Its Mario and the Beanstalk 3. With a twist. Its now a shooter level.
The first half of the level is a story catch up using comments. The second half has Mario in a clown car dishing out some revenge.
As some of you may already know, the distributor of Nintendo games and consoles in the Nordic countries is holding a SMM level contest in each of the countries it operates in. The five levels with the most stars in each country at the end of February will then be judged by a jury.
You can play my entry here: https://supermariomakerbookmark.nintendo.net/courses/54E4-000...
It's called 8bit Challenge and it features five sections based on classic Nintendo game series I love (Super Mario, DK, Metroid, Kid Icarus, Zelda). It's deliberately made to be easy to beat in order to make sure it appeals to a wider audience (all of my other levels are way more harder) but the enemies can give you a challenge.
The level currently has a measly 38 stars (which is not bad for me in this short of time) so I doubt I'm even close to the top five but I'd appreciate any help in gaining more stars. That is - of course - if you like it.
@DarkAero: I don't normally like underwater courses as the slow movement frustrates me, but your course allowed me to get up some speed and didn't restrict me too much. I liked that there were two exits, and that to get the better one I had to take a harder route. That route was a bit more frustrating but it was my choice to take it so I have no complaints about it. The "?" boxes were well placed near enemies so I had to earn the right to get the prize - this makes the power-ups feel like a reward instead of a free hit-point (though maybe the first mushroom in a course should be easy).
The problem I have with underwater courses is that, once you have the fire flower, it runs the risk of losing all difficulty. This issue is defused somewhat with the tiered power-ups, but still... it's the reason why I placed the hammer bro around the hidden block with the first mushroom.
Believe me, I'm actually not a fan of traps – but I really didn't want you to just go back once you realized that you shouldn't have gone through the bottom pipe. I hope you understand.
As a small suggestion, you could make the land section mirror the underwater section in some ways. I noticed that you have mirrored the green vine things but you could also use a pit of Piranha plants and the same coin patterns also.
Wow, that didn't even occur to me.
...
By the way, I saw that you played my "Please, No Sports!" – that course with the P-switches. May I ask what you thought about it?
Le noir, ce mot désigne depuis un époque lointaine le nom du déstin.
Les deux vierges règnent sur la mort.
Les mains noires protègent la paix de nouveau-nés.
I'm working on my first "sequel" level now. It's a two-floor maze just like my fifth course "Double Decker Labyrinth", but I'm making it in NSMBU style allowing for much more complexity.
I wish they would give Amiibo costumes a rest and place a bigger update on the game in general, like more bosses or enemies, themes.
I would love some real innovative stuff, like creating your own sprites, enemies or music for your level.
The main core of the game is the easy WYSIWYG editor but optionally Nintendo could give us some creating tools for making our levels new, fresh and unique.
By the way, I saw that you played my "Please, No Sports!" – that course with the P-switches. May I ask what you thought about it?
I liked that I could choose either an overground or underground route to the end, and that each of them played differently meaning the choice was relevant. I'm not very good at jumping on the flying P-switches so I didn't reach the end of either route though. Having the P-switches float underneath me and switch themselves on when they hit Mario's feet was a good idea - an enemy which only harms you if it touches you in a certain way.
The progression of the challenge was also good, starting with static P-switches on platforms, then flying switches, then removing the platforms altogether so I've got to jump on the switches (which in itself is a nice twist as I spent the first two-thirds of the level trying to avoid the switches).
I liked that the overground route was hinted at by the coin at the top-left of the screen. It's subtle but stands out once you see it. However, that opening section (collect the power-up then grow the vine) soon felt like an overhead which I had to do every time I died. Perhaps a little training section (a safe one where I can't die) where I could get a feel for the timing of jumping between the platforms/coins would be useful, and putting a mushroom on Mario's starting position would save me having to collect it from the "?" block.
