144 replies to this topic

[Hana-Nezumi]

New Course! Peach in Wonderland (AA2B-0000-0062-D2B1)

[Masamune]

 

Short & Simple

 

A683-0000-0034-CFF3

 

I...guess I just need to maybe spend some more time playing the random generated levels, or hell, even go back and replay Super Mario Bros again since it's been a few years and maybe get some ideas that way. I can kinda understand the philosophy of level making and whatnot, but maybe I need that spark that can get my ideas out of my head and into the creator. I know I'm definitely more interested in trying to make a "real" Mario Level then a ludicrously difficult one or a troll one.

 

There's nothing wrong with the level, but there's certainly a lot more you can do with the game. I think if you go through 100 Man Mario a few times, you might get inspired. For me, I usually just try to find some gimmick and build a level around it. Like "Don't Get Singed" is just a level where you're trying to avoid a firebar from start to end. My Captain Falcon ones are speedrun levels where you literally can never slow down. Just find something that is a little bit different and see how much you can do with in a level, even if it's doing an airship level. Most of my levels have been born from just playing around with the mechanics until I come up with something I want to make a level out of. 

 

 

New Course! Peach in Wonderland (AA2B-0000-0062-D2B1)

 

I like the idea of it! It's pretty fun and straightforward and I enjoy the Alice allusion with Peach literally falling down a hole to arrive in the underworld. If you have room to add stuff in the stage, you could do something very interesting if you used the doors instead. If you recall in World 4 of SMB3, there was one level where if you go into a door, it made the enemies giant or small. It would be really cool if you took the underworld and made an exact duplicate of it on another section of the subworld where all the enemies are giant instead that you used doors to switch back and forth between. Make that as part of how you progress through the level and it would make the giant/shrinking part of Alice in Wonderland really shine through. As it is now, it's fun and cute level. I love how it ends with the bird showing up in the foreground.

 

For me, I redid my Chomp Cannon stage (again). I polished it up even more, completely revamped most of the sections and hopefully avoided making it unbeatable while also making it more obvious what the player is supposed to do by making the player start on the Chomp Cannon from the start.

AA2B-0000-0062-D2B1

 

Try and criticize it now, Benjamin! GO ON! I DARE YOU!

[SteveT]

I thought the Wonderland level was delightful as-is.  There is space for the Tiny/Huge, but as it stands, it feels more committed to the actual theme.

 

However, having a puzzle-based level on the premise of two maps with small differences is a fantastic idea.

 

Try and criticize it now, Benjamin! GO ON! I DARE YOU!

 

I hope Benjamin is following you now and will stalk your levels forever, trying to destroy your confidence.

 

 

As for me, I've stalled out on level creation while I wait for stars to trickle in.  I tried the gentleman's flight level and it was incredibly painful.  You have to clear  map full of spikes in a single flight.  I saw the goalpost once, but that's it.  I enjoyed the challenge, but I feel like the spike placement forces you to navigate the flight exactly how he did, and there are no coins as a guide to even show where he bounced.  A little more margin would have been nice.  As is, the level is just a little too demotivating..

[SteveT]

I added a wacky concept stage.  It's sad to delete stages to make room, but so it goes.  

 

This one is just kind of weird.  If you are ever confused about how to go forward, the answer is to Be The Hat.

 

FA46-0000-0067-5F7F

[Masamune]

So this is my new level: Mushtroid: Another Mario

 

Steve, I played your level... I will let my playthrough speak for itself. 

[SteveT]

Oh man, I thought I had prevented that shell from getting stuck and blocking the spawn.  Back to edit.

 

Also a little sad that my clue tableau served as a bit of a distraction, but that's just something I'll have to accept.  By the way, the easy way onto the shell it so stand on the corner of the cloud and gently step off onto it.

 

And don't think your dedication to being specifically a goomba hat went unnoticed.  Commendable, sir.  How great is the goomba climb animation?

Edited by SteveT, 23 September 2015 - 09:59 PM.

[SteveT]

P.S.  Look at Masamune, cashing in his stars for capture equipment.

[Masamune]

I've actually had it for awhile! I just, you know, decided to hook it back up. I want to get a decent mic so I can do commentary at the same time as well. But one thing at a time!

 

I had a good time with your level though, but there were some things that didn't work too well. The buzzy beetle part was the worst just because I've always had the worst timing for SMB1.

[SteveT]

I just re-uploaded with a few tweaks.  Seeing someone played it helped immensely.

