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12E: Musical Mechanisms - Blind Devil

Complete

(reserved) - Kipernal TAKEOVER TIME: Blind Devil
also great memories (not really) of pre-reserve days. these were unfair.

World: 9
Exits: 2
Theme: Factory
Music Options: 1, 2, 3, or compose your own.

Briefing: An interior area of Norveg's factory. Consider throwing out all sorts of industrial ideas here. Conveyors, platforms, smashers, or anything that you feel would fit in a factory.
this one maybe?
layout by pirahnaplant.
the variety of chance is upon us, are you scared?



This one is reserved too.
Originally posted by superwiidude
this one maybe?

It's also reserved. By kipernal.
YOUR layout has been removed.

I do non-kaizo beta tests!
Check my profile for more details.

A Mario and Luigi Story: The Universe's Star Demo 2:
50%
Status: Dead until I regain interest. Link to hack thread.

All of the ones with no replies are reserved.

If you want to get a level, you should sign up for a reserve in this thread if you haven't already.
I don't have too much to show off in terms of actual level design yet, but I should have at least something to show off soon. I have, however, been attempting a tileset for this, as none of the existing sets had what I needed.



Note that this is just a demonstration of the graphics; I have a few others (like upside-down smashers, large steel plates without rivets in them, etc.) that aren't shown here. Also note that I'm aware the conveyer belt looses a pixel on some frames. So...uh...are these up to par with the current standards? Or am I going to have to wait for someone to redraw these for me?

Coming clean: the bricks were inspired by, but not ripped from, another game, and the thin chain is a recolor of a direct rip with a black border added. I'm hoping, though, that they're such generic objects that it shouldn't matter... I mean, even if I redrew the chain and the bricks they would end up looking nearly exactly the same as what I have now, but if a moderator disagrees then I guess I'll redraw them/scrap them. Also, do you guys prefer the top or bottom style of brick tops?
I should get a new layout.

Probably won't, though.
That's actually quite nicely done, and matches the styles in the ROM well. Someone else requested some conveyor belt graphics too, so you may be able to share those with them. My only real gripe is with that long pipe-thing on the right (or is that the top of the smasher you were talking about?). The white in the middle of it feels like it should be a pixel shorter on each side, with the grey coming in a bit more. It seems to "thick" to me right now.

The bricks .. I'm fine with them. Enough of the set is unique, so a couple of generic objects which look a bit similar to another game (and, like you said, probably would have ended up the same anyway) is all good. As for which style I prefer, definitely the bottom.
Originally posted by S.N.N.
My only real gripe is with that long pipe-thing on the right (or is that the top of the smasher you were talking about?). The white in the middle of it feels like it should be a pixel shorter on each side, with the grey coming in a bit more.


Yeah, that's the smasher. Do you mean something more like this?

I should get a new layout.

Probably won't, though.
Yeah, that looks a lot better. It looks more rounded, as it should.
The mix of brickwork and...well, metal brickwork is interesting, and it breaks up both the color scheme and the facing of the bricks, so I think that's good.

Oh, I found it odd that the conveyor end tiles in SMWCP didn't actually push Mario all the way off. Are these going to be coded differently?

I'm curious to see how all of it looks when arranged in level format, but it seems good so far, so keep it up.
Youtube (Main) | Youtube (Alt) | Bandcamp | DeviantART
Originally posted by AxemJinx
The mix of brickwork and...well, metal brickwork is interesting, and it breaks up both the color scheme and the facing of the bricks, so I think that's good.


That was my intention; it would be boring to look at nothing but shades of gray for an entire level.

Originally posted by AxemJinx
Oh, I found it odd that the conveyor end tiles in SMWCP didn't actually push Mario all the way off. Are these going to be coded differently?


Yes, at least in my level. What's the point of a conveyor belt if it doesn't finish the job?

Tech demo! Anyone who played my winter level design contest entry might find this a bit familiar, but rest assured that it's not going to be just a rehash of the same idea. This time the gimmick's getting much more fleshed out...mostly because I now have the time to do it.

EDIT: This video is further proof that this ROM hates layer 3 backgrounds for some reason.
I should get a new layout.

Probably won't, though.
Haha, that is so awesome. It reminds me of Music Madness from DKCR in a good way. Good choice on the track too - it seems like it would be the easiest one to sync this up with.

Can't wait to see more.
Whoa. Very nice. I'm looking forward to with that. I'm keeping my eye on this one.

Originally posted by S.N.N.
Good choice on the track too - it seems like it would be the easiest one to sync this up with.