Also, although the 'leap of faith' is marked out by some arrows, having a trail of coins to follow would make it easier to judge the landing (and also act as a nice twist, as up until that point if I collect a coin it's because I've just fallen through a platform).
I wish they would give Amiibo costumes a rest and place a bigger update on the game in general, like more bosses or enemies, themes.
Me too. That will actually give me a reason to play this game again.
Actually, although I also think that they're going a bit too far with it, I like the event courses because they give you a costume after clearing only one level (except for the Pokémon ). I found it tiring to play ten levels of the 100-Mario challenge to unlock a costume and eventually stopped playing that mode altogether.
In my opinion, if you play a random (or bookmarked) level, you should get the costumes that were in the level as a reward for clearing it. Playing ten or more levels just for one single costume just takes too long.
I'm working on my first "sequel" level now. It's a two-floor maze just like my fifth course "Double Decker Labyrinth", but I'm making it in NSMBU style allowing for much more complexity.
That's actually what I did just recently with one of my oldest levels.
Since it doesn't have a lot of plays yet, I'd be glad to know what you guys think:
giving the level design in the hands of the players will mostly likely lead to boring easy levels with no sense of balance.
That's what I thought in the first months or so, but now I disagree. The bookmark portal actually lets you find the best and most ingenious levels really quickly. Since I discovered this, I play MM more regularly again. There were soo many amazing levels, I wouldn't know where to start.
@JonSpangler: Wow. I just started Mario and the Beanstalk 3 and I'm blown away by the way you used the comment function. Great idea! That means one can add story to every level, I didn't know that.
I don't know why, but apparently I always played MM with comments off. Now I see all the comments by the level designers, amazing. ^^
I'll start with Mario and the Beanstalk 1 soon, surely looks interesting. @Nego: 8Bit challenge is really classic! @DarkAero: Pelagic was pretty easy, but nicely done. @jamesRainbowBoy: That one is tougher than I thought, but I'll definitely keep on trying until I reach the finish. But if you lose Yoshi, you have to restart since there is no other p-block, right? EDIT: I did it. @That_Guy_from_Faxana: That level could be a bit harder, but I like the sewer system design! Maybe you can do even more with that by traveling through a lot of pipes between the over- and underground (like crawling through an air shaft in movies).
You begin this level falling to your doom, but don't skip just yet. Hold right and run, and you'll be safe. The rest is for you to figure out Warning: Even after mastering the beginning, you will die a lot. But there are no troll blocks or anything that you have to guess what to do. Sure it'll be too late once you see it, but next time you'll know. Hopefully you will succeed in overcoming the imposing darkness of "Stay Happier~"
@shani: Thanks for the kind words. It was something i have seen before and thought it would be a good way to not only catch people up if they started on #3 but actually make it more of a legit story. The first two tell the story more through the gameplay. #4 will continue the story elements a little but ill try not to make a novel out of it.
Well if they continue with amiibo costumes, they should give Tails one. They keep giving them to obscure characters like Barbara the Bat (who most people won't even know), but on the other hand, it's nice that they give neglected characters like Daisy a chance.
That's actually what I did just recently with one of my oldest levels.
Since it doesn't have a lot of plays yet, I'd be glad to know what you guys think:
I enjoyed this level. It has a nice balance of action and some thinking. I liked that it had a constant theme throughout (throwing shells to break through walls) and that the theme was twisted at the end using bob-ombs instead of shells. I also liked the occasional visit to the sub world, with each visit having a different way of offering me a mushroom. The star run was a nice change of pace to the slower sections before it.
@JonSpangler: I wouldn't mind if it had a lot of text, as long as the story is good.
I'll be able to play again from thursday on, then I will tackle your trilogy!
EDIT: Oh and the original reason why I posted in this thread: Has anyone ever seen a level like this, with a QR code?
