ok, so a few gripes that I have about this episode is that there are waaaaay too many multi-exit levels in it, the levels seem to play the same way (not all of them, but I'm noticing a trend in most of them), and some of the secrets are just insane to find. I think each of your levels should focus on something and then build upon it. I notice that you tend to introduce new enemies in your levels. You should focus your levels on those enemies and then try and use them in creative ways. I know you are a very creative person, I just think the levels as they are now tend to merely focus on exploration, and it gets to be a bit of a hassle to play 103 different types of these level. I'll definitely continue the LP, don't worry about that. BTW, not all of your levels fall into this category. There are a few levels that do this very nicely such as the fuzzle level with the rideable clouds, twilight fortress, the desert pyramid, the beach level where the water level is rising and falling, and a few other levels. Also one thing that could really help you in this episode would be to have different ideas from other people, so you don't have to worry about coming up with everything on your own. If you struggle with building upon a gimmick for instance, try asking others for help and see what they come up with. I can almost guarantee that your levels will benefit from that. Just make sure you're ok with the ideas (obviously xD). Also if the level amount was cut in half, this episode would improve drastically as well I personally think you have waaay too many levels as it is. Each level also takes about 9-10 minutes to complete and levels generally shouldn't take that long. These are just suggestions. Take them or leave them.
Cedur wrote:Also, in response to Prox, this is in fact to be understood as a game on its own less than an smbx episode.
I don't understand your point. I was giving suggestions as far as making his episode better. I'm going through his episode while it's in the beta and I'm pointing out various things I find so that they could be fixed when the full game is released. Of course some of the things I'm suggesting would require him to rebuild from the ground up, so I doubt some of the things I mentioned will get done.
the beta is being LP'd by people who'll point out further bugs and criticism, so it will take a while. You can still enjoy the beta nevertheless.
I believe Wraith is testing for how easy Secrets are and Grammar, Prox is testing for Grammar and Gameplay, and I am testing fore Gameplay and bug/glitch abuse. Correct me if I am wrong.
well, it's mostly related to his opinion of the level design being repetitive, and I think you don't dignify the oeuvre enough if you impose standards of common SMBX episodes. It shouldn't be understood like something related to SMBX.
Fair enough, the start of my playthrough left me completely flashed, but after playing myself further until World 5, I can also see that it's not all gold that glitters, I also have to agree that there are a bit too many double-exit levels and some awfully hidden secrets. But for me it doesn't discount the overall impression too much.
By the way, I also think that the warp screen levels are really useless. All you do is travel between two warp pipes, so it's just unnecessary prolonging of walking on the world map.
Cedur wrote:well, it's mostly related to his opinion of the level design being repetitive, and I think you don't dignify the oeuvre enough if you impose standards of common SMBX episodes. It shouldn't be understood like something related to SMBX.
Fair enough, the start of my playthrough left me completely flashed, but after playing myself further until World 5, I can also see that it's not all gold that glitters, I also have to agree that there are a bit too many double-exit levels and some awfully hidden secrets. But for me it doesn't discount the overall impression too much.
By the way, I also think that the warp screen levels are really useless. All you do is travel between two warp pipes, so it's just unnecessary prolonging of walking on the world map.
there's a reason behind that actually. If you don't do that, then the music will stop playing if you use multiple warps in the same world map without a level file in between them.
Cedur wrote:well, it's mostly related to his opinion of the level design being repetitive, and I think you don't dignify the oeuvre enough if you impose standards of common SMBX episodes. It shouldn't be understood like something related to SMBX.
Fair enough, the start of my playthrough left me completely flashed, but after playing myself further until World 5, I can also see that it's not all gold that glitters, I also have to agree that there are a bit too many double-exit levels and some awfully hidden secrets. But for me it doesn't discount the overall impression too much.
By the way, I also think that the warp screen levels are really useless. All you do is travel between two warp pipes, so it's just unnecessary prolonging of walking on the world map.
there's a reason behind that actually. If you don't do that, then the music will stop playing if you use multiple warps in the same world map without a level file in between them.
Correction, it only stops if you use the same music between them without a .lvl file.
Cedur wrote:well, it's mostly related to his opinion of the level design being repetitive, and I think you don't dignify the oeuvre enough if you impose standards of common SMBX episodes. It shouldn't be understood like something related to SMBX.
what prox mentioned isnt related to smbx standards, its related to general game design standards.
