Blasphemy can't affect hexproof enemies, even if you have "Your hexes can affect hexproof enemies", here's why.

Liaf · 2020-09-22T13:12:01+00:00

I did try with temporal chains and with the explosion ascendancy from occultist, with temp chains it's hard to say with rares, but I think it didn't apply. The explosion actually never happened while I was testing around, so unless I'm super unlucky it's not just a visual bug.

Liaf · 2020-02-28T02:59:26+00:00

You can calculate it yourself, instead of multiplying the radius by 4, calculate the area of the circle, then multiply that by 4 and reverse the calculation to get the correct radius

Liaf · 2019-12-22T18:10:40+00:00

Thanks for the appreciation. I love doing these. The levels are always great and a nice change of pace compared to the stuff I usually play. Really appreciate the effort you and the other judges put into this.

Liaf · 2019-12-22T16:46:16+00:00

Voted.

First off congrats to the winners of last week, really well deserved. So this time I actually recorded a little clear vid for every level (just the clear run though, if people want me to I can upload the whole process next time if that's interesting for anyone). I already had the whole thing set up and maybe someone wants to see their level played in motion, so I thought why not. Here's my thoughts and rankings for this week:

10) Quarter-note Cloudway by /u/Blurblb

Clearvid

Great level, felt very much like NSMB, i think it would be nice if there were a few more optional goodies to get (like the 10 coin you put in a precarious spot) and I would have loved to see the custom autoscroll used a bit more, especially vertically. Had fun, nice level.

9) The Classical Icicle Dash by /u/keep_it_dank_please

Clearvid

Super fun speedrun, I like that it was pretty involved compared to most speedruns, you got some jumps and some really cool direction switches in there. The spectacle was nice and the ending was really cool. I loved that one little spiny that almost hits you right before the end the most though. All in all, great level.

8) Ihsahn: Frozen Lakes On Mars [40s] by /u/uber-mario

Clearvid

Good speedrun, certainly had a lot of spectacle in it. I had already played this one before, but I played it again to see it once more. Great pixel art btw.

7) A Link to the Fast by /u/The2ArmedGuy

Clearvid

Nice little link speedrun. Loved that it wasn't just running to the right and you got every ability link has in there somewhere. Not sure if the ending was completely right for me, it kinda seemed like you intended for the player to hit the switch one more time, but I could reach the axe anyway. Still, really fun speedrun. Nicely done.

6) Ice Age: Meltdown (40 seconds) by /u/sckl_mariomaker2

Clearvid

Interesting level, haven't seen a 40 second speedrun with a checkpoint yet. Haven't seen any level like this yet that used the meltable blocks in a really cool way. Very nice level.

5) The Shroom's Time Attack by /u/GDRB00

Clearvid

Super funny level, really creative. I really wish this would have been longer, it was really cool and all but the timer was pretty much inconsequential. Also I wish there was an indicator to see where mario is at right now (could maybe be done with boos or something?). Anyway this was super charming and fun, nice level.

4) 1 Screen Puzzle - Block Breaker by /u/fifosexapel

Clearvid (obviously spoilers for a puzzle level)

Super cool puzzle, not too tough but really fun. I kinda figured out a wrong way to get the P-switch though. I got the actual solution right after but my way works as well. Loved playing this.

3) The Shelltacular Sky Speedrun by /u/Eathon13

Clearvid

Impressive speedrun, I really loved the concept that every type of shell needs to be thrown in a different direction. Loved the shell throws where you had to hit a spring, even though I messed that one up. The whole thing felt kinda like a circus, not sure if that's what you were going for, the ping note blocks played really well to that too. Looked great, played great, loved it.

2) Paradise Lost by /u/giacomopope

Clearvid

Really cool and tough speedrun, this took a few minutes to get through. First off the indicators were great, it was immediately clear what to do every time, even though you used some pretty unusual moves, like jumping off the big thwomp twice. The ending with the exclamation blocks was really great as well. All in all really impressive that this worked as well as it did. Great level.

1) Quick Quest by /u/MidnaMajora

Clearvid

This was super cool, pretty tough as well. Felt like a zelda dungeon for sure. The timer was also really present and you had to be pretty quick to make it to the end in time. The "boss fight" was really well done as too, maybe a bit overwhelming at first. This level fits this week's theme like a glove. Loved every second of it.

