Level Design Tips

[Valtteri]

1. If you're going to use custom graphics, make sure they look good and fit to the level.
2. Add enemies, pits, coins to make it a more fun experience and scenery and pipes and such to make it more lively.
3. Make sure everything fits together. It's best to use one theme per level.
4. Make sure the level is completeable. Pay attention to the difficulty, too. Nobody likes too hard levels. It's no fun without a little challenge either.
5. Remember to give the player power-ups.
6. Don't forget the start point. If you move it in the middle for testing purposes, remember to move it back to the beginning.
7. Use a Checkpoint for longer levels.
8. Horizontal warp pipes don't go in the middle but half a block down from the middle of the pipe end.
9. The original Mario games are a great source of inspiration.
10. Have fun making the level. That way the players will also enjoy the level.

[Shadow Yoshi]

(Note that you can add tips here too! ...right?)

11. There's no shame in using graphics from multiple games. Just make sure it looks good.
12. The level doesn't have to have a set "gimmick". There are plenty of ways to make a grassland level really fun.
13. Don't feel like you have to name your levels with alliteration (e.g. all the words start with the same letter). Sometimes, personally, I find that kinda tacky.
14. You can never have too many slopes in a cave level. Using just the straight blocks looks boring, most of the time.
15. It's cool to use different types of enemies in your level, but having 20 different enemies that only occur once is generally not a good idea.

[FanofSMBX]

16. Remember the multiple checkpoint tutorial by KILROCK? If you use a mandatory checkpoint-tag like Valtteri's Mini Hawkmouth (in the ultimate pack), it works perfectly! Why, you could recolor that to SMB3 or SMW and use it in longer levels, or even create a mandatory checkpoint style of your own!

[TLtimelord]

17. Use color switches sparingly, and in ways that don't make the player backtrack. Don't use all four just to extend the length of your level.
18.Don't be afraid to use a wide variety of NPCs, but make sure to stick to the basic ones throughout the level.
19.Use scenery/BGO in a plentiful amount, but not in an over abundance, because it's likely you'll make your level lag. Same applies to sizable blocks.
20.Yoshi Coins shouldn't be a necessity; they're simply a way to get a 1-up, not a star.

[FallingSnow]

21. Levels do not have to be 10 minutes long to be good levels or enjoyable levels.

Personally, I'd say you want a maximum of 5/6 minutes for a level with a checkpoint in the middle. No one likes being forced to replay 8 minutes of gameplay when they die. So many people make their levels too long that they become not-fun after a while. This also becomes a problem when the level is hard (especially for people who want to let's play a game). Longer, easy levels are okay. Shorter, difficult levels are also okay.

[FanofSMBX]

22. Sometimes it's better to just scrap one of those "wait 2 minutes for a bombomb to spawn so you can hit mother brain 1/10 times" bosses if you can't figure out a way to make it less tedious than doing the same thing 10 times for 20 minutes. These bosses can be cool but these bosses x10 usually AREN'T cool. Maybe just make 3 enemies or something?
23. If you're thinking "Hmm, a switch block barricade could make this level longer!" you're not thinking of good level design right.
24. Also, make switch blocks be solid and stop a gap, or be invisible and make stairs when you toggle them, as opposed to just a big tall wall.
25. This is more episode design, but please don't use "All Koopalings over Larry Koopa" as the bosses if you just put them in the exact same room for each boss. Put cannons, or conveyor belts, or Podoboos or something. A good example of good Larry Koopa varying design is Darkonius64's The Koopalings Are Back!.
26. Just because Chad rose to fame with Super Mario Star Expedition doesn't mean you have to take the graphics and structure from that episode. It's practically deja vu!

[MarioWorker12]

27. It's better to make platforms generate if you have a platform ride in your level, so that if player falls down to the starting area again they won't have to restart the whole level.
28. If you use lava in a level, set the mushrooms' speed to 0 (I assume you all know how to use graphic codes). A mushroom falling into lava causes a runtime error.
29. Avoid making some areas too cramped in your levels, this makes dodging enemies harder, especially if you use paragoombas or paratroopas.
30. NEVER place a Piranha Plant on a warp pipe, just don't. Especially don't place Venus Fire Traps on warp pipes, this also causes a runtime error.
31. Not exactly a level design tip but don't use decimals in npc codes, this may cause a runtime error as well.
32. Making player carry keys or springboards around to get furter is always fun, but don't overuse this and avoid making people carry objects for long distances, that gets really frustrating.
33. If you are making a Subcon level, either make the enemies vulnerable to fireballs or don't use Fire Flowers as power-ups. Otherwise they'd be completely useless.

