28th Level Designer Contest

[CedarBranch]

Isn't it a problem if you have to explain it? I'm such a hypocrite.

[~MP3 Amplifier~]

Isn't it a problem if you have to explain it? I'm such a hypocrite.

I think it was me as well who said that in a judging for one of your levels once, lol. :3

[l.m]

Well, it's time for my judgings:

1018PETER: show

1018PETER, Primetal City

Fun: 8.25/10

Very enjoyable. Act 1 had some hard and challenging platforming, with some interesting gimmicks and two paths to platform, even if in some parts it became a bit frustrating in the Red Coin path, where I fell down in some places near to the end and had to start everything again. In addition, the feel of being in a modern, rather futuristic town is a good point. However, the mix of the back tiles and the solid tiles in some places confused me a little bit. A checkpoint would be a good idea too, but overall, it was challenging and interesting.

Act 2 felt rushy and fast. The flame run at the beginning was really fun, and I liked it a lot. As for the puzzle with the Magmadon, it was fun to complete and realize what I should do, but the lag was a pain on the neck, and I had some trouble to avoid some obstacles because of it. The Big Bob-Omb challenge wasn't very fun and a little bit frustrating, though, but the blosses were very smart, and overall it was creative and difficult.

Graphics: 4.5/5

In Act 1, I could see some nice tile combinations, and the level didn’t feel boring at all. The graphics got the Urban essence properly, and I like the design of the city. But some tiles in certain places feels pointless and unfitting. Also, the water cut-off and overlapping in the Cooling Station is something bad.

As for Act 2, in some places the graphics were quite simple, but still OK, with a very hot and rushy atmosphere. However, I couldn't see or feel much of an Urban theme on it. But man, the blosses. The Big Bob-Omb. The Magmadon. All of them are pretty well made, and very beautiful.

Other: 3.65/5

+1.25 - The blosses in Act 2 were extremely creative and well made.
+0.5 - I like the concept of having two platform paths in Act 1.
-0.0 - In Act 1, "Iron Jungle" didn't fit very well, but the other music in Act 2 makes up.
-0.0 - Some kind of invisible fire burns you if you go to the left path and swim all the way down, in the Cooling Station. This is not something very important, though.
-0.25 - Don't get me wrong, but where's the Urban theme in Act 2? I know it was part of the city and whatnot, but there wasn't any element I could find to identify as something Urban.
-0.75 - In Act 2, at the start of the Big Bob-Omb challenge, you can easily skip all of it by simply using the yellow big moving block to push you up and send you to the top of the path. Then, you just have to go forward and get the Shine Sprite.

OVERALL: 16.5/20

KABOOM: show

KABOOM, KoopaCorp™

Fun: 7.75/10

I must admit, I had a really fun time playing your level. I enjoyed the different challenges and the varied platforming of every floor and talking with the koopas was an interesting experience. Even the trivia part was fun, but annoying because I had to know about minor details in every floor. Sometimes, the platforming felt cheap and frustrating too, because some of the moving blocks were fast.

Graphics: 3.75/5

I'm actually surprised on how simple but beautiful the level is, graphic-wise. The tiles fit nicely the atmosphere, revealing a real modern urban corporation. Some tiles didn't work at all or didn't fit the theme in some places, you could improve them a little bit more, but overall it's great. Try to use some more different tile combinations to give the level a better look in the future and it'll be wonderful.

Other: 4.1/5

+0.5: When I was trying to start with an idea to this LDC, I couldn't think of anything, only cities and towns. You came with a great idea of making a modern corporation. Very creative, gotta say.
+0.25: Excellent music choice. It really fits with the level, giving a relaxing atmosphere.
+0.25: No lag and no loading time.
+0.1: OMFG THERE WAS TWO KOOPAS SITTING ALONE AND THEY'RE SO LONELY OMG I'M GOING TO CRY NOW

OVERALL: 15.6/20

COINSHOWER: show

COINSHOWER, Mushroom City

Fun: 3.25/10

In the "Fun" aspect, the level is very weak. "The level didn't look like it took a whole lot of effort to make."

First of all, I just want to give you an advice: It's not possible to reach the beginning of your level. While taking a quick look at the first part, I thought it was a secret part of the level or something. But when I took a look at it using the Level Editor, I couldn't see any way of reaching it. No doors, or pipes. So, a big part of the level is lost, and it feels small.

Secondly, no enemies or hazards. The level is just very easy and lacks challenge, because there isn't anything to kill you, only the abyss. Also, weak platforming. Basically, your level just consists of jumping over blocks and using sling stars. Nothing really creative or interesting. But at least it had some platforming and coins to collect.

Overall, it's pretty short, lacks challenge to keep the player hooked and it's too easy for experienced players, and I really couldn't enjoy it.

