I always wanted to make a level for this game I played so much, but my laziness always got me, until now.
It's the simple stuff, you jump plataforms, you dodge hazards, eh, but I hope its fun anyway :).
Edit:
I didn't really planned this to have a update, but here it is, its not much, I just felt it was necessary
-Remade the whole final waterslide section so its a bit more interesting now
-Made the final spring section easier for tank players yey
-Fixed the lag problem wich some people talked about (I HOPE), but I could only find one way, wich now makes a slime trail appear at the waterslide section mentioned before, but I hope its not too bad... at least its playable now (again, I HOPE)
-and some other minor changes that I don't think anyone will even notice
Also... if you are actually going to play this updated version, I put a little something at the very end of the level, so now you have a reason to jump off at the end of the ramp heh
Wow... I must admit I was not expecting this. The start of the map is a bit claustrophobic but everything after is amazing. I love your use of slopes in this map and the visuals are on point. Great job!
Wonderful. I spent 12 minutes going through this level and I feel like I've only scratched the surface - there's so many places I passed by for having to choose only one path forward!
I agree with Inazuma on the slopes. Jumping in between spikes while going uphill is a more exciting challenge that manages to make them feel like more than decoration, ring placements on the banks of passageways and other places felt playful and invited me to just screw around with the physics as I passed by, and the use of slopes for tiny tunnels beneath other things made them feel more exotic as secrets than the usual ball-high gap.
...And those secrets, woo. You hid a bunch of them in ways that don't feel contrived at all, whether it was a side of a rock that had been chipped off but wasn't visible from the front, one of those tunnels, on top of a waterfall at the back of a high path where playing normally you'd start at the middle of, and that cheeky ball gap in the first cave where the lip of the cliff right before it curves down, spoiling my first jump. You made these things fun to seek out, without their inclusion feeling stuck out, if that makes sense.
The things I actually found in those secrets felt well considered, as well. Oddly enough I don't think I found a single shield in the map, but in secrets that put me on a high path, or were part of a shortcut themselves, I often found speed shoes which could immediately be put to use, and was struck by how clear the benefit to having that powerup at that time was with each box I found. With 1ups in more tough to get but easy to spot areas, and ring boxes in random nooks and crannies, things really felt just right; by the end, I got a feeling that I could judge what I'd be getting if I pursued an odd looking spot, so long as it wasn't a new path entirely. (I like it when I stumble into new paths entirely)
As has been said already, the visuals were really good. Not just on an aesthetic level, but a functional one as well: despite starting with GFZ's textures, you established some of your own visual language with it, like how you always used the thick wooden plank textures for vertically moving blocks, which were always supported by four wooden poles. The level is very pretty, but you also clearly thought out how to keep things visually clear in that regard.
One minor issue with the visuals I encountered was a section where you're hopping small island rocks to move against some rapids. Midway through, the rapids go up in height with a small (less than jump height) waterfall that's purely vertical. The combination of texture and translucency on the side of it is a little difficult to see and it took me a few seconds while I approached it to realize it was there, which mainly happened from noticing how the rocks ahead were actually higher up but still about level with the surface of the water. It's also a bit of a puzzler why such strong rapids would suddenly stop all horizontal motion, fall down, and then resume - maybe replace that with a sloped waterblock, if it doesn't break the framerate of the room.
There were plenty of gimmicks in the map with rooms generally following a distinct gameplay theme, but I think my favorite of the bunch was the cave with the water falling from the ceiling that pushes you down: It was intuitive on sight that they'd do so, and you gave an opportunity to see so in a relatively safe environment that someone not thinking about it would stumble into right away. Some of the midair jukes you have to do have to happen a little bit quickly after you come off the diagonal spring though, so some players who use tank controls (Yeah, they're still around) may not be able to aim out of the way of some of those.
Lastly, I'd like to bring up your starpost useage. Something neat I found was that you consistently put starposts right before path merges, rather than the typical placement before path splits. There was more than a few times where I ended up going backwards from a merge, only to see a lit starpost close to where it connected with the path forward. The first time it happened I wondered for a moment if the order had broken as I had just hit a starpost entering the larger area, but after seeing another exit to the room, I realized that it was just telling me that that was the wrong direction, and that the starpost was for if I had entered the larger room via a different path. I can't say I've seen this convention used in many stages, but it probably deserves to get spread around, because it certainly served me well in not getting turned around by all the interconnected rooms. Good thinking!
