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[C] 5-1 - Morphic Mountain

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So for 5-1, I've decided to go with a mountain theme, where you're climbing the mountain inside and out, utilizing the morphs to get through. (Unintentionally, this has caused the cave to suddenly feel like Pot Hole Panic from DKC3 to me...) This is all I have so far- a short bit up to the Helicopter morph. I'm...honestly not sure what enemies to use here, especially during the helicopter segment. Any suggestions? For the outside, I'm currently using wall lakitus, but they don't feel very threatening to me... I know any I put near the bubbleplant will be, though, thanks to having to wait for bubbles!
<Adam> I feel like smwc is a prostitute now, because we put up a porn ad for money
Yeah, I think a copter section with the different kinds of plants (bubble and cactus) would be a unique twist on things. Depending on which sprite set you're using, you could also throw in some Bullet Bill shooters of various colors.

Looking good so far.
I'm at a point where I'm a little unsure about my current level flow, and I'd like some opinions on it. Here's an IPS. It's quite short, and ends when you hit the Yoshi Block in the cave. Please let me know if there's anything you're iffy about in this short timespan, anything you feel I could extend or expand upon, anything you feel just doesn't work and should be cut. It'd really help me figure out where the design should go in this level!

Also I'd just like to say, I hate how few sublevels this level gets! I was really wanting to have an icy cave section toward the end of the level that leads into skiing down through the mountain while trying to outrun one of those giant chasing chomps, but I just don't have the space for it! It'd be better for me to just think about the morphs, though, instead of skis for the sake of more skis. Perhaps someone else with a skiing level can try this, though?
<Adam> I feel like smwc is a prostitute now, because we put up a porn ad for money
So I played through your level and overall it is quite good. There are a few stuffs that is bad though.


Cutoff here when running out of time in mole form. Also perhaps you could let the player turn into a copter again after the mole section so you can go through in 1 run instead of 2 to get 100%.


I can go under the terrain like underwater levels in SMW.


For here, I think you should put a small platform so the player doesn't get sniped by a sudden yellow ball thing. Also maybe widen the platform the green piranha is on so you can get past it without killing it. Losing baby mario and having him drift to the right sucks as the piranha blocks the path.


Perhaps you could move the morph bubble to the left so the player doesn't get the flower for free after running out of time?


I think here you should reduce the amount of lakitus. Especially when going down as hitting a lakitu on the head will make the player boost up and is quite annoying.


I don't really like this sudden piranha plant coming out of nowhere when the coins are leading me forwards. If you perhaps placed it at the end of the jump the player would have better chance to react.

I think the bubble mechanic has the potential to go places with the different morphs. Hopefully you do more cool stuff with it further in. You should also probably have a middle ring right after the flying section.

That's all for now.
Originally posted by cramps-man
Cutoff here when running out of time in mole form. Also perhaps you could let the player turn into a copter again after the mole section so you can go through in 1 run instead of 2 to get 100%.

Oh what?! I thought transforming into the mole tank made you go back there when you ran out of time! Hrrrrmmm. Now I don't know what to do with that area...

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I can go under the terrain like underwater levels in SMW.

Yeah, Mineyl already pointed that out to me so I fixed it. :3

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For here, I think you should put a small platform so the player doesn't get sniped by a sudden yellow ball thing. Also maybe widen the platform the green piranha is on so you can get past it without killing it. Losing baby mario and having him drift to the right sucks as the piranha blocks the path.

For the first one: I have yet to have it shoot until it's near me, and I've seen complaints here before when people have made it where one shot distance can never hit the player. For the second: why? It's an obstacle to be defeated, not avoided. Not every instance of a sprite should be completely avoidable, in my opinion.

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Perhaps you could move the morph bubble to the left so the player doesn't get the flower for free after running out of time?

The intent is for this to remind some players of Mine Cart Carnage from DKC1, though admittedly, the cannon to get into the minecart is also on top of the ledge, not above the air, so the bubble being above the ledge makes more sense. But at the same time, people failing and falling into the flower shows them there's even anything down there... Hm.

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I think here you should reduce the amount of lakitus. Especially when going down as hitting a lakitu on the head will make the player boost up and is quite annoying.

Oh good, they DO get in the way! ^_^ I put so many there so people can't just go down in one spot and avoid all danger, I want people to move around them carefully so their time's not wasted. The thing is, though, if you land on them...they don't come back the second time. So no matter how much you fail, it gets easier and easier. I wish they came back, though. XD

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I don't really like this sudden piranha plant coming out of nowhere when the coins are leading me forwards. If you perhaps placed it at the end of the jump the player would have better chance to react.

Wow, how'd I forget that? That thing gets me every single time I test that part because I keep forgetting I put it there! Been meaning to remove it, but kept forgetting due to working hard on the cave. I like your idea, though!

