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Hot-Cold Train (submitted)

Here's a train level! Hopefully this isn't terrible now. Added lots of platforms to make the level feel more dangerous.

This level, as well as the wheel design is copying taking inspiration from a level in Rilla Roo's New Super Mario World 2: Around the World because I have no creativity whatsoever. Also, it's cold. Haven't even made the hot part yet.

Here's some choppy gifs and screenshots of the level (the gifs are old because I was too lazy to update them). Also, this level goes left because I can of how the background works.


BIG GIANT DOWNLOAD BUTTON
Some feedback on the level would be greatly appreciated.
Sure the layer 3 colors don't look good, but the fact that the train moves with vanilla GFX is unique.
Well, no one played it. Should have expected that. I'm gonna try and make a new post and see if that helps.
Entry's basically done now, the main download button above should supply the up-to-date version. But here's it again anyway.
Some screenshots of the new hot section:
The ice area plays alright. I think the sky might look better if the sky fill was a darker shade than the darkest part of the cloud but it still looks okay. The fire part, I am struggling because it's a little harder to keep track of the fact I can't interact with the Bowser fire or shells, and the Bowser fire non-interaction is making me more dismissive of the jumping flames that can hurt me. This is what makes the level harder for me than it seems it was intended to be. I think those Bowser flames belong in the BG so that the fire towers and jumping flames are front-and-center rather than obfuscated by the Bowser flames.

I think the contrast between the light grey hills, clouds, and the red sky is very strong and my left eye is hurting a little bit trying to play. Try any lower saturation combination of mahogany, sepia, and mauve (especially for the clouds) tones for your background that would be more agreeable with the red and browns dominating your level without becoming monochromatic... I am thinking similar colors to what you have for your grass/rails for your sky color, but after-the-fact altering your rails to look white-hot and grass to look charcoal-grey to keep it colorful.

The vanilla train is believable. I like the fact that there are passengers, but as stated before, since the still shell doesn't clearly act different like the friendly Goombas do, it can sometimes make parts of the level confusing. I'm not feeling there's a strong element that makes the level especially fun however. I did not get a feel that it was progressing in challenge or expectations of the player. The visual theme, namely the "where", is what is outstanding and unique. I think where this level might stand to benefit most strongly is the way of moving between train cars: your fire Pokeys and your turn block bridges can provide more diversity to that, as well as the consideration of Parakoopas and P-switches forming block bridges to get you between far-separated cars. There is a lot of potential to be explored here for the design to complement your already creative theme.

The instantaneous change from below-freezing to literally steel-melting temperatures is amusing as well as the Goombas panicking around the fires in the second half.

Just look above you...
If it's something that can be stopped, then just try to stop it!
Thank you for the constructive criticism! I'll try and address these issues to the best of my ability.
Originally posted by Counterfeit
The fire part, I am struggling because it's a little harder to keep track of the fact I can't interact with the Bowser fire or shells, and the Bowser fire non-interaction is making me more dismissive of the jumping flames that can hurt me. This is what makes the level harder for me than it seems it was intended to be. I think those Bowser flames belong in the BG so that the fire towers and jumping flames are front-and-center rather than obfuscated by the Bowser flames.

This was an issue that I tried to deal with by making the fire slightly darker, though it didn't seem to help much. I do think it looks better by removing it from the foreground. For the shells, I wasn't sure what to do, so I changed the frame and made them upside-down, as seen below. I hope this helps.

Originally posted by Counterfeit
I think the contrast between the light grey hills, clouds, and the red sky is very strong and my left eye is hurting a little bit trying to play. Try any lower saturation combination of mahogany, sepia, and mauve (especially for the clouds) tones for your background that would be more agreeable with the red and browns dominating your level without becoming monochromatic... I am thinking similar colors to what you have for your grass/rails for your sky color, but after-the-fact altering your rails to look white-hot and grass to look charcoal-grey to keep it colorful.

I had trouble understanding what color you meant by "white hot." I ending up going with a light pink, which does make the rails look like they're hot. As for the background, I went with sepia. I'd say this is less hard on the eyes.

Originally posted by Counterfeit
I'm not feeling there's a strong element that makes the level especially fun however. I did not get a feel that it was progressing in challenge or expectations of the player. The visual theme, namely the "where", is what is outstanding and unique. I think where this level might stand to benefit most strongly is the way of moving between train cars: your fire Pokeys and your turn block bridges can provide more diversity to that, as well as the consideration of Parakoopas and P-switches forming block bridges to get you between far-separated cars. There is a lot of potential to be explored here for the design to complement your already creative theme.

oh
Yeah... the level doesn't have very good flow, but how am I to change it at this point? The contest ends in 6 days, and I have to leave town until Sunday on Friday. I'll try my best to make the level actually fun to play, but it might be tight. Also, having both decorative Koopas and sprite Paratroopas might be confusing. Glad you liked the theme, though!
I think the upside-down shells are a good change since interactive shells always first appear round side up, and to me it looks like the passenger Koopa fainted from the high heat now. Funny touch!

By white-hot rails, I was thinking if you search "white hot metal" you would see examples of metal in a forge, and they often do look bright pink (as you portrayed) or super bright yellow. So, good job! The new background palette is far easier on the eyes and looks like something that has burned up.

I don't believe the implementations I suggested will take a lot of remodeling since you can shift cars and their sprites further apart or remove what you think are "filler" cars to fit the new obstacles in and test it out. I hope you enjoy your time away!

Just look above you...
If it's something that can be stopped, then just try to stop it!
Alright, new update, new platforms, tried to make it feel more dangerous. Hopefully the level is good now, as I don't really want to update it again. Download button above has up-to-date version.