Description

Isrieri's castle compilation in SMBX!



In anticipation of Super RMN World, I'm taking it upon myself to issue a call to all potential SMBX devs! Even if you've never touched the engine, now's the time to give it a shot!


~ The Rundown ~
There is no maximum number of participants: Anyone can join, even those who've had no experience with the SMBX engine. Consider this getting your foot in the door.

~ Projected Timeline ~
Sign-ups: 01/01/12 ~ 01/6/13
Development: 01/06/13 ~ 01/27/13
Judging & Compilation: 01/29/13 ~ 01/31/13
Release: 02/01/13

That's all tentative. I am the worst procrastinator.

~ Submission Prerequisites ~
  • Make all levels in SMBX. (This is critical, people!)
  • All levels should be compressed in ZIP folders. When saving your level, always put your name followed by the name of the level. For example: “yourname_levelname.lvl”
  • Rate each submission on a scale of 1 to 5. Here are some vague words attempting to define each difficulty.


  • 1) Mild
  • 2) Tricky
  • 3) Challenging
  • 4) Tough
  • 5) Endgame

  • You must include one (and only one!) SMW Checkpoint within each level, as this is all SMBX will support.
  • The level must end with a ? Sphere.
  • Place both the Player 1 and Player 2 start locations.
  • If you include a boss, you may use any but Mother Brain. But I encourage putting your focus into the actual level.
  • No midbosses though.
  • You must be able to clear the level without taking a hit.


~ Level Rules ~
  • Castles are supposed to be challenging. That doesn't necessarily mean difficult. Try and stay within the precedent set in previous Mario games. The purpose of this project is to get the hang of challenging the player without frustrating them.
  • We're going for quality over quantity here, so you may submit up to 3 levels total.
  • You are not limited to staying within any of the “styles” the castles previous Mario games adhered to. Use them as guidelines, but don't be afraid to innovate. Have fun with it!
  • You may use custom graphics and MP3s if you wish.
  • The game will only utilize Mario and Luigi as characters, so don't make Peach or Toad levels.
  • All water must be swimmable. Waterfalls must not be.
  • An average castle should take no longer than 2 to 4 minutes to complete. (And no shorter than 1 minute)
  • This will be a strictly one player game. You don't have to design your castle to support co-op.
  • No secret stars.
  • No dialogue! That means no message blocks, signs, or talking npcs!
  • You must have at least one power
  • up. Remember that the amount of power-ups and how you place them contributes greatly to the difficulty of a level.
  • Use invisible blocks wisely. No putting them over pits or other nonsense of that sort.


~ Important Note ~
Remember that this is open to anyone who wishes to explore SMBX as an engine: I'd like to see a lot of new faces for the next RMN Bros! There's a lot of quirks to the editor that I neglected to explain, and so you'll probably have lots of questions. I refer you to these tutorials, but don't hesitate to post your question here. I don't know everything about SMBX, but I'll likely have the answers to any the questions you'll want to ask.

Details

  • 01/02/2013 12:00 AM
  • 01/31/2013 12:00 AM
  • Isrieri

Registration

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Posts

OK, did a good bit of editing and I think i'll upgrade it to a 3.5...
Seiromem
I would have more makerscore If I did things.
6375
seiromem
Sky Ruins
This level has a load of problems, and it lagged my computer so bad I could barely play it. It was all the events running at the same time. I have a very crummy computer, and I had to delete them all to try your level out. Sorry about that.

This level looks amazing (the best so far IMO), but it plays horribly. Switch blocks. I should have banned those things!! The switch blocks completely ruined your level. If the player dies, they have to do both switch blocks all over again from scratch. That's horrible! Plus even if you hit the switches you'd have to go back the way you came to go to the next section. It's possible to make backtracking work if you only do it a little bit, but you made the castle too hard to feasibly allow that.

There's a lot of parts where the player can get stuck very easily because of the donut blocks. Yeah I know that the player just needs to go offscreen and come back, but they're the only way for the player to make it through the level most of the time. That's bad design: You should never force the player to circumvent the limitations of the game like that. (Though it is okay to let them use those limitations to their advantage)

And there are way too many enemies that the player has to avoid: Snifits and their bullets, that stupid train of red shy guys, too many sparks, too many podoboos, the ninjis in spots that are way too hard. In fact, the ninjis are one of the worst parts of the level: I don't mind using ninjis the way you did, but you put them in TERRIBLE spots. That's not hard, its boring.

