ISRIERI'S PROFILE

Hey dude. I have a new rule for your next levels.

No custom graphics. At all.

They are ruining your levels. If this event was to make the most abstract levels, you would be doing pretty well right now. But we're not. This event is for simple castle levels. They need to be simple and straightforward!

I thought Sky Temple was okay and could be modified to make a better castle. But then I played Mermaid's Castle. Davenport, you're just making the levels however you feel like making them. That's okay if you want to make them look unique, but it isn't what we're trying to do.

We need to focus on the design of the castle. That doesn't mean the architecture or how it looks, that means how fun and engaging the castle is for other people to play. And the two new ones you submitted aren't very fun or engaging for most people or me. Because they're so complex and don't exhibit a lot of tight or cohesive design. Not always though! Agony Castle is very good! That's your best level so far. It was straightforward, fun to play, and felt like you spent time working on it.

I can see that you're trying to make fun things for the player to do, but a lot of those things aren't good ideas. But you do have good ideas! I like the first part of Mermaid Castle. It's like being in a big fishbowl. And if you made the level more fun to play, I would have accepted it as a castle level. I also like how you placed the first key, so that it falls onto the piranha plant!

Your levels were interesting to look at, but I didn't like playing them. And that's because of the bad ideas in them. In Sky Temple, it isn't very clear the moving platform takes you up to the moving spike pillar, because the custom graphics on the ceiling don't look like you can jump through them. But all you would have to do to fix that is place some coins that lead up to it. In Mermaid's Castle, you have to go all over the place and look for keys and switch blocks to open doors. That's boring to have to do. And the custom graphics are confusing in the castle. I didn't know that you could pick up the brown bricks.

I think the reason there are so many is because you like to use lots of custom graphics. It's harder for me to help you make your levels better, because having so many different graphics means the whole level becomes complicated. When a level is complicated, it's harder to change.

I don't think Mermaid's Castle is worth trying to save. It's a great big mess right now, and it's easier to make a new level.

I like how Sky Temple looks. And I think it can be a good castle. But it needs to have a lot more work to fix it up. Like that big moving spike: You need to get rid of that, it was a bad idea to make it so long and make the player wait for it to go back and forth. Post a comment here and tell me if you want to keep working on Sky Temple, or if you just want to try again with a new level. I don't want you to go through a lot of effort if you don't think it will amount to anything. So if you want to keep working on it, I'll post more feedback for you later.

I think Agony Castle is ready to go, so it's approved!

By the way, I love the music in Sky Temple!

OVERGROWN OBELISK

-I'd like a pipe that the bros Enter the level through. This is another castle that could use an outside entrance area, but I don't feel as strongly about it as with Underground Fortress.

-The monty moles are better! I was fine with the shy guys, but these hopping moles are better, I find.

-The level is also far less cluttered. It looks amazing now. Well done.

-I still think the fire flowers look tacky.

-I still think the Spike Tops should be red. I also think the sprinboards ought to be red too: To help them stand out against the cool darker colors of the level.

-I don't know about the big piranha plant at the start. I think you'd be better off just taking it out, and putting some floating SMB3 platforms where the egg blocks are. So that they can float in the water all pretty-like.

-Why'd you block off that one drain behind the checkpoint with blocks but not the one earlier?

-Still desperately needs secrets! That pipe with the venus plant after the springboard bit is a prime candidate for a bonus room. I also find that this level could really benefit from a stopwatch powerup. By which I mean, the stopwatch could be utilized well here.

-I like the platform falling into the spikes at the end: It killed me, but the level was short enough this time that it didn't bother me. I see rave reviews for this level now.

ASSAULT ON SKULL CASTLE

-I don't suppose there's anything we can do about how if you fall in the pits halfway through, you just fall into space? I know those gaps are there to save memory and reduce lag, which I heartily approve of. So I'm more than willing to overlook it.

-I noticed a glitch with the checkpoint: The bottom right background tile won't appear for some reason when you playtest the level. Maybe it has a lower priority?

-I now agree about leaving it one big section. I am simply biased.

-Still as good as I remember it.


WILY HEART

-No Mega Man 10 music?! Seriously, the Wily music in that game is kickass.

