Official Level Design Contest 2022: Round 1

Official Level Design Contest 2022: Round 1 1.1

DOWNLOAD
Overview Updates (1) Reviews (7) History Discussion
Mikhael Blur said:
5. Freezer Folley Zone by Fav
This level is also okay, it has average level design and visual style, new gimmick is okay. So yeah, nothing more to say tbh.
Click to expand...
Could you maybe be a bit more thorough with your feedback, such as what you did or didn't like? This doesn't really help me see what I can do to improve at all.
 
Is it just me or am I the only one who likes the Spiral Pizza level. It may be difficult to find where you're supposed to go at first (even I had a brief bout of trouble) but soon, you'll be able to deliver all 6 pizzas to all of the locations with relative ease. Freely exploring the level after delivering all the pizzas is a nice reward so you can take in the sights and details you previously haven't noticed.

I wonder if there's going to be a casual hangout version of this because I really do see the potential.
 
FAVman33 said:
Could you maybe be a bit more thorough with your feedback, such as what you did or didn't like? This doesn't really help me see what I can do to improve at all.
Click to expand...
Sure thing.

- Most textures looks simple enough, especially snow and ground textures. Maybe it's your style, but I don't really like it that much. I prefer visual that reminds SRB2 2.2 itself.

- Level Design is just really simple, like literally some secrets around and 2 paths, that's all. Sure, I can call that cute level design, but it's not that replayable, because there's not that much of the secret, and platforming is just really very simple, but atleast it's not that boring, but there is still something to work on. You should check out some levels, where's much hard and interesting platforming such as CEZ. ACZ, RVZ, AGZ, HHZ and so on.

- Gimmick is just spring, but it's jelly and you have spin/jump state, that's it. For me it will be more interested if you set Bouncy FOF instead of that; ofc you need to make it somehow more interesting in terms of lvl design, so that it's not just boring.

I hope that extended feedback helps you a bit, because I still won't sure about that lol.
And yeah, I answered much later, because such levels may simply not catch me, so criticism is usually either so short from the very beginning, or it may be a little more extended at someone's request. I usually describe everything in more detail when the problem is more significant for me. Here it's just an average level for me, so I've shortly described everything.
 
Ok, first of all - nice work to everyone!
Every level has something nice about it and, at least in my opinion, none of the levels are bad, although most of them are rather mediocre.
Anyway, here are my opinions on each level (in alphabetical order):

Bitter Brink Zone by MarbleCheese
Probably the level I'm the most mixed about.
On one hand the sled is a really cool addition and the multiple paths add to replayability. On the other, though...
The sled is very wonky to control (it seems like you rotate the camera first and the the character, which is really odd and it lead me to a few deaths).
The multiple paths themselves are pretty mediocre - you either have a platforming sled section, or a tight maze-like section.
Also, the 2D section is a bit confusing and the camera should be positioned, so the the player sees more, not less
I do like, that the level has custom speed-up music, didn't even know you could do that.

Chaos Cove Zone by glaber
Apparently this level is based on a Banjo-Kazooie level, which is something I wouldn't know, since I haven't played that game all that much.
The Chaos Emeralds are appreciated, although putting so many of them seems like an overkill.
The shard locations can be pretty frustrating to get to.

Egg Machine Zone by nickls2002
I really like the atmosphere but the level seems a bit too long.
The 2D section is kind of bland and the part with springs on walls has this enemy that always shoots me when I get to the top, which forces me to redo that part. Sure it's like 2 or 3 seconds but it's still kind of annoying.
The last part of the THZ goop path is also a bit on the annoying side.
Oh, and the random fast lasers over a death bit are a huge no.
Despite all of this, the level has some nice platforming.

Enchanted Enclave by Vixuzen
Hey, that's my level...
I actually wanted to have 3 paths and each twice as long but college kind of got in the way.
I am glad that people seem to be enjoying the level, though.
I do plan on "finishing" this level, although, knowing myself, that'll not happen too soon. Maybe in 5 years or so? idk

Festung Oder So by The Shadow
"Fortress or something"
Kind of wish the level was more creative but it certainly helps the level stand out more.
A pretty short level. It can get kind of annoying to get from the lower levels to the higher ones.
I do like how the fortress it self is constantly collapsing. I didn't notice it on my first playthrough.

Foliage Furnace Zone, Act 2 by Othius, Kanna, & Spectorious
I love the barrels but the fact, that you can't use your jump ability when using the upward ones is a bit annoying (although I assume it's more of the game's fault)
Other than that, the level isn't really all that special. It also really loves them slopes.
I noticed that people have problems with lag and while I personally don't really experiance "lag", it does stutter at times, especially in sections with lots of flamethrowers. It's generally a good idea not to spam objects that spawn a bunch of other objects and this levels gimmicks are flamethrowers and Pyreflies, so, yeah. They're probably the culprit.
I prefer the first act, although it's still a decent and fun level.

Freezer Folley Zone by Fav
A really fun level. I didn't know the hoops worked in regular levels but their hitboxes seem to be smaller than they look.

Hell Coaster Zone, Act 1 by Voidy2246
I really didn't like this level on my first playthrough.
When I played it for the second time I was actually wondering, why.
The 2D section reminded me why I didn't like this level.
I think the biggest problem with the level (and especially the 2D section) is, that the lava is instant death instead of fire damage (or any damage, really).
I didn't like the instant kill laval in glaber's Koopa Kastle and I don't like it here either.

Magma Laboratory Zone by RoyKirbs
Fun level. Not much to say.

Spiral Hill Pizza by Rogerregorroger
A really fun and short level, although the hints are not all that helpful, most of the time. I mean, yeah, they DO make sense when you already know where to deliver the pizzas but the problem is, most people don't on their first attempts.
Let's take the first hint - "It's just straight ahead". I've seen some people (myself included) attempt to deliver them to one of the buildings they see when they first exit. The problem is, you're actually supposed to go further than them.
I do like how the arrows are now wider, makes them so much easier to see, although they probably should be higher, as well. You can't see the arrows on the two hill deliveries, unless you're either right next to them or get away from them a bit.
Despite my gripes, it's mostly with the hints. Once you learn where the addresses are, it's a really fun level. I really like how you can explore the town if you've delivered all the pizzas.
It's probably my favourite level in the pack.

SunkSea X Zone by Nuhu64
The use of upward currents is a bit cryptic at times.
The directioning could use some help in the side paths.
Other than that, it's a pretty fun level

Tarnish Ward by Princess Plushima
I like the hints for the shards but even with them they can be hard to find.I feel like the level is a bit too big but other than that it's a pretty enjoyable level.

Yearning Yachtyard Zone by PhilJFou/ChaRG
Not much to say.
A nice and short level, although a bit on the flat side.

Zaxel's Thunder Yard Zone, Act 2 by Zaxel Katsugyo
What can I say? It definitely feels like a Zaxel level.
While I am curious about the foreshadowed boss fight, I have to focus on this level in specific.
While I do agree that putting homing mines next to electric shields is a bit cheap, there is a trick to keeping the shields. The monitors activate with a delay, so you have to be fast with them.
I honestly don't really know what to say about this level. I think it's better than the first act but it's still kind of mediocre.
Also, I thought that the electric unidus would substitute the regular ones, not be used along them. Also, the elemental fairies really don't fit the theme.
 
Last edited:
Pikaspoop said:
I'll be hosting a multiplayer server for OLDC SP maps to see how they fare in an online environment.
It will be using the comment addon found here: https://mb.srb2.org/addons/feedback...h-spots-in-your-map-like-in-mario-maker.1904/
Please refer to it on how to use the comment and death files I will be providing every so often in here.

