Topic: Super Mario Maker - OT

@redneckgamer3826: Thank you very much for playing my level

Of course, I tried your new one: "Koopa County Prison". You can watch my first try here. I hope, you can use this video for improving your level skills. By the way: My computer works again and therefore the quality of the video is wonderful

A few words for your level: I really enjoyed it. It was fun and never unfair. The enemies were well positioned and the exploring of the level was fine! However, I didn't understand the last part. Did I choose the right door by simply being in luck? A great level. Keep up the good work!

@Chandlero: Well thanks a ton man! Really glad you enjoyed, never thought a level of mine would make it to YT, haha! As for the last part, that was luck in getting the right door on your first try, LOL. Each other door just gives you a little trouble until you find the right one, kinda wanted to add an element like that for whatever reason.

Thanks again.

Did you get a chance to clear some of my courses yet?

@Chandlero: I enjoy your videos and subscribed to the youtube channel with notifications so I can check out other levels that way also. I should get my holiday bonus on today's check and plan to buy a computer, I have a video recorder that records to a memory card so hopefuly I can start doing videos soon also, the best way to tell what your level needs is watching someone else play it. I'm curious how you record, the newest video after mentioning your computer is back up is much better with no glare, do you have the tv hooked up so you can on screen record instead of pointing a camera at it? I need to figure out how to do that.

Actually no, been working a ton of overtime and havn't had much time to play. I am on first and going on early and I have about an hour now and was just coming back to look up some codes I had saved so I will check them out right now.

I don't really like new style to much so I started with escaping the zoo, it was a fun easy level. I don't know if you realize it but you can skip the first section by climbing on top of the zoo sign and jumping across the roof (hut?) Tops. Your not skipping much though so it's a nice little shortcut.

I played a couple other courses after clicking on your name and they are all a little to hectic for me and it's not always clear where I need to go or what I need to do. I enjoy a little exploration but they are more along the lines of "what the hell am I supposed to do now?" Than "sweet check out this secret area I found! " I did star escaping the zoo but I think we just have different play styles.

Here is another quick single screen challenge I made, in having fun with these! After work today I should have time to make one that has a little more to it and use a couple ideas that I have for it. What's the deadline? I will pick my best to submit after I make a few of them. I need to go play the boss levels and cast my vote also.

Thwampin E79D-0000-0109-351A

@99mushrooms: I played your "Single screen" level. I was very bad in jumping precision and therefore it took a while. You can watch it here. I noticed that you placed stuff beyond the line and therefore the camera isn't fixed.

For the videos I have a capture card, so the WiiU is directly hooked up with the PC. That's the best method to record 1080p with 60fps. Super Mario Maker actually doesn't need this quaility but of course this is way easier than filming the TV.

I will look at it and fix it when I get home. Can I just not place anything behind the goal box? Or maybe I need to move the goal a space or two closer? I didn't notice that when I made it so thanks for pointing it out. About the videos, I have been doing some research and I might be able to connect my digital video camera to the wii with a digital splitter cable so that the video is going to my television as well as my video camera and getting recorded.

I'd welcome some cold, hard, honest criticism of this level, for future reference in my approach to level design. Please don't star it if you don't actually like it:

I based this level around the principle of introducing a mechanic, developing it, throwing in a few twists, and then trying to provide a conclusive grand finale (someone posted this the a few weeks ago and I found it interesting: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dBmIkEvEBtA).

However, I'm worried about a few things. Firstly, that the over-adherence those design principles has left the level feeling a bit segmented and lacking in character; the result of a 'painting by numbers' approach to level design. Secondly, I'm a bit worried that the core mechanic quickly develops into something hyper-precise, unforgiving, and potentially frustrating (I've tried to be semi-generous with power-ups to allow for some errors). I wanted it to be challenging, but satisfying to master and complete, but I'm worried people might just find it awkward and give up. I'm also worried that the 'bonus theme' soundtrack might outstay its welcome, but it's less menacing, and more light and airy than the normal airship theme, so I went with it.

And for anyone who hasn't played it already, I also made a Christmas level:

Which SEEMS to have inspired another:

Although I don't know for sure. I'll admit the pun is a pretty obvious one to make, and I'm sure I'm not the first to come up with it (the original name for my course was going to be '♪ Tingle Bells ♪', but I liked the secondary meaning of '♪ Tingle All The Way ♪'). However, the '♪' bookends just make everything seem TOO similar... Anyway, there are more important things in the world to worry about than potential Mario Maker plagiarism, but it did strike me as odd. To his credit, the guy's got some pretty neat snow effects going on that I've never even seen before. If you're feeling super-Christmassy, you could check out both levels!

@Maxz: I was the one who posted that video. I remember having the same trouble at first, sometimes I felt my levels were too mechanical but if you keep trying you'll get the hang of it. It's like creating any form of art, you have a method but you don't have to follow it strictly or you'll end up getting something soulless.

I'll give you some feedback once I boot up the game!

@Maxz: As a mathematician I love your level "Pi in the Sky" Great title and great circles. Watch this video. I did die some times where it wasn't necessary. It was not the levels fault but simply me being unfocused. The idea with ghosts and clouds is very good!

@Freeon-Leon: Thanks man, I really appreciate it. I also have you to thank for that video, which I thought was a fantastic breakdown. I'm really impressed how Mr. Brown can meaningfully delve into the subtleties of game design without being inaccessible or obtuse.

Most of my other courses - including ones I'm quite proud of - weren't really designed to a specific framework. In a way, it's kind of freeing, and allows you to build worlds with a unique structure and personality, but I found that video so illuminating that I wanted to make some levels with the video's contents held very firmly in mind.