I tried to think of some ways for you to salvage the level, but they all would require retooling the entire thing. Rather than do that, you should just start over from scratch. I DO like your level's theme. An airborne fortress is always neat. And you designed the interior very well. You obviously have the ability to make a good and tough level; you just struck out this time. If you want to give a level like this another shot I'm all for it! But this time you should keep a few things in mind.

-First, there's no reason to have Instant warps when it isn't anything super-secret or a unique gag. This isn't Zelda. Make them pipes or doors instead.

-If you want to make something hard, you must make it simple. A straight linear shot from left to right, no holds barred challenge. Mario works best that way. If you split a level up and make it more non-linear you also make it much harder. So you have to compensate by dumbing down the enemies and obstacles. If you want a hard level, don't force the player down branching paths!

-The section with the rising lava is terrible. The player can't make any mistakes. It made the level too long and it wasn't very fun. It could work if it's a level all by itself, and much easier.

-Here's something I want you to try: Only have 3 enemies on the screen at the same time. Try to limit yourself to that when you make your next level. You shouldn't spam the player with enemies, that's not how Mario gameplay works. The enemies serve as compliments to the level design, that means the thwomps, the floor, the ceiling, etc. That's where the challenge comes from, the combination of all of it. But never too much of one or the other. Mario can only take two hits y'know!

-I like how you hint that some blocks fall: They aren't supported by a pillar! This is a good design choice, and its a good n' subtle clue! But the blocks fall way too fast for it to be any help: Make them the regular donut blocks instead, if you still want to camouflage them.


well 3 people hate, Imma remake. Might take a bit, but with the suggestions, I can make it work.
BUT!
One thing is for certain!
Screw enemy limits
I will definitely tone down on the enemies, but not there placement except in the cases you've described.

Oh and don't get rid of switch blocks! The way I used them was utterly cruel and should never be done now that I think about it.
halibabica
RMN's Official Reviewmonger
16873
And here all this time I've been thinking Amps were Sparks...

from Ratty524
from Rules
Place both the Player 1 and Player 2 start locations
from Rules
This will be a strictly one player game. You don't have to design your castle to support co-op.

... Wait I guess they are needed for the player to either select Mario or Luigi?


It's impossible to disable multiplayer mode in SMBX, even if you want to make a project 1-player only. You always need both start positions whether it'd work out in the end or not. SRB3 was this way.
Ratty524
The 524 is for 524 Stone Crabs
12986
author=Isrieri
Ratty525
Gimmick Castle
This was pretty good! Very SMW, right down to the moving layers. I'm assuming that the “gimmick” is having to stand on the sides of the spikes to progress? That's fine, but I know from experience that very few people will know that you can do that. So that ought to be the first obstacle in Section 1: A little staircase with spikes on the side, and coins to lead you up them safely. Then they'll know! And if they don't, it won't be your fault!

-This level is a 2. Maybe a 2.5. Not much of a challenge, just tricky.

-The beginning of the castle could really use an opening of some sort to indicate that's the “entrance point.” Like how they did in Super Mario Bros.

-The hallways are a bit bland in their shape. This is primarily due to the flat rectangular corridors and the whole lotta nothing that is the ceiling. Since you're going for SMW, you should replace the ceiling with the dull grey tiles instead of the floor tiles. Don't just make a line and then use the “fill” command though! Make squares out of them so that the ceiling is a bit jagged. It looks better that way. Davenport did this in Agony Castle.

-The large open rooms with the moving block layers are somewhat empty. Add some coins in to spice them up. I'd also recommend pulling some “back castle” backgrounds like the ones seiromem used and have them fill up some of the space along the top and bottom.

-The red coins were fun! Nice usage of platforms there! I guess the P-Switch timer wasn't long enough. But just a single 1-up for the prize? You probably could make it 3 1-ups or even a Tanooki Suit. Just having one wasn't satisfying enough!

-In that same room, lower the Top level border down by 3 or 4 tiles. This may seem odd, but trust me. Making your level more concise by minimizing the amount of space will result in the level feeling tighter and more deliberate. This is a KEY FEATURE of good castles. Do this in the other rooms as well, so that the walls are only 3 tiles and not 6.

