Rocky's Level Pack. (s_rockylevelpack.wad)

[rocky]

This is my first level pack. This level Pack includes:

• Sunset Valley Zone (The missing texture was fixed)
• Sunset Valley Boss Zone
• Virtual Void Zone
• Hidden Ruins Zone
• Magical Dimensions Zone.(The lava dimension is a little easier).

I hope you guys like it.
And the SRB2 Asset pack was used.

Sorry, Spherallic, I forgot to say thanks on the MainCFG of the level.

But still, Thanks.

 

[MascaraSnake]

Moved. Bump.

 

[Fawfulfan]

I'll be damned. This actually has potential. The visuals are, for the most part, very competent, and I like your themes.

But let's be clear: there are some pretty serious flaws in the thing. The main problem is the linearity. Even when there are path splits, the individual paths are painfully straightforward. There's really no room to explore; a few secret rooms hidden here and there, but that's it. To become a great level designer, you have to appreciate that the real fun lies in people straight-up exploring your level, gimmicks and visuals aside.

Another issue is a lack of variation in gameplay. Pretty much the whole thing consists of jumping between tiny platforms, or occasionally running down lengthy hallways full of Crawlas. Once you get over how pretty the levels look in places, it's quite dull. Also, some of the levels have really cramped areas.

I'm not honestly sure that it's worth trying to fix what you've got here. I would personally recommend keeping the themes but starting fresh, and seeing how much more creative you can be with them. Because believe me, I see promise in your design skills.

 

[Root]

Looks good from the screenshots, gonna try it out soon.

 

[Silvaseven123]

I'll be damned. This actually has potential. The visuals are, for the most part, very competent, and I like your themes.

But let's be clear: there are some pretty serious flaws in the thing. The main problem is the linearity. Even when there are path splits, the individual paths are painfully straightforward. There's really no room to explore; a few secret rooms hidden here and there, but that's it. To become a great level designer, you have to appreciate that the real fun lies in people straight-up exploring your level, gimmicks and visuals aside.

Another issue is a lack of variation in gameplay. Pretty much the whole thing consists of jumping between tiny platforms, or occasionally running down lengthy hallways full of Crawlas. Once you get over how pretty the levels look in places, it's quite dull. Also, some of the levels have really cramped areas.

I'm not honestly sure that it's worth trying to fix what you've got here. I would personally recommend keeping the themes but starting fresh, and seeing how much more creative you can be with them. Because believe me, I see promise in your design skills.

I agree with Fawfulfan the visuals are amazing but i wanted to explore more in your levels. You learn as a level designer in many ways. Other than that good luck with this project .

 

[Zipper]

Let's get some things clear in here. While this pack CAN go the right way and turn out to be okay, currently it looks like it's badly injured and is screaming for help.

Now that I gave you my overall thoughts, here's some individual reviews:

Sunset Valley Zone: Okay, the visuals were impressive, and that got me pumped up for a fun level.....
There was no fun level.
I just jumped, jumped, jumped, and bam!It's over. You have a lot of decoration lying around, and that's a good start, but there's no INTERACTION. It's like taking a Zoom Tube through the whole of Egg Rock 2. Strolling through the level, jumping, I get my hopes up when I see a higher ledge, only to be disappointed by yet another spring.

Sunset Valley Boss Zone:
1) Why do you have a separate level name for the boss, it's silly. Just name it Sunset Valley 3 or something.
2)there's something wrong with the level if you can go super sonic

Virtual Void Zone:....How did I get here? Anyhow, not only was this level even easier than SVZ, it was no eyecandy either. The BINARYYYY textures burned my eyes badly.
Be warned though, when I say easy, I don't mean "not cheap". Those darn lasers at the beginning came to me by a surprise, I thought they were ledges or something. Then later on in the level, I find platforms that have THE EXACT SAME TEXTURES AND TRANSPARENCY. That's confusing.
Another thing: Make this level 2D, and you lose nothing. That's how linear it is.

Hidden Ruins Zone: At last, some exploration! It's nice to be able to move properly after being stuck for 2 zones. This zone was average overall, with some nice platforming, although it lacked gimmicks. I'm not forcing them to you though, do as you want.

Magical Dimensions Zone: I can't really give a detailed rant about this level, other than the fact it could ALSO work as a 2D level.

That's all. It's a particularly bad level pack right now, but I'm sure you can fix whatever's broken.

(BTW, are the zones really gonna be made of one act each? That's SHORT. The levels themselves being even shorter doesn't help either.)

 

[Kim the Fox!!!]

All right, Rocky. For a start, you can't call yourself a level designer just because of a level pack. You must make your pack worthy so people will actually consider you a level designer. The level pack you made is just a humble beginning - do not think it'll lead you to glory instantly, even if it has potential.

Sunset Valley Zone

The map is painted with a horrid orange colormap. That makes the visuals poorer. The items aren't truly worth to get - they aren't worth the effort. You should get rid of unnecessary things, like spike pits which no one would have chances of falling in if not on purpose. Find a better name for a boss map, because Sunset Valley Boss Zone is in no way proper. I should not be able to become SS, it made the level too easy, and I could not stand that awkward pillar of water in the center of the map.

