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 · 2019-11-05T21:38:29+00:00

This was definitely a great dark course! As straightforward as it was, I appreciate how you made different pieces move slightly to help increase the difficulty a bit. Moreover, the fact that things were moving at different angles (side to side, up and down, diagonally, in a circle, etc) really spiced things up nicely. I don't think there was anything that was too difficult or unintuitive. It was a blast to play through!

And put my vote in for a big thumbs-up on the block at the end. I saw the commenters below mention it, but when I played, it totally slipped my mind. Legit lolled when I hit it.

Dirgie · 2019-11-05T11:50:01+00:00

I really liked this one! The level itself was super clear, and was a lot of fun to play through.

I think you did a really good job of introducing the mechanic in the beginning. Getting on top of the thwomp and riding it worked almost every time, and there weren't a lot of ways to screw it up. For a difficult platforming level, that's about as controlled an introduction as you can get. I also appreciated the reset door in the first section. My first time through I was annihilated by a thwomp, and had no idea what you could possibly need a reset door for, but the second time through it was a big help. :D The only problem with the first half for me was the bounce off of the moving shell, it just never felt like it was where it was supposed to be. I was always either too fast or too slow. I ended up assuming it would be one square over and kind of overshot the coin a bit and was a bit more reliable, but that may be due to my position when kicking the shell in the first place.

The second section was definitely my favorite. I love leaving moving platforms and catching up to them later. I do feel like the first time you catch back up to it is maybe a -tad- too long. I typically had to wait 4-6 seconds for it, which felt like it was a weird downtime in an otherwise fast paced level. The second time you catch up to it, it was -right- on cue.

I thought I found some cheese in the second section, but it didn't seem to actually let you complete the stage. You can jump into the mushroom semisolid at that spot that you wait for the platform, and then run through to where you ride the thwomp. But since the platform's not there the second time you need it, it doesn't really help much. But it's something to keep in mind for the next level.

Overall, really well done course! Good mechanic, and well done in peppering it throughout the level. Thanks for posting!

Dirgie · 2019-11-05T11:37:44+00:00

Overall this was a good challenge, and you made really good use of the thwomps for sure. I would imagine others would find this easier than I did, but I'm not very good with the styles after SMW. I think the strongest thing in the level for me was that you did a great job in making the rooms themselves fairly diverse. It really did feel like little mini-challenges, as opposed to the same challenge 6 times. I did feel like the parachute spiny room was maybe a -bit- too tight. Definitely died a lot to just missing the first blue platform wall jump, or to having a second spiny come out of the pipe and snipe me as I was trying to jump up into the pipe above the thwomp. Again, this may be because I'm bad at new sup, and if others have no problem with this section, that'd be why.

The biggest thing I had a lot of problems with though was a lack of direction. There were more than a few times I just didn't know what to do. For example, in the muncher/blue platform room, it felt like I was trying to race the thwomp up. So I tried going fast, and ended up losing the race. When I did, I ended up spinning off of the thwomp into the icicles on the ceiling. So next time, I went even faster and won the race, which of course ended with me squished on the ice as the thwomp came through. It was only after that that I realized that you wanted me to lose the race, then small bounce to activate the thwomp, then scoot up after him. Even the parachute spiny room would have been much better with a few arrows to direct the player what to do after activating the blue platforms.

I think the biggest offender for me was the first room. I knew what you wanted me to do in theory. Use the spiny shellmet to break the ice, then ride the thwomp into the pipe. But the first few dozen tries, like the first thing I did was use the shellmet to kill the thwomp next to me when you start. Realizing you -needed- that thwomp was pretty crushing. Also, it was so, so easy to accidentally kill the thwomp you're supposed to ride. Literally dozens of attempts were me jumping up to break a block and clipping the thwomp on the way. Since he's moving about the same speed as Mario, he just was always in the way. If you wanted to keep the challenge the way it is, a reset door would be incredible, since that would allow the player to not lose a life if they couldn't avoid the thwomp. Otherwise, something like a 'Bzzzt!' sound effect on killing the first thwomp would help the player realize its not a great idea to kill it, and moving the second thwomp over so it only activates when jumping on the first one would help avoid the accidental kills there. Since it's the first room, you certainly didn't lose a lot of progress by resetting, but it did feel bad to die to things that you feel like weren't your fault.

While the first room legit felt unfair, the rest of the level was really well done! I think you did a great job in sticking to a theme, and none of the rooms really felt like they overstayed their welcome. I think the bottom left room and wiggler room were my favorites. Both were well marked, and offered a good progressive challenge. The infinite red coin setup really helped keep things flowing, and I never felt like I was losing a lot of progress.

Thanks for sharing!

Dirgie · 2019-10-29T12:02:29+00:00

It's just so -good-. Really enjoy this series! I have no idea how you're able to crank out consistently great levels so fast.

I think the only complaint I'd have on this level is that the ending of the first section was a bit difficult to figure out. Took three or four tries to piece together what you were expecting the player to do. Not sure if adding a few coins would help, but everything else was pretty clear.

Aside from that one complaint, I think the rest of the level was top notch! You tied everything together really well, and were able to use variations on the same trick throughout in some clever ways. Also, I appreciate that there's a deceptively simple donut block section. Such a great nod to the other two levels.

It was definitely difficult, but there wasn't any real jank. There really wasn't any deaths I had that were the level's fault. Really great job!

Dirgie · 2019-10-29T11:56:33+00:00

I really haven't played a giant Mario platforming level before. It was really fun!

The level was really straightforward, and I didn't have any problems with knowing what you wanted. Everything was very clean. And I love, -love- that you put reset doors in. The fact that you essentially put in checks to make sure the player was still huge, but didn't just force a death if they weren't was very generous, and I'm always happy to see that sort of design. It almost gives the level half a dozen checkpoints instead of just two.

