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sliiide to the right (accepted)

This collaboration seemed to have stalled, so I made this level to try and help it get finished. I hope this fits into one of the remaining slots, and I hope the collaboration is finished soon.



Download

--EDIT--

I just realized that I posted this level almost a year after I posted my previous level for SMWCX.
It's nice to see someone else working on a level for SMWCX! And it's an interesting level, too.

The gimmick is original, but my main concern with it is that Mario moves too fast, especially if you have a powerup. I don't really feel in control of Mario, and the controls are a bit counterintuitive at first. You could slow Mario down by replacing the invisible wooden blocks (block-1) with some bigger blocks, like the checkered dungeon floor from SMB3. For some reason, the player slides slower through them.

There are also some parts in the second half that may be remade. Especially the part where there are four 2-tile wide disapearring blocks. It might also be nice to have some sort of safety net by the "get inside the box" puzzle at the midpoint.
And you could extend the spikes at the end to the left. I managed to miss the star, and had to slide back to the left, getting the star, but falling in the pit afterwards.

This level could fit in world 7 or the bonus world if you slow down the player a bit.
Originally posted by Blue Leaf
Mario moves too fast, especially if you have a powerup.

I noticed that after I uploaded the level; if you duck, you move at small Mario's speed, so I should tell the player about that at the beginning.

Originally posted by Blue Leaf
And you could extend the spikes at the end to the left. I managed to miss the star, and had to slide back to the left, getting the star, but falling in the pit afterwards.

Yeah, that's another thing I didn't think about until after I uploaded the level. I'll go ahead and update these two things.

--EDIT--
Done (I overwrote the original file, so the same download link will give you the updated level).
-----------------

Originally posted by Blue Leaf
I don't really feel in control of Mario, and the controls are a bit counterintuitive at first.

To be fair, I did try to give a fairly large practice area at the beginning so first-time players can get used to the controls and speed at their own pace before actually trying to play the level.

Originally posted by Blue Leaf
There are also some parts in the second half that may be remade. Especially the part where there are four 2-tile wide disapearring blocks.

I didn't think that the second half was that much of a difficulty spike, except for the four 2-tile wide disappearing blocks. What if I replace them with two 4-tile wide disappearing blocks, but each one only appears at the same time the other one disappears?

--EDIT 2--
I scrapped that idea since it made the level harder, but the four 2-tile wide disappearing blocks have been replaced with something easier. Again, I just overwrote the download link.
--END EDIT--

Originally posted by Blue Leaf
It might also be nice to have some sort of safety net by the "get inside the box" puzzle at the midpoint.

Well, the intended solution for that puzzle is for the player to stand on the edge of the moving blocks facing left (in other words, you're partly outside the box, but not so far outside the box that you can't progress), meaning the player won't have to risk jumping into the pit at that part. Should I reword the hint?
I liked the change you made with the four 2-tile wide blocks. But I thought the level was more fun when Mario moved slower, since it felt like I had more control. It might be nice to have someone else's opinion on this, though.

Originally posted by Imaynotbehere4long
I noticed that after I uploaded the level; if you duck, you move at small Mario's speed, so I should tell the player about that at the beginning.

It might actually be better to make this a small Mario level only, since ducking all the way through is a bit annoying.

Originally posted by Imaynotbehere4long
Well, the intended solution for that puzzle is for the player to stand on the edge of the moving blocks facing left (in other words, you're partly outside the box, but not so far outside the box that you can't progress), meaning the player won't have to risk jumping into the pit at that part. Should I reword the hint?

That's what I did in my playthrough, but I thought I broke the puzzle. I didn't even notice it was a hint. I thought it was just telling me that you had to jump in the block as it reappeared, but after a few tries the actual solution just seemed simpler =P
Originally posted by Blue Leaf
I thought the level was more fun when Mario moved slower, since it felt like I had more control.

I thought the level was more fun when Mario moved faster since the challenge revolves around preventing Mario from moving forward (it takes a bit to get used to it, but you still have control). Plus, it allows me put more obstacles in the way of the player since Mario would be able to pass all of them in one go (like the two 3-tile wide moving blocks), but then again, I made the level and creator bias and all that.

Originally posted by Blue Leaf
It might be nice to have someone else's opinion on this, though.

I agree. Where's Eternity when you need him?

Oh, that reminds me: I've been wondering this ever since yesterday: are you Eternity's guinea pig? Does Eternity send you to test and review people's SMWCX levels before playing them himself? Looking at some of the earlier threads, it seems like you always review the levels before he gets to them...

Originally posted by Blue Leaf
It might actually be better to make this a small Mario level only, since ducking all the way through is a bit annoying.

