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Level 01E - Seaside Spikes

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As I said in the other thread, I didn't feel comfortable using a thread that was already started, so I made a new one.

I went on and checked the history of this level, and found out that it had four attempts before this one:

1. A Beach with fortress elements and a diggable sand gimmick by Snow.
2. A level based around dodging a jumping Porcu Puffer by MrDeePay
3. Skewer' Bashful Beach Bash that uses mini-puffers, venus piranha plants and layer 3 water.
4. Frost's Turbulent Tides which uses layer 3 rising water and is based around Lakitu.

When I take a level that was previously claimed by someone else, I usually respect the previous author's wishes, so I'm planning to represent each of these attempts in the level. But wait, wouldn’t that be a giant inconsistent clustefuck? It would be if I took everything from each one, but I'll just going to take parts of each one and mix them so they all fit in one level without losing the consistency.

I'll use three rooms in total.

The first part will be based around mini-puffers and will use layer 3 water, like Skewer's level, I might also use venus piranha plants, but I'm not sure about it. The second room will also use layer 3 water and will be based around dodging a regular puffer in MrDeePay's video, it won't jump though, it will also use the minipuffers and I might use dolphins but I'm not sure about this yet. So far, the puffers are the main enemies of the level.

The third room will be a transition to the fortress. Like in Snow's level, I'll combine the beach tileset with a fortress tileset (it may be the one Snow used, the one used in the fortress or just any fortress tileset). The main obstacle in this room will be Lakitus, both in cloud and in pipes, just like in Turbulent Tides. I may use the minipuffers here too, so I can keep the consistency, but their focus will be minor. This section will be shorter than the other two, but still substantial enough to give Lakitu enough room.

The whole level will use Skewer's tileset and the music from his version. I might make the level take place at night as in Snow's version though.

Since the main enemies of the level (puffers and spinies thrown by the lakitus) are all spiky, I decided to go with the name "seaside spikes"

I read this level was supposed to have a secret room where you get a cutscene about what Bowser's been doing. I don't know if this is still going to be included, but if it is, I'll probably hide the entrance somewhere in the second section. I might also hide a SMWC coin there like skewer did.

In summary, this level will combine elements from its past incarnations. Puffers will be the primary enemy during most of the level, at the end of the level they will become secondary enemies and lakitus will take their place. Even though I'm taking ideas from other people I'll keep adapt them to my own level design style, thus keeping everything consistent.

I'll post some progress in this thread as soon as I have it. Suggestions, feedback and questions are welcome.
I like the sound of everything I've read here. Let's go on an assumption basis and say that the cutscene will be there, in which case just simply use the (side) level I made with Bowser reclining back.

My only suggestion is to make sure that the level is very difficult, this secret level is essentially bypassing a lot of the world, so a person would have to think twice and choose one really hard level over three or so moderately difficult levels.

Also glad to see that my graphics are holding up to standards. As an aside, I'm probably going to have to go back and redraw my the tile set for my factory level at some point to be up-to-date with my current skill level.
Status update: The first two sections are done. I only need to do the final one.

I'm using layer 2 water instead of layer 3 to prevent the players from swimming below the ground. As a result, I simplified the background to make it fit as layer 3

Really digging the nighttime beach aesthetic, Najeraldo! We haven't seen a lot of the level from that screenshot, so I can't say much, so...good luck with the rest!
Just so you know, I'm very active on the site anymore like I was before; I'm mainly on Discord now.
Click

It contains the full level. Ignore the lack of dirt, I left it like that so it's easier for me to move stuff arround after I get some feedback.

Edit: If you downloaded the patch before I updated it, ignore the room with the directional coin blocks, I already fixed that.
Ah, now this will be a treat, expect me to give some feedback in the next day, pretty late where I am.
My honest thoughts on the level: It's great! Definitely one of the better playing levels in my opinion, it's fun, doesn't depend on a gimmick to do what it needs to do. I liked it from beginning to end, definitely reminded me of the level I had here, so it's there's a big plus in my eyes. Excellent work Naj.

Anybody else feel like giving it a go? It's a solid level in my eyes.
I think you should space the enemies better. I felt very overwhelmed by the enemy density, with the dodging possibilities being very limited. Reminder that this is supposed to be a world 4 level, so it should still have a decent amount of forgivingness.

