1-C Card Game Castle.

[Witchking666]

I decided to post another level lel.
This one plays in the castle of world 1, which is based on a game of cards.
The difficulty isn't w1 since my episode has only 6 worlds and I didn't want to start with boring ass levels.
Screen:

Spoiler: show

Download Link!

[Waddle]

Oooooh
pretty
I'm still gonna beat you though

[Witchking666]

good luck LMAO

[Waddle]

good luck LMAO

I don't need luck
I got skillzzzzzzzzzzz

[Zipper]

Pretty nice castle level there.

Graphics : I like the castle walls but...they feel a little uh....flat? Like I'm sure there's shading involved in them, but during an active playthrough all I see is gray-black/red-black 2-colour meshes, and they really become uninteresting partway through. You might want to add darker/lighter patches in there to give it depth. The enemy sprites were pretty cute.

You said the difficulty isn't world 1-tier, and it shows. It definitely is tougher than any type of castle I've seen at those tiers. Though honestly, I can't complain! There was not much in the way of cheapness, at least in the way you INTENDED it to be. Fire statues clearly show the fire before launching it, therefore giving you time to react( It'd be nice if almost ALL of them didn't require you to crouch though, this level really favours Small Mario doesn't it ?) The laser statues have an indicator on where they're going to land and I love that idea, saved me so much headache. The enemies were fitting and not obstructive. The fireballs might be spinning a LITTLE too fast though, just saying. Other than that, the platforming was nice and active, while providing a fair challenge, and while the pillars aren't accurate to the originals, I like yours' better since they're much more predictable.

That's about it...though I feel like I'm forgetting something....oh yeah!

for the love of GOD what were you thinking when you placed that checkpoint?!

It starts you off right next to a moving goomba. Not exaggerating. Right next to you. If you're playing for the first time you have less than half a second to react to it, or you can kiss your life goodbye. PLEASE fix this immediately.

[Witchking666]

Thanks for the review @zipper.
Although i want to make things a bit clearer.
The fireballs being too fast isn't an issue i can fix.
Since they are firebar spriteswaps with bigger hitboxes.
And messing with the npc-codes will only result in too slow ones. So, not counting decimal values, that is impossible to fix.

The checkpoint will be fixed ASAP, what the fuck was i even thinking, i know what caused it though (didnt die once during playtesting) So yeah, I'm an idiot.

[Cedrik]

My review (NOT official):

Spoiler: show

level desing: 8.5 out of 10

+ You show, where the fire from the statue ends. (Not like in other levels: TROLL: The angel is this, not like you think! DIE!)
+ The coin placement is fine.
+ You don't die on the start, if you do nothink.
+ NPC placement is good. The sting-staff (idk how I have to call it, so... https://translate.google.de/?hl=de#de/en/Stachelstab) are nice.
+ Not to easy, not to hard.
+ Starcoins!
- You must react in 1 second, after you die and start from the checkpoint.


music: 4.5 out of 5

+ Is fit in the level.
(- Overused.)


gfx: 4 out of 5

+ Block gfx are nice. The two colors are fine and the card game idea is great.
+ NPC gfx are .
I death effect of the bonebeatle is ok. (After you jump on it, you see a small heap of bones, after you kill him then, the death effect isn't so good. But if you kill it without jump on it befor, the death-effect is good.)


Final score: 8.5 out of 10 (8.5+4.5+4):2=8.5

[Alagirez]

(- Overused.)

There is nothing wrong if the music is overused lmao

[Cedrik]

(- Overused.)

There is nothing wrong if the music is overused lmao

Thats why there are () around it!
I don't make -points for this!

[PixelPest]

(- Overused.)

There is nothing wrong if the music is overused lmao

Thats why there are () around it!
I don't make -points for this!

Then why did you give him 4.5/5?

[Cedrik]

There is nothing wrong if the music is overused lmao

Thats why there are () around it!
I don't make -points for this!

Then why did you give him 4.5/5?

