Originally posted by jesusThe noteblock thing is something I actually considered a lot. I really dislike tutorials and sections which verbally have to explain a game mechanic. I consider it to be cheating on the part of the designer because they should be showing, not telling. The thing is that with the green coin thing, there is no way in the span of one level to introduce that "correctly". Either I would have to make the level longer and force people to play the "teaching" part every time, or I would have to use a side exit or a secret exit, which is banned in this contest. So I very reluctantly put in that tutorial, and made it as short as possible. So, given my stance on that, you can see why i didn't want to tutorialize the noteblocks also.
Luckily the noteblocks are at the very beginning of the level, so it's not that huge problem. About length of your level - I disagree with you. If you would like, you would definitely make this level shorter.
Originally posted by jesusYou get a yoshi coin at the beginning of the level. I also intentionally give you 2 grace yoshi coins in the room after the checkpoint in case you dont to the jump perfectly. You also dont need to die to get the checkpoint so I dont know what it is you are doing there.
I have completely forgot about this dragon coin. I assume that after dying on thwimp filter I was so tired with redoing first section, that I was so focused on beating first section and I somehow managed to avoid first Yoshi coin without realizing it. I was holding run+right at the start of the level, so I guess that's possible. In my defense I would say that there is really no indication that I will need to get dragon coins in order to continue.
Originally posted by jesusMaybe if enough people said this I would change the tide position, but not one of my testers ever mentioned the hitbox.
The problem here is that you submitted your entry just before deadline, you also made this thread just before deadline. So other than your elite group of testers, nobody else could give you a feedback. For the next contest I would suggest you to make a thread much earlier and ask for feedback even if your level wasn't completely finished. You can also request a feedback from Fan Judge. I would say that it would greatly help to your level.
Originally posted by jesusThere is a valid criticism in that I should have made the 1f8 tiles more visible. Other stuff sounds like your own doing.
It may sound weird, but I disagree with you. !F8 are visible. I had no problem noticing them when I was riding a statue. It's just I have a tendency to sometimes overlook an obvious stuff. So not noticing these tiles was entirely my fault.
Originally posted by jesusI cant design for people turning off layers in their emulator. Thats silly.
Yeah, it was silly on my end.
Originally posted by jesusLast section is the easiest on purpose. Often times I literally draw out the relative difficulty curve I want between sections of a level when I'm constructing it. I am not going to get into a long discussion about why the ordering is the way it is in this level because this comment is long enough.
Sorry to tell you, but my last comment wasn't about difficulty curve. It wasn't even to sound as an issue. I just think that last section is the best part of this level.
Originally posted by Plasmodium00Frankly, I've never seen someone get so personally offended by a vldc entry level.
First of all, I'm not offended by this level. I may be a little exhausted, but I'm not offended. I was just curious to know author's reasoning. And by the way, he already answered my questions gently. It rather feels that you are offended by my feedback. For examples of that behavior you don't need to look very far. Just check JP32 Fan Judging thread. By his feedback he offended few people so much that in the end he decided to resign from being Fan Judge. Some people are just cruel and doesn't take criticism very well.
Originally posted by Plasmodium00And you can't criticize someone's level over mistakes that YOU'RE making. That doesn't make sense.
Believe me, I can. In fact everybody can be a critic. I may not realize that I am making the same mistake. That's why I expect other people to inform me about these mistakes, so that way I can improve my level. That's why giving a feedback is so important.