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I think the bubble mechanic has the potential to go places with the different morphs. Hopefully you do more cool stuff with it further in. You should also probably have a middle ring right after the flying section.

The bubble...isn't as useful as it could be. :( For example, the Mole Tank: you jump pop up a block in the air and that's it. You're so slow and heavy that it doesn't help you in the slightest. Haven't tested it with other forms yet, though. Might be more useful with car and train since they can actually move!
<Adam> I feel like smwc is a prostitute now, because we put up a porn ad for money
The invisible 1-up cloud is annoying to get. First you find out that it's there...with no eggs, because there are no opportunities for eggs before it. It's also rather difficult to not kill both lakitus on instinct because it's easier than eating the lower one and jumping under the upper one which you will use to get up to that ledge. The jump is also rather tricky to pull off if you aren't jumping off the first lakitu.

You may want to add some indication as to where the first flower is as well - I only found out where it was by pressing the up button underneath where it was.

And the mole tank does indeed show some random cutoff when you run out of time. Easy fix - add some dirt in the screens that you go by when you're being teleported back to where you were before. Also, you don't need the mole tank behind the flipper. You can break the sand with the helicopter morph by bumping into it from below.

Other than that, I had some fun with the level. You may want to fix this along with the stuff cramps-man mentioned (except the stuff about the patooie piranha - I don't agree with him there)
Originally posted by Nimono
Oh what?! I thought transforming into the mole tank made you go back there when you ran out of time! Hrrrrmmm. Now I don't know what to do with that area...

You could force the player to hit an egg block perhaps so they restart at the mole bubble?

Originally posted by Nimono
For the first one: I have yet to have it shoot until it's near me, and I've seen complaints here before when people have made it where one shot distance can never hit the player. For the second: why? It's an obstacle to be defeated, not avoided. Not every instance of a sprite should be completely avoidable, in my opinion.

Well, I wouldn't mind if it was the 2nd or 10th time facing them. But if it's the first time and it makes the player get hit out of nowhere without any reaction time because they didn't know they would be in the level, then that's not good. I guess most players would just run forward after landing that jump, but some people who missed coins would stop and then get hit by the green piranha's shot.

Originally posted by Nimono
The intent is for this to remind some players of Mine Cart Carnage from DKC1, though admittedly, the cannon to get into the minecart is also on top of the ledge, not above the air, so the bubble being above the ledge makes more sense. But at the same time, people failing and falling into the flower shows them there's even anything down there... Hm.

Hmm, if people wanted to get those red coins to put down there, they would have to fly down anyway, and most likely see the flower. I also did not really get any reminiscence of DKC at that spot. I guess eh whatever, not a big deal.

Originally posted by Nimono
The bubble...isn't as useful as it could be. :( For example, the Mole Tank: you jump pop up a block in the air and that's it. You're so slow and heavy that it doesn't help you in the slightest. Haven't tested it with other forms yet, though. Might be more useful with car and train since they can actually move!

You should probably test out your ideas yourself before you say it's not useful. You might try something and get a new idea. Also if you tested yourself all the sections you made, you mighta also found out that time out mole didn't take you back where the mole bubble was.
Originally posted by cramps-man
You should probably test out your ideas yourself before you say it's not useful. You might try something and get a new idea. Also if you tested yourself all the sections you made, you mighta also found out that time out mole didn't take you back where the mole bubble was.

...why do you think I said the bubble doesn't pop you into the air very much if you're the mole tank? I DO test my levels, thank you very much, and I resent your accusation that I don't.
<Adam> I feel like smwc is a prostitute now, because we put up a porn ad for money
What I mean is, that test every bit of your level and ideas instead of assuming something. I apologize for sounding condescending.
I think cramps-man nailed everything I wanted to say with his images. I still feel like I'm missing something with the mole tank and the bubble plant though - what are you supposed to do with it? I feel like I was able to get everything without it (11 red coins and 2 flowers?)

If you're still looking for ideas, something that would be really cool is a train section in the cave with those bubble plants (and perhaps ! switches to bounce off of). I'd also recommend using the Super Star - although it's not technically a morph, I bet you could do some pretty cool things with Baby Mario + the bubble plants.

On the whole, it's quite good so far. By items alone, it seems like you're already halfway done with it though. I think there's a lot more potential here, so don't rush into making the ending too much just yet.
Originally posted by S.N.N.
On the whole, it's quite good so far. By items alone, it seems like you're already halfway done with it though. I think there's a lot more potential here, so don't rush into making the ending too much just yet.

I had a feeling I placed too many red coins! Yeah, this isn't meant to be the halfway point just yet- that's going to be after the cave. :P

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I think cramps-man nailed everything I wanted to say with his images. I still feel like I'm missing something with the mole tank and the bubble plant though - what are you supposed to do with it? I feel like I was able to get everything without it (11 red coins and 2 flowers?)

