16th Level Designer Contest

[Charcoal]

So when are the medals going to be nominated?

[GMDragon11]

Never! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! HAAAHAAAAHAHHAAAAHOOOHOOOHOOHEEHIIII!

DarkBlaze: Is he that crazy?

[MessengerOfDreams]

By the way, I just read MoD's story.

It's epic.

My story? Which... one?

[JSlayerXero]

WOW.

NEW RECORD!

Never thought I'd get 3rd from last :P

No, it wasn't even half done. For the record, the level wasn't meant to go well with the level, it was actually based directly off of the song, which is repetitive yet original at the same time. I could've picked a different song, but I couldn't even work on the level for a couple of reason. A. The computer I was using to access Runouw no longer can, B. I can't access the computer I'm using right now much at all. So in other words, the level is half finished because I couldn't even access the site, and anywhere else that hosted the game didn't load for me. But yeah, even if I did finish the level, there's no way to update it if I can't access the site now is there?

I'm not complaining or anything, to be honest, I'm surprised you judged a level that's only 4/10 done at all. So the fact I'm anywhere in the score roster is a surprise to me. The boring parts of the level are because I ran out of ideas quite early on when I was actually working on it (and I do intend to finish it one day, though that may be awhile so don't hold your breath) as such I would often use ideas as I thought of them. The white brick area actually required you to glitch through staircases at one point, and is meant to resemble a maze. It's kinda hard to make a maze with a small room so you got what you got. The desert part... Yeah it sucked, oh well :P There's no shine as the level is unfinished, and if you look at the unfinished rooms you can even see how I measured the place out so that I would know when to put the transitions as needed. Again though, the fact you guys even judged me makes me smile a little on the inside as you thought the level was 13 points even though it was still barely there (in my eyes anyways) and, to no surprise one of you didn't, which is something I expected from all of you. So thanks for the ratings, hopefully I'll be able to finish it before 2012 ends. Don't hold me on that one though.

Have a merry Christmas and God bless

~ JSlayerXero

[MessengerOfDreams]

Volcove, your judging ready? I'm eager to see ours, I didn't even know you GAVE anything higher than a 17 even.

[MessengerOfDreams]

Also if Suyo could hand out the medals for the LDC I owe him one.

[Volkove]

Sorry, got kind of distracted. Expect them a bit later today.

[MessengerOfDreams]

How daaaaare you be distracted on Christmas xD

[SuperMIC]

Also if Suyo could hand out the medals for the LDC I owe him one.

Heheh, funny how as you said that my Skype notifications said "Suyo went offline." XD

[NanTheDark]

Hi there, NanTheDark here.

I'm going to be honest with you, when I saw I got 6th place, I felt bad. I felt like punching a hole through my screen. I really wanted to get a higher place... But I guess it's ok. The levels which were higher than me surely deserve their place. I want to congratulate Nworlds for taking my place as, well, 4th place , well done, and congratulations for everyone else. And I want to thank MoD for thinking my level deserved the highest score in his judgings. And I also thank all other judges for their criticisms and other things, from which I can probably learn to be better LDer and make better levels in the future.

Without further ado, here are my totally noobish judgings:

Click!: show

MP3 Amplifier's level
*The Underground Temple*

-Fun-

The level's layout is well thought, with good platforming ideas. The enemies are well placed, and there's some good ideas for certain sections, like the area before the temple which has many ways of going through it, and the part where you go upwards. However a slight problem the level has is that there's noticeable lag in some parts. Doesn't affect that much, but still. Also, the door which leads to the blocked room seems kind of pointless, and potentially that could have been implemented in another way, making the level more puzzle-like, perhaps... And a problem I had playing through the level the first time was that there are certain level transitions which are quite hard to notice. There are walls in those parts which don't inmediately seem that they can be jumped on.

Fun Score: 7/10

-Graphics-

The graphics are actually quite good. The cave tileset is very well used, along with the block tilesets. Decorations look good, not too many but still nice. There are some cool patterns drawn in the blocks area. And the use of Shine Sprites as decoration was well thought.

Graphics Score: 5/5

-Other-

+1 The music fits. Mysterious... And quite catchy too
-0.5 Almost useless Wing Cap. That cap is used to cross over a small section, which takes few seconds. And the Wing Cap takes a quite long of time to wear off in comparison.

Other Score: 3.5/5

*Total Score: 15.5/20
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Nworlds' Level
*Ghostly Cave*

-Fun-

The level is quite well designed. The idea of the Shadow Lights is quite original, and it makes for a unique way to play. It's a challenging level, but in some parts it's a little frustrating. For example in the section where the Silver Stars are, the Shadow Lights don't always have platforms hidden in the intersections, which many times lead to the player unknowingly falling to lava. The last section is quite creative, anyways...

