Murky Pipes

[MacheTheFerret]

God damn, I haven't made an SMBX level in almost a year. I went and made this one as a little tiny mini project.

Here's an SMB3 World 7-themed level with recolored pipes (made by me) and thwomps disguised as giant question mark blocks (also made by me).

Old Screenshots (Imgur made them into an album for some reason)
New Screen:

Spoiler: show

Download Link

Criticism and review is highly appreciated.

[aero]

Well for one thing, your starting position for Mario is at the halfway point so that would be something to quickly change. Also it doesn't seem like you tested your level as much as you should have because at the pipe that leads you back to the overworld exit, the Thwomp block gets stuck and it doesn't seem possible to access the pipe normally. I like the concept of the level, but the gameplay, the problems, and graphic choices such as the color of the pipes blending in with the background, kind of ruins it. Also, the green vines cut off when they run into the pipes. This level needs some more work.

[MacheTheFerret]

Well for one thing, your starting position for Mario is at the halfway point so that would be something to quickly change.

God damnit, I swear I fixed that.

Also it doesn't seem like you tested your level as much as you should have because at the pipe that leads you back to the overworld exit, the Thwomp block gets stuck and it doesn't seem possible to access the pipe normally.

The very last pipe with the very last thwomp is supposed to move, allowing you to reach the exit pipe. Did it NOT do that?

and graphic choices such as the color of the pipes blending in with the background

What color would you suggest, then? I would've done green, but it's been done so many times before.

This level needs some more work.

On it boss.

[aero]

The very last pipe with the very last thwomp is supposed to move, allowing you to reach the exit pipe. Did it NOT do that?

The pipe moves, but the Thwomp gets stuck.

What color would you suggest, then? I would've done green, but it's been done so many times before.

Something that's a bit lighter and contrasts with the background. You might have to play around with a lot of colors to keep the murky appearance though.

[MacheTheFerret]

The pipe moves, but the Thwomp gets stuck.

Ah, I know what happened. The blocks to the thwomp's right were just wood, and it worked fine, but it seems it got screwed up when I changed it to have a muncher on it.

EDIT: So I went and tested this part again without changing anything and it did NOT, in fact, get stuck, for me anyways. How exactly did it get stuck for you?

EDIT 2: Now I see how it gets stuck. The pipe moves it a pixel over when it lands and makes it get stuck in the wall. I can just remove the thwomp entirely.

You might have to play around with a lot of colors to keep the murky appearance though.

Would using a lighter background also work?

[MacheTheFerret]

Changelog:

-Changed the background to be lighter so the pipe blocks stand out
-Made the water and waterfalls murky
-Made the small pipes used for the munchers murky as well
-Fixed the starting position
-Removed the final thwomp
-Removed Herobrine

The download is the same as before.

New screen:

Spoiler: show

[PixelPest]

Reminds me of my first SMBX level I ever made that I entered in CC11, but much less aesthetically pleasing. The background is too light, providing too much contrast, the big blocks are overused and don't look good as pipe intersection pieces, and the atmosphere and concept of a tar-filled factory/underground/pipes/sewer level is really ruined by the brightness and things like vines, Munchers, and Cheep Cheeps

[aero]

Maybe it's a bit too bright, but it's not that bad. The major thing that needs to be worked on with this level is gameplay stuff as I somewhat emphasized in my post. Besides that, the only dramatic graphics flaw is the vine cutoff, and it's not nearly important as the game breaking stuff like the broken Thwomp or the lacking level design.

[PixelPest]

Maybe it's a bit too bright, but it's not that bad. The major thing that needs to be worked on with this level is gameplay stuff as I somewhat emphasized in my post. Besides that, the only dramatic graphics flaw is the vine cutoff, and it's not nearly important as the game breaking stuff like the broken Thwomp or the lacking level design.

Since you already had mentioned a lot regarding gameplay (why did you go on about the same things above), I just thought I would touch on aesthetics since you spoke nothing of them (besides vine cutoff). I would agree that gameplay needs some work as well, however at this point I wouldn't say that it is the major thing, but instead that both aesthetics and gameplay require an equal amount of attention now to make this level successful

[aero]

Idk, I think I could go on more about the gameplay as I don't really see that many aesthetic problems besides the problem of going from too much blending to too much contrast. I didn't know you were jumping off my post instead of making an independent critique of the level, so I guess you didn't really need to repeat me but I still think it should be noted that the gameplay is the focus right now because the entire 4th section isn't really fun at all.

[MacheTheFerret]

So essentially what I'm seeing here is a conversation about how the graphics contrast and don't fit the theme and vaguely, VAGUELY stating that the gameplay needs work without giving specific examples, and without ever addressing the creator of the level directly.

Thanks.

[Emral]

im stuck


e: after playing through the level here's my summary of the gameplay
-npcs are always in the player's way and trying to kill them (I get that they're enemies but they seem to be placed specifically to annoy the player as much as possible), yet I doubt it's intentional
-there are a million ways to get softlocked. This is why you don't see people do required thwomp-based platforming
-venus plants in a wrap section are all kinds of bad times
-this level needed more testing. Barely any of the jumps feel good. The level isn't a lot of fun overall.
-the thwomp based platforming quickly gets repetitive. I wish you would've done more with switches, water and moving pipes instead

[aero]

So essentially what I'm seeing here is a conversation about how the graphics contrast and don't fit the theme and vaguely, VAGUELY stating that the gameplay needs work without giving specific examples, and without ever addressing the creator of the level directly.

Thanks.

Sorry if I was vague. The central thing I would focus on with the level is the platforming in the 4th section, NPC placement, and making sure the level is functional and playable which is what I mean when I use the term gameplay in general like that. I don't know what you mean by not addressing you directly though, because I was just talking about the level itself.