Wow! I didn't notice that until just now. Sweet!

e: Forgot to ask. What was that... stuff at the beginning?
Your layout has been removed.
Originally posted by Jorshamo
e: Forgot to ask. What was that... stuff at the beginning?


VRAM corruption on layers 1 and 2, hence why it vanishes whenever the screen scrolls. It happens whenever I use genericuploader.asm to insert a layer 3 background, which is the only way right now as the routines used for uploading stripe images were destroyed with one of the applied patches (probably whichever one removed the layer 3 status bar).
I should get a new layout.

Probably won't, though.
A demo of what I have so far. This will probably be the end of the first area; the second area will introduce new timed gimmicks, and the third and final area will combine all the gimmicks together before its end. Or something like that. To anyone who plays this: please tell me of any vanishing/extraneous tiles on layer 2 (preferably give me a screenshot), and ignore any glitches that occur when Mario dies.

Also, no more VRAM corruption as I decided to forgo any premade methods of uploading a tilemap and just code my own within levelASM. If you want something done right...

And while I'm here, anyone have any suggestions for the name?
I should get a new layout.

Probably won't, though.
(I'm using ZSNES 1.51 if that makes any difference.)

The crushers don't pause when Mario gets hit or grabs a powerup.

Whenever Mario dies by crusher, a residual tile is left above the ground while the crusher jumps back to rest position unnaturally. The thing is, these residual tiles are always at the same elevation, no matter how high the crusher is. So, you'll notice it for the lowest ones- in fact, there's probably more than one residual tile, but I only saw one because it was high enough to poke up from under the ground. Sometimes the residuals appear in other random situations, too.

Whenever Mario dies by KooPhD, the background flashes for a couple of frames.

The two KooPhD's on the staircase cause immense slowdown.

The first brick wall crusher is glitchy- I clipped through to the top, then back through the bottom. You can also glitch down through the edge tiles of large crushers as they come back up. You can even jump through the edge tiles as the crushers extend, with the right timing.

More about KooPhD's: putting them in narrow passageways is annoying, since the explosive's blast radius is kind of big for tight spaces. I also noticed the beakers don't hurt you, which seems kind of underwhelming to me. I was sure they would hurt me, but I guess not. Who knows, it might be better that way (probably less processing and slowdown?). I don't know, something about the sprite just seems slightly off. It's probably just me though.
Youtube (Main) | Youtube (Alt) | Bandcamp | DeviantART
Originally posted by AxemJinx
The crushers don't pause when Mario gets hit or grabs a powerup.


I'm not really sure how to handle this; if the crushers don't keep going then they'll jump to the position they should be at once Mario's animation stops. Any suggestions?

Originally posted by AxemJinx
Whenever Mario dies by crusher, a residual tile is left above the ground while the crusher jumps back to rest position unnaturally. The thing is, these residual tiles are always at the same elevation, no matter how high the crusher is. So, you'll notice it for the lowest ones- in fact, there's probably more than one residual tile, but I only saw one because it was high enough to poke up from under the ground.

Whenever Mario dies by KooPhD, the background flashes for a couple of frames.


Originally posted by Kipernal
and ignore any glitches that occur when Mario dies.


I'm aware of those two glitches, don't worry.

Originally posted by AxemJinx
Sometimes the residuals appear in other random situations, too.


Can you tell me where, exactly?

Originally posted by AxemJinx
The two KooPhD's on the staircase cause immense slowdown.


Probably has to do with the Ball 'n Chain. I guess I'll get rid of one of the KooPhDs.

Originally posted by AxemJinx
The first brick wall crusher is glitchy- I clipped through to the top, then back through the bottom.You can also glitch down through the edge tiles of large crushers as they come back up. You can even jump through the edge tiles as the crushers extend, with the right timing.


Yeah, SMW's clipping engine is kind of awful that way...the best I could do is shoot Mario upwards/downwards at a rough equivalent speed as layer 2 when that happens. I'll try that out and see if it feels natural.

Originally posted by AxemJinx
More about KooPhD's: putting them in narrow passageways is annoying, since the explosive's blast radius is kind of big for tight spaces.


But in open areas they pose virtually little to no threat...what kind of an obstacle to dodge is an explosion if you can quickly run away from it? I know what you're saying, though, which is why I didn't stick them in areas like the corridor after the first Thwomp.

