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Unsettling Bastion 2: Shrine of Souls


#smrpg{mlem}
                                                                                                                  
                              
Please take care of this baby. I'm sure the level design will be well crafted.
Windowless ride, feeling alive
Are you alive or just breathing?
how is this moon vanilla ? Does anyone know ?
Originally posted by MaiK
how is this moon vanilla ? Does anyone know ?

Im pretty sure its just the green gas bubble/large boo.
Normally this is where most people (including me) would be like "puut moar ztuff in ur screenies", but I already know how fantastic of a level designer you are so I already have faith that this will be great. Good luck and such Gloomy!
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hows the level goin gloomy



Wow, the combination of colors is phenomenal. #tb{O_O}

I like the clarity between exterior to interior as well.

Looking forward to the level design and gimmicks.

Also, are we ever going to find the poor guy's soul??? :O
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ooh Unsettling Bastion 2

nice nice
Shrine of Souls (BPS download)

Unlike Unsettling Bastion, this level focuses more on setups with its contained selection of sprites and gimmicks -- most of which inherited from its predecessor -- than on ambience and numerous elements to build up the ambience. This is a development based on one of the reviews I got for Unsettling Bastion and the overall better scores obtained with Linespace. I don't necessarily think this level is overall superior to Unsettling Bastion, but I expect (or aim for) it to be a worthy successor, at least level design-wise.

I tested this level exhaustingly, but some of its elements can be inconsistent and unpredictable (mainly Hopping Flames and Flying Block rides), so I'll appreciate any sort of testing, fan judging and feedback. I'm also curious to know how many SMW seconds remain on the timer upon others beating this level. I can achieve more than 200 SMW seconds remaining, but that's obviously considering I know all the ins and outs of this level.
Update

Fixed an instance of Mario getting stuck (here), changed the midway point sublevel a bit to hide the soul gimmick's jankness and added one more setup to the final sublevel. Thank you idol for the feedback!


So I enjoyed this level, it was well made. Nice work! However, in my opinion, there are some issues with the level. I'll try to point specific issues out by using timestamps. In general, however, I didn't really think the gimmick took off until the second half, and I thought that the part of the level prior to the midway point was particularly weak compared to the rest. I'm not a fan of map16 trickery (such as using different shading to hide a non-solid tile), but I also think that the puzzle itself is almost immediately noticeable. The first half also seems to be way easier than the second.

-The hopping flames have just the right palette to make them somewhat blend in with the background, which can lead to ambushes. I know that sprites palettes can increase the ambience of a level, but in this instance it could get annoying

-Hopping flame at 0:27 in particular is surprising (it's my fault that I took a hit there though lol)

-Dragon coin at 0:43 requires a lot of waiting, which might be avoided if the hot head's timing was different

-I mentioned it earlier but this hole (whole?) section at 1:50 isn't my favorite. The dragon coin in particular feels a bit lackluster

-It became very annoying to replay this room over and over after I grabbed the midpoint. Waiting for the boo block is pretty boring, and you have to do it over and over. I would just create a midway point entry room that has a door straight to the second half

-Dragon coin at 2:38 is really cool

-Winged block ride at 2:50 feels a little filler without any enemies

-2:58 feels like it will be a blind fall, so it almost feels like you need the winged ? block. The part after this is a almost overwhelming with hotheads, and it's a bit tricky to not take a hit here

-This can't be fixed really, but landing on the winged ? blocks is a bit tricky because it's essentially 1-tile platforming in which a mistake usually leads to insta-death

-I might give like 1 more tile of leeway at 3:00

-I also realized that it became slightly tiresome to backtrack and get the mushroom every time (like in 3:40), but I really don't have a solution to this besides making it a 1-up block

-The shell puzzle at 4:07 is pretty neat

-I think that 6:57 is a bit more unintuitive, and that might be because the grey arch platforms slightly confused me (don't ask why)

Overall, it's a very well polished entry. I like that it skips right to the gameplay, whereas the first in this series took a bit more time setting up the ambience. However, I feel like the ambience would probably help a lot in situations where the gameplay is somewhat slow, such as the room with the midway point. I almost feel like, if the hothead jumps were a bit less precise, there could be more added.
Update (v4)

Based on Gbreeze's feedback I made the following changes:

1) Made the enemies' palette more saturated so they stand out slightly more.

2) Changed the normal coins to purple coins before the second Hopping Flame so hopefully the player understands that it's a safe zone, where you just have to wait for the flame to leap over Mario's head. Part of me wants to keep the normal coins though, due to them standing out more.

3) Changed the Hothead's timing for the first Dragon Coin so you don't have to wait too long.

4) Changed the graphics for the ground holes in the midway point room so they're not just a simple palette swap of the grass top. Also, added a challenge for the Dragon Coin found there.

5) Changed the midway point room so when you return to the level you can access the door to the next sublevel right away (separate midway entrance settings are blessed). The Boo Block isn't required for the door anymore.

6) Changed the first Flying Block ride in the arch ledge sublevel so it's a setup with Hothead.

7) Placed the powerup block right next to the throw block. No need to backtrack to get a powerup anymore.

8) Slightly changed the coin trail for the Flying Block ride with a lot of Hotheads, so it's (hopefully) more implied that you need to do a normal jump to reach the arch ledge, not spin jump on the Hotheads. I kept the throw blocks in that part without coins below them, because the player could think it's safe to ignore the Flying Block and go down anywhere, when it's not true. The path below is more dangerous and is only there so the player doesn't have to suicide in case they accidentally stop the Flying Block ride with a throw block.

9) Made it so the last Flying Block ride of that sublevel is less punishing by having spikes below, instead of a pit.

10) Changed the initial position of the last Hopping Flame in the level so it's more likely to present a good challenge. Also moved the Goal Sphere up and put a last Pokey setup below. That was mostly done to hopefully eliminate an issue I stumbled upon in one of my latest tests where the Goal Sphere didn't spawn. #smw{>_>}
Update (v5)

Quote
2) Changed the normal coins to purple coins before the second Hopping Flame so hopefully the player understands that it's a safe zone, where you just have to wait for the flame to leap over Mario's head. Part of me wants to keep the normal coins though, due to them standing out more.

Changed this setup a bit. It should be more intuitive now.

Quote
4) Changed the graphics for the ground holes in the midway point room so they're not just a simple palette swap of the grass top. Also, added a challenge for the Dragon Coin found there.

Made the Dragon Coin area less cramped and used spikes instead of a pit to reduce the penalty for mistake.

Originally posted by GbreezeSunset
-I think that 6:57 is a bit more unintuitive, and that might be because the grey arch platforms slightly confused me (don't ask why)

Improved the coin trail. It's now diagonal, just like the previous one.
Played the level again, it's great! Nice changes!