Ok Sednaiur. Please make your space tower level shorter. I loved what you did with the platforms, but the level has like 10 mandatory sections. I would shorten it by like 5 sections. Ik it's supposed to be a tower going to space, but that is no excuse to make the level ridiculously long.
PROX wrote:Ok Sednaiur. Please make your space tower level shorter. I loved what you did with the platforms, but the level has like 10 mandatory sections. I would shorten it by like 5 sections. Ik it's supposed to be a tower going to space, but that is no excuse to make the level ridiculously long.
PROX wrote:Ok Sednaiur. Please make your space tower level shorter. I loved what you did with the platforms, but the level has like 10 mandatory sections. I would shorten it by like 5 sections. Ik it's supposed to be a tower going to space, but that is no excuse to make the level ridiculously long.
Hey there, Sednaiur! First of all, let me apologize for my awful English, my first language is Spanish. You probably have absolutely no clue who I am, and that is okay since I never post here anyways, although I have been lurking ever since SMBX began (I just never had the motivation to post a lot...) I have been following Lowser's Conquest ever since its development began. I remember playing the demo that reached up to World 4 and having an absolute blast with it. It was definitely one of my favorite SMBX projects ever, up there with Super Mario Star Expedition by Chad, Luigi's Rise For The Mushroom Kingdom by reghrhe (is that how you spell it?) and Super Mario Classic by Zephyr. I awaited so long for your project's full release, and look at how far you have come! It's almost there, and this beta already is jam-packed with content.
Sooooo... sorry for my blabber, I'll get to the point. I do not really have any constructive criticism to give, to be honest, so this post may seem kind of useless for other users or even the moderators, but there are a couple of things that need to be said. There is no such thing as an objective opinion, but I genuinely believe that your project is by far the one with the most amount of effort put into: every single graphic is original and made for this project alone, the pixel art is pretty HD-looking, the huge amount of levels that the project has, the little details such as the NPCs having extra dialog lines when you talk to them a second time, and even more. Oh, the best part? All of this made by a SINGLE person. Seriously, even if this project is not perfect (then again, absolutely nothing in life is perfect) you can still feel and see the amount of love, care and effort put into it. So, what I want to say is that I applaud your work. You seriously deserve more credit and recognition for your work! Be proud of yourself. You've made it so far; even farther that most of us will ever make it.
Now, I understand that constructive criticism is important in order to improve the game, but there is something that has been nagging me. The reason I had to make this post is because all I ever see from most SMBX users nowadays are complaints about frivolous stuff. Everyone seems eager to cherry-pick at the tiniest details and point them out as if they are a huge deal, like a graphic being a little too dark/light, too many custom graphics being used, a texture that looks one pixel off, a particular enemy being out of place, etc. I cannot believe some of you are suggesting some levels have to be entirely reworked! Sednaiur has already updated plenty of old levels; he/she cannot be remaking levels all the time, specially not at this point; beta testing is all about finding and fixing bugs, not rebuilding the game. Guys, we are talking about a fangame of a fangame (An extra game, Lowser's Conquest, contained inside SMBX, the "main game"). Not everything has to be pixel perfect, Sednaiur is not selling this game to anyone nor it will receive a score from critics or gaming magazines. Can you all just appreciate Sednaiur's hard work for once and enjoy the game? Give the guy/girl some encouragement and positive words from time to time, he/she deserves it.
I am positively certain Sednaiur made this project not to create the absolute perfect, flawless, supreme-extravagant-deluxe SMBX episode to date. Sednaiur has stated before that he/she loves to make graphics, and so they were implemented onto SMBX, with levels being made to showcase them. This was all made for the fun of it, not to make a profit and get a 10/10 score.
Sorry for the extremely long post, but I seriously had to get this off my chest. It bothers me to see someone working so hard, only to be rewarded with things like "this level is too long", "there is no visual hierarchy", "too many custom graphics=bad game", "I hate Dragon Coins hence the Bishoujo Pics are worthless", "the shading is weird/does not look like the material it's supposed to represent". Give Sednaiur a break, please!
It is not my intention to create drama or point fingers at people. I know you all are trying to help, and I am sure criticism is greatly appreciated by the creator, but I feel like the big picture was missed along the way.
Thanks for finding the words that I've futilely searched for. Even if criticisms can be agreed with, they're sometimes missing a certain basic respect if they get too nitpicky and negative, and I mean, a lot of respect is due for someone accomplishing a mission of more than three years. Okay, the game may get a little tedious, and frustration may come up when going for 100%, but that doesn't change it from being a sensational game already. Anyone who dares saying "this sucks, needs a big rework" is going too far.