It goes by the name of "OLDC Summer 2022 R1 !comment", it will be in the standard room until the OLDC rooms open up.
Happy mapping! :wonderful:
:threat:
Click to expand...
Ok, it has been one day. Only have a 2 KB file with feedback, but a 28 KB file with death placements.
Seems to show the online players don't feel like slowing down, but I hope the deaths will at least give you a good idea of common death points.
I'll periodically upload more comment files, so look forward to that.
 

Attachments

  • Comments.txt
    1.1 KB · Views: 158
  • Deaths.txt
    27.5 KB · Views: 142
Here's my feedback for the contest. Some preliminary notes:
  • I always use OpenGL for gameplay.
  • Since levels tend to be built around him, I played as Sonic. I had TailsBot with me just in case, but didn't use him.
  • I tend to switch frequently between first and third-person.
  • It's a lot easier for me to elaborate on negatives than positives.
  • I did not attempt to collect all emblems or perform any Record Attack runs.
  • I used version 1.0 of the OLDC addon. Version 1.1 released shortly after I submitted my votes.
  • I avoided the SRB2 Discord entirely until I submitted my votes.
  • Thanks to SeventhSentinel for organizing the OLDC, as well as the following people for creating the assets used to bind the levels together: Tatsuru, Varren, Lach, CobaltBW, Saneko, RoyKirbs, D00D64, and Princess Plushima.
  • And thank you to everyone who submitted a level to this contest!
Bitter Brink Zone by MarbleCheese
The OLDC post mentioned that custom characters may cause glitches here, especially when using the Automatic playstyle, during 2D sections. I can see why, since it uses Axis2D; that didn't affect me though. The level select picture depicting Sonic on a snowmobile (I don't have a better name for it) looks really cool, but surely you can't put that in SRB2, right? Wrong.
Ingenuity aside, the actual snowmobile section is kind of disappointing. You go through a short tube, then a flat maze, and that's kind of it. There isn't much speed to it either. The level design in general isn't the best, as most of the beginning can be skipped by doing some basic platforming. I think the map looks pretty good, though, and I thought the custom speed shoes music was cool too.

Chaos Cove Zone by Glaber
An Emerald Hunt level, but with a secondary goal of collecting seven Emerald Tokens-turned-Chaos Emeralds scattered about the place. A nice change of pace, but it didn't really blow me out of the water. I did take slight issue with the usage of Mystic Realm music - custom music is rather easy to implement, and while Jade Coast is a good fit for this nice-looking map, pretty much everyone's heard it a million times already. I also have no clue how to open that gargoyle door, if it can be opened at all...

Egg Machine Zone by nickls2002
This level has amazing visuals. I don't normally play with shaders turned on (they tend to mess with laser transparency, among other things), but I wasn't expecting the skybox's lighting to be improved so much by them. There's clearly a lot of technical prowess on display here. I also greatly appreciate the freeze put on the player's controls while transitioning between 2D planes, to ensure nothing goes wrong; that's something levels like Junkyard Jeopardy from the last OLDC desperately needed.
However, there are some glaring issues. The level is very difficult; thankfully there's plenty of checkpoints, so I didn't feel like I was losing too much progress with each death. However, the difficulty also feels artificial in some places, such as with the laser hallway and the lifts over the giant laser floor; it sometimes feels like you're tossing a coin to determine whether you'll get through unscathed. In my opinion, the level is also too long; I felt exhausted by the end.
And finally, the gimmicks are not implemented well. Yes, it's cool that there's floating THZ goop and gravity flip zones, but here it's a case of "pick your poison." On the goop side, we've got a 2D section where you need to use the momentum from the goop to ascend, but if you get hit you lose all control for about ten seconds. If you choose gravity flips, you better figure out that you have to hold jump to fully preserve your momentum, or you're not making it through. Also have fun at the end of the first section (this is where I gave up and did the goop instead), where you have to use springs to make an untelegraphed jump out of a gravity flip zone. To summarize, cool ideas, poor execution.

Enchanted Enclave by Vixuzen
A Rayman-inspired collect-a-thon level. There are emblem rewards for killing all enemies, saving all Lums, and grabbing all rings (thankfully you don't need to hold onto the latter) - you can track your progress via the status screen, and the emblems are given to you instantly upon completion. Vixuzen has created these kinds of maps before, and I believe this is a great refinement of the formula. He even fixed the permanency issues a lot of custom collectable levels have had in the past. And when I went back to check for these issues, I was surprised to see that the level's impressive visuals had changed! With new music to boot! The level design is well done, with special mention going to the pit in the woods that teleports you instead of killing you. Even the custom enemies seem rather fairly designed and placed. The only complaint I can think of is that I started slightly dropping frames after I either killed everything or saved all the Lums. (I don't remember which.)

Festung oder so by The Shadow
Apparently the level's name is "Fortress or something" in German (thanks Google Translate). You're given a short, natural tutorial before being thrust into the level proper: find six buttons to open the fortress gates before the whole thing falls out of the sky. The way the fortress collapses over time looks cool, and combined with the moving skybox and the timer, this gives a proper sense of urgency. There are also two more buttons than you need to press to finish, and an infinite Whirlwind Shield, so the odds aren't stacked against you. A short but very sweet level.

Foliage Furnace Zone Act 2 by Othius, Kanna, and Spectorious
I don't think this trio is capable of making a level that isn't anything short of glorious. Fantastic level design that emphasizes speed without forgetting about the platforming, amazing visuals, and a neat, well-used gimmick: cannons! Made of papersprites! I also greatly appreciate the content warning (since I am sensitive to noise) for one particular secret that I will not spoil. Finally, I do understand that these levels are made for Software (and they still look great in OpenGL), but when there are visible artifacts in one of the first rooms, that's a bit concerning.

Freezer Folley Zone by FAVman33
First off: the unique, cartoony texture design really strikes a chord with me. The level is designed fairly well. Using NiGHTS hoops to guide the player is a good idea in my opinion. I like the idea of bouncing off of jello, too - it's something Jello Factory (if I'm remembering the name correctly) from one of the SUGOI Trilogy packs also played with, but here it's a lot more visually appealing. However, you're railroaded into using the ramp at the beginning no matter what, despite there being a whole area to explore. Getting back to the ramp can be an unnecessarily treacherous affair, too, especially when the rest of the level is rather easy.

Hell Coaster Zone Act 1 by Voidy2246
This level is difficult, make no mistake. It looks nice, at least, and I like the little touch of Eggman watching you through monitors as you struggle. The 3D parts aren't too bad, I suppose, although I died grabbing the Flame Shield because a Robo-Hood from later in the level sniped the TNT barrels. (Pro tip: Hold onto that shield for as long as you can.) It's the long 2D section that I'm really not fond of. Lots of crushers, bumper platforming with Spinboberts that I cannot avoid because their projectiles phase into the bumpers, getting hit by projectiles from an offscreen Unidus, and not a single checkpoint to be seen. Also, the lava instantly kills you - while I suppose it makes sense in terms of level design, Red Volcano Zone uses the same lava texture for its lava, and does not have that behavior. Minor nitpick, I know.

Magma Laboratory Zone by RoyKirbs
The aesthetics here are nice, there's some cool-looking setpieces, and the level is designed fairly well, but this one just doesn't seem to stand out. Also, the Snailers seem to have a tendency to shoot TNT barrels at the worst times possible.

