House of Horrors

[Inspiredhate]

--

[Valentine]

Can you make the screenshots bigger? they are really small.

[Imaynotbehere4long]

Before my review, I have to ask: why did you link to adfly instead of linking directly to mediafire? That doesn't make any sense, and I doubt it makes any cents, either.

And now, my review:

Wow, what a level...it was definitely interesting; I'll give it that.

So, at the start of the level, there's a mushroom generator on the ground, not indicated by anything. It would be better if you just had a normal mushroom there instead. After the outside section and a hall with some Eries, the path splits into multiple directions.

I went down to the blue cave section first. Aside from some minor cutoff with the pillars and the slopes, I didn't see any problems until I made it to the P-switch. Since it's right by a large collection of blue bricks, I thought that it was only for turning those bricks into coins, so I spent most of my P-switch time collecting those coins. However, not long afterward, there's a coin bridge that requires the P-switch to cross, but I ran out of time before I made it that far. I recommend setting the P-switch to a generator like you did with the red Koopa shells so that this doesn't happen. At the end of this section is a red coin and a pipe leading back to the first section.

Next, I went through the locked door in the upper-right hand corner of the split-path section. Here, the path splits yet again, with two doors to choose from as well as a ceiling of red ! blocks. I went in the door on the right, and wow. Not only is there a grey Snifit shooting at you in a three unit high hall, but if you make it past the Snifit and its two Ninjis, there's a BGO table moving quickly horizontally, a recreation of the BGO table made of wood blocks moving quickly vertically, and freaking Podobo projectiles! Props for originality, but you should increase the height of that initial hallway to four units high. After that section, there are hammer bros guarding an ice flower and a red coin, but there's also a dead end, meaning the player has to go back through the section I just described.

Back to the section with the red ! ceiling: going into the center door takes the player to a hall, where he/she can go left or right (another split path!). Anyway, not far from the left of the entrance, there's an ordinary-looking vase, but if the player moves left enough, the vase will, without warning, bolt after the player and kill him/her. That is very cheap, and it killed me the first time I made it there. I recommend having its movement start off at about -3, then after about .2 seconds, build it up to -6, etc. Aside from that vase, I didn't see any problems with this room.

After I got killed by the vase, I went back to that hall, except I went right this time and entered a door that led me to a section where I had to scale up wood logs using springs and a vine. My only problem with this section is that there's a coin trail that goes right by a Big Boo, and it's close enough that anyone attempting to follow said coin trail will get hit. At the end of that section is another red coin and an area where you can phase through the wall if you don't feel like retracing your steps too much.

Back to the hallway with the killer vase: if you can make it past said vase, there's a door and a bit more hallway, leading to another door. The latter door leads to a section with a fire-flower generator and a door leading back to the first section. The former door, on the other hand, leads to a short section with some platforms you have to jump down as well as a not-so-secret "secret area" with columns of blue coins and a hammer suit. After that section, the player is taken to another outside section. On the far right of this section is a small house with no indication that you have to go there after collecting the five red coins. Inside the house is a square of blue ! blocks (I think the place you hid the blue ? switch was pretty clever, by the way), but the red ? block that they're surrounding won't appear until after all of the red coins are collected, and there's no sign indicating that that will happen.

On the left of the aforementioned outside section is where the player entered, as well as a ladder that leads to another section. This other section is mainly a platforming section where the player has to jump up the outside of the "House of Horrors" to get another red coin. My problem with this section is that the only way to exit it is to enter an instant warp that's right by the ladder; falling off anywhere else will kill the player.

Going back to the first split-path section, there's one more door, which is located in the upper-left hand corner of the room which leads to a section with a bullet bill cannon, some platforms, a Snifit, and a non-killer vase. Entering the vase transports the player to a vertical diggable sand section with the occasional Dry Bones and Boo. I'd prefer if this section were more challenging. When I made it to the bottom of this section, I got the red coin, but I couldn't find a way out, and, eventually, I just killed myself. When I looked at this section in the editor, I saw that you put the door leading out of this section behind diggable sand! There was no indication that it was there (it wasn't like it was an isolated patch of diggable sand; it was part of the main column), and, chances are, nobody will find it unless he/she has a habit of digging up every unit of diggable sand in the section. If you want to hide the door behind diggable sand, you should at least have it separate from the main column to draw more attention to it.