-Wow those thwomps are in some rough spots. Fantastic! The first one surprised me because it blends in so well with the level tiles. You could make them more noticeable by recoloring them red, but I imagine their current color was intentional.

-I love the elevator. But I have a minor gripe with it. It's possible for megaman I mean Mario to get crushed if he's standing on top of a spike when he reaches the floor. I can't think of a workaround though.

-This level punishes hasty twitch-control players like myself. I got my ass handed to me, so it's difficult for me to place this. It was a 3 or 4 for me, but I imagine it's a 4 or 5 for everyone else.

-I have no clue how you pulled off an elevator that goes up and transitions into an area at the bottom of the map.

-Just a nitpick here: There's a block at the “top” of the elevator that is a quarter of a tile too high, and so I kept getting stopped when I moved forward. Only fix it if it's worth bothering with. It may be more trouble than it's worth, I dunno.

-The cannon-dudes have a very light box surrounding their sprites. That's only the case in this level, they're fine in Assault.

-How do you get that 1up on the ledge? Leaf? Or is there another way?

-I got on Farlon about this: The player should only be able to enter pipes that have flat ground before them. I'm referring to the tanooki room entrance. Set it up so the player can hop up there a little easier.

-The Wily fight is deceptively simple. The hardhats are in the prime trajectory to nail you if you aren't careful. Funny story: When I first played the level I did it without sound, so I had no clue if I was hitting him. Made me laugh when I figured out what you did. Well done.

CASTLE CRASH

I hadn't realized that you used the World of Nothing music for the castle areas, but that's actually worse than the SMB3 music you had! I know, I know. I'm being really picky here. But trust me, music is a very important aspect of level aesthetics: When people here that “clickity-clack” noise at the beginning of the audio track it will put them off and think less of your level. You can just go back to the SMB3 default music or use a different track. I recommend this one. I'll change the updated level's status to Accepted once you're done. Sorry for not doing a more thorough test. :(

SANDFALL FORTRESS

This level is excellent now. Only two things.

-There's a donut block in Section 1 that still spawns into being that you need to fix.

-You missed the fire-spitting torch at the end.

Once those are patched, I declare this READY.


FUNKLEN TOMB

-The shadow temple music doesn't fit with this level...okay it does, actually. But it's the SHADOW TEMPLE, dude. People will think it's weird even though it does fit. I recommend this track in it's place.

-I dig the shell getting kicked into the first ? Block. As well as the hole you can hide in. The coins are a bit misleading, most people will think they're a trail to jump on the first guy. Get rid of those and just stick some elsewhere.

-You went a little overboard with the pipe corridors. Having two almost back-to-back is a bit bland. If you can come up with something else for the second corridor at the bottom instead of piranhas I encourage it, but I recognize that's kind of the “theme” of this area.

-The powerup above the ! Blocks looks too glitchy for my tastes. Move it to the left side, replacing that branch in the wall. Make the other branches ? Blocks with coins in them too.

-All those pipes and not a one you can go into! I have a good idea: Put ! Blocks in front of the pipe that takes you to the checkpoint. Have some of the pipes (particularly the ones with no piranha plants) Take you to the other end of the same pipe. So that way you can go up and down the section. Bear in mind that you can't have the player come out a pipe if it has one of those plants that chomp downward. They don't work right and the player could get hit cheaply.

-This way you add an element of maziness and non-linearity to your level. Not really, of course. But it creates the illusion of it, which is just as potent. It also solves my gripe about the surprise pit: The player can see it beforehand and know that it's there. This will make your level more memorable.

-Good job with the second section. And with placing that first shellkicker dude at the start so we see they'll be the theme of this part.

-Make that 1up visible. You can mislead them into trying and get it from the platform instead of hopping on the podoboo, which they won't be able to do. And it seems to much to put it over a fireball like that and making it invisible on top of it.

-Good setups with all the shells.

-The powerups here NEED to be fire or ice flowers. Something other than mushrooms.

-This area also needs a bonus area of some sort. A hammer suit would be the prime thing to give the player. Let them wreck the place, this is a good level for that.

-I'd take out that venus plant in the pipe corridor.