Graphics: 1.75/5

Before I played the level, I was expecting a real Mushroom City: Houses, modern buildings, people to talk with, various Urban elements. But I couldn't feel the "Urban" theme. To be honest, the set of tiles, the decoration items and the structure of the level just remember me it wasn't a real city. Actually, it felt very ugly. The houses didn't look like real houses (where are the windows? the doors? people living inside them?), the cars(?) didn't look like cars and the street was just a bunch of Desert Bricks, with no tile combination or something interesting.

I don't really have much to say, but the Graphics are boring and not creative. No cutoff, right, but it wasn't good either.

Other: 3/5

+0.5: No lag, no bugs, Zero loading time. Nice.
-0.25: Seriously, what was that "car" thing you made with moving blocks? It didn't look like a car at all.
-0.25: Part of your level is unplayable.

OVERALL: 8.5/20

SUPERSHROOM: show

SUPERSHROOM, Futuristic Dream

Fun: 7/10

Wow. Now that's what I call a big Level Series. Even if there's only 3 parts, man, it felt like an entire week to beat them all.

It was an interesting experience. I must admit, the storyline was good and it kept me into the feelings of a futuristic dreamy city, exactly as the title says. Using Runouw Users as characters was cool, though I'd be even more innovative and interesting if you invented your own names and implemented them into your story. Also, the end came a bit abruptly, because I was expecting what happened after I killed the clone, but it was a dream, so I can sort of understand.

ALSO WHY DIDN'T YOU USE BRANDO AND CHAU IN THE STORYLINE IT WOULD BE WAY MORE FUNNIER

As for the platforming, it was pretty challenging, and I loved to explore the city and collect the Red Coins in Act 1. I took a lot of time to finish Act 3 though, because it was extremely hard, and every time I died in the Daredevil Challenge I had to start everything again, so it was very stressful and frustrating for me. The large loading time and all the AFP crash warnings didn't help either, and they were one of the reasons that it felt like an entire week to beat it all, and it would be way more helpful if you could implement checkpoints not only in Act 3, but in Act 1 and 2 too, because if you commit a single error and die, you have to load it all again, meaning more loading time, more AFP crashing messages and more stress of having to go through all of that again.

On the other side, though, I see you used various innovative concepts, and they really helped to improve the platforming experience. It never felt cheap in any way and it was very challenging, but some other mistakes and the big loading time ruins the experience.

Graphics: 4.75/5

The Graphics were simply... colorful. Smart tile combinations everywhere. My eyes couldn't handle so many colors *dies of heart stroke* No but seriously, it was very beautiful and differentiated. The structure of the city was great and really looked like a futuristic city. Disabled items everywhere and a lot of decoration gave your level a beautiful look.

But, I must say something though: Levels aren't only made of tile combinations and details. You could have used more simple graphics to improve the gameplay, or even the loading time. But, nevertheless, it was awesome. Congratulations.

Other: 2/5

-0.25: Even if you say that in the online version all signs are readable, in Act 1 the first sign still can't be fully read, as well as some other signs in Act 1 and Act 3.
-0.25: The story was great, but I really didn't like the abrupt ending. I was expecting something more, because I took a long time to play and feel involved with the story.
-0.5: Extreme loading time. Also, sometimes the framerate went very low, even using a good computer.

OVERALL: 13.75/20

[Supershroom]

Score corrections: We start out with 3 points in the other section and not with 2.5, so everyone has an extra +0.5 from FF.

So the scores are: 15.65 for KABOOM, 15.17 for me, 14.94 for Peter and 8.56 for Coinshower.

[MessengerOfDreams]

Hold up, you're doing math wrong.

Shroom should have a 2 in Other. 3 minus .25, .25, and .5 is 2. So your score for him should be 13.75, for an overall total of 15.125. Not nearly enough to score a win, but higher

Good call Shroom, you ♥♥♥♥ Ninja

[l.m]

I always thought it started in 2.5

♥♥♥♥ ME AND MY LIFE

[~MP3 Amplifier~]

I always thought it started in 2.5

♥♥♥♥ ME AND MY LIFE

Nah, logically it should start at 2.5, but it's just a bit more complicated adding and taking off points from a decimal number. So to be kind and give the benefit of the doubt, we round up to 3.

And don't worry, we all learn somewhere.
On the note of embarrassing judging mistakes, I remember in the 16th LDC on my first ever judging experience only giving Destinations a 16.3/20, and sooner or later it became my favourite series of all time and I would give it close to an 18 now if I could, heh

[MessengerOfDreams]

1018peter

Fun: 7.75/10

There was some pretty good platforming. The dual paths will bear the brunt of my complaints later, but it does make for some interesting elements to the level and some replay value. The platforming was pretty basic, nothing overly fancy, but it got the job done for the most part, although some spots were pretty frustratingly difficult, but I get that was the intention and it wasn’t to an extreme, so whatever. No biggie.

