- This post by MessengerOfDreams was thumbed up by:
- Supershroom (September 19th, 2014, 3:22 am)
The New Collection of MoD's Levels
Moderator: Level Moderator
Forum rules
We ask that you post individual levels in the Level Portal and leave this for collections. You can start off with three levels, just like Level Series.
Level Portal is right here!
We ask that you post individual levels in the Level Portal and leave this for collections. You can start off with three levels, just like Level Series.
Level Portal is right here!
The New Collection of MoD's Levels
Thumbs up x1 
by MessengerOfDreams » November 14th, 2012, 5:27 pm
Welcome to my new collection of levels. Here, only the best are recorded, the most successful. That is to say, the 15 that have brought least shame to my name.
I hope that you'll take the time to check out any levels you haven't yet. As I go through and fix some of the bigger names, I'll let you know. There's a short little fact sheet for each one, and later I'll go through and ♥♥♥♥ about the history a little bit. Each level has an outsourcing link to cause you as little trouble as possible loading the things. At the bottom, I'll put a few details about a future project.
Thank you for your time.
15. Finis
"[Finis] serves a reminder that the past will eventually pass us by and remain lost in history, and while the earlier experiences are indeed referenced here and there, it won't be long before they will abandoned and forgotten in favor of newer, modern creations." ~Volcove
Initial Release Date: July 13th, 2011
Overall Score from Competition Entered: 14.58
Accolades/Placements: It placed only 11th in the 14th LDC (Pure Platformer) but has been appreciated as an underrated gem by a designer every now and again.
The Great Gimmick: Retraversing SMB World 1-1 at the end of the world.
Most Memorable Moment: The ruined castle and flagpole
Finis was a level more about a concept than any glory I could obtain. I found the alternate music (Time by Hans Zimmer in 8-bit) and ran with it. Via my own rules, because I'm a ♥♥♥♥♥ like that, I couldn't tell a story (although this was before my obsession with story levels) so I told it visually, taking the basic structure of 1-1 and decimating it by apocalyptic forces unseen, with an ending that should explain things. It was easy to make, and it even placed in the top 10 of a 24 person contest, but this is more the baseline of when my levels stopped flat-out sucking and started being of quality. I haven't made a level that bad score-wise since, even in the humiliating forays into 25quared LDCs. There are other levels where I question what others see in them, and levels where my execution didn't live up to concept, but after making this level I was done with the olden days where I couldn't break 13 and my levels were flat-out ♥♥♥♥. Of course, at this time, my best solo attempt was a level with a trillion red coins and no tiles so w/e, I still had a ways to go.
14. Such Great Heights
"The overall feel is excellent, and is easy to get into without getting bored. The difficulty is a mix of a bit easy and a big challenging, but doesn't veer too far in either direction to be a problem. The platforming aspect is reasonable for the most part, and the storyline aspect fits in without any notable flaws, and even includes Fludd usage, 1-ups and other hidden goodies to keep the player guessing. As such, this kind of recipe simply works well."~Volcove
Initial Release Date: September 7th, 2011
Overall Score: 14.86
The Plot: From another planet, the confident, eccentric Captain Mario Drake explores this strange world to get to the highest point in the sky to reach the Shine Sprite, the universe's fabled unobtainable object.
Accolades and Placements: Grabbed the green ribbon (6th place) from the 15th LDC (Earth and Sky)
The Great Gimmick: Capt. Mario Drake's Logs throughout his journey to the Shine.
Most Memorable Moment: The ship in the beginning and the giant mushroom maze
Personal Favorite Moment: The Miner's Village in Such Great Heights
Can You Find: The secret chance house and the correct exit within, or the hidden bonus underneath?
Such Great Heights. Such great disaster. At the time I was aching for an individual win. I thought bigger was better, and to be fair, there was a great big concept behind it. Capt. Drake traveling a planet with giant trees and mushroom mazes and western towns and mines and snow bridges and sky kingdoms for a Shine Sprite? That part of the level, the idea, that carried over well. However... the execution was sloppy. No checkpoints, for a 999 long level, lots of sloppy gameplay, little polish to the lag, and the graphics were either unchecked or just ♥♥♥♥ crazy cutoffed. Not only that but the font of the level was too microscopic tiny to read. I have sometimes considered polishing this level and splitting it into five-to-seven parts, but I think it'd take a lot to make that happen. Still, if you want to just see what it was, give it a look. Maybe you'll see a few pearls in this ♥♥♥♥.
13. Treasure in the Atmosphere
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"The level happened to be really enjoyable. The length of it was just right, and it was low difficulty. I love those kinds of levels."~Yoshi Boo 118
Initial Release Date: April 21, 2010
Overall Score: 15.5
Accolades/Placements: Placed 5th in the 7th LDC (Hidden Treasure), arguably the most talented LDC in history next to the 16th, 18th and 20th.
The Great Gimmick: Using no tiles, I created a platformer going straight up and back down where you must collect more than a hundred red coins to access the shine sprite.
Treasure in the Atmosphere is (retroactively) my first ribboning entrant. In the 7th LDC, one of the best LDCs ever, with the top two levels of 2010 placing 2nd and 4th. I placed 5th, just under Zeb and just over Aznchau. Which is weird because the level is ♥♥♥♥ awful and literally every other level in the top 6 was godly. The gimmick is based off of old portal levels where there was nothing but items, generally the only time I was a step higher than dog ♥♥♥♥. I did that EVERYWHERE and did it big and slapped the theme on it like a bad brand. It's just a weird ♥♥♥♥ level I don't talk about much.
12. Memory Lane
"I can’t deny- this is one of the most enjoyable levels I’ve ever played." ~MP3 Amplifier
Initial Release Date: April 23, 2012
Overall Score: 15.5
The Plot: After his death, Mario is taken to Memory Lane, where he revisits landmark moments of his past and faces them before moving on.
Accolades/Placements: Placed 3rd in the 19th LDC (Death).
The Great Gimmick: A hub room with unmarked doors that led to six different flashbacks.
Most Memorable Moment: The replication of Peach's Castle
Personal Favorite Moment: The hub room itself.
Can You Find: The hidden storybook?
Memory Lane, finally an entrant I really like. I don't think I expected to win; this was really a breather level after Dark took all my energy. It was part of a 6 LDC streak of designing. It got third, but wasn't really anything special, but I like it. It's really fueled by the music track, with a concept that continued my fascination with mortality, especially in the league of Mario's universe. It had both references to Mario's universe and his potential story. It wasn't as successful, but it was progression, and it's pretty nifty. I'd already proven I can do bad all by myself, and this was just for the hell of it.
11. Echoes of Time
Release Date: August 25,st 25, 2014
Overall Score: 15.9325
The Plot: Adventurer Cyril Josif is sent to explore the Hanging Seas with the assistance of Shyguy guide Roa Akiva to retrieve her culture’s final shine sprite, but along the way things go off plan when a mysterious temple that didn’t exist before interrupts their path, bringing forth many unknown consequences.
Accolades/Placements: Tied second place in the 27th LDC (Water), a spot in WITBLOAT’s top 50 and WITBLO14.
The Great Gimmick: Hanging/Space water dynamics, my most intricate story yet, two final levels- dark and light, a sequel to Dark.
Most Memorable Moment: Shooting into the first part of the Hanging Seas.
Personal Favorite Moment: The ending of 3A.
Can You Find: The 2.5th ending?
Echoes of Time is a blight on my record, but also a lesson I needed to learn. I got cocky, that's really all I can say. Cocky, and frustrated, which is a fatal mix. I was not only sick of losing, but sick of designing being in a slump and I wanted to make something huge, amazing, that in my own words to Nwolf the contest runner, would “top Dark”. I got a bug-ridden entrant that only got up to not-even-sixteen points because it was the most intricate story I'd ever incorporated. I love that story, and I don't even think the level series is that bad, but it's too personally humiliating to go back to all that often. I wish I'd have done better than I did instead of relying on faith in ideas that were woefully inadequate. There were ideas here that I'd try again, but overall it's just a lesson I needed to learn: design for passion, not out of an arrogant sense of gaining accomplishment, or you're ♥♥♥♥.
10. Niveau Victorieux Galaxy
"I thoroughly enjoyed this level. I had a real great time and the amazing thing was that even when I died, I looked forward to starting the level again." ~MP3 Amplifier
Initial Release Date: October 14, 2011
Overall Score: 15.95
What's The Big Idea? None, really. This is a pure platformer level, something that is increasingly rare from me.
Accolades and Placements: Beat Venexis in the 1st ever Level Designer Duel, Space-themed. Also placed 15th in WITBLO11.
Most Memorable Moment: The giant cave snake platform in the first transition.
