Congratulations to the winner (revealed below)! Congratulations to everyone in the top tiers as well. And the biggest thanks to the judges who accepted the task of reviewing over 80 levels, and doing a magnificent job at it, too! Tower of Biased has been in the works for a few days now and we've got good progress. Quill, Wind and I are working on the project as a team. It is the 10th ToB and it will be special. ;) Expect it within a couple of weeks!
Welcome to the level that references every other level trend that has happened to date. This is an explorative level that pulls off the concept well. The graphics are breathtaking, and are very befitting of a volcanic facility. It is never unfair, but never too empty or boring either. I never found myself too lost either. I really liked that you put in a map room (with a cool animated GIF type thing going on). Maps like these give a cool sense of scale of the whole facility, and makes it feel more like one thing rather than just a series of rooms. The same goes for the signs which identify each room or tell you important gameplay elements such as how some pipes and doors are one-way, or how you can only carry items through pipes. A lot of the almost cinematic special effects used in some areas were cool too, like the facility exploding scene. The boss was great, though it wasn't clear at first that the chasing fire in the final phase (where the boss is down to its last 4 hp) could be spinjumped on. I thought I had to lead them into the lava since it worked once. The boss health bar was real creative too, and much more important to custom bosses in SMBX than most people realize. I also really loved how it was given a personality, that was pretty refreshing given how people tend to write other bosses. Minor issue I had with the graphics is that at first I didn't know the doors and signs were doors and signs. They blended into the background a little too well. Only other thing I didn't like was how messed up that third option was. Scarred me for life.
bossedit8 (8.75/10)
I feel kinda confused in this level to be honest and also everything looks so futuristic... well, as of what this level is all about is that you're at the volcano area including a factory and later on after the halfway point on a lava-based mountain with some waterparts. At the first half it's a little maze you have to go through with such weird styled enemies on your way but they do look pretty cool though. The area where those donut blocks are, they look like regular platform as you've seen as a regular tileset so they look like they are regular tiles rather than those donut blocks and apparently bigger ones fall way faster than the smaller ones so as I went from right to left the first time the reaction to that is very fast for the first time players. Apparently your keys can push those sign NPCs away... weird. Your secrets throughout the level... most of them are pretty fine like how to even get to the secondary star which is pretty cool and such with other power ups but there's one secret that seems... very strange especially for a Mario level. What exactly what I mean by that is that once you enter in one of those... "paintings", you'll be surprised with a giant show which just keeps looping and a random beach koopa that you can talk to. I mean sure it's secretive like that but uhhh... why is it there? At my first runthrough, I missed the checkpoint room by complete accident because I couldn't really see the door for the first time and then I thought I had to do the entire level over again but I just missed the checkpoint somehow... maybe because that the graphics is kinda messing me up at the beginning of the runthrough but that's normal since you have no idea what's gonna happen for the first time. Sometimes I feel that the power up placements were kinda low at some of the areas. There were also areas where you have to use your spinjump in order to proceed... it's not like it was a bad thing, it's just that not everyone utulizes the spinjump to do something like that and you also have to use it at the boss. Speaking of the boss, it has multiple phases which was pretty cool and I really like it. After you defeat the boss you earn a star but you can still die while the star is still there but at least after you obtain the star you can't necessarily die to the lava pits at either sides.
Chad (9.5/10)
Wow, this is quite the adventure. An unbelievable amount of work is put into the cinematic presentation of the level to really immerse the player into the volcanic base setting. Even the background details have complex animations to them. As for the design itself, it definitely succeeds in making the facility feel huge and multi-faceted. It challenges you to navigate a complex layout, explore and familiarize yourself with each area, make use of certain item generators and figure out all the different ways they can be used, avoid lava in different ways, and even explore the exterior at some point to make the scenario even more immersive. Hazards and enemies are nicely placed, the skull rafts have a good moderate difficulty for that late in the level, everything's clearly explained to the player, and it ends with an incredible boss. It's not so much difficult as it is cinematic and eases the player into what's going on, but it can still get you good if you get careless, which is perfect for a boss that finishes off a level this long. It even has a functioning health bar and interesting personality, and I like that even when its body is split apart, it still uses what's left of itself to try and kill you. The second star's hidden pretty well too, as it requires a bit more memorization from the player and making sure you didn't miss anything when exploring. It's not stressful to get, you just need to figure out where to go, which I wouldn't ask anything more of in a level that's already as convoluted as this. The only issues I had with the level are that the signs and doors were sometimes hard to spot due to looking like every other background detail and coming across as not being important as a result, and that it was unclear what to do when the boss fell flat to the ground and stayed there a while. I couldn't tell if it was an attack, the body, or some disarmed thing that I could pick up and throw back at it.
Quill (9.5/10)
This was fantastic! I loved exploring the area and the atmosphere was gorgeous. It was pretty confusing at first, but it was easy to familiarize myself with where things were. I love all the neat touches you added to your level to really show the effort you put into it, such as how the map works (which I didn't find that useful, but oh well). The boss was pretty great too; you had a unique way of defeating it and you didn't have to wait too long until you could hit it. Amazing job!
Valtteri (8.5/10)
I'm fond of the graphics overhaul. I kept getting lost in the level but it wasn't so bad when I found the boss. The boss is excellent, especially the last parts. Effort was put into it and the execution was carefully thought out as well. I like how the level kind of forms a story together with Steins;Lab. The explosion that followed the vending machine was executed in a funny way. The level had other pretty cool jokes too like the Dr. Pepper vending machine floating in the lava and some weeaboo's office filled with pictures of some anime chick. The fact that you could only use pipes for transporting items was a neat little consistency. Overall the level is done really cleverly and I can't really come up with anything I didn't like in the level except for the wandering which was probably just me being a bad player.