Because the loop of the music is ... you know.
And the music is fit, but it could be a little, little bit better.
And this is only a half point.

[Witchking666]

Hey cedrik just a question
Why the fuck did you score me down on music for the "loop" i didnt even make the godforsaken song.
Also, should music even be a judging category, nope.

[PROX]

PROX's Unofficial Review:

Spoiler: show

A card game themed castle that's filled with numerous obstacles.

Design: Well I have to say that the level itself is pretty well designed. It always presents something new and interesting to the table. I also like how it keeps the player interested by not being repetitive. While I do appreciate this, I also think that this level had way too much happening at once and didn't really focus on a specific aspect. You can deviate from it a bit and add a twist or 2 to it, but try to stick to 2-3 things at the most. There were firebars, bowser statues, laser statues, skewers, etc. Also, considering that this is a world 1 castle, most of these obstacles seem a bit too excessive for a world 1 castle. I was able to get through it easily, but I do think that the difficulty should be nerfed. The giant bowser statues shot waaay too frequently as well. The player has a 2 second interval of time between each projectile being launched. Try to match the interval of time between a normal bowser statue and a statue with a generator. The level seemed to end rather abruptly as well. Also there are NPC's waaaay too close to the checkpoint. You literally have a split second to react to them; otherwise, you die. This is the level's biggest flaw. Aside from that, it was pretty nicely done.
Score: 6/10

NPC placement: Aside from the poorly placed npcs near the checkpoint, the placement was pretty solid. Nothing was too cluttered and the flow of the level was pretty smooth. I also liked the variety of the npcs in this level. However, I do think that the bowser statue next to the thwomps should be moved up to the area directly next to it with the fence bgos (or just not have it at all since this is a world 1 castle).
Score: 6/10

Atmosphere: Well I have to say that you nailed the castle atmosphere. The music fit perfectly. Newer Super Mario Bros Wii has a great soundtrack. The level had spades, clubs, diamonds, and hearts on it which signify the card game castle. It was a pretty neat touch. I do think that there should be more sound effects in your level such as the bowser statue shooting fireballs. I'm honestly surprised that you didn't include the fireball (big) sound at all. That's pretty minor though. The visuals were nice and you could clearly tell what was what. It was very solid.
Score 9.5/10

Overall Score: 7.2/10 Pretty decent castle level. Not much else to say about it though except the theme is relatively unique.

[Witchking666]

I updated the link!
I fixed the checkpoint bug aswell as the bowser statue's speed
I also removed the one next to the thwomp.

[ShadowStarX]

Card-Game Castle review

Design & Gameplay: Great
+ This level is really well designed. I enjoyed to play it and I cannot really mention major flaws myself. The difficulty is perfect for a W1 castle, it has some challenge but it can be completed without dying with ease too. The length is perfect and there is quite enough variety, since nothing felt like the same as something else in this level. The NPC placement and variety is good, and I can say the same about the coin amount and placement
| The first firebar was a bit hard to avoid but that might be just me. The secret star's room was a bit easy but I don't really count this as a flaw.

Atmosphere & Visuals: Great
+ The atmosphere in the level is great and it has some originality in it too. The music fits the level and I found it fairly decorated too. I didn't find any clash nor cutoffs in the level. I like the way you mixed gray and red and that the level name is 100% literal when it comes to the visuals.

Score: 8/10
A really good W1 castle without any major or constant flaws
Moved to 'Pretty Good

[Emral]

What I find interesting about people in this community is that they'll go out of their way to find unfitting sprite replacements just because they're different. It's a desperate attempt in trying to stand out in all the wrong ways. Sprites should always be the last of your concern, having normal enemies and special blocks would work just fine in this level.