 

- I added more cloud and more rail where you have to bounce from the wiggler to the vine.  That will make the jump easier.  No one likes a tricky jump at the end of the level.

- Removed a block to make sure that wherever the shell lands, it has the opportunity to escape

- Removed the arrow, so people don't think I expect them to actually go that way

- A few more coins

- Aesthetic updates

 

The shell occasionally falls between the munchers and gets stuck there, and I think that's what you were seeing.  It was hard to tell what was going on because you hear the sound effect, but it's hard to see.  I'm glad I caught it, but I don't know how to solve it.  I hear you on SMB timing.  It's rough.  I would never use it if not for costumes.

 

2FA8-0000-0067-A181

 

Oh, one more.  I played Mushroid.  I got stuck when you're in a section bouncing off giant High Heel Goombas and grabbing something falls out of a pipe.  Maybe I was being dense, but I couldn't figure out how to get out of that spot.

Edited by SteveT, 23 September 2015 - 10:29 PM.

[Masamune]

I'll play the remix tomorrow. A cool thing to note is that you don't lose your stars when you delete your levels. I've been trying to come back around to your stages to award stars to the revised ones. 

 

For mine, the Kuribo Shoe variants have a lot of unique abilities that aren't well known:

 

Kuribo Shoe - can walk on pretty much anything.

Kuribo Shoe + Wings - Gets a Yoshi-like 'flutter' that extends its height and range.

Giant Kuribo Heels - Pressing down gives you a stomp attack which creates a shockwave move that clears enemies around you.

 

Unfortunately it's hard to communicate that to the player if they don't already know it. But if you beat the boss, then you did most of the level anyway! 

[SteveT]

A cool thing to note is that you don't lose your stars when you delete your levels. I've been trying to come back around to your stages to award stars to the revised ones.

I goes appreciated.  Thanks.  I've been doing the same.  I did notice that stars carry over.  That's good, as it removes the penalty for removing courses that aren't gaining traction.

The Giant Heel Ground Point was new to me.  I left a comment that will hopefully help other players figure it out.  Super cool level, by the way.  I loved the boss fight and an metroidy level based around shoes is obviously going to go over well.  We're seeing some advanced techniques now that the game has been out longer.

[Masamune]

Tonight I've had this one guy playing all my levels and starring them. I have no idea who he is, but it's pretty awesome. I'm close to getting my third medal. Networking at r/mariomaker has helped a lot, but just having more levels uploaded just means more levels being played and getting starred.

 

Incidentally if you want me to Youtube any of your levels, lemme know. Once I have a good headset, I wanna start doing multiple levels where I can offer commentary as I play them.

[Hana-Nezumi]

4AB9-0000-006A-DCA2

I've uploaded something that isn't so much a course to play as it is a tool for determining how course elements appear in different themes. There's the main section, with all the basic building blocks, that you can easily flip through all the different themes and see how they appear in each. Then there are some advanced things I explored with the tileset including many different types of ground tiles that are usually randomly generated in the SMW and NSMB themes as you draw (and might have to be eagle-eyed to notice the subtle differences), as well as a stretch of items and enemies just to round things out and give players something to do in case anybody ends up playing this in 100-mario mode.

New Course! Peach in Wonderland (AA2B-0000-0062-D2B1)

I like the idea of it! It's pretty fun and straightforward and I enjoy the Alice allusion with Peach literally falling down a hole to arrive in the underworld. If you have room to add stuff in the stage, you could do something very interesting if you used the doors instead. If you recall in World 4 of SMB3, there was one level where if you go into a door, it made the enemies giant or small. It would be really cool if you took the underworld and made an exact duplicate of it on another section of the subworld where all the enemies are giant instead that you used doors to switch back and forth between. Make that as part of how you progress through the level and it would make the giant/shrinking part of Alice in Wonderland really shine through. As it is now, it's fun and cute level. I love how it ends with the bird showing up in the foreground.

Thank you! I actually *don't* have room to add any more, for the subworld I hit the stage length limit, the block limit, AND the door limit! Steve is right though, that is a good idea for another level, and that I was mostly focused on the theme and telling a story. Mostly inspired by the tone of the animated Disney movie, with a focus on stretches of negative space and confusion, intermittent with running away from increasingly wildly unreasonable people. The two shoe Goombas at the beginning are actually supposed to Tweedledum and Tweedledee, the Hammer bro at his chair is the Mad Hatter, with the Rocky Wrench who pops out of the table being the dormouse, and the others are the guests at the Mad Tea Party. Wiggler is of course the Caterpillar, the Koopas marching in line are meant to represent the cards, big Bowser Jr is filling in for the Queen of Hearts, Monty Mole as the poor hedgehog who acts as the ball, and the donut blocks scattered around are croquet hoops.
 