[Herobrine8219]

I'd just like to point out, putting Piranha Plants or Venus Fire Traps on pipes does not cause runtime errors. Same thing with the mushrooms falling into lava. They don't caue runtime errors, either.

[Valtteri]

I'd just like to point out, putting Piranha Plants or Venus Fire Traps on pipes does not cause runtime errors. Same thing with the mushrooms falling into lava. They don't caue runtime errors, either.

Why are you trying to trick people? Is this some kind of joke? Venus Fire Traps do cause a crash if the player enters a warp that's directly above/under the plant. Mushrooms and other power-ups don't always make the game crash when they touch lava but they do sometimes.

[Shadow Yoshi]

I'd just like to point out, putting Piranha Plants or Venus Fire Traps on pipes does not cause runtime errors. Same thing with the mushrooms falling into lava. They don't caue runtime errors, either.

Why are you trying to trick people? Is this some kind of joke? Venus Fire Traps do cause a crash if the player enters a warp that's directly above/under the plant. Mushrooms and other power-ups don't always make the game crash when they touch lava but they do sometimes.

I don't get crashes with either of these.

[Magna DominXus]

34. Effects have to have the same sprite as the npc.
35. Open levels are always great, but if that's all you do and can't figure out how else to make your level enjoyable without making it too open? Lots of slopes and varieties of blocks.

[reghrhre]

I'd just like to point out, putting Piranha Plants or Venus Fire Traps on pipes does not cause runtime errors. Same thing with the mushrooms falling into lava. They don't caue runtime errors, either.

Why are you trying to trick people? Is this some kind of joke? Venus Fire Traps do cause a crash if the player enters a warp that's directly above/under the plant. Mushrooms and other power-ups don't always make the game crash when they touch lava but they do sometimes.

I don't get crashes with either of these.

I'm pretty sure it only occurs when you play the level in game, I usually don't get an error when I play it in the editor, I guess it's random.

[Julia Pseudo]

36. Don't mix styles that obviously clash, like SMB3 and SMW. However, some of them go pretty well together, like SMB1 & 2.
37. Link can't move springboards at all. Make sure he's disabled if you need to the player to use them.
38. Levels don't need custom graphics to have good level design. Remember, SMBX had already existed for a year when custom graphics were added.

[MarioWorker12]

39. Save your levels (simply by Ctrl + S command) before using "Fill" command. You'll have to either delete all the blocks or remake the whole section if you don't, which's a huge waste of time.
40. There's a limit of 20000 blocks per level, so in bigger levels it's always better to use 64x64 or 128x128 blocks to fill in platforms. That way you can keep the amount of the blocks used in the level low, and it also helps to avoid lag.
41.

[Shadow Yoshi]

36. Don't mix styles that obviously clash, like SMB3 and SMW. However, some of them go pretty well together, like SMB1 & 2.

Speaking generally, sure, but sometimes this gets into "SMB3 and SMW always clash forever", and that's not what the word "clash" means.

[FutureNyanCat]

MarioWorker12, 41 is missing.

41. Boss battles should be fair. Attack patterns should not be hard to dodge.
42. If you are working on a fair episode, don't use levels of kaizo-intensive difficulty. Use them only in kaizo episodes, because if you include a kaizo level in a fair episode, you can't continue at all.
Fair Episode = Fair difficulty. Either easy/medium; Kaizo Episode = Kaizo/hard difficulty.

[Valtteri]

I don't get crashes with either of these.

Really? Not even the Venus Fire Trap one? That always crashes for me. Even if it doesn't crash for some you should still avoid making such situations possible in your levels.

[luizmiguel418]

I tried one time, placing a Piranha Plant on the warp pipe, on a battle level... I never get a crash, but every time that someone try to exit, he takes damage. My English is terrible...

[Valtteri]

It has to be a Venus Fire Trap and it has to fire WHILE you're warping. Otherwise it won't crash, obviously.

[m4sterbr0s]

42. The meaning of life. Avoid using realistic backgrounds in your levels; they're a guaranteed clash.
43. Always stick with the appropriate amount of pixels. Don't try to use 1x1 pixels for your graphics in a level. They also clash.
44. Use a nice pallete with both your backgrounds and tilesets. They make a level more appealing to the player.