Can you find: the hidden pipe with the secret area?
Niveau Victorieux Galaxy, or how to make your weird-ass platformer sound elegant with excessive French. This and the next level coming up were in a weird part of 2011 between my combined success with Venexis in Destinations and my quest to still make a good solo work after my past failures and after Such Great Heights bombed. This isn't an extraordinary level, but it was the first ever duel against my main man Venexis. I wanted to make a level for the fun of it, and you can really get that sandbox sense. It's messy in some areas but fantastic in others, and you can see my growth as a designer somewhere between both the grand and ugly.
9. Roaming Celsius Luminary
"For such a mission, it plays out reasonably well, and the hunt overall covers a number of areas and obstacles, yet don't really get frustrating because the overall level set up is reasonably intuitive." ~Volcove
Overall Score: 16.08
Accolades and Placements:
Initial Release Date: December 9th, 2011
Overall Score: 16.08
The Plot: Mario visits the Roaming Celsius Luminary, a snow-covered scientist's observatory in Space that is being melted from the inside out by a shine sprite.
Accolades/Placements: Placed a tied second in the 17th LDC (Winter) and came in 8th in WITBLO11.
The Great Gimmick: A Super-Mario-Galaxy hub feel with a quirky story-driven adventure.
Most Memorable Moment: The giant glacier wall the main hall is built around.
Personal Favorite Moment: Where all the penguins fall down with you into the second half of the level.
Can You Find: The one place the penguins are where there is NO Silver Star to grab?
Roaming Celsius Luminary. I entered this for the 17th LDC, and I'm thrilled that it didn't win because Frost Glade is still an all time personal favorite. It's an odd duck in a career of odd ducks; extremely unpolished but developing my tone, which had never really happened up until that point. The messy aspects are hard to look past, but I really made this out of a love for designing. Trying new things, playing with the idea of characters, paying tribute to one of my biggest inspirations in fourinone, and further developing a very in-process design aesthetic that could truly belong to me. It's on WITBLOAT, which is very weird, but while it's not my first choice for anyone new to my levels, it's one I owe a lot to, and can't really be that hard on. I didn't start out as a super-talented legend, and I'm not 100% there anyways- even with some work getting acclaim I'm constantly growing, but even growing pains deserve respect.
8. Sliverfall Cove/Marina Ruins
"I'm not too fond of water based levels, and very few games have gotten them right. However, within the limits of SM63, you have done a spectacular job." ~Buffooner
Overall Score: 16.27
Accolades and Placements: Placed 1st in the 21st LDC on the Cave side and second in the overall ratings.
Initial Release Date: September 26, 2012
Overall Score: 16.27
Accolades/Placements: Placed 1st in the 21st LDC on the Cave side and second in the overall ratings.
The Great Gimmick: Divided into several classic Mario gimmicks with a SM63-style block boss at the end, the Taranichile (tuh-rah-ni-chILe), a giant underwater Ice Spider.
Most Memorable Moment: The beginning cave scene and the graphics within.
Personal Favorite Moment: How well the scrolling room in Marina turned out.
Can You Find: The secret exit within Sliverfall?
Sliverfall Cove and Marina Ruins! Wow, this was fun to create. I set out to prove a lot- I faced off against Buffooner, someone critical of my storytelling take on Miyamoto games and had just scored a victory with one of the highest scoring pure platformers ever. He made a story series, and I made a storyless platformer, which was this. It has some of the rough testing edge to it, but this time, more confident. My only block boss is here, and it's a mess, but I ♥♥♥♥ love that I made it. I pulled tricks here that I never had before, some never since. The design aesthetic is everything I wanted and I managed to make everything work. It's a low-profile piece I grow prouder of over time- it's not my best, but I went outside my comfort zone and it worked.
7. Escapists (Click Here For Part Two)
"You really know how to blend gameplay and story telling. I like how the level itself is used to tell the story, such as when your character finds a way to escape the base in the beginning, and when he is captured in that cage by the enemies. The level itself was pretty easy, but much of the enjoyment comes from taking it easy, looking at the scenery, listening to the music, and reading the story." ~fourinone
Release Date: June 19, 2012
Overall Score: 16.5
The Plot: A sequel to my writing piece Viva La Vida, the story follows James as he escapes from his army to reunite with his lover, fellow soldier Kati.
Accolades/Placements: The honor of being pounded into the pavement by Into The Depths in a private duel that spawned the megahit's completion.
The Great Gimmick: The most seamless blend yet of storytelling and platforming, concluded with a surprise final challenge with an unlikely ally.
Most Memorable Moment: The most memorable moment is also the most controversial: the ride on Isadora past the final battle wall. While some found it to be highly innovative, some thought it dampened the level heavily. Regardless, it was the most memorable subject at hand.
Personal Favorite Moment: Regardless, I thought that to be a great achievement on my part, controversy and all.
Can You Find: The (rather useless) health tree in part one?
The Escapists, with a mediocre first level and an amazing second level. Knowing Volkove was gonna bust out Into The Depths against me, I knew I’d have to essentially recreate Dark to match him, so I didn’t; just worked on my own old design. Him finishing ITD was more important than whatever my piece was anyway. It wasn’t the fanciest level, but it really pushed forward just how much of an influence music had on me. Gimme a little Coldplay and a little Flo and the Mo, and you get this. Level 2 has some of my most advanced work at the time, my first ♥♥♥♥ with flamethrowers and thwomps and what have you, and what I still consider to be one of my most unique finales. It’s a personal story continuing off of an original writing piece, and it’s a nifty little run-through. In a capsule, that’s what my personal style is.
7. A Farewell to Arms
by Vesoralla, ft me
Release Date: November 4, 2015
Overall Score: 16.82
The Plot: The main character is haunted by visions of ShyGuys demanding him to repent while trying to escape a war-torn land
Accolades/Placements: Second place in the 30th LDC to Fake Reality
The Great Gimmick: None really that I can remember- I just remember writing the story in a notebook then a script writer app. Also, Roa (Echoes of Time) and Morea are supposed to be the same character, showing how time evolves all beings.
Most Memorable Moment: The baptism scene in general
Personal Favorite Moment: Writing the story was insanely fun, maybe I oughta stick to that
Can You Find: The helicopter before it should be found? (The judges sure did!)
Yeah, really while I did the story, the extraneous bits, and the entire second level, very largely this is a work of Veso. He was a personal favorite designer of mine who I was thrilled to see back, and the 17th LDC was a great example of us- my best bit is storytelling and his is platforming. I wrote the story and he designed largely how I said, but if there's something in the first and third level you liked, it was him. And it was probably the first or third- my part had a lot of bugs the judges caught though we were never catching Fake Reality plus Veso got his highest score in an LDC. The story is one I am VERY proud of, even if it wasn't my most successful. It might have been weird, confusing, and open ended to the judges but it's as close as we get to a real story of mine that I'd write out of the game- and my writing is all of those things. I got diagnosed with lymphoma around the time this ended so I don't feel bad about my lesser involvement- like, cancer is the ultimate excuse dude- but as it stands despite it not really being my level I feel a personal attachment to it more than any other level.
6. Sympathy For The Devil
"In parts 2 and 4, the platforming is clearly visible. The graphics are almost perfect,liked a lot the way that you mixed the tiles,(in the first and the bonus level specially)the use of all the themes in one fitted very well together,what is hard.Good job. The history is very good, liked the way that you put Mario in the history." ~Yurimaster
Release Date: August 8, 2013
Overall Score: 16.93
The Plot: A secret sequel to Destinations, this story follows a body switching scheme where you play as Bowser stuck as Mario.
Accolades/Placements: Barely missing out on first place in the 25th LDC, the level still scored everyone else's highest scores in the LDC, and came in third in WITBLO13.
The Great Gimmick: Playing as Bowser inside Mario, more dreamy dream ♥♥♥♥. Mild terraforming.
Most Memorable Moment: I'd say my theory behind Bowser's history, in the entire third level, is pretty memorable.
Personal Favorite Moment: The (formerly hidden) final level is a very emotional one for me.
Can You Find: Kamek briefly lecturing young Bowser?
Sympathy for the Devil is… such an anomaly. I can’t decide how I feel about it, or if it’s all it’s cracked up to be. It very nearly won the 25th LDC, and it got all the highest scores, and especially compared to some of my past levels it’s a great piece, but being an obvious sequel means it’s not gonna quite live up to expectations. And while it was #3 on WITBLO13 I still find it hard to digest because it was the first sign that I couldn’t quite live up to my heyday. Regardless, it’s my most unique story, so that’s pretty cool, and the challenges were a major step up in my growth as a designer. I think the problem was that creatively I had some hardship, as shown by the cliffhanger ending. I struggled between deciding a final boss battle or a cliffhanger that says everything, and when I couldn’t think of a boss I just went for that. I’d come to find that during that time in my life I was struggling hard with depression, as well as several extreme adjustments in my life, so my heart wasn’t in it as much. For that reason I can’t decide whether this was truly a success or not.