Anyways, since Shadowstar gave nothing but praise, I feel like I do have to give some constructive criticism on structure and thought which went into this level, because while you designed this level very well in some aspects, it falls rather flat in others. Keep in mind that all of this is ultimately nitpicking and I do agree with Shadowstar on difficulty, length and variety in terms of design and areas. I also really liked distribution of secrets and dragon coins. Other people tend to put too much effort into hiding them. However I do feel like you need to start paying attention to these nitpicks if you want to improve at this point, since the stuff you can do, you do really well.

This feedback does not only apply to you, witchking. Some of these points are stuff many people get wrong or don't do enough.

First I would like to adress a minor issue which I have noticed in the last level I've played from you too. You somehow keep messing up your powerup containers. I don't know what or how or why, but it just looks off and it's something which I feel like you would normally pay attention to http://i.imgur.com/SwOTmab.webm

The next thing I want to talk about is that I think it'd be nice if you tested your levels more thoroughly, making sure every different aspect doesn't just work by itself, but works in the general context of the level and feels satisfying. Aside from imbalanced NPC placement leaving sometimes two screens next to each other completely empty, this right here is undeniable proof that, at least with this cluster of coins, you didn't care. http://i.imgur.com/ps5R0P0.webm . The first time I made that jump I didn't even get any of these coins, and considering how easy coins are to get throughout the rest of the level (aside from those below the thwomps which should be moved up by 2 blocks IMO), it just feels silly.

I have to make one more point about testing. When testing you get to revisit all the things you put in your level. It's important that you don't view these as set into stone. If you ever feel like something's off, be it an event triggering 0.1 second too early or a block formation being 1 block too wide, change that til it feels right! Testing a lot also helps get NPC placement and geometry juuust right. And furthermore, it can give you ideas on how to make the ideas you had for your level even better.

For example, while I was playing I thought "what if the laser had a short indication before it fires, to warn the player every time and not have them rely on their internal clock", or "what if the smashers moved in a more interesting way, more akin to the smashers in the New Super Mario games". Those changes wouldn't be difficult to impliment, but increase the fun factor by a bunch I feel. It's just those little details that give the level this extra push in its personality.

As the level stands right now I can by no means deny its quality, stuff that Shadowstar already pointed out. However personally I found the level to be rather monotonous, slow and stale. Be it the very soft music, the incredibly dark tileset or the monotonous movement of the smashers. There just seems to be a distinct lack of action, especially for a castle level.

Also where's the boss? I was hyped to talk about how this level needs a 2nd mid point in front of the boss and then you just put a star there D:
7.5/10

[Witchking666]

What I find interesting about people in this community is that they'll go out of their way to find unfitting sprite replacements just because they're different. It's a desperate attempt in trying to stand out in all the wrong ways. Sprites should always be the last of your concern, having normal enemies and special blocks would work just fine in this level.

Anyways, since Shadowstar gave nothing but praise, I feel like I do have to give some constructive criticism on structure and thought which went into this level, because while you designed this level very well in some aspects, it falls rather flat in others. Keep in mind that all of this is ultimately nitpicking and I do agree with Shadowstar on difficulty, length and variety in terms of design and areas. I also really liked distribution of secrets and dragon coins. Other people tend to put too much effort into hiding them. However I do feel like you need to start paying attention to these nitpicks if you want to improve at this point, since the stuff you can do, you do really well.

This feedback does not only apply to you, witchking. Some of these points are stuff many people get wrong or don't do enough.

First I would like to adress a minor issue which I have noticed in the last level I've played from you too. You somehow keep messing up your powerup containers. I don't know what or how or why, but it just looks off and it's something which I feel like you would normally pay attention to http://i.imgur.com/SwOTmab.webm

The next thing I want to talk about is that I think it'd be nice if you tested your levels more thoroughly, making sure every different aspect doesn't just work by itself, but works in the general context of the level and feels satisfying. Aside from imbalanced NPC placement leaving sometimes two screens next to each other completely empty, this right here is undeniable proof that, at least with this cluster of coins, you didn't care. http://i.imgur.com/ps5R0P0.webm . The first time I made that jump I didn't even get any of these coins, and considering how easy coins are to get throughout the rest of the level (aside from those below the thwomps which should be moved up by 2 blocks IMO), it just feels silly.

