Misty Canyon

[Emral]

This is a rather old level of mine which I've picked up recently to finish. It contains of one section and has the following features:
-One section holding about 15000 blocks
-A red coin challenge
-Maze-like design encouraging exploration
-Short completion time if you know where you're going! (90 seconds-ish)
-5 Dragon Coins

Here's a screenshot:

Spoiler: show

This video showcases the shortest path:


And here's the download:
http://www.mediafire.com/download/6zto6 ... Canyon.zip

[JupiHornet]

UNOFFICIAL REVIEW of MISTY CANYON by EMRAL

Well...I must say I am rather torn on this level.

Design (2/10)
You see, Emral, this level seems like it took a lot of time for you to make, but it was so tedious and annoying trying to get all of the purple coins that I resorted to ahippinandahoppin eventually. I couldn't even FIND the regular exit! Having that 2nd Toad say that there are no more purple coins beyond the route is also a bad idea, since the player won't think to look for them. Besides all this, this level is also incredibly open and easy to get lost in, ESPECIALLY when you're trying to find the purple coins. Having to go to that same section to get the springboard so you can progress also feels like a waste of time. After hopping around a bit, I finally found the midpoint and that is where the Toad says that there are no more purple coins beyond that route, so I continued to the left. Then I found two MORE purple coins, and then I discovered that the first and second halves are CONNECTED, and that if you don't hit the gray switch block (which I didn't at the time) turning some pipes into turquoise pipes that lead back to that area, you have to GET ALL THE SPRINGBOARDS AND GO BACK TO THAT AREA. AGAIN. It was at this point (along with getting lost in the 2nd half) that I lost so much interest that I messed with the layers and made the star appear myself. This level needs to be revised a bit.

Atmosphere (9/10)
Even though this level wasn't my favorite in terms of design, the atmosphere was still quite nice. I liked the custom tileset and background that was used, but the music was very repetitive and got incredibly annoying in such a long level. There was a lot going on, with the use of blocks and enemies from all 4 of the main Mario games (SMB1, SMB2, SMB3, SMW) but you pulled it off well and it wasn't too much of an eyesore.

Other Comments: Yes I am one of those people who raises hopes and continues their adventure normally. DEAL WITH IT

Overall 5.5/10 (Average)
This level looked nice, and effort was clearly put into it, but I did not enjoy it at all. Sorry, Emral

[Emral]

Thanks for your review.

but it was so tedious and annoying trying to get all of the purple coins that I resorted to ahippinandahoppin eventually

I can see that being the case, though that is kind of the point. It's not a star for nothing. If you put it into episode context, where there'd be one star per world, getting one should be challenging and not a giveaway.
I've designed this so it could fit as a not-required world 2,3 or 4 level in an episode.

I couldn't even FIND the regular exit!

While the search for the red coins is optional, I can see how you're having problems here. But what do you think should I do to make the second half more clear without removing the mist and maze aspects which this level were designed around?

Having that 2nd Toad say that there are no more purple coins beyond the route is also a bad idea, since the player won't think to look for them.

I wanted to minimize the amount of players who look past the checkpoint, not knowing that there's no more purple coins to be found. I think removing him would just raise the frustration levels.

this level is also incredibly open and easy to get lost in, ESPECIALLY when you're trying to find the purple coins

You found the core idea! Do you think it'd been better if I made it with ghost house asthetics?

Having to go to that same section to get the springboard so you can progress also feels like a waste of time

The springboard is needed for one out of nine purple coins and an 1-Up for people who carried it to a specific point. It's by no means necessary to complete the level. In fact, by using nearby ninji's you can even skip using it entirely.

and that if you don't hit the gray switch block (which I didn't at the time) turning some pipes into turquoise pipes that lead back to that area, you have to GET ALL THE SPRINGBOARDS AND GO BACK TO THAT AREA. AGAIN

At this point I have no idea what you were even trying. Item babysitting is not required in this level. And I've made sure that it's extremely unlikely to access the second half without passing by the checkpoint.

I agree in that the turqoise pipe could've been more obvious, though I ultimately decided not to add a sign or something, since people can see it when passing by the checkpoint and entering the second half. There has to be some penalty for falling down. Not activating the pipe because of a lack of paying attention is increasing punishment.

I liked the custom tileset and background that was used, but the music was very repetitive and got incredibly annoying in such a long level.

