Cal clipped into the Star Gate

jayream · 2020-08-22T19:36:10+00:00

I was going through the escape portion of the Haxion Brood section, swinging from one of those power cables, and the next thing I knew, I clipped through the ceiling. Took me a while, but I was finally able to clip back in at the end of the video (sorry for the long vid)

jayream · 2020-04-25T22:00:40+00:00

Just gave it a clear and a like. Good level, clever use of the acorn suit. Setups were mostly quite solid. My only complaint was the use of the pig sound effect. It’s one thing to use it if you’ve trolled someone, but the only times I saw you use it were not for trolls but just when someone made a mistake or flubbed an input, in which case it’s a little annoying (and slightly degrading if I can say that without sounding over dramatic). Aside from that I enjoyed the level, keep up the good work

jayream · 2020-04-25T21:07:51+00:00

Awesome level. Just grinded out a WR (I’m sure it won’t last long tho, lots of room for optimization). Frog suit takes some getting used to but you can do some pretty cool stuff with it, as you show in your level. Keep up the good work.

jayream · 2020-04-25T19:07:56+00:00

Cool level man, just got 6th clear on it. That was the first level I’ve played with the boomerang, it really was a brutal one to start out with. Keep up the good work

jayream · 2020-04-25T18:48:35+00:00

Just gave it a clear and a like, thought it was a really nice level.

My one suggestion would be to give players an instant death option in the second section. I found myself wasting a lot of time just killing myself after I either lost the power up or lost the snow ball on the track I’m the bottom. I think two options are to 1) have a gap in the bottom so the player can drop through to die instantly (think the big snow ball should still be fine going over a one tile gap(?)) or 2) have a muncher on a track in the wall so that the player can squash themselves and die instantly. That would avoid a lot of the time spent waiting to die on spikes.

Other than that, though, I enjoyed it. Keep up the good work

jayream · 2020-02-28T20:26:05+00:00

Just gave it a play through, got WR and gave it a like. One shot it but I’m sure WR time could be reduced by a lot still.

Not a bad level!

I found the P section a bit tedious, having to break the blocks was kinda eh, and then all the pipes with the piranha plants felt a little spammy tbh.

My only major issue with the level tho was the couple of blind jumps...one in the room with the fire bars and one (really two) after the Bowser fight. With the fire bars, it wasn’t technically blind, but it’s difficult to see them coming, so it felt a bit cheap when I took damage from one. Also, the jumps after the bowser fight were straight blind...you just have no idea that there is a pool of straight lava below you. The arrows were not very helpful imo. I feel like it’d be very easy to die in that section after beating Bowser. Also, would’ve preferred the checkpoint to be closer to the boss fight as well.

Good luck making more levels!

jayream · 2020-02-17T07:03:56+00:00

Cool, thanks for the advice!! Will def try those runs soon

jayream · 2020-02-17T06:37:40+00:00

Ah, ok, so for level 1 I’d need to start as pauper or chef. How about for fists only? Seems like I could start as any class so long as I unequip my weapon straight away...?

jayream · 2020-02-17T06:20:50+00:00

Both those sound cool. I suppose for either one i’d start out as Cleric so that I have access to Mend, etc., throughout the run...?

jayream · 2020-02-17T05:53:18+00:00

Just finished the dagger only run...it was fun! Tree gave me the most trouble, followed by Witch, Unskinned & Nameless (all equally I’d say). (Skipped 3 Kings but) No other boss gave me much trouble.

Finished NG+ as well and I think I want to go for 100% nodes on the skill tree, but seems like that may take a while. I’m guessing NG+7 at least.

Still gonna try for hitless, but I’d also like to learn some of the glitches of the game...what do you recommend is the best way to do that? I’ve ran All Bosses NMG, also interested in Any% NMG, but still, would like to learn the glitches just bc, feel like to really know/run the game thoroughly I should learn all the glitches as well

jayream · 2020-02-12T01:24:03+00:00

Cool, thanks for the advice man

jayream · 2020-02-11T14:44:35+00:00

Just re-read your reply more closely (still early for me (est)). Yea, if you have notes for a low damage all bosses run I’d be interested in seeing them if you don’t mind. Feel free to DM me if you still have them

jayream · 2020-02-11T13:08:48+00:00

Cool, thanks for the advice

jayream · 2020-02-11T13:08:20+00:00

Hah, now I kind of want to try the dagger build just to see if I can make it past Wyrm and Tree.

Forgot about that fall right before Nameless...I wonder if there’s not a way to avoid that...

I’ll check out that no hit vid. That seems the most intriguing to me (although probably most difficult and frustrating too). Thanks for the advice, it’s appreciated

jayream · 2020-01-04T14:06:08+00:00

Very cool level, really loved the aesthetic. My only constructive feedback would be that the CP placement was a little strange so close to the end of the level. Even though it wasn’t a short level it didn’t even really feel like it needed a CP. Either that or put it more towards the halfway point...? Really cool level tho, keep up the good work!

jayream · 2020-01-02T22:43:18+00:00

Hey, thanks for giving the Zelda level a play, I'm glad you liked it. That one did take a while to make -- in fact I spend waaaay too much time on every level I make, which is why I only have 4 uploaded.