Originally posted by AxemJinx
I also noticed the beakers don't hurt you, which seems kind of underwhelming to me. I was sure they would hurt me, but I guess not. Who knows, it might be better that way (probably less processing and slowdown?). I don't know, something about the sprite just seems slightly off. It's probably just me though.


The main reason the beakers don't interact with Mario is because I was worried it could feel too cheap; how many times have you taken a leap on a Dry Bones just as it was throwing a bone causing you to get hit? Same philosophy here, really, though I'm open to suggestions.
I should get a new layout.

Probably won't, though.
Originally posted by Kipernal
I'm not really sure how to handle this; if the crushers don't keep going then they'll jump to the position they should be at once Mario's animation stops. Any suggestions?

Well, all that's within my expertise to suggest is to be careful about powerup and projectile placement (for example, the last KooPhD in that section throws a beaker right where you're about to jump up to, which is incidentally where a crusher is about to come down on). It's not the biggest deal, but it'd be nice if you could inform the player somehow without resorting to message boxes...hmm.

Originally posted by Kipernal
Originally posted by Kipernal
and ignore any glitches that occur when Mario dies.

I'm aware of those two glitches, don't worry.

Oh sorry, I didn't read the "ignore" in that sentence >_<

Originally posted by Kipernal
Originally posted by AxemJinx
Sometimes the residuals appear in other random situations, too.


Can you tell me where, exactly?

Sorry, I couldn't make any attributions :/ It was rare, though (I know that's probably not comforting XD).


Originally posted by Kipernal

But in open areas they pose virtually little to no threat...what kind of an obstacle to dodge is an explosion if you can quickly run away from it? I know what you're saying, though, which is why I didn't stick them in areas like the corridor after the first Thwomp.

The main reason the beakers don't interact with Mario is because I was worried it could feel too cheap; how many times have you taken a leap on a Dry Bones just as it was throwing a bone causing you to get hit? Same philosophy here, really, though I'm open to suggestions.

I think this is what's bugging me: wide difficulty swings. And actually, if you look at the parts I bolded, bombs suddenly exploding in narrow passageways is exactly like getting hit by a bone when jumping on a dry bones, and the former happened to me more than once. Just before bouncing, it threw a bomb, and it immediately hit the ceiling. Maybe the thrown bombs should be the same as the ones that fall when they die, so that they stick to whatever surface and only explode after a half-second? Hmm. I'll have to give it some more thought, I suppose. And again, I might just be over-thinking about this anyway, so take my comments with a grain of salt.
Youtube (Main) | Youtube (Alt) | Bandcamp | DeviantART
Originally posted by AxemJinx
Well, all that's within my expertise to suggest is to be careful about powerup and projectile placement (for example, the last KooPhD in that section throws a beaker right where you're about to jump up to, which is incidentally where a crusher is about to come down on). It's not the biggest deal, but it'd be nice if you could inform the player somehow without resorting to message boxes...hmm.


Perhaps putting a powerup on the same screen as a crusher and removing the first KooPhD would work? That way the player would notice that the crushers don't stop for anything without being accidentally killed in the process.

Originally posted by AxemJinx
Sorry, I couldn't make any attributions :/ It was rare, though (I know that's probably not comforting XD).


Heh, not really. Do you at least remember the general area? Some parts would be much easier to fix than others.


Originally posted by AxemJinx
I think this is what's bugging me: wide difficulty swings. And actually, if you look at the parts I bolded, bombs suddenly exploding in narrow passageways is exactly like getting hit by a bone when jumping on a dry bones, and the former happened to me more than once. Just before bouncing, it threw a bomb, and it immediately hit the ceiling.


Oh, I get what you're saying now! That's the same philosophy I had anyway (to keep KooPhDs out of places where their beakers could hit the ceiling), and I didn't think that could happen anywhere in the level. But you're talking about the area with the question blocks, right? I didn't even think of that, apparently.
I should get a new layout.

Probably won't, though.
----------------

Level is looking great so far, my only complaint is at the very end of this section (shown in the screenshot below).

click here

Don't know if it's just me, but this part seems a little too hard and a bit annoying. It took me 23 tries to get through there the first time, and a total of 47 (give or take a few)
to get the smwc coin (or where the spot where it would be). It would be nice if this part was made a little easier.

And I have to disagree with AxemJinx about place the KooPhD, I found him not overly difficult to deal with, I dodged the explosions without much trouble.

Anyway, its not bad, don't have much more to say at the moment.


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Red Tales: Part 1: Hack is being worked on. Committed to finishing this time
Levels Complete: 6/29 Exits: 16/40

Complete