I enjoyed this level. It has a nice balance of action and some thinking. I liked that it had a constant theme throughout (throwing shells to break through walls) and that the theme was twisted at the end using bob-ombs instead of shells. I also liked the occasional visit to the sub world, with each visit having a different way of offering me a mushroom. The star run was a nice change of pace to the slower sections before it.
Glad you liked it.
Personally, I found it almost too hard (because my levels tend to be rather hard than easy in general, so I'm always trying to ease the difficulty) and wasn't sure whether my ideas would reach the player. Your post proved that they did, that was exactly what I was going for, thanks.
Nice to see that the theme I thought of is actually perceived as one! It started as "Timing is Everything 2", then I changed it into "Shells are your friends" to make the surprise even bigger at that specific point where instead of a shell - which hopefully the player already expects at this point through conditioning - a plant comes out of the pipe and you actually need the hidden p-blocks instead of a shell, but then I thought "Attack the blocks" is even more accurate and as a bonus offers a nice wordplay on that British movie (which has nothing to do with this level ) with - almost - the same name.
The mushroom-providing sub-parts (nice to see that you found all four mushrooms ) were reused from "Timing is everything", which originally started out as an attempted Mario Kart level (but developed into something else completely), so the sub parts were there to make sure you always had a kart with you. ^^
I wanted to keep that to reward the player for passing each of the overground stages. I just had to reroute the pipes.
Of course, the underground part after the checkpoint was considerably harder, so I had to put some safety blocks at the bottom to prevent the player (and the shells) from falling down too often (still very difficult) and provide them with enough powerups, p-blocks and bob-ombs (so that they had two different ways to get through). Balancing that part took me an awful lot of time and dozens of tiny changes. I also had to make sure that the player doesn't get through too fast with the p-block still active because otherwise the last part would be no challenge. But thankfully I remembered how Nintendo did that in the classic Mario games: Just put a wall of coins there, they'll turn into bricks as long as the p-block is active.
And the same goes for the last part with the bob-ombs. Because most of the time you came out of the pipe and the enemies would kill you instantly if you didn't react quickly. So in the end I had to change their order so that the blue shell blocks the goomba and the koopa, additionally I separated the landing zone of the last part so that you could stand there without getting hurt. This was one of my final changes to the level and I was still fearing that one could get stuck down there while trying to find the goal post.
Oh btw, the bob-omb "twist" (if you want to call it that ) was also present at the very first stage, there are two hidden blocks: one with a mushroom (which gives you safety but makes getting through a bit harder) and one with a bob-omb, which you could use instead of the shell. But you only have one shot.
@shani: It's these meaty, analytical exchanges that make the game extra satisfying. I spent my first day with the game not even using it - I spent the time watching the tutorial videos (from the manual) and analytical videos on YouTube. One of my favourite videos is from Game Maker's Toolkit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e0c5Le1vGp4
I too find it challenging to create a fair but challenging level. I get into the details and become so familiar with the level that it can be hard to gauge how a new player will approach it. I'm currently tweaking a couple of my levels to increase the completion rate a bit.
@shani: Well I am not sure how good of a writer I am. But I am trying to incorporate comments a little more. My next one (which will be up before Thursday cause of Zelda) probably has the biggest comment to play mix.
Unrelated note. My wife got mentioned in a Lets Play video.
It was real cool to see her level played. Hers is the first one he plays if anyone is interested in watching/playing.
I've updated one of my levels, which is now called "Find the Five Secret Cloud Rooms", using the feedback I received from @DarkAero. The main level is based around swinging platforms, but there are also five secret cloud rooms to find, each with a different challenge. Each cloud room is now in a sub-area, which gave me more scope to do interesting and creative things. I've made a few other tweaks and improved overall stability
@JonSpangler: Cool! I gotta say, her level looks really nice (although I don't know anything about Ace Attorney), but the Let's Player in the video is just unbearable.
I had to skip most of the video because he just stands around and talks as if he's braindead or something...
I'll make sure to play that level myself at the end of the week! Could you post the bookmark link?
