ISRIERI'S PROFILE

Well done, gents. Refreshments are out in the hall.

Second Version ~ Now Uploaded

All the ? Spheres are now stars, and a lot of the upper level doors are sealed behind star counts. You need a maximum of 12 stars to access all the doors, and all 30 stars to get to the final level.

I noticed that there were a few boss battles where it was possible to grab the star and have a chance of dying, so I patched up those areas to make the end rooms safe. I also got rid of most of the enemies in Tutor Fields, mostly the bullet cannons. Added two 1ups, and extended the rails for the platforms a bit.

I also added a box crammed with 1ups at the very start. Lives are now no longer an issue for the patient.

I changed the rooms around so Halibabica and Kentona are now down on Floor 1, and I moved Farlon303 where Kentona was on Floor 2.

The game now has a very crummy ending. You get the final star, and the credits roll. I'm considering making a different ending if I can figure out how to do so. Probably not though.

Once again, please let me know if I missed anything, although I'm pretty sure I didn't this time! I forgot to add indicators on the pipes that tell you if you've beaten the level or not! *facepalm*

Concerning the CSS: I was just going to reuse the RMN Bros style, but honestly I'd rather keep the default and grab the CSS for that cool banner we had on the event page. Although I've never touched CSS so I don't know how. :<

Ohp! I'm gonna have to pull up my sleeves!

I should have figured we'd need more lives at the start. I even said so a few weeks back. I didn't have a good idea of where to put them at the time. I'd really like to keep the number we have in the hub (since they respawn), but I have an idea to add a buttload inside a ? Block right at the start. It'll give the player 7 lives, making a total of 10. Is that enough, or will we need more?

author=masterofmayhem
First off why is that wall there!?

Okay, the story with the wall was that I wanted it to work into the tutorial level. I put that wall at the beginning because I figured most players just skipping that pipe and moving forward into the castle. But I put a wall there that most people might not know how to get over, since if you just do a standing jump from the pipe, you won't make it. It's an incentive to play the tutorial first and get a taste of the kind of challenges people might face in the main levels. I guess I made it too hard because I wanted to expose people to all the kinds of tricks they might have to pull off if they want a fighting chance in the main game. It is very hard for me to make easy levels that are interesting. =|

At the end of the tutorial is the same wall and pipe, the exact setup as out front, only now there's two coin blocks to act as a "hint" that you need to do a running jump to make it over the wall. So then whoever plays the tutorial will know how to get over it and have no trouble thereafter. It also trains them for other similar jumps they'll encounter later. I thought it was a good idea okay?!

author=DarklordKeinor
I found a game breaker. In Otabo's level, Underground Fortress, there is a possible no win situation if the player spin jumps on the shell in the final room. I don't think it respawns.

I knew I'd miss something. Thanks for pointing it out!

author=Ratty
On the subject of level order. It kind of felt like I was experiencing the more challenging levels before the easier ones. That's something to be careful of because if a more casual player (like me) gets into the game and the second level is harder than expected, it can be kind of off-putting.

I was aware of this. But I was also wary of putting too many level 1 castles right at the start. I really didn't want to expose players to the more run-of-the-mill castles and give them a bad first impression, which can also be off-putting. That's basically why I tried to put harder but more interesting castles in the first hallway along with some easier ones.

But it was also a little tricky figuring out which "sets" of castles to put early and which ones to put in later. I'm dead set on having all the developers have their own rooms: I want the game to be distinguishable from every other SMBX hub game out there, and I thought this would be a nice way to add some personality to it. In addition to encouraging players to try levels out of order instead of just going from one room to the next. I know they'll be proceeding that way anyway, but the option's still nice I think.

I also have a hypothesis that if players can visibly see the names of the developers and look at their levels as a set, they'll judge the levels individually on their own merit, which is what I wanted to accomplish with this whole layout in the first place.

Incidentally Ratty, which castles were too tough for you at the start, and which ones would you recommend placing on the first floor? I'm thinking of rotating Farlon, Desmo, and Halibabica clockwise.

author=masterofmayhem
Then you’ve got the whole “every level is open at the start thing” and I can see why you did this and I honestly don’t mind it. But I can see why people are complaining that there fells like there’s sense of accomplishment, because honestly there’s no reason to go through any of these levels other than my own amusement.

This. This is the thing that's worrying me. This is the problem with hub worlds, especially hubs were you can do levels out of order: The sense of accomplishment and progression is severely diminished. But maybe all I really need to do is change the ? Spheres to Stars and block off the different floors of the castle. Maybe that will be enough? I wouldn't make the player play every single level to proceed, just a few on each floor I guess.

But definitely! If there's no sense of accomplishment here, then we've got a problem!

author=masterofmayhem
I think the layout is terrible. It’s big and unnecessarily labyrinthian.

...Okay I've gotta disagree with you there. I made the hub as small and compact as I could without resorting to utilizing a crapload of different sections. You'd have to be trying really hard to get lost in this place. I think it works pretty well, considering I wanted the ability to access more than one set of levels. Just think of it like Peach's Castle in Mario 64. It's fun to go exploring!

author=Ratty
I like how Davenport's levels were given their own den. I just found it hilarious.

Well, I really didn't know where to put him, as I did the main hub area first and only his levels were left. So that's when I had the brilliant idea to give him his own special area in the basement. See, it's like the Special World in Mario World: Davenport's levels are a lot more off-the-wall than everyone else's and playing them mixed in with the rest would without a doubt be very weird. Imagine having to play Tubular or Way Cool in the Vanilla Dome or Cheese Bridge Area! Putting him in his own spot makes his levels stand out and seem a lot cooler since they're "hidden" away.


Isrieri's Big Checklist of Things to Do

1) Add more lives at the beginning.
2) Fix the bug in Otabo's level.
3) Tone the intro level waaaaaaaaay down.
4) Rearrange the level sets so easier castles are encountered earlier.
5) Change all the level exits to stars to promote a stronger sense of progression.
6) Get rid of that wall.
7) Craft an ending that doesn't completely suck.

It's 65 Fahrenheit outside. And there was much rejoicing.

author=Deckiller
I'm sure this project would be awesome but you guys have no idea how burned out I am right now.

I know how that feels. Don't sweat it if you can't make one.


Well then, with Apa's update, all levels have been approved. Good job.

I'm working on the hub and introductory level tonight. Once I eventually get those finished and get screenshots of everyone's levels, I'll make the gamepage and invite everyone to try it out.