5. Challenge Summit
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"This level was great. It awed and inspired me how you perfectly mixed storyline, platforming, and other challenges to create an epic level." ~SuperMIC
Accolades and Placements: In the failed 1st Annual Designer's Tournament in 2011, it faced off against nin10mode's Blizzid Canyon and won.
Release Date: Febuary 20, 2011
Overall Score: 17.125
The Plot: Mario climbs a mountain. Easy peasy, only it's neither easy nor peasy.
Accolades/Placements: In the failed 1st Annual Designer's Tournament in 2011, it faced off against nin10mode's Blizzid Canyon and won.
Trivia: This level was the first effort I made after Alignments, and was where I personally tested moving blocks for the first time.
Most Memorable Moment: The giant (laggy) ice cave which used techniques I repeated in RCL.
Can You Find: The secret exit?
Challenge Summit… what the ♥♥♥♥? How did this get… what?... you guys see this level, right? It’s pretty janked. It was my first solo effort after the surprise success of Alignments of Fate, and I was still in the phase where I didn’t realize “just because you can doesn’t mean you should.” And I tried some things that made massive lag, sloppy obstacles, or other such problems, and apparently it won the LDT match against Nin10mode with THIS HIGH of a score? And got an 18.5 in the portal to boot?...were you guys okay? It’s a fun little lookback but, BY GOD, was it bad. It was baaaaaaaad. A relic of its time, and by no way my best non-winning level.
4. Destinations (ft Venexis)
"You can tell that both makers put their all into it, for each of their individual styles are quite evident, between MoD's for storytelling and Ven's creativity with block monster creation, along with everything inbetween. It breaks apart an absurd number of barriers in the process, achieving something that easily stands out from almost everything else, yet at the same time remains an enjoyable Mario platformer at its heart. Sure, it takes a rather dark, unsettling turn as a whole, but that is what makes it so tantalizing and mesmerizing to me. It is the sort of level and story that keeps you guessing what will happen next, and how it will all be resolved." ~Volcove's speech for it when it won WITBLO11
Release Date: November 20, 2011
Overall Score: 17.23
The Plot: Haunted by visions of the destruction of the world, Mario traverses into the place he believes to be the catalyst of the fall. There, he meets an ally who is not all that he seems to be.
Accolades/Placements: Won the 16th LDC (Musical Moods), was voted best level in Runouw Votes Winter 2012, was named the Best Level of 2011, had highest score of any level in 2011, has been named as the favorite level of MP3 Amplifier and second favorite of Lordpat's.
The Great Gimmick: Primarily a gigantic dreamscape that levels one and three take place in.
Most Memorable Moment: Many of those dream visions, such as the 360 degree Ghost House, the floating words and Venexis' nameless block monster.
Personal Favorite Moment: Crossroads Castle. By far the greatest graphical creation I've ever taken part in.
Destinations. What can I say? Alignments was a success, but even then I figured a lot of it was on the back of Venexis, who was a wizard at designing. Consider this: his best work at the time was one of the most famous SM63 series ever. My best work at the time was a level where I threw items in space. I’ll dish on Alignments later, but Destinations was my first level worth being proud of what I did. The vision I had became more than just a vision, and while Venexis’ work was irreplaceable, I was able to keep time with him. The art direction was unique, the story was unparalleled, the music incorporation was badass, the gameplay was up to par, and the technical work was ace. It still felt like a fluke at the time, but it was still a passion project borne of strife and hardship, a source of therapy in an unjust time of my life where I could still remember where I was and what I was listening to when I planned and developed my parts of the level. I’m glad to have made it, and I’m glad I made it with Venexis.
3. Leaves from the Vine
ft. Star king
Release Date: February 23, 2015
Overall Score: 17.253
The Plot: Travel through 6 years of designing, and possibly more!
Accolades/Placements: Won the 29th LDC (Grasslands) with the first 17 in two years, giving me my fifth victory and StarK his second since the 12th.
The Great Gimmick: Original levels that all replicate famous elements of each year’s era of SM63 Level Designing.
Most Memorable Moment: Possibly when players realize what they’re getting into.
Personal Favorite Moment: Every time Star king sent me a level and it blew my ♥♥♥♥ mind <3
Can You Find: The hidden ending? The hidden item in 2009?
Leaves from the Vine is the return I hoped for. It’s the pickup after a true fall from grace, and even though I’ve still not entirely worked my way back up, it’s everything I needed to do after Echoes of Time bombed. Make something I’ve always wanted to make in a tribute to Level Designing over the eras. Focus on making your vision perfect, not on marketing it. Get someone you know can cover your weaknesses, which Star king did with his perfect 2012-2014 designing. When things look rough, truck through and prepare backup plans (I almost permanently released a backup version of the series’ first four years with a war story in place of the signs and a new level portion, a story I might still use). It was everything I hoped for, and the fact that it won is icing on the cake, letting me know I can compete to win by doing what I want, not what I feel others want. I stress that I couldn’t have done it without Star king, he took the concept and ran with it, creating things I still am learning how to do, but damn if this series didn't teach me many new things I'd never tried before. Recreating an entire year of StarK's work to mesh it into a third level in the middle was actually influential in getting into why a level is designed how it is and what steps were taken to get it there.
2. Alignments (ft Venexis) (REMASTERED VERSION)
2. Alignment of Fate (ft Venexis) (OLDSCHOOL VERSION)
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"What can I say? The level is fantastic! Down to every last detail, I had a blast playing it. The way you design the platforms, or hide the mushrooms and coins, or present the overall story, are all done with extreme care." ~Blablob
Release Date: October 1, 2010 for the original, September 2012 for the remastered version.
Say, What Is With That Remastered Version?: It's a newer, slightly updated 2012 version that adds a humorous, almost satirical spin and fixes some bugs.
Overall Score: 17.5
The Plot: Mario is brought to the netherlands of space in order to help save the galaxy from an impending disaster. Simple, yet still not quite.
Accolades/Placements: Won the 10th LDC (Space) in its original state, was voted best level in Runouw Votes Winter 2011, was named 3rd best level of 2010.
The Great Gimmick: Legendary worms from Venexis that stand as a quirky little landmark for block usage.
Most Memorable Moment: Aforementioned fight with the worms.
Personal Favorite Moment: The initial arrival in space is still one of my all time proudest moments as a designer.
Can You Find: The FLUDD?
Alignments is the first winning series I made, and looking back… it’s probably as dated as it gets through some parts, but through others it’s got legit vision. And a LOOOOOOT of that is due to Venexis’ amazing work. He saved my ♥♥♥ many times over. His boss work and platformer work was really excellent and I think made Alignments what it was. I still got to finally develop my style, with the space junk in orbit, and the storytelling. I think some parts that I did are overrated, but I see why it has acclaim coughVenexiscough. I did a "remastered" version which updated the funky graphics and rehauled the story to give it a snarky, comedic edge. Try it if you like.
1. Dark
"It provides an enjoyable mix of a story with depth and a genuine enjoyable platforming experience. Although it doesn't offer the gratuitous use of glitches or anything of the sort, it remains a great platformer at its heart, and it shows that good design beats a reliance of moving blocks and other code-based tricks. Quite frankly, I enjoyed it quite a lot, as it shows how much really was put into making this work overall... It is interesting how you chose to express a story through a medium such as this, and it is the best one I've seen yet. The choice ending in particular was not something I had expected; superb job." ~Volcove
"I loved it so damn much, I enjoyed myself so much. Nothing more to be said." ~MP3 Amplifier
"I felt like I was watching a movie, a movie you don’t want it to end. But I was not only the watcher, but the actor too. So I played the level like a movie, and it was truly epic. At the end... ...I literally cried. And it’s rare, even when I watch a movie. So if your level made me cry, it’s just awesome." ~Star king
"It's one the the best levels I've played." ~fourinone
Release Date: January 22, 2012
Overall Score: 18.16
The Plot: After awakening in an unfamiliar world with its light nearly gone and disappearing, an amnesiac feels a deep compelling need to bring back light to the world at any cost, all while trying to discover- or shape- the man he is.
Accolades/Placements: Won the 18th LDC (Freestyle), garnered massive praise from many different designers (including zebtrestalala and fourinone), was voted best level in the Summer 2012 Runouw Votes and became the best level of 2012, with the second highest score of all time.
The Great Gimmick: The most intensive inclusion of story ever seen in a level, as well as a special ending. While such a story and execution is controversial in a Miyamoto, Dark has nonetheless become the most successful level of its kind and possibly of any kind.
