Moonbase X (GRAPHICAL HELP NEEDED!)

[MacheTheFerret]

This level is meant to be my contribution to my World X project. It's complete GAMEPLAY wise, but not graphics wise, and this is because I can't find anyone to help make/rip the graphics I need. I didn't post this in Casual Levels because I thought it wouldn't get any attention in that subforum.

You may notice when you play the level that you start right at a checkpoint. This is because the graphics I need are all in that room and the boss room right after it.
When you enter the boss room, you'll notice (spoiler for those who don't want to know what the boss is):

Spoiler: show

-The door to the boss room clashes with everything else.
-Link is there, next to a throne, and is introduced to the player as my name, PaperPlayerX.
-When the boss starts, it looks like eight Mother Brains rotating around an 8 block by 8 block square, which, of course, looks awful.

All of these things require major graphical replacements. I don't know who would be up for fulfilling the requests, but if there is someone out there, thank you in advance!
The replacements are very complicated, so I'll need to PM people about them if they accept.

Again, the level is complete, I just need graphics. Here are some in-editor screenshots of the main level:

Spoiler: show

Download link: https://www.dropbox.com/s/wwlxettrvpg7j ... X.zip?dl=0

[TheKingOfBoos]

I can maybe help with the door at least.

[Superiorstar]

I can tell you right now that your level is a cluttered mess.
tone down the npcs or something I can't really tell what it is in the screens that make it cluttered.

[MacheTheFerret]

I can tell you right now that your level is a cluttered mess.
tone down the npcs or something I can't really tell what it is in the screens that make it cluttered.

Although the level is meant to pretty much be end-game, I'm not surprised I made it too cluttered. I'll see what I can do.
Probably be better if you played the level as well and told me your thoughts then.

[Imaynotbehere4long]

It's complete GAMEPLAY wise, but not graphics wise, and this is because I can't find anyone to help make/rip the graphics I need. I didn't post this in Casual Levels because I thought it wouldn't get any attention in that subforum.

Have you tried posting in the Graphic Requests sub-forum? You should get more attention regarding graphics there.

And now, my review of Moonbase X (hey, nobody else has reviewed it yet, so I figured "why not?"):

So, right off the bat, I have a problem with your level: the bits have jumphurt=1, and this is unintuitive because bits normally have jumphurt=0. This will almost certainly cause an unfair death for first-time players; I recommend sprite-swapping them to look like a myu instead (the myu's sprites can be found here). Also, not far into the first section is this:

Spoiler: show

This part is especially annoying. Not only is there the spiny-sphere generator, but there are also two bits hiding above the pipes. Chances are, first-time players will be too focused on the bit and spiny-sphere generator to notice the bits above the pipe, and since there's no wall to keep the bits up there, they can jump off without warning and cause the player to take an unfair hit when he/she gets past the generator. I recommend adding a wall to keep the bits up there.

Aside from those two issues, the level starts off quite well. There are even a few neat ideas scattered throughout the level that I haven't seen before, like having to spin-jump over a blockade-piranha-plant, then use the key to kill it to get to a locked door. Section 3 was well designed, but you shouldn't make the player go through a section twice if nothing about the section has changed the second time; it just makes it seem like you're trying to pad out the level. I recommend having the player hit a switch that changes that section up a bit, or just make it so that the player doesn't have to go back there. Regarding Section 4, you should do a better job at indicating that it's a wrap-around section, as I didn't notice until after I got on the elevator and saw the spiny-sphere wrap around the section (I thought I had to stack the keys to jump up there). I recommend changing the section to look like this:

Spoiler: show

Regarding section 6, the disappearing blocks seemed to take a bit too long to switch, but I suppose that if the player doesn't have a power-up, he/she may need the extra time to get his/her bearings before the next jump. However, this part of section 6 is just annoying:

Spoiler: show

It is quite difficult to time this jump correctly due to the small target-area and short window of opportunity. I recommend making the shaft a bit wider and, instead of having the player bounce up on springs, having the player jump back and forth up pairs of disappearing blocks.

If I didn't explain myself well enough, here's an example of what I mean:

Also, the random P-Switch run felt out of place. I recommend replacing it with another disappearing block area.