-I liked the platforms and buzzsaws in Section 4, but the way they're timed throws them off and makes it too much of a wait for my tastes. I'd actually recommend reworking it to make it a little trickier! Maybe throw in some donut lifts and another buzzsaw?

-Not sure what to make of that last jump before the boss door: Since you can go onto that overhanging block I thought there'd be a secret up there! But I just got crushed. To me, it seems arbitrary to have. But I realize its there because you have to stand on the spikes to progress. If you don't want a secret up there, you should add some spikes to the top so the players don't go on top of it.

-Boss was alright, but nothing special. You'd be better off without one.

-Good suggestion. That helps with the pacing I kind of planned for this level (mainly going from mild lava to room full of lava and moving platforms to switch based platforms to a combination of the latter two).

-I gave it about a 4 because the level has quite a lot of precision-based jumping, especially in section 2. Maybe I suck at Mario. :x

-After looking at a bit more screens of Super Mario World I realized that would plus my level a lot visually. I'll definitely get to it.

-That's my habit of being too conservative with coins with dungeon levels. xD I'll add a few.

-The red coins were mainly inspired by how they were used in New Super Mario Bros, where if you collect 8 within a certain time limit you are usually awarded with 1up or a greater power-up. How plentiful do you want 1ups to be? In the official Mario games, 1ups are relatively hard to come by, either hidden within invisible/normal-looking blocks or obtained when a special condition is met. That's one of the main differences between the Mario community projects we have here and the official games, and the way it is set up in the official games makes 1ups a bit more valuable.

Thanks for your input.
author=Isrieri
Farlon303
CastleCrash
This is what I'm talking about! Interesting design, challenging lava pits, well placed enemies, well-paced. This is an excellent castle. It still needs a few fixes, and I have suggestions and comments.

-Don't forget to put a 2 block barricade on walls you don't want the player to walk on: On the first screen, I was able to climb up the castle wall and walk on the roof. Seal it off or put a secret pipe up there.

-Good music choice for the stark outside areas, but hearing the fortress theme when I went inside was a little jarring by comparison.

-I don't know what difficulty you were going for here, but I'd put it at a 3.

-I wouldn't use the red boss doors for anything other than boss rooms. This is a castle compilation so that's something we need to be consistent with: We don't want players waltzing into a room to be assaulted by an unforeseen boss fight.

-Very good placement of powerups.

-That pipe you can go in needs a block underneath it. An invisible coin block won't do: I want this for the sake of consistency with the official games. You weren't able to go in pipes if there wasn't land there also. Just because you can do it in SMBX doesn't mean it's a good idea.

Also, that small crevice on the pipe's other end is a prime candidate for an invisible 1up block.

-I don't know if you knew this, but the AI of the SMB3 lakitu IS different from the SMW one. It's much more cruel with it's projectiles. If this was intentional, I'll think about keeping it, but I'd rather you used the SMW one.

-The way the castle battlements have holes in them means you can catch yourself if you're good enough and hop back up. Cool!

-The hammer bro guarding the midpoint is cool and all, but he's too close to it. He could catch unaware players off guard when they spawn at the midpoint. Personally, I think that's hilarious. But I wouldn't let anyone else get anyway with it.

-Like nin8halos said, the wood platforms are sightly off their tracks. Uncheck Auto-Align in order to center them.

-I think those two ladders would be better off without the blocks next to them. Your call on that one though.

-The final outside section has a little window next to the door you come out of. That's a prime spot for a secret door! I thought there would be something there. Nope.

-A normal boom-boom fight with a twist. Good.



Thanks for the tips!
I've edited and re-submitted my level.

The only thing I wasn't sure about was the hammer brother.
Do you have a suggestion as to where I could place him?

I probably won't be making any other levels but may improve this some more.
Isrieri
"My father told me this would happen."
6155
author=jackalotrun
As for the Banzai Bill part, I won't scrap it yet, but I was thinking of adding a large array of springs and firebars to aid and hinder the player.

That won't help: The problem isn't that it is too tough, but that it's boring and no fun. All this tower consists of are platforms that slowly take you up, and some very difficult Banzai bills to dodge. It's way too easy to fall back down the tower, and you should not have used Banzai bills anyway. But most importantly: It goes on for too long, so it gets boring. You can't make something tricky if it isn't engaging and fun for the player at the same time, otherwise they'll ask "Why am I doing this? This is dumb!" and get frustrated. You could make something much better than that.

