My CCX2 level entry (Feedback appreciated!)

Subforum for the SMBX Chocolate Level Contest 2021.
Suckerman7 GM
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My CCX2 level entry (Feedback appreciated!)

Postby Suckerman7 GM » Mon Aug 02, 2021 11:10 am

So, I decided to make a separate thread for my CCX2 level entry, as I wanted to have other people's feedback on the level's difficulty or pacing before posting it to the main thread.

The level has been updated to version 1.3, with small changes again:
CHANGELOG: (for 1.3)
Spoiler: show
- Slightly tweaked the setups for the patrolling enemies.
- Changed slight dialogue of the boss.
This level's main gimmick is walljumping. The setups mainly step up in difficulty as you progress, with more and more twists on the way. There are also mainly oriental-themed enemies and settings in this stage as well.

I'd love people to play the level and make sure if there are anything that needs fixing: Let it be bugs, difficulty problems etc. Anything! Please be honest with your feedback! I can also take suggestions on what to do as well!

Heads up: This file doesn't contain the CCX2 Devkit! Make sure to put the Devkit files into the level file to properly play the level!
Last edited by Suckerman7 GM on Sat Aug 07, 2021 11:12 am, edited 3 times in total.

cato
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Re: My CCX2 level entry (Feedback appreciated!)

Postby cato » Mon Aug 02, 2021 12:39 pm

Quite an interesting level with wall jumping while avoiding attacks. I would say that just it. It gets really repetitive with how you set up the level. It is always wall jumping up/down a shaft with 2 attacks from the opposite side throwing weapons at you. The vertical section is just a repetition of the set-ups, and it gets really boring (plus it is too long).

I like the indoors section a lot, though it can have more variety, such as a room with like a couple of attackers in the centre while you rotate yourself in the room, or a hallway while you have to find covers in holes to dodge projectiles from the other side of the hallway. Instead, I only see the same wall jumping at a shaft with 2 attacks (1 top left and 1 bottom right), goes horizontally with some enemies, then another shaft but the attackers are in the opposite locations.

The bonus section is nice, but not enough to be a climax. Although it is one of the harder sections (with the way you have to go through the Ninjis in the middle), it is actually not much. Same for the boss fight, it is just a bunch of enemies (and sometimes they spawn on you, even if there are arrows). And the final phase is just a Ninja Bro in the middle. Not much to say there.

There are a lot of problems that need to be fixed:
  • Music not loading in section 1 (or more) due to typo
  • Ninjas sometimes throwing Kuni backwards (both throwing backwards while facing forward and throwing forward with the sprite backwards)
  • Diaglogue inaccuracy for the gates if the players don't go the rooms in order (from left to right)
  • Cann't get the key due to the warp of the doors not allowing items
  • Arrow not showing up for phase 3
  • Final phase for the boss fight not activating due to the Ninji on the right in phase 3 "Layer empty" set to "Phase 3" instead of "Phase 3 defeat)
Also, mind checking out Roses & Telephones for me in the ChoccyCon2021 subform?

Suckerman7 GM
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Re: My CCX2 level entry (Feedback appreciated!)

Postby Suckerman7 GM » Mon Aug 02, 2021 3:32 pm

cato wrote:
Mon Aug 02, 2021 12:39 pm
Quite an interesting level with wall jumping while avoiding attacks. I would say that just it. It gets really repetitive with how you set up the level. It is always wall jumping up/down a shaft with 2 attacks from the opposite side throwing weapons at you. The vertical section is just a repetition of the set-ups, and it gets really boring (plus it is too long).

I like the indoors section a lot, though it can have more variety, such as a room with like a couple of attackers in the centre while you rotate yourself in the room, or a hallway while you have to find covers in holes to dodge projectiles from the other side of the hallway. Instead, I only see the same wall jumping at a shaft with 2 attacks (1 top left and 1 bottom right), goes horizontally with some enemies, then another shaft but the attackers are in the opposite locations.

The bonus section is nice, but not enough to be a climax. Although it is one of the harder sections (with the way you have to go through the Ninjis in the middle), it is actually not much. Same for the boss fight, it is just a bunch of enemies (and sometimes they spawn on you, even if there are arrows). And the final phase is just a Ninja Bro in the middle. Not much to say there.