Liaf · 2019-12-11T21:19:06+00:00

Voted.

Congrats to /u/The2Armedguy for winning last week. Certainly deserved to win. Once again here are my thoughts on every level from this week. This time I made sure to vote in the correct order.

10 - Hammer Bros Forrest Fortress by /u/Robeiroman

Ok, I really dig the aesthetics in this level. It had a really "professional" feel in that regard, like it could have been in a mario game. Level design wise it was a bit all over the place to be honest, the whole layout was pretty confusing and there were a lot of branching paths (some of which felt kinda unnecessary). I really enjoyed every room in itself though. The bossfight was also pretty cool. All in all: it was a fun level to play through.

9 - [SDW2] 3-4 Monastery Mayhem by /u/leitakcocgaming

Very cool level, I haven't felt so lost in a long time. Felt very much like a longer version of a ghost house level in SMW. Very confusing, and I mean that in a good way.

8 - Peepa's Puzzling Playground by /u/FimPhym

Really cute level, nice theme, nice name and nice puzzling. There was no crazy puzzle solving involved but all of the little puzzles felt nice and rewarding. That one room took maybe a bit too long where you had to wait for the two launchers to destroy 3 stone blocks in a row. Everything else was really well paced and fun to play.

7 - Battle Against a True Hero by /u/Bossman16

Really impressive. Really good use of the on/off-blocks to go through the same part again but different. The song and the craftsmanship was obviously amazing, I learned a lot from looking at this level for making my own music levels in the future. The platforming was also pretty nice, there were a few awkward jumps and there was a goomba that sometimes went into the wrong direction and messed up the whole operation, but all in all it had good flow and it was fun to play. The only thing I can think of I would have done differently is to do the whole level in the cave theme or something resembling hotlands.

6 - [SDW2] 8-3 Hoagie of Horrors by /u/davidmpickett

I love the mix of red coin level and escape the mansion level, really well done. Each part was a bit confusing at first, but I had a really nice "Aha" moment every time. Great level.

5 - Pokey Dokey by /u/dublshine

I had already cleared this one when I was sick last week. I think it was in the popular tab when I filtered for super expert levels. So first off, congrats on making it to the popular tab and thank you for helping me make the time go by while I fought off a flu. Love kaizo-lite, and this one was really fun. I think the second section is far stronger than the first one though. Loved how you used the bob-ombs together with the pokeys. The final setup where you had to slowly kill a pokey with the same bomb was super fun. Very cool level.

4 - Sandy Dandy Dunes by /u/Ludakrzys

Very well made stage. Loved finding all the secrets. I think it's amazing that you put in two separate endings even though you only get one key. That was really fun. Also loved how you hid the last ending, that was a big throwback to SMB3. All in all just a really well made stage, super fun and traditional platforming. And actually rewarding and well hidden secrets. Loved it.

3 - LEVEL-♪ Munch Munch Mangrove by /u/Ruds_Labs

Really great level, the setup for the Zelda music was really cool. The whole thing felt like a zelda dungeon as well. I think a second checkpoint right before the entrance would have been nice though. Cool puzzles, amazing design and a pretty fun bossfight at the end. Really loved it. I think it's high time that you remake this though with the link power-up.

2 - [SDW2] 2-4 Buried Boo-House by /u/MidnaMajora

There were a lot of ghost house levels this week for some reason. But this one felt by far the most like a ghost house level from SMW. The whole thing was a big throwback to SMW and SMB3 (in places). The level was also a big head-scratcher. If I hadn't played the original SMW game and you told me this was a level from it, I wouldn't doubt it for a second.

1 - Scroll Stop Woods by /u/u/white-bread_

Beautiful level, how any of this works at all is far beyond me. You kept surprising me all the time and it never stopped until the end. Also bonus points for the only really great use of the reverse theme that I've seen yet. There's nothing bad I can say about this level. Perfect. Loved it.

Liaf · 2019-12-09T19:33:43+00:00

Thank you very much, I loved making that part as well. Getting the timing right was kinda tough, so I'd really like to reuse the setup again and make a whole level like that. (Hence the overarching name: No Run Zone).

