Polluted Pathway

[zioy]

This was going to be my CC8 level but the judging had already started, so I decided to make it my CC9 level. Well, I ended up making a way better level than this for CC9, so I'm submitting this now.

Screenshot:

Spoiler: show

Click here if you support pollution!

EDIT: Updated download link to include the new decorations.

[Warlock]

Judging by the screenies, the levvel looks a bit bland. Try sprucing it up with some BGOs.

Other than that you did a good job, and you have totally earned my respects as a great level designer.

[zioy]

Yeah, I didn't add BGOs... I couldn't make them look good. They would look weird without oil on them, but I couldn't make that look right either.

[silent_]

Yeah, I didn't add BGOs... I couldn't make them look good. They would look weird without oil on them, but I couldn't make that look right either.

You could just recolor them black, or give them a black effect but still make them look green.

Expect a review tomorrow morning.

[zioy]

Ah, thanks for the idea, Kep! I'll get right to work on decorating it (after spriting the BGOs). Actually, I figured out a way that they may look good.

[Socknic]

I figured I would post a quick review and let you know what I think about the level. To start things off, I can't say I liked the aesthetic too much. I know you had issues regarding background objects and such, but I do believe that they improve the levels look a bit. However, I felt like the graphics were all over the place. Some looked pretty good and others looked rather misplaced. There was also a strange glitch, a transparency of sorts, that sometimes appeared near the bottom of the level. Probably the most off thing I noticed was the background. It just didn't feel right. The level itself wasn't bad, but it had its flaws. There were a few points where traversing through the level required extreme amounts of skill, though I'm mainly talking about the section in which the player accesses the pipe by bouncing off a Bullet Bill. I understand that you were going for interesting, non-linear level design, but it's not 100% there yet. I'd say my favorite thing about the level was the main mechanic involving the oil. It felt unique and kept the player thinking, instead of mindlessly dragging through the level. The music was odd, but had an interesting, fitting vibe. All in all, I'd say that it's not a bad level, but has quite its share of flaws.

Gameplay: 6/10

Graphics: 4/10

Design: 7/10

Overall Level Score: 5.6/10

[zioy]

I figured I would post a quick review and let you know what I think about the level. To start things off, I can't say I liked the aesthetic too much. I know you had issues regarding background objects and such, but I do believe that they improve the levels look a bit. However, I felt like the graphics were all over the place. Some looked pretty good and others looked rather misplaced. There was also a strange glitch, a transparency of sorts, that sometimes appeared near the bottom of the level. Probably the most off thing I noticed was the background. It just didn't feel right. The level itself wasn't bad, but it had its flaws. There were a few points where traversing through the level required extreme amounts of skill, though I'm mainly talking about the section in which the player accesses the pipe by bouncing off a Bullet Bill. I understand that you were going for interesting, non-linear level design, but it's not 100% there yet. I'd say my favorite thing about the level was the main mechanic involving the oil. It felt unique and kept the player thinking, instead of mindlessly dragging through the level. The music was odd, but had an interesting, fitting vibe. All in all, I'd say that it's not a bad level, but has quite its share of flaws.

Gameplay: 6/10

Graphics: 4/10

Design: 7/10

Overall Level Score: 5.6/10

I updated it with BGOs now. Also, there's no section where jumping on a Bullet Bill is required. The area you'er talking about requires having one of the oil layers being on and the other being off.

[silent_]

donthurtme

Initially...
If I missed anything regarding difficulty, sorry. I tested this with Godmode.

Also, yeah, I don't know why I originally said I was going to review this tomorrow.

Generally...
A decent oil-spill level, honestly the first one of those I've played in a long time. It had a unique gimmick, and I appreciated that since quite frankly, I expected this to be some linear oil level with no scenery. But no! I was actually impressed, and it's hard to please me. Anyway, to start being a bit negative. I absolutely despised the color variety in this level. This is by far the biggest flaw in the level. I mean, I don't mean to rant or anything, but if there's oil everywhere, shouldn't the enemies be black? Shouldn't the Toads be soaked with black? Shouldn't the pipes be black and not gray? Shouldn't there be no green at all? Shouldn't the minimal use of scenery be black? Shouldn't the question blocks be all gooey black? Shouldn't the switches be soaked with blackness? That is... just what I think. Regardless, moving on. I didn't think the music fit for something oily. It sounded too jubilant to fit a black atmosphere. Oh, and I don't like how every once in a while, you see a BGO on a pipe. Why? And speaking of which, you should really consider adding more BGOs and tone down the use of enemies. There's not an excessive amount of enemies, there's just is a bit too much. Conclusively, really either remove the ceiling above the boundary in the seventh section, or just remove the spikes. Why? Because if you're big, it's downright annoying to have to watch out for an invisible ceiling while avoiding spikes while going through a two-blocked-space. That's just what I say.

