Super Mario Bros. X Forums

...because my levels will never be judged
SHIPWRECK SHORE

Fixed Download
First Download

My Video =) :
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X44K_60 ... 7iF4Gqa_JA

You successfully removed any purpose of playing this level. Good job.
For future levels: Ask me for permission to make a video of my level.

I really enjoyed this level. You really put a lot into its presentation, because the colors of the backgrounds and tilesets are really nice and make the level feel quite atmospheric. It perfectly matches the tone of the music, as well. The ship tileset is neat-looking, especially how it looks like a bunch of interlocking pieces. However, I wouldn't say that the grass and ship tilesets match very well. They're not too bad together, and each one would work just fine for the level's atmosphere by itself, but there is a distinct color/brightness difference between the two. If the grass tileset was darker or the ship was brown or something like that, it would look better, so I'd recommend doing something in that vein.

Of course, the design is pretty impressive as well. The placement of each tileset made the grass look natural and the ship look broken (in a good sunken-ship sense, not a bad-design way). The gameplay is interesting and makes you explore a lot, which I enjoyed. Each section felt a little different with how the grass/ship/underwater themes were used, together and separately. The star placement is pretty decent. It's not very creative or complicated, but that's a good thing given this level's length. However, the star in the checkpoint section doesn't have any warp attached to its area or any visible way of entry. Unless I missed something both in gameplay and in the editor, you neglected to make that star possible.

A few other minor issues are that the bomb block is using the wrong death effect, and the Bill Blaster doesn't have too much of a gameplay purpose except to destroy walls to get you normal coins. It's fun to blast away enemies of course, but I expected something else given how you hid the item. Perhaps involve it with collecting that last star that you can't get to?

Other than that, very well-made level you have here. Great work, Emral!

Thanks for your little review there, Chad. I'm glad you liked the level.

Chad wrote:I wouldn't say that the grass and ship tilesets match very well. They're not too bad together, and each one would work just fine for the level's atmosphere by itself, but there is a distinct color/brightness difference between the two. If the grass tileset was darker or the ship was brown or something like that, it would look better, so I'd recommend doing something in that vein.

Ironically, the standard version of the tileset was brown and I recoloured it to match the level better. Seems like I kinda failed there.

Chad wrote:However, the star in the checkpoint section doesn't have any warp attached to its area or any visible way of entry. Unless I missed something both in gameplay and in the editor, you neglected to make that star possible.

Whoops! Might have forgotten a warp there! I'll definetly fix this when I update this level.

Chad wrote:that the bomb block is using the wrong death effect

never been good in terms of the effect-block/npc relationship, but I'll make sure to fix that.

Chad wrote:and the Bill Blaster doesn't have too much of a gameplay purpose except to destroy walls to get you normal coins. It's fun to blast away enemies of course, but I expected something else given how you hid the item. Perhaps involve it with collecting that last star that you can't get to?

Originally, this level was for my episode, where every level would have an item connected to a red coin room, which would spice up the gameplay a little bit. Your idea is something I'm consider doing for the update, though.

Alright! Again, glad you liked it! I'll fix what you've pointed out soon-ish.

The level location is very nice! I like levels with these locations.

New Version! ...because that's how I define "soon-ish"!
http://www.sendspace.com/file/iimmn3

The ship color was better before, imo.

BloodElf300 wrote:The ship color was better before, imo.

I personally think it creates some cool contrast now.

Nice work fixing up the level. I like the ship better now, it's a more natural color and it matches the grass tileset more nicely. I also noticed you fixed that one warp and put another star behind some bricks, which adds some variation to the hunt and gives the weapon additional purpose. Great job!

My Playthrough:



Original YouTube Video Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0o9zrF5iyrk

Design- The design was actually not too bad. The level was very non-linear, which made me want to explore as much as I could to make sure I found every star, (which I believe I did.) As I said, I did like the fact that the level was very non-linear, but sometimes it did become a bit overwhelming, almost unsure of which way you have to go, which made the level sort of challenging. Personally, I wish there was a bit less underwater action maybe in the ship, but it is what it is. I understand that it's intended to be a water level. I was impressed by the length of the level. Didn't expect it to be as long as it was. Nice placement of the checkpoint and power-ups too.

Scenery- To be completely honest, I didn't like the graphics you used for the ship. They looked more like brick or pottery porcelain than wood. I didn't like the Tetris design to it either. I would have gone for a look similar to the wood in SMB3, but more dank looking, seeing as it is a shipwreck. Probably even the same color as what you had the wood now, but just more wood looking. I did like the custom graphics for the grassy areas, the clear water, and the exit.

Replay Value- Definitely would play this level again, bu no more than a few times very widely spread apart, then probably never again after the few times. Don't take that as an insult or anything, it's just that the design of this level itself was indeed nice, yet it still felt a bit generic. It's not necessary, but I'd always suggest livening up a level with moving layers or events. It always catches a reviewers eye!

Misc- As said before, I liked the custom graphics (as far as the grassy blocks.) They really accented the background! Not so much the wood though. I personally didn't like your music choice either. It just seemed like the level's song should have been more dark sounding or more dangerous/haunting compared to what it was.

Picture comments Score: 6/10
Moved to Average.