RafaelXFire
THOUSAND YEARS OF DEATH
Okay I'll do it but not now
SC_Castle (Final v2.0)
- Thread starter RafaelXFire
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RafaelXFire
THOUSAND YEARS OF DEATH
New Updates
RafaelXFire
THOUSAND YEARS OF DEATH
New Updates
camsPatience
resident ram boy
This is a somewhat good level pack. I've only gone up to part of Ice Castle act 1, and it's good for a first WAD.
We have a good first look here. Not much scenery, though. I suggest you fix this.
Holy crud, this boss is overpowered. Try toning this insane strength down.
Still needs scenery.
I was somewhat expecting a glitch, but wow. Still no scenery.
In summary, this is still a good pack. You just need to add scenery. (Also, please kill the strength of that first boss a bit.)
We have a good first look here. Not much scenery, though. I suggest you fix this.
Holy crud, this boss is overpowered. Try toning this insane strength down.
Still needs scenery.
I was somewhat expecting a glitch, but wow. Still no scenery.
In summary, this is still a good pack. You just need to add scenery. (Also, please kill the strength of that first boss a bit.)
RafaelXFire
THOUSAND YEARS OF DEATH
Alright the next update I'll add more scenarios and decrease the difficulty of this boss
RafaelXFire
THOUSAND YEARS OF DEATH
New Updates
RafaelXFire
THOUSAND YEARS OF DEATH
New Updates in my wad
Legendary Emerald
Custom User Title
Well, this level pack has been around long enough now that I should probably comment on it. It took me a while to calmly think out my thoughts about this level pack, and I think I have a good way to approach this now.
While not terrible in any way, this level pack is completely lacking in originality, aesthetic design, and most importantly, fun. Because this is a first project, that's more than understandable. But with the number of updates and tweaks that have been done to it, it hasn't become notably better than the first time I tried it out in version Whatever.0. I think the time has come to move on from these levels and start fresh, and I'll explain why.
The pack starts out with the Eggman Castle stage, and it almost immediately makes a bad impression from a visual standpoint. That's not a castle, it's a brick. It isn't ominous, doesn't give us a view of the scope of the level (which is quite large), and looks undecorated and unfinished. The same could be said of every area in the map. Plain stone walls and stone tiled floors zoom past at a speed that strains the eyes to look at for too long. There's one room early on in the map that even seems to do this intentionally, using dark brick textures that blend platforms in with the walls of the room. Kind of clever, I'll admit. It's one of the highlights of the map, in a way.
Aside from the textures and blocky geometry, the first section of the level is far too reminiscent of Rainstorm Keep Zone from Mystic Realm. The entrance to the castle/keep is mostly the same, and the interior is almost exactly the same, but lacks the little bits of personality that Mystic put into that stage, such as the beds and cabinets. For christ's sake, you even have the exit to the outdoors segment in the same place, except in your level it leads to an long, non-eventful and linear path to an emblem instead of an almost tricky speed thok segment (for Sonic) that leads to a 1 up.
Moving on, the level's layout and pacing is not that good. There are an abundance of dead ends that lead to unspectacular rewards. Backtracking is necessary to make progress, and there isn't anything interesting about the Wolfenstein-esque hallways the first trip through. One time I almost got stuck in an un-winnable situation when badnicks flooded the hole in the wall that you need to use a spring to reach. Thank god for invincibility frames.
The ending of the level is also bizarre, dumping you into a room and abruptly cutting to the Act Complete screen. You didn't even bother to dump the player next to the goal sign, and it just looks awkward.
I don't have much to say about the boss. It's a bit harder than necessary with the pits, but if you take your time, it can be defeated easily enough. By far the best part of the level pack.
The next level, Ice Castle, is slightly better than Eggman Castle. This is really only because Ice Castle is more linear, which would normally a bad thing, but in this case means less backtracking and switch pushing is involved. But only less; those aspects hasn't been cut out entirely, unfortunately. Almost every criticism of Eggman Castle still stands for Ice Castle, right down to the stage not resembling a castle in the slightest. At least the concept of the stage is more original than a Rainstorm Keep ripoff, though.
Overall, this wad just isn't fun or very creative. It's not terrible or unpleasant to play like some wads I've tried out, but it plays so "safe" that there is almost nothing worth talking about.
My suggestion, as basic as it is, is to drop this level pack and start making some new stages. Eggman Castle is pretty much unsalvageable at this point without destroying the current layout entirely. The boss fight works well enough, but could use a better arena. Ice Castle has a passable start, and with the addition of a better underwater path, could be kept if the rest of the stage was tossed.
