Topic: Super Mario Maker - OT

Get a Life! Get Five!

I think this is my favourite creation so far.

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It's a challenge to find all five lives in the level, and a bonus sixth life to grab if you complete the 100 Coin Challenge!

@brewsky
will likely have better luck finding people to finish your maps by posting them here or similar sites, rather then rely on the randomness of online.

here are 2 of mine:
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@brewsky:
As long as you are building courses that you like, you shouldn't be concerned with players that are skipping it ^^

That's true, but I would also like to upload more courses as well.

People on GameFAQs and Miiverse have been saying great things about this level of mine:

Bowser's Bob-omb Factory
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It's a Bob-omb Factory with conveyor belts, various rooms including a mushroom testing room and a room for faulty Bob-ombs, and a boss battle with the owner of the factory.

My other levels are in my sig. Race The Koopa Shell v3 has had good things said about it on Miiverse and GameFAQs, and Nintendo Life's Alex starred both Bowser's Bob-omb Factory and Floatdown Mario!

@brewsky: I hear ya on that one. I know I've swiped a few away myself because I'm just upset with the difficultly. I tend to swipe if I died in a way that seems unfair to me, e.g., if the number of things going on just takes a random spike or if I wasn't directed and died at a dead-end or because I didn't know where to go.

But really, I swipe the most when I die in a level that's cluttered or aesthetically unpleasing.

I may be in the minority but that's what I tend to swipe for.

I would say though that it's important to not put a particularly difficult segment right at the beginning of your level. I'd think people get upset if they can't get anywhere in your level. I know I do. Also, unless you have a specific reason or you aren't giving out any power-ups in the level, put in a power-up near the beginning of a level. A mushroom doesn't take any of the mechanical challenge away from your level but gives everyone an extra hit if they need it.

Although, I just played one of your levels and thought it was great, so idk; it followed all my advice pretty well.

@MasterWario: That's pretty much the same for me as well, although I do try to play through some of the more messy stages, just to see if there's something to redeem it. Troll moves are a no go in my book, though. However, I do try at least three times and I don't make a decent amount of progress, I end up skipping it. But, sometimes I go back and look at the level preview to see if it's worth giving a few more shots.

Also, thank you for playing my stage! And for the comment as well, it truly helps.

EDIT: Oh man, two stars? You are so kind! It's time to return the favor....

Yeah I hear you - it's an issue. That's why helping each other in a community like this is crucial.
I have gotten only 21 stars out of 7 levels - an average of 3 stars a stage, 90% from members of this community - so if it wasn't from people on here, I would be really disheartned, but I mean, that's the nature of the game isn't it. You have to keep a community spirit, play other people's stages and they'll hopefully play yours.

The only complaint I have at the moment is how the actual choosing of the stages is structured. Because the world levels section is structured a bit like the Apple Store, the stages that get more stars are the stages who will likely get even more stars because they are at the top of the charts and the first you see when you start the game. The options to browse the levels by category or difficulty level are incredibly limited or non-existent.
Because of this, the only chance you have to have your level played by complete strangers is the 100-Mario mode - but people who play this mode are mostly interested in getting to the end to unlock the items - they are not in the mood to try a stage twenty times. That's why the most popular levels are those where you don't have to do anything - don't jump, don't move, don't touch anything (what about "don't play the bloody game?!").
In a future update, I'd like to see a more intelligent way to spread the levels - how about a button to "send" the level to somebody, or stuff like that. A "Nintendo Treehouse Favourites" perhaps?! Or a "NintendoLife Recommends" sections, like we had on the eShop a while ago.
If NintendoLife agrees on doing a weekly top-5 as I have suggested, then other great levels will get more visibility. I would ask directly to the staff formally, but I don't know how.

After running through several 100-mans and playing my levels again, I realize several of them are easier than I thought. Might need to start raising the difficulty up a bit. Although I still don't get how so many people lose to the easy ones -_-

@brewsky: You're welcome! Always happy to play a level of that quality.