Spiral Hill Pizza by Rogerregorroger
An exploration-based level with a unique objective: deliver six pizzas to various locations in a town within ninety seconds. Unfortunately Roger doesn't have much experience with Lua, so there's no visible timer, but the music can be used as one for repeat attempts. You will need to try multiple times to achieve perfection here, as your only guides are some brief textual hints and a large green arrow. I only needed six attempts or so, but I have a feeling other people will struggle here - perhaps a skyward beam of light would have helped more than an arrow?
Emblems are earned for delivering increasing numbers of pizzas, and you also get to explore the town if you deliver them all. This is the best part - the map is so huge and detailed that I'm surprised the FPS for the Software renderer only dips into the tens at worst. I guarantee you that a Hangout conversion for Spiral Hill Pizza would prove very popular.

SunkSea X Zone by Nuhu64
Not bad for a remade version of someone's first map. Although the level design is rather random, there does seem to be a flow to it. The visuals are rather avant-garde but stick to a theme. I think Nuhu has potential, and I hope they get the chance to unleash it.

Tarnish Ward by Princess Plushima
An Emerald Hunt map in a very large sewer. There's a distinct melancholy tone here, created by the music, textures, and sprites - it seems like almost everything with a face looks depressed. It's very well done in my opinion, even if it feels like there's a reference I'm missing. To help with your search, unused Emerald Shard spawnpoints are replaced with hint monitors. (No, not like the ones in SA2 - these ones must be broken.) This greatly helped me, because I wouldn't have found the pieces in my first playthrough without them. Two were hidden behind graffiti'd walls that break on contact, and the other was in the "guts of a crusher." I can probably see people getting frustrated if they have to get those pieces and can't figure out the solution, but the hints themselves are still a good idea.

Yearning Yachtyard Zone by PhilJFou AKA ChaRG
And the trophy for Most Improved goes to PhilJFou AKA ChaRG! This level certainly achieved the aesthetic vibe it was going for. Those yachts are impressive-looking, if a bit cramped on the inside. Most importantly, the level design is pretty good, and the map just felt fun to play in general. Some parts felt a bit incomplete (the map WAS rushed though). I also think the author should take a look at vanilla SRB2 item placement, because it often felt like I was getting showered with monitors despite not putting in much effort. Case in point: Crossing a small river with one jump (not even a thok) let me access a 1-up and four ring boxes that honestly weren't even hidden.

Zaxel's Thunder Yard Act 2 by Zaxel Katsugyo
Where do I begin? The first thing I noticed was the texturing - it's all oversized and mismatched. Then I realized that I was constantly dropping 2-4 frames. As I continued forward, I came up with a likely reason why: the map is too big, and there are just too many objects for the game to handle at once.
Now, a bit of context. The original Thunder Yard (which did not have "Act 1" in its name, mind you) was part of the OLDC 2021 Round 1, and I gave it my highest rating. Why? It had a gimmick I liked: lots of rings, and a steady supply of electric shields to grab those rings with. I like collecting things, so I ignored the level's faults.
Act 2 does not fix any of "Act 1's" issues, and indeed makes things worse. Electric shields attract bombs, so why not put their monitors right next to bombs so that you can't use them? And while we're at it, let's put in even more electric hazards, so that trying to get through without an electric shield is unnecessarily difficult? And then let's greatly reduce the number of said shields (or hide them all in places I couldn't find or care to find). Oh, we should dump all the Unidi and electric spirit things that ever existed all over the map, too. Finally, let's use the entire file size budget on music for cutscenes and secrets, leaving nothing for audio cues for the custom enemies... AGAIN.
Zaxel, if you read this, PLEASE try something different. No more giant collectathon maps. I think I speak for everyone when I say that I'm sick and tired of them.
 
NerfPlayeR135 said:
Here's my feedback for the contest. Some preliminary notes:
  • I always use OpenGL for gameplay.
  • Since levels tend to be built around him, I played as Sonic. I had TailsBot with me just in case, but didn't use him.
  • I tend to switch frequently between first and third-person.
  • It's a lot easier for me to elaborate on negatives than positives.
  • I did not attempt to collect all emblems or perform any Record Attack runs.
  • I used version 1.0 of the OLDC addon. Version 1.1 released shortly after I submitted my votes.
  • I avoided the SRB2 Discord entirely until I submitted my votes.
  • Thanks to SeventhSentinel for organizing the OLDC, as well as the following people for creating the assets used to bind the levels together: Tatsuru, Varren, Lach, CobaltBW, Saneko, RoyKirbs, D00D64, and Princess Plushima.
  • And thank you to everyone who submitted a level to this contest!
Bitter Brink Zone by MarbleCheese
The OLDC post mentioned that custom characters may cause glitches here, especially when using the Automatic playstyle, during 2D sections. I can see why, since it uses Axis2D; that didn't affect me though. The level select picture depicting Sonic on a snowmobile (I don't have a better name for it) looks really cool, but surely you can't put that in SRB2, right? Wrong.
Ingenuity aside, the actual snowmobile section is kind of disappointing. You go through a short tube, then a flat maze, and that's kind of it. There isn't much speed to it either. The level design in general isn't the best, as most of the beginning can be skipped by doing some basic platforming. I think the map looks pretty good, though, and I thought the custom speed shoes music was cool too.

Chaos Cove Zone by Glaber
An Emerald Hunt level, but with a secondary goal of collecting seven Emerald Tokens-turned-Chaos Emeralds scattered about the place. A nice change of pace, but it didn't really blow me out of the water. I did take slight issue with the usage of Mystic Realm music - custom music is rather easy to implement, and while Jade Coast is a good fit for this nice-looking map, pretty much everyone's heard it a million times already. I also have no clue how to open that gargoyle door, if it can be opened at all...

Egg Machine Zone by nickls2002
This level has amazing visuals. I don't normally play with shaders turned on (they tend to mess with laser transparency, among other things), but I wasn't expecting the skybox's lighting to be improved so much by them. There's clearly a lot of technical prowess on display here. I also greatly appreciate the freeze put on the player's controls while transitioning between 2D planes, to ensure nothing goes wrong; that's something levels like Junkyard Jeopardy from the last OLDC desperately needed.
However, there are some glaring issues. The level is very difficult; thankfully there's plenty of checkpoints, so I didn't feel like I was losing too much progress with each death. However, the difficulty also feels artificial in some places, such as with the laser hallway and the lifts over the giant laser floor; it sometimes feels like you're tossing a coin to determine whether you'll get through unscathed. In my opinion, the level is also too long; I felt exhausted by the end.
And finally, the gimmicks are not implemented well. Yes, it's cool that there's floating THZ goop and gravity flip zones, but here it's a case of "pick your poison." On the goop side, we've got a 2D section where you need to use the momentum from the goop to ascend, but if you get hit you lose all control for about ten seconds. If you choose gravity flips, you better figure out that you have to hold jump to fully preserve your momentum, or you're not making it through. Also have fun at the end of the first section (this is where I gave up and did the goop instead), where you have to use springs to make an untelegraphed jump out of a gravity flip zone. To summarize, cool ideas, poor execution.

Enchanted Enclave by Vixuzen
A Rayman-inspired collect-a-thon level. There are emblem rewards for killing all enemies, saving all Lums, and grabbing all rings (thankfully you don't need to hold onto the latter) - you can track your progress via the status screen, and the emblems are given to you instantly upon completion. Vixuzen has created these kinds of maps before, and I believe this is a great refinement of the formula. He even fixed the permanency issues a lot of custom collectable levels have had in the past. And when I went back to check for these issues, I was surprised to see that the level's impressive visuals had changed! With new music to boot! The level design is well done, with special mention going to the pit in the woods that teleports you instead of killing you. Even the custom enemies seem rather fairly designed and placed. The only complaint I can think of is that I started slightly dropping frames after I either killed everything or saved all the Lums. (I don't remember which.)