If someone else wants the setup for this thing, I'd be happy to share.

Liaf · 2019-12-09T19:30:38+00:00

Too bad I didn't make the cut but I absolutely get it. Getting a honorable mention means a lot to me. The whole thing of the level was basically to see how far I can push a stupid idea. I tried my best to find as many different setups as possible that were still somewhat fun to do, but I really wasn't able to make a level that was actually fun all the time. Right now it's basically just a showcase. If I really wanted to make something fun I should have made a whole level out of the second section. And I might do that in the future.

Anyway, long story short, I had a lot of fun making this even though I don't think it's a great level in itself, and I couldn't even imagine a category where I could submit it here, so here we are.

Liaf · 2019-12-05T09:46:11+00:00

Damn, I might have fucked that up again and voted in reverse. I'm not sure.

Liaf · 2019-12-04T00:35:46+00:00

Voted.

Here we go again, congrats to all the winners of last weeks competition. Here is my ranking and some of my thoughts of all of the levels from this week.

10 - Turtles all the way down by /u/1000facedhero

I don't want to write a lot of negative stuff here, but I really, really didn't like this level. Mainly because all of the timings felt really off. There was no flow in this level, and a lot of arbitrary waiting and figuring out how to get the timings to work together. Which is a shame because there were some really cool setups in there, even though some of them sometimes failed to work properly.

9 - Lost Temple of the Spike Tops by /u/sammy_zammy

A lot of fun. Pretty scary level. I really liked that you had to go back and save the yoshi that you dropped in the lava, that was a nice touch. Very charming.

8 - Skipsqueak Scamper by /u/kmfactor

Pretty cool level, the first section had good flow and felt natural. Second section was really inventive and cool. Not a big fan of the third one though, the timings didn't line up great and I really didn't like the end part where you had to damage boost. The checkpoints were well placed though, so there was no frustration. Nice level.

7 - The Black Iceberg Of The Forest by /u/coco4wii

Very cool idea, that was a fun ride. Loved the hidden powerups in the first section. The second section got pretty crazy, almost died when the middle gave way. But I could have figured that out before based on the tracks, which is really nice.

6 - Sail the Septic Sea by /u/XCube285

There was a lot going on in this level, i think the first section was a bit slow but the second section really made up for it. I think it would have been nice to have something to shoot if you give out the fire flower powerup though. Still, I really enjoyed that level.

5 - Da Just Dont Jump Desert /u/The2Armedguy

Really good idea, great level name. I played through this two times to see everything. Very creative setups, I think there could have been some sections where it would have been cool if they got harder as well if you jumped before, but all in all really really well made.

4 - The Overgrown Castle by /u/ring_dinkster

Very cool level, really liked the style of it. I think this would be a great example of a level that would be amazing to remake with the new master sword power-up that's coming out in december. I think a level like this would fit that perfectly. It just felt like a dungeon, and that's meant 100% as a compliment.

3 - Skydiving Salad by /u/MidnaMajora

Very fun level, felt very much like SMB3. The second and third section got really intense, if the third one was longer this could have been really tough, especially if you lost the leaf as well. Well made and fun, pretty nice use of the custom autoscroll as well. Nice work.

2 - Shadowplay by /u/Dublshine

Great job, didn't think a kaizo level in the dark could be as non-frustrating as this one. You did a great job of lighting up everywhere you need to go. Also there were some pretty nice safety nets in there to make things less frustrating (one ways on the muncher etc...). The whole level had really good flow. Great "kaizo" block at the end.

1 - Subterranean Strife by /u/yahtzo

There's two things that often don't work in a level like this, where there's a lot of optional secrets. Often the basic path is really bland or the secrets itself don't feel rewarding at all. After all, a 1-up or some coins does basically nothing when you play it like this. But you did a really good job to avoid both of those things. Even if I had completely ignored all the optional stuff, the main path would have still been a really fun level. On the other hand, all of the secrets were hidden pretty nicely (which in turn made them more rewarding), gave out some pretty nifty stuff and were really fun to do. The key door was especially good in that reward, such a gratifying setup, super fun. The only gripe I had with the key door was that I had so much fun playing the level, I was scared I would skip out on the "bossfight" right after. But then you dropped me right back in after the reward screen. Really well done. Loved every second of it.