And now, the boss:

This was actually a pretty good fight. Having to throw veggies at the Mother Brains while avoiding Rinkas and spiny-spheres was surprisingly fun, but you should remove the bit generators since, on top of the fact that you made them faster, bits can be rather unpredictable (one time, a bit jumped at me as soon as it was generated). However, once I found the buried Hammer Bro generator, the boss quickly became a joke since I could just spam hammers at everything and kill the Mother Brains in quick succession. Unfortunately, due to how you constructed the boss, killing the Mother Brains too quickly will break the boss since it's "health" requires a delay between deaths to move the intended amount of units in order to kill the Yoshi and trigger the ending. I recommend you do the following:

• Make a new layer for all the Mother Brains.
• For the layers that the Mother Brains used to be on, put a background object on each respective layer and hide them behind the Mother Brains.
• Attach each Mother Brain to their respective brain layer, while having them trigger the "deathfinal" event when there are "No more objects in layer."
• Make the background objects invisible, or hide them when their respective Mother Brains are killed.

That should make the final boss work properly. On top of that, I recommend you remove the buried Hammer Bro generator, remove the bit generators, remove the chains, remove the mushroom generators, and remove half of the Rinkas (so that there are only two to a group). The removal of the mushroom and buried hammer bro generators will make it so the boss can't be brute-forced (because once you add a mushroom generator to a boss's room, it pretty much removes all of the boss's challenge), and the removal of half the Rinkas and all the bit generators will make the boss more manageable without the mushroom and buried hammer bro generators.

In conclusion:
This is definitely an ambitious level, but the level's minor issues and the fact that the boss has a game breaking bug are things that need to be fixed. However, the level is still enjoyable for what it is. I'd say this deserves a 6/10 (would have been at least a 7 without the game breaking bug).

P.S. What was the point of Section 5 (aside from the 1-up)?

[MacheTheFerret]

Some responses in red (if you care to read them, that is. If you don't, that's fine. I'll fix the issues pointed out anyhow).

It's complete GAMEPLAY wise, but not graphics wise, and this is because I can't find anyone to help make/rip the graphics I need. I didn't post this in Casual Levels because I thought it wouldn't get any attention in that subforum.

Have you tried posting in the Graphic Requests sub-forum? You should get more attention regarding graphics there.
The problem is that I need a very large amount of graphics. I didn't think anyone would want to fulfill a giant graphic request. I think that's even a rule of the subforum, no giant/multi requests? If I'm wrong, please tell me.

And now, my review of Moonbase X (hey, nobody else has reviewed it yet, so I figured "why not?"):

So, right off the bat, I have a problem with your level: the bits have jumphurt=1, and this is unintuitive because bits normally have jumphurt=0. This will almost certainly cause an unfair death for first-time players; I recommend sprite-swapping them to look like a myu instead (the myu's sprites can be found here).
I had taken the bit graphic from a graphics pack where the person who made it also included its custom TXT file. I hadn't realized how OP of an enemy it was until now. Would it work better to just remove the custom TXT file?
Also, not far into the first section is this:

Spoiler: show

This part is especially annoying. Not only is there the spiny-sphere generator, but there are also two bits hiding above the pipes. Chances are, first-time players will be too focused on the bit and spiny-sphere generator to notice the bits above the pipe, and since there's no wall to keep the bits up there, they can jump off without warning and cause the player to take an unfair hit when he/she gets past the generator. I recommend adding a wall to keep the bits up there.
I totally agree. I might actually remove the spiney generator as well, because, you know...spiney eggs are evil.

Aside from those two issues, the level starts off quite well. There are even a few neat ideas scattered throughout the level that I haven't seen before, like having to spin-jump over a blockade-piranha-plant, then use the key to kill it to get to a locked door. Section 3 was well designed, but you shouldn't make the player go through a section twice if nothing about the section has changed the second time; it just makes it seem like you're trying to pad out the level. I recommend having the player hit a switch that changes that section up a bit, or just make it so that the player doesn't have to go back there.
I designed it this way to force the player to have to eventually hit the elevator down switch, so that the elevator "breaking" and falling down the elevator shaft would be a surprise. I guess I could make something change, but I don't know what that would be. Any ideas?
Regarding Section 4, you should do a better job at indicating that it's a wrap-around section, as I didn't notice until after I got on the elevator and saw the spiny-sphere wrap around the section (I thought I had to stack the keys to jump up there). I recommend changing the section to look like this:

Spoiler: show

No comments here, I totally agree.