-At the end of the corridor, get rid of the hopper plant and the donut bridge and move the exit closer. That corridor is more than enough.

-Once those changes are implemented, I think this will be a 3 or 4.

AIR FORTRESS

-Rename the level Cyclone Citadel instead.

-The version I downloaded didn't have the P1 start position moved back. So be sure to move it back to the start!

-I like the level much better than you had it before. But I still think the level looks really flat and boring: You and pyrodoom have a similar problem, where you only make flat ceilings and walls. It would really help (especially in the firebar room!) to have bumpier ceilings. Kind of like how you added that little bump to the entrance area to make it less flat.

-Actually, that entrance could use a ceiling too: Add some clouds up above to make it feel more like it's inside a huge cloud or storm. Bumpy ceilings! Don't just add a line and use “Fill!” Really make it feel like a huge cloud with a fort on the inside.

-The music isn't playing in the level. Filename problem? Or do you have it in the level folder? It should be in whatever directory the actual level is in.

-The firebars are much better than what you had in your first draft. You still need to change them back to the normal red kind. They shouldn't fit the level because the level is mostly white! They should stick out like sore thumbs!

-I don't really get why you used a different background in the entrance than the rest of the level.

-The first room could still use a little more stuff in it. The clouds are nice, but you need some ledges on the walls. They're too flat as they are. If you have to expand the Left and Right level borders to make some intersting wall areas, you ought to. If you can think of neat ideas while you're revising, try it out!

-You can change the layout of the room, for instance. Move some powerups around, take out some ? Blocks. Or maybe keep some ? Blocks and add some more enemies in there like hovering koopas or whatever else you think would be good. We're getting there!

-You're probably sick of hearing this by now, but there are some spots where you don't have the clouds filled in all the way or the wrong tiles. Look carefully over the first room and fix those.

-Don't use the big red boss doors unless there's a boss in the next room. Just use the SMB3 or SMW doors instead.

-You should add “0” fireballs to your firebars: The 0 one shouldn't move and needs to go on the center of all the empty coin blocks. This isn't really a big deal, but it shows attention to detail.

-Why does the first room have a big ol' hole in the wall near the bottom? Put something there.

-Cut back on some of the firebars on the floor in the bottom 2 corridors. They're a but much at the moment. What difficulty were you going for again? I forget.

-The checkpoint room is still boring. It's just a box!

-The switch blocks are a much better idea than the banzai bills! They're like Beat Block galaxy. But right now you aren't using them as well as you could be.

-That red coin shouldn't trigger the blocks. The koopa should. Go to the koopa's Events tab and have him Activate...uhm....

-Yeah you really need to name your Events. Right now you just have “New Event” for everything so I have no clue what does what. Click the koopa and have him “Activate” whatever event starts the switch blocks going.

-You shouldn't have made staircases like that. Because the blocks switch on and off so much, there's a good chance the player can get stuck inside one of the staircases when they turn on. It's more annoying to have to climb stairs too. You should just make them flat platforms. 2 blocks or 3 blocks wide.

-Same problem with that one yellow switch Block in the corner. The player could stand inside that and get glitched.

-Replace those two bullet bills with a buzzsaw on a track. Make sure it's moving left like the bullets did.

-I like that setup you have right above the bullets. But the staircase problem again! Actually, you should just take those lower green ones out and make them regular platforms of some kind.

-The homing koopa isn't in a very good spot, and he wasn't a good idea either: You ought to take him out and do something else with all that empty space on the left side of that part. That whole left side is empty! Rework it to use more of the space. Maybe have random switch platforms that allow the player to go up the left and right side? I dunno.

-But now that you have a nifty switch block tower, you are now much better off without a boss. Mouser wasn't really all that great anyway, and because it takes so long to go up the tower, it would really be a pain to die at the boss and have to do it all over again. Get rid of him and make that the ? Room (make it fancier!)

TREESTONE TOWER
This is yet another level that gave me some really heavy lag. All the npcs + custom graphics I guess. My computer is really terrible. I've only got, like, 2 Gbs of ram.

-The concrete slabs are meshed well with the ground tiles.

