Another Typical Lava Level (CC11, 5th Place)

[FrozenQuills]

So this lava level wasn't that typical after all...

But yeah the idea of it all came when I noticed that a lot of contest entries I saw were usually lava overworld levels or lava cave levels or lava space levels or lava everywhere levels. Therefore, I tried to break the norm of lava levels by using an unusual color palette and some new gimmicks. Looks like that turned out in my favor since I got three 9.5 ratings from the judges. That was completely unexpected! (Although I totally understand Valtteri's 7.0 rating for this as well)

Screenshots:

Spoiler: show

Reviews:

Spoiler: show

5. FrozenQuills - Another Typical Lava Level (8.86/10)

• Bomber57 (9.5/10)
  • The name is deceptive, for this level wasn't just a typical lava level. The simplistic, almost vanilla graphics were pleasing to the eye and surprisingly fitting for the level. I wasn't sure you could make standard color ghost house blocks work with a lava level, but you did somehow. The level just felt really good to play. There is an interesting gimmick I haven't seen before where there are platforms attached to Podoboos, so the platform jumps out of the lava with them. This gimmick is used in several creative ways throughout the level. The first section is rather linear but the second half of the level is a large-sized exploration section where you have to find 8 red coins to get the star. I groaned at first because red coin hunts are typically boring and painful, but this was actually fun. Each red coin was in a thoughtful location and nothing felt repetitive. The author was even nice enough to keep track of how many red coins you've collected below the checkpoint, which you'll be crossing several times during the search. Thus you can easily keep track of what ones you have and what ones you don't. This level had challenge to it but it was implemented in a fair way, where you can easily say "I see what I did wrong and I'll try not to do that next time." Oh yeah, and props to the music choice as well.
  bossedit8 (9.5/10)
  • I really have to say about this typical lava level... it was awesome! I really like what you did with this little level right here with lava surrounding the area, enemy variety and how you did with the whole attach to layer function since how this was executed was really good and on top of that, it doesn't causes unnecessary deaths after you accidently try to kill an NPC since they are actually modified that you can't kill them by accident. There are also multiple pathways and secrets to discover. There were some areas where you can glitch through the blocks due to narrow placements but oh well. At the midway point you have to collect 8 red coins throughout the same section in order to get a star which end the level off but on top of that there is even an indicator as of which red coin you have collected which to be honest, it's very clever and this makes the red coin challenge more fun than it used to be.
  Chad (9.5/10)
  • I disagree with the name. This isn't just a typical lava level, but instead something that is extremely well-made. Despite the volcanic setting, the level is quite modest about its usage of lava, and the ghost house block arrangements make the level feel very mechanical, like it's more of a mine than a cave. I'm impressed with how much more you included in the first section than I would have expected from an area with no vertical scrolling, particularly the intersecting split tunnels and skull raft implementation. The Podoboo platforms are extremely interesting too, and the red coin maze is intensely elaborate without being mind-boggling. The red coin placements are great too, and even try some unique things, like making the player anticipate guiding their fall to the left but letting them try again instantly without punishment when they inevitably miss the first time. If you do die from missing the attempt by mistiming your actions and hitting the lava, it's not too punishing anyway, because the level's two halves are pretty reasonably defined. First half is the outer section, second half is the red coin hunt, and neither one is overly long. Creative use is made of the jumping platforms and springboards in these areas as well, and the difficulty is quite pleasant while providing minor challenge. My only minor issues with this were the first red coin to the left of the checkpoint (it's excessively difficult to anticipate both the timing of the Podoboo platform and Rotodisc) and the narrow lava tunnel on the right side (you clearly expect the player to carefully walk across the platform without jumping, but it doesn't go quite low enough to allow that, so you have to duck-jump perfectly). Otherwise, extremely impressive and fun level. I could really feel the deliberate effort and planning from the designer in every spot, and those little design nuances really contribute to the quality.
  Quill (8.8/10)
  • I loved the creativity in this level. There's so many unique elements and it truly shows that you put thought into every aspect of your level. The podoboos attached to the blocks were a great example of this and they were used amazingly. The red coin hunt was also fun and the exploration did no harm to the level. Overall, fantastic job!
  Valtteri (7.0/10)
  • This level used some pretty freshening gimmicks, such as the platforms attached to Podoboos and how you needed the Skull Raft to hit the vine block. The music disturbs me. I don't like it. I like the blue/red color scheme the blue ground and the red lava make. It would look even better if the yellow spikes were blue. The level is functional and pretty fun to play. The red coins in the final section are cleverly hidden.

Download (with very minor graphical fixes that you probably won't notice in the tower of biased version):
https://www.dropbox.com/s/tltjpzcg5pzh2 ... d.zip?dl=0

[Shinbison-Kof]

Well, this level is fun, but I not understand why the judges give high score for this level... ( I not want be rude, sorry about this)

[FrozenQuills]

Well, this level is good, but I not understand why the judges give high score for this level... ( I not want be rude, sorry about this)

To be honest, I kind of thought the same way when I saw the reviews. I thought I got like a 9.0 or something from one of the judges when I found out I was in the top 20, but three 9.5's? That's why I was super surprised, hahah.
I felt like this level could be expanded more, but I ran out of time and so it's on the shorter side (IMO).

[Shinbison-Kof]

Everything in this level is clash (exception the tileset and bg), only special thing is the podoboo platform (I swear I tried enjoy this level) =/

[FrozenQuills]

Everything in this level is clash (exception the tileset and bg), only special thing is the podoboo platform (I swear I tried enjoy this level) =/

¯\_(ツ)_/¯ You should probably look forward to my MaGLX2 level then.
I have a feeling the judges most likely found merit in a smaller level with no major flaws, and that clash can be made to look good as well. But yeah, opinions~

[Quill]

Everything in this level is clash (exception the tileset and bg), only special thing is the podoboo platform (I swear I tried enjoy this level) =/

People stopped caring about clash long ago. It's a ridiculous thing to criticize a level for (with the exception of super extreme cases). This levels actually looks completely fine.

