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Level 1E (World 9) - Time Up Tunnels

I replayed it recently, and I don't think it's up to par with my current level design. So far, here are my plans for the level:

- Introduce the blue and red blocks through the level design and not via a message block.
- Remove the "short on time" bonus section. I don't know why I thought people would want to replay the entire level with 1/4 of the time.
- With that section gone, redistribute yoshi coins.
- Repurpose that sublevel for bonus rooms maybe.
- Remove p-switch blocks if possible, or use them in bonus rooms. The level currently revolves around the use of three special blocks and additional blocks unnecessarily complicate things.
- More sprite variety. Koopas and spike tops != variety.
- Get someone to fix the poison water so it drains time constantly instead of starting and stopping.

I think all the changes I've proposed may necessitate a complete redo. We'll see.



EDIT: Can't double post, so I'll edit.

Crash course time!




You start on top of blue blocks, so you know they're solid right off the bat. If you want that powerup on the right, knowing that the spike top is unaffected by blue blocks is necessary to time your jump properly.




The arrow on the sign is going to be replaced with a clock (or something). This is supposed to signify that the red blocks affect the clock, or at the very least get the player to look at the timer.

This is pretty much how red blocks were introduced previously and I can't think of a better way. Any other ideas?




Taking the shell back to the beginning gives you a vine that leads you to the first yoshi coin.
If you do a complete redo, try to integrate the time gimmick of the red blocks into the level better.

When I played through it, they were kind of unnoticeable. Playing the level blind I didn't know how many red blocks there would be (and thus, exactly how much time I could spend on the blocks), and the player has to cross red blocks at several points, so all they did was encourage me to move through them as quickly as possible.
I don't really remember this level but you were right about letting the player know the blue blocks were solid from the start.

Also, about the poison water (which I do actually remember): I thought the brief pause before it started to drain the time away was a good idea, so the player had a little time before things went down. Still, it would be good to get somebody to look through the code again. Also, more spirte variety is a nice thing (do fishies work in the poison water? If so, it would be cool to intigrate some of them bone fishes.

- BlackMageMario
Originally posted by BlackMageMario
Also, more spirte variety is a nice thing (do fishies work in the poison water? If so, it would be cool to intigrate some of them bone fishes.


Fish should still work, since the poison water acts like water. But the water you can swim in in this level is normal, non-time-draining. The poison water is used with the red blocks using layer 2 shenanigans (layer 1 red block, layer 2 poison water).


(for the record, the blue blocks use layer 2 shenanigans as well)
Are you okay with me moving this level to world 3? Since it looks like we're going through with the "remove the sewer world" idea I proposed, this level will need to find a new home and the cave world seems like it would be fitting.

Liking the looks of the updates. I'm glad you're deciding to actually properly introduce the gimmick this time around!
Originally posted by TRS


The arrow on the sign is going to be replaced with a clock (or something). This is supposed to signify that the red blocks affect the clock, or at the very least get the player to look at the timer.

This is pretty much how red blocks were introduced previously and I can't think of a better way. Any other ideas?

I wonder if it's possible to have clocks whose faces animate faster depending on whether you're standing on the red blocks? Either way, I'd place more than one clock around those red blocks, and maybe place a few more throughout the level to reinforce the idea.

Introduction looks good, though!
Youtube (Main) | Youtube (Alt) | Bandcamp | DeviantART
Originally posted by S.N.N.
Are you okay with me moving this level to world 3? Since it looks like we're going through with the "remove the sewer world" idea I proposed, this level will need to find a new home and the cave world seems like it would be fitting.


If this level is going to be moved to world 3, what level would this follow? I'd like to know so I can add a transitional section so a sewer in the caves makes a little more sense.
Chances are we'll need to reorganize the map a bit, but I'm thinking it would probably fall after Buzzy Bridge and before Oh Man! It's Hell!
Welp, Buzzy Bridge's background is too complicated to convert to level layer 2.

Are there custom blocks that serve the same purpose as the "custom" blocks I'm currently using? (blue: sprites can walk through, red: drains your time, but is solid instead of water)
Late, but not really. I don't mind inserting any new blocks you'd need though, assuming better ones are available in the blocks section (the ones in the ROM are rather finicky).
So yeah. The removal of time from the base ROM completely destroys the time draining gimmick I originally had. So instead of that, I'm redoing it to focus on the other "custom" block that sprites can go through but not Mario. I'm also going all-in on the sewer theme since the theme isn't spread out across a world anymore.

Anyway, images:




The intro section is still there, but the "custom" block doesn't work here since this section doesn't use level layer 2. I might remove this section and just go straight to the main sewer level. The blue blocks are also wrong, since I haven't changed them yet.




The blue blocks have been changed to purple. I did this because I want to use blue switch blocks and having two different kinds of blue blocks could get confusing.

I'm also doing that "make the water darker to show there's land there" thing that seems to be popular at the moment. It looks pretty cool IMO.




A yoshi coin is hidden under the bridge. The player has to go under the platform to the right of the bridge. Also underwater coins.




A small p-switch puzzle. The p-switch is located just left of this picture and requires the blue switch. You have to be careful not to drop the p-switch on top of the purple blocks, since it'll go through them.




Blue switch blocks also give you access to a bonus area.




The bonus area I just mentioned. At the end is a changing item (the kind used with the translucent block. Notably, you can get a cape feather from this. The second half of the level will contain small bonus sections that you can get to by flying.

Also shown: I don't know what colors the status bar uses.