Super Mario Bros. X Forums

Super Mario and the Cavernous Structure is going to take place mainly in a gigantic exploratory cavern, used as the hub. It is Kep's ninth attempt to create a project. While there is still a chance that this will get cancelled, I doubt it actually WILL get cancelled, because little did you guys know, I've been sitting here for a few months now designing lots of things and planning out how the project will go and end. Furthermore, I've already put my 100% designing skills into what I have done so far, and I don't feel I can do any better, but hey, it's a matter of what you guys think. Nonetheless, enjoy the rest of thread, I'll make it as interesting as possible to read.



Mario drifted off to sleep, and as he did, he dreamed very violent things - a minion in a black mask dragging Toads into a large cave and torturing them - his dream went on and on, until BAM. Mario was in a cave, and he had no idea how it happened. And, once Mario reached there, he noticed that the cave was very colorful and beautiful, but he didn't think much of it. Instead, he advanced onward, and found four doors - could these possibly lead to other worlds? And will Mario ever save the Toads by killing the minion in the black mask? Find out...


World 1 - Oversized Ocean - Oversized Ocean is the easiest world in Super Mario and the Cavernous Structure. It takes place from the overflooded canyon, to the beach, to the deep sea, and before you know it, an underground sea, and then you go to the flooded castle.

World 2 - Ghostly Gateway - Ghostly Gateway can be difficult, only if you don't how to solve complicated puzzles - but don't worry, they're not "oh I have to look in the level editor to find this!" puzzles, they're just rather hard to - let's say - survive through.

World 3 - Frosted Flames - Frosted Flames is a mixture of fire and ice, and will be the longest world with six levels.

World 4 - Cavernous Conclusion - I will not spoil anything about this final world.



Every level in this episode is planned to be rather non-linear, and each level will contain numerous secrets. The main 'new' gimmick in this episode will be hitting switches to activate doors with an X on them to be doors that you can through (sorry if that was worded badly), and the gimmick from Super Mario Star Expedition will come back in only certain levels: Hitting red switches to turn P-Blocks to red coins. Also, the hub will have some secret stars, but not enough to problem satisfy you guys, but I'll to make it as fresh as possible. Lastly, this episode will have some non-LunaDLL minigames, including collect the eight red coins, survival, kill everything, etc.



The playable character in this game with be Mario and Mario only; that's right, not even Luigi will be allowed in this game; I don't want this to be a multi-player game for multiple reasons. Furthermore, the power-ups will be classic for the most part, but I will add some newish ones (no, not actually NEW: they're just cheap replacements I guess you could say).



I'm not entirely sure if I'm going to release any demos during the development of this project, but just in case I do, I'll have this here for the hell of it.



Most music used in this episode will be from various Donkey Kong games. Other music will be from newer Mario games, oldish Zelda games, and new and old Kirby games.



If you want to be a Graphics Designer or Beta Tester, post below. However, there are certain requirements you have to meet to be any of these things:

-TO BE A GRAPHIC DESIGNER YOU MUST...
-have at least one graphics pack released in the Graphics forum
-have proven to make good-quality graphics that many enjoy

TO BE A BETA TESTER YOU MUST...
-be a good quality level designer
-be a good quality reviewer
-have understandable English: I don't want a review saying something like "Uh Well A Very Niec"

Graphics Designers:
(infinite slots)

Beta Testers:
(infinite slots)


9/30/2014
-created project thread
-finished the first portion of the main hub.
-started 1-1

1/1/14
-started the second section of 1-1
-added the final finishing touches to the main hub

1/2/14
-fixed the project's logo
-added the "Changelog" logo
-added the "The Team" logo.
-added two new screens of 1-1.
-almost halfway done with 1-1

1/3/14
-more progress to 1-1, very close to half-way done

1/4/14
-added new screens

---

Support banner coming soon!


Please leave any feedback you have! I'll try to post at least one new screen each week.[/strike]

Until further notice, this project is on hiatus. Thanks for understanding.

I like the first screen. It has a nice structure to it with a lot of detail from the scenery and tileset decoration. However, it doesn't look like there's a lot of room to navigate around the venus trap leftwards and above it. Also, are those hanging pillars of ground solid? Because if so, I recommend substituting them for something that isn't, because that would make the level too narrow for a 1-1 stage, personally.

The hub has a lot of detail as well, and while that does give it a lively appearance, it also looks really messy and cluttered. The scenery overlaps constantly and the tilesets change too frequently, so I'd recommend spreading those out a bit.

Other than that, this looks good so far. The layouts of the first level and hub have a good setup to them, and aside from being a bit cramped for my tastes (especially around pipes), the design's pretty solid. The story's unique (although a bit dark), and I like that this project has a low world count to keep the overall task smaller. You might want to fix the all-caps portion of the logo, though. If I didn't know the title of the thread, I'd have a really difficult time reading what that said. =P

Chad wrote:I like the first screen. It has a nice structure to it with a lot of detail from the scenery and tileset decoration.

Thanks!

Chad wrote:However, it doesn't look like there's a lot of room to navigate around the venus trap leftwards and above it.

I haven't tested any part of the level yet since I just started it, so I wouldn't know whether or not it's possible to navigate around the venus trap. Thanks for the recommendation, nevertheless.