Festung oder so by The Shadow
Apparently the level's name is "Fortress or something" in German (thanks Google Translate). You're given a short, natural tutorial before being thrust into the level proper: find six buttons to open the fortress gates before the whole thing falls out of the sky. The way the fortress collapses over time looks cool, and combined with the moving skybox and the timer, this gives a proper sense of urgency. There are also two more buttons than you need to press to finish, and an infinite Whirlwind Shield, so the odds aren't stacked against you. A short but very sweet level.

Foliage Furnace Zone Act 2 by Othius, Kanna, and Spectorious
I don't think this trio is capable of making a level that isn't anything short of glorious. Fantastic level design that emphasizes speed without forgetting about the platforming, amazing visuals, and a neat, well-used gimmick: cannons! Made of papersprites! I also greatly appreciate the content warning (since I am sensitive to noise) for one particular secret that I will not spoil. Finally, I do understand that these levels are made for Software (and they still look great in OpenGL), but when there are visible artifacts in one of the first rooms, that's a bit concerning.

Freezer Folley Zone by FAVman33
First off: the unique, cartoony texture design really strikes a chord with me. The level is designed fairly well. Using NiGHTS hoops to guide the player is a good idea in my opinion. I like the idea of bouncing off of jello, too - it's something Jello Factory (if I'm remembering the name correctly) from one of the SUGOI Trilogy packs also played with, but here it's a lot more visually appealing. However, you're railroaded into using the ramp at the beginning no matter what, despite there being a whole area to explore. Getting back to the ramp can be an unnecessarily treacherous affair, too, especially when the rest of the level is rather easy.

Hell Coaster Zone Act 1 by Voidy2246
This level is difficult, make no mistake. It looks nice, at least, and I like the little touch of Eggman watching you through monitors as you struggle. The 3D parts aren't too bad, I suppose, although I died grabbing the Flame Shield because a Robo-Hood from later in the level sniped the TNT barrels. (Pro tip: Hold onto that shield for as long as you can.) It's the long 2D section that I'm really not fond of. Lots of crushers, bumper platforming with Spinboberts that I cannot avoid because their projectiles phase into the bumpers, getting hit by projectiles from an offscreen Unidus, and not a single checkpoint to be seen. Also, the lava instantly kills you - while I suppose it makes sense in terms of level design, Red Volcano Zone uses the same lava texture for its lava, and does not have that behavior. Minor nitpick, I know.

Magma Laboratory Zone by RoyKirbs
The aesthetics here are nice, there's some cool-looking setpieces, and the level is designed fairly well, but this one just doesn't seem to stand out. Also, the Snailers seem to have a tendency to shoot TNT barrels at the worst times possible.

Spiral Hill Pizza by Rogerregorroger
An exploration-based level with a unique objective: deliver six pizzas to various locations in a town within ninety seconds. Unfortunately Roger doesn't have much experience with Lua, so there's no visible timer, but the music can be used as one for repeat attempts. You will need to try multiple times to achieve perfection here, as your only guides are some brief textual hints and a large green arrow. I only needed six attempts or so, but I have a feeling other people will struggle here - perhaps a skyward beam of light would have helped more than an arrow?
Emblems are earned for delivering increasing numbers of pizzas, and you also get to explore the town if you deliver them all. This is the best part - the map is so huge and detailed that I'm surprised the FPS for the Software renderer only dips into the tens at worst. I guarantee you that a Hangout conversion for Spiral Hill Pizza would prove very popular.

SunkSea X Zone by Nuhu64
Not bad for a remade version of someone's first map. Although the level design is rather random, there does seem to be a flow to it. The visuals are rather avant-garde but stick to a theme. I think Nuhu has potential, and I hope they get the chance to unleash it.

Tarnish Ward by Princess Plushima
An Emerald Hunt map in a very large sewer. There's a distinct melancholy tone here, created by the music, textures, and sprites - it seems like almost everything with a face looks depressed. It's very well done in my opinion, even if it feels like there's a reference I'm missing. To help with your search, unused Emerald Shard spawnpoints are replaced with hint monitors. (No, not like the ones in SA2 - these ones must be broken.) This greatly helped me, because I wouldn't have found the pieces in my first playthrough without them. Two were hidden behind graffiti'd walls that break on contact, and the other was in the "guts of a crusher." I can probably see people getting frustrated if they have to get those pieces and can't figure out the solution, but the hints themselves are still a good idea.

Yearning Yachtyard Zone by PhilJFou AKA ChaRG
And the trophy for Most Improved goes to PhilJFou AKA ChaRG! This level certainly achieved the aesthetic vibe it was going for. Those yachts are impressive-looking, if a bit cramped on the inside. Most importantly, the level design is pretty good, and the map just felt fun to play in general. Some parts felt a bit incomplete (the map WAS rushed though). I also think the author should take a look at vanilla SRB2 item placement, because it often felt like I was getting showered with monitors despite not putting in much effort. Case in point: Crossing a small river with one jump (not even a thok) let me access a 1-up and four ring boxes that honestly weren't even hidden.

Zaxel's Thunder Yard Act 2 by Zaxel Katsugyo
Where do I begin? The first thing I noticed was the texturing - it's all oversized and mismatched. Then I realized that I was constantly dropping 2-4 frames. As I continued forward, I came up with a likely reason why: the map is too big, and there are just too many objects for the game to handle at once.
Now, a bit of context. The original Thunder Yard (which did not have "Act 1" in its name, mind you) was part of the OLDC 2021 Round 1, and I gave it my highest rating. Why? It had a gimmick I liked: lots of rings, and a steady supply of electric shields to grab those rings with. I like collecting things, so I ignored the level's faults.
Act 2 does not fix any of "Act 1's" issues, and indeed makes things worse. Electric shields attract bombs, so why not put their monitors right next to bombs so that you can't use them? And while we're at it, let's put in even more electric hazards, so that trying to get through without an electric shield is unnecessarily difficult? And then let's greatly reduce the number of said shields (or hide them all in places I couldn't find or care to find). Oh, we should dump all the Unidi and electric spirit things that ever existed all over the map, too. Finally, let's use the entire file size budget on music for cutscenes and secrets, leaving nothing for audio cues for the custom enemies... AGAIN.
Zaxel, if you read this, PLEASE try something different. No more giant collectathon maps. I think I speak for everyone when I say that I'm sick and tired of them.
Click to expand...
Thanks for the feedback!

I wish I knew how to LUA to fix the long control freeze in the goop and gravity areas, I think that would fix it for the most part -<-
And I kinda noticed a lot of people are trying to control the character in the spring part (At the end of the first gravity area), even though I put rings to indicate that they shouldn't move. I guess that's because they don't see the platform and assume that they should do something. Should've really made it more visible I guess.

Okay, noted everything, I'll try to avoid stuff like that next time :V
 
Code: 
WARNING: ...ddons/OLDC_2022Round1_SP-v1.1.pk3|Lua/OLDC/CVars.lua:31: This can only be used in a level!
stack traceback:
    [C]: in function 'G_GametypeUsesLives'
    ...ddons/OLDC_2022Round1_SP-v1.1.pk3|Lua/OLDC/CVars.lua:31: in function 'returnSpecialCVarValue'
    ...ddons/OLDC_2022Round1_SP-v1.1.pk3|Lua/OLDC/CVars.lua:40: in function <...ddons/OLDC_2022Round1_SP-v1.1.pk3|Lua/OLDC/CVars.lua:39>

don't remember what I was doing
 
sort-2022-07-08(22_37_37).png
 
Johnboy101 said:
In chaos cove is there any way to open the gargoyle door?
Click to expand...
No. Plans for that door fell through as the idea I had to open it wasn't playing well in my mind. I had plans on using gargoyles like Jinjos, but even with that, the problem then arose of, what do I put on the other side? I don't exactly have a custom boss to fight, and I didn't think about using an emblem since well, there are only so many free emblem slots for custom graphics.