Most Memorable Moment: The light bridge in part one.
Personal Favorite Moment: Completing this mammoth of a project.
Can You Find: the third ending?
Dark is easily my crowning achievement, always will be, and I’m okay with that. Consider how out of left field this was for me. My highest scoring solo work in LDCs/duels (♥♥♥♥ dat LDT) was ROAMING CELSIUS LUMINARY like dafuq. And this work, I feel, has earned its keep, and considering I bagged on nearly every other level before this that I made that’s saying something. Everything turned out exactly, 100%, down to every tile how I desired it. The music was perfect, the story was perfect, the effects were perfect. I had bragged about being a revolutionary for awhile, but let’s be real, I didn’t have work that backed up my boasts until Dark. It started to popularize storytelling in LDing, the graphical work took concepts provided by nin10mode and incorporated them throughout, and even the gameplay had some cool hitches. It really is my magnum opus, and instead of trying to force myself to surpass it, I should embrace it. If I can do better than that, it's by skill and vision.
Here's my special feature! Music in levels has become my sort of thing in my career, outside of storytelling. If nothing else is consistent, my music is, because music fuels my creativity. If you've heard a song you like in my levels before, here ya go, might be one of these 20.
MoD's Level Designer Soundtrack Set!
Yes, this will be divided into two separate lists- one for songs that I've used well in my own levels, and one for songs that I remember through other people's levels, that have gotten me into them.
1: My Songs
1. Panoramic
Featured In: Dark Level 1: Compell
Artist: Atticus Ross
Album/Source: The Book of Eli Soundtrack
2. Midnight
Featured In: Echoes of Time Prologue
Artists: Coldplay
Album/Source: Ghost Stories
3. Waiting For A Train
Featured In: Destinations
Artist: Hans Zimmer
Album/Source: Inception Soundtrack.
4. Tag Power Theme
Featured In: Alignment of Fates Level 2: LifeStorm
Artist: ♥♥♥♥ Hirano
Album/Source: Advance Wars: Dual Strike
5. Lovers in Japan (Osaka Sun Remix)
Featured In: The Escapists
Artist: Coldplay
Album/Source: Viva La Vida or Death and All His Friends: Prospekt's March
6. The Shard
Featured In: Sliverfall Cove
Artist: Solar Fields
Album/Source: Mirror's Edge Soundtrack
7. Spectrum
Featured In: The Escapists
Artist: Florence and the Machine
Album/Source: Ceremonials
8. Memory
Featured In: Memory Lane
Artist: Yuka Tsujiyoko
Album/Source: Super Paper Mario
9. Heartlines
Featured In: The Escapists
Artist: Florence and the Machine
Album/Source: Ceremonials
10. Radioactive
Featured In: Alignment of Fates Level 1: Looking Up
Artist: Kings of Leon (instrumental version utilized)
Album/Source: Come Around Sundown
11. Dark Gaia/Endless Possibility
Featured In: Dark Part 4: Deus Ex Machina
Artist: Tomoya Ohtani
Album/Source: Sonic Unleashed
12. Good Egg Galaxy
Featured In: Such Great Heights
Artist: Koji Kondo
Album/Source: Super Mario Galaxy
13. In Motion
Featured In: Roaming Celsius Luminary
Artist: Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross
Album/Source: The Social Network Soundtrack (Grammy Winning!)
14. Time (8 Bit Remix)
Featured In: Finis
Original Artist: Hans Zimmer
Album/Source: Inception Soundtrack
15. Under the Midnight Sun
Featured In: Sympathy for the Devil
Original Artist: Trent Reznor/Atticus Ross
Album/Source: The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo Soundtrack
16. Saeglopur
Featured In: Dark Finale: Creation
Artist: Sigur Ros
Album/Source: Takk
17. The Escapists
Featured In: The Escapists
Artist: Coldplay ft Jon Hoskins
Album/Source: Viva La Vida or Death and All His Friends
18. Vaka (Untitled 1)
Featured In: Sympathy for the Devil
Artist: Sigur Ros
Album/Source: ( )
19. Homebound
Featured In: Leaves from the Vine (2009-2010)
Artist: Feint
Album/Source: Monstercat Release
20. Intro
Featured In: Leaves from the Vine (2013-????)
Artist: M83
Album/Source: Hurry Up, We're Dreaming
Bonus Track: Superstar
Reason for Inclusion: The song I listened to most through the entire creation of Destinations and has become a part of it to me.
Artist: Lupe Fiasco ft. Matthew Santos
Album/Source: Food & Liquor
Album 2: Songs Inspired or Taken from Other Levels
1. Empire Ants
Featured In: Plastic Beach by Star king
Artist: Gorillaz
Album/Source: Plastic Beach
2. Hand Covers Bruise
Inspired By: Tesoro Luminoso by nin10mode
Artist: Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross
Album/Source: The Social Network Soundtrack
3. Born to Die
Featured In: An Act of Antichesm 1 by MP3 Amplifier
Artist: Lana Del Rey
Album/Source: Born to Die
4. This is War
Featured In: This is War by NanTheDark
Artist: 30 Seconds to Mars
Album/Source: This is War
5. The Shard (again!)
Featured In: Gyratis by Venexis
Artist: Solar Fields
Album/Source: Mirror's Edge
6. Cave Dungeon
Featured In: The Blind Experiment by MP3 Amplifier (music gifted to it by blackyoshi)
Artist: Yutaka Minobe and Tatsuyuki Maeda
Album/Source: Skies of Arcadia
7. Dead Sea/Tower of Ruin
Featured In: Omniquet by nin10mode
Artist: Yasunori Mitsuda
Album/Source: Chrono Cross
8. Forest Interlude
Featured In: Frost Glade by DarkBlaze
Artist: David Wise
Album/Source: Donkey Kong Country 2
9. Hidden in Snow
Inspired By: Indecisive by Tune4toons
Artists: Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross
Album/Source: The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo Soundtrack (Fincher Version)
10. Surface of the Sun
Inspired By: Alone in the Universe by Venexis
Artists: John Murphy
Album/Source: Sunshine Soundtrack
Bonus Song: Surface of the Sun (Skylight Ambient Remix)
Inspired By: Explorer Guy and King Goombiard's Ancient Treasure by Zebtrestalala
Artists: John Murphy
Album/Source: Sunshine Soundtrack
I'm almost certain I'll be expanding this.
A glimpse at the future:
In the future, I plan on making the storytelling in my levels audible rather than simply text. How do I plan on doing this? I've yet to fully divulge the concept even to myself, but the idea is based off of an apocalyptic radio station. The first song would be Blackbird's Song by Lee Dewyze (ty Walking Dead). It would be in the country, and the music would be folkish, very much based off of TWD soundtracks.
Stay tuned for KWLA: The Signal.
Thanks again for looking over hundreds of hours of hard work at my hands (a few of which just go towards this post), and thanks for all of your support over the years.
~MoD
I hope that you'll take the time to check out any levels you haven't yet. As I go through and fix some of the bigger names, I'll let you know. There's a short little fact sheet for each one, and later I'll go through and ♥♥♥♥ about the history a little bit. Each level has an outsourcing link to cause you as little trouble as possible loading the things. At the bottom, I'll put a few details about a future project.
Thank you for your time.
15. Finis
"[Finis] serves a reminder that the past will eventually pass us by and remain lost in history, and while the earlier experiences are indeed referenced here and there, it won't be long before they will abandoned and forgotten in favor of newer, modern creations." ~Volcove
Initial Release Date: July 13th, 2011
Overall Score from Competition Entered: 14.58
Accolades/Placements: It placed only 11th in the 14th LDC (Pure Platformer) but has been appreciated as an underrated gem by a designer every now and again.
The Great Gimmick: Retraversing SMB World 1-1 at the end of the world.
Most Memorable Moment: The ruined castle and flagpole
Finis was a level more about a concept than any glory I could obtain. I found the alternate music (Time by Hans Zimmer in 8-bit) and ran with it. Via my own rules, because I'm a ♥♥♥♥♥ like that, I couldn't tell a story (although this was before my obsession with story levels) so I told it visually, taking the basic structure of 1-1 and decimating it by apocalyptic forces unseen, with an ending that should explain things. It was easy to make, and it even placed in the top 10 of a 24 person contest, but this is more the baseline of when my levels stopped flat-out sucking and started being of quality. I haven't made a level that bad score-wise since, even in the humiliating forays into 25quared LDCs. There are other levels where I question what others see in them, and levels where my execution didn't live up to concept, but after making this level I was done with the olden days where I couldn't break 13 and my levels were flat-out ♥♥♥♥. Of course, at this time, my best solo attempt was a level with a trillion red coins and no tiles so w/e, I still had a ways to go.
