Edit 2/11/17: Download link.
There's no way out, the only way out is to give in...
It's been forever since I've entered one of these, but I figured after the major success of the past three VLDCs, I should toss my hat into the ring for a chance at that gold. But really, even just being in one of these is a reward in and of itself, even if I end up in the worst world or something.
This level mainly focuses around the platforms that rotate when Mario steps on them, as well as the weird sprite-only blocks that are supposed to appear under wall triangles. I know the latter's old hat for most people in the vanilla hacking community, but I still think it's one of the funniest things in the original SMW, and I think I can get some more mileage out of it.
The neat thing about the platforms is that they always rotate right first, and this can be manipulated for some preeetty cool obstacles, like the part in the fourth screenshot where you need to sort of maneuver it around so you can make it swing left, while dodging the spiny and the bullet bill shooter. (I'm probably going to put another mushroom either before or after that screen; it's actually kinda tricky.)
Aesthetic-wise, I think I've mostly got it finalized. I don't want to add too many decorations to the foreground level, as I feel like that would be too busy and distracting in this sort of environment.
I've done my best to make things as noticeable as possible without detracting from the general 'feel' of the level - all foreground objects often glow a brighter color, which helps them stand out more regardless of where the background is at the moment. The munchers also stand out a lot due to their bright pinkness, which should hopefully avoid a lot of 'arrrgh, there was a muncher there?'-type problems. I'm also going to make the bullet bill shooters more visible too, since that's something I overlooked at first.
I'm trying to be a bit sparing with reset doors - in most screens, you can either backtrack to reset the position of the platforms, or you're just going to die anyway so it's not like resetting would make a huge difference. I've mainly just put them at the introduction of new concepts that might be confusing for the player the first time around, like the platforms allowing Mario to clip through the ground. I mainly want to avoid using message blocks, since I think that a good level should be able to show the player the mechanics rather than telling them?
This level really looks best in motion, so here's a quick video preview of it. Note that this video is slightly outdated - I've since changed the final screen in the video to what you see in the last screenshot in this post. (Fun fact: that screen was actually the first thing I made for this level.)
I'm also aware that the music messes with the sound effects a bit, but I actually kinda like the way that complements the weirdness of the level. There's no other song I'd want to use for it, unless someone makes a new abstract remix that's just as bizarre.
(Side note: If there isn't an abstract world this contest I have literally no idea where you'd put it. Purple world???)
There's no way out, the only way out is to give in...
It's been forever since I've entered one of these, but I figured after the major success of the past three VLDCs, I should toss my hat into the ring for a chance at that gold. But really, even just being in one of these is a reward in and of itself, even if I end up in the worst world or something.
This level mainly focuses around the platforms that rotate when Mario steps on them, as well as the weird sprite-only blocks that are supposed to appear under wall triangles. I know the latter's old hat for most people in the vanilla hacking community, but I still think it's one of the funniest things in the original SMW, and I think I can get some more mileage out of it.
The neat thing about the platforms is that they always rotate right first, and this can be manipulated for some preeetty cool obstacles, like the part in the fourth screenshot where you need to sort of maneuver it around so you can make it swing left, while dodging the spiny and the bullet bill shooter. (I'm probably going to put another mushroom either before or after that screen; it's actually kinda tricky.)
Aesthetic-wise, I think I've mostly got it finalized. I don't want to add too many decorations to the foreground level, as I feel like that would be too busy and distracting in this sort of environment.
I've done my best to make things as noticeable as possible without detracting from the general 'feel' of the level - all foreground objects often glow a brighter color, which helps them stand out more regardless of where the background is at the moment. The munchers also stand out a lot due to their bright pinkness, which should hopefully avoid a lot of 'arrrgh, there was a muncher there?'-type problems. I'm also going to make the bullet bill shooters more visible too, since that's something I overlooked at first.
I'm trying to be a bit sparing with reset doors - in most screens, you can either backtrack to reset the position of the platforms, or you're just going to die anyway so it's not like resetting would make a huge difference. I've mainly just put them at the introduction of new concepts that might be confusing for the player the first time around, like the platforms allowing Mario to clip through the ground. I mainly want to avoid using message blocks, since I think that a good level should be able to show the player the mechanics rather than telling them?
This level really looks best in motion, so here's a quick video preview of it. Note that this video is slightly outdated - I've since changed the final screen in the video to what you see in the last screenshot in this post. (Fun fact: that screen was actually the first thing I made for this level.)
I'm also aware that the music messes with the sound effects a bit, but I actually kinda like the way that complements the weirdness of the level. There's no other song I'd want to use for it, unless someone makes a new abstract remix that's just as bizarre.
(Side note: If there isn't an abstract world this contest I have literally no idea where you'd put it. Purple world???)