"Cogwheel Woods"

[Metrovania]

A level I made while taking a short break from my Wario Land inspired campaign. An earlier form of this level was originally entered into the SMBX2 "Choco-latte 2022 Contest" and got a pretty good response. Mainly though, the judges felt it could be longer, harder, and more complex. So I remade the level from the ground-up with the same Graphics and Music, keeping with those elements in mind.

The main mechanic on display are Grrrols. I used both vanilla varieties, as well as a third larger version for the last sublevel. I tried to use Grrrols in as many ways as I could think without introducing radically competing concepts like springs and bumpers. I wanted this to simply showcase what the Grrrol can do on its own.

DOWNLOAD > https://drive.google.com/file/d/1KGtD3M ... share_link
Youtube Link > https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tJrSYMIWXnI

Credits:
-Level Designed by: Metrovania

-Music Used: "Beware the Forest's Mushrooms" from Kirby Rainbow Curse

-Sprites sourced from Spriters Resource and Ripped by:
Ragey
Jermungandr
D_P
Mageker

-Scripts Used:
Warp Transitions / By MrDoubleA
MiniHud v1.1 / Hatsune Blake
Player Physics Patch / Enjl
Custom NPC Pack (Spikes) / MrDoubleA (went unused sadly)

[cato]

Wow! Compared to the old version, this one feels like an improvement. The level flow is quite natural with new segments and sections. You start with the Cogwheels breaking paths for you, avoiding them in tight hallways, to a nice climax of platforming with the giant ones. I also like the details that the enemies are placed directly under where Cogwheels spawn and crush them. Gotta tell the players how dangerous they are.

The change of Star Coins is better as a whole, especially the 3rd and 4th one. The 3rd one requires the player to pay close attention during the pipe warp, and I am cautious enough to grab the 4th one on my first go. Can't say I like the 2nd Star Coin though, I grabbed it by accident and I don't think hiding behind foreground objects without a hint (coin) like the 1st one is bad. I also think not using the old Kirby door warp with the bonus/challenge sections (Star Coin 1 & 3) is a missed opportunity.

If I have a problem, it would be that some hallway segments are way too tight with 2-block height spin-jumping gaps. The spike hitbox as well, it isn't forgiving when they are placed 1-block deep. MrDoubleA actually has a script that fixes those hitboxes (as well as other hurt blocks).

By the way, if you run out of ideas for the use of Grrrols, you can try placing them vertically. Make them fall on a timer (by adding more breakable blocks) and destroy the path/floor below.

[Metrovania]

Wow! Compared to the old version, this one feels like an improvement. The level flow is quite natural with new segments and sections. You start with the Cogwheels breaking paths for you, avoiding them in tight hallways, to a nice climax of platforming with the giant ones. I also like the details that the enemies are placed directly under where Cogwheels spawn and crush them. Gotta tell the players how dangerous they are.

The change of Star Coins is better as a whole, especially the 3rd and 4th one. The 3rd one requires the player to pay close attention during the pipe warp, and I am cautious enough to grab the 4th one on my first go. Can't say I like the 2nd Star Coin though, I grabbed it by accident and I don't think hiding behind foreground objects without a hint (coin) like the 1st one is bad. I also think not using the old Kirby door warp with the bonus/challenge sections (Star Coin 1 & 3) is a missed opportunity.

If I have a problem, it would be that some hallway segments are way too tight with 2-block height spin-jumping gaps. The spike hitbox as well, it isn't forgiving when they are placed 1-block deep. MrDoubleA actually has a script that fixes those hitboxes (as well as other hurt blocks).

By the way, if you run out of ideas for the use of Grrrols, you can try placing them vertically. Make them fall on a timer (by adding more breakable blocks) and destroy the path/floor below.

Thanks for the play! This was a fun level to revisit since looking back, the first version was very rough. I wanted to use the Kirby warp doors at first like V1, but I decided they were too recognizable as Kirby. Though, maybe it was a silly concern. Also as I think you could tell, yes, I was running out of ideas by the end