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I don't know why TTK said this level was creepier than Rotten Flesh Spell, but oh well....
A big dead forest and factory level with dark atmosphere. Inspired from Shinbison's CC7 level : Apocalyptic Enginewoods. XD elbaliava ton si daolnwoD
Credits in the GFX folder.

Wow.... I can't believe this was your Wheater contest entry, you could have won with this though.
But I'm quite confused since you won so many contests already that eventually, you got 3rd.

I do like it's design however, I also like the mix with Shinbison-Kof's graphics and smb3 lava together.

Ness-Wednesday wrote:Wow.... I can't believe this was your Wheater contest entry, you could have won with this though.
But I'm quite confused since you won so many contests already that eventually, you got 3rd.

I do like it's design however, I also like the mix with Shinbison-Kof's graphics and smb3 lava together.

I think part of it was MECHDRAGON777's review, i have no idea why, but for some reason, he really hates rounding scores on levels.

This level is nice! I love the expansive and explorative design, is very well done and detailed. The atmosphere is great, burning forest is a nice thing ( in the level), the graphics choices are good also, but I guess the dead tree doesn't fit very well with the rest of graphics, the big box is ugly, because seems 4x4 and the mask of the slopes are wrong, other thing is you need put a checkpoint most "flashy". The distribution of the Npcs are good, because of the variety, and they don't cause a unfair death, the coins distribution should be more dynamic. I like the progress of the level, all gimmicks are a nice addition, isn't a especial thing, but are good. I recommend you don't use switches in all levels, because sometime this seems overused, and your level was a few long. The finish seems "random", but overall this level is very good, I like it!

Shinbison-Kof wrote:This level is nice! I love the expansive and explorative design, is very well done and detailed. The atmosphere is great, burning forest is a nice thing ( in the level), the graphics choices are good also, but I guess the dead tree doesn't fit very well with the rest of graphics, the big box is ugly, because seems 4x4 and the mask of the slopes are wrong, other thing is you need put a checkpoint most "flashy". The distribution of the Npcs are good, because of the variety, and they don't cause a unfair death, the coins distribution should be more dynamic. I like the progress of the level, all gimmicks are a nice addition, isn't a especial thing, but are good. I recommend you don't use switches in all levels, because sometime this seems overused, and your level was a few long. The finish seems "random", but overall this level is very good, I like it!

Ness-Wednesday wrote:Wow.... I can't believe this was your Wheater contest entry, you could have won with this though.
But I'm quite confused since you won so many contests already that eventually, you got 3rd.

I do like it's design however, I also like the mix with Shinbison-Kof's graphics and smb3 lava together.

Thank you for the review and compliments! <3

Rotten Flesh spell was made to be creepy, and it was decently creepy. This level didn't have the goal of being totally creepy, but the way you did everything makes it creepier than RFS. The story I saw through this level had more meaning and is truly much darker than RFS. I probably sound crazy saying that, but that's why I think it's creepier. I could've sworn I mentioned some of this in my review, but if not then I must've deleted those comments.

I hope the issues I pointed out were fixed.

Looks amazing. Expansive design and cool mixes.
This remember me Apocalyptic Enginewoods ( Shinbison's CC7 level )

Never in doubt had I seen such an idea of a SMBX level before. The idea of the level is beyond compare when making a dark forest, an industrial area, and some lava and air ships. I love the backtracking when pressing special switches. Even with some flaws with the tile placement, the way you distribute the NPC's were well spread out. It's a nice looking work in progress after playing the level through, and even fighting past enemies one by one. Be careful not to place too many different switches, and make the finish original and clean instead of random.

J-Dub34 wrote:Never in doubt had I seen such an idea of a SMBX level before. The idea of the level is beyond compare when making a dark forest, an industrial area, and some lava and air ships. I love the backtracking when pressing special switches. Even with some flaws with the tile placement, the way you distribute the NPC's were well spread out. It's a nice looking work in progress after playing the level through, and even fighting past enemies one by one. Be careful not to place too many different switches, and make the finish original and clean instead of random.

Ok thank you for the feedback.
wait

J-Dub34 wrote: and make the finish original and clean instead of random.

Uh... what do you mean? i don't understand.....

Kind of like what Shinbison just said. I really did play the level without God Mode, and I do have to take that back.

J-Dub34 wrote:Kind of like what Shinbison just said. I really did play the level without God Mode, and I do have to take that back.

OK thank you
I hope Valtteri will make you a contest judge soon.

My Review:

Atmosphere [1/5]
I only understand that the level was dark, that's it. There is no rhyme or reason as to why there is an industrialized area. On top of this, why is there lava in a forest, and random fire everywhere? This level just took a bunch of random graphics, threw them into a blender and then put it in SMBX. Pick a style and stick with it, furthermore try to have some logic to your levels. If a level is industrialized, then there doesn't need to be a fully functional forest. Then there's the lava, which wouldn't exist right aside a forest. So much about this atmosphere is just..wrong.