Anyway, I started the level again, and it was at this point I realized something:
THIS LEVEL IS REALLY FREAKING LONG!!
If the player dies at any point in the sections described above, he/she has to go through all of it again!

Anyway, after the player collects all five red coins, hits the blue ? switch, and figures out that he/she has to go to the small house mentioned above, the player can finally deactivate the red ! ceiling in a prior section, causing a spring to fall down and allowing for more progress. This section has a staircase with Level Wrap turned on, as well as some clever shell-kicker Koopa placements. However, there's one area in this section where the blocks on the right are one unit below the ones on the left, and that causes problems with jumping which caused me to get hit there. Remember: when making Level Wrap sections, the blocks on one end must be at the same elevation as the blocks on the other end, or else it will cause glitches to happen.

At the top of this section are a couple of ? blocks with power-ups, a door leading to the level's boss, and THE MIDPOINT AT LONG LAST!! Despite the fact that the midpoint is this far into the level, I can't say that it's imbalanced because the boss fight is actually pretty hectic, but in a good way. The first phase is against an Iggy Koopa and some vertically moving Bowser statues. During this phase, it is possible for the Iggy to jump into the small area where a Bowser statue is, and get crushed. After this Iggy gets killed, the Bowser statues disappear and another Iggy appears along with a Lakitu throwing green Spiny circles, which I found pretty fun. After that phase, the Lakitu disappears and POW block projectiles appear to kill any remaining green Spiny circles. Then, three Big Boos appear along with a mushroom block, but only one Big Boo needs to be killed to move on to the final phase, which hides the remaining Big Boos and consists of another Iggy, two Boos, and Erie generators. After this, the level is FINALLY over!

Wow, what a level...

In conclusion:

This level did a bunch of stuff that I liked (as well as its fair share of stuff I hated), but ultimately, it's just too long for its own good. If you were to decrease the amount of sections needed to find the five red coins, or if you just made it linear, removed the boss, and balanced the midpoint, this would be a pretty good level. However, as it stands now, I'd say this deserves a 5.5/10.

[Inspiredhate]

Following your review Mr Imaynotbehere4long I made these modifications:

-Moved mushroom generator near main door for a chance to see it spawn if you explore the 1st screen a bit more.
-P switch in cave is now a generator also changed a bit the scenery to have less cutoffs.
-kitchen room corridor is now 4 high.
-Killer vase now have 2 more blocks of space to help survive the 1st encounter. Speed is still the same I want it to surprise the player.
-Interior greenhouse: Big boo moved up a bit more also removed the wall phasing so you have to actually use the coin arrow correctly.
-House tops: added a sign telling the player to use the ladder down if they don't wanna die.
-Fixed level wrap in the main tower.
-Fixed boss being able to be crushed.

And now for the OTHER stuff...

-Inside the house is a square of blue ! blocks (I think the place you hid the blue ? switch was pretty clever, by the way), but the red ? block that they're surrounding won't appear until after all of the red coins are collected, and there's no sign indicating that that will happen.

Well The first sign right outside the mansion state clearly:Find the 5 red coins and get to the mausoleum.

Entering the vase transports the player to a vertical diggable sand section with the occasional Dry Bones and Boo. I'd prefer if this section were more challenging. When I made it to the bottom of this section, I got the red coin, but I couldn't find a way out, and, eventually, I just killed myself.

There is a sign (again) in the vase that say:A red coin and your freedom is at the bottom of this sand vase.

it's just too long for its own good. If you were to decrease the amount of sections needed to find the five red coins, or if you just made it linear, removed the boss, and balanced the midpoint, this would be a pretty good level.

