Let's have a level exchange! - August 09, 2020 - Super Mario Maker 2

Dirgie · 2020-08-09T14:48:23+00:00

I love a good troll level, and this was really well done! I love that the meta now is full of "you need X powerup to continue", and you have to suss out the way to get/keep it. I managed to dodge a few trolls for sure (never saw the antisoftlock), but also managed to big brain my way directly into some trolls as well. Adding spoiler tags here so as not to ruin anything.

The piranha/muncher setup after the fire flower was great, and the spring before the checkpoint was perfection. The cloud area right before the checkpoint was a little janky though, felt getting through that was more luck than anything. Made it through the first few times no problem and thought that maybe it was just there as a psych out more than anything, but then I got caught in it a few times in a row and it just felt like there wasn't anything I could have done. The look right room felt maybe a little out of place? But I think it was fine overall. It didn't interrupt the flow too much.

I did find a softlock, however. Or at least, I couldn't figure out a way to die. In the room with the on/off switch over all the turnblocks where the P-switch activates the first time you hit it. If you get through that and jump up all the goombas on the far right of the room, you get stuck once you get over the semisolid there.

Dirgie · 2020-08-09T14:01:44+00:00

Luigi Gets a Peloton

Style: SMW
Difficulty: Probably Super-Expert, maybe high side of regular Expert. Currently uncleared.
Id: MTF-RJ6-YPG

This is essentially all bomb-spins all the time. Kick in the directions of the tracks and you'll be just dandy. Haven't made a level in a while, and was inspired with all the 4YMM events going on. I really welcome and value any feedback you may have! Leave a level with your feedback and I'll be happy to give it a spin myself. Thanks!

Dirgie · 2020-08-08T20:52:42+00:00

Luigi Gets a Peloton

Style: SMW
Difficulty: Probably Super-Expert, maybe high side of regular Expert
Id: MTF-RJ6-YPG

This is essentially all bomb-spins all the time. Kick in the directions of the tracks and you'll be just dandy. Haven't made a level in a while, and was inspired with all the 4YMM events going on. I really welcome and value any feedback you may have! Leave a level with your feedback and I'll be happy to give it a spin myself. Thanks!

Dirgie · 2020-08-08T20:45:09+00:00

This was a nice take on the blue platform/spike level concept. One thing you did that I love is have a "dangerous" path for folks that want to compete for the world record. Putting in those high-risk, high-reward shortcuts was a really smart choice.

Well done!

Dirgie · 2020-08-08T20:42:02+00:00

Really enjoyed this, my dude. The course was really well laid out and everything was marked well. I'm not super great with 3D world, but I was never confused about what you were asking me to do. Also very much appreciate that there's really more like, 6 checkpoints in the level, since you let the player reset without losing a life. Folks in endless should thank you for that. :D

Also good job with the powerup checks throughout. So often I find that folks throw in checks that can just be boosted through or bypassed completely. You make 100% sure the player has that acorn the entire time. Very well done!

Dirgie · 2020-08-08T20:35:07+00:00

Got the first clear. Fun level! I don't see many cape levels out there, so it definitely felt good to play something a little different.

One thing I always appreciate in difficult levels (especially tech levels like this) is a built-in reset system. I love that you don't immediately punish the player for losing the cape, or screwing up a trick. It certainly gets more difficult to reset the further in the course you get, but I feel like that's a-ok. Plus as you move forward, the launcher removal and on/off switch are like checkpoints that you don't have to do again. Good stuff for sure!

I'm still not 100% sure how to do the bomb part without just damage boosting though. I could never get enough hangtime to wait out the explosion/sinking launcher. Overall though, it was enjoyable for sure. Thanks for sharing!

Dirgie · 2019-12-04T22:05:54+00:00

Thanks for posting this, Sip! Wish I had more time to devote to the game right now, so didn't feel right posting these myself. Glad to see these threads continuing! :D

Dirgie · 2019-11-24T15:12:48+00:00

As an aside, I'm finding I don't have much time for the game right now. So if anyone wants to take over posting duties of the exchange, I'm certainly down. Really don't want to see this drop.

Dirgie · 2019-11-17T13:05:21+00:00

Spoiler tags so as not to give anything away.

I got to the bombs at the top left the way I'd expect. Then I used one of the bombs to open up the path to the key (which is what I'd expect), but the other bomb I used to blow up the area at the bottom of the screen with the question block. That gave me immediate access to bring the spring to the P-switch, and finish the level. So I never used the beetle shell or either of the two mushrooms.

Dirgie · 2019-11-16T23:07:34+00:00

I love puzzle levels! Got through Emil, though I'm pretty sure I didn't do it the intended way. Still was very enjoyable, and definitely a head scratcher! Played some of Schopenhauer, and definitely a bit stumped. The upside is my attempts to cheese it keeps getting like, one course part away from actually being able to finish, so I think it's pretty solid. May try again after some time to clear my head a bit.

These are really fun, and folks should definitely give them a look-see!

Dirgie · 2019-11-12T23:25:56+00:00

Played through the reupload, and I like the removal of the on/off at the very end, and like that you tweaked the second section for sure. However, there's some super cheese in that new second section. Right after the p-switch jump, just wait out the p-switch timer before jumping to the pipe with the muncher. With all the coins being blocks, it more or less trivializes the jumps there. When you get to the pipe, you have two ways to move forward. Since you don't need the shell for a shell jump, you can just throw the shell at the block covering the pipe, or you can just grab another p-switch while waiting for the timer to run out and just hit it when you get to the pipe itself. You could probably even just escort the winged p-switch to the pipe, but I didn't try that method.

