Swooper Swing Forest

[CraftedPbody]

My third level, it takes a heavy inspiration from Donkey Kong Country Returns.

[EDIT: (NOTE: Please don't just judge the level based on the screenshots alone. Take the time to play the level first.)]

Images:

Spoiler: show

Download:

Spoiler: show

https://www.dropbox.com/s/w58l8ldit26b6 ... t.rar?dl=0

Credits:

Spoiler: show

Shikaternia
CraftedPbody(Me)

[Waddle]

Looks cool, but the Swoopers seem spammed.

[Cloth Pocket]

Well I find it really difficult to find out anything about the level from those screenshots. Why are they all
different sizes and in random places? And also I can see a Swooper spam.

[CraftedPbody]

Looks cool, but the Swoopers seem spammed.

Actually, the swoopers in the screenshot aren't enemies. They are lava.

Well I find it really difficult to find out anything about the level from those screenshots. Why are they all
different sizes and in random places? And also I can see a Swooper spam.

I didn't want to spoil the level too much with the images. also, I assure you that there isn't swooper spam.

[Superiorstar]

https://www.dropbox.com/s/w58l8ldit26b6 ... t.rar?dl=0
I had to fix the link for you.

[CraftedPbody]

https://www.dropbox.com/s/w58l8ldit26b6 ... t.rar?dl=0
I had to fix the link for you.

Thank you, I forgot to make it a url.

[Yugioer]

The swoopers are lava? Pretty clever
I'm going to try the level.

[underFlo]

I like the idea of the Swoopers being Lava, reminds me of a level in SM3DW and I think there was a similar one in DKCR.
I'll write a review tomorrow.

Edit: Turns out you already said DKCR inspired you. I should probably lrnhow2red

[underFlo]

Swooper Swing Forest by CraftedPbody - Official Review

Looks and Atmosphere

This level felt kinda bland to be honest. While the ground did have some decoration, the treetops felt pretty bland. I also think there are some quirks with the treetop tileset in itself. First, I do like the idea of combining the forest tileset and the wood from SMW. But the lower part of the sizables looks just like the tree trunk Blocks. Maybe use the BGO ones for that. It also looks pretty weird to have these white stripes on it, it might fit with the cartoony SMW, but not so much with the more realistic SMB3 it's recolored to. You also used some SMW/SMB2 styled enemies, and while I always think Volcano Loti work fine if they stay SMW, the Swoopers looked pretty out-of-place, aswell as the Vines, Shy Guys and Snifits. Also, the death effect for the Spike Top spriteswaps is kinda messed up. The background had some pretty nice edits, I especially like how in Section 4 there's the Hils background in the... well, background of the background. I still would've recolored it though. The tree interior has no background, only the trunk BGOs. SMB2 had a tree background, look in Sednaiur's pack and then recolor it. Aslo, the bridge tiles don't really fit.

Spoiler: show

The darker branch is in front of the brighter trunk ~2 blocks right and a few blocks above Mario

I liked the idea of the lava being Swoopers, but I kinda feel like they move a little too less aside fromt heir normal animation. You got 4 frames of animation to work with, you can make it look more like how the enemies were in DKCR or the fuzzies in SM3DW's Fuzzy Flood Factory. I also kinda feel like the trees don't look too believable since they're made out of smaller trunks.
The music fits pretty well, only thing I dislike is the silence before the Swooper chase starts.

So by that, looks and atmosphere gets a

6/10



Gameplay and Design (counts double)

First off, the treetop parts really felt like you were jumping through treetops. That is pretty nice.

Spoiler: show

One little flaw: Extend the walls off-screen by two blocks down- and upwards. If it stays like this, the player can move under the level while it's offscreen which looks kinda weird.



That's something you should improve: The large collection of trunks looks exactly like a sizable, which, in combination with the coins leading there, makes it look like you can go through. You can't though, and you also can't go back since there's too short off a straight to run.

