Dcubed Posted May 11, 2020 Posted May 11, 2020 (edited) Ahh fucknuts, I actually forgot to move that hard block back down! I was experimenting with its position and had actually meant to put it back down so that you could go back if you missed the flying block! I’ll have to reupload it now Edited May 11, 2020 by Dcubed 1
Sméagol Posted May 11, 2020 Posted May 11, 2020 3 minutes ago, Dcubed said: Ahh fucknuts, I actually forgot to move that hard block back down! I was experimenting with its position and had actually meant to put it back down so that you could go back if you missed the flying block! I’ll have to reupload it now It's a cool level nonetheless. Intended to do some more exploring. And you'll have to explain it to me.. It's item limit manipulation I'm guessing? Though I don't understand how going to the subarea helps.
Dcubed Posted May 11, 2020 Posted May 11, 2020 (edited) 17 minutes ago, Sméagol said: It's a cool level nonetheless. Intended to do some more exploring. And you'll have to explain it to me.. It's item limit manipulation I'm guessing? Though I don't understand how going to the subarea helps. Spoiler It is indeed Entity Limit Manipulation. Strictly speaking, I don’t HAVE to have a sub area, but it makes the trick feel more real and helps to sell the idea of the player actually turning the question mark block back on. It also allows for elegant use of behind-the-scenes machinery that makes the trick work, which would be really janky and extremely difficult to make work correctly otherwise. The death hole is actually mandatory if you actually hit the question mark block at the start; that’s not just for funnies. There’s no possible way to respawn a question mark block once it’s been used (unless it has a vine; which is useless here). So the death is the only possible way to bring it back (hence the trick with the flying block, to signpost to the player what has just happened after they died; that they have brought the question mark blocks back). So not only is it ELM, it also requires a player death to complete the level too (unless you know the trick beforehand! ) Edited May 11, 2020 by Dcubed 1
Dcubed Posted May 11, 2020 Posted May 11, 2020 (edited) Right! Hard Block Bug is now fixed! It’s now (mostly) softlock free! Spoiler To be honest... it IS actually still possible to softlock yourself there if you hit the flying block, spawn the P Switch and choose not to use it, leave it there and go back through the door. But I have to draw the line somewhere! If the player really wants to pull off Death By Insanity? Go right ahead Edited May 11, 2020 by Dcubed 1
Dcubed Posted May 19, 2020 Posted May 19, 2020 (edited) This level was basically an experiment in how to make something that would normally be boring, into something more interesting! To tell the truth though, I’m not 100% happy with it though. I’ve made it too hard, even with the generous checkpoints. I’m sick of working on it now though, want to move on and I’m not making any more tweaks to it now I HAVE actually left in some super cheaty level warps though if you just simply can’t beat it... Spoiler For checkpoints 1&2, look left. For checkpoint 3? Look up. The claw may well guide you... Edited May 19, 2020 by Dcubed 2
Dcubed Posted May 22, 2020 Posted May 22, 2020 (edited) This level is completely fucking stupid. I came up with the idiotic idea in about 5 mins and knocked up an entire level right after! Enjoy! Edited May 22, 2020 by Dcubed 2
Dcubed Posted May 24, 2020 Posted May 24, 2020 Alright, alright. Here’s a proper level... A stealth level? In Mario Maker!?!? You’d better believe it! 1
Glen-i Posted May 24, 2020 Posted May 24, 2020 8 hours ago, Dcubed said: Alright, alright. Here’s a proper level... A stealth level? In Mario Maker!?!? You’d better believe it! Congratulations, you've ruined Mario Maker! 1
RedShell Posted May 24, 2020 Posted May 24, 2020 It’s the moment nobody was waiting for... a new Mega Microcour$e! : Sorry. Fun fact: It’s actually possible to activate the goal flag/1-Up sound effect on this level, but still not clear it. 1 1
Dcubed Posted May 24, 2020 Posted May 24, 2020 (edited) 4 minutes ago, RedShell said: Fun fact: It’s actually possible to activate the goal flag/1-Up sound effect on this level, but still not clear it. If anything, that makes the level even better Edited May 24, 2020 by Dcubed 2
RedShell Posted May 26, 2020 Posted May 26, 2020 Still a 0% clear rate on Microcour$e 2. Perhaps I should send the level ID to Master Higgins. 1
Dcubed Posted May 26, 2020 Posted May 26, 2020 2 hours ago, RedShell said: Still a 0% clear rate on Microcour$e 2. Perhaps I should send the level ID to Master Higgins. Oh don't worry, I'll be sure to get that clear rate to 0.14% when I get round to playing it later on today 1
RedShell Posted May 26, 2020 Posted May 26, 2020 17 minutes ago, Dcubed said: Oh don't worry, I'll be sure to get that clear rate to 0.14% when I get round to playing it later on today I take no responsibility for any broken controllers/thumbs. Still working my way through Mario Gear Solid BTW, it is genius. Stealth has never been my strong point though. 1