But for your own sake, don't try to polish this wad any more than you already have. It isn't worth the effort. Better to start fresh.
Note: I only played Eggman Castle, the boss act, and Ice Castle Act 1. If there are other levels in the pack, as certain posts in this thread seem to imply, I don't know how to unlock them and they are exempt from this review.
While not terrible in any way, this level pack is completely lacking in originality, aesthetic design, and most importantly, fun. Because this is a first project, that's more than understandable. But with the number of updates and tweaks that have been done to it, it hasn't become notably better than the first time I tried it out in version Whatever.0. I think the time has come to move on from these levels and start fresh, and I'll explain why.
The pack starts out with the Eggman Castle stage, and it almost immediately makes a bad impression from a visual standpoint. That's not a castle, it's a brick. It isn't ominous, doesn't give us a view of the scope of the level (which is quite large), and looks undecorated and unfinished. The same could be said of every area in the map. Plain stone walls and stone tiled floors zoom past at a speed that strains the eyes to look at for too long. There's one room early on in the map that even seems to do this intentionally, using dark brick textures that blend platforms in with the walls of the room. Kind of clever, I'll admit. It's one of the highlights of the map, in a way.
Aside from the textures and blocky geometry, the first section of the level is far too reminiscent of Rainstorm Keep Zone from Mystic Realm. The entrance to the castle/keep is mostly the same, and the interior is almost exactly the same, but lacks the little bits of personality that Mystic put into that stage, such as the beds and cabinets. For christ's sake, you even have the exit to the outdoors segment in the same place, except in your level it leads to an long, non-eventful and linear path to an emblem instead of an almost tricky speed thok segment (for Sonic) that leads to a 1 up.
Moving on, the level's layout and pacing is not that good. There are an abundance of dead ends that lead to unspectacular rewards. Backtracking is necessary to make progress, and there isn't anything interesting about the Wolfenstein-esque hallways the first trip through. One time I almost got stuck in an un-winnable situation when badnicks flooded the hole in the wall that you need to use a spring to reach. Thank god for invincibility frames.
The ending of the level is also bizarre, dumping you into a room and abruptly cutting to the Act Complete screen. You didn't even bother to dump the player next to the goal sign, and it just looks awkward.
I don't have much to say about the boss. It's a bit harder than necessary with the pits, but if you take your time, it can be defeated easily enough. By far the best part of the level pack.
The next level, Ice Castle, is slightly better than Eggman Castle. This is really only because Ice Castle is more linear, which would normally a bad thing, but in this case means less backtracking and switch pushing is involved. But only less; those aspects hasn't been cut out entirely, unfortunately. Almost every criticism of Eggman Castle still stands for Ice Castle, right down to the stage not resembling a castle in the slightest. At least the concept of the stage is more original than a Rainstorm Keep ripoff, though.
Overall, this wad just isn't fun or very creative. It's not terrible or unpleasant to play like some wads I've tried out, but it plays so "safe" that there is almost nothing worth talking about.
My suggestion, as basic as it is, is to drop this level pack and start making some new stages. Eggman Castle is pretty much unsalvageable at this point without destroying the current layout entirely. The boss fight works well enough, but could use a better arena. Ice Castle has a passable start, and with the addition of a better underwater path, could be kept if the rest of the stage was tossed.
But for your own sake, don't try to polish this wad any more than you already have. It isn't worth the effort. Better to start fresh.
Note: I only played Eggman Castle, the boss act, and Ice Castle Act 1. If there are other levels in the pack, as certain posts in this thread seem to imply, I don't know how to unlock them and they are exempt from this review.
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RafaelXFire
THOUSAND YEARS OF DEATH
The next version of the wad will be the end, I no longer have any vested interest in this wad
Agustin1216
あなたは私の&#
...Holy Christ man, not because no one has seen your updated wad it doesn't mean you can double-even triple post one and other and another time that your wad has been updated.
I mean, come on, I don't wanna see your wad with a new, repetitive post every time I enter to see if a new character or any wad has been released just because you updated it and no one replied what did they think about it.
You don't even actually tell what did you update, what's new or what's been fixed, and that's annoying.
Look, I will make you happy and will report my thoughts about this levelpack.
Let's start, then.
Somewhat decent for a start of a level of that size.
Try to align properly the placement of the enemies and you will be fine. Right when I started the level I thought "Well, if those are guards of that castle, they are plain dumb. They are distracted, they are not seeing you, and you can even lure them on here!"
