Re: A Kingdom at War
Posted: Wed Jul 13, 2016 4:14 pm
Hi mariogeek2, thank you for the feedback! I'll bear in mind both the good and bad things that you've pointed out about the episode. When I've got some time, I'll try to correct and polish the issues that you mentioned. In terms of the boss fights being broken, can you tell me which ones in particular you encountered as broken? I'm afraid I don't feel confident making a complex boss fight yet, it's sometimes subjective when judging the difficulty of levels and boss fights.mariogeek2 wrote:All right, I've finished completely playing through this episode, now it's time to review it:
Overall, I actually thought this episode was good. It had a TON of flaws, but it was still good.
The main problem I had with this episode was its graphics. There was tons of cut-off and clash, and some graphical choices didn't make sense. Like, why in the world did you use the custom launchers and bullet bills in the first level of the last world? They didn't really fit well with the SMB3 graphics of the rest of the level. Another thing was the use of checkpoints. Most of the checkpoints in the levels were fine, but in some, you used three checkpoints. SMBX 1.3.0.1 doesn't support multiple checkpoints in a level (unless you're able to use LunaLua code to enable it.), so that just broke those levels. Another issue I had with this level was its boss-fights. I can see that you really tried, but you obviously don't know how to create a good boss fight. Most were either broken, or just simply too easy. One more problem I had with this episode was the music switching. I can see why you made it so the houses have different music from the rest of the level, but you really shouldn't have done that. It really breaks the flow of the level to enter a house, have the music switch to calming, and then go back outside to hear this epic, fast-paced action track. Another problem I had with this episode was a quality-of-life type issue, which was the fact that you had no way of knowing which levels you had and hadn't gotten the stars in, unless you had remembered. If you got to a Star-Check, and didn't have enough stars and didn't remember which ones you hadn't gotten a star in, well you were screwed! Replay all of that world's levels till you find the one with a star you didn't collect in it! The last point of complaint is the fact that the last world's levels just felt really unfair at times. The SMB3 green spinies just move too fast when shot from a projectile generator. The only way I can possibly avoid them is if I got lucky and just happened to be jumping at the same time they were being launched or I had already gotten hit and knew they were coming.
But this episode isn't all rage and crap! There were actually some pretty good design aspects in this game. You tried new things I haven't seen before from any designer, not even veteran ones. Four of my most favorite levels were Sawmill Shenanigans, Bubble Bonanza, Minecart Madness, and Hill Hazards, which tried out new mechanics or made really good use of old ones. You made each level try to feel different from one another, and as a result, I never got the feeling "This is the same old thing. I'm tired of playing this.". Another thing that you did that I haven't really seen in any other episode, except for rare cases, was that you gave this episode plot and character. I was getting sick and tired of seeing the same old, "Save the Princess from Bowser". Instead of going with that, you gave us characters that actually did stuff and interacted in the world. Even some of the enemies had humor and character to them. And the plot actually advanced bit by bit, instead of the usual two steps: "The intro, and saving the Princess by defeating Bowser." Another good aspect to this episode was the music. While the music switching was jarring, the custom music tracks you used were really AWESOME and fit the levels to a tee. I never really heard a music track that got repetitive or overused, as most new-users' episodes do. The final good point about this episode I wanted to mention was the gameplay. The core platforming was solid, and, while difficult, was fun. Jumping felt challenging and rewarding. Landing repetitive jumps in a row to cross some spikes felt very satisfying.
Honestly, if I was to sum up the good and bad of this episode in a single sentence, it would be: "The episode has great gameplay and diversity, but it lacks polish."
I give the episode a 6.75/10
Shadow_Flame, you have real promise in SMBX design. Keep improving, and keep up the good work!
Extra Note: To see the final hidden easter egg, you need to find 32 stars. The problem, however, is that there's no way to see which levels you have and haven't gotten the stars in without playing each and every individual level. So I changed the END level to include doors to see if you've gotten the star in a specific level or not. Here is the D-L: http://www.mediafire.com/download/8lq2z ... 9r/END.lvl. This will save you a lot of headache!
As for the music changing in certain locations of a single level, I think that should stay as it is. I know that it might be a bit of a sudden change from one music to another but I really count on making certain music fit within a certain environment, e.g. going inside a house and feeling secure inside, then going outside and being faced by adversity again (I hope that makes sense).
I'll try to make the last world levels less of a challenge, with particular emphasis on projectiles. I'll also get rid of extra checkpoints and will make sure that each level in the episode has no more than one.
And you're right about the star collection, I didn't realise it until later on actually. I'll attempt to develop your idea further and create a mini-hub at the end of each world which tells you if you've collected the star for each level.
Again, thanks for the feedback and rating! I'll let you know when I polish the episode
!
). The levels contribute to the plot rather well. I especially like "Sawmill Shenanigans" for the technical gimmicks, "Pipeworks Inc." for the unusual theme and the "battle levels" for the drama, of which "Windmill Valey" is my favourite.