Dark Bowser (Replacing Ludwig Von Koopa) Custom Boss

[PROX]

I basically made this for fun, but the reason why I posted it on this forum is because I want to know what you guys think. I used my Dark Bowser replacing Ludwig Von Koopa boss for this. I used so many layers in this boss that I lost count lol. I didn't put any BGOs because they overlapped some of the warning BGOs, so I'd rather have a functional boss instead of an arena that looks pretty. ENJOY!!

Disclaimer:

Spoiler: show

I did not make the background or the warning BGOs
The tileset used is a recolor of Emral's grass tileset.

Screenshots:

Spoiler: show

video:


Download:

Spoiler: show

http://www.mediafire.com/download/pv9j1 ... m_Boss.zip

[C-Guilherme]

Hello

It's nice.
I liked most of the rays.

[Shadow Yoshi]

Please make more constructive posts, C-Guilherme.

[suckhacker]

Damn dude, i love this boss. it is the righteous stuff

[PROX]

Damn dude, i love this boss. it is the righteous stuff

thx glad u enjoy it

[PDPaula]

The idea is nice but I think it could have been betterly executed because I think its hard to beat this boss without trial and error because the warnings arent very intuitive. After you kill the boss for the first time the exclamation marks show up but I have no idea what that means and I get killed unfairly and have to replay it :/

Then the exclamation marks show up again but this time its not fire, its thwomps that smash you. Theres a part where a lot of thwomps come in and its nearl yimpossible to not get hit. And the part with the lightning I think the collision is a little too big for the sprite...Looks like I barely touched it but still got hurt

It can be improved but I like the concept

[PROX]

The idea is nice but I think it could have been betterly executed because I think its hard to beat this boss without trial and error because the warnings arent very intuitive. After you kill the boss for the first time the exclamation marks show up but I have no idea what that means and I get killed unfairly and have to replay it :/

Then the exclamation marks show up again but this time its not fire, its thwomps that smash you. Theres a part where a lot of thwomps come in and its nearl yimpossible to not get hit. And the part with the lightning I think the collision is a little too big for the sprite...Looks like I barely touched it but still got hurt

It can be improved but I like the concept

yeah the thwomps could have been telegraphed better, and yeah the warning signs are areas that you don't want to stand lol. The lightning hitbox is supposed to be like that to match all the frames.

[Imaynotbehere4long]

I have to agree with PDPaula: the warnings need to be fixed. There isn't enough time for the player to react to the first Bombs layer, so unless he/she happens to already be near the arrows, he/she will get hit by the Dark Fire (same goes for the Thwomp Warnings and the Lighting Warnings). Plus, having the second attack's safe spot be only one unit away from the previous layer's safe spot means the player barely has to do anything to avoid the second attack and ultimately makes it pointless. I recommend changing the delay between the warning events and attack events to 1.5 seconds at least, as well as rearranging the Dark fire 2 layer. Also, regarding the Thwomps, instead of just using one flashing !, you should use as many as it takes to cover the entire area that will become harmful (or at least the area from left to right, like what you did with the lightning), especially for the third Thwomp layer, where there's only one unit of safe space between each Thwomp. Plus, that's something you could have easily done since the !s sprite swap the SMB3 platform background.

Also, by making the Bowser Shells move at the start of the level (you could have just made them Auto Start events, you know), they will appear in different places on different play-throughs, so on top of having only a 1 second warning period (which, as mentioned earlier, is too short), the player won't even be able to preempt them on a second play-through. I recommend working their movement into the main event chain, especially since they're only used during that one part of the fight. Plus, it's unintuitive that they don't move all the way to the other edge of the screen before turning around; they stop about 3/4ths of the way before turning around. This can easily be fixed by simply increasing the delay between when they turn around.

If it weren't for those issues, this would have been a pretty good boss. Although you used a pre-programmed AI in an empty room at first, you made it a bit enjoyable by speeding up the flames and the shell. You even have harmful layers appear between pre-programmed AI fights. The Mother Brain sprite-swaps and the Dark Fire 3 should move, like, twice as fast, though (and their Trigger Event delay should be half as long); it gets a bit annoying having to wait on them to move, especially after getting killed by one of the improperly indicated layers. Also, the second fight against the pre-programmed AI sprite-swap is boring since it's literally no different than the first and just feels like you're trying to pad out the fight. The third one was a bit better since you have lightning appear during the fight, but once the pre-programmed AI sprite-swap is defeated, the player still has a good chance at getting struck by lightning after winning, especially since they only move at 6 speed; as soon as I beat the third phase, I got hit (luckily, I was Super) and could see the lightning slowly sliding off-screen. I recommend making a duplicate section and adding a layer of instant warps (that lead from the first section to the duplicate) that appear when the third boss is defeated.