For me, I redid my Chomp Cannon stage (again). I polished it up even more, completely revamped most of the sections and hopefully avoided making it unbeatable while also making it more obvious what the player is supposed to do by making the player start on the Chomp Cannon from the start.
AA2B-0000-0062-D2B1
 
Try and criticize it now, Benjamin! GO ON! I DARE YOU!

That's not the code for your Chomp Cannon course. It seems you accidentally copied my Peach in Wonderland code. ;P
This is ID for your Ride the Chomp Cannon DX course: CB41-0000-006A-6E7D

I played it, it was very fun! I liked how you combined auto-mario elements with puzzle elements, very creative. I had some trouble with it, because I suck, but the ways that you tried to make sure I could go back and retry things, and to make sure I have the power ups I needed, and took out the guesswork of where to stand to get picked up with the arrow markers, are all things that felt greatly appreciated.

Spoiler

I'm still not sure how I was SUPPOSED to get past the part when the chomps hanging from the ceiling, I basically just had enough power ups to take enough hits to make it through that entire section just ducking and riding the cannon, since I kept the spiny shell helmet all the way through. I'm also not sure if I skipped something in the last part either, because instead of doing anything with the chomp I just flew up to a door and somehow ended up at the goal, haha.

 

I added a wacky concept stage.  It's sad to delete stages to make room, but so it goes.  
 
This one is just kind of weird.  If you are ever confused about how to go forward, the answer is to Be The Hat.
 
FA46-0000-0067-5F7F

I gave it a try! The jumps were a bit hard for me, but I was able to make it after a few tries and with some luck. If I had to play through the whole thing as small Mario, it would have been impossible for me. I'm scared to try any of your other stages now though. XD
 

Incidentally if you want me to Youtube any of your levels, lemme know. Once I have a good headset, I wanna start doing multiple levels where I can offer commentary as I play them.

I'd love it if you would upload Peach in Wonderland or any of my levels ^^

[SteveT]

I gave it a try! The jumps were a bit hard for me, but I was able to make it after a few tries and with some luck. If I had to play through the whole thing as small Mario, it would have been impossible for me. I'm scared to try any of your other stages now though. XD

 

Stay far far away from The Floor is Lava or Bowser's Gauntlet.  Secret Goomba is easy and the fun comes from exploration, so that one should be non-threatening.  Board the Hammer Ship is possibly borderline.

 

Flight Tests 1 & 2 would probably serve to train you on your flying skills, but might be frustrating if you didn't play much Mario World.  Flight Test 3 is SMB3 style and the gentlest of the lot, by far.

[Masamune]

This is my newest level. I put quite a lot of time into this one, especially on just the aesthetics alone. I ran out of tiles at the end so I had to do a lot of work just to tighten the design so I could finish the last segment. I also learned a few new tricks on it - like immediately exploding bob-ombs and a secret checkpoint.

 

Also Hana, here's your Peach level on Youtube!

 

[SteveT]

Both your new ones were quite fun.  I found the secret checkpoint (as seen on Reddit) in the pipe level, but not in the airship.

[Masamune]

On the airship, you have to go under the ship itself to where there's a long pipe shooting out lava. Where the two pipes join, you have to jump up and press up to go into it. 

[Hana-Nezumi]

Also Hana, here's your Peach level on Youtube!

Thank you!

I made another level!


Dr. Mario's Asylum
B7FF-0000-007A-B159

[Masamune]

I liked Dr. Mario's Asylum. There was some nice puzzle solving with having to track down the Fire Flower and then needing the High Heel, though it broke the conceit of the level a bit by having so much time not being Dr. Mario anymore. A good level though!

 

Steve I see you're almost at 50 stars. I look forward to when you start uploading levels again!

 

I think I will finally roll up my sleeves and make a water level. I've played a number of decent ones, so I think I want to try it out for myself.

[SteveT]

I kind of agree on Dr. Mario.  Not enough Dr. Mario, but a good puzzle course nonetheless.
 

Steve I see you're almost at 50 stars. I look forward to when you start uploading levels again!

 
Thanks!  I just crossed the threshold and had one ready to go.  Meet chompyshrooms.  There are many paths, some more efficient than others.
 
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Edited by SteveT, 29 September 2015 - 09:26 PM.