The Swooper sections should be swapped or atleast the 1st one should be made easier since it's way harder then the second one. I only saw them on the 2nd one a single time since I fucked up and lost a few seconds, and still managed to survive.
I like how swoopers come out of the black spaces, that's a pretty convenient place for a generator, it just looks kinda unnatural that the swooper just comes out of the log.
Also, aside from the third and maybe the fourth you have to put no effort into getting the Yoshi coins. Especially the 2nd one since on the way back there's no time pressure.

Spoiler: show

Why can you only take the pipe upwards? This one of the few instances where going downward would make sense, and it also blocks nothing since you can just jump down with a little more risk involved. Nothing major though.

The moving vines are a nice idea, but there is no reason why they do so and there is no indication as to what are the two points they move between. The bonus game was pretty sweet, even though I would'ver emoved either the moving platform + the coins or the vines.
NPC placement was alright, except

Spoiler: show

this placement of Shy Guy and Swooper. I never managed NOT to get hit there since there's a horde of Swoopers aka lava going up pretty fast unless I carried a Shy Guy from earlier.
General level design was pretty ok.

So, for Gameplay & Design this gets a

5.5/10



Verdict

A nice idea, but has some problems with execution. So, my final verdicz for this is

5.67/10

Moved to average.

Edit: Added a sentence and fixed some formatting

Edit2: Apparently I can't calculate. Average was right, but I wrote the wrong score.

[Waddle]

6.67/10 is pretty good. right?

[bossedit8]

6.67/10 is pretty good. right?

You are right, since the Score is at 6 and higher means it belongs to "Pretty Good" and not in "Average".

"The Best" - scores of 9/10 to 10/10
"Pretty Good" - scores of 6/10 to 8/10
"Average" - scores of 3/10 to 5/10
"The Trash Can" - scores of 0/10 to 2/10

Scores will be rounded down (e.g. 8.9/10 = 8/10) when determining placements.

Source: http://www.smbxgame.com/forums/v ... =32&t=1201

I moved it to "Pretty Good" now. @Nickname thought this was "Average" based on the Score Value and moved it over there.

[underFlo]

6.67/10 is pretty good. right?

You are right, since the Score is at 6 and higher means it belongs to "Pretty Good" and not in "Average".

"The Best" - scores of 9/10 to 10/10
"Pretty Good" - scores of 6/10 to 8/10
"Average" - scores of 3/10 to 5/10
"The Trash Can" - scores of 0/10 to 2/10

Scores will be rounded down (e.g. 8.9/10 = 8/10) when determining placements.

Source: http://www.smbxgame.com/forums/v ... =32&t=1201

I moved it to "Pretty Good" now. @Nickname thought this was "Average" based on the Score Value and moved it over there.

I wrote down the wrong score for verdict, but somehow got it right in my head and moved it to average. Whoops.

[Waddle]

Then why is this post still in average?

[underFlo]

Then why is this post still in average?

Score is and has always been 5.67, I just wrote down the wrong score originally.

Sorry for the inconvenience D:

(man, this is off to a good start)

[Waddle]

Then why is this post still in average?

Score is and has always been 5.67, I just wrote down the wrong score originally.

Sorry for the inconvenience D:

(man, this is off to a good start)

D'aw. you'll be an awesome judge, I guarantee it.
I can take your place if you think you're not the right person for this though :3

[underFlo]

Score is and has always been 5.67, I just wrote down the wrong score originally.

Sorry for the inconvenience D:

(man, this is off to a good start)

D'aw. you'll be an awesome judge, I guarantee it.
I can take your place if you think you're not the right person for this though :3

So that's why you've been so nice all the time ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)
(actually, I didn't even know I'm good at this until Wednesday since I never tried lol)

[Waddle]

lets get back on topic, though. ok level.

[CraftedPbody]

*Message*

Thank you, I will make changes and fixes to my foreground stump and I'll keep in mind this review for future levels.