Almost all of those bifurcations lead to not-so-hidden secrets. Example: that Sonic Emblem. The only one I found was the real path was merely of luck, because I almost lost myself in the castle. or maybe I'm getting old?
Here, never place an emblem right along a itembox. It's like not placing an emblem at all, just because an itembox is right aside it. Even if you're trying to hide that emblem, the itembox will not look right. Place them separately, or just delete that itembox of there. maybe it's just me having a rant, but whatever
No proper texture alignment...
There, you missed a texture, buddy. and it came out that it was a path activated with a button.
Obvious decoration lack is obvious. I almost got dizzy seeing the same texture all along a long, cave path. At least try to make it look like Radiant Caverns Zone or something, I dunno.
Missing textures there, too.
What is this supposed to mean? I think I'm getting across a deja'vu here.
And last but not least, that there was covered by a obvious breakable wall. Change the textures of said wall, and try to shrink it down a bit.
Here, my review is over.
Somewhat decent for a start of a level of that size.
Try to align properly the placement of the enemies and you will be fine. Right when I started the level I thought "Well, if those are guards of that castle, they are plain dumb. They are distracted, they are not seeing you, and you can even lure them on here!"
Almost all of those bifurcations lead to not-so-hidden secrets. Example: that Sonic Emblem. The only one I found was the real path was merely of luck, because I almost lost myself in the castle. or maybe I'm getting old?
Here, never place an emblem right along a itembox. It's like not placing an emblem at all, just because an itembox is right aside it. Even if you're trying to hide that emblem, the itembox will not look right. Place them separately, or just delete that itembox of there. maybe it's just me having a rant, but whatever
No proper texture alignment...
There, you missed a texture, buddy. and it came out that it was a path activated with a button.
Obvious decoration lack is obvious. I almost got dizzy seeing the same texture all along a long, cave path. At least try to make it look like Radiant Caverns Zone or something, I dunno.
Missing textures there, too.
What is this supposed to mean? I think I'm getting across a deja'vu here.
And last but not least, that there was covered by a obvious breakable wall. Change the textures of said wall, and try to shrink it down a bit.
Here, my review is over.
EDIT: Legendary Emerald said almost what is needed, I think. I came a bit too late, too.
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Goldenhog
Wandering Protagonist
I don't see what's so bad about it. You don't get a notification if the top post is edited in any way(AFAIK, anyway), and the thread title doesn't get bold if the first/last post is edited either. So those interested in this wad can only see if it updated by either checking every so often(which can get annoying, and there's the chance that the creator guy abandoned the wad without saying anything and your efforts are in vain) or if the top poster makes a post to say so.
However, this right here is valid.
EDIT: To keep this on-topic:
- There are two lives near the start of the castle level, one in the library room and one inside an empty room with a spring. You should replace at least one of those with something else, because as it is right now, the player could just grab both the 1ups, then kill himself, then grab the two 1ups again and then repeat the cycle to have a huge amount of lives.
- I understand that the underwater part in the ice level next to the start is supposed to be a punishment - fail to platform, you gotta struggle slowly back to the start and try again. However, there's nothing stopping the player from going forward and using one of the springs ahead to skip most of the platforming.
- There's an underwater section(near the end, I believe) which paints the screen in horrible colours when you're underwater. What was wrong with the underwater colour used at the beginning?
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RafaelXFire
THOUSAND YEARS OF DEATH
New Updates: Eggman Castle Zone modified
------------------------Final Version Updates----------------------------
Next Update: v2.0 Final
Updates: Evil Castle Zone, Ice Castle Zone 1 complete, Ice Castle Zone 2.
------------------------Final Version Updates----------------------------
Next Update: v2.0 Final
Updates: Evil Castle Zone, Ice Castle Zone 1 complete, Ice Castle Zone 2.
AxiomAerofox
Member
Yayy! The bug flat pack! You can put this name for this "art"!
Rumia1
Backseat Developer
Dude, isn't that, like... every SRB2 map ever? (excluding cb maps from 2.0)
AxiomAerofox
Member
i don't know. this wad is a "gold"
Agustin1216
あなたは私の&#
Not every map has to be like that. Look at the decent mappacks out there.
SmashBro30
Unfunnyman
I've noticed that this wad is still in development...
Another thing to notice is that the previous post was made about 5 months before yours.
...anyhow, I can't see what you mean exactly, the WAD itself hasn't been updated in 5 months either.
...anyhow, I can't see what you mean exactly, the WAD itself hasn't been updated in 5 months either.
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