The dual paths really threw me the hell off, because it made the level so confusing. I would start on a top path, fall to the bottom, and on some rare occasions, vice-versa. The level’s tiling was also really confusing because I couldn’t tell what was solid and what was fall-through, and there were also some points where I couldn’t really tell where to hop or where to go, leading to me being confused in that regard. Regardless, it was a pretty entertaining level with some noticable flaws.

Now onto part 2, which I forgot existed until I was halfway done in the review. The flame room, that was a really cool concept and it matched the speedy tendencies of the level given by the Turbo Fludd. However, the flames were a little too fast, and while a challenge is good, they went so fast there was no way to properly control and measure my jumping. Maybe I am just a plebe in the presence of a god of SM63 playing, but when I have to start by immediately going right and holding up to not get squished, whilst immediately jumping ahead of the flames before I even know what’s ahead of me (the all-red platforming helps literally zero) it prooooobably could be tuned down just an eensy weensy bit.

The first boss is pretty decent. Not the best, not horrible, passable but pretty well done. After that, the platforming section that follows is actually pretty great. It’s definitely the smoothest part of the level, and the incorporation of the rocket FLUDD is pretty neat.

Then we get to the final boss, which, while it does somewhat suffer from the same too-fast difficulty spike, is supposed to be the trickiest part of the level, and it’s actually pretty clever as well, so it’s a good finale. The two levels had their ups and downs, but I feel like flaws aside, the second level bumps it up to a quite-above-par series.

Graphics: 4/5

I know ever since Runouw’s first ever level Lava Lair was rediscovered, there’s been an affinity with the patchwork tiling method- that is, freely combining various tiling styles in a unique mishmash. It can work pretty well when done right, and this does look pretty good, but I feel like you went a little overboard to the point where I couldn’t tell the structure from the background, and it looked kind of messy. Part two was significantly better in that regard, if not a little too monochromatic, but I get the idea you’re going for, so it’s not too bad, just a little boring after awhile. The Bob-Omb King looks pretty snazzy, though.

Other: 2.5/5

+.5 Good choices in some of the alternate music, but if you give me five songs in one level odds are I will not stop the level just to put on a new song. Just an FYI, I’m not docking points for it because it’s alternate music.

-1 Yeah, you know how I mentioned my beef with the dual paths of Part 1? The thing is, it made the level pretty unbeatable before I even knew it. You have to get all the red coins or all the silver stars to beat the level, right? Well, when the paths are already so confusing having to swear to one path means I’m gonna be ♥♥♥♥ out of ♥♥♥♥’ luck pretty damn quick. If you hadn’t made that a priority and in fact made it easier to weave between paths, the level would be so much more enjoyable. They hold the level back not only in being unable to beat it properly, but it restricts the player to two ways of play, not infinite ones like Star king’s various multipath levels.

+.25 I do like the trick to the boss level, even if it can come from a forced death.

-.25 If you post a video of you being able to take the first checkpoint of part 2 I’ll give you bacon if you can still do that on Runouw. Otherwise I will assume it is ♥♥♥♥ impossible.

Overall: 14.25/20

The average score doesn’t really indicate an average level- it’s a good one held back by the draconian structure of the two-path system and some design flaws both graphically and in playability. Touch those up and I think you’ve got a half-decent level for yourself.

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Kaboom:

Fun: 9.25/10

Wow, okay, so. This was a pretty inspired concept. The platforming itself wasn’t top tier but this level was fun in a lot of unique and quirky ways. The exploration factor was the main draw, as well as the sort of bizarre interconnective behavior of the level and how everything connected. The platforming was fun despite not exactly being revolutionary. Finally, this level was funny not only in how well it played the gimmick, but just in several laugh-out-loud moments from the various characters, the fourth wall breaks, and things like that. I’m not sure if others will enjoy the concept as much as I did, but I think this is a top tier level. Very reminiscent of Fourinone, actually.

Graphics: 4.25/5

While some of it was rather bland to fit the gimmick, and others a bit too oddly technicolor, they’re some solid graphics. I’d say just less of random stuff in the air. The roof in particular was really pretty.

Other: 4/5

+1: The music was one of the best alternate choices ever, and it made the level, and the normal music choice was just as great.

-.5 I don’t see how exactly we were to figure out where to get the cafeteria coin.

+.5 Thanks for the ass-saving platformers on the roof. I’m very happy in particular that you made a tricky level without needless deaths.

Overall: 17.5/20

A really fun gimmick of a level that worked to your advantage.