Fun Score: 7.5/10

-Graphics-

The graphics are quite well done. The cave tileset is used quite well, and the disabled transitions look good. Decorations are also well used when used. Lemon pie.
Graphics Score: 5/5

-Other-

+1 Song fits.
+0.5 The small detail of the block which splashes in the lava. It's just awesome.
-0.5 There's a section in the second part where if you fall off to lava, there's no way of getting back up.


Other Score: 4/5

*Total Score: 16.5/20*
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DarkBlaze's level
*Snowbound Outside the Atmosphere*

-Fun-

It's actually pretty darn fun xD The level is quite large, so there's a lot of exploration to do. Good platforming... and the use of FLUDD... it's amazing. Very good.

Fun Score: 10/10

-Graphics-

Now, graphics... the Snow Tileset is well used, and there are good decorations, but nothing too special.

Graphics Score: 4/5

-Other-

+1 Music fits.
... and I can't think of anything else.

Other Score: 4/5

*Total Score: 18/20
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Star King's Level
*Plastic Beach - Pirate Bay and Spin Palace*

-Fun-

The idea of the switches activating and disactivating blocks to continue (and sometimes requiring you to backtrack) was very good. The Spin Palace is quite well designed, with the spinning platforms being used in a multitude of ways. The Pirate Bay's platforming is not spectacular, but still pretty good.

Fun Score: 9/10

-Graphics-

Now this is where the level really shines. Incredibly detailed ships, amazing use of Beach tiles (which is quite hard to do) and all other kinds of tiles (except the white building in Part 2 which doesn't look that neat, but still), and well used decoration (windows in the palace? wow). This level looks pretty awesome.

Graphics Score: 5/5

-Other-

+1 Music fits.

*Total Score: 18/20*
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SuperMIC's level
*The Blood of Violet Hill*

-Fun-

So I start the level and go through the door that's there and... it takes me nowhere. So I take the slingstar upwards, go into the pipe and I get... nowhere! So I'm stuck in that tower with no way out.
Apparently, you didn't playtest this thing enough to notice you forgot linking the doors and pipes, making this level impossible to play through without editing it. So I add the link to what I assume is the next part is (there's a door linking to the first one, but not the opposite), I walk a little, and then I'm stuck again with no possible way to continue. No pipe, door, transition, puzzle like thing...

I'm sorry, but it's not fun at all to have to EDIT the level to make it playable, GUESSING where should the links go and other stuff.

Fun Score: 0/10. Sorry bro.

-Graphics-

Unable to play the level, I looked around it in the designer. And the graphics are just... amazing. Excellent use of tiles all around, and decorations, and some neat looking places. I can tell it took a huge amount of effort to do this.

Graphics Score: 5/5

-Other-

+0.5 Can't really be sure if the music fits, since I couldn't play through the level...
+1.5 I can tell this level took a lot of time and effort. The graphics, the story, the archievements, the level's huge... This level had all the potential to win this LDC. But if only this level was playable... It would be awesome if you fixed the links and things and posted this in the Portal. It would be awesome to play it as it was intended.

Other Score: 5/5

*Final Score: 10/20*

Post-review:

Volcove told me where the start point was supposed to be, so I managed to play the way it was intended now.

The level has a lot of story. Quite interesting story, involving Runouw and being closely connected to the song. Sadly, the gameplay isn't very fun, and while the use of traps and others is quite original, it's nothing that great.

Also it's quite frustrating that the Skeletron boss can kill instantly. Even with the checkpoints it takes a while to get back (besides the level takes a while to load...) And... I couldn't figure out how are you supposed to get past it. I skipped it.

And the puzzles afterwards... couldn't figure them out either. Maybe because I wwas checking it in a rush, maybe I'm too stupid. I dunno.

And that pipe at the end (the one with MoD) takes you nowhere. Don't know if it's supposed to be like that.

The Fun Score is changed to 5. Your Final Score is now 15.
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Karyete's Level
*Music Madness!*

-Fun-

Well... while it is kind of fun, it's incredibly short, one can go through it quite fast... there are some cool things, but nothing that great.

Fun Score: 5/10

-Graphics-

The tiles and items used kind of fit the "engine" theme of the level, but are nothing spectacular either. Quite minimalist.

Graphics Score: 2/5

-Other-

+1 Music fits.
-2 Too short.

Fun Score: 2/5

*Final Score: 9/20*
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JSlayerXero's Level
*Repetitively Original*

-Fun-

The concept is good, with the same goal for each room, but different themes. It's a nice challenge. It would have been better if you finished it however... Still it's a quite good level.