I'm not going to string you along like Rare did with Stop N Swop.
 
Last edited:
Oh boy... some people ain't gonna like at least one of my votes.

But before you read, please note that I do NOT rate maps based on their overall quality, but for much I personally ENJOY them. Keep that in mind.

1. Tarnish Ward by Princess Plushima
2. Spiral Hill Pizza by Rogerregorroger
3. Magma Laboratory Zone by RoyKirbs
4. Enchanted Enclave by PhilJFou/ChaRG
5. Freezer Folley Zone by Fav
6. SunkSea X Zone by Nuhu64
7. Bitter Brink Zone by MarbleCheese
8. Yearning Yachtyard Zone by PhilJFou/ChaRG
9. Egg Machine Zone by nickls2002
10. Hell Coaster Zone, Act 1 by Voidy2246
11. Festung Oder So by The Shadow
12. Chaos Cove Zone by glaber
13. Foliage Furnace Zone, Act 2 by Othius, Kanna, & Spectorious
14. Zaxel's Thunder Yard Zone, Act 2 by Zaxel Katsugyo

I also recorded one of my playthroughs, and each map was played at least 3 times. Below the playlist link are my reviews.


1. Tarnish Ward by Princess Plushima

Finally, a good Emerald Hunt map (Sorry glaber)! It puts two things many emerald hunt maps don't have; setpieces, and hints! I do hope the frameworkf or the hint system comes out soon, because having this has made it so much easier to track emeralds down b nudging you where you should go. and thanks to the clearly distinct areas and landmarks, I had a generally great feel for the layout after some exploring, and still knew what hints to look out for on my first playthroughs. I also appreciate the really secret plant growing sidequest, but it does feel underwhelming to get a token for an award instead of an emblem. Oh, and I like how the atmosphere in this level is too, with its special NPCs and robots, and moody music, they really capture this gloomy poverty, with the occasional glimpse of hope in the cracks. This map is one of those whole packages that gets just about everything right, and it did so as one of the (usually) notoriously crap Emerald Hunt maps!

2. Spiral Hill Pizza by Rogerregorroger

My most frequently replayed map! I didn't like it at first, but once I got the route down, I had lots of fun running it as different characters! I appreciate that you can kinda "skip" this one if you aren't great at speedruning, and I'm not much of a speedrunner either, but I felt really inclined to dash through the city to get the deliveries done, with the different ways you can sprint and leap around. The update certainly helped with readability, but I still felt more could be done. A map like this can also chug in software on some rigs. Still, I had a delectable time with this one!

3. Magma Laboratory Zone by RoyKirbs
We had a lot of fire levels in this comp, but this one has been the most explosive! Fireballs just about everywhere, explosive barrels being triggered by enemies to domino effect, a good ol' hot-on-your-toes map that feels great to speed and weave around in. I honestly don't have much to say on it, as its just a really solid map that I enjoyed playing.

4. Enchanted Enclave by Vixuzen
I'm afraid the Rayman stuff is kinda lost on me, but there's still interesting stuff at play here. The path split basically makes this two maps, and the time of day changes every time you load the map too. Its a bit weird having crawlas just... act different without looking any different, but I appreciate having new enemy behavior! I also like how the map end with a new method of scoring as well. Still, while this map is very solid, it feels odd playing this after playin the other Rayman-based levels, as this is like I played Greenflower after I already beat Castle Eggman and Red Volcano. But it does make me think you're going somewhere with all this...

5. Freezer Folley Zone by Fav
A frosted foot level is something I can get behind, and I enjoy using the gelatin more than most other "bouncy sector" levels, mainly because being (what I assume is) a non-solid FOF, it has much better hit detection than the flat floor of a Solid FOF you could stand on the ledge of trying to land on it. I appreciate the style of the texturework too, though I do think there's isn't much Freezer going on here until the end. A short but sweet map!

6. SunkSea X Zone by Nuhu64
I feel pretty strange about this. A pretty good water level with good visuals, but despite playing this map at least 3 times, I'm having difficulty remembering particular elements... But when using the vote checker, it said this was at 6. Sorry that I don't have much to say, other than I enjoyed this map more than the maps below it.

7. Bitter Brink Zone by MarbleCheese
Well, you certainly won the award for best level thumbnail, actually drawing yours! While the Axis 2D area is cool, it feels a big weird that the path you go on for the rest of the level hinges on if you jump over a specific obstacle or not. The sled is a pretty cool idea, but the controls are... really difficult to steer, I feel. This isn't a big deal on the outside path, but the indoor path with the dark maze is both difficult to control and just unfun to actually do, I just stick to the path that's after jumping the booster on the 2D split. Overall, pretty middle on this one.

8. Yearning Yachtyard Zone by PhilJFou/ChaRG
I think its pretty neat to have boats scattered across the water areas of the map, but they're always off tot he side and feel more like scenery for most of the map. It's more of a rainforest for the rest of it, and I think you can ignore the ocean entirely. The level ends sooner than I'd have liked, but you went for a specific mood and did a pretty good job at nailing it.

9. Egg Machine Zone by nickls2002
This map is constantly doing different things each room, focused on fighting the button and getting to the exit, and this gives a good amount of variety to the level's challenges, but in addition to probably being a bit too long, some of these parts drive me nuts. Mainly, the laser hallway, which has a checkpoint in the middle of it, as I an never tell the timing for the laser set at the end. With said lasers over a pit, this is an instant death. Similar issue with the room right after, where you can touch the laser floor trying to pre-emptively land on the... seemingly random FOF elevators, and its very possible to fall right into the pit, and back to halfway through the laser hall. Very annoying. The goo path can be real sluggish if you mess up and need to recover, and the ending climb can be cheated out by hitting the reset button, giving you free pick of the monitors and a much easier opportunity to pick off the Jetty-syns. It's not too bad, but I always feel pretty burned out after playing it.

10. Hell Coaster Zone, Act 1 by Voidy2246
Of the 3 fire maps, this one stands out by being more about the titicular coaster. I'm actually surprised on how short the minecart section is, while most of the map's playtime is the 2D section. I was also pretty underwhelmed by how little scenery there was during botht he minecart and 2D sections. Both have ample opportunity to play with visuals, as one has you literally on rails, and the other has a whole background you can stack stuff onto as much as you want. Its also odd that the 2D section doesnt seem to do much with either the fire OR the coaster theming. It has slopes, and that's about it. Not much to do with the lava (outside of it being a OHKO for some reason), and I never got the high speed wow factor that I'd expect from a roller coaster. The areas in between the coaster segments are easily skipped around by most of the cast, so I hardly remember them because I almost always cheesed my way though them. Overall, not a bad map, but I can't say much good about it either, I'm afraid.

11. Festung Oder So by The Shadow
It sure is a fortress... or something. Not a ginle enemy here, but it has a nice little idea where you need to hit 6 buttons in a collapsing fortress. Even so, the falling is pretty lax so it rarely felt like a threat. I can't say I disliked the level, but it feels like the conclusion to a much larger level I never got to play...

12. Chaos Cove Zone by glaber
I thought I was getting deja vu after my recent Banjo-Kazooie playthrough, but I realise this was intentional. This is an incredibly simple Emerald Hunt map with the usual Emerald Hunt problems. Lots of running around until you finally get a ding. Oh, and a ton of emerald tokens are on this map for some reason. Seeing new enemies is nice, but not much to say beyond that. At the end of the day, it sure is another glaber map.