So you must scrap that part. I wouldn't tell you to do it if I thought it could be salvaged. Adding some firebars is a good idea, use a section with some of those instead of the Banzai tower. Firebars in the first section won't work well because the area's too big.

Note: Firebars work best when the player can plan around them. They're a lot trickier than roto-discs, and so when placing them remember to put them places the player can see them well.

Oh! If you want that music track's MP3 I can get it for you. Just say the word.

author=masterofmayhem
With that said I wouldn’t have been surprised if it was rejected for not being castly enough

You should make another one that's more castle-y! :D

Don't forget to adjust the terrain to compensate for the new enemies: I've known some people who just plonk new enemies down without editing the blocks, and are worse off for it.

author=farlon303
The only thing I wasn't sure about was the hammer brother.

I'm not sure what to do with him either! I really want to keep it in the level. Maybe make a line of blocks and put him above the checkpoint?
Decky
I'm a dog pirate
19645
I should make a level for this tonight.
Isrieri
"My father told me this would happen."
6155
@seiromem
Before you give your level another shot, I want you to humor me and beat this castle. And to give me your thoughts about it. I have a suspicion you won't like it. I want to try and give you some tangible context with what I was trying to say about "difficulty and linearity."

I'd appreciate it if the rest of you tried it as well. You can also tear me a new ass give me your thoughts. Bear in mind I made it a long time ago.
author=Isrieri
author=jackalotrun
As for the Banzai Bill part, I won't scrap it yet, but I was thinking of adding a large array of springs and firebars to aid and hinder the player.
That won't help: The problem isn't that it is too tough, but that it's boring and no fun. All this tower consists of are platforms that slowly take you up, and some very difficult Banzai bills to dodge. It's way too easy to fall back down the tower, and you should've have used Banzai bills anyway. But most importantly: It goes on for too long, so it gets boring. You can't make something tricky if it isn't engaging and fun for the player at the same time, otherwise they'll ask "Why am I doing this? This is dumb!" and get frustrated. You could make something much better than that.

So you must scrap that part. I wouldn't tell you to do it if I thought it could be salvaged. Adding some firebars is a good idea, use a section with some of those instead of the Banzai tower. Firebars in the first section won't work well because the area's too big.

Note: Firebars work best when the player can plan around them. They're a lot trickier than roto-discs, and so when placing them remember to put them places the player can see them well.

Oh! If you want that music track's MP3 I can get it for you. Just say the word.


Alright, fair enough, but I've already swapped he first part into a large firebar obstacle course, it would be downright stupid to make the next half of the level the same... i'm wondering what i'll base it on though...
Oh and if you could get me that music track, that would be great

EDIT: Light Bulb!
Isrieri
"My father told me this would happen."
6155
author=jackalotrun
Oh and if you could get me that music track, that would be great


Here ya go.
Ratty524
The 524 is for 524 Stone Crabs
12986
Edited and resubmitted my second revision of Gimmick Castle.I attempted to introduce the spike-jumping a little earlier and generally increase the difficulty (since it seems people found it easy). I also improved on the look of the level. Check it out. :)
Isrieri
"My father told me this would happen."
6155
Its not bad if your castle is only tricky, just so you all know. That's why it's a difficulty option! We ought to try aiming for castles of all 5 difficulties. They can't all be balls hard!

author=Ratty
How plentiful do you want 1ups to be?

These levels will all be castles. The more 1ups, the better. But don't just give the player free 1ups either: Make them tricky to get, or hide them in little nooks and crannies. The usual.

I'm thinking of giving the player a bunch of 1ups at the very beginning of the game so they start with 10 lives instead of 5.
masterofmayhem
I can defiantly see where you’re coming from
2610
Ok so I’m just about finished with my second castle and have fixed up Babel.

Your expert opinions would be appreciated.
Seiromem
I would have more makerscore If I did things.
6375
author=Isrieri
Before you give your level another shot, I want you to humor me and beat this castle.


