Stache - That's a great idea..I'm in....

Been a busy week so I'm already behind on playing all your stages.

I think until there is a checkpoint system, I will keep my levels small/medium in length - unless it's a level where you sprint a lot or race like in Finks MKart level. People online just don't bother with playing the longer levels (or at least trying to beat them) - and I enjoy making levels that are beatable within 1-5 tries.

Airship 3/4: Shipwreck-ing

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Some heavy back and forth with the sub areas. If only Mario could walk around the ship's mast he could avoid the whole mess with that cloud.

Airship 4/4: The Great Escape

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Of the four airship stages I'm going to say the fourth one is the one I'm the most proud of just because... well...

Alright! I've finally made a level that's more than just experimenting with stuff!

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Going for a SMB 1-2 feel. But you can add me to your favorites and check out Shell Game and Giant Mario for fun. They're short and one-note, but that's the point.

@Guillaume Yeah I've been experimenting more with a little trick I pulled in my fourth airship stage.

Let's just say my next more... complex stage... will be called "My Best Friend Bowser"

New level: Eat Fire, Spit Fire

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You can kind of tell what to do from the title. Just take your time. I hope it's not too hard!

Chomp'n Spine Inferno:E270-0000-0045-150DD

A sequel to my Chomp'n Spine Tundra level, because it's my most popular level with the casual masses. This one may be a little tougher than that one but not drastically so.

@Mr_Mustache

I like the idea of having a Negative World game planned out. Lets run with that idea and each contribute in some way.

@ploot

I agree and understand about working on levels and not seeing them played. I think it's honestly due to such saturation and randomness… I hope. I still intend to play everyone's levels here and I'm slowly getting through them, if that's anything.

In general, I know the game hasn't been out a week but coming up I'd like to hold a bit of a contest for Negative World. Who would be interested in judging such a thing and who would be interested in creating for such a thing? I can make a big ol' official thread later but I figure while I'm up at 3:30 am I might as well gather interest.

Another stage I spent some time on:

Minion Masher Malfunction
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Mario is watching over his Minion Prison/Minion "disposer" when things go awry!

@DrFinkelstein
Contest sounds good!

Metal Man: 7B76-0000-0045-6F92

Airship Causeway
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I had a lot of fun with this one and I might make another like it but different at a later date since it kind of morphed into something unexpected. I need full access to the tools to do what I was intending on doing from the start. Still, there's variety and even a chance to 'sequence break' I guess you could say.

Ploot played it and while he posted he couldn't figure out the end he still managed to beat it. And to Ploot I say…

You're meant to use a full run/jump with the Cape and float down through the galley. If you get hit, just run for it. If you get there without the Cape, then right at the tip of that arrow is a hidden block with another one in it. Give it another shot if you'd like!

Guillaume said:

Going for a SMB 1-2 feel. But you can add me to your favorites and check out Shell Game and Giant Mario for fun. They're short and one-note, but that's the point.

I think that's the best way to not only learn the ropes, but to understand where good design comes from...if that makes sense.

See what's weird is, for me, I'm less interested in 'good design' so far as I am interested in creating weird things I want to play. I'm proud of my Menkaure's Pyramid level even though it's deliberately designed with frustrating traps that might cause you to have to reset the level. There are tons of try 'n die aspects to the level, which is fundamental to the experience. By any regular standard that's bad Mario design. But I'm finding it fun to do something different from what I'd typically see in a Mario game.

@kriswright

Yeah, experimenting with different stuff like that isn't necessarily "bad design" though. I call a level bad design if it's just thrown together without any thought or function.

Different kinds of challenges are just up to taste. I was talking to somebody on Reddit the other day who called The Lost Levels a bad game, and I felt compelled to tell him that he was very wrong. It may not be most people's cup of tea, but it appeals to those who really appreciate mastering a level fully.

@kriswright
That's different though. If that's the intention it's not really bad design.


Continued to struggle a bit last night to make anything I felt was original or compelling...til later in the night I finally got something I'm quite proud of. I didn't even bother fixing my water level either.

I think trying too hard might become a real issue, at least for me, as I begin to overthink things way too much. I hit snags in like 2 or 3 levels I had already put a ton of time into, and even scrapped much of them, or started them over. Then you get bits and pieces that you don't feel mesh well with other things you've created.

The enemy spawn thing is super strange, and a real cause for concern for me. It seems enemies spawn just around half a screen away's worth. I really wish we had indicators that show when an enemy will be activated, or what their patterns are. Wait, doesn't the art book include something like that? Even so, it'd be incredibly useful to see in the ediot. Optional timing for things would also be really nice.
I can't seem to find a way to get pirahna plants to be an obstacle when someone passes by them quick.

I'm really into trying to figure out puzzles with bricks and p switches, bob-ombs, etc. I designed a nice little one last night I hope I can upload tonight.

Meltable ice would be awesome, I still can't believe it hasn't shown up since Mario 3 (right?), and it was the coolest thing in the whole game. It was also used like twice.

Oh and I'm really hoping that Smash trailer let slip that slopes are coming. The slopes on the ground and especially the platforms is extremely suspicious.

@kriswright

That's not bad design, that's experimental. Very different.

@carlosrox

That would be nice for the Super Mario World theme especially. I loved running up the wall in that game whenever I could.

It's not bad design, but I've found myself more frustrated than amused by "tricky" stages or ones with obtuse puzzles to solve. I'd rather play the ones that have a flow to them.

@carlosrox

I started designing an area assuming fireballs melted ice... can't believe that's not in there!

If they added it in now it might break some people's levels too, unless a patch could somehow only apply to all post-patch levels?

Or you could just shake the ice block to get a melt-able one.

@ploot

I thought it was funny! Felt like it "belonged."

@TheOldManFromZelda

HAHA!!, clearly you win "Best Name."

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--Glad some of you guys are digging the NW presents SMB. I didn't realize there'd be 5 pages by now, I'll catch up later.

I'm up for making a stage for a Negative World game.

Should be uploading a new stage tonight - it's a ghost house with puzzle elements.
My Wall Jump Intro stage is getting played a lot. I think there's a real need to for creative but forgiving courses that isn't being met.

@Guillaume

Don't you mean 1-3?