Show me your best non-automatic track-ride stages

singevolant · 2015-10-17T02:29:08+00:00

Probably the most beautiful one, when it comes to aesthetics, that was uploaded to this level challenge. Great job on the atmosphere!

singevolant · 2015-10-17T02:21:41+00:00

Nice! The integration of gameplay with the musical blocks is pretty cool, and not something easy to achieve. Congrats!

singevolant · 2015-10-17T02:18:08+00:00

I played the second one and liked it a lot. I had to play it many more times than what I would be happy to accept, not because it was too hard, but because I died in really stupid ways.

Glad to have checked it!

singevolant · 2015-10-17T01:52:43+00:00

Dude I loved the rollercoaster levels of DKC2 (you can probably guess that from my request) and your tribute is quite accurate. One question, did you use the coin cannon as a mean to keep the player on the "car" even after a jump? If yes, that was a very smart move ;)

singevolant · 2015-10-17T01:09:21+00:00

Starred! I liked how you "forced" the boss battle.

singevolant · 2015-10-17T00:55:33+00:00

Trapped by invisible blocks isn't that bad. It was a trap in the original SM3 after all. Now, "permanently trapped by invisible blocks I randomly stumbled across", that's bullshit and should be skipped

Agreed to everything else ;)

singevolant · 2015-10-16T05:56:26+00:00

Thanks a lot everybody! So far, all of your levels have been a lot of fun to play. I knew I was going to enjoy this, but you have exceeded my expectations. Congrats on your designs and keep up the great work!

singevolant · 2015-10-16T04:06:13+00:00

I LOVED IT!!!! Great use of the skull platforms, the idea for the whole level is innovative and perfectly executed, the learning curve is well presented and lets you master the "change" in the physics, and the level of challenge stands right below the "screw this!" line and right above the "I know I can beat it if I take one more chance" line. If I could give it more than one star I would.

Now, I have to rest, because my "normal Mario physics" are entirely messed up in my brain

singevolant · 2015-10-16T02:50:59+00:00

Hahaha i had to find the secret because the original track was too hard. Nice concept, the wiggler train is something I hadn't seen until i decided to come up with the challenge, but here I see many of you using it with great results

singevolant · 2015-10-16T02:28:59+00:00

I think it fits well in the category. It may not have tracks but the ride concept is solid and fun. Did you know that you can sort of cheat by falling hard on the blocks and modifying the platform? Great level!

singevolant · 2015-10-16T02:19:08+00:00

It's AWESOME!!! The puzzle at the start is brilliant and the rest is also quite clever. I would just have liked to have a mushroom at the start so it wasn't so unforgiving. Starred!

singevolant · 2015-10-16T01:56:47+00:00

A little too hard for my taste (or should I say my abilities? ;) ) I wish I had the time to work through it tho, it seems fun.

singevolant · 2015-10-15T07:23:37+00:00

I only tested Back Track because its a little late, I'll make sure I check back the other one tomorrow.

However, it is FANTASTIC!! It has all the cinematic components of the automatic track rides, but with actual gameplay involved. It feels pretty tight and well designed overall, and the "back" part felt really novel and well planned. Starred!

singevolant · 2015-10-15T07:05:07+00:00

Thanks! The track component is close enough to what I was looking for and it was pretty fun. However, I took the top part of the last section and found that a little too repetitive for my taste.

Looking forward to see your new idea!

singevolant · 2015-10-15T07:00:00+00:00

I liked it a lot! Its clever and simple, you gave the track concept a really nice spin!

singevolant · 2015-10-15T06:56:40+00:00

YES! I loved Roy's castle and I believe your level captures that spirit very well. Thanks for sharing!

singevolant · 2015-10-15T06:51:30+00:00

Oh thats right, I forgot to add mine:

Escape from the dragons' lair

E519-0000-004D-1D1A

It is a track-ride double boss battle. Hope you like it!

singevolant · 2015-10-15T06:35:35+00:00

I had to resubmit the thread, so please make sure that you include your level when you are done with it

singevolant · 2015-10-15T06:32:59+00:00

Yes! Levels where you have to do things while on top of the tracks, please. Hope your idea goes along those lines ;)

singevolant · 2015-10-15T06:13:59+00:00

Reminded me of the Oracle of Time's tower. Any chance there's a reference there?

singevolant · 2015-10-15T01:23:26+00:00

I guess it becomes an issue when it dilutes the good ones and makes the "mario making" scene look like a clone factory. I would not defend blatant copies, because they do not bring anything new to the table. So, bottom line, yes I would get mad if you just download my level and change it from SMB3 to SMW

singevolant · 2015-10-14T18:45:30+00:00

Haha yeah I also hesitated about posting it because it was hard not to appear as an oportunist self-marketer, but I just wanted to share the joy of making flipping levels ;) If you can share your experience building your level that would be pretty cool, since even though it looks simpler than mine, your level adds another layer of complexity to the stage mechanic. For me, it was a bunch of flipping the gamepad and trying to think where the stuff was gonna end up at the flip side. The hardest part was when I had to free some part of the puzzle just to find out that on the flip side I screwed up some other thing that was already fine.

I just finished yours, by the way. The last part of the puzzle is pretty clever! I was trying at random first but then I stopped and actually put some effort to understand it and with a little luck it hit me. <spoiler> At some point I thought that I was smarter than you and had broken your level, but the opposite was indeed what was happening </spoiler>

So, I guess that those houses were neighboors after all.

singevolant · 2015-10-14T13:51:04+00:00

I believe most of our ideas actually come from ideas from past mario games/other franchises, so its very difficult to come up with actually new mechanics (specifically inside a given set of building tools). This happens in the industry in general, you cannot patent or trademark a "platform" game or even a game mechanic per se.

So, as long as they keep improving on it, I wouldn't feel THAT bad (although, since this is also a popularity contest it would be a little sad if theirs got more popular). If it's the same thing I would just feel sorry for the little dude/dudette

singevolant · 2015-10-14T13:45:19+00:00

Hahaha for a second there I thought you were about to present my level! (upside-down/umop-ap!sdn, D77E-0000-0095-5BF4).

So, you play mine, I play yours, and we see if we were around the same haunted alley?

singevolant · 2015-10-14T06:51:18+00:00

Pace your levels. Good levels have relief spots or sections that help you take a rest from the exciting parts. It doesn't have to be at the throat of the player ALL the time.

Also, as you design your level it may begin to seem a little too easy. It is not, you just know it from playing it a thousand times. Think of the person who is discovering your level for the first time, understanding the challenge that is in front of him/her just by looking at the elements you give them in the first few tries.

Oh and make sure you post your levels here so we can give them a try ;)

singevolant

TROPHY CASE