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122: Lava Lift Lair - Aja

Complete

Owner: Aja

World: 8
Exits: 1
Theme: Fire
Music Options: 1, 2, or compose your own. (Magnificent Magma Mural)
Additional ExGFX Recommendation(s): ExGFX 115 (Lava Rocks set) [BG2], ExGFX 116 (Lava animated frames - If using a setting that doesn't allow for normal lava) [AN2]

Briefing: This is the first fire level in world 7. Introduce the concept of fire enemies, as well as some sizzlin' hot gimmicks!
Dusk said he didn't have time to finish this level, so he handed over it to me.

I'm planning to use one sublevel aside from the main level for this. The first part of the level will be overground, I will use fire enemies like podoboos, firebars, fire bros and maybe volcano lotuses, and maybe I'll use fireballs as munchers or instant kill blocks. Since this is the first level in the fire world, the beginning of the level won't be very hard, to give a "welcome to world 7" feeling to the player, and after some screens (like 5 or 6) the difficulty will increase.

The second part of the level will be underground, I will use layer 2 lava that will go up and down, so the player will have to move fast or else they get burned, I will also use some firebars and maybe other fire enemies to make it more challenging.

Feel free to suggest anything about this level.
I can't belive this thread had no replies at all. I least I got some feedback in the screenshots and videos thread.

Anyway, here's the video of the full level. I'll leave this here for now, I want to get some feedback on this before I put the level on the testing thread. The video was recorded before I ported everyting to the newest base, just saying.

By the way, I diasbled the sprite buoyancy in the second room so the ennemies won't die when they touch the lava, I hope that won't be a problem.
Not bad, not bad at all. Oh and by the way, why were you not touching the lava (Not the layer 2 lava, the ground lava) in the first place?
Just so you know, I'm very active on the site anymore like I was before; I'm mainly on Discord now.
You mean the red lava in the ground on the second room? Because it kills me if I touch it.
Oh, i see what you mean. It's instant-kill lava...cool.
Just so you know, I'm very active on the site anymore like I was before; I'm mainly on Discord now.
I feel like you should have posted an IPS patch first, since now it'll be harder to judge difficulty objectively. All the same, I like what I see here- it looks like a great introduction to the fire side of World 7, with a nice sense of progression and complex combinations of varied enemies (without going overboard, in my opinion). I only have a few comments:

-Maybe it's just me, but I'm not sure I would ever think to jump down there for the first smwcoin. Is there some sort of hint that I missed? Hmm...come to think of it, the lava is enclosed there and that gap does seem a bit empty...so it's probably just me not paying attention. I just wanted to give you my initial reaction, is all. I thought the other two smwcoins were well done, by the way.

-Shouldn't there be a couple of powerups in the underground section, considering how long it is? I understand why blocks would be a bad idea, but maybe you can put the sprite versions somewhere?

-The way that hopping flame jumped backwards underneath the pipe at the end of the underground section thanks to the sprite collision...maybe you should tweak the enemy arrangement a little so that doesn't happen.

But yeah, I like this level very much. The way the enemies are immune to the lava and are slowly revealed as it moves up and down is ingenious, I think.
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Extras



I should have something witty to put here (even if it's just to update dated info), shouldn't I?

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- Probably a personal thing, but I am not a fan of the Spin Jump spam and the over-reliance on it.
- Second half needs more power-ups.
- The ground lava = death comes off as a dick move to me and those spots feel better off just being replaced with a gap, and the moving lava will do the job just as well.
- Noticeable slowdown in placed where there is a lot going on (numerous firebars and Podoboos, for example)
- The palette animation in the second half can/will get irritating to the eyes and that was only used for FP's set.


That's it for now, since I'm getting distracted by family.

Oh, I didn't even notice the ground lava. I guess I was distracted by everything else going on...hmm. I guess I'll have to play it and see what I think of the difficulty first-hand.

You know, I think one semiconscious reason people don't like spinjumping a lot is because of the sound effect. Personally, it does become grating a lot more easily than regular jumping does.

Anyway, I think that's more of a problem in the second area because it's hard to see anything at first. aj6666, have you tested this as powered-up Mario? Now I'm wondering whether the gap between the scrolling lava should be a little bigger.
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Originally posted by AxemJinx
-Maybe it's just me, but I'm not sure I would ever think to jump down there for the first smwcoin. Is there some sort of hint that I missed? Hmm...come to think of it, the lava is enclosed there and that gap does seem a bit empty...so it's probably just me not paying attention. I just wanted to give you my initial reaction, is all. I thought the other two smwcoins were well done, by the way.

If the player is not looking for the SMWC coin and just wants to clear the level he/she probably won't try jumping into the gap and will pass the coin just like you did in the first place. However, if the player is looking for the coin he/she will probably notice there's no lava on the gap and will try to jump in there, like you did later.

Originally posted by AxemJinx
-Shouldn't there be a couple of powerups in the underground section, considering how long it is? I understand why blocks would be a bad idea, but maybe you can put the sprite versions somewhere?