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Coinshower:

Fun: 5/10

Yeah, every LDC has a level that shows a designer that still has a ways to grow. You had some pretty neat concepts here that show above-average intentions, but they were held back by a very basic platforming scheme involving just jumping across things. Needed a little more to win an LDC.

Graphics: 2/5

Mushroom City? This looked like… not really anything at all, to be honest. At the beginning you had solid design choices but the ending looked so freakin’ rushed. The structures looked too shallow, too basic, or too nothing.

Other: 2.25

+.25 the rainbow star challenge was pretty good

-1: You started me off in the wrong place and it confused the ♥♥♥♥ out of me.

Overall: 9.25/20

Every contest has a level that doesn’t pan out, and it happened to be you this time. You know what you wanna do, and you have some pretty big aspirations, but now you gotta learn to make the level live up to them.

-------------
Supershroom

Fun: 9/10

Where the ♥♥♥♥ was this Supershroom LAST time?

Jeeeeeeeeeeeesus.

This series certainly wasn’t flawless but it was pretty damn fantastic. What held back your last series was poor execution of great concepts. You tidied up your levels significantly. The challenges were fun, not too ballbreakingly difficult, and the environment was a lot of fun as well. The story, well I’ll pick that over in other but it added to the level pretty well. Overall, it was a pretty big success as a series, significantly moreso than your past level.

Graphics: 5/5

Yeah, that was some top-tier graphics there. Not only did it look amazing, it created a unique environment, especially in levels 1 and 2. Level 3 did look moreso like a typical castle level, but a great looking one. Levels 1 and 2 created ♥♥♥♥ I doubt could ever be replicated. Very, very well done.

Other:3.75/5

+.5 Great alt music choices.
+.25 The red coin mission is really great and adds a lot of replay value, but I don’t see what it gains you to do it?
-.5 Yeah, there are more than a few instances where I’m just like “you think higher of my platforming skills than you really should.” I ran into this problem a LAHHHHT with EoT, where I knew my own skills could make it but I forgot to factor in normal people who don’t know the secrets to my level, and that’s largely why I lost. Yours isn’t a very severe case, but things like the chase scenes requiring me to stop, read signs, hit pipes, go down, figure out how to hit the switch, that did kind of throw me off.
The story:
+1.5 for a solid story all-around, it contributed to the level pretty significantly.
-.25 However, I feel like it struggled in a couple of ways. The first is that none of the characters feel distinct, or very much like us. I think you’ve been here long enough to get a sense of our personalities. Hell, you and I have been at odds more than enough to the point I’m surprised no one ironically nominated us for best friendship in RV2015. If the story had developed all five of us as more distinct rather than sort of plot devices for the story, I’d have not addressed it, and if you’d matched us to our Runouw.com characters better, you’d get a higher score.
-.25 I feel like in the long dialogues it doesn’t quite sound natural, just like you’re throwing out as much plot detail as humanly possible.
-.5 It ended reeeeeeeally poorly with “it was just a dream”. And trust me, of all people, I beat the ♥♥♥♥ out of the dream plots. Destinations, Dark, and their sequels to an extent, I love bending reality and making stories out of it, but if you’re gonna do “it was just a dream” you gotta do it right, and when I just ended up back in my bed, my heart sank through to my knees. It sooooo killed my vibe, man, I was waiting to see how the situation resolved and you dropped a piano on my soul.

Overall: 17.75/20

A marked improvement from past levels, and still has some places you could touch up to make it even better.

Needless to say, despite the middling reception from the other judges, I was over the moon with the top 2, and they're both in WITBLO14 for sure. I think Kaboom's level was super clever and one of the funniest I've ever played, and while I think Shroom suffers from mild versions of the same problems he did last time, he did still have a phenomenal series and a fantastic improvement from before.

[Supershroom]

I'll probably make a better ending of Act 3 for WITBLO, maybe in the way of Ayrayen's Keel's Hatred. I've ended that abruptly because not only I wanted to close the circle to the start of Act 1, I've guessed the ending would be clear enough to be thought by the player - the clone is dead, the evil is defeated, everyone's happy, I'm brought back to my time with many goodbye's and farewells.

And I've named the characters according to the special roles/abilities they're known for - Amp as the ruler, MoD as the writer etc. It wasn't my intention to display their characters with words (which I generally suck at ), but I'll definitely try to consider that next time I make a level with Runouw characters. I've found that to be pretty fun.

EDIT: The red coin mission actually gains "nothing" but it makes the level more challenging and adds extra platforming (like you've basically said). It's just optional so people can also take a fast route without missing anything important of the story.

[1018peter]

Well,I admit,I kinda deviated from the theme with the Act 2. I was hoping to achieve the effects of "Industrial Area" of the city,but I kinda went too wild and made it more of a fortress.