14. Such Great Heights
"The overall feel is excellent, and is easy to get into without getting bored. The difficulty is a mix of a bit easy and a big challenging, but doesn't veer too far in either direction to be a problem. The platforming aspect is reasonable for the most part, and the storyline aspect fits in without any notable flaws, and even includes Fludd usage, 1-ups and other hidden goodies to keep the player guessing. As such, this kind of recipe simply works well."~Volcove
Initial Release Date: September 7th, 2011
Overall Score: 14.86
The Plot: From another planet, the confident, eccentric Captain Mario Drake explores this strange world to get to the highest point in the sky to reach the Shine Sprite, the universe's fabled unobtainable object.
Accolades and Placements: Grabbed the green ribbon (6th place) from the 15th LDC (Earth and Sky)
The Great Gimmick: Capt. Mario Drake's Logs throughout his journey to the Shine.
Most Memorable Moment: The ship in the beginning and the giant mushroom maze
Personal Favorite Moment: The Miner's Village in Such Great Heights
Can You Find: The secret chance house and the correct exit within, or the hidden bonus underneath?
Such Great Heights. Such great disaster. At the time I was aching for an individual win. I thought bigger was better, and to be fair, there was a great big concept behind it. Capt. Drake traveling a planet with giant trees and mushroom mazes and western towns and mines and snow bridges and sky kingdoms for a Shine Sprite? That part of the level, the idea, that carried over well. However... the execution was sloppy. No checkpoints, for a 999 long level, lots of sloppy gameplay, little polish to the lag, and the graphics were either unchecked or just ♥♥♥♥ crazy cutoffed. Not only that but the font of the level was too microscopic tiny to read. I have sometimes considered polishing this level and splitting it into five-to-seven parts, but I think it'd take a lot to make that happen. Still, if you want to just see what it was, give it a look. Maybe you'll see a few pearls in this ♥♥♥♥.
13. Treasure in the Atmosphere
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"The level happened to be really enjoyable. The length of it was just right, and it was low difficulty. I love those kinds of levels."~Yoshi Boo 118
Initial Release Date: April 21, 2010
Overall Score: 15.5
Accolades/Placements: Placed 5th in the 7th LDC (Hidden Treasure), arguably the most talented LDC in history next to the 16th, 18th and 20th.
The Great Gimmick: Using no tiles, I created a platformer going straight up and back down where you must collect more than a hundred red coins to access the shine sprite.
Treasure in the Atmosphere is (retroactively) my first ribboning entrant. In the 7th LDC, one of the best LDCs ever, with the top two levels of 2010 placing 2nd and 4th. I placed 5th, just under Zeb and just over Aznchau. Which is weird because the level is ♥♥♥♥ awful and literally every other level in the top 6 was godly. The gimmick is based off of old portal levels where there was nothing but items, generally the only time I was a step higher than dog ♥♥♥♥. I did that EVERYWHERE and did it big and slapped the theme on it like a bad brand. It's just a weird ♥♥♥♥ level I don't talk about much.
12. Memory Lane
"I can’t deny- this is one of the most enjoyable levels I’ve ever played." ~MP3 Amplifier
Initial Release Date: April 23, 2012
Overall Score: 15.5
The Plot: After his death, Mario is taken to Memory Lane, where he revisits landmark moments of his past and faces them before moving on.
Accolades/Placements: Placed 3rd in the 19th LDC (Death).
The Great Gimmick: A hub room with unmarked doors that led to six different flashbacks.
Most Memorable Moment: The replication of Peach's Castle
Personal Favorite Moment: The hub room itself.
Can You Find: The hidden storybook?
Memory Lane, finally an entrant I really like. I don't think I expected to win; this was really a breather level after Dark took all my energy. It was part of a 6 LDC streak of designing. It got third, but wasn't really anything special, but I like it. It's really fueled by the music track, with a concept that continued my fascination with mortality, especially in the league of Mario's universe. It had both references to Mario's universe and his potential story. It wasn't as successful, but it was progression, and it's pretty nifty. I'd already proven I can do bad all by myself, and this was just for the hell of it.
11. Echoes of Time
Release Date: August 25,st 25, 2014
Overall Score: 15.9325
The Plot: Adventurer Cyril Josif is sent to explore the Hanging Seas with the assistance of Shyguy guide Roa Akiva to retrieve her culture’s final shine sprite, but along the way things go off plan when a mysterious temple that didn’t exist before interrupts their path, bringing forth many unknown consequences.
Accolades/Placements: Tied second place in the 27th LDC (Water), a spot in WITBLOAT’s top 50 and WITBLO14.
The Great Gimmick: Hanging/Space water dynamics, my most intricate story yet, two final levels- dark and light, a sequel to Dark.
Most Memorable Moment: Shooting into the first part of the Hanging Seas.
Personal Favorite Moment: The ending of 3A.
Can You Find: The 2.5th ending?
Echoes of Time is a blight on my record, but also a lesson I needed to learn. I got cocky, that's really all I can say. Cocky, and frustrated, which is a fatal mix. I was not only sick of losing, but sick of designing being in a slump and I wanted to make something huge, amazing, that in my own words to Nwolf the contest runner, would “top Dark”. I got a bug-ridden entrant that only got up to not-even-sixteen points because it was the most intricate story I'd ever incorporated. I love that story, and I don't even think the level series is that bad, but it's too personally humiliating to go back to all that often. I wish I'd have done better than I did instead of relying on faith in ideas that were woefully inadequate. There were ideas here that I'd try again, but overall it's just a lesson I needed to learn: design for passion, not out of an arrogant sense of gaining accomplishment, or you're ♥♥♥♥.
10. Niveau Victorieux Galaxy
"I thoroughly enjoyed this level. I had a real great time and the amazing thing was that even when I died, I looked forward to starting the level again." ~MP3 Amplifier
Initial Release Date: October 14, 2011
Overall Score: 15.95
What's The Big Idea? None, really. This is a pure platformer level, something that is increasingly rare from me.
Accolades and Placements: Beat Venexis in the 1st ever Level Designer Duel, Space-themed. Also placed 15th in WITBLO11.
Most Memorable Moment: The giant cave snake platform in the first transition.
Can you find: the hidden pipe with the secret area?
Niveau Victorieux Galaxy, or how to make your weird-ass platformer sound elegant with excessive French. This and the next level coming up were in a weird part of 2011 between my combined success with Venexis in Destinations and my quest to still make a good solo work after my past failures and after Such Great Heights bombed. This isn't an extraordinary level, but it was the first ever duel against my main man Venexis. I wanted to make a level for the fun of it, and you can really get that sandbox sense. It's messy in some areas but fantastic in others, and you can see my growth as a designer somewhere between both the grand and ugly.
9. Roaming Celsius Luminary
"For such a mission, it plays out reasonably well, and the hunt overall covers a number of areas and obstacles, yet don't really get frustrating because the overall level set up is reasonably intuitive." ~Volcove
Overall Score: 16.08
Accolades and Placements:
Initial Release Date: December 9th, 2011
Overall Score: 16.08
The Plot: Mario visits the Roaming Celsius Luminary, a snow-covered scientist's observatory in Space that is being melted from the inside out by a shine sprite.
Accolades/Placements: Placed a tied second in the 17th LDC (Winter) and came in 8th in WITBLO11.
The Great Gimmick: A Super-Mario-Galaxy hub feel with a quirky story-driven adventure.
Most Memorable Moment: The giant glacier wall the main hall is built around.
Personal Favorite Moment: Where all the penguins fall down with you into the second half of the level.
Can You Find: The one place the penguins are where there is NO Silver Star to grab?
Roaming Celsius Luminary. I entered this for the 17th LDC, and I'm thrilled that it didn't win because Frost Glade is still an all time personal favorite. It's an odd duck in a career of odd ducks; extremely unpolished but developing my tone, which had never really happened up until that point. The messy aspects are hard to look past, but I really made this out of a love for designing. Trying new things, playing with the idea of characters, paying tribute to one of my biggest inspirations in fourinone, and further developing a very in-process design aesthetic that could truly belong to me. It's on WITBLOAT, which is very weird, but while it's not my first choice for anyone new to my levels, it's one I owe a lot to, and can't really be that hard on. I didn't start out as a super-talented legend, and I'm not 100% there anyways- even with some work getting acclaim I'm constantly growing, but even growing pains deserve respect.
8. Sliverfall Cove/Marina Ruins
"I'm not too fond of water based levels, and very few games have gotten them right. However, within the limits of SM63, you have done a spectacular job." ~Buffooner
Overall Score: 16.27
Accolades and Placements: Placed 1st in the 21st LDC on the Cave side and second in the overall ratings.