The Bubble Plant was originally going to be "hey, use this to get the mole tank to the ledge above and explore! :D" but then I found out it only pops you one block into the air in that form. :( right now, it's there for if you get to that location as yoshi (which is actually possible, I might add! i'm considering adding in a special bonus in there if you can manage to do it)

although I think I'm going to have to redo that entire section at the end that the mole tank is in- it really doesn't work how I want and the mole tank feels really tacked-on and it's just so messed up and not how I want it. :/


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If you're still looking for ideas, something that would be really cool is a train section in the cave with those bubble plants (and perhaps ! switches to bounce off of). I'd also recommend using the Super Star - although it's not technically a morph, I bet you could do some pretty cool things with Baby Mario + the bubble plants.

I was wanting to put the train in another section using the grass tileset that actually has the train tracks, though yes, I'd still be using bubbles. Gee, this level is starting to feel less like Morphic Mountain and more like Bubble Bounce. :P

as for the super star, i'll give it some thought!
<Adam> I feel like smwc is a prostitute now, because we put up a porn ad for money
SNN wants an update, so here, have some pictures of the little I got done between the message and now:




After taking these pictures, I realized that in the first shot, I could remove the lower Lakitu and replace it with a bubble plant. No clue if it'd be any obstacle, but if I put a ring of coins there, maybe! Also I'm finding it difficult to decorate this area to my liking since the back walls don't have any decorations in this tileset...
<Adam> I feel like smwc is a prostitute now, because we put up a porn ad for money
The walls themselves are pretty good decoration, so don't worry about that too much.
Your layout has been removed.
Agreed, the walls work well as decoration here. Level seems pretty great so far, but I didn't actually check the demo yet - might update the post soon. Not sure on how much the level changed since that so I might just wait for the final version, though.
Originally posted by Eternity
Agreed, the walls work well as decoration here. Level seems pretty great so far, but I didn't actually check the demo yet - might update the post soon. Not sure on how much the level changed since that so I might just wait for the final version, though.

I just feel it looks really plain with nothing breaking it up but "no wall here!" Oh well.


SO GUYS I HAVE A NEW IPS TO SHOW! Here you go! The cave is now extended to its end, and there's a middle ring! Oh, and a side door leading to a new segment, I HOPE YOU ENJOY!


Please let me know in GREAT detail what the problems are! Because I know they exist...
<Adam> I feel like smwc is a prostitute now, because we put up a porn ad for money
RELEASE CANDIDATE

Should have 2 midways (unsure if I should get rid of one of them; I kinda wanted the second one to be the only midway, but now I'm not sure!), 20 Red Coins, and 5 Flowers. Please let me know if anything is too baffling to figure out, if the difficulty is bad, if anything vanishes, etc! (In fact, I had one pesky red coin near the end keep vanishing on me a lot! I THINK I've fixed it now, but...)

enjoy~
<Adam> I feel like smwc is a prostitute now, because we put up a porn ad for money
I like this level a lot. It's well designed and it emulates the spirit of the original game to a tee.

I managed to find all of the red coins, but I'm missing one of the flowers, and I have no clue where it could be.

The flowers I found were:

1. Underneath the helicopter morph bubble
2. In the room with the train morph
3. Above the !-switch blocks at the end of the mole section
4. In the cloud at the very end of the level


I've played through this stage 3 times and I still haven't made heads nor tails of where the missing flower is.

Here's some other stuff I found.



I managed to get up here using a flutter jump off of the lakitu and a jump using bubbles. I didn't expect to find anything, but I think it'd be neat if there was a hidden 1-up or something here.



This morph bubble is really low to the ground, so if you run out of time and get sent back to it, you can get caught in it and transform again automatically, which feels weird. Move it up a few blocks.



This is visible when I run out of time with the helicopter near the morph block. Slap down some ground in this screen, as well as a scroll stopper.



Is this Tap-Tap just here for decoration? It looks suspicious to me, but as far as I can tell, I can't make it down there with the helicopter (I took this screen while I was flashing.)



I was expecting there to be something here to reward me for backtracking.



Here's something silly. If the mole tank lands on a penguin, you get stuck bouncing on it, unable to move for the duration of the morph.



1. I don't think these Squid are supposed to go above water

2. This room seems to serve no purpose. At first I though it was a kill room, but after destroying the enemies with the submarine, and even using an item to clear the room, nothing happened. I even patched the level to a new ROM in case the problem was that my ROM wasn't clean. Nope. All this seems to be here for is a screen transition.
Originally posted by ZeNewDragon

I managed to get up here using a flutter jump off of the lakitu and a jump using bubbles. I didn't expect to find anything, but I think it'd be neat if there was a hidden 1-up or something here.


