Level Design Tips

[zioy]

This one flew into my head after I chose to use a certain music track.

82. Unless they sound better than the originals, try to avoid using remixes/arrangements of default SMBX music, as it's a waste of space.

Unless you're like me, with an unused terabyte hard drive in your PC

[OneOf99]

83. Put multiple gimmicks in your level, unless it is something entirely new.
84. Mix up terrain. Do an iced lava land or a water planet. Players like new ideas.
85. Find a creative way to use BGOs. Example: I'm creating animated rain by changing the quicksand gfx to look like water droplets.
86. Never ever ever use SMB coins in an SMB3 level, and vice-versa. It looks ugly.

[HenryRichard]

87: Don't mix different types of the same thing. For example, don't put SMB1 and SMB3 goombas in the same section, or SMB2 or SMW coins in the same section. If you're using them in different sections you should be fine.

[Superiorstar]

Rule 88. If a mod or admin made a level and your a level judge don't put the level in the best just because it was made by a mod or admin.

[FanofSMBX]

88. It's okay to use a default tileset if it fits the theme of your level.

[TLtimelord]

Rule 88. If a mod or admin made a level and your a level judge don't put the level in the best just because it was made by a mod or admin.

How is this a level designing tip? It's moreso a given to any level judge.

[DatDude]

89. If the entire level consists of stacked enemies, stacked bosses, stacked Ludwigs or stacked Bowsers, you're an evil person. So don't. Srsly, even if it seems "cool" to have 3 fireballs spat by Bowser at once.

90. Don't put unneccesary powerups at the spawn area (Ex: 2 random Fire Flowers at where the player spawns)

91. Don't put Hammer Suit or Tanooki Suit very early, in the first or second world, unless there's a stage where you need to defeat something, or go through hard stuff to get it.

[Villager103]

OK, you are making your first SMBX episode, but you are not a savvy level designer. OK. I have been there before, but I will share some tips for you to become a renowned creator in the SMBX universe.
1. Never use vines, ropes or ladders in warp pipe sequences, unless there is another way to get to the other pipe.
If you do this, you are forcing your players to abandon their Yoshi's, Kuribo Shoes and any other mount behind.
Just keep it simple with a jump, slope or a springboard.

2. CGFX use.
CGFX is an important element in any level, because it sets the atmosphere. Try to stray away from vanilla SMBX graphics and use custom ones more.
However, don't use them too much, because as castlewars said, It's not about the graphics, it's how you use them.

3. Where to use slopes.
Caves:YES
Grassland:YES
Underwater:YES
Castle:NO
Toad House:NO
Desert:YES
Airship:NO

4. Don't place enemy spawners near eachother or at a fast rate.
Title says it all. Don't do it or you will make an easy 1-up generator.

5. Don't make your levels have inconsistent difficulty, unless your episode is Kaizo grade.
For a good episode, make the levels easy at the start of the episode, and as the player advances, make the levels harder. You still want the levels to be challenging, as they won't enjoy the level if it's too easy or too hard. Try to make most levels fall between, because you want a mix of easy and hard.

6. Use of block layers.
Moving blocks add atmosphere and challenge to levels. Try making platforms on hung on chains move up and down, or side to side, or making airships or boats bob up and down.

That's all I have for now, hope this helps some newbies.

[KateBulka]

Edit: Error, i not look at pages...

[Valtteri]

Merged topics.

[Superiorstar]

IDK where else to post this but...
I'd advise the LJs to get 1.3.0.1 because they will complain about cutoff that the level designer can't see.

[mariofan 64]

92: When it comes to events and layers, special blocks can feature many different effects and items from one single block. Useful for an adventure-like game, or just plain boredom releases.

[Fish-Kun]

93 : Don't replace the original graphics with custom graphics via graphics folder. This will NOT affect other players who are playing the game.

94 : Pipes somehow makes a level look "alive". Almost nobody wants a level without pipes, unless pipes doesn't fit on the level's theme.

95 : Try not to place too many power-ups at a level unless the level has a hard difficulty.

96 : Be consistent with your level design.

97 : Don't be afraid to try out custom graphics, as they can change the beauty of the level.

98 : Make sure that the level can be completed with all characters (that is enabled on your episode, if you are going to make it as a level of your episode..).

99 : Know each power-up's and NPC's limitations.

100 : Avoid placing a lot of bosses on a single section or level. (Unless the level is a mix of boss rooms with nice rewards at the end.)

[Chip Potato]

101: In Paint.NET, Brightness -50 and Contrast -40 on a tile works wonders if you're looking to make a BGO out of said tile.

[underFlo]

102. Don't include gimmicks just for the sake of having a gimmick, the gimmick has to fit atleast somewhat with the level theme and has to be well thought-out

[JupiHornet]

103. Don't put two world map paths directly next to each other.

[FanofSMBX]

104. Don't make a long level even if you want to. It's the designer's job to facilitate the player's enjoyment, not the player's job to slog through stuff over and over again because it's 5 minutes to the checkpoint. I don't know about you but going 6-7 minutes without a checkpoint, seeing the same stuff over again when I die (for 5-6 more minutes) isn't enjoyable. SMB3 was a great game and it didn't even feel like it needed checkpoints (well, outside of bosses). I was inspired after playing some of Airship Attack's later levels.

105. Please don't put hammer bros and fire traps in the first few levels. I mean I can deal with them fine, but if those are the first few levels' enemies, then it indicates a lack of foresight for the later levels.

106. I'm not actually mad at this, but Airship Attack had a autoscroll tank level with 6-7 hammer bros. Cool, okay! The boss was a single hammer bro. Yeah. This doesn't pop up a lot but please don't do that guys.

107. My castle preference: half a level, then a boss. Not a level + boss.

108. Multiple boss fights in a row are rarely a good idea since one will have to redo them. Even if you make it so you don't have to redo them, they could still be spread out better (over a few levels) while retaining a climactic feeling.

[Ichwillpopcorn]

109. Don´t make a broken bossfight with many Rinkas in a small place or too fast spawning chasing parakoopas. There are other kinds of enemy spam but these two kinds are the worst.
110. Only for episodes: If your episode is more than 10 mb big, you could try optimizing the compression by using other formats than zip. 7z is a much better format when using LZMA2, 'Ultra' compression, solid blocks and maybe self-extracting so people don´t need extraction software to extract it.
111. Only for episodes: I don´t know if this tip is useful, but many kinds of cutoff on the world map can easily be covered with scenery. One time I just didn´t found the right tiles and I didn´t want to delete the island so I put rocks on it and some next to them to make them look more natural.

[epipixel]

112. take time to make up a special concept for a level, it makes it more unique and fun if you can use events to trigger changes to help you throughout a level ( for example, hitting a switch to lower a gate blocking your way, or making an elevator, anything really can be made with knowledge of the SMBX events and a little creativity )

[MarioMaster7771]

113. When building castle levels (basically every indoor type), always add a ceiling or some parts with solid tiles on the top (as long as you have the right blocks in the level's folder of course). This kind of level without ceiling looks most likely unprofessional (maybe unless it's sky-themed).