Chad wrote:Also, are those hanging pillars of ground solid? Because if so, I recommend substituting them for something that isn't, because that would make the level too narrow for a 1-1 stage, personally.

Yes, they are solid. However, I've been considering making them replace a background object.

Chad wrote:The scenery overlaps constantly and the tilesets change too frequently, so I'd recommend spreading those out a bit.

I know this sounds like a lame excuse to get out of fixing things, but honestly, the hub is deliberately cluttered and messy, because the main villain of this game is very particular, and once you saw the way he looks, you'd definitely know why. You'd also know why when you saw the final boss room. But hey, I might tone down the background objects a bit for good measure. However, I don't know why the 'tilesets change too much' is a problem. It's intended to have lots of gemstones and color to give it an actual cave appearance, since most cave levels in SMBX use just one tileset and that's not realistic at all.

Chad wrote:The story's unique (although a bit dark)

Yeah, I made it dark since I believe Mario needs a little turn. I'm a bit tired of "_____ kidnapped _____ save _______".

Chad wrote:You might want to fix the all-caps portion of the logo, though. If I didn't know the title of the thread, I'd have a really difficult time reading what that said. =P

I just recently noticed that the logo was rather hard to read. I'll hopefully fix this.

Nevertheless, thanks for the criticism, Chad! I'll be sure to take your advice into consideration.

By the way, guys, I plan to have a new screen up sooner or later, and I think the first level of World 1, 2, and 3 will get submitted into the Levels forum so you guys have a good idea of what each world will be like, how the difficulty will be, and how the secrets will play a role in this. Also, for those who were wondering, I'll make the minigames, some extra levels, etc. in the DLC. Yes, there will be a DLC for this but it will not even be started until version 1.0 of the episode is completely finished and released to be the public. I'll confirm everything that will be in the DLC another day. And, if I know how to use LunaDLL by the time the DLC is in progress, I'll use LunaDLL for the minigames/missions for the DLC, and maybe even the extra levels. But no matter what, this episode will not use LunaDLL at all, unless things change and SMBX 1.3.0.2 comes out soon and everyone already has LunaDLL by default.

New logo! I fixed the all caps.
And two new screens of 1-1!
...last but not least, I added the "The Team" thingy and the "Changelog" thingy in the original thread. The changelog will be updated daily, or so I hope. =P

This episode looks really good! It seems like the levels are well designed, and I like the graphics on all the levels so far. The levels just seem a bit too full in some areas, like just a bit too overdecorated in some areas, and some places have too many tileset combinations. Still, I really like this project so far and I'm looking forward to seeing progress for it!

SuperMario7 wrote:This episode looks really good!

Thanks! It's an honor to get told that from a really good level designer.

SuperMario7 wrote:It seems like the levels are well designed, and I like the graphics on all the levels so far.

Yeah, my biggest goal in this episode, besides gameplay and design of course, is to make this really aesthetically pleasing and graphically pleasing.

SuperMario7 wrote:The levels just seem a bit too full in some areas, like just a bit too overdecorated in some areas, and some places have too many tileset combinations.

Unfortunately, I'm not up for fixing too much tileset combinations since that's deliberate for a couple reasons, but I'll definitely fix the overdecorated part; thanks for the feedback!

Anyways, guys, I'll post some information about the DLC for this project sometime tomorrow, and if I'm lucky, today. It'll basically just me be telling what the DLC for this project will have to offer, and while it won't be much, it'll be something. =)

New screens for 1-1 below.
Also, at some point today or tomorrow, I'm going to add the DLC information in the original thread. Keep an eye out for it.

In addition, I really dislike how this isn't getting much feedback. Despite this project just starting, I've already been pushing myself really far to achieve what I want to achieve, and I'm not getting any help nor constructive criticism. Speaking of help, I still need beta testers and graphic designers.

I think the dark and Light sand and cave tilesets don't look good IMO together

FanofSMBX wrote:I think the dark and Light sand and cave tilesets don't look good IMO together

It isn't dark, nor is it a cave tileset. Zephyr used it as an island/beach tileset in his episode. I think you're confusing it with something else. And even if it was a cave tileset, though, it would still technically fit, since the episode's name is "the cavernous structure", and there will be cavern pieces used rather frequently throughout the levels of this episode. Nevertheless, thanks for the comment. And before you bicker back "yes it is dark", by dark, I'm saying that it's not recolored to be dark, it's normal as it is (you probably won't understand that but I can't word it properly). However, if I get told that it doesn't look well with the sand tileset from multiple people, I'll recolor it. Until then, I'll leave it as it is.

I'd love to be a graphics designer. I have 3 upreps from making good graphics, and I have a graphics pack buried somewhere in the graphics board. Does that make me qualified?

HenryRichard wrote:I'd love to be a graphics designer. I have 3 upreps from making good graphics, and I have a graphics pack buried somewhere in the graphics board. Does that make me qualified?

Yes, it does. Welcome to the team!

zlakerboy357 wrote:

FanofSMBX wrote:I think the dark and Light sand and cave tilesets don't look good IMO together

Fine. I'll get to recoloring them.

By the way, new progress on this will be revealed once I finish my CC10 level, and that actually might be a while, considering I'm not even half way done with it yet and I started it two weeks ago.

This is on hiatus; lock it, please.