Summary:
GOOD:
-Graphics aren't terrible.
-Music fits the level well, though I'd prefer if you had it playing from the start since there's a bit of a delay when making SMBX play a custom song during game-play (as opposed to at the start of game-play).
-Variety of layer-based attacks.

BAD:
-Pre-programmed AI in an empty room times 2.
-Slow layer speeds.
--SHORT LAYER WARNINGS.
-Dark fire 2's similar placement to Dark fire 1.

In conclusion: This boss has quite a few problems, but it would have been enjoyable if you gave the player enough time to react to the boss's layer-based attacks. I'd say this deserves a 5.5/10.

[PROX]

Spoiler: show

I have to agree with PDPaula: the warnings need to be fixed. There isn't enough time for the player to react to the first Bombs layer, so unless he/she happens to already be near the arrows, he/she will get hit by the Dark Fire (same goes for the Thwomp Warnings and the Lighting Warnings). Plus, having the second attack's safe spot be only one unit away from the previous layer's safe spot means the player barely has to do anything to avoid the second attack and ultimately makes it pointless. I recommend changing the delay between the warning events and attack events to 1.5 seconds at least, as well as rearranging the Dark fire 2 layer. Also, regarding the Thwomps, instead of just using one flashing !, you should use as many as it takes to cover the entire area that will become harmful (or at least the area from left to right, like what you did with the lightning), especially for the third Thwomp layer, where there's only one unit of safe space between each Thwomp. Plus, that's something you could have easily done since the !s sprite swap the SMB3 platform background.

Also, by making the Bowser Shells move at the start of the level (you could have just made them Auto Start events, you know), they will appear in different places on different play-throughs, so on top of having only a 1 second warning period (which, as mentioned earlier, is too short), the player won't even be able to preempt them on a second play-through. I recommend working their movement into the main event chain, especially since they're only used during that one part of the fight. Plus, it's unintuitive that they don't move all the way to the other edge of the screen before turning around; they stop about 3/4ths of the way before turning around. This can easily be fixed by simply increasing the delay between when they turn around.

If it weren't for those issues, this would have been a pretty good boss. Although you used a pre-programmed AI in an empty room at first, you made it a bit enjoyable by speeding up the flames and the shell. You even have harmful layers appear between pre-programmed AI fights. The Mother Brain sprite-swaps and the Dark Fire 3 should move, like, twice as fast, though (and their Trigger Event delay should be half as long); it gets a bit annoying having to wait on them to move, especially after getting killed by one of the improperly indicated layers. Also, the second fight against the pre-programmed AI sprite-swap is boring since it's literally no different than the first and just feels like you're trying to pad out the fight. The third one was a bit better since you have lightning appear during the fight, but once the pre-programmed AI sprite-swap is defeated, the player still has a good chance at getting struck by lightning after winning, especially since they only move at 6 speed; as soon as I beat the third phase, I got hit (luckily, I was Super) and could see the lightning slowly sliding off-screen. I recommend making a duplicate section and adding a layer of instant warps (that lead from the first section to the duplicate) that appear when the third boss is defeated.

Summary:
GOOD:
-Graphics aren't terrible.
-Music fits the level well, though I'd prefer if you had it playing from the start since there's a bit of a delay when making SMBX play a custom song during game-play (as opposed to at the start of game-play).
-Variety of layer-based attacks.

BAD:
-Pre-programmed AI in an empty room times 2.
-Slow layer speeds.
--SHORT LAYER WARNINGS.
-Dark fire 2's similar placement to Dark fire 1.

In conclusion: This boss has quite a few problems, but it would have been enjoyable if you gave the player enough time to react to the boss's layer-based attacks. I'd say this deserves a 5.5/10.

for once, I actually agree with one of your reviews xD yeah it could have been improved a lot.

[bad chicken]

What if you can make a bowser sprite and replace it with mario?

[Greater Dog]

What if you can make a bowser sprite and replace it with mario?

That would be the most complicated thing in smbx

[FanofSMBX]

What if you can make a bowser sprite and replace it with mario?

That would be the most complicated thing in smbx

It's already done. I can post it if you want.