If you didn't understand why this level got as high as it did, you should probably look at the reviews.

[Shinbison-Kof]

Everything in this level is clash (exception the tileset and bg), only special thing is the podoboo platform (I swear I tried enjoy this level) =/

People stopped caring about clash long ago. It's a ridiculous thing to criticize a level for (with the exception of super extreme cases). This levels actually looks completely fine.

If you didn't understand why this level got as high as it did, you should probably look at the reviews.

But the graphics isn't a serious error (some recolors would be good..), IMO the design is simple and tight, the distribution of npcs is decent, and collect the red coins is a old trick.. .This is my opinion, if do you don't like, I'm sorry =/

[Radishl]

Everything in this level is clash (exception the tileset and bg), only special thing is the podoboo platform (I swear I tried enjoy this level) =/

People stopped caring about clash long ago. It's a ridiculous thing to criticize a level for (with the exception of super extreme cases). This levels actually looks completely fine.

If you didn't understand why this level got as high as it did, you should probably look at the reviews.

But the graphics isn't a serious error (some recolors would be good..), IMO the design is simple and tight, the distribution of npcs is decent, and collect the red coins is a old trick.. .This is my opinion, if do you don't like, I'm sorry =/

The graphics arnt the fanciest, but the gameplay is what counts.

It's not like it's garbage aesthetically anyways.

There's a reason why it got high scores, and no amount of fancy gfx could of gotten any level above that one.

[Superiorstar]

Sometimes CGFX can make a level better, buts it's a bit complex to talk about.
Also this level look fancy, I'll play it when my computer let's me download again :/

[Willhart]

The contrast between red and blue was really nice. I also liked the gimmicks and the music used, but the atmosphere of the level could have been more deeper/refined. I'd say it was well worth its score for the clever use of the enemies. However the section 3 had no custom music playing, and the true path through the level felt kind of unintuitive to me (You need to hit an invisible block to get into a pipe, and going forward seems to lead to a dead end).

[Sux]

This level is fun, but is very odd.
Okay, this is fun but sorry, don't deserve top 5 ( IMO ) I saw better levels.
But I'm not downgrading your work, only saying my opinion.
Is nice the idea of the blue mountains to do a different lava level, the podoboos platforms is nice, but many graphics didn't fit, the mixtures of smb1, smb3 and smbw isn't so good, a recolor would be appreciated
My score is 6,875/10

[h2643]

Is nice the idea of the blue mountains to do a different lava level, the podoboos platforms is nice, but many graphics didn't fit, the mixtures of smb1, smb3 and smbw isn't so good

So what? The gameplay matters more than the graphics. This level is a good example of how you should make a level without a big amount of custom graphics imo.
Good job, this level deserved the top 5!

[Darkonius Mavakar]

Gameplay >>> graphics

Too bad people still think otherwise, like Sux and Shinbison in this topic.

[h2643]

Gameplay >>> graphics

Too bad people still think otherwise, like Sux and Shinbison in this topic.

You mean in general

[Shinbison-Kof]

Gameplay >>> graphics

Too bad people still think otherwise, like Sux and Shinbison in this topic.

You mean in general

Sorry...but you not understand what I said... I said the graphic isn't a serious problem, but the gameplay yes, because this design is simple and tight, collect red coins is old, and I don't see innovations, and the distribution of npcs isn't good for me. (This is only part of my opinion. This level is "fun", but this aspects cited isn't good)

[h2643]

Gameplay >>> graphics

Too bad people still think otherwise, like Sux and Shinbison in this topic.

You mean in general

Sorry...but you not understand what I said... I said the graphic isn't a serious problem, but the gameplay yes, because this design is simple and tight, collect red coins is old, and I don't see innovations, and the distribution of npcs isn't good for me. (This is only part of my opinion. This level is "fun", but this aspects cited isn't good)

But I was talking to Sux, not you. And I rarely see a level where you have to collect *some* red coins, the design and NPCs are also very good for a 'vanilla' level like this.

[underFlo]

Since when is something bad just because it's "old"?

[Sux]

Well, everybody have different opinions, but this level, how shinbison said isn't too great to be in top 5, I played some levels of this contest than are better. Okay this is fun, really? Bounce in koopas and podoboos to not die, and a lot of cramped parts isn't so fun. About graphics, IMO the smw ghost house colors, didn't fit with the rest of graphics. And, the part of skull raft to hit the vine block, this clash. I'm not saying than this level is bad, but....9,5 is a exaggeration.
It's very interesting see "gameplay >>>>>> graphics" because, I see in various contests, "fun" levels being bombarded with criticism of graphical question.
I understand your opinions, but I agree with Valtteri's review, and Shinbison feedback

@Spinda, This was exceeded, no one innovate this, Is every the same thing, it's tiresome. When the firsts levels do this, was really a nice thing, now this is overpast, because, on majority of levels this is being boring.

[underFlo]

There is next to no gimmicks that haven't been used before. If it works, don't change it, and Red Coins obviously do work.

[Darkonius Mavakar]

Do i have to mentio that the "uninspired" gimmick here are shinbison's levels?
Y'know
The "turning stuff into other stuff gimmick"
Talkhaus level: ghost into real items
Vinesauce level: stuff into stuff
Cooling thing departement whatever: stuff into stuff
That other level that Wraith adamnknight played: stuff into stuff.
Winner contest level: stuff into stuff

Stuff= ice, lava, water, poison.