Koopa Plains (my first level)

[Man1234FK]

Here is the download link! (Thanks to Nickname for helping me to get it working)

https://www.dropbox.com/s/of2rnjxl9e31u ... 9.zip?dl=0

Screenshots!

Spoiler: show

Koopa Plains Pic 1.png

Koopa Plains Pic 2.png

Koopa Plains Pic 3.png

But now to the credits:
All of the GFX i had at my disposal were made by these wonderful people: Valtteri, Chad, Luffy, Legend-tony980, zephyr, martijn, Road Runner, Redigit, speedy, Red Yoshi, Ike/Link, SilverDeoxys563, TLtimelord. (A lot of these were recolored by Chad)

Also, i got the inspiration for this level from Super Mario: Heroes on the Star Quest which is an awesome project.

!! I updated the level, here is a list of fixed/added things: !!
-fixed the graphics issue with the corners of the grassland
-scrapped some piranha plants
-made getting the second star coin easier (higher roof, less piranha plants)
-getting the third star coin won't make you skip the checkpoint
-added some more backgrounds.
!! Another update: !!
-scrapped some more enemies
-lowered the floor in the underwater part of the first section
-changed the bob-omb sprites to the normal SMB3 Bob-ombs
-expanded the walls beyond the level boundaries on the up and the bottom parts
-some other small modifications
!! A third update !!
-slightly modified textures for the SMB3 bob-ombs
-The fire spitting piranha plant now has the same color palette as the others
-different textures for the playable characters
-other small modifications


Thanks to PROX and Nickname for reviewing the level and giving feedback!

[underFlo]

You need to provide a working download Link and screenshots. To get the download link, right-click on the file, then share and then copy the url you see. PM me or another LJ with screens and a woking DL link if you want this unlocked.

Edit: Screenshot and DL provided, unlocked.

Edit2: Moved to serious levels on request.

[PROX]

PROX's Unofficial Review:

Spoiler: show

A grass themed level with multiple secrets and sections with no clash.

Design: The level was pretty nicely designed. There were many sizeables and paths to explore. The switch idea was very nice especially since it's required to get a star coin. I can tell that you put time and effort in this level. The second star coin in the cave section was a bit hard to get since the piranha plant comes up whenever you try to jump on the pipe which almost guarantees a hit taken. and the ceiling was oddly sloped which made it really hard for me to jump back out since I hit the ceiling 60% of the time. I had to really tap the button just to get out. Also the 3rd star coins exit pipe leads you past the checkpoint, so if someone didn't go back, they would completely miss it, and if they died, they would have to start over. Not the best approach. There were some other areas that forced me to either crouch jump or lightly tap the button. Might wanna work on that. I also noticed that some of the corner pieces in the grass tileset were not completely outlined in black which looked a little strange. (the 1st circle in the image shows the difference)

Score: 8/10

NPC Placement. The NPC placement was good, the only things wrong with it were some unnecessary Piranha plants such as the 3 near the exit pipe in the 1st section, and the piranha plants in the second star coin area.
Score 8/10

Atmosphere: You definitely nailed the atmosphere. The level was very detailed. There were no mixed themes. The music choice was perfect. I would recommend using layers in the future, but it's not 100% necessary so I won't mark you down for that.
Score 10/10

Overall Score: 8.6/10 Pretty Good
Level was very well made. This was a nice 1st attempt. I would increase the height of some of the ceilings that have tricky jumps and Get rid of a few piranha plants since some were placed in areas with low jumps and narrow dropping areas.

[Man1234FK]

Thank you so much! I will definetly take note of your tips, i really appreciate the feedback

[Navi]

The level is particularly awesome. I'm gonna play this later.

[Man1234FK]

Oh and i just now realized that there is a layer event thingy in the level but it is in a secret area!

Thank you Alex!

[underFlo]

Koopa Plains by Man1234FK - Review



Looks and Atmosphere

This level was incredibly pleasant to look at, and aside from the restyled SMB1 grass not matching the ground's color, I can't really think of any flaws. One little thing that bugged me is that in Section 1 you used a SMW sign and a custom NSMBW sign, I feel like you should've sticked to one sign there. And the fire-spitting Piranha Plant has another head palette then the other ones, which is also kinda weird. I really liked the atmosphere in this, the plains felt alive and the cave felt restricted. I also like how in Section 3 the background is mostly black and you didn't just reuse the one from section 2, it really helps making it feel like you ventured deeper into the cave. The Bob-Ombs looked like NES GFX (since they only seem to use 3 colors), which didn't look al that good in comparison with the other detailed graphics. But all of that are just nitpicks.
I really liked the music, it fits the level pretty well.
That's why my score for Looks and Atmosphere is

8.5/10



Design and Gameplay (counts double)

This was also pretty well done, but there are some little flaws. First off, if you go into the underwater part in Section 1 and are not small Mario, you are bound to get hit by the 2nd Cheep-Cheep since there's not enough space to evade it. The switches were pulled off pretty well, and using the Bob-Ombs' explosions is a neat idea that is well executed. Also, the fire Piranha nplant in the end of Section 1 kinda cought me off-guard the first time through.
One thing that's not really a minus but a little thing you can do to improve your level is extending the walls of pits ~2 blocks below hthe ground, since the player is only dead after the 3rd block under the border. Same applies for the upper boundaries, and you can use this to skip the whole 2nd section in your level.

Spoiler: show

I'm standing on top of the wall, this allows me to go from there directly to the exit of section 2, effectively skipping half the level

But in the end, it's nicely designed and doesn't really commit any other major flaws, I would just maybe turn down the number of NPCs a little bit and fix the flaws I mentioned.

7.5/10



Verdict

Man, what a first level this was! This level is really good, and if you fix some of the quirks, I can definitely see this going to The Best.
That's why my final verdict for this is

7.83/10

Moved to Pretty Good

[Man1234FK]

Thank you so much! I'll get to fixing the stuff right away! (Or as soon as i get home )

[PROX]

oh crap I didn't even realize that you can skip half the level lol

[underFlo]

oh crap I didn't even realize that you can skip half the level lol

I also only realised it because I saw that the boundaries aren't extended downwards and then actively searched for skipping opportunities.

[Man1234FK]

oh crap I didn't even realize that you can skip half the level lol

I also only realised it because I saw that the boundaries aren't extended downwards and then actively searched for skipping opportunities.

Yeah thanks for telling me about that, i had no idea it was possible to jump over them