There's No Review Without Bias and Some Humor...
i like levels dedicated to black diarrhea coming out of a pipe 10/10

Pros...
-epic oil atmosphere
-non-linear
-cool gimmick
-good and gloomy background
-great coin placement
-superb pipe placement

Cons...
-awful color variety
-lack of question block/bricks/power-ups
-bad music
-BGOs on pipes; what?
-needs more scenery
-there shouldn't be any green if there's an oil spill
-too much enemies
-unfair spikes and off-screen wood in section seven
-no ceiling (no points will be taken off but still, please add some ceiling)

Other Notes...
i lyk

Overall...
6

Decent level, but could use some major improvement.

[zioy]

The reason I didn't add oil to the enemies, blocks, etc. was because the oil tends to be falling on the ground, mostly. If I added oil to the enemies, I would have most likely slowed them down a bit. The pipes... well, the oil goes in them, not on top of them
As for the music, I couldn't find anything fitting that I liked. This was too catchy, and I added it so I could listen to it while I was editing

Did you actually find the level hard, though? I died multiple times testing the part with the falling swimmable oil, but everywhere else I was fine.

[Socknic]

I figured I would post a quick review and let you know what I think about the level. To start things off, I can't say I liked the aesthetic too much. I know you had issues regarding background objects and such, but I do believe that they improve the levels look a bit. However, I felt like the graphics were all over the place. Some looked pretty good and others looked rather misplaced. There was also a strange glitch, a transparency of sorts, that sometimes appeared near the bottom of the level. Probably the most off thing I noticed was the background. It just didn't feel right. The level itself wasn't bad, but it had its flaws. There were a few points where traversing through the level required extreme amounts of skill, though I'm mainly talking about the section in which the player accesses the pipe by bouncing off a Bullet Bill. I understand that you were going for interesting, non-linear level design, but it's not 100% there yet. I'd say my favorite thing about the level was the main mechanic involving the oil. It felt unique and kept the player thinking, instead of mindlessly dragging through the level. The music was odd, but had an interesting, fitting vibe. All in all, I'd say that it's not a bad level, but has quite its share of flaws.

Gameplay: 6/10

Graphics: 4/10

Design: 7/10

Overall Level Score: 5.6/10

I updated it with BGOs now. Also, there's no section where jumping on a Bullet Bill is required. The area you'er talking about requires having one of the oil layers being on and the other being off.

It's good to know that I was wrong about that section. Also, I did play a version which had BGOs, I was just mentioning that I knew you had some issues previously with them. Anyway, cheers mate.

[silent_]

The reason I didn't add oil to the enemies, blocks, etc. was because the oil tends to be falling on the ground, mostly. If I added oil to the enemies, I would have most likely slowed them down a bit. The pipes... well, the oil goes in them, not on top of them
As for the music, I couldn't find anything fitting that I liked. This was too catchy, and I added it so I could listen to it while I was editing

Did you actually find the level hard, though? I died multiple times testing the part with the falling swimmable oil, but everywhere else I was fine.

As said, I tested it with God mode so I didn't get a difficulty experience well, but I did know as a fact that the top of section seven is impossible if you're big, because as I said in the original review, you bounce from the ceiling out of the boundaries to the spikes.

How about I give you a music suggestion?

Use the YouTube to mp3 converter.

[zioy]

It is possible to get through that area without taking damage. Believe me, try it. That's because your hitbox is slightly smaller when swimming.

[Superiorstar]

The name is unfitting IMO.

[zioy]

Why?

[Superiorstar]

Oil isn't really pollution.

[zioy]

Well, actually...... an oil spill with pollute a pathway, therefore created a "polluted pathway".