It was very difficult to find fitting music. I'm not 100% pleased with this track either, but ran out of games which might have working music. If you have a track to suggest, I'll be willing to change it.

blocks and enemies from all 4 of the main Mario games

I didn't use SMB1 at all.

This level looked nice, and effort was clearly put into it, but I did not enjoy it at all. Sorry, Emral

Alright, I understand that. Thanks for torturing yourself with this to write the review anyways.

[JupiHornet]

The area to get to the 2nd half was pretty high up, so i thought you had to use a springboard to get up there. But I was still using ahippinandahoppin.


Oops.

[silent_]

If you have a track to suggest, I'll be willing to change it.

[Eternity]

I think I prefer the original track, it fits the level pretty well to me.

Also this level's pretty good, but I couldn't find all of the purple coins so I went ahead and completed it the normal way. Might try to go through all of it later.

Anyway, form what I played this was pretty nicely designed so I still recommend giving it a try.

[Emral]

If you have a track to suggest, I'll be willing to change it.

I did consider this, back when you posted it in the screens thread, though I think it's too hectic and would fit more in an actual desert level.

Also this level's pretty good, but I couldn't find all of the purple coins so I went ahead and completed it the normal way. Might try to go through all of it later.

Hello, target audience!

[Imaynotbehere4long]

Wow, this is a really confusing level. It's incredibly difficult to figure out which path is the "main" one and the player will just end up going in circles most of the time. I did manage to collect all of the purple coins without cheating, but I did end up going in circles a lot since most of the "paths" are just vines and sizables surrounding various floating land masses. Heck, this level is so confusing that I ended up collecting all of the dragon coins while trying to find the normal exit!

Also, having an SMB3 star instead of an SMW star as the reward for collecting all of the purple coins is annoying because it means the player has to restart the level to get both exits.

what do you think should I do to make the second half more clear without removing the mist and maze aspects which this level were designed around?

1) What mist?

2) This goes for the entire level, not just the second half: All of the places in the level look very similar with their wide-open paths and coin trails, and many of the areas are heavily interconnected. A subtle way to help prevent the player from getting lost while still retaining that maze feeling would be to remove this inter-connectivity and make it solely branching paths; make it so that there's only one path that leads to, let's say, the bottom part of the level instead of two pits and a pipe. Something else you could do is make the "main" path wide open and be in the direction that the player is already walking and have the optional paths be the narrow path that sharply turns up and backward:

Spoiler: show

I am specifically referring to this part:

Also, the way these slopes are placed make it seem like there's something down here, but it's just a bottomless pit.

Spoiler: show

I recommend either making it so the player can jump back up if he/she falls down here or making the side of the land a flat wall.

By the way, I recommend replacing the spring generator with a single spring and making it so the player can't take it outside that small area it's in; that way, the player won't think that the springs are needed for anything else (you could make the 1-up accessible by climbing vines since it's the only other thing that requires a spring).

Summary:
GOOD:
-Graphic choices aren't terrible.
-Music is short but fits the level well.
-Enemies are varied and placed well.

BAD:
--This might be the only level I've played where I can say with absolute certainty that block placement is a problem. The paths are too interconnected for the level to be intuitive at all.
-The bonus star ends the level.
-Pitfall that looks like a secret.

In conclusion:
Although this level did get some things right, like having a variety of enemies, the unintuitive block placement really drags the level down. Hopefully, my explanations for how to prevent your level from being unintuitive were helpful to you. I'd say this deserves a 5.5/10.

[Emral]

Thanks for your review. I'm not going to quote you because that'd be a hassle on mobile.

As I said, I've designed this as a spiritual episode secret level, with the star being the secret exit. I thought about using the SMW one, though I figured that people would be fed up enough at the point of collecting all coins that they didn't want to continue anyways. Besides, they probably found the midpoint anyways.

What mist? I wanted to add some mist bgos but ultimately scrapped the idea and wanted to argue that the low saturated colours are caused by a certain level of fog, hindering sight and causing players to get lost.

About the pitfall: I can see that I should've put the death sign there. Although let's face it: If there were no slopes I would've put a secret there if there were no slopes ;D

The spring replacement wouldn't make much sense as it's not needed in the small area where you're getting it from. Something which would've made more sense and I conpletely forgot about was putting these handy bossedit item signs where you need the springboard. Oh man how could I forget.

Yup, all in all that's pretty much the feedback I expected. Thanks again for the review. But instead of torturing myself with conpletely redesigning this I'll just do something acceptable next time ;3