There are a lot of problems that need to be fixed:
  • Music not loading in section 1 (or more) due to typo
  • Ninjas sometimes throwing Kuni backwards (both throwing backwards while facing forward and throwing forward with the sprite backwards)
  • Diaglogue inaccuracy for the gates if the players don't go the rooms in order (from left to right)
  • Cann't get the key due to the warp of the doors not allowing items
  • Arrow not showing up for phase 3
  • Final phase for the boss fight not activating due to the Ninji on the right in phase 3 "Layer empty" set to "Phase 3" instead of "Phase 3 defeat)
Also, mind checking out Roses & Telephones for me in the ChoccyCon2021 subform?
Thanks for the feedback. I'll consider to fix the issues and change some setups to make it less repetitive. Huh weird, the music works fine for me, but not for you? I also didn't add too many varied setups because I was afraid none of the setups would develop in the level.

The bonus section is meant to be really challenging, and basically a revision of most setups encountered in the level, so it's meant to be like that. But I'll consider to make the setups less repetitive and even add one of those holes in bottom to take cover setups in Section 2 and 3.

The final challenge is an enemy gauntlet with enemies that cannot be jumped, so you need to use Fireballs to attack them. The battle against Shuriken Samuel features a bullet bill generator that is homing, so it's quite challenging even though it doesn't seem a good idea. (At least it's better than a generic boss, in my opinion)

But anyways, thanks for the feedback again. (And I'll check out your level when I get the time)

PersonNamedUser
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Re: My CCX2 level entry (Feedback appreciated!)

Postby PersonNamedUser » Tue Aug 03, 2021 2:19 pm

Heya, so I just played through your level, and I have a decent amount of feedback that I'm wanting to give on it.

First off, let's start with the things that I feel this level did right and that I personally liked about it.
The Pros: show
- The sakura atmosphere was pretty neat, reminds me of what people tend to imagine Japanese culture is like. And in general, the presentation conveyed that very well.
- The music choices were pretty nice, the mega man remixes in general were something that I liked.
- the extra visual touches like the colored text aswell as the screen transitions added a tiny extra season of flavor to the presentation, very nice.
- The level's gimmick, walljumping, was an interesting choice of focus.
However, as I feel all criticism needs to be balanced, let's now get into the things that I didn't like about the level.
The Cons: show
- I feel there wasn't enough variety in the challenges the player was given, it felt alot like "walljump off this wall", "dodge this shurkien", "dodge that dagger", "dodge that shuriken again,", "dodge that dagger again", "dodge that ninji,", "now again, but this time a bit harder," and as a result, it caused the game play to feel a bit stale to me after awhile.
- Speaking of this, the level I feel dragged on for way too long, my combined playtime (and this is WITH cheats to avoid redoing the challenges I had already done previously since i'm trying to give feedback) clocked in to almost an entire hour, which I can speak from personal experience, it doesn't matter if you're trying to make a level long, NO level should be that long, especially if there's nothing much to hold the player's intrest in all of that time. Generally, if you make a level long, there should be enough that holds the player's interest so that they're okay with said level's length. Some tips to achieve so would be changing the music track and enviorment during the level(which while you did do, it was only for the secret area and the four houses you went in to open the gates is the issue), and mixing new gimmicks in pertaining to the level's main focus(in this case, being the walljumping).
- Along with this, alot of the challenges eventually got extremely unforgiving with the kinds of maneuvers you were expected to do, with the punishment for failing to complete said challenges being far too severe aswell. (If it wasn't for me cheating to avoid redoing challenges I had already done over and over again, I feel like I would have been playing for like ninety minutes or something, possibly more) For example, alot of the maneuvers with the Ninjis presented themselves as if you were meant to walljump past them in some way, but given how the wall jump code works mechanically, it just wasn't physically possible to do, and in general getting past them was a nearly pixel perfect thing you had to do. (There was sometimes even times where when I was trying to dodge certain projectiles above me, there was also hazards below, giving me less space to dodge them as a result.)
- The boss I feel was a bit of a letdown aswell, given all of the build up we were given to the Clan's leader, I was under the impression that the level would end with a battle against them, but it instead leaves us on a somewhat unsatisfying cliffhanger that could leave players disappointed. (going to be honest, it left me disappointed)
Overall, what i'm trying to say is that this level has interesting ideas, but, to be blunt, an execution that leaves alot to be desired. And perhaps if these criticisms are applied in this level, it can be something good.


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