...And maybe the hipster in me just wanted to say, "Oh yah, I totally designed this level around the principles of 起承転結 (Kishōtenketsu). Oh, that? Yah, it's basically like this magical narrative structure used in Chinese poetry and stuff, yah. Yah, I'm sort of into it in a big way, y'know?"

Thanks to you @Chandlero for playing through it and recording it. It was really fun seeing you bounce your way through the clouds, and it gave me some confidence in the checkpoint placement! After each death, you seemed to be able to return to the point where you died really quickly, so it was heartening to see that you'd mastered previously tricky bits of level well enough to whizz through them on the re-runs. There's quite a lot to think about (not only on the platform you're jumping to, but also the one you're standing on), so it's easy to make deaths that feel 'silly', but I was really impressed with how you played. It's really helpful and interesting seeing another person play through it, so I'm grateful to you for recording it. Do you have any other comments to make, even about little things? I'm always trying to learn!

Oh, and @Freeon-Leon , I think I should also mention that your 'Castle of Fire and Ice' level was a big inspiration for my 'Tingle Bells' level, so I have a THIRD thing to thank you for. I think/hope it feels different and unique (it would be ironic if it didn't, given how I've just complained about someone copying IT), but your level gave me the experience of what a 'Corridor of Ice' level feels like, and the 'bonus route in the ceiling' thing now strikes me as... well, very, VERY reminiscent of one of your level's features. So thank you, and I hope that aspect doesn't feel like theft. I'm truly sorry if it does.

Anyway, essay over!

@Maxz: I just played your level. Here's my critique:

The standard challenge is quite good, although it's normal to see rotating platforms in Mario games these are quite unique because of the theme of the level and well... they're clouds. The second part wich is used to make sure that the player has learned the main mechanic has a nice feel of progression too. But then when you reach the third part it can feel like a big spike of difficulty, the mechanic has a very drastic twist where the player suddenly has to do something very hard that requires another skill, I think the ghosts could've been presented first and then the grinders because how difficult the latter are. The next part feels like a nice evolution though, I liked how you used those cannons, I think that's my favorite part of your level. The checkpoint was in the right spot too. The last section is nice because it has challenges that the player already knows how to face, although the final bit with the Boo wheel (or whatever that's called) feels a bit to unfair, maybe that last bit could've been used to give the player that last chance to show the skills learned in a more safer way.

Something that I noticed is that the player has to go through all these challenges without much in between them. The "punctuation challenges" (read the link below ) are meant to be challenges that can clean the players "palate" and give them something a little different in order to avoid the level from getting monotonous. Although it can be quite hard to do it when a level is meant to be compact.

I suggest reading this text, it's a nice complement to Mark Brown's video.

Lastly, I made a similar level, hope you can check it out! I'll play your christmas levels now.

My two latest levels... if you enjoy a tough ghost house where you have to decipher the clues in front of you, try this:

Or if you prefer a straightforward puzzle, here's one a bit friendlier:

@99mushrooms: Thanks for checking it out! I don't care about stars so much as clears. I've noticed that once a course is relegated to Expert 100 Mario Challenge, it barely gets played at all any more. However, I will probably unlock 40 uploads before I even add my 21st course so stars don't matter much any more.

@Chandlero: just watched you playing my newest single screen and I see what you mean. I think I can fix it so it is set without messing level up. I loved watching you play it and look forward to making videos for others soon, I also watched pi in the sky and it looks like a great level so I stopped watching and will play it myself when I get a chance

I cleared one of them for you.

@Freeon-Leon: Thank you for your detailed thoughts - there's a lot to think on there as you've made a lot of interesting remarks. The 'palate cleansers' are a really pertinent point. I've tried to be quite conscious of them in other levels (I tried to employ them in 'Narrow Escape', which was the first time I sat down with this structure in mind [albeit with a much blander core mechanic]), but due to the fact that every door had to open in the middle of the action (to make everything spawn correctly), I just got into the habit of linking start to finish for every section. They could be avoided by clever use of some pipes though.

I think you're right about the final obstacle... Part of me still likes it, purely because it's sight to behold, and a culmination of pretty much everything in the level crammed into one disorientating mechanism, but it IS very, very hard, and the fact that Mario jumps off screen into the ceiling really doesn't help things. If the level were a bit less skeletal, I could include it as an optional secret path, but it's probably a bit of a clunky finish as it stands.

I thought the fact that you'd made a similar ghost house level was really funny. I freely admit to being inspired by your Ice Castle, but I had no idea about the 'Circling Ghosts' level. I thought it was really good, and the secret route that was only available if you'd kept the Propeller Mushroom made me realise how rare those kind of things actually are; mostly you either find a route and can take it, or you don't find it and are therefore never even aware of it. Having a visible secret route that you can only take if you've kept something from earlier in the level felt really Nintendoish and cool. And the Buzz Saw level was just wonderful, for the reasons I said at the end> It feels like the design philosophy is nourishing that level, not constricting it.

Thanks for playing and critiquing, and I'll go read that article!

@Maxz: Yeah, I know how you feel about that final obstacle, I had the same problem with one of my levels (Donut Touch That!). It's just so awesome looking at the end that I decided to leave that very difficult challenge, even though it could frustrate some.

I was playing some of your other levels and I must say they're very good! I loved how you could destroy the christmas tree in Tingle All the Way, it was a lot of fun. Btw, I don't think you ripped off my level And thank you for playing my levels too, it makes me happy to know someone enjoy them. I'm also working on a completely new level that features the Wierd Mushroom as the main mechanic. I hope it's as good as my lastests levels.