13. Foliage Furnace Zone, Act 2 by Othius, Kanna, & Spectorious
Alright, this is where I'm getting the most heat, I'm sure. How does a map with all this custom texturework and these unique stage elements, wind up all the way down here? Well, as I already said, I rate maps based not on their quality, but how much I enjoy them, and I did not enjoy this map. Like Foliage Furnace Act 1, I am constantly getting lost. The textures are still as busy and difficult to parse paths out of as last time, but the geometry isn't without its navigation issues either. I keep looping back around to areas I've already been to, confused on how to progress often, and there's at least one part where I don't know where the intended path is, and I gotta use the ability of my character to cheese around it. This is also the worst map in terms of framerate performance. Spiral Hill Pizza can lag on some setups but is okay on others or in Open GL, Magma Laboratory can have some chugging frames in software too, but THIS map has SO many flames, and the scale is SO huge, Software and OGL lag out for different areas of the map, with Oligatory Othius Giant Jump at the end being real bad on OGL. I wanted to like this one, but I just did not like playing it.

14. Zaxel's Thunder Yard Zone, Act 2 by Zaxel Katsugyo
An incredibly long, busy, and bloated from Zaxel, how unsurprising. These maps technically have their differences, but they all feel like I'm playing the same Zaxel level over and over again. But while the other levels were at least open enough to do a lot of Dash Mode running (assuming your chosen character can do that), this map is flooded with hazards from everywhere! Its literally spraying by the fountain, except the fountain is electricity! You think the electric-based shields will help, and they do for a time, but then the Special Stage mines show up to ensure you can't have nice things. I'm just so sick of playing Enemy Spam Hallway Land. Oh, and of all the maps, this is the second worst with performance issues, behind Foliage Furnace. Of all the maps, this is the one I'm most likely to go "Ughhhhhhhh... maaaaaaaaan..." before playing. I swear, the next map better be a fight against Zaxel, because after all these maps with these characters being mentioned, but never ever present, and several of this author's maps being training grounds or dojos, it'll be great to finally see what Zaxel is like in a boss fight.

Well, there you go, all the votes for this round. Overall, pretty good contest!
 
Last edited:
This contest was super fun, and super hard to vote for. There's a ton of very different gameplay styles represented here, which has a neat effect of making the OLDC Itself a lot more fun to just blast through in one sitting, since you're never really getting sick of doing just one thing. I loved every level here, and it hurt to write the bottom half of this list.

Unfold for words:
Tarnish Ward
There aren't a lot of emerald hunt maps, and I think we're missing a lot of design theory for what makes one good. They're 'about' exploration in the same way that normal levels are 'about' flow and platforming, so I focused all my energy on making things interesting to explore. That meant trying to make the environment meaningful, and making a populated area seemed like a good approach to do that. The hint system is another big piece of the puzzle I feel we've been missing. Hopefully all of this comes together to make a level where exploration feels meaningful and rewarding.

By the way, the music was made by my amazing girlfriend owless, who has this to say:

hey, its owless. idk much about srb2 but PrincessPlushima wanted music to fit the mood of tarnish ward so i offered to make some. its based on old north korean and soviet synthpop and maybe a little kaizers orchestra. its my first chiptune track and ill be posting more to my youtube channel if youre interested. big thanks to the srb2 oldc for giving me the opportunity to share something with everyone, and i hope you all enjoy my small contribution

Spiral Hill Pizza
Rogerr levels are always a treat, and this is no exception. Using exclusively custom textures gives the level a strong, coherent and unique aesthetic that's an absolute blast to explore. There's still some jank here and there- with jagged slopes and weird shaped paths all over the place, but it's improved a LOT from your previous maps. My first few playthroughs it was difficult to tell exactly where to go- the pencil thin arrows aren't exactly easy to spot from a distance (You have fixed this since I wrote this review ^.^)- but a few playthroughs in I was having a blast trying to optimize my route and become the pizza master. There's a peculiar contrast between the frantic gameplay style, and the very detailed environment that you barely get a chance to look at- but that just makes the "free exploration mode" unlock feel genuinely rewarding.

Foliage Furnace Zone, Act 2
These bigass roller coaster levels are always a blast just to run through. The barrel cannons are really fun- although they feel a bit weak for some of the big jumps they're expected to be used for. The bombastic, exciting presentation style nonetheless elevates this level. My biggest complaint is just that I wish there were more of it.

Magma Laboratory Zone
The platforming here is mostly solid, and I can tell you had a lot of fun working out new ways to use the spawn objects linedef- the explosives and fireballs everywhere make things super exciting! I do feel that the last room's challenge is a bit too tight compared to the rest of the level, which is a relatively mild challenge.

Yearning Yachtyard Zone
This level has a very strong aesthetic and atmosphere that I absolutely love. It's a peaceful and relaxing place. I do wish it was easier to get out of the water. Hopping from boat to boat is fun, but rushing to get back to shore is stressful, and it feels wrong to be stressed out in this level. The Titanic scene is cute as heck, but the hint for that emblem totally had me trying to stand on the bow of every boat in the level before I realized I'd overcomplicated it.

SunkSea X Zone
This level is solid. The platforming is good, though directioning is a little off at times- at one point I found myself doing an elaborate platforming section as Sonic, only to find the path ending with a Knuckles wall, with Sonic's route being a small set of springs in a corner. There's nothing terribly exciting or unique in the gameplay or design, but overall still an enjoyable experience.

Enchanted Enclave
My first couple playthroughs of this I approached it like a normal Sonic level, which coupled with missing the right route and getting unlucky with the time of day system, meant I completely missed everything that made it unique and interesting. This level THRIVES on replayability. Some of the Rayman textures are way too small for the huge cliffsides they tile, and while the custom enemies are very cool, they really should have unique designs. I love a good crawla recolor, but having three enemies with completely different behaviours in the same level looking almost exactly the same just feels confusing. I want to like this level a lot more, because I can feel the passion that went into it, but grinding out the challenge emblems just doesn't appeal to me. I would probably enjoy it a lot more in a different context- such as a level pack where emblems were a more meaningful collectible- but taken on its own it falls apart some.

Freezer Folley Zone
This map's aesthetic is positively adorable. The freezer theme is super fun, and cute moments like the crawla date and Huggert put a smile on my face. The use of NiGHTS rings, in particular on the giant slope jumps is a clever way to make moving around fun- even if it ultimately provides no "real" gameplay advantage. I do feel that some of the custom texture work is a bit lacking- there's a lack of actual 'texture' to them. The final freezer section, while adorable, is a little awkward in how it just ends.

Zaxel's Thunder Yard Zone, Act 2
This mostly feels like more of Thunder Yard, which would be fine, but that level already felt like it went on a bit too long. I love all of the unique hazards thrown around, and the reskinned unidus is super cool- though it's a bit odd to use the regular unidus in the same level. The elemental girls are cool for the aesthetic, but a little uninteresting as enemies go. More than 1 HP on a tiny enemy almost always means they aren't worth fighting. Having them give a shield on defeat is a cool fix to that problem, except it doesn't seem to work most of the time. I was forgiving to the way the magnetic spikeballs were used in Thunder Yard 1 to limit player's ability to keep the electric shield, but here you've doubled down on everything that made them frustrating in the first act. I don't think I saw a single opportunity to grab an electric shield without getting immediately punished for it. Between that and a rather mean-spirited drop off after a big spindash ramp, I genuinely wish you would stop trying to "troll" your players. It gets old very fast. I do feel bad for ranking this this low, as it was still a genuinely enjoyable experience.
I'm hyped to fight Zaxel.

Egg Machine Zone
I really like this level's aesthetic, and the "gimmick gauntlet" design is interesting to me, but damn does it get way too hard towards the end. The spikeball maze at the end of the gravity flip section in particular killed a lot of my enthusiasm - having that at the end of a super long gauntlet with no checkpoints just feels like a slap to the face. This is a shame, because in a vacuum some of the tighter platforming challenges are genuinely really interesting, but by the end I was more exhausted and frustrated than satisfied.