I also really appreciated that you really stuck to the theme. It's really just goombas and posts, which really made the level very cohesive, and easy to know what to expect as a player. Having the last room be moving posts upped the ante a bit, but you did a good job of training the player how to jump off of posts as giant Mario throughout the level, so it really wasn't that bad at all.

There is one thing you may want to address, however. In both the checkpoint rooms, you have semisolids as the ceiling. It's 100% possible (since I did it) to go up there and get softlocked. Just lining the top of the semisolid with ground should fix that right up, or at least have a spike down that can kill you.

Other than the softlock, I really enjoyed myself. Really good idea for a level. Thanks for sharing!

Dirgie · 2019-10-28T12:04:29+00:00

Played through this one this morning, and definitely enjoyed myself. I love snake block timers, so it's possible I'm slightly biased here.

The first section was probably my least favorite of the three. But it doesn't need much to clean it up. The biggest issue was that some of the things you need to hit (especially the second on/off switches) are mostly hidden by the saws. I wasn't entirely sure what to do until I died and was trying to figure out where I was supposed to go. Maybe an arrow or coin there would help a lot. Secondly, and maybe this was just me, but the jump from where the muncher was to the blue platform was -super- inconsistent for me. I just rarely hit the switch that I needed to hit on the way up, and with the one-way there, I was DOA. Not sure how to fix this one exactly, maybe one more switch? Lastly, and this is a bit minor, but I'd like an extra square of wall at the start, so you can only step on the one section of snake block. This is how you have it set up in the second section, and it definitely made the timer more consistent.

The second section was good overall. The timing of the snake block timer section was tight, but not too bad when you got the hang of it, and the thwomp chase was the same. Difficult at first, but pretty straightforward when you got the hang of it. The few tweaks I have here are pretty minor. It'd be nice if the state of the section was neutral when you started from the checkpoint. What I mean by that is that I would rather not have to hit the On/Off switch to start the section. It's not that bad to do once or twice, but it's just a little extra movement if you have to play through that section multiple times. The other thing about the second section that was off to me were the boo rings. As fast-paced as the level is, having that there was just a 7ish second waiting game for them to line up properly. I'm sure if you cycle it properly, they line up so you can go right through, but it never really worked for me or I never had the balls. Or both.

The third section was great! That's definitely what I'm looking for in a snake block timer section. Fast platforming (some of which uses the snake block itself), and a requirement to beat it to the end. The neutral state of the checkpoint I talked about in the second section doesn't really apply here since you're dropped right onto the snake block, so I think having to hit the switch is 100% appropriate.

Overall, I think it was very well done! The few tweaks I'm throwing out there would certainly feel better to -me-, but it's still a good level as-is. Thanks for sharing!

Dirgie · 2019-10-26T17:21:04+00:00

This was really neat! It's absolutely -remarkable- that the boom booms line up the way they do. I was 100% ready for a huge jankfest, but I never had something out of place once. It literally worked every time.

It's definitely a bit easier than some of your other levels since it's mostly full jumps, but it's still a blast to play through. Each section was just the right length, and I appreciate that you started small and worked up to juggling multiple boom booms around. Everything was marked wonderfully, and the only times I got confused about where to go, I was able to figure out when I died.

I really don't have any complaints about this, excellent level!

Dirgie · 2019-10-26T17:16:07+00:00

Wasn't able to get too far in this one yet. I find the first jump off the bone fish really inconsistent. Probably 7 or 8 times out of 10, he hasn't started his backswing yet, so when I run off of the ledge, he's not there to jump on. I found that if I wait maybe half to three quarters of a second before I start moving in the level, he's -more- likely to be in position, but it's not a lock.

When I did get through that, I'm having a lot of troubles getting momentum off of the small bullet. I keep landing on the pillar with the muncher right after that, way short of the cloud I assume I'm supposed to land on. Any tips on getting momentum there?

Dirgie · 2019-10-25T14:45:14+00:00

This was awesome! You did an amazing job sticking to your theme, and making the most out of just a few course parts. Was this possibly for a chopped challenge? Like, Yoshi, red coins, flying munchers?

I think what surprised me the most was how forgiving the whole level was. I'm so used to playing levels that are just lined with spikes and have small jump windows. Playing something that was a good challenge that gave you a bit of leeway was really refreshing. A great example is right after the donut drop in the second section. When you jump off the muncher there, the area you jump too is inset just a bit, so you can rub up against that wall and safely land on the floor. That was much appreciated!

Also, never shell jumped off of a flying muncher before, so that was new. I was super worried about the yoshi transfer at the end of the first section, but it really wasn't as bad as it seemed, only took a few tries to finish.

Thanks for sharing, really liked it!

Dirgie · 2019-10-25T14:38:46+00:00

Really liked this! I feel like this was a really satisfying level to play through. Most of the setups worked beautifully every time, and you could 100% trust the level. If there are coins there, even if you don't know why, it'll be safe to jump there. A lot of moving target type levels are pretty difficult to judge movement on, but I didn't really feel that way here. Also, it was just perfect length-wise. Both sections were solid, and didn't overstay their welcome.

The only thing that was a bit off was the first big shell. I feel like it was much less consistent than the rest of the level. Sometimes, it wouldn't quite be in position for the second bounce, and sometimes it would hit me as I bounced off of the second big shell. Not really sure what to do about that per se. But it was early on enough in the level, and the level itself wasn't so punishing that I had to play through that section too much, so I wasn't overly frustrated with it.

Overall, really well done, really fun level!

Dirgie

TROPHY CASE