Fun Score: 7.5/10

-Graphics-

Graphics are quite nice. Not the very best, but still quite good.

Graphics Score: 4.5/5

-Other-

+1 Music fits.
-2 Incomplete level.
+1 Using invisible blocks and hiding platforms. Quite clever.

Other Score: 3/5

*Final Score: 15/20*
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Koopa Troopa's Level
*Death Day*

-Fun-

It's a quite simple red coin level, however it's a lot more linear than most would be. The upward climbing things made with the tiles seem like a good idea, but some people may not instantly notice how to go through them. The few platforming to be found isn't so bad... But it isn't anything too great either. It's quite short too, the only level shorter than this one is Karyete's

Fun Score: 6/10

-Graphics-

Nothing special. The Lava Tileset is well used, but that's pretty much it. Next time add more decoration.

Graphics Score: 2/5

-Other-

+0 In my opinion... the music doesn't fit.

Other Score: 3/5

*Final Score: 11/20*

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Volcove's Level
*Parellel Spires* (I think that might be misspelled...)

-Fun-

The level's quite challenging, but still perfectly passable. There are quite fun parts, but some are kind of frustrating... Still quite original and creative.

Fun Score: 9/10

-Graphics-

The graphics look quite good, but in some parts there's some castle tiles cutoff... I know there's no way to do it other way, because of the way those tiles are, but still looks a little weird...

Graphics Score: 4.5/5

-Other-

+1 Music Fits.

Other Score: 4/5

*Final Score: 17.5/20*

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MessengerOfDreams and Venexis' Levels
*Destinations (Our Fight is with Fate now)*

-Fun-

This has all the features to be epic. It's all about the story. We want to know what happens next, and we go on and on. The platforming is good, but sadly it isn't as epic as the story and theme are. Also there are certain points where it's hard to know what to do (in part 1, there's a part where a pipe to advance is hidden and the "clue" doesn't really help... you knoew it's there...). It's a pretty cool level, but it isn't too much fun to play...

Fun Score: 7/10

-Graphics-

Well this is just amazing. There is cut-off in some parts, but that's it. Besides some small flaws, the graphics are spectacular.

Graphics Score: 4.5/5

-Other-

+1 Music fits. You don't know how well it does.
+1 Story of Awesomeness. Just amazing.

Other Score: 5/5

*Final Score: 16.5/20

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TheMaskedOne's Level
*Turbulence*

-Fun-

The platforming is... average. In the "Under The Pressure" part, there's a good chance of Flash Player crashing. And the few times it didn't crash, the sudden blocks crashed Mario to instant death. Also, the part at the end is quite weird, and it's insanely hard (if not downright impossible) to get the Shine Sprite.

Fun Score: 5/10

-Graphics-

The graphics are nothing great for most of the level, and where you use grass tiles, there's noticeable cutoff.

Graphics Score: 2/5

-Other-

+0 Music doesn't really fit the way you intended, I think. You said the lyrics are supposed to give hints about how to advance, and there isn't really that much ("Under the pressure makes me much stronger", how does that help through those blocks?). So I'm giving no points for the music.

Other Score: 3/5

*Final Score: 10/20*

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Troll-Haunter 3457's level
*Search for the Stars*

-Fun-

The whole idea is quite good. However there are some annoying things, and that's the NaN speed rotating platforms which make you stick to them. There are some of these hidden in parts you wouldn't expect, and forces the player to restart the level as there's no way to get out of it (This could have been replaced in those cases by lava, or maybe even a bottomless pit is less annoying). Also, there's a Silver Star which because of the way a flying penguin is placed CAN'T BE GOTTEN, RENDERING THE LEVEL UNBEATABLE (I had to actually delete that penguin to get it). Besides that, it's a nice challenge. The Red Coin Challenge isn't that great, since you have to go around looking for hidden pipes all over and that's not very fun.

Fun Score: 4/10

-Graphics-

Well, I have to hand this over, the graphics are quite good. Nothing spectacular, though.

Graphics Score: 4/5

-Other-

+1 Music fits.

Other Score: 4/5

*Total Score: 12/20*

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nin10mode's Level
*Exterresta*

-Fun-

This is a incredibly challenging level. There are some parts where it's hard to tell what you have to do next, and it's SO GODDAMN HARD... but it's still quite fun.

Fun Score: 7/10

-Graphics-

Well, can't argue here. The graphics are great.

Graphics Score: 5/5

-Other-

+1 Music fits.

Other Score: 4/5

*Total Score: 16/20*

Sorry for the short review but everyone's hurrying me up

Also, I think I'll not participate in the current LDC. Too little time left... But I'll see you next time.