Festung Oder So
This level is really solid in concept and gameplay, but it held back by just how boring its visuals are. The blocky layout and dull colors make everything look the same, and my first couple playthroughs I didn't even realize the level was collapsing as time ran out. Which is a shame, because once you do notice, it's incredibly cool and exciting! More interesting texture work and maybe a few objects or enemies placed where I can see them fall to their death would go a long way towards making this level something special.

Hell Coaster Zone
I'm not actually sure how this ended up so low on the list, because I genuinely enjoyed it. The very narrow, modern Sonic style level design is very different from what we usually get in SRB2, and variety in gameplay style is something I value a lot. The latter half of the level does suffer a lot from very hard to read bumper movement patterns. I think some extra visual cue to hint at the orbits they follow would've been nice. I honestly liked that minecart section more than the Arid Canyon one, as it has a good difficulty curve, and never throws hazards at me before I can see them coming. The level drops in quality a lot for the final 2D section, which was mostly frustrating with the tight bumper bounces and insta-kill hazards. I honestly think the level would have been better off ending at the end of the third section, but I understand the desire to end on another "rollercoaster" section, I just think there are better things you could have done to represent it.

Bitter Brink Zone
The normal platforming sections are okay, if a bit lacking in visuals, but the bulk of this level comes from its axis2D and sled sections. I'm not really a fan of the use of Axis2D here. The big loop where you have to jump over the speed booster was confusing to me, and at one point you use the dynamic camera to hide a crawla from the player until they're about to run straight into it- which is like, the opposite of what you should be doing with the camera.
The sled is obviously the level's main attraction, and for all the quirks of its controls, I actually like it. On the right path. Wrestling with the weird controls makes it fun and exciting when you have a lot of room to make mistakes, and can feel yourself slipping and sliding all over the place. The left path on the other hand- is just frustrating. Having to stick to the narrow pathways means you don't get to slip and slide around, and the lack of control becomes more frustrating. Furthermore, the sled blocks your view of the objects in front of you, so you can't always tell if you're heading for a spikeball or a speed booster. Overall I think this level would benefit a lot from expanding on the gameplay style seen in the outdoor section, while de-emphasizing or even removing the indoor section.

Chaos Cove Zone
I do like the big and open layout, and the level has decent- if not particularly standout- visuals. The shields placed around as navigational aids are a nice way to make the level more approachable to Sonic. However, I think this level illustrates a lot of what I was trying to get away from with my emerald hunt stage. Most of your time is spent wandering around aimlessly, trying to find the specific cliffside or cave that happens to have what you need. I don't really feel like my exploration is being rewarded. The Emerald Tokens kinda help with that, but I can't help but feel like having 7 of them is sabotaging the other levels a bit- I play this level once and I have every chaos emerald, so now the emerald shards in other levels are less meaningful.
 
Welp, I suppose it's only fair I offer my feedback, and my video too.


1 Chaos Cove Zone
This was a level I made with heavy influence from Treasure Trove Cove. Being that I wanted to make at least a decent to good emerald hunt level, I worked on this when I needed a break from SRB2 the Past's 2.0 update to make it up to date for SRB2 2.2.

The music I chose just kept growing on me during development to the point that it stuck. Treasure Trove Cove's tracks were considered at one point, but decided against due to not testing with them.

2 Foliage Furnace Zone Act2
Boy is this stage large, for me Large stages are usually a turn off, but this this one has something others have a problem with. Flow. You made me want to keep going to see what was next and experience the action. Even the new Barrel Gimmick was fun, when it worked (90% of the time). There was a problem with getting into a few of them and some wern't low enough for Knuckles' jump height. Thankfully he had a climbable wall near by.

3 Enchanted Enclave
Another Raymanish level. Do I sense a Rayman based level pack in the works? The new enemies were a nice touch, but they also seemed placeholder because they were all Crawla Recolors! The way you designed the two paths, it was like you got 2 levels for 1 too. However, both paths felt short.

4 SunkSea X Zone
The level was decent and inoffensive. There wasn't really much to the level that really jumped out at me neither good nor bad, so the quallity of the level is what got it up this high. The water pushing you up was lacking in anything to telegraph upwards current inside the water though. Maybe some kind of bubble spawner might help?

5 Yearning Yachtyard Zone
This level seemed incomplete what with 2 tunnels at the start having do not enter signs. That said, the one path I could take with most characters felt very complete. It's also nice to have a level where Gemma can take advantage of her ability's effect with diving into water for a way higher boost up. The credits bit at the end was a nice touch

6 Freezer Folley Zone
This was a nicely themed stage. All Dessert. I couldn't tell if the Jelleton was sector based or thing based, but one thing I could tell is that the red ones were pretty much just custom springs.

I did notice an issue with the Freezer door at the end too. It might be visible in the video, but the issue is that there's some rendering errors with the outer shelves.

7 Magma Laboratory Zone
First time around I got confused and went backwards on an alternate path because I saw the flame spawning pipe and thought "Don't go that way". The play through you see in the video is a later one in which I discover the mapper is making a custom enemy request. Granted I want to make a custom frog bot, I would suggest you learn how to use either lua or SOC to make it yourself.

Outside of that, the level is still pretty solid, but being a lava level it has to deal with the ring eating lava issue. Where this is the worst is right at the end where you also have to deal with a dragonfly bot that's always outside you jump height.

8 Spiral Hill Pizza
This vote is based on what I played. V1.0. I can always tell if roger is involved because of his artstyle. I would have liked to have rated it higher but there were issues present in my play through, only one of which got fixed in 1.1.

The "big" issue was with the arrows being so thin, I could barely see them. (fixed in 1.1)
Then was the 90 second timer. There's no visible counter to tell you how much time is left and all you got to go on is the music.
The last issue, that should had been first, was that on my first play through I was exploring the pizzeria and had no idea the front of the store would start any timed event. I wound up going without instructions and had to play the "tutorial" where I got a crash course.

9 Tarnish Ward
This level was Big. Huge even.
I once compared it to Yooka-Laylee size (Ginormous), but now that I think about it, it's actually more Banjo-Tooie size (Smaller). Something that big should probably have more to do than run around collecting only the 3 shards. Still, the level is solidly made and because of the quallity of all the levels in this pack, how much fun I had played a factor. When I played this level on a multiplayer game, a shard spawned behind a wall apparently and a few of us were unable to find it until one person checked behind some graffiti.

You did manage to pull off the theme you were going for, but dark and bleak didn't really keep me in the mood for emerald shard hunting, and while the music was fitting, it made the place feel hopeless. Not exactly the best kind of atmosphere for treasure hunting.

10 Egg Machine Zone
This one was interesting, but a few parts felt lacking. Maybe it's me not liking jumping over bottomless pits or getting crushed by the "ceiling" a moving platform smashes me into. The Lazer hall also seemed a little unfair too. I had to go super as Gemma just to get through.

During a netgame, I stumbled upon a secret room that changed the egg symbol you see in the skybox and changes the music. Man I wish I knew about this sooner, but there was also an issue with a poly object pushing me into the wall getting me stuck. Good thing I could reset.

The puzzel at the end was neat, but it's not exactly netgame friendly with everyone hitting the reset button as you're trying to do the puzzle.

11 Festung Oder So
That first floating platform sinks too low to get to the springs. Not to mention that this is a button hunt. At least it has hint arrows and is short, but I was expecting a little more than that falling apart chamber.