I have to make one more point about testing. When testing you get to revisit all the things you put in your level. It's important that you don't view these as set into stone. If you ever feel like something's off, be it an event triggering 0.1 second too early or a block formation being 1 block too wide, change that til it feels right! Testing a lot also helps get NPC placement and geometry juuust right. And furthermore, it can give you ideas on how to make the ideas you had for your level even better.

For example, while I was playing I thought "what if the laser had a short indication before it fires, to warn the player every time and not have them rely on their internal clock", or "what if the smashers moved in a more interesting way, more akin to the smashers in the New Super Mario games". Those changes wouldn't be difficult to impliment, but increase the fun factor by a bunch I feel. It's just those little details that give the level this extra push in its personality.

As the level stands right now I can by no means deny its quality, stuff that Shadowstar already pointed out. However personally I found the level to be rather monotonous, slow and stale. Be it the very soft music, the incredibly dark tileset or the monotonous movement of the smashers. There just seems to be a distinct lack of action, especially for a castle level.

Also where's the boss? I was hyped to talk about how this level needs a 2nd mid point in front of the boss and then you just put a star there D:
7.5/10

Okay, thanks for the critisism, I appreciate it alot.
but I also want to say something about these points.
I noticed the powerup bug and i tried fixing it but it somehow keeps popping up.
So if you know how to fix this, then be my guest i suppose.

Then the playtesting, I do test my levels alot (i do agree i placed those coins under the thwomps insanely stupid though)
But the coins in question you linked me are actually pretty easy to get (this might just be because I designed the level)
You just jump on the podoboo and it will get you all coins but the center one, Its meant to encourage the player to spin-jump on them (because in 2-C and 3-C there are secrets and gimmicks involving around spinjumping)

other then that, I agree on all your feedback and i will fix all of it.

This level was 100% flawless with only one minor setback
Where is the boss?
But other that that
Well freakin done dude!

I can't take this comment seriously because you think castle levels need a boss.

[Emral]

I noticed the powerup bug and i tried fixing it but it somehow keeps popping up.
So if you know how to fix this, then be my guest i suppose.

I.. don't know. What's confusing about this is that everything should work correctly. You don't modify the mushroom hitbox or sprite, the block is placed on the grid, everything should work. It's really strange.

Then the playtesting, I do test my levels alot (i do agree i placed those coins under the thwomps insanely stupid though)
But the coins in question you linked me are actually pretty easy to get (this might just be because I designed the level)
You just jump on the podoboo and it will get you all coins but the center one, Its meant to encourage the player to spin-jump on them (because in 2-C and 3-C there are secrets and gimmicks involving around spinjumping)

Hm I guess that's fine then, though I would have placed them in a vertical line if I was encouraging a spinjump. Placing them in an arc usually signifies "hey dude you can jump over this without any wacky shenanigans like spinjumps", or at least to me.

This level was 100% flawless with only one minor setback
Where is the boss?
But other that that
Well freakin done dude!

I can't take this comment seriously because you think castle levels need a boss.

Oh, the sarcastic comment from Castle of Dark Energies.

There's a bit of a difference between that level and this level though - this one is labelled as a world castle for an episode. Sure it's no big deal if there's no boss, but it just feels.. weird. I don't really know how to put it. You'd think if you finish a world you'll encounter a strong enemy.

Castle of Dark Energies didn't have a boss because I didn't have multipoint technology and no ideas for a boss fitting the theme. I would've loved to put one actually, but without those two things it would've just dragged the level down.

[Cedrik]

My video (1080p60fps):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oDipddu ... e=youtu.be

[Axotic]

I really enjoyed the level when I played through it. It wasn't nearly as difficult as I imagined, I actually thought it was quite easy, a little bit too easy really. I love the graphics, they add a nice clean touch to everything.