-Interesting level concept. Basically a SMB2 tree but iron. I don't think it's a stretch to call this a castle. I can dig the Snifit theme. Probably ought to be called Treestone Towers.

-Why is there a line of black covering the top of the right tree but not the left?

-Midpoint is in a good spot.

-First section is great. A nice and simple climb. The vegetables are a good addition. I appreciate that you only get a few shots with them and you didn't bury some EVERYWHARE.

-The bridge with the thwomps seemed a little pointless. But whatever, it makes for a good segue.

-Nice job hiding the 1up. I'm on the fence with whether it should be invisible or not. Your call there.

-Second section isn't quite as fun as the first. “Down” sections are trickier to design. I like the venus plants combined with vines. Not sure about the line of snifits holding down the vine. It's not bad, just a little “meh i coulda thoughta dat.” And it's easier to just time a drop down it. Can you think up something else?

-The two thwomps and snifit make for a surprisingly tricky setup! And a well guarded powerup! Excellent!

-Good underground area. A lot more challenging than the actual tower!

-This level desperately needs a POW block somewhere. Or a stopwatch. Maybe that can be how to dispatch the snifits in the second tower.

-Secret room is painfully obvious. Just make it like the rest of the pipes.

-I only just now noticed you included Dragon Coins in your level. Good job placing them.

OVERGROWN OBELISK

I noticed that you made this significantly shorter. That's good! I only played it once and didn't do any in-depth testing. So far it looks pretty alright. I'll give you more feedback on it later, but I want to reinforce one of my suggestions: Secret rooms, man! This level needs some! You don't have to make them the full-on optional rooms I said, but simple rooms with coins in them, or pipes that put you further ahead in the level. This will make your level all the more unique, I believe.

UNDERGROUND FORTRESS

-The first thing I did when I played this level was hit ESC and change the background to the default SMB3 Dungeon 2. Because of the brighter pillars in the background, the tan pillars you use for embellishment tend to clutter the level up a bit. It's just a nitpick, but I think you'd be better of either keeping the tan pillars and using the Dungeon 2 background, or nixing the pillars and using the current background. You can also choose to keep it the same, its your call.

-I'd prefer that you change the star coins back to the normal Dragon Coins. For consistency.

-I'd highly recommend making a small above-ground area that meshes the terrain above with the castle bricks. Like the entrance to a ruin. This will highlight that the castle is underground, and make your level more memorable.

-I know Ratty said that this level was more like a bonus level than a real castle, and I kind of agree with him there. It's piss easy. But I also think that this could serve as a fantastic level 1 castle as well. We could use some more low level submissions. But it's mainly for that neat slide. EVERYONE loves slides. Fun factor is an important aspect of design too y'know.

-Still, the main part of the level could do with a little spicing up. Put 1 or 2 hovering koopas in a spot of your choice. I'd recommend at least one over that lava pit before the checkpoint. If you'd like to add other things, such as an additional section, I encourage it.

-For the end room, I would like you to replace the wall blocking the ? Sphere with some empty ? Blocks instead. Mainly so that the players immediately know that their goal is to get rid of it. This level calls out to be completed at a fast pace, and a quick and immediate end will be very satisfying to be sure.

-I nominate you for the coveted Easiest Castle Award. But I think Ascend Descend more fun. That could be because I'M CRAAAAZY.

DESERT PALACE

-As of now, the level is very basic. But I think it can be better, as long as you rework it.

-”It's truly free be stop never throw what's happening.” Wut?

-Move that first goomba two or three tiles to the right of the second one. Ought to fix up that problem of them being too close.

-Change the mushroom at the beginning to a full powerup. Like a fire flower or leaf.

-The first outside area is nice and simple. But the pyramid looks a little bit flat (boring, I mean). You might make it more interesting by putting the door in the middle of the pyramid instead: Have the players jump up some blocks to get to it, rather than just walk on in.

-Once again, needs new music. The current track doesn't fit very well. (But I liked the music itself)

-Once again, you made everything so empty! I see that you followed my advice more closely with sections 3 and 4: You didn't mess with the borders to make everything huge, and just stuck with a linear approach. But there's still a buttload of empty space that ends up unused. The level looks very flat and boring right now. Therefore, the inside of the pyramid needs a lot more work.