12 Zaxel's Thunder Yard Zone Act 2
Now this, this is bigger than Yooka-Laylee size. This is Zaxel Size. I'm sorry, but this stage just drags for me and those mines being there to take the shield you just got is mean. I had to go super just to speed things up. Thankfully this plays well with Super Gemma.

It's also nice to finally see some more electric hazards too.

Also is it just me or does the pity shield protect against the electro orbs of the electro orbniks before they're thrown?

13 Hell Coaster Zone, Act 1
The lava is a death pit. I wanted to bounce on it as Fang only to discover it was a death pit. the flame throwers along the tracks weren't timed all that well as you're pretty much guaranteed to get hit by one.

While you did make excelent use of the falling lava for erupting lava, the lava pool it comes from has no damage and is not a death pit either.

The 2D section was frustertaing, especially with trying to get past a few bumpers.

14 Bitter Brink Zone
This stage has issues with Axis 2D. that first 2d section was just buggy with how it was implimented, and the boosters at the end would some times spit me out sideways instead of forward.

The sled killed it for me. doesn't matter if it was the camera bug people were reporting or not but there were camera issues with going right from 2d to sled cam
 
NerfPlayeR135 said:
Spiral Hill Pizza by Rogerregorroger
An exploration-based level with a unique objective: deliver six pizzas to various locations in a town within ninety seconds. Unfortunately Roger doesn't have much experience with Lua, so there's no visible timer, but the music can be used as one for repeat attempts. You will need to try multiple times to achieve perfection here, as your only guides are some brief textual hints and a large green arrow. I only needed six attempts or so, but I have a feeling other people will struggle here - perhaps a skyward beam of light would have helped more than an arrow?
Emblems are earned for delivering increasing numbers of pizzas, and you also get to explore the town if you deliver them all. This is the best part - the map is so huge and detailed that I'm surprised the FPS for the Software renderer only dips into the tens at worst. I guarantee you that a Hangout conversion for Spiral Hill Pizza would prove very popular.
Click to expand...
Nice review of the Spiral Hill Pizza level. You made some very good points... and I agree such a conversion would indeed be popular for all of us.
 
Last edited:
glaber said:
This level seemed incomplete what with 2 tunnels at the start having do not enter signs.
Click to expand...
These fences were meant to set the boundaries of the stage, like the lines of buoys in the water. There's just an egg monitor at the end of the tunnel. I guess the fences didn't play out in the end.
 
Alrighty, wrote my reviews.

Spiral Hill Pizza by @Rogerregorroger
I'm the coolest

Foliage Furnace Zone, Act 2 by Othius, Kanna, and Spectorious
There's just always a showstopper at these OLDC's huh?
Complex new mechanics with the barrels, great visuals, pretty darn good level design.
Got a bit lost at some points but other then that, it's a clear winner.

Magma Laboratory Zone by RoyKirbs
I love these straight forward rollercoasterey levels and the 2 lava factory themes got it this OLDC.
Neat level gimmicks, great flow, good stage.

Hell Coaster Zone by Voidy2246
Hey, that's a familair Eggman there.
The second of the 2 Rollercoasterey lava factory stages. Litteraly a rollercoaster this time.
In some ways I prefer this one over Magma Laboratory, feeling a bit faster and leaner, but it has a few problems as well, particularly being a little busy and cramped.
Kinda makes the fast gameplay the level seems to invite a bit blow up in it's face.
Fun minecart section.

Tarnish Ward Zone by Princess Plushima
Well, it isn't so much a level as a full blown scientific exploration of what a emerald shard level should do. Great atmosphere trough music and visuals, really gives the level an identity.
How ironic, in the original Sonic Adventure levels I hated when the Knuckles levels had a lot of gimmicks and preferred the straight forward emerald hunts, but in SRB2 I've since learned you do kind of need some tricks and mechanics in these levels to avoid the player just running around like a chicken without a head.
Great job on the emerald hint gimmick too.

Enchanted Enclave by Vixuzen
Neat idea with having the Mario 64 ish different missions making players go trough the level again with different mindsets. It's a short and sweet level for speedrunners, but surpriisngly elaborate and rich for explorers filled with hidden paths.
THe cool trick with the change of time and music makes replaying more rewarding.
Only problem is that I get a headache if I have to search around in the Doom Engine graphics too long, spending 20+ minutes on locating all rings, enemies and lums does a number on my brain.
Great music choices, I recognise the style as Rayman 2 music but there's a few tracks I don't remember at all. Weird.

Bitter Brink Zone* by MarbleCheese
Another rollercoasterey Sonic level, now with ice.
You got some great ideas, but the execution is very awkward, sadly.
Axis 2d loop at the start is a bit confusing, altough it does look cool.
Love the idea of the maze section with the snowmobile, but have to admit the section does highlight how hard the thing is to control. Love the thumbnail.
Great ideas, awkward excecution, but love the ideas on display.

Festung oder so by The Shadow
I love dramatic setpieces, this is a cool concept.
Altough I have to admit it took a second playtrough to fully understand what was going on.
Fun idea, fun level design. Graphics a bit dull outside of the effect of it crumbling down.

Freezer Folley Zone by FAVman33
Great atmosphere, good functioning gimmick, couple gags. Good stuff.
Little too open for my taste at times, but there's no real problems.
Good charming stage. Huh, must be a tiny Pizza in the fridge, compared to the milk carton and egg sizes.

Yearning Yachtyard Zone by PhilJFou aka ChaRG
A level that goes for the feels. Kinda weird to associate yachts with a more melancholy/ introspective tone, but it works.
Neat easteregg with the Titanic, altough couldn't find out how to get there.
All these encouraing messages, how wholesome.

Egg Machine Zone by nickls2002
A level that deserves to be way up higher in the list in terms of technical achievements, a lot of cool new tricks and level design hazards on display and great atmosphere.
But yeah, a little too frustrating and long for it's own good, sadly the fun factor isn't entirely there, tough for those looking for a challenge, this is it.
Altough I love the floating gravity blobs in the air as platform gimmicks, it's so easy to just helplessly float trough them, with the player having little control, and the edges of the platform hard to see with all the transparent and color mode layers on top of each other. Shame.
Awesome easter egg.

SunkSea X Zone by Nuhu64
Decent level. Pretty long, yet technical sound, well done. Good guidance too.
Great variety in hazards and level design themes.
Kinda feel it needed something tough, felt a bit empty going trough the parts. Not sure what's going on.

Zaxel's Thunder Yard Zone, Act 2 by Zaxel Katsugyo
Well well, getting more dramatic now, with the cutscenes eh? Neato.
Levels still get me a weird Game Gear feel with the textures and blocky level design.
Love the fact it takes a theme and sticks with it, the electricity, and there's some nice hazards you build with it.
Problem is that it all feels overwhelming and everything starts melting into each other, so I don't feel each of your ideas and challenges really gets room to breathe to leave an impact.
Adding these mines to come after those with an electric shield is a neat extra dynamic that would have made for a nice level hazard, if players had more time to react to them. Now most of the time they just instantly hit you, making them feel more trolling then an exciting challenge. Shame.

Chaos Cove Zone by glaber
Oof, never fun to pick the lowest scoring winner, but here we are.
Emerald shard hunting wihle there's death pits everywhere that reset your emblem score again? Oof, that ain't fun.
Thing is, with a level where the players have to run and search a large landscapes, having an interesting landscape with lots of landmarks is useful.
And hey, points for your lighttower and little house, there's some fun structures, but most of it kinda blends together.

Sure, I can make a hangout version of Spiral Pizza. What game mode does that fall under tough? Not single player or race or anything.
But yeah, let me know what you want me to add to it or what you want to see in it.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Who is viewing this thread (Total: 1, Members: 0, Guests: 1)

Back
Top