Initial Release Date: September 26, 2012
Overall Score: 16.27
Accolades/Placements: Placed 1st in the 21st LDC on the Cave side and second in the overall ratings.
The Great Gimmick: Divided into several classic Mario gimmicks with a SM63-style block boss at the end, the Taranichile (tuh-rah-ni-chILe), a giant underwater Ice Spider.
Most Memorable Moment: The beginning cave scene and the graphics within.
Personal Favorite Moment: How well the scrolling room in Marina turned out.
Can You Find: The secret exit within Sliverfall?
Sliverfall Cove and Marina Ruins! Wow, this was fun to create. I set out to prove a lot- I faced off against Buffooner, someone critical of my storytelling take on Miyamoto games and had just scored a victory with one of the highest scoring pure platformers ever. He made a story series, and I made a storyless platformer, which was this. It has some of the rough testing edge to it, but this time, more confident. My only block boss is here, and it's a mess, but I ♥♥♥♥ love that I made it. I pulled tricks here that I never had before, some never since. The design aesthetic is everything I wanted and I managed to make everything work. It's a low-profile piece I grow prouder of over time- it's not my best, but I went outside my comfort zone and it worked.
7. Escapists (Click Here For Part Two)
"You really know how to blend gameplay and story telling. I like how the level itself is used to tell the story, such as when your character finds a way to escape the base in the beginning, and when he is captured in that cage by the enemies. The level itself was pretty easy, but much of the enjoyment comes from taking it easy, looking at the scenery, listening to the music, and reading the story." ~fourinone
Release Date: June 19, 2012
Overall Score: 16.5
The Plot: A sequel to my writing piece Viva La Vida, the story follows James as he escapes from his army to reunite with his lover, fellow soldier Kati.
Accolades/Placements: The honor of being pounded into the pavement by Into The Depths in a private duel that spawned the megahit's completion.
The Great Gimmick: The most seamless blend yet of storytelling and platforming, concluded with a surprise final challenge with an unlikely ally.
Most Memorable Moment: The most memorable moment is also the most controversial: the ride on Isadora past the final battle wall. While some found it to be highly innovative, some thought it dampened the level heavily. Regardless, it was the most memorable subject at hand.
Personal Favorite Moment: Regardless, I thought that to be a great achievement on my part, controversy and all.
Can You Find: The (rather useless) health tree in part one?
The Escapists, with a mediocre first level and an amazing second level. Knowing Volkove was gonna bust out Into The Depths against me, I knew I’d have to essentially recreate Dark to match him, so I didn’t; just worked on my own old design. Him finishing ITD was more important than whatever my piece was anyway. It wasn’t the fanciest level, but it really pushed forward just how much of an influence music had on me. Gimme a little Coldplay and a little Flo and the Mo, and you get this. Level 2 has some of my most advanced work at the time, my first ♥♥♥♥ with flamethrowers and thwomps and what have you, and what I still consider to be one of my most unique finales. It’s a personal story continuing off of an original writing piece, and it’s a nifty little run-through. In a capsule, that’s what my personal style is.
7. A Farewell to Arms
by Vesoralla, ft me
Release Date: November 4, 2015
Overall Score: 16.82
The Plot: The main character is haunted by visions of ShyGuys demanding him to repent while trying to escape a war-torn land
Accolades/Placements: Second place in the 30th LDC to Fake Reality
The Great Gimmick: None really that I can remember- I just remember writing the story in a notebook then a script writer app. Also, Roa (Echoes of Time) and Morea are supposed to be the same character, showing how time evolves all beings.
Most Memorable Moment: The baptism scene in general
Personal Favorite Moment: Writing the story was insanely fun, maybe I oughta stick to that
Can You Find: The helicopter before it should be found? (The judges sure did!)
Yeah, really while I did the story, the extraneous bits, and the entire second level, very largely this is a work of Veso. He was a personal favorite designer of mine who I was thrilled to see back, and the 17th LDC was a great example of us- my best bit is storytelling and his is platforming. I wrote the story and he designed largely how I said, but if there's something in the first and third level you liked, it was him. And it was probably the first or third- my part had a lot of bugs the judges caught though we were never catching Fake Reality plus Veso got his highest score in an LDC. The story is one I am VERY proud of, even if it wasn't my most successful. It might have been weird, confusing, and open ended to the judges but it's as close as we get to a real story of mine that I'd write out of the game- and my writing is all of those things. I got diagnosed with lymphoma around the time this ended so I don't feel bad about my lesser involvement- like, cancer is the ultimate excuse dude- but as it stands despite it not really being my level I feel a personal attachment to it more than any other level.
6. Sympathy For The Devil
"In parts 2 and 4, the platforming is clearly visible. The graphics are almost perfect,liked a lot the way that you mixed the tiles,(in the first and the bonus level specially)the use of all the themes in one fitted very well together,what is hard.Good job. The history is very good, liked the way that you put Mario in the history." ~Yurimaster
Release Date: August 8, 2013
Overall Score: 16.93
The Plot: A secret sequel to Destinations, this story follows a body switching scheme where you play as Bowser stuck as Mario.
Accolades/Placements: Barely missing out on first place in the 25th LDC, the level still scored everyone else's highest scores in the LDC, and came in third in WITBLO13.
The Great Gimmick: Playing as Bowser inside Mario, more dreamy dream ♥♥♥♥. Mild terraforming.
Most Memorable Moment: I'd say my theory behind Bowser's history, in the entire third level, is pretty memorable.
Personal Favorite Moment: The (formerly hidden) final level is a very emotional one for me.
Can You Find: Kamek briefly lecturing young Bowser?
Sympathy for the Devil is… such an anomaly. I can’t decide how I feel about it, or if it’s all it’s cracked up to be. It very nearly won the 25th LDC, and it got all the highest scores, and especially compared to some of my past levels it’s a great piece, but being an obvious sequel means it’s not gonna quite live up to expectations. And while it was #3 on WITBLO13 I still find it hard to digest because it was the first sign that I couldn’t quite live up to my heyday. Regardless, it’s my most unique story, so that’s pretty cool, and the challenges were a major step up in my growth as a designer. I think the problem was that creatively I had some hardship, as shown by the cliffhanger ending. I struggled between deciding a final boss battle or a cliffhanger that says everything, and when I couldn’t think of a boss I just went for that. I’d come to find that during that time in my life I was struggling hard with depression, as well as several extreme adjustments in my life, so my heart wasn’t in it as much. For that reason I can’t decide whether this was truly a success or not.
5. Challenge Summit
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"This level was great. It awed and inspired me how you perfectly mixed storyline, platforming, and other challenges to create an epic level." ~SuperMIC
Accolades and Placements: In the failed 1st Annual Designer's Tournament in 2011, it faced off against nin10mode's Blizzid Canyon and won.
Release Date: Febuary 20, 2011
Overall Score: 17.125
The Plot: Mario climbs a mountain. Easy peasy, only it's neither easy nor peasy.
Accolades/Placements: In the failed 1st Annual Designer's Tournament in 2011, it faced off against nin10mode's Blizzid Canyon and won.
Trivia: This level was the first effort I made after Alignments, and was where I personally tested moving blocks for the first time.
Most Memorable Moment: The giant (laggy) ice cave which used techniques I repeated in RCL.
Can You Find: The secret exit?
Challenge Summit… what the ♥♥♥♥? How did this get… what?... you guys see this level, right? It’s pretty janked. It was my first solo effort after the surprise success of Alignments of Fate, and I was still in the phase where I didn’t realize “just because you can doesn’t mean you should.” And I tried some things that made massive lag, sloppy obstacles, or other such problems, and apparently it won the LDT match against Nin10mode with THIS HIGH of a score? And got an 18.5 in the portal to boot?...were you guys okay? It’s a fun little lookback but, BY GOD, was it bad. It was baaaaaaaad. A relic of its time, and by no way my best non-winning level.
4. Destinations (ft Venexis)
"You can tell that both makers put their all into it, for each of their individual styles are quite evident, between MoD's for storytelling and Ven's creativity with block monster creation, along with everything inbetween. It breaks apart an absurd number of barriers in the process, achieving something that easily stands out from almost everything else, yet at the same time remains an enjoyable Mario platformer at its heart. Sure, it takes a rather dark, unsettling turn as a whole, but that is what makes it so tantalizing and mesmerizing to me. It is the sort of level and story that keeps you guessing what will happen next, and how it will all be resolved." ~Volcove's speech for it when it won WITBLO11
Release Date: November 20, 2011
Overall Score: 17.23
The Plot: Haunted by visions of the destruction of the world, Mario traverses into the place he believes to be the catalyst of the fall. There, he meets an ally who is not all that he seems to be.