Dcubed Posted May 26, 2020 Posted May 26, 2020 (edited) 22 minutes ago, RedShell said: I take no responsibility for any broken controllers/thumbs. Still working my way through Mario Gear Solid BTW, it is genius. Stealth has never been my strong point though. To be honest, that is probably the hardest room in the level. Don't worry, there IS a checkpoint right afterwards! Keep at it! (BTW, little tip for later on... enemies CAN react to you knocking on the ground below them to make sound, but must be facing towards you ) Edited May 26, 2020 by Dcubed 1
RedShell Posted May 26, 2020 Posted May 26, 2020 1 hour ago, Dcubed said: To be honest, that is probably the hardest room in the level. Don't worry, there IS a checkpoint right afterwards! Keep at it! I made it! At the 2nd checkpoint now in fact. Although I made the mistake of going back through the warp box, and “Snake” is currently trapped. 1 hour ago, Dcubed said: BTW, little tip for later on... enemies CAN react to you knocking on the ground below them to make sound, but must be facing towards you That is so cool.
Dcubed Posted May 26, 2020 Posted May 26, 2020 3 minutes ago, RedShell said: I made it! At the 2nd checkpoint now in fact. Although I made the mistake of going back through the warp box, and “Snake” is currently trapped. That is so cool. Good man! (I did find out about the warp box softlock, but I figured that it was funny enough to just leave in; the player should know what's gonna happen anyway, so it's their own fault ) Nearly there now! Make your country proud!
Sméagol Posted May 26, 2020 Posted May 26, 2020 I have quite a few levels to play through.. Hopefully I'll get to a few of them tonight, if I'm not too busy with AC.
RedShell Posted May 26, 2020 Posted May 26, 2020 10 minutes ago, Dcubed said: Good man! (I did find out about the warp box softlock, but I figured that it was funny enough to just leave in; the player should know what's gonna happen anyway, so it's their own fault ) Nearly there now! Make your country proud! Cleared it! Man, did I get my money’s worth with that one, 24:53 for the clear time. Fantastic level, @Dcubed! Legit Metal Gear vibes and gameplay throughout, and I love how every section had a fresh idea/mechanic to master. Your creativity with Mario Maker is seriously impressive. 1
Dcubed Posted May 26, 2020 Posted May 26, 2020 (edited) 27 minutes ago, RedShell said: Cleared it! Man, did I get my money’s worth with that one, 24:53 for the clear time. Fantastic level, @Dcubed! Legit Metal Gear vibes and gameplay throughout, and I love how every section had a fresh idea/mechanic to master. Your creativity with Mario Maker is seriously impressive. Cheers! I honestly didn't think I could actually make it work! I was shocked when I was messing around with ideas and it actually started to feel like legit stealth! (I think it was THAT room where it really clicked, especially when I came up with the crawl space; I was so happy when the sound trick actually bloody worked! - balancing that room was a bloody nightmare though!). Was really happy with how the disguise section came together too! Simple, but effective I reckon! I'll be playing your level soon; probably in a couple of hours or so... let's see if I can beat it in less than 24:53 now Edited May 26, 2020 by Dcubed 1
Dcubed Posted May 26, 2020 Posted May 26, 2020 So I’m back, with not one; but TWO flagpole touch fails! Finally managed it though! Bloody hell that was tough! Might well be your hardest one yet! Great stuff as always 1
Sméagol Posted May 26, 2020 Posted May 26, 2020 (edited) @RedShell Yeah I'm not in the mood to try that for long today haha. I got to the last pow block, but can't really see how I can optimize a few frames. @Dcubed It's a very cool concept, but it's also not a level I want spend a lot of time on today, so I'll leave it for later. Some points though: the yellow bee right at the start is very annoyingly placed. It's offscreen, but also right where you're likely to jump. More importantly, I'd really like a checkpoint at the section Redshell tweeted. It's a very cool concept, but the bullies, and to lesser extent the catsuit itself, are a bit finnicky. Making this a bit frustrating, especially as the sections before it, while cool in themselves, are annoying to have to repeat. To be more specific: the bullies have a random chance of going left and right. Coupled with the fact they have little space to move, makes for some very tight platforming. Or you can rely on luck, and hope the bully will walk the other way, but I'm obviouly not a fan of that. I don't think there's a better enemy to do what you're trying to accomplish here, so my idea would be to simply increase the space they can move in, if you can't / won't place a CP there. As it is now, it's too punishing as like I said, the section before it aren't great to repeat, they're not easy to rush through. Edited May 26, 2020 by Sméagol 1
RedShell Posted May 26, 2020 Posted May 26, 2020 4 minutes ago, Dcubed said: Finally managed it though! Bloody hell that was tough! Might well be your hardest one yet! Hehehe. Nice one, Dcubed! Welcome to the speed digging hall of fame. I’ll have to make the next Microcour$e even harder... 5 minutes ago, Sméagol said: @RedShell Yeah I'm not in gthe mood top try that for long today haha. I got to the last pow block, but can't really see how I can optimize a few frames. Yeah, you definitely need to be in the zone to do it. To be honest, it took me way more time to do the clear check than it did to create the level!
