCing appeals to me more, though, is that there just aren't many people who are good at it or actually bother to do it. The fact is that so much attention on the MB is aimed at levels that nobody really recognizes the potential of SRB2's other customization capabilities (this is obvious because the only official contest we have is for levels only)
Who says they can't win? The ones who are coming out on top at the moment also started out as newbies. I can see you becoming one of them if you take our feedback to heart.and that makes the few especially active SOCers unique while causing many newbies to simply go with the flow and compete with the hordes of other MB members in a great level design race which they can never truly win, because even if they're paid attention to, they're rarely well-liked.
Both Mystic and Fawfulfan are taken seriously as level designers, but Tortured Planet and Mystic Realm are simply far from their best work. Mystic himself freely admits that a good bunch of Mystic Realm ranges from awful to mediocre, and I hope Fawfulfan also realizes that the same holds true for Tortured Planet as well. But both of them have also made maps that are cherished by the community: Aside from tons of Match maps, Mystic made Neo Aerial Garden Zone, which is as good as universally beloved by everyone. Fawfulfan made Pipe Towers Zone, which received a score of 8.10 and was liked by almost everyone as well.I hear people on #srb2fun talking about Tortured Planet a significant amount of the time, but everyone seems to think it's mediocre at best. They even regularly diss Mystic Realm for whatever reason. If people like you and Mystic are barely taken seriously as level designers, then what chance do I have?
Don't kid yourself. There is no demand. All SOCs that I've seen posted here got a few replies at most and then sank into obscurity. Did you ever see anybody use your Stomp ability with a character? I don't think so.However, from what people have posted on SOC topics in Releases, it seems like SOCs are treated much less harshly, mostly because they're rare, a case of significant demand but barely existant supply, and, like a small business, I see a perfect opportunity in filling that demand.
Just to summarize it once more:Perhaps my reasoning is rediculously flawed, but I just don't see a point in level design when I don't find it that fun and I know I will never be taken seriously as a level designer, especially lately when it's become clear to me that there are other types of custom content that people enjoy using just as much and I enjoy making more.
It's probably best to only release your levels if you're 100% happy with them. If you need advice during the mapping process, ask people to beta test. Most of the "professional" mappers in this community use the IRC channel to get feedback on in-progress maps. Doing beta tests instead of releasing unpolished levels has the advantage that people are much more ready to accept flaws in a beta that they wouldn't in a finished contest submission.@SpiritCrusher, I'll listen to your much-appreciated advice and keep making levels for now, although I might want to start releasing them more often in order to get more suggestions for them and for future levels. Is that a bad idea, and should I only release the levels that I think are the most entertaining?
"The level has cutscenes and a custom Sonic. It must be a Dumbventure clone!"
I agree, that's a silly presumption.
Also... I wonder who's Metal Sonic that is.
That would be MY Metal Sonic, SOCed entirely by me. With Blade's sprites, of course. Don't assume that just because I haven't made a big show of it before this contest, it's not mine.
I enjoy the secret shortcut you introduced, however with random item boxes on this can be rendered entirely meaningless if you can't get the elemental barrier.