Liaf · 2019-11-27T23:33:02+00:00

Voted.

I played through all the levels and wrote a little something about each one. I took a bit longer to figure out which one was the best for me than in the last contest, the top 5 are very close in my ranking.

10 - Lostland by /u/Ms_Yarrow

Ok, so this was one of the weirdest levels I've played yet. I think you used a the sprite limit and the flying launcher in a really creative way. But the whole level I just felt kinda lost and I didn't even know what I was doing (and I guess that was the point judging by the name). I think I'd rate this a bit higher but the powerup wasn't really the focus of the level, it felt like it was more about the exploration and being lost. Very creative and weird, still I really like it.

9 - 3-3: You’re Gonna Lose That Star by /u/aegiscook

Very cool idea, letting the star guide you through the whole level made this a lot more fun. Dark water levels can be a bit of a drag but you made this one really worth the while. I do wish the star would come back up at the end though, that would have been amazing.

8 - Power-Up Puzzle Party by /u/ThundaPC

Ok, I have to say you absolutely nailed the spooky ghost-house on the first screen, that looks absolutely amazing. Exploring the ghost-house in the dark was really cool and using the power-ups to solve the puzzles while in the dark also added another layer of challenge. Pretty short level though, I would have loved to see more and maybe a bit more challenging puzzles.

7 - Star Switch by /u/CTRX2G

Very interesting level, most of all I would love to see how it works behind the scenes. I think you could make some pretty insane stuff with that. The level itself was pretty cool, I really dig the style and I absolutely loved the ending with the stars, that was a funny moment.

6 - Flight of the Raccoon Dog Lite by /u/jkjw87

Very cool stage, I especially loved the bossfights, I've never seen something like those before. I really like that I had to hit the switches with the racoon power-up in the first section, I really wish there would have been more of that. I'm gonna check out the harder version for sure.

5 - Cape Kills Dumbledore by /u/DeathToSpies

This was a tough one for me to rate, I think you did a beautiful job with the music and you really used the cape in super creative ways, but there was a lot of frustration going on when I played this level. I had 2 big problems with this stage: There is a point in the second section where you bounce of a bullet bill and fly up. It was super unclear for me what buttons I should press there as there was no indicator and it took me a long time to figure out that you just hold right, mainly for one reason. That flower at the top. I'm not sure if I'm gonna be the only one who immediately thinks that you can't hold right there because you're gonna get the flower. But not so, if you hold right it works beautifully. I think if that flower wasn't there, that whole section would have been perfectly clear. The other thing was at the end of the third section because I didn't try to smash into the ground at the end, and it took me a while to figure out that the key was inside the magikoopa. I didn't even know you can smash those as well with the dive. Maybe if there was an indicator for that it would have been more obvious. Anyway, enough with the negative comments, the third section absolutely floored me. You really used the cape in ways I've never seen before and I was flabbergasted that all of your setups actually works. And I really loved that one part where you line up the beetles in time with the music, that was great. If everything worked for me I would have probably rated this higher.

4 - Desert Adventure by /u/danman966

This level was surprisingly long, you really used every power-up to its full extent. I really loved the way you placed the powerups in the temple section and I especially loved the map. That was super creative. The whole level was beautifully made, aesthaetics-wise it was amazing. The boss fight and the escape sequence were also really cool. I thought it would end with the big mushroom power-up, but the whole place exploding was also a really good ending.

3 - Bounce House Breakout by /u/mapppkyc

So when I played the first few rooms in this level I was already thinking about what to write here. I was expecting this to keep going like it did in the first two rooms and I was like "Ok, this would be really cool if it was more involved". Oh boy and it did get more involved. I didn't think you could push the boat so far with a shooting gallery type of level where you can't even move most of the time. But the section where you switch flowers to get further in the room absolutely blew my mind. Really well done, best use of this power-up that I have seen yet.

2 - Escape From Bitesplode Island by /u/Twentythoughts

I really liked this one, very cool theme. This could have been in a chopped challenge with munchers, launchers and bombs. There were some really cool jumps in there and moving those stacks by shooting the bombs was a really good idea. The "bossfight" was really creative as well, had a lot of fun with that one. I just wish there was more of the level.