1. Marina - Two Nightmares at Robotics;Hotel (9.22/10)
Bomber57 (9.75/10)
Viewer beware, you're in for a scare. The exterior forest is very deceptive and doesn't prepare you for what awaits within the hotel. I was legitimately a little scared at first, which goes to show how great the atmosphere for this level was. All of the tricks and traps of this place felt unique, and could even be frustrating in the way you'd expect from a ghost house. The graphic and music choices were perfect for this level. Like any ghost house, the level can be punishing if you aren't observant. Paying attention can make the first half of the level easier. Once you get to the checkpoint things get a little too hectic in the last section. The lanterns that shoot fire can be a little much on top of the other enemies, but you provided enough powerups to make up for it. The custom npcs were creative, such as the floating bomb boo. The boss was my favorite part and was probably one of the most unique custom bosses I have ever fought. There was a life bar in the top left that helped you keep track of how much health the boss had. There wasn't a single phase that felt the same, which is important for custom bosses. This level leaves one question unanswered: what WAS for dinner that night?
bossedit8 (9.75/10)
Ahh... such a wonderful ghost house on my way and the one that I actually loved! I do like what you did with the whole effects throughout the level like the sleeping moment, special blocks disappearing into ghosts and those purple auras hinting that at this spot that there's evil forces surrounding it. Your multiple pathways and gimmicks you used throughout the level was just well made and there weren't any flaws what so ever and you also did it well with the power-up placements. Secrets were pretty cool and your graphics and music choicements are just perfect for this level. I find your checkpoint placement a bit far from the previous rooms before but at least it's a bit close to the boss of this spooky level. Your boss was very cleverly designed and everything was well done for a big boo boss.
Chad (9.5/10)
This is a really amazing and intriguingly spooky level. It does a brilliant job with taking a seemingly-mundane scenario and turning it into a network of often-changing tricky passageways. I like how one room has appearing and disappearing parts as you travel through, another has you going outside into the blackness to solve the puzzle, and the falling spike room has a really neat design to it while making clever use of donut blocks, Thwomps, and pipe choices. There's even a room with a mirror-esque spot-the-differences gimmick, and one with floor tiles that disappear in sequence to create an illusionary road. It's also impressive how you introduced a fake ceiling in a subtle way and then challenge the player's attention to detail where that knowledge is truly needed, that had me stumped for a bit. The boss is incredible too, and very cinematic. There's a health bar, a very clear set of attacks with a bunch of fake harmless ones that chase you after each time you hit it, and the floor changes to a bunch of slowly moving parts at one point. You even thought to have it teleport the player in the event of being beneath the normal floor when the star appeared. You also pulled off the transparency pretty well, the seldom Mushroom is generous without making the fight cheap, and you even teach the player how to identify the real one when the false clones become more consistent. The main layout of the level in general is great, too. It's polished, enemies are placed really well, and platform arrangements are nicely devised. However, the possessed lamps should have been a bit more obvious, because I encountered them before the Toad explained them to me and they don't stand out much, and neither do the glowing lights. Also, I found the enemies to be difficult to spot in the foggy sections, and the one beyond the mirror seems like it'd be better for a second star rather than a Dragon Coin given the difficulty of finding it.
Quill (7.6/10)
This was a kinda neat take on a ghost house level. I did get a little lost though so a little more indication on what you had to do would have been nice, or maybe I was just dumb. The mirror section was neat, it reminded me of Luna Tower.
Valtteri (9.5/10)
I thought this level succeeded at being threatening, if you know what I mean. The color scheme, the background music, the malfunctioning lights, the living objects and traps make this level a really nice haunted level. The downfall has to be the key puzzle. I had serious trouble figuring it out. While it made sense once I had solved it, it still involved a lot of entering doors that would lead me long away from the puzzle. Having to go through the same rooms over and over ruined it for me. But it wasn't totally unfair or anything like some fan-made ghost houses tend to be, right? This has to be one of the better ghost houses around. I would also like to say that I liked the flashing donut blocks and the false ? blocks.
Valtteri wrote:Tower of Biased has been in the works for a few days now and we've got good progress. Quill, Wind and I are working on the project as a team. It is the 10th ToB and it will be special. Expect it within a couple of weeks!
Sounds like it's going to be good. Can't wait to play it.
I'm also thinking about doing a playthrough of it for the official youtube channel, since it could definitely use some activity.
Multiple congratulations to Marina but also to everyone else!
Kinda weird that we have 3 robotics levels in top 5. Also, 0.02/10 difference between gold and silver just like in CC10.
I hope everyone enjoyed this contest. (bc I did) I'll try to do better next time.
ShadowStarX wrote:Multiple congratulations to Marina but also to everyone else!
Kinda weird that we have 3 robotics levels in top 5. Also, 0.02/10 difference between gold and silver just like in CC10.
I hope everyone enjoyed this contest. (bc I did) I'll try to do better next time.
Let's give some kudos to Muddy tho for making a last-minute Robotics level and ending up 7th.
Darkonius however.... pls next time better level
And...Marina wins this time around, with Enjl being the runner up. Congratulations to the both of you guys! Also, well done for everyone else who took part!
Linik wrote:And...Marina wins this time around, with Enjl being the runner up. Congratulations to the both of you guys! Also, well done for everyone else who took part!
Expect it within a couple of weeks!
