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[REMOVED] "The Raccoon" - MCJ32

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File Name:The Raccoon
Submitted:2014-11-21 08:01:22 AM by MCJ32
Claimed:2014-11-24 02:45:31 PM by Mirann
Authors:MCJ32
Demo:No
Featured:No
Length:5 exit(s)
Difficulty:Normal
Description:Help this vigilante complete an assignment.

In my honest opinion, your hack is pretty weird and messed up.

All the levels feel repetitive in terms of design, due to the constant use of the same segments that seemed to have been copy-pasted, making of it a pattern seen constantly in the level as you play it, which made the hack feel tedious to play overall. There was almost no variation in the levels, being one of the "worst" examples I can remember; the level Intex Warehouse, where you have a couple of these segments [1] [2] [3] [4] that were a full annoyance to go through (plus the GFX used in this level; while the BG is fine, the FG made a full confusion for my gameplay, as an example, the red small pipes in this screen aren't part of the BG, which I thought they were, and caused me to unfairly hit it and die). Some levels weren't well-thought of, as another example, in Tedix Warehouse, you're able to skip the obstacles of the level if you want to, seeing the seen tiles aren't solid from the sides. Last mention is that the level Interregion 15 was simply boring; it feels like you wasted the gimmick of the level, while you could've done way more interesting things with it. Other levels weren't as bad as the ones I mentioned, but they weren't really interesting either.

As for Miscellaneous issues:
-- The File select menu's colours look really bad.
-- (Not pictured) The overworld simply looks too cramped, with bad colours choices and a poor design. I just suggest you to read this tutorial when you have the chance - it's going to be helpful for you in the future in order to design overworlds.
-- (Not pictured) The cutscenes look awful; the text is simply hard and annoying to read.
-- Wrong/glitchy sprite tilemaps [1] [2] [3].


This should be all. The levels, GFX (I know you tried to put some effort on drawing some, but it didn't work, really) and everything else in the hack weren't a joy for me. All I can suggest for you now is to play other hacks accepted to the hacks section, try to get some inspiration and have a notion of the quality a hack needs to make into the section. This is not a bad project, so I also suggest you not to throw it away, but instead, get some better hacking knowledge AND remake this project in the future.

But for now we're in present, so.. as usual from me, I won't tell my verdict.
Difficulty is Normal.


+1'd users:
- Suika Ibuki
- Everest (cool to see you back to reviewing!)
- Wakana-chan
Suika Ibuki - 25107
Red writer here we go
Main Review:
Really, i would like to know what's up on the palettes from this hack,not trying to sound rude but all those hard-drawn graphics looks terrible, same for the little modifications you did on some sprites, so the aesthetics from this hack are pure lose sorry.
Level design isn't much too [O] Lots of empty areas without any enemies that are just-so-boring, [O] and when i see enemies, they looks terrible like this also as i mentioned earlier you should REALLY fix the graphics and palettes of your hack, just look at this BG palette, i don't think it's good and i guess you think the same.
[O] and [O], repetitive segments, your hack is filled with then and 2 it's not the right way to make those uptiles/whatever.[O]Classic flatness
OW is just meh, a purpleish blocky island with terrible palettes.
Misc. Errors:
[O]Classic fireball glitch, remove Mario's graphic on GFX00.
(NOT PICTURED): You only use of one enemy per level.
(NOT PICTURED): Your hand-drawn GFX has no shadings and some of then isn't have outlines, which gives me a Atari sensation, and that REALLY causes clash on the entire game.
Difficult:
NORMAL, i could give Easy due to flatness and hard due to unfair tricks but i will mix everything up and give normal
Verdict:
REJECTED, short hack, bad palettes , repetitive\unfair areas and flatness, your have alot to improve but i see potential on you, don't give up but please, take our feedback on consideration, the first step to success is learn to hear what people say to you.
#unbanMB980
Levels that are built up by the creator and tear the player down are walking contradictions.