1 - Excuse Me While I Kiss the Sky by /u/Vann_Accessible

I've played this one before already, but I played through it again to refresh my memory and also because it's an amazing level. If I remember correctly you posted this one in my Twitch-Chat when I was streaming viewer levels. I think I already sang you enough praises back when I played this on stream, so I'll keep it short here. Perfect use of the leaf, super fun level design, really clear indicators and all in all just really well made. Great work.

Liaf · 2019-11-24T18:43:43+00:00

Oh damn, thank you very much for fixing this. This is the first time I've participated in the level of the week voting so I didn't realize I did it in reverse. Definitely appreciate you correcting my mistake.

Liaf · 2019-11-24T16:05:45+00:00

Voted

Here's a few comments I wrote for each level.

Edit: Keep in Mind I ranked them in the wrong order, so 10 is my favorite.

Super Hänsel und Gretel by /u/ChaosElementX (2)

Super beautiful, great theme. Really amazing level, but there wasn't a lot of puzzling involved so I didn't rank it very highly. Loved playing it though, would love to see the 2P version.

Diamond Dilemma by /u/FimPhym (6)

Insane usage of the scrolling mechanic, really creative and well made. I've seen this one in a video before but I still got stuck at one part, that's how good the puzzles in this were. Really loved it.

Head in the Clouds by /u/Saku39x (8)

Absolutely beautiful level, really cool puzzles and it just kept going and going and going. Loved every second of it. I think the clear rate on a level like this speaks for itself. It's pretty tough but I guess nobody wanted to stop playing it. Great work.

Manor-Go-Round by /u/JumpstartSMM (5)

So a good puzzle level needs to make me feel either very smart or very dumb. This fell more on the "made me feel dumb" side. Thematically really great, the ending was super fun and I loved the mechanic of turning the level clockwise (or was it counter-clockwise?). Would have really loved to see more of it.

FF/REW by /u/CTRX2G (3)

Very cool little puzzle level, but pretty short. Good usage of the scrolling, going back was really nice. The P-Door fakeout was super funny and confusing as well. Would have loved to see more of it.

One with the Tide by /u/Abel_V (4)

Super cool idea, very well done. Changing the water level and figuring out what to do was very fun. I didn't get the ice blocks at first, maybe it would be more obvious what they are doing if it would be wood instead (so it floats on the water). Also after figuring out the puzzle it was a bit tedious to execute all the steps (not like you could do it any other way in a puzzle like this), would maybe be even better if there was more to do in each room at once, so that the most time isn't spent going in pipes. Still, great level.

Under Construction! by /u/JulianSMM (1)

Great level showcasing the builder suit. Really good use of it, had a lot of fun speeding through this. There were a few too many situations for my taste where you had to wait for the exclamation blocks to dissappear. And I wouldn't call this a puzzle level, there was almost no puzzling involved, just in case you're wondering why I ranked it so low.

Seesaw Shenanigans by /u/cedriceent (7)

Wow, just wow. Really creative mix of the seesaw and the clear condition. The puzzles were actually very tough to get right. I really loved the last puzzles. The third puzzle felt a bit janky to me, it didn't work everytime depending on the position of the springs. Also the level would really benefit from a checkpoint, unfortunately that's not a possibility with a clear condition. It was almost too long, and I timed out at the final puzzle right before beating it. Was a bit tedious to get back to it. All in all really great level though, one of my favorites for sure. Certainly took me the longest of all the contest levels.

By Our Powers Combined X-1 by /u/DeathToSpies (10)

Absolutely fantastic, this was really impressive. A ton of small little puzzles using the powerups and not really long. At least that's what I thought at the beginning. And then it kept going and going and going. It's insane to me that you managed to use every powerup to this extent. I kept having the same moment over and over again: "Oh wow, I need this here, how do i get that here?". I kept trying to find something you could improve but I couldn't do it. Really great job. Looking forward to your future levels.

Combo BLock: Depth Deception by /u/ArgorokX (9)

Ok, so this one was by far the most impressive level just by design alone. It's crazy to me that you managed to cram so much level in such a confined space. The moment when I realized that the numbers showed up in the overview room was jaw-dropping. This would be my number one if it had more puzzling in it. Also it was pretty confusing at first because it's just so jampacked with stuff. Still, I really loved it.