In my level description it actually say: A huge single level! Can you find the 5 red coins and get to the boss? so if huge haunted mansion (that are usually pretty confusing) aren't your thing just don't play it, it's meant to be a big endurance and exploration level hehe.Its like saying: myhea I dont like mario 2 mobs so I give you a negative point for using them ^^".My guess is that unusually large/exploration based levels may anger you since you have levels quotas to respect and these take much more time than usual to complete, wich would also explain why you seem to have skipped all the infos signs...

So now I've done my part, I have fixed my level, so can you now fix your review? XD

P.S Well you could be surprised about adfly my good sir because when you got many many links... every lill bits count.

[Imaynotbehere4long]

In my level description it actually say: A huge single level! Can you find the 5 red coins and get to the boss? so if huge haunted mansion (that are usually pretty confusing) aren't your thing just don't play it, it's meant to be a big endurance and exploration level hehe.

If a single death means that the player has to go through 90% of the level again, that's a sign that your level is flawed. Just because you say that the level is really long in the description doesn't mean that judges aren't allowed to take off points for it. That would be like if I made a borderline impossible level and then said "this level is really hard; if you don't like it, don't complain." No judge would review differently just because the first post accurately describes the level.

Yes, I read your signs, but they obviously weren't enough. I recommend isolating the pile of diggable sand that is in front of the door from the main column of diggable sand and adding a deactivated ! block inside the mausoleum where the red ? switch appears.

[Choco]

Level has been updated for re-review. See the quote in the first post for details.

[Witchking666]

It was too big
End of story

[TLtimelord]

It was too big
End of story

Be more constructive than this please.

[JupiHornet]

UNOFFICIAL RE-REVIEW (?) of HOUSE OF HORRORS by INSPIREDHATE

Well...I'm PRETTY SURE I did this right.
Anyway...

Design (5/10)
The level was really pretty boring, it was just running around and trying to find stars/red coins. Which brings me to another point. When I downloaded the level, there are 2 version. One with stars, one with red coins. Whichone were we supposed to play? I did the one with the stars. Also when you use the shell to get through a wall, you need to bring a shell through a second wall but you can't go back unless you are small.

Atmosphere (1/10)
See, the actual ghost house looked alright, but the outside and the SMB1 cave really didn't work together with the ghost house tileset/BGOs. The whole level also felt very messy in terms of different blocks/enemies from different games.

Other Comments: IDK if I did this review right, I just got the star that was in the cave area. Is this a mini-episode?

Also:

It was too big

That's what she said.

Overall 3/10 (Average)
Nice attempt, but the level needs some improvement. Just keep trying

[zlaker]

I am going to review this level unless Turtwig wants an approval of his review. Never mind that, here's my review

House of Horrors Re-Review

Now this is sorta tricky and requires some thinking to solve some of the puzzles in this level. The puzzles were cool and made the level fun. Well, not the whole level. You see this level has some really bad placements of both NPCs and sceneries. And the platforiming was a bit harder than you would actually expect from a ghost house level, considering the tiles were really placed badly. Some of the rooms were extremely narrow and that made it really hard to navigate through the level. And I didn't find the level astehticly appealing either. It had some very unfitting sceneries, NPCs, tiles and even some backgrounds. I really didn't like the music you chose either. The gameplay in other hand was something rather interesting. The idea of collecting five different Stars/Red Coins to fight the boss was a cool idea. However was killed the fun of that idea was you had to start the WHOLE level all over again whenever you got a Star. You should've used the SMW Stars instead in my opinion so it would save the player some time.

My Score: 5/10

[Inspiredhate]

Welp, I've tried I guess, since the result is far from my expectation, could you just delete the post entirely? I would prefer not mixing sub to par projects with my better ones please.

[bossedit8]

Welp, I've tried I guess, since the result is far from my expectation, could you just delete the post entirely? I would prefer not mixing sub to par projects with my better ones please.

If we are gonna delete that topic, every single contents from that topic will be lost and it cannot be restored but since you want to delete it anyway, my best choice is to lock that topic to prevent from further post replies instead of losing datas in it's entirely.