[Masamune]

I liked it! I enjoyed exploring the alternate routes. The giant Chomp can be a little unfair in that tight space, but not impossible (I only screwed up on him in subsequent attempts). The underground section was nice and gave me some interesting ideas when I saw Chain Chomps bouncing off flying Buzzy Beetles.

[SteveT]

Thanks.  I had a lot of trouble calibrating the giant chomp because the pipes are so unreliable.  I was trying to force a chase, but if you get a fast pipe, it becomes a little tight.  Maybe I should have saved that concept for another stage where I can slow down the player without breaking the theme.

 

And anyway, I can't feel too bad because he's 100% avoidable.

 

Also, I am about to update my old post with a new id where I fixed that bad shroom.

 

In other news, I added another one going off something I explored when making Bowser's Gauntlet and wanted to turn into its own course.  If you can break it, please tell me.

 

1534-0000-007D-F29B

[Masamune]

Oh you re-upped the level? Shame, I had made such a good picture for it too!

 

I also played the new level. I broke it. I'm sorry man, but Bowser just wasn't aggressive enough to kill me off. That said, I think it works a lot better for what you're intending. Twenty hits is a lot, but I was able to beat him the right way with only a few close calls. 

[SteveT]

I wonder if I should do something with a trampoline.  I could also narrow the arena.  Anything to slow down the player while increasing Bowser aggro.  I'd love to get rid of the donut slow fall, just because that punishes you regardless of whether you kill Bowser.

 

You did have a good picture.  It forced my hand, unfortunately.

[Masamune]

I wish you could do minor edits to a level and not lose its code/stars. Alas.

 

Maybe you could have a podobo falling in the spot where the secret coinbox is so it's not a danger while you're fighting Bowser, but it does add an extra layer of difficulty in trying to slip past Bowser.

Alternatively just make Bowser's space so small you literally can't move past him until he's dead. It's New SMB style, so he'll bounce you back if there's no room. 

[SteveT]

Yeah, narrowing the Bowser chamber is the most elegant solution.

 

E921-0000-007E-072A

 

Try breaking it now, jerk!

 

Does anyone else feel pressured to use NSMB as the default skin?  I get the sense that the youngins prefer it.

 

Twenty hits is a lot, but I was able to beat him the right way with only a few close calls. 

 

More and more, I feel like what makes Mario fun is tension, rather than difficulty.  That's apparent from the first Mario 3 fortress when you run under a line of Thwomps timed such that they'll never hit you, but you're still scared to death of the situation.  Close calls are good.  Deaths are bad.  Close calls that are totally safe are better yet, which is why there are a few harmless chomps in Chompyshrooms.

 

I wish you could do minor edits to a level and not lose its code/stars. Alas.

 

Agreed.  If only they would run a diff on the level.  I lost your comment because one block was missing.  Maybe I should have just left it that way.

[Masamune]

 

It took me a lot of deaths... but I eventually broke it. Which honestly was worth it more than playing it right. You have no idea how accomplished I felt.

 

I dunno, I don't feel that pressured to use the New SMB skin. I do use it fairly often enough if only because it has the tightest control scheme. There's a lot to be said about the little spin move you make while jumping or the wall jump mechanics or just having the ground pound ability - or just having better tilesets to work with. But my most popular levels are in SMW and SMB3 style, so I don't think going NSMB style is necessary. I can't deny it does look nice most times though.

Edited by Masamune, 29 September 2015 - 10:57 PM.

[SteveT]

It took me a lot of deaths... but I eventually broke it. Which honestly was worth it more than playing it right. You have no idea how accomplished I felt.

 

I'll leave it as-is, then.  As long as it's harder to break the level than to beat it normally, I'm happy.  And who doesn't love a tough self-imposed challenge?  Plus, it would be even harder if you didn't know where to look for the block.  I could add blocks to prevent Bowser from giving you any space and require that you keep the shellmet, but that seems tyrannical.  I played with a few other concepts last night, but decided it wasn't worth it after seeing this post.

[Hana-Nezumi]

Ah, yeah, I also wished I could have had more Dr. Mario in the level, but as I was building it and the fire flower became integral to the main puzzle I kind of figured I'd just let it go, since Mario is technically the same person. XD


...New course!

Flutter Jump Fields
FAE2-0000-0080-9823

[SteveT]

That was a fun one.  I liked the little puzzles about finding the items you need to get the Yoshi and make progress.  You have a good grasp on how to make Yoshi levels, which is something I struggle with.