Supershroom's Tall Tree in the Water Forest
For a fellow pure platforming level, this seems to be a nearly extreme opposite of Downfall. It is comfortable, it is spacious, it plays out smoothly with every gimmick being carefully explained by you, and most noteworthy of all, it lags. However, you missed out on avoiding the most important detail of all, which is this: it is too good at what it does.
It all starts out with a sign painter who likes contextual pleonasms, mildly unpolished speech and a has a crush on spoiling; our plumber, possessed by a platform-racing wannabe whose recklessness in gaming always sets new standards on mindless gameplay; and hundreds of innocent wild critters which, by the choice of fate, are slaughtered on the wake of the playtester.
The adventure quickly builds up to a careful and steady stroll on a beautiful park with lots of literature, which, much to Teeworlds' resemblance, is rendered devoid of thrill due to how sluggish the cameraman is. As I carried on with a surprisingly tranquil manner, I was surprised by the layout of most obstacles, such as the double platform elevator and laying down on narrow passages, even that being as obvious as it sounds. I couldn't help but notice, though, that some very specific details, like the tree standing on a mushroom platform, flat edges for water, a door for the tree entrance, unchallenging 1-UP's and smashing platforms on critical frame rate zones, just didn't work out for me. Some touch-and-go platforms, at first, also seemed to change directions without notice, or to disappear on some awkward spots. There was also some minor yet recurring cutoff, but it wasn't deserving of any penalties. And my RAM being raped on the foreground. Not to worry, however, I did worse all by myself. Oh, yeah, the song also went along with the level's style very well.
I haven't paid much attention to the last couple of competitions, but from what little I can tell, this seems to be on a new level for you. Congratulations. That was some neat brain-racking for some tricks out there, but as I said before, disregard the lag and the level was nearly rendered bland on its inner perfection, with the saving climaxes being new platform sets and walls om-nom-nom-ing the poor plumber at the brink of an inanimate moving block. Please do educate your sign painter on narrating, don't leave him lecturing the player on your precious platforming mysteries. That's the reason why I killed him on my level. And try to further polish your works (don't be afraid to ask for feedback before the deadline
(if that is even allowed, depending on who it is)), but that doesn't imply that making a safari on the Amazonian forest out of every adventure of yours is an unquestionable victory recipe.
Speaking of the devil...
Yurimaster's Red Sun Fortress
Out of the frying pan and into the fire. Nwolf is proud of you, kid.
This level, akin to Supershroom's, also raised the bar a bit too high on a few aspects. Firstly, that flame indication for triangular systems, for instance, was rather unintuitive. When I had gotten the hang of the platforms, I often didn't have time to care about where the flames were going next. At some more specific times, I couldn't even see them at the speed I had to move. What's next, the tiles were so well laid out, at some times I couldn't tell which was a foreground wall and which was a safe platform.
I need to tip off my recently purchased straw hat for your slightly more challenging 1-UP challenges and adequate usage and presentation of new flame gimmicks. The platforming, despite mildly frustrating at first, proved out to be surprisingly fluid after a few attempts, despite my not enjoying forced safe zones that much. Except for two important details. Some of your first growing fire sentries would shrink before being turned off. I don't know if that was intentional, but that was at least intriguing - it didn't seem like it was supposed to happen. Also... you used diagonal flame walls. Extensively. That is a crime, according to my officially arbitrary level designing ethics code handbook.
For the minor issue list, I hit the flame floor by the end of the first narrow passage after the level transition after the first checkpoint. I only had a quarter of the total HP, but didn't even get hurt when I was supposed to die. Also, that spot was also a bit clumsy, as Mario took every available opportunity to do what he does best at this game: be a slacker at the brink of an italian barbecue. Some specific spots also needed some extra shiny arrows. Remember those blue ones? Get them. The themes were also adequate, despite the first one's being as cliché as the ones I choose. And there's the rising flame room. A triple sentry at the middle of a high speed zone was kind of a bad call. Last but not least, the loading time was slightly friendlier, but that because I had to close everything else. Otherwise, I'd manage to get crash warnings on a level transition, and not even Shroom's level had accomplished that.
...
Man, that was one huge chunk of random text. TL;DR: Given the size of the previous paragraph, I think you could also use some early feedback on your level to avoid so many minor issues overlapping on a fancy structure. And work on continuity for dummy visitors, but keep the difficulty up.
Scores
So, without further ado, let's see how many points were the designers awarded for their crafts!
whoa that others was a bit steep. but seriously, NO DIAGONAL TOASTING. runouw didn't know how to do collision properly
by NanTheDark » October 20th, 2014, 8:48 am 