-What I recommend to you is this: You know how you took the SMB3 Desert tiles and just made a flat box for the room borders? You need to make them a bit more jagged and dynamic. Take a look at Ratty's Gimmick Castle and check out how he made his ceilings and walls. That's what you need to do with this pyramid, floors included. You can do the same thing with the SMB3 Desert tiles.

-Using that technique, completely rehaul the inside of the pyramid to be a little more interesting: Include more corridors, instead of those big ol' rooms. If you have to completely get rid of the rooms you have and start over, so be it. And have a few more enemies in spots that make the player keep an eye open for them: Like that one spot where you put a Pokey and 2 turtles. That was pretty interesting to have to get around. I used the key to kill them.

-No locked pipes. It's weird, and you could have just used a door. You don't really need a key for this level unless you want to lock a secret room. If you wanted, you could put a locked door deeper in the pyramid, and have the key at the start. And the player needs to carry the key through the pyramid to unlock the optional door. It would make your level more memorable.

-I'm iffy about quicksand. I told seiromem to get rid of his because it was only there to look desert-y. You actually have quicksand going on in this level. But remember you have to be VERY careful when you use quicksand: It's extremely annoying. Even Solitayre couldn't make it fun when I played his desert level in RMN2. So that big ol' thing of quicksand in the first room needs to go (if you already haven't taken it out).

-So you ought to put quicksand in places that it's easy jump over, but also doesn't take forever to jump out if you get stuck in it. If you want the player to die when they fall, just have an open pit or spikes. You could use quicksand to hide secrets, but in my opinion, it is strictly something to be avoided.

-Change that checkpoint mushroom to the regular checkpoint. For consistency.

-Don't be afraid to put more floating platforms out in the middle of all that empty space: That's how you can fill it up. You don't need a LOAD of stuff to fill it ALL up. You just need something there to make it feel less empty. A ledge here or there with a powerup can often be just the trick.

-The ride up to Mouser is kind of boring. The rails go on for too long, and so you have to wait a long time if the platform gets away from you. When you rework this room, use shorter rails. Make the player have to hop from platform to platform, instead of just taking a ride on them.

-I love the Mouser fight! It's a simple setup but it puts a delightful twist on him. Best part of your level. Don't forget to hide Spawned Npcs when Mouser dies, so that the bombs disappear.

CASTLE CRASH

-Why the invisible blocks inbetween the holes? They don't do anything to my knowledge.

-I approve of the new lava pits in section 3.

-You shouldn't put doors so close to the walls. Have them one space away form them at least. Otherwise a weird glitch will happen that shows two doors opening.

-I don't understand why the invisible block in section 4 is only a mushroom. You could make it a 1up or another ice flower.

-Excellent secret room! I can't think of much else. So I guess this is GOOD TO GO once you fix those doors.

DR. TOADLY

-Rejected because Dr. Toadly. (Seriously seiromem, no one likes the guy. You will thank me for this.)

-You shouldn't use those amps as firebars because their hitboxes are huge. If you chain them together like you would firebars, it can lead to some cheap hits. Maybe that can work if they are placed better, but I honestly don't see the point.

-That wall of bullet bills is dumb. You shouldn't put surprise attacks like that when the player is likely to be in the middle of a jump, right at the start of the level, with no powerups. Shame on you, seiromem.

-That corridor of piranha plants was very interesting! That was the best part of this level! You should reuse it in a different one.

-Tower section was a little weak. I like that first jump over the spike, but not the amp you have just above it: The amp isn't fully onscreen, and so its harder to predict him. If you want a setup like this, the player should be able to see all the obstacles.

-The 3 alien whatchemawhatevers are too close together. It's too easy to take a hit. They need to be 3 blocks apart from each other, or widen the gap they fly in so they aren't constantly overtop one another.

SANDFALL FORTRESS

-I like that name better. Rename it to that for sure!

-This level is a 5.

-Like I said up above, change the amps to regular firebars. They take too much away from this level. Also, put an empty ? Block where the middle firebar instead of the brick blocks.

