Description

~ LOOK! ~
"In anticipation of Super RMN World 2: Bro-shi's Island (or whatever it will be called), I'm taking it upon myself to issue a call to all potential SMBX devs! Even if you've never touched the engine, now's the time to give it a shot!"
It's like what Isrieri said, and I'm saying the same thing for this sequel to the Castles Masterpiece Set!

Time to give SMBX a shot and make a level!


Sign Ups: 4/02~4/05
Development: 4/05~5/05
Compilation: 5/05~5/08
Release: 5/09

~ Hey, Listen! ~

This is important, as it'll affect what your levels are!

All levels must be made as if a part of one continuous castle. The continuous castles themselves each have their own theme and hub, five in total.

  • Shroomland ForestThis area's castle has many plants, especially mushrooms, and many piranha plant enemies! The foundation of this castle is blue-green bricks.

  • GreyOcean Ravine
    This area's castle has lots of water and grey-blue bricks.
    Many fish enemies should be used, remember your level doesn't have to be completely submerged, just use water!

  • Redbrick Desert
    This area's castle is basically dry, sandy with red-ish bricks for the foundation. Dry Bones (SMB3 Version/Resized SMW Version), cacti and various other Desert enemies should be here!

  • Sky Domain
    This area's castle is A giant floating castle, include many clouds and grey to white bricks! (SMW Castle tiles would work fine here)
    Enemies should consist of lakitus, parakoopas, bullet bills (Restrict the amount of homing koopas) and various other flying enemies.

  • Industrial Zone

This zone is to have aztec like bricks with many metal frameworks around it, this is because toadly is there, and he like steel.
Oh, and he also likes poison mushrooms, Mind-controlled toads and various spike traps, but that's just him.
Yes you must include those, if you want the graphics download them here:
http://rpgmaker.net/media/content/users/17331/locker/Industrial_Zone_enemies.zip



The first four areas listed are all avalible from the starting point, so you can do them in any order. Keep this in mind! This means that each continuous Castle needs to have easy and hard levels, not one or the other! If there are too many easy levels in a castle, we'll force the new additions to be harder, and vice-versa!

The exception to this rule is the fifth Overall Castle, the Industrial Zone. You should make your levels for this area more on the difficult end, as this area is only unlocked by completing the other four.

Fitting into the theme is not enough for the level to be accepted! Levels must have:

Be saved with THIS naming theme:
<dev>_<zone>_<level>_<diff>_<version>
Example:Ratty524_3_PursuitPalace_4_2

The Difficulty section is assumed to be out of 5, do not put 6 here (you might even want to refrain from making a 5 until the "Industrial Zone"

  • One checkpoint, and only one.
  • The game will only utilize Mario and Luigi as characters
  • All water must be swimmable. Waterfalls must not be.
  • An average castle should take no longer than 2 to 4 minutes to complete. (And no shorter than 1 minute)
  • The game wont be 2-player, so don't focus on it, but make sure it is at least possible for 2 players.
  • No secret stars.
  • At least two power ups, one at the start and one at the checkpoint.
  • Use invisible blocks wisely. No putting them over pits or other nonsense of that sort.
  • THE LEVEL MUST END IN ONE SMB3 STAR
  • THE LEVEL MUST CONTAIN 5 DRAGON COINS!
  • LEVELS CANNOT CONTAIN BOSSES-Mini bosses are okay, however. Just make sure that they are indeed mini!
  • LEVELS CANNOT HAVE: SMW Dry Bones (This is due to a height issue, if you fix this issue you may use them) SMW Bowser Statue. (This is again because of a height issue, if Mario st0od on top of the statue when it fired, Mario would get hurt.) Wall Zipping, this is when you have a 1-tile high hallway, super mario ducks and enters, and when you stand up you "Zip" through the wall. It's Extremely glitchy and can often break your level.


A participant can only submit up to 5 levels, 1 level for each Overall Castle.

~ WATCH OUT! ~
The story of this event is simple: You've received a letter from someone by the name of Mr. Zoad, an Archaeologist! He has asked you to explore a small but diverse island in search of an ancient relic. He warns you, however, that his competitors might be after the same thing.

You must explore the four ruined castles to find the whereabouts of this ancient relic, and be paid in big coins by Mr. Zoad!

Details

Registration

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Posts

Seiromem - Greenhouse Garrison (v2)
* First off, I had to edit the filepath for the music in the boss room to get it to work. I think if you placed the .lvl file outside the folder with the custom resources, it would play properly.
* While the castle sizable looks better now, I think that it looks too much like solid ground. You might want to increase the contrast so it's more obvious that it's part of the background.
* As for the block "puzzles", the first one requires you to throw the block from a specific position, and I think it would be nice to have some sort of visual cue at that position. The second one I felt was more tedious than challenging.
* The checkpoint position is much better in this version; the section between the checkpoint and the boss is short and easy enough to mostly avoid becoming tedious after losing to the boss.
* The new boss is less frantic than the first iteration, which I like, but on the other hand it's now a little tedious waiting for the boss to come within attacking position (I was throwing the block horizontally because it rebounded off the boss and I could reuse it). If you eliminate the pause in the middle and have it just climb up & down, it might be okay.
* All in all, I think the level is going in the right direction, but it's not quite ready yet.
I'm really struggling to find a working computer (that uses SMBX this one doesn't) so if you be patient, i'll bum the goddamn hell out of all the levels once possible.
Ratty524
The 524 is for 524 Stone Crabs
12986
What exactly happens when you try to run SMBX? As in, what error message you receive when you try to boot it up?