One final note, and this was the very end of the level so I'll put it in spoilers...
I saw what you tried to do in the final room, and I totally ruined it by jumping at the end of the ramp. Shame on me, skipping across the water there before slamming into the endsign would have been a cool surprise and a hoot. Don't feel too bad that I screwed up the moment though, the thought definitely counted. If you happen to think of a way to discourage a jump there though, like say spikes on the ceiling of the opening, that might work out quite nice. Just don't make spinning through it a strict requirement, since that would lock off no-spin characters right at the very end.
You should be really proud of what you've put together here. This is an excellent level without an asterisk in sight, and it absolutely made my night; I can hardly wait to see what you make next!
The closest one can get to describing this map is as "fun". It's just really clever and encourages you to explore. There are a few challenging bits--just the right amount. Same goes for the secrets. The frequency (at least of the ones I found) decreased just before it got to be too much. The balancing of elements feels really satisfying!
To nitpick; the only part that felt somewhat out-of-place was the rock skip section. Unless it was meant to be a sort of digression from the the rest of the map. Besides that, everything felt very detailed and unique. I especially like your use of high paths--those have always been my favorite.
I had a blast. It's an excellent map. And for your first map, it absolutely rocks!
Oh well, people liked my map after all, im just going to say that im really happy that the map was fun for you guys, I know that the map has some problems, but I hope it didn't took away the attention too much, and I will try to do something about the lag problem that Chicmunk is having (but im not very sure if I will be able to...)
After trying this out, I really like the slope usage, and the visuals are on par. The only issue though is that somewhere within the starting section, I came across an starpost that was already active even though I don't remember touching it. So I assume the ordering isn't a bit correct for that. Aside from that, no other issues, and keep up the good work! This map was very pleasing!
Another one chiming in that this map is absolutely incredible. My only complaint is the lack of a 2nd act. The way it starts off small and humble and then immediately explodes into vast rooms to explore is just breathtaking. There's so much to explore and find. I still don't feel like I've found everything in this level and I've played it over quite a few times now. This gets a pretty easy 9/10 for me.
I'm not a religious dude, but there's this phrase from the bible that is considered one of the most beautiful English sentences:
"Arise, shine; for thy light is come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee."
It's not even the message, it's the progression of sounds. When you say the sentence, your mouth starts small making the 'I' sounds, but gets wider and rounder as you reach the 'oh' sounds. Where the hell am I going with this?
Your level reminds me of that progression. I do believe you've hustled me. I started the level out, and yeah, it was pretty nice, but I didn't see what all the excitement was about. The design was small and low-key, even a touch too cramped in some areas. But as I played, it gradually opened wider and wider for some memorable and even stunning setpieces near the end.
I think this level is one of the best examples of good progression and pacing. It's like a V, narrow at the beginning, wide at the end, and it gives the player a feeling of satisfaction when they finish the level. And boy, those setpieces really are great. You've got an awesome sense of what kind of level architecture looks grand and majestic. There are more than a few rooms where I flew in on a spring and thought "wow!" There's a nice symmetry to these rooms, and the shapes flow in a way that make the exit a visual focal point that's beautiful and makes it obvious where to go. Over and over, this level makes you feel like you're really ascending, for lack of a better word, and ascending feels good.
My only minor nitpicks are that some areas feel rather empty, though they're definitely not the norm, and to fix a certain water-textured pit that's at the bottom of one of the canyons and killed me completely unexpectedly.
Now, normally I'd complain that the level felt like a room-after-room sort of exercise. What I mean by that is that it's obvious that you made the level one room at a time with very little connecting tissue between the rooms. But... I think it worked for this level. Yeah, I usually like levels to feel more organically interconnected, but the way you chained the rooms together is the real star of the show here. You didn't seem to run out of ideas and every new room was better than the last, which is an awesome thing to accomplish.
Fantastic job!
Also, the two crawlas on the bench made me happy, and I couldn't find it in myself to kill them. If I were you, I'd place an invisible insta-kill FOF around them to ensure that their love is everlasting :)
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