Operation Star Snatcher (v1.2)

[Sednaiur]

Since people asked me about the level, here I like to release it now.
It has placed on the 4th position in the contest, and it got around 8.9 in the score-department.
I guess since "Tower of Bias 7" is out for some time now, it should be okay to release this then ^^:

Download here:http://s000.tinyupload.com/?file_id=825 ... 9788686955

Here are some screenshots of the level:

Spoiler: show

Please note that I have fixed all the nasty GFX-bugs, that SMBX liked to include into the final product. The bugs (BGOs that go behind the sizables) did happen because SMBX just changes the
foreground/background-priority of some BGOs (mainly water-BGOs) in the full game-mode, so I didn't know this would happen.
I also did change two small details.
First one is, that I made it possible to read hintsigns as a small player, when standing below them.
Second one is, that I "installed" a new warning for the player, that he needs to wait in front of the small occuring and vanishing platforms, so he dosn't mistake the BGOs as the already active platforms, when he arrives at such spot.

I hope you will play and enjoy my little level :-).

EDIT: Updated the download-link on 2016.01.29!

[silent_]

I played this level in TOB7, and it was amazing, and to see you made an updated version - well, that's simply awesome. Overall, I loved the graphics in this, and I loved the gimmicks. If I were a judge in CC8, I would have given this a 9.50. There were just some minor flaws in it, like the difficulty, and how the tileset looked like it was freezing and glassy. But that's about all I didn't like about it.

[zlaker]

Moved to The Best cause it got a 9.5/10 and a 10/10.
EDIT: If ya want a review just ask ;)

[bossedit8]

Gonna give you the review here too even know it is the same:

Oh man, what a strong Level. I even encounter a few Lags just from switching Events like that. Overall, the Level is very detailed with a lot of Objects, Background Objects and Event Usages which are all very well made. I was kind of confused later on but that is normal especially if I play this the first time. Everything were well designed and on a very great Challenge to deal with. Took a lot of effort to make something like that. Switches that turns something on and off by simply touching them. Also, as I encountered on the red Lasers, after a while I get destracted (something like I find this as a background object later on but they are Lava Tiles all the time) which is kind of my fault. Power up placements were a tiny bit low due to Challenges especially on the most part by the Events and Stuff. There are also funny moments in this Level. There are two Stars. One that is SMB3 and the other SMW. At least it is very noticeable which one is which (at least for me).

Point rating: 9.615/10

[Sednaiur]

I played this level in TOB7, and it was amazing, and to see you made an updated version - well, that's simply awesome. Overall, I loved the graphics in this, and I loved the gimmicks. If I were a judge in CC8, I would have given this a 9.50. There were just some minor flaws in it, like the difficulty, and how the tileset looked like it was freezing and glassy. But that's about all I didn't like about it.

Thank you very much. The pdate contains mainly fixes and changes, that are pointed out by other people (namely: adding a sign in front of the vanishing and reappearing platforms, make the hintsigns beside the doors readable as small player, and graphical fixes, as SMBX is coded even worde, than i thought and knew of).
I think the difficulty of my level is much lower, than many other peoples levels. But i plan on releasing a "hard type" of my level, to give it a fresh and more challenging feel :-P.

Moved to The Best cause it got a 9.5/10 and a 10/10.
EDIT: If ya want a review just ask ;)

Thanks for moving it :-).
If you like, you could review my level, as it could help me more, to improve it, and to learn for the next time. Would be nice to know, what you think about this level.

Gonna give you the review here too even know it is the same: Oh man, what a strong Level. I even encounter a few Lags just from switching Events like that. Overall, the Level is very detailed with a lot of Objects, Background Objects and Event Usages which are all very well made. I was kind of confused later on but that is normal especially if I play this the first time. Everything were well designed and on a very great Challenge to deal with. Took a lot of effort to make something like that. Switches that turns something on and off by simply touching them. Also, as I encountered on the red Lasers, after a while I get destracted (something like I find this as a background object later on but they are Lava Tiles all the time) which is kind of my fault. Power up placements were a tiny bit low due to Challenges especially on the most part by the Events and Stuff. There are also funny moments in this Level. There are two Stars. One that is SMB3 and the other SMW. At least it is very noticeable which one is which (at least for me).