It works (apart from the bottom part of the screen not working (which doesn't matter since i'm testing more than building until I attempt to open a level in of which this happens.

PS: Truth be told there isn't alot of levels to catch up on
Seiromem
I would have more makerscore If I did things.
6375
I had an idea for the Redbrick Desert castle's boss,
Squizzard!

My idea was basically a re-skinned Mouser as squizzard, what do ya think?
author=seiromem
I had an idea for the Redbrick Desert castle's boss,
Squizzard:

My idea was basically a re-skinned Mouser as squizzard, what do ya think?
I think there's something wrong with the image; half of your post didn't show up for me until I quoted your post, and I had to paste the URL in a new tab to view it.

And I'm guessing that guy is from Galaxy 2?

E: Of course you catch that and fix it while I'm typing...
Seiromem
I would have more makerscore If I did things.
6375
Yes, he's from galaxy two.

If you want a picture google it ;_;
I already saw the picture from earlier; if I hadn't, I would've assumed it was somehow related to Squidward...

author=My past self
For the sky world I was thinking of something involving Lakitu (specifically, Lakitu piloting some sort of mecha, but I'm not sure if such a boss would be really cool or really dumb)

Since I'm probably insane, I decided to whip up a quick mockup of a Lakitu-piloting-a-mecha boss:

It's based on the notion that Lakitus are the mechanics/engineers of the Koopa race, which I honestly have no idea where I picked up.

So, is this a good idea, or really stupid, or perhaps better suited for Industrial Zone?
Seiromem
I would have more makerscore If I did things.
6375
It's
A
GIANT METAL MARIO!
THAT is more suited to the industrial zone for sure.

Well, you got me a boss idea but not the one you intended.
Ratty524
The 524 is for 524 Stone Crabs
12986
Submitted version 2 of Tired Towers.

> Made the floating brick platforms move by event rather than npc attachment, since the latter caused bugs involving both the tanooki suit and transforming from any power-up. Shame :(

> The balloon-hanging koopas now have spikes on the sides of their balloons.

> The tower containing the star no longer moves.

-----------------------------------------------------------------

Alright, Back to judging these levels!

MasterofMayhem
Shroom Sanctuary:
+ Visually looks even better now.
- I just realized that some npcs don't have their effect graphics set. I saw it with your shy guys, who revert to the red variety when they die. As this is something pretty easy to fix, it won't be a deal-breaker.

Current Status: APPROVED!

AlexanderXCIII
Heavy Hallway:
<?> I wonder why you use a drop-down type of exit in the first section, instead of a conventional warp pipe? It's no real biggy either way, though.

Current Status: APPROVED!

kentona
Impastable:
- Your checkpoint is missing it's bars (I am assuming we are using the SMW style of checkpoint since everyone else is, including seiromem himself).


- I'd put a platform in the circled area shown above, just in case the player was stupid enough to remove every set of ice blocks in the spike pit that follows, and fall into a pit of pain from the top of the ledge with the Dragon Coin. An alternative solution might be to just axe the spike pit entirely and replace that part with a row of frozen nipper plants.

+ The falling section of this level is interesting! As a whole, this level kind of has that "endgame labyrinth" type of feel you'd find in some NES games.

- Spawning a solid pipe after beating a miniboss is a bad idea. Consider that the player or the boss itself might be at the same spot as where the pipe appears. Resort to using a door in this case, or find a better position for the pipe to spawn.

- Wrong exit is wrong. We're using SMB3 stars, here.


Current Status: DENIED

Solitayre
Tower of Rain/Rainy Tower:
+ Rain looks WAY better now, and overall this level feels just about right, though I have a big complaint.

- While I like that you included a bonus room, doing any kind of backtracking for the coins, or waiting too long until the P-switch timer is up, means that the player will fall straight into a pit of spikes. While both mistakes are a result of stupidity more than anything, I really don't think a room like this should be dangerous, especially since the player has to find an invisible P-switch block to get there to begin with, so remove the spikes.

- Speaking of the invisible P-switch block, I recommend moving it right next to the edge of the screen in that section, just so that it's position is a bit less ambiguous. You can put a wall of solid blocks off-screen so that the player doesn't throw the P-switch out of bounds. Alternatively, you could clue it a little bit with coins? That might make it a little bit too obvious, though.


Current Status:DENIED. The bonus room is the only thing I see wrong with it right now.

seiromem
Greenhouse Garrison:
+ A much better level overall, but could use some tweaks.