Level Design [1/5]
-No midway point
-The secret star can only be accessed by jumping into a pipe with a plant in it, in addition to this the pipe has no remarkable qualities. Why is this considered a secret if it has no indication what-so-ever? Where you expecting the player to just jump into every pipe they see, even if it meant it would kill them?!
-The switch that is on the "perahu terbang" layer is more trouble than it is worth. If the player falls to a lower elevation will be stuck forever because of this useless layer movement.
-In addition to the comment above, there is absolutely no need to have the player constantly have to hit switches, whether colored or "tnt" switch just to keep altering the level. This is "artificial exertions" which is nothing but a cheap way to expand the level in the laziest fashion possible.
-The tnt switch in Section 3 did nothing short of confuse the player. Let alone, the springboard replacements, while super cool, were way out of place. You need to teach the player while showing them new elements of level without holding their hands. Just throwing them into the middle of this new element is cruel and unusual punishment.

Graphical Continuity [3/5]
The lava lotus replacement threw me off for a while. I had to let them attack before I actually knew what this thing even was. Originality is one thing, but good lord this looked like a gum drop vomiting fire balls.
The BGO used on the pipe connectors were incredibly confusing. The dark ones look EXACTLY like the solid ones, which have a slightly different hue. There is no need to have a block look exactly like a BGO, especially in a super dark level to begin with.
The fire "blocks" are out of place. If they existed underneath a lava fall I could understand it. But the thing is, these things are randomly distributed and are very similar to a background object so I constantly get hit by them because I don't register them as an obstacle compared to the surrounding area.
-Why does the spiked bomb still hurt me even when I spin-jump it?

BGO Placement [5/5]
No issues.

NPC Placement [5/5]
No issues.

Difficulty / Replayability [0/5]
The difficulty is fun, although really unfair if you fall in some areas or cling to skullblocks for too long (which is an SMBX glitch). I can safely say I wouldn't play this again however. With the fact that BGOs look like blocks, npcs don't make much sense as to why they hurt you, the secret star is in a weird spot and there is no halfway point. This level needs a lot of work before I really consider replaying. Also, switch blocks aren't fun. Locking off a part of a level and forcing me to go somewhere else and then have to go backwards anyway isn't fun, its a tedious design flaw.

Overall Score: 15/30
Finale Score: 5/10
Judgement: Average
Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YdIOcieG_aE

I disagree with how you rated the atmosphere. I'd give it a solid 4/5, not a 1/5.

as303298 wrote:On top of this, why is there lava in a forest, and random fire everywhere?

The lava could be coming from the factory, which is quickly killing off the forest. It's a dying forest for a reason. And either way, I'm going to honestly say that I think you're putting too much weight onto the importance of realism. It's Mario, and it ain't that important. I don't want people to have to hold back creativity just to have their level be realistic.
Here's what you should be asking yourself for the atmosphere: Is the designers original intention for the atmosphere executed correctly, does it look like utter garbage, and is the atmosphere consistent throughout the level?
The answers: Yes, no, and yes.

Everything else shouldn't matter, or it falls under graphical continuity.

EDIT: It appears that I misunderstood the purpose behind the Atmosphere category. The low rating was because of inconsistencies in the level, not because it's combining a factory/dead forest level. Those complaints are legit. My b.

Dracyoshi wrote:I disagree with how you rated the atmosphere. I'd give it a solid 4/5, not a 1/5.

as303298 wrote:On top of this, why is there lava in a forest, and random fire everywhere?

The lava could be coming from the factory, which is quickly killing off the forest. It's a dying forest for a reason. And either way, I'm going to honestly say that I think you're putting too much weight onto the importance of realism. It's Mario, and it ain't that important. I don't want people to have to hold back creativity just to have their level be realistic.
Here's what you should be asking yourself for the atmosphere: Is the designers original intention for the atmosphere executed correctly, does it look like utter garbage, and is the atmosphere consistent throughout the level?
The answers: Yes, no, and yes.

Everything else shouldn't matter, or it falls under graphical continuity.

Atmosphere is important, it establishes purpose behind the way this level is constructed and how every enemy should be used. I don't care that this is a game, logical design is appreciated. I don't want to see something floating for no reason simply because the designer is too lazy to use support beams, something YOU went through a lot of effort to do in your "failed" CC level. Even Mario Galaxy focuses on its logical design: Buoy Base and Beach Bowl galaxy had their water be self-contained rather than just float for no reason. A forest can't be THIS lush with both a factory and lava present in the level. This means the atmosphere fell short because the designer was too lazy to put in the aesthetic charm of making it feel like it makes sense.

IF there is really a factory producing lava, something which can't really be done and wouldn't make sense in a incredibly flammable area, then why isn't there any control panels or anything of note inside this "factory" at all? The character at the beginning served absolutely no purpose, despite the fact that she is lost you don't do anything with her. If this factory is producing lava, then not only should pieces of it just create giant cubes of lava, but set the forest itself on fire; instead of just one block every few feet. If there is really lava, then this level would be incredibly bright with a red hue, so this level shouldn't even be this dark in terms of light levels.

Complain all you want, but atmosphere and logical design make all the difference in a level. A good level can exist, but a better level makes sense as to why it exists the way it does.

Edit: Cat and I had a bit of an argument pertaining to this level's decisions. In such argument I went into even more detail as to why this level's atmosphere is just awful.
In simplistic terms, this level's atmosphere failed primarily in its execution. Take for example the princess NPC, if you were to remove this element....would it still be the same?