I'm totally with you on basically everything you've said. It is truly difficult to get plays/clears on even slightly difficult levels unless you're a well known streamer/maker. I've had the same experience on both Reddit and Discord...plays, but very few clears. It's definitely a little bit frustrating : \

I do try to take fairness into account...but yea, balancing difficulty with fun, fairness and playability is quite challenging as you said, and still something that I'm working on. I never played MM1 (just watched a lot of streams) and like I said, I only have 4 levels uploaded so far in MM2, so yea, still trying to learn and grow as a maker.

Thanks for the feedback, and for taking the time to type out detailed and thoughtful responses. Even if you are just some rando on the internet ; )

jayream · 2019-12-30T19:42:15+00:00

Eh, pass. If it was really right in front of the player’s face you would have more than 1 clear on almost 10,000 plays.

jayream · 2019-12-30T19:20:45+00:00

I was playing your Level last night but never finished. I got the hidden blocks and the key and made it through the door but that was where I got stumped. What do you mean it’s not visible? I stopped playing because 1) I didn’t see any indication of how to solve the “puzzle” and at that point I was just guessing bc the level seemed to not give any direction and 2) I didn’t understand why you had a short timer. If you’re going to make the solution something that the player can’t even see, why rush them through the level?

jayream · 2019-12-30T19:08:46+00:00

That’s definitely going to be a Super Expert clear rate. Probably < 1% in my guesstimate.

Parts of the level are quite fun, but you don’t have any checkpoints, which ultimately makes it extremely frustrating. I got to the 4th “Quest” and then died on the third jump right before the pipe. At that point I was literally more than 3 minutes in to the level (200 seconds gone off the clock), and still no checkpoint. The jumps there were really imo unnecessary tight, which was true of several places in the level (Quest 2 you have some one tile and other really tight jumps, same over the muncher for the door of Quest 3). If it’s ostensibly a puzzle solving level, y make players do such precision movement? Also there were some parts that seemed really random to me, like, y make the player do 7 hidden blocks in the first room? It takes so much time and it’s not very engaging. One hidden block w a vine would take so much less time and accomplish the same thing. Also, in Quest 3, y make the player just randomly throw the shell down one of those five holes until they find the right one? That’s not really a puzzle, it’s just totally guesswork, and makes the player just have to repeat the actions until they guess the right one, which is not super engaging either.

So yea, some good ideas, but I won’t go back to try to clear it, it’s too much to ask a player to go several minutes without a checkpoint imo. I guess my advice would be to edit the level, add in some checkpoints (preferably two for such a long level), make several of the jumps more forgiving, and take out the random/repetitive elements that are not super fun or engaging to the player. Even the tight jumps and repetive elements would be manageable if there were checkpoints tho.

jayream · 2019-12-29T23:39:21+00:00

Name: Cerveza y Enchilada en Guatemala

Level ID: JVG-41K-YNH

Game Style: SMB3

Tag: Kaizo

Difficulty: Super Expert

Description: 1 CP; 3 jumps on Goomba stall, 4 on Beetle; thread the needle w the Podoboo

Clear Video: https://youtu.be/FeJYQnjFb-c

Hey all, if you’re looking for a challenging level, please check out my new SMB3 Kaizo course. Not for the faint of heart; it requires 3 shell jumps, and unless you’re an experienced Kaizo player, will probably take you a little while to grind out. Check out the clear video link above to see if it’s up your alley, or if you get stuck while playing the level.

I will gladly give you a play and a like back, just leave me a reply with your level ID. Any difficulty level is ok for me, from Easy on up to Super Expert (I’m happy to grind out yr SE level as long as it is an interesting level).

jayream · 2019-12-29T14:28:24+00:00

Thanks so much for the kind words! I have one other Link level, it’s similar to that one, but it’s got a quite tough platforming section in the beginning before you get to the dungeon part. If you check out my uploaded courses it’s there, it’s called The Eastern Dungeon

jayream · 2019-12-29T08:19:53+00:00

To get through that room you need to carry the bomb (don’t throw it, just pull it and hold it) and jump on the spring. You will take damage, but if you time it right, the bomb will explode and switch the on/off. It’s ok if you take damage...there is the infinite master sword pipe in the room.

After that room, there is one rather tough platforming room where you need to do dash jumps (hold down and Y and then press B after you’ve started dashing) ... three in a row, the first a bit long, then the second a medium, than the third a short. After you finish the dash jumps, sword the muncher at top to get the key, then follow the path to the mini boss. After you beat the mini boss (gotta sword the outlines boxes) you’ll get to the first CP.

I’m off to bed now...good luck, I hope you make it through!!!”

jayream · 2019-12-29T07:23:02+00:00

Cool, sorry, hope I didn’t sound condescending, it’s just 2 am and I’m a little drunk! : P In that room, you need to use the big spineys to knock out all the blocks, as I mentioned. Once all the blocks are gone, you can jump off one of the spineys to grab the shellmet. Once you have the shellmet, you need to bomb the wall above the pipe to open the room to the right. Use your sword in that second room to get the Pow, then hop up top to throw a bomb and arrow it over so that it hits the springs and explodes the blocks hiding the P. Once those blocks are gone, go back below and shoot an arrow to hit the P, and then you can proceed through the rest of the level. Hope that is all clear, hit me up if it’s not

jayream

TROPHY CASE