- As Alexander already mentioned, the sizable castle brick background doesn't distinguish itself from the solid variation. I'd return it to it's former color, while obviously avoiding the messy rendering of the previous version.


- In the section shown above, add a single tile-width of space between the rising platforms and the entrance of the pipe, and "complete" the pip by adding maybe one or two pipe tiles next to the entrance. It'll not only look better, but it'll avoid potential issues that come from placing a warp exit directly adjacent to a wall.

- As Alexander pointed out again, the block section right before the checkpoint is tedious as BALLS, dude. You are running back and fourth stacking a ridiculous amount of blocks to proceed, and there is absolutely no challenge to it.

You could maybe take the easy road and lower the height of the spiked column, but to make it a bit more interesting, maybe create a 3-step "stairway" of spikes that require no more than maybe 3 mushroom blocks for the player to cross. It'll better expand upon the earlier block puzzle without dragging itself on for too long.

- The powerup after the checkpoint is a little bit easy to miss. It might be only my psychology, but whenever I see an alternate path placed above a lower one, I'm inclined to go for the high-road. Taking this route, however, not only yields absolutely no reward for the challenge it offers, it also means you don't get a power-up before the boss unless you back-track. Rework this section a bit.

<?> I don't know about the boss. Unlike Alexander, I think it's actually just as frantic as the first iteration, perhaps due to the generating spinies you have to avoid, and how the fight is generally harder if you don't have any real power-ups. I DO like the pause, though. It gives the player a bit more of a better window to hit the boss, which helps in a room where you have to dodge quite a bit of obstacles.

- What I think is a REAL problem with the boss is the fact that you can die there after being it. The momentum carried by the star can take you off the mushroom platform, where you fall to your doom. There isn't a real reason why the brick platforms use the sizable tile instead of the solid variation, in my eyes, so replace it with the solid variation and the problem will be solved.

Current Status: DENIED
masterofmayhem
I can defiantly see where you’re coming from
2610
author=Ratty524
- I just realized that some npcs don't have their effect graphics set. I saw it with your shy guys, who revert to the red variety when they die. As this is something pretty easy to fix, it won't be a deal-breaker.

Oh, right I keep forgetting to do that. I'll have that fixed.

Sorry I haven't been doing much lately, stuff came up and I've been occupied. I'll try and get something done this week, though I also have more pressing projects to get to as well.
author=Ratty524
Heavy Hallway:
<?> I wonder why you use a drop-down type of exit in the first section, instead of a conventional warp pipe? It's no real biggy either way, though.

That's probably a holdover from my original idea for the level, which used a sort of bait-and-switch from a basic castle theme to a more intense rock-ish track at the transition to the second room. The song is even still in the level folder.
Seiromem
I would have more makerscore If I did things.
6375
You two seem to have a small contradictory opinion on the boss battle.

Which should I do? Remove the pause, keep the pause?

In regards to ratty's advice, I think I'll decrease the spawn rate of the spinies.
Perhaps every 10 second for the one on the left and every 13 for the one on the right so you don't have a threat "At all times" (in quotes because the statue technically can hurt you at all times =P)
Maybe have the boss pause at the bottom and top, but not in the middle. I still don't think the battle is too frantic, since the most you have to dodge at any point is one spiny and one fireball, and the boss is remains in throw-block-at range for plenty of time to hit it at that point. Or maybe I found an easier way of fighting it than Ratty did...
Ratty524
The 524 is for 524 Stone Crabs
12986
The way I fought it was similar to your style, Alexander, though I often didn't have consistent success in catching the block every time I tossed it at the boss. From there, it kind of occurred to me that the true colors of the boss' difficulty actually shows when you DON'T rely on that single tactic; I'm just thinking about how other players besides SMBX savvy developers would approach it.

With that said, seiromem, adding a bit more time to the spawn rate of spinies might be a good move.
Ratty524
The 524 is for 524 Stone Crabs
12986
kentona
Impastable:
- Only one issue: the lighting graphic you used for the boss door is also the one used for the SMB3 jagged black background for the exit, so you've got some weird stuff going on at the end. It shouldn't be that hard to fix, though, so no deal-breaker from me.

Current Status: APPROVED
huh. So I did. Try changing the background 11 I have to a background 29. That should work.

I will probably do that later tonight, as another issue occurred to me - if you unfreeze the chompers by where the door appears you will (most likely) get hit when you attempt to go through the door. I'll make them disappear after the battle
kentona - Impastable
* It's possible to zip in the boss arena after the ice munchers disappear, by duck-sliding under the spikes.
* There are a number of assets in the level folder that don't appear to be used, and can probably be removed.
* That said, I think this level can be ACCEPTED

Ratty524 - Tired Towers
* I still don't think that "tired" is an appropriate adjective for this level, but aside from that I don't see any real issues with the level.
* Final Verdict: ACCEPTED

I already updated the spreadsheet.
Ratty524
The 524 is for 524 Stone Crabs
12986
The clouds in it are sleepy, though! But nah I couldn't think of a better alliteration for the title of my level. :P

Anyway, I submitted Drainer Dungeon as my World 2 level for tonight.