TIPS FOR SMBX LEVEL DESIGN

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1. doing a hill level? mix up the fat slopes and the steep slopes to create a more natural feel to them
2. make sure your bonus levels are worth the effort. personally, i put 1UP's at the end of the level because they have use outside the level.
3. make sure your dungeon has appropriate and original monsters.
Good: Bad:
Zombie Koopa Koopa Troopa
Boo Goomba
Whomp Digger
Giant Boo Chomper Plants
Lava Sparks Missle Moe (or Giant Bullet Bill)
4. if your levels are mainly multiplayer, make sure that there are cooperatvie puzzles throughout the level.
5. you can use quicksand as a method of transportation.
6. you can use jumping toad to simulate toads that you have to rescue (make sure they're like this: freindly {no} don't move {yes})
7. it's not a mario game if peach isn't kidnapped.
On the SMBX forums there was a giant topic about this. Do people really want natural feels with a Mario game? What's natural about floating ? blocks.

1UPs at the end of the level. There are. The exits are 1UPs in fact.

Original monsters?

Yes it can be a Mario game if Princess IS NOT kidnapped. Why do you think Peach is playable?
Aw heck instead of critique I should be coaching.

- If a powerup comes out of a block, never make it just a super mushroom. If you get 2 super mushrooms then it is pointless.
- Don't have your level be too long or too short.
- Piranah plants should only come out of pipes. It gives the player anticipation. Like if you were to have bullet bills fire out of the sky next to where people are standing.
- Don't have too many 1UPs in a stage. 3 should be the maximum and 3 should only happen every 5 stages.
- If you have dragon coins, have 5 dragon coins!!!!!!!!!!!! Not 8, not 1.
- Don't have billions of enemies at once. It makes it too easy to get 1UPs!
- Don't have dozens of enemies at the end of the level, because it makes it too easy to get 1UPs.
- If you have a long level, put a halfway point.
- Don't make a tedious level. In fact you should be able to play your level at least 2x in a row back to back. If you complete it and don't want to play it again, then it wasn't fun!
- Include enemy variety. Even the first level of SMB1 had more than goombas.
- No crazy stunts unless you're making a Kazio game.
- Diversify your game. If you have a game with 10 levels. All 10 shouldn't be a desert. Make a pyramid, a desert, an underground level, a water level, a sky level, a castle and so on.
- Ghost houses = puzzles
- No uber powerups for easy areas. Uber powerups should be if you make a tough area and you're unwilling to make it easier.
- Don't make it too easy unless its a bonus level.
- Remember to include music.
- Remember to test your level!
- Remember to have starts for both players!!!
Piranha plants can come out of quicksand.
Perhaps Mario can go down blocks. I'll give you plants coming out of quicksand yes. Because people know to avoid quicksand.
author=ShortStar
Aw heck instead of critique I should be coaching.

- If a powerup comes out of a block, never make it just a super mushroom. If you get 2 super mushrooms then it is pointless.
- Don't have your level be too long or too short.
- Piranah plants should only come out of pipes. It gives the player anticipation. Like if you were to have bullet bills fire out of the sky next to where people are standing.
- Don't have too many 1UPs in a stage. 3 should be the maximum and 3 should only happen every 5 stages.
- If you have dragon coins, have 5 dragon coins!!!!!!!!!!!! Not 8, not 1.
- Don't have billions of enemies at once. It makes it too easy to get 1UPs!


Good advice but all of it is kind of obvious isn't it? Not to offend but I thought I was going to get a more advanced tutorial on level design. But all and all good things and I will try to remember them all while making my first SMBX game
- Don't have dozens of enemies at the end of the level, because it makes it too easy to get 1UPs.
- If you have a long level, put a halfway point.
- Don't make a tedious level. In fact you should be able to play your level at least 2x in a row back to back. If you complete it and don't want to play it again, then it wasn't fun!
- Include enemy variety. Even the first level of SMB1 had more than goombas.
- No crazy stunts unless you're making a Kazio game.
- Diversify your game. If you have a game with 10 levels. All 10 shouldn't be a desert. Make a pyramid, a desert, an underground level, a water level, a sky level, a castle and so on.
- Ghost houses = puzzles
- No uber powerups for easy areas. Uber powerups should be if you make a tough area and you're unwilling to make it easier.
- Don't make it too easy unless its a bonus level.
- Remember to include music.
- Remember to test your level!
- Remember to have starts for both players!!!

Great advice but its all kind of obvious isn't it? Not to offend but I thought this was going to be a more advanced tutorial on level design. Good points though and I will try to remember all of it when I am creating my first SMBX game.

My question is, how are people setting up events that give the player bonuses at the end of the level?

For example
"Collect 30 blue coins at the end of the level for a prize!"
"Finish the level under 60 seconds for a great bonus!"

This is something that mystifies me.
People overlook the obvious all the time.
You can put the coins on a separate layer and have an event trigger on "No More Objects in Layer" and have that event Show a different hidden layer, and on that layer put your prize.
Ha I realized what Ravenite is talking about now. Those are tactics I used. Yeah make a seperate layer and make an event when there are no more objects in layer to enable a layer.

As for the 60 second thing. Make an event countdown 60 seconds. At the end of that countdown make a layer disappear.
*hugs*

It'll get better with time :-)
author=ShortStar
- Include enemy variety. Even the first level of SMB1 had more than goombas.
- Diversify your game. If you have a game with 10 levels. All 10 shouldn't be a desert. Make a pyramid, a desert, an underground level, a water level, a sky level, a castle and so on.

You should do that, but at the same time, don't show the player everything within a few levels. The Mario games will throw you new enemies and other not seen before content as you advance to new areas. If the player has seen every enemy, tileset and quirk that will ever be included in the game after half a dozen of levels, the game loses it's sense of progress.
author=ShortStar
Ha I realized what Ravenite is talking about now. Those are tactics I used. Yeah make a seperate layer and make an event when there are no more objects in layer to enable a layer.

As for the 60 second thing. Make an event countdown 60 seconds. At the end of that countdown make a layer disappear.


Yep, thank you, I got it now.
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