Regarding section 6, the disappearing blocks seemed to take a bit too long to switch, but I suppose that if the player doesn't have a power-up, he/she may need the extra time to get his/her bearings before the next jump. However, this part of section 6 is just annoying:

Spoiler: show

It is quite difficult to time this jump correctly due to the small target-area and short window of opportunity. I recommend making the shaft a bit wider and, instead of having the player bounce up on springs, having the player jump back and forth up pairs of disappearing blocks.
Probably gonna do that. Thanks for the tip.

If I didn't explain myself well enough, here's an example of what I mean:

Also, the random P-Switch run felt out of place. I recommend replacing it with another disappearing block area.
Alright.

And now, the boss:

This was actually a pretty good fight. Having to throw veggies at the Mother Brains while avoiding Rinkas and spiny-spheres was surprisingly fun, but you should remove the bit generators since, on top of the fact that you made them faster, bits can be rather unpredictable (one time, a bit jumped at me as soon as it was generated). However, once I found the buried Hammer Bro generator, the boss quickly became a joke since I could just spam hammers at everything and kill the Mother Brains in quick succession. Unfortunately, due to how you constructed the boss, killing the Mother Brains too quickly will break the boss since it's "health" requires a delay between deaths to move the intended amount of units in order to kill the Yoshi and trigger the ending. I recommend you do the following:

• Make a new layer for all the Mother Brains.
• For the layers that the Mother Brains used to be on, put a background object on each respective layer and hide them behind the Mother Brains.
• Attach each Mother Brain to their respective brain layer, while having them trigger the "deathfinal" event when there are "No more objects in layer."
• Make the background objects invisible, or hide them when their respective Mother Brains are killed.

That should make the final boss work properly. On top of that, I recommend you remove the buried Hammer Bro generator, remove the bit generators, remove the chains, remove the mushroom generators, and remove half of the Rinkas (so that there are only two to a group). The removal of the mushroom and buried hammer bro generators will make it so the boss can't be brute-forced (because once you add a mushroom generator to a boss's room, it pretty much removes all of the boss's challenge), and the removal of half the Rinkas and all the bit generators will make the boss more manageable without the mushroom and buried hammer bro generators.
I agree with all this, but I noticed that you didn't mention anything about the Mr. Saturn. Is he overpowered in the fight too?

In conclusion:
This is definitely an ambitious level, but the level's minor issues and the fact that the boss has a game breaking bug are things that need to be fixed. However, the level is still enjoyable for what it is. I'd say this deserves a 6/10 (would have been at least a 7 without the game breaking bug).

P.S. What was the point of Section 5 (aside from the 1-up)?
I threw that section in there to break up the monotony of the interior moonbase. Also, it's there just in case someone doesn't know they can stack the keys. If you want me to remove it, I will.

[Imaynotbehere4long]

The problem is that I need a very large amount of graphics. I didn't think anyone would want to fulfill a giant graphic request. I think that's even a rule of the subforum, no giant/multi requests? If I'm wrong, please tell me.

I looked and didn't see anything about that (heck, I didn't even see any rules for that sub-forum at all). I'd say go ahead and try.

I had taken the bit graphic from a graphics pack where the person who made it also included its custom TXT file. I hadn't realized how OP of an enemy it was until now. Would it work better to just remove the custom TXT file?

I didn't have a problem with their speed until the boss fight (and even then, their randomness was a bigger issue), but if you want to use that recolor, you should at least remove the jumphurt=1.

I designed it this way to force the player to have to eventually hit the elevator down switch, so that the elevator "breaking" and falling down the elevator shaft would be a surprise. I guess I could make something change, but I don't know what that would be. Any ideas?

You know how you have the player walk in a tunnel over a bunch of pipes? You could have the wall/ceiling that makes up that tunnel area disappear so the player has to traverse across the pipes. You may also want to redesign that area since the player will actually have to go there, but if you think it could work as-is (or have a different idea), that's okay.

I agree with all this, but I noticed that you didn't mention anything about the Mr. Saturn. Is he overpowered in the fight too?

I don't think I noticed the Mr. Saturn, but knowing how it works, it probably wouldn't be as powerful as the veggies since the player can have them damage multiple Mother Brains with one throw (and, to me, that was what helped make the boss fun). I think it would be alright either way.