Re: Yoshi's Island X (NEW SCREENSHOTS!!!!)
Posted: Wed Jun 04, 2014 4:48 pm
Before I begin my review of YIX WIP, there's a couple of things I need to tell SparkleYoshiFan:
1) Put the screenshots in a spoiler. It's common courtesy!
2) For one of the screenshots, you accidentally copied the web link instead of the BBCode. You should probably fix that.
And now, my review of YIX WIP:
In the intro cutscene, the second message is delayed; I missed it the first time because I didn't think anything else would pop up. Instead, it should be right after the first message. Make the sawblade sound effect happen for the first text box's event, then have the next dialogue appear without any delay. Also, it should say "Maybe they "were" kidnapped" or "Maybe they "have been" kidnapped." "Are" just doesn't quite work here.
Speaking of the intro, "faill" should only have one "l"! Also, I don't think you need the apostrophe for the mushroom's first message; using standard English grammar rules, the plural of "Yoshi" would be "Yoshis," and an apostrophe would only be used to designate the possessive case. Also, that cutscene ended pretty abruptly; no build-up, no setting the scene, etc. It was just "Hey, the yoshis are missing, go find them." That can easily be explained in the hub without the need for an extra cut-scene level. In fact, it was! The intro was completely pointless!
A bit of a nitpick here: even though the player graphic has been resized, player collision cannot be resized. This can make it quite annoying when trying to make jumps, especially in 1-6. I recommend resizing enemy collision (without changing the graphics' sizes, of course) just enough to give the illusion that the player's collision box has been changed. I'm sure it can be done, and I have plans to make a level that does just that. There are also some layer-related events that don't have "No Smoke" checked. Speaking of player-sprite-swaps, Toad's "2" sprite swap is a bit too tall, and it cuts into the ground. By the way, I played as Toad once; the rest of the time, I played as Link.
Now, onto the hub: I can't save in the hub, and when I die, I'm sent back to the beginning (of the hub), meaning I have to run all the way back to the level I was at each time I die. Also, since the hub doesn't work, neither do midpoints. It does keep your star count and number of lives, but collecting stars automatically saves the game; this has nothing to do with the functionality of the hub. To fix this, add ".lvl" at the end of "HUB" under "Settings" for the world map. At first, this wasn't that big of a deal, but when I made it to level 6 (the only one with a reasonable challenge, or maybe that was the off-graphic collision throwing off my jumps), I broke down and played it in the level editor so I wouldn't have to go through the first section again just for another shot at the third.
Some of the custom music has a delay before it begins. Please fix this.
There's no music in the last section of the second level. This can be fixed by clicking the box that says "Custom," (as opposed to the box that says "None") and then saving the level.
And now, my review of the third level:
For some reason, the music doesn't play, despite being labeled properly. I once ran into this same problem, and I was able to fix it by using the exact same song, but without album and composer credits. also: the message should say "quantity," not "quality."
In the level-wrap section, the platform on the right is placed too high; I got stuck in it and fell to my death. Speaking of, the pipe on the right in that section keeps sending me to the top right corner of said section, meaning I was trapped there anyway. This can be fixed by moving the exit warp completely on-screen at the first section.
WHY CAN'T I SWIM IN THE WATER??????
"Use them with safe!" But I don't have a safe! I'm sure that I can "Use them safely," but that's not what you said. Also, you don't need the comma after "The violet blocks," and remove the "s" from "Carriables"
"Enemy Bro: You must pass on our if you want to go!" ...your what?
And now, back to the rest of the episode:
You should also give the Link-sprite-swap a shield; just because you can't see it doesn't mean it isn't there.
By the way, I'm sure you can make the "GOAL!" animated by sprite-swapping five Paratroopas or Paragoombas and having them appear in succession, falling on top of invisible blocks that also appear when the level is beaten.
About the fourth level: Why can NPCs stand on flower pots, but not me? Also, the "t" in "thanks" should be capitalized since it's the first word in the sentence.
In level 6, there should be a delay before the second auto-move section begins, or at least a bit more room for players to be able to react to what's going on. Also, some of the clouds' mask sprites weren't correct. Also, I don't know if you know this, but it's possible to outrun the autoscroll in that section, and I don't mean "make it to the right side of the screen," I mean "the screen begins scrolling normally." You should probably fix it, as it renders the level unbeatable (when the goal ring is collected, not only does the "GOAL!" not appear, but since the whole section border moves rather than a small part, the player falls to his/her death at the end).
Oh, man! You have the song labeled with a comma instead of a period for the third section! No wonder it never played!
Woah, level 7 had a whole team of level designers behind it! This one had better be good! *plays level* ...or it could just be another simple stage like the others...I'll admit that the elevator section was unique...for this demo. Also, for each enemy generator except the last one, enemies would get stuck in the elevator and fly off screen.
"You never know what will happen if you use the Pow Block!" yes, yes I do; I've played SMBX before.
About the eighth level: The last Yoshi should say "Thank you, yoshi! I'm finally free!" (you forgot the "I'm").
Finally, the info house can't be accessed from the hub; it can only be played via Level Editor! Also, it should say "enemies" instead of "enemy's." Plus, you accidentally have two spaces between "will" and "become."
In conclusion:
This is why I don't normally play project demos. Not only can they be rife with some of the simplest design flaws, like this one, but when the episode is eventually completed, I'll just have to play through the same levels again, even though I beat them when I played the demo!