Point rating: 9.615/10

Thanks again, for your kind review ^^. Yes I took more time for this level, as I had planned, but it was fun for me to do. I tried to avoid any bugs, be it SMBX-wise or just design-wise. It seems to be fine for that part.
I think that 7 power-ups are very much in this level, but maybe I am wrong?

Thank you again.

Lol, why where there pin ups in the toad bedroom? :lol:

Because I just love Anime-Bishoujo, and I just can't resist to build them in, into my levels sometimes :-P.
But also just for fun too. Y'know, even Toads like to watch onto something like this sometimes xD. Better don't ask, what Toad himself has for a pin-up in his room of princess Peach ^^.

[zlaker]

Expect a review today or tomorrow then sir.

[zlaker]

Operation Star Snatcher by Sednaiur

Atmosphere 9/10: Looking at this level I can really understand why this got 4th place. The whole concept of this level was really cool and something I haven’t seen. The tileset in this level looked beautiful and I loved shading you gave to different NPCs as well the BGOs. While though this level looks amazing there are minor flaws. First thing are the 2x2 crates. When I first spottted those I thought you could stand on them. Another thing is the vanishing blocks in Section 10. Some of them was in front of the sizeables and some of them weren’t. I think those that wasn’t in front of the sizeable looked a bit weird. The music in other hand was a great choice and I loved it!

NPC Placement 8.5/10: The level was a quite okay NPC Placement. I liked the 7 hieroglyphs hunt, however I feel you should’ve used 5 instead. It would’ve been more easier for the to let know how many hieroglyphs the player has collected. And giving it the NPC Code score=0 was a bad idea. Another thing is that the level has a lack of NPC variety. Sure the level had Soilder Proffersor Toad, Walking Robots, Flying Robots, Flying Spikes and a Laser Robot that shoots laser. I feel you could’ve added 2-3 more NPCs. It would’ve added more variety in the level.

Gameplay 9.5/10: This is a pretty gimmicky level with a lot of hazards and obstacles. I liked the idea of having lasers and blue laser beams though it would’ve been nice if you added an indicator when the laser/laser beam was gonna turn on/off. However the level had some novel gimmicks and they were sure fun!

Level Design 9/10: I loved the design! It was sure fun and really challenging. I liked how each different section used new kinds of gimmick and new hazards to dodge. While though the design was pretty great, it wasn’t that mind-blowing honestly. Section 5 was kinda repetetive and hiting switches all the time is kinda boring honeslty :/

In total this level is getting a 9/10 from. This level has some novel gimmicks and a great concept. There’s just these flaws that just ruins the fun.

[Sednaiur]

Thank you very much, for going through the trouble and do a review of my level ^^.
I try to learn from everything you have written in your review, so I can become better at level-designing.

First thing are the 2x2 crates. When I first spottted those I thought you could stand on them.

I guess the problem with the crates is, that I gave them a yellow-black line on their top, so people seem to think they can stand on top of them. I prevent that from happening in the future then.

Another thing is the vanishing blocks in Section 10. Some of them was in front of the sizeables and some of them weren’t.

I really don't get this one. I testplayed my level countless times (I even did retest it in the ToB7 episode), but I did remove all graphical errors, that got caused by the buggy SMBX.
I mean, SMBX threads some BGOs different in the editor-mode, than in the full game-mode. Maybe you can do a screenshot of the error you are talking about?

I liked the 7 hieroglyphs hunt, however I feel you should’ve used 5 instead.

I did use 7 hieroglyphs, because in the movie "Stargate" you need 7 of them, and since you need them in the level, to unlock the Stargate, I thought 7 hieroglyphs would fit (even knowing the fact, that 7 hieroglyphs are not needed in the series, to reach just another deck of the same space station xD). About the score-flag, I guess you are right too. I do that better next time.

Another thing is that the level has a lack of NPC variety.