There was originally a 1-up on the level below because I knew people would get up there, but I was told it was pointless since you'd only get one chance, before you even knew that ledge was there, so I removed it. I guess I could put it back on the lower one, but I see no point in putting it on the upper level since you have to backtrack with bubbles.

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This morph bubble is really low to the ground, so if you run out of time and get sent back to it, you can get caught in it and transform again automatically, which feels weird. Move it up a few blocks.


It was meant to remind people of Mine Cart Carnage from DKC1 but I guess no one will ever see the reference the way I designed the level!

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This is visible when I run out of time with the helicopter near the morph block. Slap down some ground in this screen, as well as a scroll stopper.


Darn, I thought I finally fixed that this time. Oh well, easy fix. Thanks for catching it!

EDIT: I did that, but found that the screen still has issues scrolling back to where
you first morphed because it goes through screens of nothing. I may have to redo that part a bit...
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Is this Tap-Tap just here for decoration? It looks suspicious to me, but as far as I can tell, I can't make it down there with the helicopter (I took this screen while I was flashing.)

Oh. Yeah, it's just there for decoration, a simple "lol look at this thing strut back and forth" kind of thing. I guess I should remove it!

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I was expecting there to be something here to reward me for backtracking.

Good idea! A 1-up would go great there.

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Here's something silly. If the mole tank lands on a penguin, you get stuck bouncing on it, unable to move for the duration of the morph.

Oh yeah? Did you know that if you lose Baby Mario when a Bumpty is nearby, they'll actually rush to grab him, like Toadies? In fact, they can even grab him after you morph! Anyway, how on earth should I fix this? It's something you have to purposefully set up, and even if I just put a ledge slightly above the ground, people will find a way to cause it anyway...

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1. I don't think these Squid are supposed to go above water

2. This room seems to serve no purpose. At first I though it was a kill room, but after destroying the enemies with the submarine, and even using an item to clear the room, nothing happened. I even patched the level to a new ROM in case the problem was that my ROM wasn't clean. Nope. All this seems to be here for is a screen transition.

HRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG

That room DOES have a purpose- it IS a kill room, that's where the final flower is! dfkjghdslkfgh And now I know what the problem is: The train room and the sub room both use the same item memory, so the flower is marked as collected when you grab a random coin in the train room! ....Wow, really? I had an entire item memory setting unused. For some reason, I thought the memory settings were 1-2-3, not 0-1-2-3! Welp, easy fix, so sorry. '^'


What other thoughts do you have about the level? Anything else you found to have been iffy in design? Anything you feel I should've expanded upon?
<Adam> I feel like smwc is a prostitute now, because we put up a porn ad for money
Originally posted by Nimono
It was meant to remind people of Mine Cart Carnage from DKC1 but I guess no one will ever see the reference the way I designed the level!


Well I know it wasn't what I immediately thought of.

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Oh. Yeah, it's just there for decoration, a simple "lol look at this thing strut back and forth" kind of thing. I guess I should remove it!


You could keep it if you wanted to. Just make it more immediately obvious that it's a closed off area.

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Oh yeah? Did you know that if you lose Baby Mario when a Bumpty is nearby, they'll actually rush to grab him, like Toadies? In fact, they can even grab him after you morph!


Yes, actually.

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Anyway, how on earth should I fix this? It's something you have to purposefully set up, and even if I just put a ledge slightly above the ground, people will find a way to cause it anyway...


It happened completely on accident, funnily enough. You could try moving the bumpty on that ledge forward a tile or two, maybe?


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HRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG

That room DOES have a purpose- it IS a kill room, that's where the final flower is! dfkjghdslkfgh And now I know what the problem is: The train room and the sub room both use the same item memory, so the flower is marked as collected when you grab a random coin in the train room! ....Wow, really? I had an entire item memory setting unused. For some reason, I thought the memory settings were 1-2-3, not 0-1-2-3! Welp, easy fix, so sorry. '^'


I knew something was up there! I was even about to ask if that was where the final flower was meant to be!

Also, I just realized that I forgot to change the item memory settings in 1-5. Glad that didn't cause any issues.

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What other thoughts do you have about the level? Anything else you found to have been iffy in design? Anything you feel I should've expanded upon?


All I can say is that the last 3 flowers are pretty tightly clustered together, and the Milde placement in the mole section is kind of sketchy, but that's about it.
Originally posted by ZeNewDragon
All I can say is that the last 3 flowers are pretty tightly clustered together, and the Milde placement in the mole section is kind of sketchy, but that's about it.

Any recommendation on those points? I do agree the flowers are too close together...
<Adam> I feel like smwc is a prostitute now, because we put up a porn ad for money
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