Storm Swamp Zone (full three-act zone)

[742mph]

As you might or might not know, The Solar Quest (my full-length modification) is on hold until further notice. As a result, I'm releasing its first zone, Storm Swamp, in an easily accessible spot. It's one of the only two complete "chunks" of content that the project has resulted in so far, and the other one is in the OLDC. Anyway, enjoy.

 

[Chromatian]

I can hear rain and thunder, but I can see no sky, this level would go well with some open air segments. The majority of the level had solid platforming but it felt really tight and corridor-esque, which is not quite what I would expect from a swamp. I enjoyed the mushroom hops, but the edges of some of them don't cause a spring up, which I found a bit irritating, I'm not sure whether or not you tagged them properly, but you should take a look(Specifically the second act's mushroom path). In the lazer room, if you somehow screw up while in a tight space, you end stuck in the painstate due to a bug unless you drop off, which is either onto a small platform if you're lucky , or the goop below. Act 2's boss was good in concept, but he doesn't retreat at all when hit, so you can quickly spam jumps and kill him once you get high enough. I had no problems with him at all on my first attempt, I didn't even get hit. I would rather see Eggman rise up a bit over the player after he's hit instead of continuing towards him at his max height.

 

[Shiron]

"Swamp," You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.

Spoiler: THIS is a swamp:

Spoiler: THIS is a swamp according to the media:

Spoiler: Good thing MineCraft seems to perfectly embody the look of a swamp:

"Swamps are characterized by very slow-moving waters. They are usually associated with adjacent rivers or lakes. In some cases, rivers become swamps for a distance. Swamps are features of areas with very low topographic relief."

 

[Kyasarin]

Why do you have an invincibility monitor that completely trivializes the Metal Sonic battle?

 

[742mph]

Why do you have an invincibility monitor that completely trivializes the Metal Sonic battle?

Because a) some people on IRC complained about the boss being too difficult for a first zone, which is what this was supposed to be and b) not everyone will find it.

not sure whether or not you tagged them properly, but you should take a look

The mushrooms actually use an invisible object for the bounce effect, but the mushroom sectors are octagonal and all objects are circular/cylindrical, so there's a slight difference between appearance and hitbox there.

Act 2's boss was good in concept, but he doesn't retreat at all when hit, so you can quickly spam jumps and kill him once you get high enough. I had no problems with him at all on my first attempt, I didn't even get hit. I would rather see Eggman rise up a bit over the player after he's hit instead of continuing towards him at his max height.

Eggman was originally going to retreat when hit, but there's a glitch with the 2.0.6 standard boss thinker that causes him to get stuck if he winds up in the wrong place. I tried to make him rise up with each hit after I saw your post, but there's no way to completely cancel out an object's Z momentum (other than A_ScoreRise, but Speed needs to be set to 0 for that, and Speed is already in use by the boss thinker), so the boss would just fly up to the ceiling without anything to stop him. Not even A_CapeChase can be used as a workaround. I'm not trying to make excuses, just letting you know that there's a reason for why the boss behaves the way he does.

 

[pastel]

Because a) some people on IRC complained about the boss being too difficult for a first zone, which is what this was supposed to be and b) not everyone will find it.

The boss isn't difficult, it's just bad.

Also, more people will find the invincibility monitor than not, since it's not hidden at all and is along the faster and easier path.

 

[Kyasarin]

Because a) some people on IRC complained about the boss being too difficult for a first zone, which is what this was supposed to be and

Make the boss easier. The player can also abuse Metal Sonic's invincibility frames and simply charge a spin rather than using invincibility to keep Metal Sonic at bay until he eventually dies and the level is over.

b) not everyone will find it.

The problem is that this particular bonus is both easy to access and very powerful. Hide it better, or adjust the boss fight so that its existence isn't mandatory (it never should be mandatory, anyways).

The boss isn't difficult, it's just bad.

Also, more people will find the invincibility monitor than not, since it's not hidden at all and is along the faster and easier path.

There is only one path that leads to the end of the level, and this monitor is on that path.

 

[742mph]

Also, more people will find the invincibility monitor than not, since it's not hidden at all and is along the faster and easier path.

Is the higher path really easier? I'm surprised at that.

EDIT: Invincibility monitor moved to a different location.

 

[Prime 2.0]

I tried to make him rise up with each hit after I saw your post, but there's no way to completely cancel out an object's Z momentum (other than A_ScoreRise, but Speed needs to be set to 0 for that, and Speed is already in use by the boss thinker), so the boss would just fly up to the ceiling without anything to stop him. Not even A_CapeChase can be used as a workaround. I'm not trying to make excuses, just letting you know that there's a reason for why the boss behaves the way he does.

Hold up, why wouldn't A_ZThrust work? You could even do it over two states with zero duration(var1 = 1 var2 = 65536 on state 1 to overwrite previous MomZ with 1 FU/Tic, var1 = -1 var2 = 0 on state 2 to cancel out the remaining momentum) if you don't want the console to complain about a var1 of zero.

 

[742mph]

Hold up, why wouldn't A_ZThrust work? You could even do it over two states with zero duration(var1 = 1 var2 = 65536 on state 1 to overwrite previous MomZ with 1 FU/Tic, var1 = -1 var2 = 0 on state 2 to cancel out the remaining momentum) if you don't want the console to complain about a var1 of zero.

I'll check to see if that works.

EDIT: Yes, it does. Thanks for that. The new version has been uploaded.

 

[Ice]

Two big complaints of mine, one relatively easy to fix and the other not so much:

1. Waaay too dark in some areas. Aside from just being plain hard to see in, which is annoying, it makes the area look pretty ugly. You should brighten up some of your darker sections; lighting really makes a difference sometimes.

2. The levels are claustrophobic. There are things to find and places to explore, but even then the levels just feel too small. I think this also has to do with how linear they are, as well. Some open areas with some non-linear-ish platforming can go a long way. When you make your maps, it seems like you just draw a series of hallways (all roughly the same height and width) and then proceed to just fill them with stuff. like an obstacle course. There aren't any interesting landscape designs beyond these hallways-with-obstacles, so you should really consider incorporating some nice open areas into your maps.

Beyond that, I can tell you're a competent mapper. You certainly know how to work the editor and come up with some good gameplay mechanics, so I applaud you for that.

 

[PieOnPot]

I'm enjoying it so far. I'll give it a star rating when I actually finish all three acts -- thanks for the map (:

The only thing I'd prefer is a bit more punishment for failing some of the mushrooms / platforms.

For example, I believe it's on Act2, there are a number of black platforms with red laser beams moving up and down -- one can jump into the "swamp acid" --> take a hit --> rush to the end (skipping the platforms) and simply spring up.

Anyway, just a quick scribble note - I just wanted to say thanks.

Pie