Originally posted by MrDeePay
- Second half needs more power-ups.

I'm not sure, that part is kind of easy without powerups, but I guess I'll add a hiden mushroom next to the third SMWC coin.

Originally posted by AxemJinx
-The way that hopping flame jumped backwards underneath the pipe at the end of the underground section thanks to the sprite collision...maybe you should tweak the enemy arrangement a little so that doesn't happen.

I don't think it can be helped, that's just the way the sprite behaves. Maybe I'll move it a litle though.

Originally posted by MrDeePay
- Probably a personal thing, but I am not a fan of the Spin Jump spam and the over-reliance on it.

There's no over-reliance on spin jumps in this level, that's just the way I play. I usually make spin jumps instead of normal jumps because it's safer, it does makes the gameplay easier as AxemJinx said.

Originally posted by MrDeePay
- The ground lava = death comes off as a dick move to me and those spots feel better off just being replaced with a gap, and the moving lava will do the job just as well.

The ground lava is part of the tileset, so I don't think there's anything wrong on using it, it's not that hard to notice anyway.

Originally posted by MrDeePay
-Noticeable slowdown in placed where there is a lot going on (numerous firebars and Podoboos, for example)

The slowdown you mentioned was the only one in the level. The fastROM patch should be enought to fix it, and if it doesn't, I'll just get rid of the podoboo.

Originally posted by MrDeePay
- The palette animation in the second half can/will get irritating to the eyes and that was only used for FP's set.

I'm almost sure this is a personal thing, the animated lava looks better in my opinion, but I'll get rid of the animation anyway since it's not part of the tileset.

Originally posted by AxemJinx
Anyway, I think that's more of a problem in the second area because it's hard to see anything at first. aj6666, have you tested this as powered-up Mario? Now I'm wondering whether the gap between the scrolling lava should be a little bigger.

I did, it wasn't much harder than with small Mario, the gap between the scrolling lava is ok.

Thanks for the replies

Edot: I still need a name for my level. I was thinking about "Fire Fields" but that's not original at all, I'd prefer something that includes the word "lava" or "burning".

Extras



I should have something witty to put here (even if it's just to update dated info), shouldn't I?

Advertising Space

Originally posted by AJ
I'm not sure, that part is kind of easy without powerups, but I guess I'll add a hiden mushroom next to the third SMWC coin.


Of course that part is "kind of easy" for you, seeing as you made the level and (hopefully) tested it over an over, so it should be "kind of easy". Let playtesters, unless they're absolutely incompetent at SMW, be the judge of that.


Quote
The ground lava is part of the tileset, so I don't think there's anything wrong on using it, it's not that hard to notice anyway.


Until the player runs into something and they suddenly lose a life because of a gameplay element they weren't warned beforehand of. Seriously, those tiles do nothing a gap can't do in that level.

Quote
I'm almost sure this is a personal thing, the animated lava looks better in my opinion, but I'll get rid of the animation anyway since it's not part of the tileset.


No, just be considerate of other peoples' eyes. Even people with 20/20 vision such as myself can find that stuff annoying. It works better in the first half of the level and FP's because you don't see THAT much lava all the time.

Random level name ideas:

Smoldering Steppe (though it isn't really a grassland)
Broil Bedlam
Flame Fricassee
Boil, Burn, Bust
Lava Lilt Lair
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How about "Lava Land"?
Just so you know, I'm very active on the site anymore like I was before; I'm mainly on Discord now.
Originally posted by falconpunch
How about "Lava Land"?

Hmm, sounds to easy.
Your layout has been removed.
What are you saying? Is it a bad choice? If so, then i say fine.
Just so you know, I'm very active on the site anymore like I was before; I'm mainly on Discord now.
Originally posted by MrDeePay
Until the player runs into something and they suddenly lose a life because of a gameplay element they weren't warned beforehand of. Seriously, those tiles do nothing a gap can't do in that level.

I'll just add a message box warning the player about the ground lava, that should be enought. I don't like gaps in lava levels, especialy in a level like this one, it looks weird.

About the name, the one I like the most is "Lava Lilt Lair", but it's not exactly what I'm looking for. I guess I'll look in the level ideas thread if there's something better, otherwise, I'll keep that one.

Edit:
Originally posted by soulreaper3397 in the level ideas thread
Magma Misery - You could have rising lava inside a volacano

I guess I could pick that name, the description matches my level after all. Any opinions?
I like it. I say it's magma misery.
Just so you know, I'm very active on the site anymore like I was before; I'm mainly on Discord now.
The "Lilt" in Lava Lilt Lair is supposed to represent the motion of the lava in the second section, which is why I thought it had a nice ring to it.

In the end, though, you should choose what feels right to you for the level you've made :b
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I thought about the level name for a while and I decided Lava Lift Lair would be the best choise, so I'll take that name.

I'll upload the IPS in a few days, unless somebody else wants to say something.
Originally posted by Punk Sarcophagus

Those puddles of red didn't come off as deadly to me. Maybe have them boil?

Complete