Well...I don't see how I'd be able to do that without adding a time consuming item filter, and I'd rather not force the player to wait a few seconds just to play the level again; I want my level to flow smoothly. Plus, what would I do about the checkpoint? If it's that big of an issue, maybe you could add a filter to the hub, right before the level's entrance?

Oh, and before you respond with something about LunaDLL, not everyone can get it working for some reason, so a LunaDLL item filter won't be all-inclusive.

Originally posted by Blue Leaf
That's what I did in my playthrough, but I thought I broke the puzzle. I didn't even notice it was a hint. I thought it was just telling me that you had to jump in the block as it reappeared, but after a few tries the actual solution just seemed simpler =P

Sooo...I should reword the hint, then?
Originally posted by Imaynotbehere4long
I thought the level was more fun when Mario moved faster since the challenge revolves around preventing Mario from moving forward (it takes a bit to get used to it, but you still have control). Plus, it allows me put more obstacles in the way of the player since Mario would be able to pass all of them in one go (like the two 3-tile wide moving blocks), but then again, I made the level and creator bias and all that.

I meant that you move only slower through the safe zones (with invisible wooden blocks), and still move fast through the moving obstacles and edges. Some of the obstacles might need a some small tweaking, but overall I think it should be fine then.

Originally posted by Imaynotbehere4long
Oh, that reminds me: I've been wondering this ever since yesterday: are you Eternity's guinea pig? Does Eternity send you to test and review people's SMWCX levels before playing them himself? Looking at some of the earlier threads, it seems like you always review the levels before he gets to them...

Nah, I test these levels out of my own free will =) I do it mainly because I don't want this collab to die. Eternity is just busier with other (moderator) work, so he gets to the levels later. If it weren't for him, this collab would've died years ago.

Originally posted by Imaynotbehere4long
Well...I don't see how I'd be able to do that without adding a time consuming item filter, and I'd rather not force the player to wait a few seconds just to play the level again; I want my level to flow smoothly. Plus, what would I do about the checkpoint? If it's that big of an issue, maybe you could add a filter to the hub, right before the level's entrance?

I was thinking about a hub filter, or a message before the level that says that it is best played as small mario, with a muncher next to it.
You could place a muncher next to the midpoint.

Originally posted by Imaynotbehere4long
Sooo...I should reword the hint, then?

I think it is fine, but another opinion on this wouldn't hurt either.
The gimmick is very creative, and it is used in some interesting ways, but the level's tileset is too distracting at the moment, I'd recommend using something else (and maybe slightly different tiles for the moving ones - a red-ish recolor of what you're using for the disappearing blocks would be fine). Also having to hold down when big was a bit distracting (and rather hard to get accustomed to), but I guess there's not much we can do about it. Anyway, definitely an extra/optional level for now.

Quote
Oh, that reminds me: I've been wondering this ever since yesterday: are you Eternity's guinea pig? Does Eternity send you to test and review people's SMWCX levels before playing them himself? Looking at some of the earlier threads, it seems like you always review the levels before he gets to them...


Quote
Eternity is just busier with other (moderator) work

^ pretty much this, plus a few real life things I've been busy with recently. Finally done with it though, so I'll likely be more active from now on.
Originally posted by Eternity
the level's tileset is too distracting at the moment, I'd recommend using something else (and maybe slightly different tiles for the moving ones - a red-ish recolor of what you're using for the disappearing blocks would be fine).

If I slow down the frame speed by a bit (~0.1 seconds or so), would that be enough? I took all the graphics from Yoku Man's stage in Mega Man Unlimited, so I assumed the graphics would be able to work well with each other no matter how they were used. Plus, I'm not very good at making graphics myself, so if I changed something, that would probably just make it look worse.

Just curious: why do you think it would be a good idea to make the moving blocks red? Is it just to differentiate them from the disappearing/reappearing blocks? I used the same 2 tiles for both kinds of blocks.

Originally posted by Eternity
Also having to hold down when big was a bit distracting (and rather hard to get accustomed to), but I guess there's not much we can do about it.

Actually, I think I might be able to make a simple and quick item filter to fix that...I don't have time to make it now, though.
The actual color could be any color - it's just to differentiate it from the disappearing/reappearing blocks. And yeah, slowing the frame speed would probably fix it.
All right, everything should be fixed now. The download was updated, so the screenshot is outdated.

Changelog:
-differentiated moving blocks from (dis/re)appearing blocks.
-increased the delay between block frames to 0.3 seconds.
-slightly reworded the hint so it should be easier to figure out how to progress from that point.
-added a half-hearted power-up filter (only really works for Mario and Luigi without a power-up in the item box and Toad with 2hp or less)
Okay, that's a lot better.

Accepted!
Yay!

By the way, I'm not sure how representative the order of my levels is on the Level List, but I think it would be better if this level is placed before Password in the final product since Password is meant to be a sort-of climactic final level.