Yeah, judging by that statement, your hack isn't really all that good at all due to two main factors which are the aesthetics and level design. The main factors of a hack are extremely important as they determine the outcome of the hack's status by a huge margin. Unfortunately, these two areas are not so good in this hack so the verdict is predictable. That does not mean I won't go over anything - on the contrary, pointing things out will help you improve for the future. With that out of the way, let's begin on the level design of this hack. The level design of this hack is quite repetitive overall although most of the levels have their own distinct design and gimmick. Rooftops is the first actual level of the hack excluding the Patrom Residence which pretty much acts like Yoshi's House in this hack. Predictably, it happened to be that the level is set on the roofs of buildings. In my experience, these levels tend to be good although that is not the case here. It is quite repetitive while I avoid enemies and occasionally go above by climbing what seems to a be a rope of sorts (basically a vine replacement). Nothing interesting happens here except for mainly jumping over repetitive segments. Meta Park is pretty much the explain except different graphics and a greetings from a birdo that turns out to be one of many in the level. The only improvement I saw there was the fact that the landscape was more sloped and varied. Intex Warehouse was the only level I was truly interested in and the interest is due to the difficulty. Unfairness due to the graphics is what caused me to despise it plus the repetitiveness. Interregion 15 is boring due to the fact that the gimmick is wasted on repetitive design that does not even function well. Tedix Warehouse is also not really interesting as it could be easily described by the same descriptions as the previous levels. Not interesting at all overall.

The aesthetics of this hack are not good at all and this begins on the title screen where the file select menu is of a bad color (due to the use of the palettes in that level). The cutscenes are awful in my opinion to look at and I did not even bother reading the text on them due to this very reason (the text of the cutscenes itself is... meh at best in relation to the hack). Intex Warehouse was a horrible level difficulty wise due to the graphics used here. There graphics are not bad per se BUT the palette used makes it impossible to distinguish between the background and foreground hence many deaths and unfair jumps while I tried to figure which tiles were solid. Darkening the background would solve that issue. The GFX that seemed to be drawn wasn't all too good in my opinion - sorry. The palettes at best were suitable for the eyes although they did not really look the best. The sprite usage in this hack was repetitive. The overworld (submap) is poorly designed with bad palettes; play some other accepted hacks to get an idea of what is acceptable (and good) design for the overworld as well as the levels. Finally, that spiny-like sprite in Tedix Warehouse that leaves me stunned is not really a good way of ending as it is more annoying and seems like lazy effort than interesting and challenging. Yeah, not much good things to say about this hack overall.

Difficulty: For the most part, Normal would do.

Due to the failure of the two main factors in this hack, I am going to have to go with rejection. Play some other hacks like I advised earlier to get a good idea of what a good hack looks like and have testers to test your hack for glitches. That is pretty much it.
...
I do wonder, hack creator, what made you think that this hack is worth of being accepted in the section. I don't want to sound rude, but this hack is a total nonsensed mess. The only decent thing, which I appreciated, is the story and the efforts in doing the cutscenes (even if done in the worst way possible). Without further ado, I'm going straight to level design.

Level design is...absent, in this hack. I wouldn't even call it design, because all the levels had more or less the same identical pattern. Something like: go right, avoid enemies, climb brown lines, repeat. Playing this became super boring after the first level, having the same things going on in every level makes me feel like the hack never ends, and this had only 5 exits. You need to create proper levels, each one with unique design ideas if possible, in order to entertain the player as best as you can. This is an unlucky try, since I personally wanted to end it as fast as possible. Sorry if I sounded harsh, but you need way more work on this hack in terms of design.

Aesthetic...I'm abusing dots here. but hey dots are cool *shot* I have no words to explain what's going on with the graphics here. I have seen ugly ones in my experience, but this one may be on the top 3 at least. Not to sound offensive if you're the one who made them, but they really don't look good: the player has 2-3 palette colors, the clashes are super evident and the palettes are terrible and eye-soaring. Nothing more to add; if you can't see what's really wrong with everything, I'd suggest you to play others' hacks and see what a good aesthetic means.

Misc technical issues are the cherry on the expired cake:
- The first level's enemies don't kill you. They will only "steal" your powerup. Unless it was meant to be like that, it kills gameplay;
- The DKC Cart level was annoying as hell, mostly for the silly hitbox. I'd redo the GFX to make it look more intuitive;
- The boss can make you stuck forever if you pass the right wall and you're on the ground while he shakes it. Not to mention that you can jump right on the goal after passing said wall, without beating the boss.

Difficulty is normal? I honestly would go for easy, but some spots are frustrating as hell.

Without thinking twice, I'd reject this hack. Definitely not good; if it wasn't for the story idea, I'd just trash it and start a new one. Think about it though, it won't be a bad idea...
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