Virtual Void

All right, I now you wanted to make a digital level. But you accidentally created a race competition with hurdles. It has only one Star Post - for goodness' sake, try to add more Star Posts, I hate to redo annoying gimmicks and dying everytime. You must make your levels show clearly where players need to go and what hazards they are facing. Those laser hurdles are almost unavoidable, and at first glance, they do not look dangerous. Try to make the level easier. The textures are too repeated, try varying and adding suitable hazards.

Hidden Ruins

This level is good-looking, I admit it. Just don't exaggerate on enemies and make the path more clear so you know where you must go. The level is pretty confusing.

Magical Dimensions

I must say you were pretty creative when building this level, but you should really try not to repeat gimmicks, like platform skipping. That is such an annoying task, and it's discouraging. Try adding gimmicks that match with the level theme. Example: Lava -> Flamethrowers. Ice -> Bustable ice blocks. Desert -> Quicksand. The level is too difficult, but not much when we get to Eggman - you can because Super Sonic easily if you get many rings in the previous room. From there, problem resolved. I noticed you tried to do something Prismatic-Angel-ish.

In general, keep some things in mind:

- Do not overdo visuals, your work can become something ugly (e.g. Sunset Valley)
- Do not exaggerate on the enemies.
- Balance the hazards. There are some that don't represent a menace, and some that would make the player cry, in the same level.
- The player must know where to go. Do not ever make the level look confusing.

That's it. I look forward for this pack. Remember - make it worth of a level designer's creation.

 

[rocky]

I'm going to confess something. When I did this levels, the first thing I done was making the thok barrier and now I can see that's wrong because it limited the space of the maps.

The level pack isn't in order. This level pack is going to have MAJOR UPDATES.

I'm sorry that the level pack is so bad, But I am improving. Now the level pack is going to have level select pictures and ALL of the levels will be remade.

Once again, Sorry for the badly made levels.

 

[CoatRack]

Hey, everyone has a start, and I have to say this is a great one!

And about making the thok barriers first, I do that too. I just expand it by moving the linedefs when I need more room, because if you make the thok barrier AFTER the sectors, you would have to re-texture all the walls connected to it.

Also, I personally LOVE the details in Sunset Valley. Mostly because I have a liking for sunset levels with a sunset color map. I have yet to try the other maps though, I'll try to play them sometime.

 

[rocky]

Thanks for that KO.T.E. I will try to do better levels without being just corridors with decoration. And this time, I know a lot of stuff thanks to the SpiritCrusher.

So you guys should expect an update of this level pack in a few weeks.

 

[Metal96]

Well... This is actually very decent for a first set of levels. However, as everyone else before me has basically said, it needs much improvement. I really like Sunset Valley the most, because of the great visuals. But that doesn't mean it's perfect... for now, I'm just gonna say less linear and widen the narrow corridors. I'll respond again when you update the pack... it has potential! ~insert fanfare~

EDIT: One more thing... why on earth does the lava in MDZ not cause damage? Try changing it to a water sector with a lava effect... it will look and work much better. Oh, same level: if you're gonna make ice blocks, make them slippery, too. Just widen them as well (if you do) so it's not beyond cheap :-)

 

[rocky]

I know, so that's why I'm making new levels for the level pack.

 

[gamerman14]

Personally liked Virtual Void, but was way to hard. There was no way I could make it through as sonic. Had to use a flight character. Anyways, I got a segment violation before I could finish the zone. Right at the part with all the moving platforms after the checkpoint.

 

[rocky]

Hmmmmmmmm, I never had a segment violation error on that level. I will see what caused the error.

 

[gamerman14]

Yeah, no idea what happened. It's just after the moving platforms, (the semi transparent ones) i was flying right along and.. boom. segment violation.
Right after the area your screenshot call elevator wave if I'm correct.

 

[Chromatian]

I'm not going to give you a full review of each individual level, but there is something I've noticed that you really need to work on:

Consistency.

If your going to use a certain texture or shape for a death-pit or harmful area, never use it for anything else but that. The digital themed level was the biggest culprit of this. The beginning of the level had a white texture that was a laser which needed to be avoided. This was fine until after the last checkpoint where that same texture became a line of moving FOFs that were required to jump on to complete the level. You have no idea how frustrating it is to the player when they're told one thing, and it suddenly becomes the opposite. Once you have a texture set for a specific gimmick or object, use only that texture to avoid confusion.

Other from that, the first boss could use a much lower ceiling, as the Eggmobile will camp up in the sky, leaving you waiting for a good minute before he gets back down.

 

[rocky]

Thanks for the review of everyone. I'm now working on a brand new project that still have a long way to go. Some of this level that are on the level pack will be trashed.

Some may have severe changes and you can expect to see brand new levels on the level pack, but I will show you my progress soon on the Editing section.

I want to say thanks to everyone that saw the level pack and said what was wrong with the level pack. That helped me improve in a whole bunch of ways. So, THANK YOU.

 

[Knux576]

I know what one of his new levels are...

 

[SeventhSentinel]

The forum glitched on me, so instead of what I was going to say, I'll just say that this level pack is far from perfect but not bad for a beginner. As others have said, you may want to avoid repeating gimmicks. Also, the first level's colormap was a good idea, but something about it makes it an eyesore. Try a slightly different color for it. Oh, and maybe not so many of those annoying ACZ enemies in the desert level (the ones that jump out of the ground when they hit you). That's all I have to say for now.

 

[Shiron]

I have a strange desire to compose music for this pack.