-The quicksand doesn't do anything. Get rid of all of it along the bottom. I know it makes the level more desert-y, but you really are better off with just a pit: At least then the player knows that if they fall down there, it's death. It's the same problem as water not being swimmable.

-Those falling blocks may be clued in because they aren't held up by pillars, but Ratty's right: It is incredibly hard to notice. It is fair the way you have them, but I want you to use the regular donuts instead. In a fast-paced level like this, it is good to let the player see the falling platforms so as to help them plan around the numerous traps. And it wouldn't hurt your level in the slightest if you did. It would be stupid not to.

-The entire first section is pretty good. I like a lot of the setups you have. They're novel, and pretty tough to get around at times.

-The foreground sand is fine by me: It adds another layer of challenge to things in addition to looking neat.

-The hopping goombas are an excellent replacement for the ninjis. Because you can squish 'em.

-I like the Phantos! You actually placed those guys pretty well. They surprised me once or twice!

-I think you should replace the sparks with the red Spike Tops. They do the same thing, stand out better against the tan level, and I believe they'd fit the level better. No one uses Spike Tops. :(

-I don't think the NES skeletons take too much away from the level in this case. I barely noticed them, personally.

-Get rid of the those fireballs that hop out of the torches. All of them. You can't have some torches poop out fire and other torches that don't. Besides, the challenge they add on is kind of pointless.

-You need a few more coin ? Blocks. Mainly in the first section. A third powerup would be good as well.

-Oh! For the venus plant you have in the quicksand, just put it in a pipe when you take the sand out. Also make that pipe lead to a bonus room that takes you straight to the checkpoint.

-That hammer bro is really tricky! I like it! But the two firebars behind him are overkill. Take them out, and put a thwomp above the two-brick platform on the hammer bro's right, and get rid of the Spark right before the door. That ought to be better.

-I really like that spiked ceiling! I deliberately played the second half as slow as I could, and I was still able to make it to the door in time. Well done there. But I have a good idea: Don't have the Phanto trigger the ceiling. Make it the bat instead. It gives the player even more margin for error (always a good design thing) and it is better to actually see the ceiling start to come down than to walk into a room and wonder what that sound is for.

-Make sure to fix that first firebar in section 2: The middle ball is too high up and the player will get hit if he walks over it.

-Put a ? Block with a mushroom in it right before the bowser statue that breathes fire over those 1-block platforms. Because the player can't see the hammer bro above, if they get hit by a hammer, it would be a nice thing to let them have a simple powerup. It's either that or taking the hammer bro out.

-It would have been a good idea to have the donut blocks respawn in your last level, but you don't need for them to do that here. Make all the donut blocks regular ones that don't generate: Its jarring to hear them explode into being.

PALACE OF FROZEN DAGGERS

-I still would like you to put that first thwomp-chandelier above the first set of ? Blocks. The idea is that the player will immediately go check them to see what's inside, and the thwomp will come down while they're checking out the blocks. It's an almost guaranteed failsafe: the way you have it still risks the chance the player will be surprised by him.

-I still think the level desperately needs some contrasting colors. Like changing the blue platform and blue ! Blocks to the yellow kind. Or changing the Sparks to a different color.

-I noticed that there are some SMW coins mixed in with the SMB3 coins. Change them all to the SMB3 kind. For consistency.

-Was that P-Switch there before? Good usage of it.

-You still need to get rid of the blue fireballs. Because the player can now swim in the water, they risk the chance of getting hit by them when they're in their “idle” phase. But that doesn't really bother me so much as that now the player can just swim under the whole first part of the level. You really ought to put some fish down there. Just have them set to the “Swim Left/Right” AI under the enemy's Advanced tab. You don't need the fish to be a threat, just enough of a deterrent to keep the player from wanting to swim down there. (Let me make clear that I like the water and think you should keep it.)

-The bonus room still doesn't solve that big problem: You can't go back through the pipe and so the player could still get stuck. Once again, YES I know this is highly highly unlikely. But still. Just make it so that the player can return out of the pipe they entered if you want to keep the ice blocks like you have them.

-Did I mention this level is pretty? I don't think I gave you any credit for that.