Well I can say one thing, if I wasn't a cheater bit worried about my time, I would of raged hard. However, after beating each obstacle with it's difficulty, I understand what you mean. however there are a few things my level didn't have that yours did, mainly a Lakitu (>=l) and hammer bros riding birds.
The things the levels had in common were: A very annoying backtracking part
I'm not counting the purple ninja jump cuz I had many more, not just one.
Boss is easier than what I wouldda made xD
Here is some advice for people making castle levels.

1. Playability trumps difficulty any day. Simply put, if a section is barely playable for the sake of challenge, change it.
2. Delays are awful. They kill the pacing of a level and diminish the quality of the stage.
3. If a section looks empty, remember to throw in coins, question blocks, and decorations. It also helps to have variations in the terrain of the castle.

Anyway, my castle (dungeon) is nearly finished. I'll probably upload it sometime tomorrow after a few tweaks. I have a section where the player has to climb on a moving platform (it's a chain replacing a vine). I'm trying to decide how to speed it up without making the section impossible (the player has to dodge bullets on the chain while it is moving).

Everyone will see once I upload it. So far though, the level is coming along pretty well.

All I'll say is that it looks to be about either 2/5 or 3/5 in difficulty.
author=seiromem
author=pyrodoom
No, I quadruple dog dare you. That means I don't just dare, even higher than a triple dog dare, you know I'm serious now. BTW, it should have a boss, Bowser and Wart at the same time. SMB3 Bowser, with SMB2 Wart, to be exact.
Give me the place and I'll beat meet you there.
Place as in what the stage is suppose to be? Or place as in where to give it to me?
Give it to me through PM, and the stage should be a last castle, Hellish Yard esque area. It's the final area for the whole game, and the Nightmare world in general.
author=Isrieri
pyrodoom
Aquatic Project
I think we have to ditch this one. There wasn't one moment where I felt this was a castle: Most of it felt like padding, with no real purpose to it. Plus, its ginormous. All the rooms are way way too big. And the empty space makes it seem haphazardly designed. It was more like a Sonic level than a Mario one. There wasn't a whole lot of challenge to be offered from the obstacles. I like some of the concepts you used though: Like the boos you had to bounce across, or the drop into the rotating firebar.

My advice to you is to try and make a tighter and simpler castle. Don't even touch the Top or Bottom level borders: Only the Left and Right ones. You tried to go a bit too grand with this one I think. I want to see what you can make when you only have a little space to work with.

I understand what you mean by this, but I don't understand how this seems to be a Sonic level to you, besides the music. Sure I was inspired by the music, but not by Sonic. But since I now know it's not in the project, I guess I can have a second attempt with the stage, major issue though...I kind of already started a level for this, and it was a Desert Palace, but knowing that you told me I should go simple, and pretty much not tuch Top or Bottem at all, only Left and Right...I am confused. Should I enter my Desert Palace, or should I take your advice as much as I can, meaning the Desert Palace becomes void of purpose.

BTW, to whoever told me to replace Jelectros with Amps, I don't think Amps exist in SMBX.
Isrieri
"My father told me this would happen."
6155
Post what you have for Desert Palace and I'll take a look at it with the other new levels. No point in scrapping a level I haven't even seen yet! But I still recommend taking my advice if you try for another level.

As for my comment, I know you weren't out to make a Sonic level, I just felt it was like one. I've only played the first 2 levels of the first Sonic game before I got bored with it: The levels were huge and didn't seem to have much design behind them aside from "run to the right really fast." I realize that's far from the truth! I'm just not a Sonic fan is all.
Well, I tweaked my level a bit quicker than I thought I would. My level, Iggy's Dungeon Of Pain, is meant to be roughly about 3/5 in difficulty. You'll see what I mean when it comes to section 3 and 4.

Enjoy.
author=pyrodoom
BTW, to whoever told me to replace Jelectros with Amps, I don't think Amps exist in SMBX.

No, they don't, I was suggesting you changed the Jelectro graphics to Amp graphics
Amps are similar to Jelectros in job, they sit there waiting for some idiot unlucky adventurer to fall into their electrical traps, except that Jelectros are made to be invincible, immobile, underwater enemies and as of such, look ridiculous in castles... or anywhere above water for that matter...

Amps are invincible but they can be mobile or immobile and they don't necessarily have to be underwater... meaning it generally looks better instead of cartoonified jellyfish...