@brewsky: I've played your latest level (Hit the Switch v2) and it was a bit too hard for my liking. Hope you're ok with honest feedback. The leap of faith from the ledge is a bit too much. First time I jumped, missed the platform and died. Second time I jumped but the P-Switch effect was still active, so there was no platform and died. Third time I did everything perfectly and I was so happy that I forgot that the platform was made of blocks too, and when I pressed the newly acquired P-Switch, I died again. If this was in the 100-Mario challenge, I would have skipped it. Challenge is more than welcome, but I personally would avoid situations where the players has multiple ways to die - one is enough.
I have made the same mistake in many of my levels and if it wasn't for people who pointed it out I would still be doing it!
These passeges might be obvious and easy to you because you have made the level, but I didn't know what was coming so it was very frustrating. You also have to keep in mind that when you die you have to do everything all over again - had you respawned instantly nearby, it would have been a different story, but starting all over again many times takes a lot of your time. It's a very very neat idea but you should make the level a bit less unforgiving!

@spizzamarozzi: Thanks for trying out that level. It was...I guess my second attempt at a high pressure level (considering there was an original Hit that Switch!!) I will tweak it to make it a bit more friendly. The fact that you can make the leap of faith and miss the platform you're supposed to land on because the P Switch was still active is most definitely an issue. This wasn't supposed to happen, but I suppose something tipped you off to do something in that stage that wasn't intended, perhaps by grabbing the extra P Switch at the beginning? Or maybe you took a shortcut that really wasn't supposed to happened. These should have all been ironed out beforehand. I truly hope I can make a fun stage with this concept, but it looks like I missed the boat on this one. Back to the drawing board!

Fortunately, my other stages are not as demanding. There is a bit of challenge in a couple of them, especially in Wall Kicks Will Work and Board Bowser's Airship, but others are pretty relaxing at the same time. Except Find Toon Link!. That course is getting the boot shortly. (Or at least a much better v2)

just had a go at making a airship level, tried to make use of the doors, which i haven'r really used apart from one time (but use them in a way so you don't end up on an unconnected part of the ship or something- I also hate door guessing puzzles so I hope you don't mind them just being a little harmless gimmick in this)

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I'm also feeling the burn of people skipping my course after dying at an easy spot. I made a level called Vine Mines, and honestly I feel like it's my most aesthetically pleasing work so far, theres a few tricky bits with some vines but nothing that I feel is unfair, it's all just Mario type platforming. People die at parts I just can't get my head around.

I just assume these guys want to unlock as many amiibo costumes as possible.

Any advice or crit on my courses is welcome also, if theres a "leap of faith" (something i do try to avoid), I will have at least marked where to aim for with a coin or something (but I think they're mostly just pit falls to get you back to the main course safely after finding a secret).

@brewsky: no prob - I look forward to try more of your levels later tonight

yeah that's exactly what happened: I was one P-Switch ahead.
Don't feel bad though, there's really no way to iron out these things without being told by other people who have tried the level. I mean, it's hard to predict how different players will tackle things - that's why games are tested before release after all.
Good job though, I'm sure your next high pressure level will be great.

Does anyone know if the Nintendo UK stream will be uploaded to YouTube?

how can you tell?

btw: this "game" sure is a time-sucker...it seriously undermines my Splatoon time

@Mk_II: When you take a look at your stage it has Xs where people died. Unfortunately I have no idea how to/if you can check the sub-world but the rest is there.

@MasterWario: thanks!

@Mk_II: yeah, it's pretty handy! especially if you have a course thats been uploaded for a few days and had people play it- you can see where people keep dying and think about how to fix it accordingly. I don't think sub worlds are included in it though.

I actually just re-uploaded my Bowser Castle stage tonight after re jigging it. As I was fixing it I had my partner play through it (she doesn't play platformers often).

hey people I want you to know that I've just sent NintendoLife an email via their contact form, asking if they agree in having a weekly top-5 of the levels made by the community on the website.

@spizzamarozzi: Sounds cool, but it depends how they pick them. Like, I don't expect mine to win, but if they used their Super Mario Maker website system I wouldn't have a chance—no has liked or rated mine at all!