@Bosh_Factory: The same goes for "Find the Five Secret Cloud Rooms", the thumbnail looks good, I'll definitely play that at the weekend!
I'm organizing a contest in a Facebook group and I'd like to open it up to this forum as well. There is a prize for winning so read on if you are interested. This is my second runner contest but the first one that I am posting in NintendoLife.
The winner will receive their choice from a selection of virtual console Mario games! Examples for U.S. players include Super Mario Advance, Yoshi's Island: Super Mario Advance 3, Super Mario Advance 4: Super Mario Bros. 3, Mario Tennis: Power Tour, and Mario Golf: Advance Tour. The options vary depending on your region but everyone who is able to download eshop games to his or her system is eligible to win the prize.
Here are the rules:
1. The purpose is to recreate the gameplay of a runner game such as Temple Run, Bit.Trip Runner, or Mr. Jump. This means that the screen moves relentlessly forward on its own and the player must, at a minimum, jump to avoid obstacles and clear jumps. Sliding, spin-jumping, and other moves are also encouraged but not required. Mario can never stop moving forward and must keep dodging obstacles and/or clearing jumps. The main way of achieving this of course is with setting autoscroll to cheetah. The only other alternative I am aware of at this time is to use a combination of a buzzy beetle shell and a bill blaster to push Mario (Example: https://supermariomakerbookmark.nintendo.net/courses/9069-000... If you have another idea feel free to ask me. Slower speeds will not work and short time limits are not an acceptable substitute. Courses where you simply hold right and run are not acceptable either. This contest was born out of my love for Bit.Trip Runner (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NJceP_Kts6c).
2. Mario can outrun cheetah autoscroll so it's up to you to slow him down when needed. See examples from the last creation challenge if you're having trouble getting the idea.
3. Yes, item grabbing really is allowed. All power-ups are also allowed. I'm not going to outright ban kaizo techniques but please keep in mind that they have very niche appeal.
4. New Super Mario Bros U style is not allowed because of the way that Mario sticks to walls but all others are- SMB, SMB3, and SMW.
5. Water is not allowed because Mario moves too slowly and airship is not allowed because the up and down of the screen does not work well for a runner.
6. Runners often require that you play a course multiple times and learn it before you can master it so the standards for what might be considered unfair are a bit different here. Do not intentionally try to hide things from the player. Invisible blocks are not allowed at all. A good creator understands the difference between a super expert course and a trolling course. Try to make challenges readily visible so the player has a moment to figure out what to do. Mario is not perfect for this though so do your best. As long as it doesn't feel like your goal was to trick the player into self destruction we should be good.
7. It's ok to make use of the fact that the scrolling stops at the end of the screen. For example, you can place a checkpoint there in front of a pipe or door so the player has a moment to prepare if when they respawn at a checkpoint. Or for another example, check out the pipe to the bonus area at the end of my first runner: https://supermariomakerbookmark.nintendo.net/courses/7D7D-000...
7. Submissions are due Saturday, March 12th at noon MST (Denver). Post your submissions in this forum and make sure you tag me so I get a notification. You're encouraged to send them to me earlier if you would like me to let you know if it meets the criteria but I can't promise I will give you feedback right away.
8. After submissions close, the contest will run until Saturday, March 26th at noon MST (Denver). Rules for the contest will be posted at that time.
The previous contest was limited to SMB style only. The winner of that contest was Fire runner by Krystal (https://supermariomakerbookmark.nintendo.net/courses/3620-0000-01D1-D803) and the runner-up was 20 second cheetah sprint by 2iPakka (https://supermariomakerbookmark.nintendo.net/courses/9DF4-0000-01D7-3E8C). Because the voting was so close between the two, they each won a prize.
Forums
Topic: Super Mario Maker - OT
Posts 4,481 to 4,500 of 4,786
This topic has been archived, no further posts can be added.