P.S. For being a Yoshi's Island based episode, there were quite a lot of SMB3 styled levels...
1) Put the screenshots in a spoiler. It's common courtesy!
2) For one of the screenshots, you accidentally copied the web link instead of the BBCode. You should probably fix that.
And now, my review of YIX WIP:
In the intro cutscene, the second message is delayed; I missed it the first time because I didn't think anything else would pop up. Instead, it should be right after the first message. Make the sawblade sound effect happen for the first text box's event, then have the next dialogue appear without any delay. Also, it should say "Maybe they "were" kidnapped" or "Maybe they "have been" kidnapped." "Are" just doesn't quite work here.
Speaking of the intro, "faill" should only have one "l"! Also, I don't think you need the apostrophe for the mushroom's first message; using standard English grammar rules, the plural of "Yoshi" would be "Yoshis," and an apostrophe would only be used to designate the possessive case. Also, that cutscene ended pretty abruptly; no build-up, no setting the scene, etc. It was just "Hey, the yoshis are missing, go find them." That can easily be explained in the hub without the need for an extra cut-scene level. In fact, it was! The intro was completely pointless!
A bit of a nitpick here: even though the player graphic has been resized, player collision cannot be resized. This can make it quite annoying when trying to make jumps, especially in 1-6. I recommend resizing enemy collision (without changing the graphics' sizes, of course) just enough to give the illusion that the player's collision box has been changed. I'm sure it can be done, and I have plans to make a level that does just that. There are also some layer-related events that don't have "No Smoke" checked. Speaking of player-sprite-swaps, Toad's "2" sprite swap is a bit too tall, and it cuts into the ground. By the way, I played as Toad once; the rest of the time, I played as Link.
Now, onto the hub: I can't save in the hub, and when I die, I'm sent back to the beginning (of the hub), meaning I have to run all the way back to the level I was at each time I die. Also, since the hub doesn't work, neither do midpoints. It does keep your star count and number of lives, but collecting stars automatically saves the game; this has nothing to do with the functionality of the hub. To fix this, add ".lvl" at the end of "HUB" under "Settings" for the world map. At first, this wasn't that big of a deal, but when I made it to level 6 (the only one with a reasonable challenge, or maybe that was the off-graphic collision throwing off my jumps), I broke down and played it in the level editor so I wouldn't have to go through the first section again just for another shot at the third.
Some of the custom music has a delay before it begins. Please fix this.
There's no music in the last section of the second level. This can be fixed by clicking the box that says "Custom," (as opposed to the box that says "None") and then saving the level.
And now, my review of the third level:
For some reason, the music doesn't play, despite being labeled properly. I once ran into this same problem, and I was able to fix it by using the exact same song, but without album and composer credits. also: the message should say "quantity," not "quality."
In the level-wrap section, the platform on the right is placed too high; I got stuck in it and fell to my death. Speaking of, the pipe on the right in that section keeps sending me to the top right corner of said section, meaning I was trapped there anyway. This can be fixed by moving the exit warp completely on-screen at the first section.
WHY CAN'T I SWIM IN THE WATER??????
"Use them with safe!" But I don't have a safe! I'm sure that I can "Use them safely," but that's not what you said. Also, you don't need the comma after "The violet blocks," and remove the "s" from "Carriables"
"Enemy Bro: You must pass on our if you want to go!" ...your what?
And now, back to the rest of the episode:
You should also give the Link-sprite-swap a shield; just because you can't see it doesn't mean it isn't there.
By the way, I'm sure you can make the "GOAL!" animated by sprite-swapping five Paratroopas or Paragoombas and having them appear in succession, falling on top of invisible blocks that also appear when the level is beaten.
About the fourth level: Why can NPCs stand on flower pots, but not me? Also, the "t" in "thanks" should be capitalized since it's the first word in the sentence.
In level 6, there should be a delay before the second auto-move section begins, or at least a bit more room for players to be able to react to what's going on. Also, some of the clouds' mask sprites weren't correct. Also, I don't know if you know this, but it's possible to outrun the autoscroll in that section, and I don't mean "make it to the right side of the screen," I mean "the screen begins scrolling normally." You should probably fix it, as it renders the level unbeatable (when the goal ring is collected, not only does the "GOAL!" not appear, but since the whole section border moves rather than a small part, the player falls to his/her death at the end).
Oh, man! You have the song labeled with a comma instead of a period for the third section! No wonder it never played!
Woah, level 7 had a whole team of level designers behind it! This one had better be good! *plays level* ...or it could just be another simple stage like the others...I'll admit that the elevator section was unique...for this demo. Also, for each enemy generator except the last one, enemies would get stuck in the elevator and fly off screen.
"You never know what will happen if you use the Pow Block!" yes, yes I do; I've played SMBX before.
About the eighth level: The last Yoshi should say "Thank you, yoshi! I'm finally free!" (you forgot the "I'm").
Finally, the info house can't be accessed from the hub; it can only be played via Level Editor! Also, it should say "enemies" instead of "enemy's." Plus, you accidentally have two spaces between "will" and "become."
In conclusion:
This is why I don't normally play project demos. Not only can they be rife with some of the simplest design flaws, like this one, but when the episode is eventually completed, I'll just have to play through the same levels again, even though I beat them when I played the demo!
P.S. For being a Yoshi's Island based episode, there were quite a lot of SMB3 styled levels...
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