Accolades/Placements: Won the 16th LDC (Musical Moods), was voted best level in Runouw Votes Winter 2012, was named the Best Level of 2011, had highest score of any level in 2011, has been named as the favorite level of MP3 Amplifier and second favorite of Lordpat's.
The Great Gimmick: Primarily a gigantic dreamscape that levels one and three take place in.
Most Memorable Moment: Many of those dream visions, such as the 360 degree Ghost House, the floating words and Venexis' nameless block monster.
Personal Favorite Moment: Crossroads Castle. By far the greatest graphical creation I've ever taken part in.
Destinations. What can I say? Alignments was a success, but even then I figured a lot of it was on the back of Venexis, who was a wizard at designing. Consider this: his best work at the time was one of the most famous SM63 series ever. My best work at the time was a level where I threw items in space. I’ll dish on Alignments later, but Destinations was my first level worth being proud of what I did. The vision I had became more than just a vision, and while Venexis’ work was irreplaceable, I was able to keep time with him. The art direction was unique, the story was unparalleled, the music incorporation was badass, the gameplay was up to par, and the technical work was ace. It still felt like a fluke at the time, but it was still a passion project borne of strife and hardship, a source of therapy in an unjust time of my life where I could still remember where I was and what I was listening to when I planned and developed my parts of the level. I’m glad to have made it, and I’m glad I made it with Venexis.
3. Leaves from the Vine
ft. Star king
Release Date: February 23, 2015
Overall Score: 17.253
The Plot: Travel through 6 years of designing, and possibly more!
Accolades/Placements: Won the 29th LDC (Grasslands) with the first 17 in two years, giving me my fifth victory and StarK his second since the 12th.
The Great Gimmick: Original levels that all replicate famous elements of each year’s era of SM63 Level Designing.
Most Memorable Moment: Possibly when players realize what they’re getting into.
Personal Favorite Moment: Every time Star king sent me a level and it blew my ♥♥♥♥ mind <3
Can You Find: The hidden ending? The hidden item in 2009?
Leaves from the Vine is the return I hoped for. It’s the pickup after a true fall from grace, and even though I’ve still not entirely worked my way back up, it’s everything I needed to do after Echoes of Time bombed. Make something I’ve always wanted to make in a tribute to Level Designing over the eras. Focus on making your vision perfect, not on marketing it. Get someone you know can cover your weaknesses, which Star king did with his perfect 2012-2014 designing. When things look rough, truck through and prepare backup plans (I almost permanently released a backup version of the series’ first four years with a war story in place of the signs and a new level portion, a story I might still use). It was everything I hoped for, and the fact that it won is icing on the cake, letting me know I can compete to win by doing what I want, not what I feel others want. I stress that I couldn’t have done it without Star king, he took the concept and ran with it, creating things I still am learning how to do, but damn if this series didn't teach me many new things I'd never tried before. Recreating an entire year of StarK's work to mesh it into a third level in the middle was actually influential in getting into why a level is designed how it is and what steps were taken to get it there.
2. Alignments (ft Venexis) (REMASTERED VERSION)
2. Alignment of Fate (ft Venexis) (OLDSCHOOL VERSION)
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"What can I say? The level is fantastic! Down to every last detail, I had a blast playing it. The way you design the platforms, or hide the mushrooms and coins, or present the overall story, are all done with extreme care." ~Blablob
Release Date: October 1, 2010 for the original, September 2012 for the remastered version.
Say, What Is With That Remastered Version?: It's a newer, slightly updated 2012 version that adds a humorous, almost satirical spin and fixes some bugs.
Overall Score: 17.5
The Plot: Mario is brought to the netherlands of space in order to help save the galaxy from an impending disaster. Simple, yet still not quite.
Accolades/Placements: Won the 10th LDC (Space) in its original state, was voted best level in Runouw Votes Winter 2011, was named 3rd best level of 2010.
The Great Gimmick: Legendary worms from Venexis that stand as a quirky little landmark for block usage.
Most Memorable Moment: Aforementioned fight with the worms.
Personal Favorite Moment: The initial arrival in space is still one of my all time proudest moments as a designer.
Can You Find: The FLUDD?
Alignments is the first winning series I made, and looking back… it’s probably as dated as it gets through some parts, but through others it’s got legit vision. And a LOOOOOOT of that is due to Venexis’ amazing work. He saved my ♥♥♥ many times over. His boss work and platformer work was really excellent and I think made Alignments what it was. I still got to finally develop my style, with the space junk in orbit, and the storytelling. I think some parts that I did are overrated, but I see why it has acclaim coughVenexiscough. I did a "remastered" version which updated the funky graphics and rehauled the story to give it a snarky, comedic edge. Try it if you like.
1. Dark
"It provides an enjoyable mix of a story with depth and a genuine enjoyable platforming experience. Although it doesn't offer the gratuitous use of glitches or anything of the sort, it remains a great platformer at its heart, and it shows that good design beats a reliance of moving blocks and other code-based tricks. Quite frankly, I enjoyed it quite a lot, as it shows how much really was put into making this work overall... It is interesting how you chose to express a story through a medium such as this, and it is the best one I've seen yet. The choice ending in particular was not something I had expected; superb job." ~Volcove
"I loved it so damn much, I enjoyed myself so much. Nothing more to be said." ~MP3 Amplifier
"I felt like I was watching a movie, a movie you don’t want it to end. But I was not only the watcher, but the actor too. So I played the level like a movie, and it was truly epic. At the end... ...I literally cried. And it’s rare, even when I watch a movie. So if your level made me cry, it’s just awesome." ~Star king
"It's one the the best levels I've played." ~fourinone
Release Date: January 22, 2012
Overall Score: 18.16
The Plot: After awakening in an unfamiliar world with its light nearly gone and disappearing, an amnesiac feels a deep compelling need to bring back light to the world at any cost, all while trying to discover- or shape- the man he is.
Accolades/Placements: Won the 18th LDC (Freestyle), garnered massive praise from many different designers (including zebtrestalala and fourinone), was voted best level in the Summer 2012 Runouw Votes and became the best level of 2012, with the second highest score of all time.
The Great Gimmick: The most intensive inclusion of story ever seen in a level, as well as a special ending. While such a story and execution is controversial in a Miyamoto, Dark has nonetheless become the most successful level of its kind and possibly of any kind.
Most Memorable Moment: The light bridge in part one.
Personal Favorite Moment: Completing this mammoth of a project.
Can You Find: the third ending?
Dark is easily my crowning achievement, always will be, and I’m okay with that. Consider how out of left field this was for me. My highest scoring solo work in LDCs/duels (♥♥♥♥ dat LDT) was ROAMING CELSIUS LUMINARY like dafuq. And this work, I feel, has earned its keep, and considering I bagged on nearly every other level before this that I made that’s saying something. Everything turned out exactly, 100%, down to every tile how I desired it. The music was perfect, the story was perfect, the effects were perfect. I had bragged about being a revolutionary for awhile, but let’s be real, I didn’t have work that backed up my boasts until Dark. It started to popularize storytelling in LDing, the graphical work took concepts provided by nin10mode and incorporated them throughout, and even the gameplay had some cool hitches. It really is my magnum opus, and instead of trying to force myself to surpass it, I should embrace it. If I can do better than that, it's by skill and vision.
Here's my special feature! Music in levels has become my sort of thing in my career, outside of storytelling. If nothing else is consistent, my music is, because music fuels my creativity. If you've heard a song you like in my levels before, here ya go, might be one of these 20.
MoD's Level Designer Soundtrack Set!
Yes, this will be divided into two separate lists- one for songs that I've used well in my own levels, and one for songs that I remember through other people's levels, that have gotten me into them.
1: My Songs
1. Panoramic
Featured In: Dark Level 1: Compell
Artist: Atticus Ross
Album/Source: The Book of Eli Soundtrack
2. Midnight
Featured In: Echoes of Time Prologue
Artists: Coldplay
Album/Source: Ghost Stories
3. Waiting For A Train
Featured In: Destinations
Artist: Hans Zimmer
Album/Source: Inception Soundtrack.
