Deeper [v1.11]

[Blake Izayoi]

A SMBX Minisode by Blake Izayoi

This is it, the culmination of 4 months of work all done as a solo project.
Deeper is a minisode that has a deep backstory that somewhat reveals itself in the game itself. How much exploring will you do?
You need SMBX2 Beta 4 to play this minisode.

Story
On a breezy autumn morning, Luigi went for a walk in a recently discovered forest. Unfortunately, after quite a few hours, Luigi failed to return... so Mario must go on a quest to find his brother. You should forget about Luigi.

Features

• Six levels + a special secret level.

• A custom designed HUD, with a Death Counter and Coin Tracker.

• Unlimited lives! Try levels as much as you'd like.

• A semi-custom boss fight. Which is leagues better than the garbage from Frozen lmao

• Almost all levels have three Dragon Coins to collect.

• 12 achievements for you to collect.

Changelog

Changelog: show

v1.0

• Release!

v1.01

• Changed a secret warp in the 1st level so that people don't think BGOs at the bottom of the screens are all secret warps, preventing pointless deaths.

v1.1

• Added a new hidden achievement.

• Added antizip.lua.

• Updated Lotus Grotto to be more visually distinct.

v1.11

• Deleted my save data from the public upload. Sorry!!

v1.12

• Fixed achievements.

Screenshots

Screenshots: show

Levels look better while playing the minisode. Please play the minisode for a full experience.

Download


Other
Looking for the credits? You can find them by downloading Deeper and looking at the Credits.txt file.
Anyone who makes a YouTube video of Deeper, please link it in the replies! I'll host it on the main post for Deeper.
Feedback is greatly appreciated and I'll try my best to add any and all good feedback to Deeper ASAP.

Maybe it's better if you don't find Luigi. You should stay home, Mario.

[SuperAlex]

#IRecordTheMinisode

[Emral]

half of my deaths in my playthrough (10) were because i kept jumping into stalagmites in the cave level pits because the first level taught me that if i see a bgo on the lower screen edge there is a warp that leads to a secret area

[Blake Izayoi]

half of my deaths in my playthrough (10) were because i kept jumping into stalagmites in the cave level pits because the first level taught me that if i see a bgo on the lower screen edge there is a warp that leads to a secret area

Oops. I'll change the first level so that it's a coin, and not just a BGO. Thanks for the feedback!

EDIT: Deeper has been updated to v1.01 to fix this. Sorry to all the players that got tricked by the BGOs!

[Emral]

once i sufficiently erased that misconception from my mind i had a nice and easygoing time at least, hah!
especially love the atmosphere at play here. the little touches like the changed sfx and the "onto the next stage" at the end add a lot imo.

[SuperAlex]

half of my deaths in my playthrough (10) were because i kept jumping into stalagmites in the cave level pits because the first level taught me that if i see a bgo on the lower screen edge there is a warp that leads to a secret area

Oops. I'll change the first level so that it's a coin, and not just a BGO. Thanks for the feedback!

EDIT: Deeper has been updated to v1.01 to fix this. Sorry to all the players that got tricked by the BGOs!

I played the First PART and I enjoyed Gameplay in my channel

[Blake Izayoi]

once i sufficiently erased that misconception from my mind i had a nice and easygoing time at least, hah!
especially love the atmosphere at play here. the little touches like the changed sfx and the "onto the next stage" at the end add a lot imo.

I'm very glad to hear this! It's wonderful to know you enjoyed the minisode.

I played the First PART and I enjoyed Gameplay in my channel

By that, I assume you mean you posted gameplay on your YouTube channel? If so feel free to link it here! I'll put it on the main post.

[Valentine]

the atmosphere is very nice but i do wish... SOMETHING happened after beating the hidden level, like i don't know if there was supposed to be an achievement for beating it or something but i just kinda beat it and there was zero fanfare.

[Blake Izayoi]

the atmosphere is very nice but i do wish... SOMETHING happened after beating the hidden level, like i don't know if there was supposed to be an achievement for beating it or something but i just kinda beat it and there was zero fanfare.

I guess I should put an achievement or something for beating it, huh? 2,400 Degrees is really just meant to be a secret throwback to Frozen (one of my older minisodes) and not much more. I don't want to put anything too big behind beating it though, mostly because of two reasons:

• It's really tough (or I think so at least!) so I don't want to prevent some of the less skilled players from missing out on something.

• The level itself is meant to be a reward, I don't want to put a reward in a reward!

I'm still open to any ideas you may have for rewards for beating 2,400 Degrees, so if you have any throw them my way!

[Blake Izayoi]

Version 1.1 of Deeper has been released! There's nothing new that warrants a re-playthrough if you've already played Deeper, but if you haven't played it yet, go for it!

[Shidomaru]

Spoiler: show

Faceless Koopa Troopa: *exists*

Me: ...NOPE! *goes back into the pipe he came from, not caring that the blocks will kill him and he'll have to do half the level again*

Truly a masterclass in how to make a horror game! You don't need blood and gore, all you need is one unsettling detail that makes you question everything you thought you knew, and the payoff for all the build-up is not some loud screamer or jumpscare, simply a silent, disturbing revelation (and a blink-and-you'll-miss-it one, no less!). The last level ACTUALLY managed to creep me out (actually it was that blocked pipe at the end of the lava level that creeped me out first). Good job!

Gameplay-wise, the only complaint I have at all is the rail fences in the lava level don't carry you with them, and sometimes Mario would randomly let go of fences in general while moving on them.

I'm very satisfied with this episode, glad to see people trying to do things other than your normal Super Mario type of game.

...Oh! I almost forgot, extra points for technical achievement. You made your episode look more like a SMW Romhack than a SMBX episode! Down to how Mario moves on the world map and his "peace sign" victory pose! I must say I'm impressed.

[Blake Izayoi]

Truly a masterclass in how to make a horror game! You don't need blood and gore, all you need is one unsettling detail that makes you question everything you thought you knew, and the payoff for all the build-up is not some loud screamer or jumpscare, simply a silent, disturbing revelation (and a blink-and-you'll-miss-it one, no less!). The last level ACTUALLY managed to creep me out (actually it was that blocked pipe at the end of the lava level that creeped me out first). Good job!

Gameplay-wise, the only complaint I have at all is the rail fences in the lava level don't carry you with them, and sometimes Mario would randomly let go of fences in general while moving on them.

I'm very satisfied with this episode, glad to see people trying to do things other than your normal Super Mario type of game.

...Oh! I almost forgot, extra points for technical achievement. You made your episode look more like a SMW Romhack than a SMBX episode! Down to how Mario moves on the world map and his "peace sign" victory pose! I must say I'm impressed.

Thank you so much!!
Feedback like this is what genuinely keeps me going & making levels. I'm glad you enjoyed Deeper!

As for the moving fence issue, that's unfortunately something I can't fix at the moment. It's why you don't see too many of the moving fences in that level: they would've been more fleshed out if it wasn't for their janky behaviour.

Please look forward to the sequel that is currently in development: Nuclear Fusion.

[Shidomaru]

Please look forward to the sequel that is currently in development: Nuclear Fusion.

I will ...Meanwhile you can check out my most recent episode, if you like metroidvanias. Here: https://smbxgame.com/forums/view ... 3a38db4c27