PYRODOOM'S PROFILE

author=Isrieri
pyrodoom

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DESERT PALACE

-You did well with this version! The level is really starting to shape up.

-Those boos are now a little tricky to get by if you want to nab those blue bricks. But I still think they're a little pointless at the moment. Easily fixed! Put a block at the start of the first corridor, and add some more goombas inside it so there are 9 of them. Get rid of the koopa at the start, otherwise you can just use his shell to kill the boos or goombas. Then, once the player uses the bricks to kill the boos, he can take one and toss it at the goombas to get a 1up!

-I'd also put a ? Block at the end of that corridor so that the brick hits it and makes a vine pop up. That seems to be the theme of your level: The vines. So play it up! If you put the ? Block on the floor, it means the player needs to use the brick block to make it come out.

-See what we've done there? There's 2 ways to do that first room now: You can either ignore the blue bricks and go through that corridor of goombas on your own, and have to deal with the koopas and pokeys by yourself. But if you take the time to get the bricks, you can score a 1up and have an easier time with the pokey! We've made it worth the player's while to go get the bricks.

-The second room looks much better now! You used the space more competently than before, and it's more interesting to look at and play through. Well done.

-I think the goombas up at the top aren't enough for that corridor, though. You ought to use pokeys instead. Just 3 or 4 high. Put those on the right side of the corridor going left. And have 1 or 2 koopas on the left side of the corridor. That way the player can either try his luck with the pokeys or get the koopa shells and make it easier for himself.

-Take out those coins above the venus plant in the sand. I know you did it so the player knows that a plant's in there. But they won't be going in the quicksand anyway. Savvy players might think that's a clue for a secret pipe or something.

-Take the Right border and shorten it so that there's only 3 tiles of wall showing on the right. Always remember to do that when you don't use part of a level anymore: Don't just fill in the tiles.

-If you want to, you could add a little extra something to the middle part of the room to make it a bit more interesting: Like a couple of blocks.

Kind of like that.


-You may be wondering why there's a P-Switch in there. You don't have to use a P-switch in this level, but I had an idea.

-The next room isn't good enough how you have it, because there's nothing there EXCEPT a wall you have to break with the bricks. The only reason it's there is to slow the player down, which is bad. You need to have something happen there. But it can work as long as there's something interesting going on. So I had 2 ideas:

1) With all the bricks up there, it would be awfully nice to have a P-Switch to turn them all into coins! But it would also mean they're too high up for the player to reach. You'd have to remodel the room and make them a little easier to get somehow, maybe also get rid of the vine in the big room and have platforms so the players can take the p-switch into the room with them. You could hide a 1up or spring in some bricks that the player needs to hit with a blue brick.
2) Or you could could make a space at the top of the ceiling and have pipes that shoot bombs down at the player. They'd have to break through the bricks first, so you have plenty of time to realize that they'll be raining on you if you don't hurry: Then it would be okay to make the player have to break through some walls with the bricks. But I still don't think you should put a 2-tile thick wall in their way: Just have two 1-tile thick walls instead. If you wanted to use this idea, you might have to make the room a little bigger (just half a screen) to get creative with it.

-Either way, you may want to move the checkpoint back to the start of the tower room. It wasn't a good idea to put it in the brick room because that means the player has to waste time going through those walls again every time they die. Not good.

-I'm not sure about the bomb that shoots out of the ground. It was kinda funny, but if you want to have something like that, you ought to put a pipe under it so the player knows there's something there. I'd take it out if you go with Option 2.

-The tower room is still pretty good! I would only change one thing: The last platform before the boss gets out of synch sometimes. So its barely possible to jump to it, and only at certain times. Make that last platform go in a circle, or anything else that makes it a bit shorter. That way it's easier to jump to.

-Still love that Mouser boss. Because falling = for-sure-death now, it's a little tougher than it was before. That's another good reason to move the checkpoint back to the tower: the level won't be as annoying to play through again.

-Other than that, I think the level is almost ready! My only other recommendation is what I said in my first review of it: It make your level look really good if you made the walls of the level into larger “block” pieces. I know it would take a long time to do, so I won't make you do it. But I only think it would probably take you an hour or so. Not as long as it took you to fix the level up!

You don't have to make everything into bricks. You can leave spaces in there.


-I can't think of much else to change, so once all that's fixed up, I declare the level READY.

author=Isreiri
DESERT PALACE

-Take the first goomba, and move him 5 tiles to the right. He's too close.

-Y'know what this castle needs? Those blue blocks Mario can pick up and throw! That would be a great mechanic that you could come up with different ideas for. Think of all the things Mario can do with them. They're just like koopa shells, only they can't hurt him. You can use them to bowl over lines of enemies, or hit blocks that are way up in the air Mario wouldn't be able to reach otherwise. Incorporate those somehow!

-Like in the very first room. Those two boos are way up near the ceiling and won't ever be able to get Mario. You should put some platforms or ledges that lead up there. There can be some coins there, or the blue bricks. That way it makes the corridor after that much easier.

-You could even create another section just to have more blue bricks ideas. I don't think anyone's bothered to use them much, so if you use them a lot in your level in clever ways, it will make it more memorable.

-Good job using those background tiles in the corridors. They make the level a lot more distinctive.

-That ledge with the 2 koopas and pokey: Take the right side of that and make it one tile longer. Trust me on this one.

-I think you ought to get rid of the pipe. It doesn't really do anything now, and it makes it kind of easy to get hit by the venus plant sometimes. While you're at it, you should get rid of those blocks above the pipe and make something more out of that area. Add a pipe with a piranha plant on the ceiling, or put in some spikes or platforms. Maybe add some spike pits and more pokeys. Anything you can think of.

-That sure is a long hall of nothing from the vine to the first door. You should either shorten the corridor so that the door is closer, or put something in the corridor!

-Hmm. You ought to rename the level Dusty Dune Dungeon. (You don't have to I just thought it was cool)

-Section 3 is better, but it's still a little boring. Here's a little trick you can do: Once the player comes out the door, make them have to up a ladder, or some platforms, to reach the corridor at the TOP of the section. And then they can DROP into the main room. That way it doesn't seem as flat, makes more use of the space you have, and is more interesting.

-But then you'd need some more platforms in the main room. You could make two platforms in midair with roto-discs circling around them, and get rid of the roto-disc on the lower platform. It would still be tricky to get to the powerup, but you wouldn't have to.

-And then you can either make the next corridor higher up, or you can leave it where it is. But I'd say make it higher up, because it makes the room itself stand out more. Like a pitfall with stuff at the bottom, instead of just a big ol' room.

-Section 4 (the tower) is much better. Segmenting the platforms really helped! I don't know about the goomba spawner though. It's a little too high for the player to notice that they'll be dropping on his poor head. But you don't need to get rid of it, just make them come out slower: 4 seconds in stead of 2.5.

-I'd like it if you used the default SMW red boss door. The one you have is neat, but if we make the boss doors big, it will be more noticeable. And consistent.

-I still love that boss. Surprisingly tricky for an otherwise mild level.

author=seiromem

author=pyrodoom
Yes, I know about the button, and it didn't work.

Try using a pipe to enter the pyramid instead of a door. I had the same problem as you with the door, and a pipe worked instead for some reason.