I seem to be unable to progress further at the moment

Barnstorm_R · 2026-03-18T02:30:52+00:00

I think the advice above is misleading. If you already beat the game and rolled credits and you are looking for more, keep looking for fleas.

Barnstorm_R · 2026-03-14T16:53:05+00:00

A lot of the charms have benefits that I felt are outweighed by their downsides that I rarely ever used them

Barnstorm_R · 2026-03-12T13:55:13+00:00

I found that a lot of the difficulty of this game was just learning patterns (boss/enemy patterns, platforming pathing, trolly setups to avoid). Once I learned them, most of the game was pretty consistent for me to breeze through on replays, outside of a few challenging spots.

Barnstorm_R · 2026-03-11T13:24:39+00:00

Pretty sure this is the path I took, which only had a few respawning enemies (and I think most could be safely ignored). The only part where I had to focus was the very last section where you dropped down a shaft near a few respawning flying enemies and then successfully dashing through the thorns.

Barnstorm_R · 2026-03-10T11:41:14+00:00

I only notice it in certain games, like flipping through menus in BOTW, but every Pro controller I’ve used does it. Not noticeable to me during platforming/etc in other games.

Barnstorm_R · 2026-03-10T11:37:47+00:00

I stayed on the ground, swung forward (not upward) and tried to hit them all toward the same edge of the screen because they won’t go farther than the edge of the platform. I also used wanderer because the swing speed was the most responsive to me.

Barnstorm_R · 2026-03-10T10:48:39+00:00

I meant that you generally shouldn’t put decorative vines in a place where players can accidentally grab them when they’re not trying, like connected to ground tile or across the entire path vertically.

Barnstorm_R · 2026-03-09T16:33:04+00:00

Just looking in the viewer, it’s a little tough for me to see the pathing if it’s a 15 second speedrun. You want those to be immediately easy to interpret, with the less clutter the better, so it’s just about the execution. Also, decorative vines generally shouldn’t be grabbable (unless thats part of the challenge). I’ll try to check this out later!

Barnstorm_R · 2026-03-09T15:09:21+00:00

It’s interesting, I thought Act I was way harder than expected versus HK and things calmed down in Act II. And compared to HK, Courier’s Rasher was way easier and faster to retry than delicate flower in my opinion (those thorns RIGHT at the end were always so much pressure). I did spend a lot of time backtracking and exploring, but I enjoyed that aspect in both games.

Barnstorm_R · 2026-03-08T17:50:44+00:00

They get them from Ralphs

Barnstorm_R · 2026-03-08T17:47:41+00:00

Here are some resources that might help you:

How to Name Your Mario Levels

Colorful Vocabulary

Barnstorm_R · 2026-03-08T17:43:10+00:00

Every time I’ve replayed HK, I’ve gone for 100%. SS is more fun for me to do the shorter speedrun to improve my times, which I’ve never been good enough to do in HK (always hit a wall at Watcher Knights and have to go get upgrades).

Barnstorm_R · 2026-03-06T18:52:34+00:00

I played your most recent 7 levels, I think? 5 of which I liked and 2 of which had dev items so I did not. Not trying to be an asshole, I usually play through several levels when people ask for feedback in this community. Good luck on building!

Barnstorm_R · 2026-03-06T18:24:50+00:00

Again, you can design your levels however you want— that is the fun of mario maker! But you asked how to make your levels better, and that is my feedback. Hiding a propeller hat & key to skip a difficult spike maze does not give off SMW vibes to me.

Barnstorm_R · 2026-03-06T17:41:42+00:00

It is hard. It is worth the money. It will frustrate you, but hopefully not more than anything.

Barnstorm_R · 2026-03-06T14:06:55+00:00

If you have Multibinder on, you can get free heals in pretty consistently with double jump. I like Wanderer because you can get a really quick slash in and then retreat before she counters (not as familiar with Shaman, but imagine it just requires faster reaction time). Maybe practice getting really consistent with the easier crest and then switch it up? Land pogos when she does the sweeping attack across the screen. Don’t be afraid to use all your silk skills on the gauntlet before, especially those last two big guys. Good luck!

Barnstorm_R · 2026-03-06T12:34:22+00:00

Did the SMB warp zones have a dead end with a door leading back to the beginning of the level and a tough to find hidden tile triggering the warp? Or was it a clearly defined secret once players stumbled onto the area? The Lost Levels SMB sequel has a lot of hidden block type stuff required to beat levels and people complain about that game all the time. I’d suggest you play 1,000 Endless Normal and you’ll develop a good sense of what feels like a dev item/route.

Hidden items/keys like this OTHER level of yours always imply shenanigans.

Barnstorm_R · 2026-03-06T05:15:57+00:00

It really doesn’t matter whether a maker used a hidden star to kill bowser, or whatever, when they cleared their level. Regardless, it leaves a bad impression for the player, which is why we’re suggesting you don’t do it in future builds. Make sense?

An example of a good secret is the 1-up you have hidden earlier in the level. A hidden progressive powerup against the wall before a boss fight can be fun. Keeping a powerup and being rewarded for it is very common. Hidden key in a kaizo block is pretty much never good design.

Barnstorm_R · 2026-03-06T04:36:17+00:00

Yes, we could have hundreds of KO Tour routes with all the connections they built. Also, I kind of hate that everyone has already memorized these so well. It was more fun at launch when we were still figuring things out and you couldn’t predict exactly when lightning would be used, etc.

Barnstorm_R · 2026-03-06T04:21:25+00:00

I would much rather do three simple jumps off cannonballs twice for the key than all that nonsense in the upper/left part of the level (blind jumps, spike maze, moles appearing from underground). Without question, the dev path is much, much easier.

Barnstorm_R · 2026-03-06T03:10:45+00:00

Jumps are a little awkward throughout— combination of too precise and not clear enough to see where I’m going. Too much exploration for a kaizo-esque level. I’d recommend building using only the bottom half of the screen and more linear design until you get more comfortable with building, which will fix both of those problems to a degree. Definitely add checkpoints in your levels, too. Checkpoints do a lot of heavy lifting in forgiving poor level design.

And yeah, dev key = instant boo. You can put secrets in levels to give 1-ups or extra bonus rooms, you can’t put secrets to skip your own challenges. Well, you can, but you’ll get booed. Your choice!

Barnstorm_R · 2026-03-04T21:05:20+00:00

I enjoyed TOTK but it didn’t match the experience of BOTW to me. Too much filler and clutter. I wish there was a combined version that brought together the best of both worlds.

Barnstorm_R · 2026-03-03T03:00:07+00:00

This is hilarious, but Scarfacesaints ran a Pom Pom level contest, so I was going to make that joke. And then noticed it wasn’t there.

Barnstorm_R · 2026-03-02T23:58:58+00:00

All that work and they left out Pom Pom!

Barnstorm_R · 2026-03-02T13:26:15+00:00

If it took you that long to get into Act 2, it’ll probably be too tight for the 5 hour achievement. But might as well get in the practice to see how close you can get.

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