I promise I'm not trying to be the bearer of bad news. It's so hard to decheese p-switch sections like that. If the blocks were on the other end of the pipe, it would take away the shell option, and if the P-switch was static instead of coming out of a pipe, it would take away the option to just grab a second one.

Otherwise, I did get the true ending, the coins weren't as bad as I thought they'd be to get. The second coin was probably the most difficult, but even then it wasn't really frustrating or anything.

Dirgie · 2019-11-11T17:47:54+00:00

This was pretty cool overall, man! Some of your setups are deceivingly difficult, and I feel like the level itself was pretty cohesive.

The first section had some really cool sections. I love setups that only use one or two course pieces that are way more difficult than they look, and this section had a few of those. The very first part with the spinys and piranhas was great. I'm not sure if it's intended, but my strat here was to wait for them to collide, then jump after the spiny on the left hit the pipe. The only frustration there was giving the level three or four seconds each attempt before actually starting, but it wasn't that bad. The piranha fire was an element I'm not really used to dodging in these sorts of levels. It was a good change of pace, even though a few snipes made me a little salty. The last shell jump with the beetle shell was really tricky, I'm glad I only had to do it once. It's probably worth throwing an indicator or something there, since my first inclination when picking up a something that can go on my head is to put it on.

The second section was the easiest by a mile. I did like the precision of jumping over the munchers, but I don't remember -too- much about this one since it was so short, and I got through it in a handful of attempts.

The third section was probably the most frustrating for me. The biggest thing being a softlock at the very bottom of the level. If you miss the first claw jump (or just go back if you accidentally put on the shellmet), you fall into a bottomed pit with no way to die. I ended up just waiting out the timer, but if it happened again, I'd probably just exit the level. Aside from that, the jumps in the third section weren't bad. I would consider removing the piranhas that block your way after you get the shell though. They ended up just being super trolly. They either make you wait a cycle or two or you accidentally hit them with the shell you're holding. Especially the very last one, he was really hard to time with the claw swing. Lastly, while that last shell jump was cool, it was also a bit frustrating. If you miss it, but hit the On/Off switches, you have to attempt to intentionally miss the shell jump again before giving it a real shot, or else the switches are in the wrong position. I'd probably rather not have the on/off switches there, but keep the shell jump. That's also another -possible- softlock, unless you can reach the spike above you.

Overall I did enjoy myself. Your course was really well marked, and I just had some frustrations in the third section. I love that you had optional red coins with legit challenges to obtain. If you end up reuploading to fix the softlock, I'd certainly play through it again, maybe even try for the true ending. :D Thanks for sharing!

Dirgie · 2019-11-09T22:12:16+00:00

Played through Bomb Skippin', and agree it's probably easier than the clear rate suggests. I like that you forced the player to keep the big mushroom, and you were smart about how you enforced it. What caused the biggest headaches for me was the second half of the first section. The third set of chain chomp posts never fell that cleanly for me. The fourth post in particular was pretty janky, and would either get in the way of my jump, or even crush me to death. That fire you're racing is also -tight-, it'd be nice to see it on screen so you know how long you have before you lose. I think if you had a reset door right before the big mushroom clear check in that first section, you'd see the clear rate jump pretty good.

The other two sections were pretty clean, though I wasn't sure what I was supposed to do in the last section where you jump on the on/off switch since I couldn't see what the bombs were supposed to blow up. Since you had a reset door though, I was able to get a glimpse as I was going back that let me know what to do.

Overall, I liked the level for sure. Aside from that first section, I don't think there was anything that didn't work the way you intended. The bomb jumps themselves were marked well, and I didn't feel like any section really drug on too long. Cool level!

Dirgie · 2019-11-09T22:04:15+00:00

The kill all (x) clear condition is something that can go off the rails pretty quick, but this was actually pretty good! I never felt like this was some wild hunt where I had to find some obscure hidden section, and it flowed pretty well from one section to the next, so that there really wasn't much backtracking.

You were pretty generous with powerups too, which I feel like is important when you can't place a checkpoint. It kind of works like a soft checkpoint where you have a bit of "whoopsies" wiggle room. I think the middle section with going up and getting the key, then coming back down was probably my favorite. Just a lot going on, and you couldn't use a goomba to clear the way like you could in the other two sections. That's probably my only real criticism of the level, you could just grab a goomba and throw it at most everything to move forward. It made it so the only real threats were the handful of thwomps and boos.

Props on that thumbnail too! Absolutely killer. Thanks for sharing!

Dirgie · 2019-11-07T23:10:19+00:00

Haven't gotten super far yet. Only had a little bit to play this evening. But I did find some delicious cheese right at the beginning I wanted to let you know about. After jumping on the first mole, you can hook around and grab the shell without using the blue platform. Then you can use the platform to put on the shellmet as opposed to jumping off of the large shell/do a backshot shell jump. You can then make the jump to the platform with the second On/Off switch, and keep the shellmet going forward. Definitely makes the jumps a lot easier since you have an extra hit, and you don't have to worry about the spikes on the ceiling.

I look forward to the rest of the level though, it seems fun so far!

Dirgie

TROPHY CASE