That trick had occurred to me but I never got around to testing it and seeing if'n'how it works. Look forward to seeing what you can do with it!Yeah, I'm not surprised that someone else had noticed it was possible, since it seems really obvious, but I think it's really neat, regardless!
That sounds very interesting indeed. How large do you plan to make the level? How difficult will the challenges be?These are details that I'm still not entirely clear on, which is why I didn't tag the thread with them. If I had to guess, though, I'd probably categorize the difficulty as Hard and the level size as Medium. Currently, I've created about 50 unique screens, and I imagine the end product will probably have double that. I'm... not quite sure how big that is in terms of KS levels, even though I've played tons of 'em.
Spoiler: Something I considered was (click to show/hide)
In addition, since the level does utilize custom music, I figure it wouldn't be out of place to have a preview of one of the tracks (http://tindeck.com/listen/geod).
Whee, umbrella challenge! :D
And if you think you can use the hologram effectively, then i say good luck to you sir! (Said the guy who had recently spent a lot of effort contriving an excuse to take the hologram away from Juni a significantly short time after giving it to her.)
Whee, umbrella challenge! :DThe umbrella is also a little underused, in my opinion, so it gets an almost excessive amount of love in this level. Most people prefer to give things like double jump, high jump, or climb earlier on, but for me, I think the umbrella is a great starter (with run given as a default). Combined with the wind object, it's a wonderful tool for creating vertical level design that feels fast and smooth while still restricting the player so that they can't get over a two-block height without some help. It also helps make the platforming more forgiving, which I prefer.
And if you think you can use the hologram effectively, then i say good luck to you sir! (Said the guy who had recently spent a lot of effort contriving an excuse to take the hologram away from Juni a significantly short time after giving it to her.)
I'll say this..."Deep Freeze" and "Dragon Myth" (by Talps) are the two KS games I'm most looking forward to being released and playing!Heheh, that's great to hear! I'm looking forward to Dragon Myth quite a bit, myself.
Sounds like a good idea to me. A training area would certainly fit in a level like Deep Freeze, but I would suggest making it optional, keeping experienced players in mind 8).Hahaha, I didn't want make the area optional, but I've already got some extra challenges mixed in just for experienced players!
I just read your essay from the 4th. I often wonder about the balance between challenge screens and non-challenge screens. Thinking back to Nifflas' work, his levels are mostly non-challenge screens but highly regarded. I can't copy his ratios when I'm not copying his overall gameplay style. My levels are mostly story driven with single locations for power-up collection. In that style connecting screens can quickly become the dreaded running-back-and-forth-through-places-you've-seen screens.In general, I think I'd shy away from copying Nifflas' style, or, at least, copying his more expansive levels (The Machine and A Strange Dream). While fairly enjoyable to play, those levels start to drag when it comes to backtracking, and, like many expansive levels, every time I hit a fork in the road, from the start 'til about the halfway point, I have to wonder, "Am I going the 'right' way?" There'll be times where I'll try heading down another pathway, intentionally avoiding multiple save points, just to see if there's anything that way - and if there isn't, I jump into some water or press ctrl+R or whatever else.
I'm very interested to see this opening area you made to train new players. I usually try to emulate bad players with poor reflexes when I test stuff, and I try to introduce new concepts and types of challenges before I combine them into true challenges, but I never considered trying to train people to play.It's nothing too complex - mostly just a large series of safe jumps, lots of stair-climbing, and much more forgiving timing than everything afterward. It's also an area where I can force players to get to grips with the fact that you can actually be just barely off a ledge and still jump - something that's not exactly intuitive.
It's also an area where I can force players to get to grips with the fact that you can actually be just barely off a ledge and still jump - something that's not exactly intuitive.That messes me up so badly when I play other platformers. I remember it took me forever to figure it out too. I think the other most non-intuitive mechanic is using S to make the umbrella more effective.
Yeah, that particular concept is one that I'd really like to put into my screens, but there's too much risk of players simply not understanding that holding S to ascend faster is something they can do - even I only recently figured it out.It's also an area where I can force players to get to grips with the fact that you can actually be just barely off a ledge and still jump - something that's not exactly intuitive.I think the other most non-intuitive mechanic is using S to make the umbrella more effective.
Yeah, that particular concept is one that I'd really like to put into my screens, but there's too much risk of players simply not understanding that holding S to ascend faster is something they can do - even I only recently figured it out.
It's also pertinent to note that holding S gives more horizontal speed as well. I remember first learning that when playtesting Cosmic Meltdown. Had to change a lot of things.No way, seriously? It seems like it must be pretty subtle, if so.
I'm thinking about ways to add some visual distinction between areas. Since this area shows up as green on the map, I tried doin' a little bit of green in the gradient, but I feel like there needs to be... either something more, or something different.
I'm assuming the blue part of the gradient has to be there for theme consistency and that you can't simply change it to green. Since you're going with a minimalist style for the background, what about adding some simple green shapes?Hm! I like that idea, and I also quite like the adjustment to the blue. I'll definitely keep that in mind for when I get finished with the base level design and start moving on to visual enhancements.Spoiler: Hastily made sample (click to show/hide)
Notably, when the level was first created, I would have called that initial 30% something like 50%, but the addition of new opportunities, as well as playtest observation totally changed my plans for the level. I'd say it's for the best, though. Sometimes lining up new content can help to treat a lack of motivation!
I really like the minimalistic look to this.I'm glad you like it! Really, though, it's just me taking Egomassive's gorgeous Yellow Submarine tileset and simplifying it down to something more approachable for someone like myself. :P
(http://i.imgur.com/9lbrk3g.gif)
Looks pretty cool! If I may suggest, the effect would be even better if you made different sized versions of the block, making them blurrier (and darker) as they get smaller. This would add a nice sense of depth to your background.That's the plan! I'd also like to have ones that are just HUGE, and very blurry, as prominent foreground elements. I've been trying to come up with a unique "shape" for each area, it's proven to be quite tough.
I know you were pretty close to release, Ult. How much longer are you going to keep us waiting? :P2A tiny bit more playtesting needs to be done, then a bit more polishing based on that feedback. So soon!