Sméagol Posted May 26, 2020 Posted May 26, 2020 Just now, RedShell said: I’ll have to make the next Microcour$e even harder... Nooooo!!! Just now, RedShell said: Yeah, you definitely need to be in the zone to do it. To be honest, it took me way more time to do the clear check than it did to create the level! I don't doubt it. Any tips? Any technical stuff I'm missing? Like in the previous one, I completed it after realizing it was faster to walljump for example. But it took me many tries before I realized that.
RedShell Posted May 26, 2020 Posted May 26, 2020 2 minutes ago, Sméagol said: I don't doubt it. Any tips? Any technical stuff I'm missing? Like in the previous one, I completed it after realizing it was faster to walljump for example. But it took me many tries before I realized that. Afraid not, the tip really is just “gotta go fast!” Only thing to look out for is occasionally Mario will lift one of the POW blocks and leave a Cloud block behind, if that happens at any point just restart right away. I’m still not even sure why that happens, but you definitely need to be lifting both the POW and Cloud blocks before Mario drops down a step, every single time.
Dcubed Posted May 26, 2020 Posted May 26, 2020 (edited) 1 hour ago, Sméagol said: @RedShell Yeah I'm not in the mood to try that for long today haha. I got to the last pow block, but can't really see how I can optimize a few frames. @Dcubed It's a very cool concept, but it's also not a level I want spend a lot of time on today, so I'll leave it for later. Some points though: the yellow bee right at the start is very annoyingly placed. It's offscreen, but also right where you're likely to jump. More importantly, I'd really like a checkpoint at the section Redshell tweeted. It's a very cool concept, but the bullies, and to lesser extent the catsuit itself, are a bit finnicky. Making this a bit frustrating, especially as the sections before it, while cool in themselves, are annoying to have to repeat. To be more specific: the bullies have a random chance of going left and right. Coupled with the fact they have little space to move, makes for some very tight platforming. Or you can rely on luck, and hope the bully will walk the other way, but I'm obviouly not a fan of that. I don't think there's a better enemy to do what you're trying to accomplish here, so my idea would be to simply increase the space they can move in, if you can't / won't place a CP there. As it is now, it's too punishing as like I said, the section before it aren't great to repeat, they're not easy to rush through. The Bully’s pattern is actually not random. The Bully will always alternate between moving left and right. The actual distance it travels on each rotation IS random, but it’s pattern is 100% predictable. You need to be patient and wait for your chance to sneak past it As for leniency? It’s actually impossible to make the pattern more lenient. That’s the maximum amount of space a Bully will move on it’s own before it spots Mario; you can’t do anything to increase the time it spends facing one direction (if I could make it more lenient, I would’ve done so). As for the checkpoint? It was a choice between having both my checkpoints wasted here and then having nothing for the rest of the level, or having the checkpoint right afterwards. I chose the latter (no way was I going to make the player have to repeat that room if they get past it!) As for the Stingbee at the start? 100% intentional. I wanted to discourage and punish the player for actually going on top of the platform; this is a stealth level, you need to keep out of the sight of the security cameras Edited May 26, 2020 by Dcubed 1
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