Also, there are too many different enemies so I felt like there was zero development to any of them, including the mini puffers which were supposed to be the main enemy here I guess. Also, this issue makes the previous one worse (enemy density) because you have, like, 4 different enemies around you acting in different ways so you got to have in mind all of their movement patterns while trying to find a way through them in a tight space.

To put it simply: tone down the spritework.
The big thing you got to keep in mind Gloomy is that this level is supposed to be very difficult, you either play:
• Three easier levels
or...
• This one hard level

I think the difficulty is rightfully placed; actually, I think it needs to be a bit longer and more difficult, but I'm sure others will disagree on that.

My second point stands: there's little development in the enemies because too many were introduced.

Also, there are ways of making a level hard, and I feel like spamming all sorts of enemies on a bunch of inconsistently placed slopes and also fake safe havens for the venus plants thanks to some ambushes isn't the best one of them.

I also forgot to mention that it takes quite long to reach the first powerup in the level.
Here

I removed some of the enemies in the most populated areas and added some screens in the last section. I hope the level isn't too easy now.
Anyone?

I made some minor changes to the end of the level. The link is in the previous post, I updated it.
It's quite a nice level, but I feel like it's too easy. Like you introduce the bob-ombs, but they are in places where they are harmless and then they aren't used anymore. Look at the jumping puffer fish - they are better thought out. After the first few screen the level doesn't ramp up the difficulty and there are some sprites which don't pose any danger to you at all. Try to place them in more strategic places and change the terrain when needed.
Originally posted by Minimay
It's quite a nice level, but I feel like it's too easy. Like you introduce the bob-ombs, but they are in places where they are harmless and then they aren't used anymore. Look at the jumping puffer fish - they are better thought out. After the first few screen the level doesn't ramp up the difficulty and there are some sprites which don't pose any danger to you at all. Try to place them in more strategic places and change the terrain when needed.

I talked with Skewer about this and we both agreed the latest version was too easy for a level that allows you to skip 3 levels.

I a new version, it's easier than the first one but harder than the last one. I hope this one cuts it.
Tried it.

Overall, It's hard enough for a level that allows you to skip 3 levels, but not impossible to beat. I also like the nighttime beach theme.

It had a bit of slowdown at one particular point, but I think it was because I triggered too many things on screen (Or maybe it was my emulator, I can take a screenshot if you want to see it).

Well, Good job!
Originally posted by ShadowAlexandre
I can take a screenshot if you want to see it).

Yes, show me where you got it so I can test it and see if I also get it.
Originally posted by Najeraldo
Originally posted by ShadowAlexandre
I can take a screenshot if you want to see it).

Yes, show me where you got it so I can test it and see if I also get it.


Here, right before the Goal:

Yeah, I got some slowdown there too. Removing the cheep-cheep fixes it, so I did that.
It's been a while since the last feedback, and I don't want to drag this forever, so here are the files:

DOWNLOAD

I removed the cheep-cheep from the screenshot above and added dirt. I can still make changes to the level if you think they're necessary.
My thoughts:

1) This level is long. I would put a midway point after each section. Dying after beating the first section destroyed my soul.

2) Maybe just me, I did not find the first SMWC coin to be very clear. Maybe it's too hidden or maybe I suck at games.

3) A lot of the horizontal jumping spike fish seem to be placed very annoyingly, such that they will kill you before you have a chance to react, exacerbated by the fact that a lot of the jumps come from the water, giving you limited ability to change your direction. They do not feel fair to die to to me.

4) I can't find the second coin, even in LM. Can you tell me where that is? Am I being stupid and missing it?

5) I never got this far, but it looks like the final coin might also be pretty hard to find. Especially for a world 4 level.

6) I think the end level sprite is usually supposed to be placed in the air, not on the ground somewhere. Not sure if that is just temporary or something, but I think it should be moved to a more open area. I would just flatten that area, remove the muncher, and put it floating there.


Edit:
Originally posted by Gloomy
Also, there are ways of making a level hard, and I feel like spamming all sorts of enemies on a bunch of inconsistently placed slopes and also fake safe havens for the venus plants thanks to some ambushes isn't the best one of them.

This is what I mean by the horizontal fish being placed annoyingly. You are jumping somewhere to avoid the tons of other sprites around, but that area is infested by a pokey fish who was just offscreen and is now jumping at your face. It almost feels like a Kaizo trap, because you just have to remember where they are to not take a hit.
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