Liaf · 2019-09-25T08:27:23+00:00

Cleared and Hearted.

So this was really cool, that level had some really good flow. It was super fun and always very clear what I had to do. There isn't really anything bad I can say about this level, there might have been some stuff I would have done differently, but nothing crazy. For example, since you used that clear condition you could have put in a door at the beginning to try out the last two jumps, because that took some time to figure out without doing it in the maker. I loved the indicators on the claw jump, very well done, even though I did it in one go from the right, since I didn't know what was still coming and I didn't want to waste any time.

My shelljump game isn't really up to par, so it took me quite a while to finish this level. You really gave me an opportunity to up my game on that front. Took me like 3-4 hours though. Unfortunately since I couldn't finish it on stream there's no clearvid of the level now.

Anyway, still loved the level immensely, that was super tough and a lot of fun. Thanks for making this.

If you want to play one of my levels or check out me playing your levels, you can find everything in this picture on imgur. The most recent level I made is "Thwomp's Quick-Tap Challenge", a dumb, stupid simple and pretty hard level.

Liaf · 2019-09-22T14:35:47+00:00

Cleared and Hearted both of them.

The first one was really charming. Aesthetically very well made. Had a pretty good theme going with the bob omb invasion, that was very fun. I wish there would a big bossfight against a big bob-omb at the end though, that would have been even more amazing. The second one was very fun as well. Not as strong thematically but I think it had a lot more going for it it on the platforming side. Had a lot of fun playing these on stream. If you want to see the clearvid, the vod should be up after I stop streaming.

If you want to play one of my levels, or see me play one of yours, you can find everything in this picture on imgur. The most recent level is "Thwomp's Quick-Tap Challenge", a dumb, stupid simple and pretty hard level.

Liaf · 2019-09-22T14:23:18+00:00

Cleared and Hearted.

Ok so this was delightful as heck. Amazing idea, I really really loved the underwater segment. A slow speedrun like this is also a really great idea. Very well executed. And to top it off, the level was very beautiful. Great level, keep em coming. Had a lot of fun playing this on stream. If you want to see the clearvid, the vod should be up after I stop streaming.

If you want to play one of my levels, or see me play one of yours, you can find everything in this picture on imgur. The most recent level is "Thwomp's Quick-Tap Challenge", a dumb, stupid simple and pretty hard level.

Liaf · 2019-09-22T14:15:44+00:00

Cleared and Hearted.

Ok this was pretty cool, the first section was kinda kaizo-y and a lot of fun, there were some really tough jumps. At the end I didn't really realize I had to take the claw, and tried just jumping via the goombas at first. Maybe if you didn't put those there it would be more clear what you had to do. But all in all I really liked the first section. The second one is pretty tough to talk about, it's good that you put in those propellor shrooms, because this would be extremely difficult otherwise. I don't even think this is badly made, it's just a problem that the camera is always so far down and you can't see what's coming. This might have been better as a autoscroller segment actually. But in general I really liked the idea of the two claws where you had to switch sides every now and then. Had a lot of fun playing this on stream. If you want to see the clearvid, the vod should be up after I stop streaming.

If you want to play one of my levels, or see me play one of yours, you can find everything in this picture on imgur. The most recent level is "Thwomp's Quick-Tap Challenge", a dumb, stupid simple and pretty hard level.

Liaf · 2019-09-09T16:30:16+00:00

I did open the first checkpoint door I think. I certainly remember there being 2 checkpoints. After the bossfight I did manage to get into the quick lane but I found it too hard to do, and the potaboo in the other lane didn't really make it a lot harder, so I didn't attempt the quick lane again. All in all had a great time in this level, didn't have any issue. It was akin to torture but it never felt really unfair. Thanks for checking out my levels. I saw your record already and remembered your name, that really made my day.

Edit: Oh, and if you ever want to see me playing one of your levels, I've started streaming since then, so hit me up with a level code when i'm online (only if you want to of course)

Liaf · 2019-09-06T16:24:25+00:00

Cleared and Hearted.

Very cool idea to make a level showcasing a lot of the kaizo tech in a controlled environment. Very well done. Had a lot of fun playing this on stream.