4. Tag Power Theme
Featured In: Alignment of Fates Level 2: LifeStorm
Artist: ♥♥♥♥ Hirano
Album/Source: Advance Wars: Dual Strike
5. Lovers in Japan (Osaka Sun Remix)
Featured In: The Escapists
Artist: Coldplay
Album/Source: Viva La Vida or Death and All His Friends: Prospekt's March
6. The Shard
Featured In: Sliverfall Cove
Artist: Solar Fields
Album/Source: Mirror's Edge Soundtrack
7. Spectrum
Featured In: The Escapists
Artist: Florence and the Machine
Album/Source: Ceremonials
8. Memory
Featured In: Memory Lane
Artist: Yuka Tsujiyoko
Album/Source: Super Paper Mario
9. Heartlines
Featured In: The Escapists
Artist: Florence and the Machine
Album/Source: Ceremonials
10. Radioactive
Featured In: Alignment of Fates Level 1: Looking Up
Artist: Kings of Leon (instrumental version utilized)
Album/Source: Come Around Sundown
11. Dark Gaia/Endless Possibility
Featured In: Dark Part 4: Deus Ex Machina
Artist: Tomoya Ohtani
Album/Source: Sonic Unleashed
12. Good Egg Galaxy
Featured In: Such Great Heights
Artist: Koji Kondo
Album/Source: Super Mario Galaxy
13. In Motion
Featured In: Roaming Celsius Luminary
Artist: Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross
Album/Source: The Social Network Soundtrack (Grammy Winning!)
14. Time (8 Bit Remix)
Featured In: Finis
Original Artist: Hans Zimmer
Album/Source: Inception Soundtrack
15. Under the Midnight Sun
Featured In: Sympathy for the Devil
Original Artist: Trent Reznor/Atticus Ross
Album/Source: The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo Soundtrack
16. Saeglopur
Featured In: Dark Finale: Creation
Artist: Sigur Ros
Album/Source: Takk
17. The Escapists
Featured In: The Escapists
Artist: Coldplay ft Jon Hoskins
Album/Source: Viva La Vida or Death and All His Friends
18. Vaka (Untitled 1)
Featured In: Sympathy for the Devil
Artist: Sigur Ros
Album/Source: ( )
19. Homebound
Featured In: Leaves from the Vine (2009-2010)
Artist: Feint
Album/Source: Monstercat Release
20. Intro
Featured In: Leaves from the Vine (2013-????)
Artist: M83
Album/Source: Hurry Up, We're Dreaming
Bonus Track: Superstar
Reason for Inclusion: The song I listened to most through the entire creation of Destinations and has become a part of it to me.
Artist: Lupe Fiasco ft. Matthew Santos
Album/Source: Food & Liquor
Album 2: Songs Inspired or Taken from Other Levels
1. Empire Ants
Featured In: Plastic Beach by Star king
Artist: Gorillaz
Album/Source: Plastic Beach
2. Hand Covers Bruise
Inspired By: Tesoro Luminoso by nin10mode
Artist: Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross
Album/Source: The Social Network Soundtrack
3. Born to Die
Featured In: An Act of Antichesm 1 by MP3 Amplifier
Artist: Lana Del Rey
Album/Source: Born to Die
4. This is War
Featured In: This is War by NanTheDark
Artist: 30 Seconds to Mars
Album/Source: This is War
5. The Shard (again!)
Featured In: Gyratis by Venexis
Artist: Solar Fields
Album/Source: Mirror's Edge
6. Cave Dungeon
Featured In: The Blind Experiment by MP3 Amplifier (music gifted to it by blackyoshi)
Artist: Yutaka Minobe and Tatsuyuki Maeda
Album/Source: Skies of Arcadia
7. Dead Sea/Tower of Ruin
Featured In: Omniquet by nin10mode
Artist: Yasunori Mitsuda
Album/Source: Chrono Cross
8. Forest Interlude
Featured In: Frost Glade by DarkBlaze
Artist: David Wise
Album/Source: Donkey Kong Country 2
9. Hidden in Snow
Inspired By: Indecisive by Tune4toons
Artists: Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross
Album/Source: The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo Soundtrack (Fincher Version)
10. Surface of the Sun
Inspired By: Alone in the Universe by Venexis
Artists: John Murphy
Album/Source: Sunshine Soundtrack
Bonus Song: Surface of the Sun (Skylight Ambient Remix)
Inspired By: Explorer Guy and King Goombiard's Ancient Treasure by Zebtrestalala
Artists: John Murphy
Album/Source: Sunshine Soundtrack
I'm almost certain I'll be expanding this.
A glimpse at the future:
In the future, I plan on making the storytelling in my levels audible rather than simply text. How do I plan on doing this? I've yet to fully divulge the concept even to myself, but the idea is based off of an apocalyptic radio station. The first song would be Blackbird's Song by Lee Dewyze (ty Walking Dead). It would be in the country, and the music would be folkish, very much based off of TWD soundtracks.
Stay tuned for KWLA: The Signal.
Thanks again for looking over hundreds of hours of hard work at my hands (a few of which just go towards this post), and thanks for all of your support over the years.
~MoD
Last edited by MessengerOfDreams on May 12th, 2015, 8:15 pm, edited 3 times in total.
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MessengerOfDreams - Moderator
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Re: The New Collection of MoD's Levels
by lordpat » November 15th, 2012, 11:25 am
Wow, big topic. I can't wait to play some levels here. Nice done.
(Also, Count Bleck is a pretty bad-ass villian. I dunno, he's 5 year old now, so yeah, it has been a while. Good luck on your project!)
(Also, Count Bleck is a pretty bad-ass villian. I dunno, he's 5 year old now, so yeah, it has been a while. Good luck on your project!)
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Re: The New Collection of MoD's Levels
by Harmless » December 14th, 2012, 11:16 pm
I don't care if you or the LDC judges consider Escapists your 5th best level.
To me, every single one of yours is a 20/20 piece of art. Especially Escapists, my personal fav.
To me, every single one of yours is a 20/20 piece of art. Especially Escapists, my personal fav.
~ Tesla Bromonovich
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Re: The New Collection of MoD's Levels
by MessengerOfDreams » April 9th, 2014, 11:28 am
Added Sympathy for the Devil to it.
Funny cause I had a little teaser teasing my next level called the Inside Job and this ended up being the far-past evolution of that concept.
Funny cause I had a little teaser teasing my next level called the Inside Job and this ended up being the far-past evolution of that concept.
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Re: The New Collection of MoD's Levels
by MessengerOfDreams » May 12th, 2015, 8:16 pm
Added my most recent two levels (one with Star king <3), added a bump of history to all fifteen levels, updated the music library, and gave a little tease to the future.
If you haven't gone through with these, go ahead and check the selection out! If you wanna see what you can find, by all means.
If you haven't gone through with these, go ahead and check the selection out! If you wanna see what you can find, by all means.
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Re: The New Collection of MoD's Levels
by Harmless » May 12th, 2015, 8:52 pm
Harmless wrote:I don't care if you or the LDC judges consider Escapists your 5th best level.
To me, every single one of yours is a 20/20 piece of art. Especially Escapists, my personal fav.
hooly ♥♥♥♥ I shouldn't have said this
Don't take this the wrong way, I love your levels but not every single one is a 20/20 piece of art, as I might've said in a few judgings, whooops
that being said they're still really ♥♥♥♥ amazing and would probably be at least 17/20 average (except for escapists which is still some 19-20/20)
~ Tesla Bromonovich
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Re: The New Collection of MoD's Levels
by MessengerOfDreams » May 12th, 2015, 8:58 pm
Dude, did you see me ♥♥♥♥ talk half these levels? It's all good. 
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Re: The New Collection of MoD's Levels
by ~MP3 Amplifier~ » May 19th, 2015, 7:40 am
Having just played Leaves from the Vine properly for the first time, I can now see why it won.
But lol I can't even begin to count how many references I just saw. And what made me feel proud is that I saw some interesting references to some of my levels too, like writing the name 'Suzy' how I wrote 'Lilly' in Tearing Paper.
It was a really lovely experience to play, so congratulations.
But lol I can't even begin to count how many references I just saw. And what made me feel proud is that I saw some interesting references to some of my levels too, like writing the name 'Suzy' how I wrote 'Lilly' in Tearing Paper.
It was a really lovely experience to play, so congratulations.
The below image is a montage of my individual highest placing LDC creations, as a reminder to myself that level designing is a part of my life that I can't just leave behind
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Re: The New Collection of MoD's Levels
by Supershroom » May 19th, 2015, 8:35 am
[quote="My 29th LDC prediction]1st: MoD / Star king (17.25) [/quote]
And guess what score it got in the end, that's kinda funny.
Even though AoF got a better score, I'd put LotV to second (if pure scores aren't the only criterion for the placements), I've really enjoyed it. Bravo, you two.
And guess what score it got in the end, that's kinda funny.
Even though AoF got a better score, I'd put LotV to second (if pure scores aren't the only criterion for the placements), I've really enjoyed it. Bravo, you two.
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Re: The New Collection of MoD's Levels
Thumbs up x1
by MessengerOfDreams » May 19th, 2015, 8:52 am
Well, EmKay is the reason that it didn't get 17.75 so I get that. Thank you! <3
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