I guessed so too, in the end. It was very hard to do any of them, as one NPC (especially the one, that replaces the birdo) was hours of work for me, but then I guess it was not enough.

I liked the idea of having lasers and blue laser beams though it would’ve been nice if you added an indicator when the laser/laser beam was gonna turn on/off.

Well, I cannot really help at this one, as one can see clearly, when the electricity turns off and on (you don't haste through a level, without first scanning the screen, do you ?), so the player will see, that the electricity turns on aswell, after turning off for a short time. For the red lasers, they only turn off, after you have switched them off via lever, but I can agree, that the level can be confusing in general, at times. I guess it just is very hard to pull this kind of gimmick off good.

Section 5 was kinda repetetive and hiting switches all the time is kinda boring honeslty :/

Yes I guess it really depends from person to person, what is liked and what isn't liked to occur. For me this is more fun, than the old usual colorswitch-puzzles, most people tend to pull out their sleeves (for me, color switches are meant to help the player, like they did in SMW, to close some pits, or build a bridge over lava, for example), so I thought it would be cool to use this kind of stuff instead ^^.
But I understand your opinion about this. Yes, the main-goal of the level is, to pull (touch) levers, to proceed through the level, but I guess I can do another thing next time then.

Again, thank you for your review and the still very nice score, you gave me. Many of the things you menitoned, I thought so too (especially the "too few different NPCs"-thing ^^).
I try to do that better in the future, so I maybe get into the top 3 next time.

[zlaker]

I really don't get this one. I testplayed my level countless times (I even did retest it in the ToB7 episode), but I did remove all graphical errors, that got caused by the buggy SMBX.
I mean, SMBX threads some BGOs different in the editor-mode, than in the full game-mode. Maybe you can do a screenshot of the error you are talking about?

What I meant is that the blocks in Section 10 looks like they're going out of the wall and then in. The "wall" I was talking about was the sizables you put the behind the tileset set and the blocks.

Spoiler: show

It looks weird cause the background doesn't stay at the same position as the block. That is why I reccomend using the sizeables and putting the blcoks in front of the sizeables :P

I did use 7 hieroglyphs, because in the movie "Stargate" you need 7 of them, and since you need them in the level, to unlock the Stargate, I thought 7 hieroglyphs would fit (even knowing the fact, that 7 hieroglyphs are not needed in the series, to reach just another deck of the same space station xD). About the score-flag, I guess you are right too. I do that better next time.

Well stupido me for not getting the reference. Well it's a nice reference, but the problem is that the player doesn't know how many hieroglyphs he/she has collected because you gave it the NPC code score=100 or something. Alot of people knows that if 1000 points means that you have collected 1 Dragon Coin (I'm saying Dragon Coin cause the hieroglyphs replaces the Dragon Coin :P). That's also why I reccomend going for 5 instead of 7 hieroglyphs cause when you have collected 5 hieroglyphs with no NPC code it'll give ya an 1-Up and if you collect more you'll recieve more 1-Ups which is too much for the player honestly :/

Well, I cannot really help at this one, as one can see clearly, when the electricity turns off and on (you don't haste through a level, without first scanning the screen, do you ?), so the player will see, that the electricity turns on aswell, after turning off for a short time. For the red lasers, they only turn off, after you have switched them off via lever, but I can agree, that the level can be confusing in general, at times. I guess it just is very hard to pull this kind of gimmick off good.

It would be nice if ya told the player how many seconds the laser/laser beam would be on/off :P

Yes I guess it really depends from person to person, what is liked and what isn't liked to occur. For me this is more fun, than the old usual colorswitch-puzzles, most people tend to pull out their sleeves (for me, color switches are meant to help the player, like they did in SMW, to close some pits, or build a bridge over lava, for example), so I thought it would be cool to use this kind of stuff instead ^^.
But I understand your opinion about this. Yes, the main-goal of the level is, to pull (touch) levers, to proceed through the level, but I guess I can do another thing next time then.

Well I really feel you could've done more. The section was kinda short and it would be great if you expanded the section.