I've been working on a NightSky mod (questions and content)

These boards have some clearly-defined spaces for FiNCK and Knytt levels editing and discussion, but nothing for NightSky. Since Nifflas put up the level editor almost 3 years ago, not much seems to have been done with it.

I'd like to change that! Since I found out about the level editor at the end of last year, I have been working on making a new NightSky adventure. Out of the 140 levels of making the whole game over, i've finished quite a few (haven't counted recently, but around 70 IIRC) For a while now, I've had one set of levels (Ranna Caverns) finished and will link to it at the bottom of the post.

But anyway, I also have some questions.

First, Why should I post anything about a NightSky mod? Like I said, there isn't a board for it.

Second, are there any guidelines for what should not be in a mod? I have some crazy ideas that could be loosely described as "I don't think that's Fair Use". If there are certain things that aren't wanted, I'll still use them but make a "clean" version to post here.
To be clear, I'm talking about use of copyrighted images/sounds/music, not [NSFW] stuff.

Third, have there been other mods made that I couldn't find with the search function here?

Cheers!

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Ranna Caverns single-world mod: http://www.mediafire.com/download/ig28r5psw9gw8ed/NightSky+Mod+v+1.2+Ranna+Caverns.zip

Read the readme please for "install" instructions. (you replace the existing files I changed, basically)

EDIT: I've been working on modding Normal Mode exclusively, this won't change any Alternative levels, so don't be surprised when they aren't changed.

Edit2: I've been using mainly HD resources for this. The files above have no SD resources, though the final version should have SD compatibility. Some stuff does not scale up/down well though.

Just gave your mod a try and can't say I'm very impressed by it. The changes you made to the logo and menu backgrounds are, frankly, terrible. They just look like random trolling and copyright infringement just for the heck of it and make the white text harder to read. They don't fit at all with the aesthetic theme of the actual levels, which mostly emulates NightSky's original visual style. You didn't do a particularly good job with the few things you did change about the levels' visuals either. Seeing the ball fall into lava unharmed (if the game doesn't support kill zones, don't make the bottom of the background look like one) or float over holes in a huge, blurry boulder just makes me more aware of the fact that I'm playing an amateur mod and not the real game.

The level design itself is also not that great. I didn't particularly enjoy any of your levels and found some of them needlessly frustrating. Granted, I was never a fan of NightSky to begin with and had the same problems with many of the official levels, albeit to a lesser extent, so I may not be the ideal person to comment on this, given that I don't really see the game's appeal, but some parts of them are just badly designed. Some platforms and objects can be safely ignored. All they did was confuse me and make me try to figure out a solution to the level that uses them only to later find an easier one that doesn't. And why do two of the levels kill me when I head to the left? If there's nothing to the left of the starting screen, don't give the player the option to go there. Furthermore, none of the levels put you in control of mechanisms rather than the ball itself, which I found to be one of the most interesting, but also underutilized aspects of the game and was hoping to see some more of here.

I do find it commendable to see someone attempt to give birth to a level creation community for a game that currently doesn't have one, despite having an editor (even if it's one of my least favorite games from Nifflas), but you'll have to try a lot harder if you want to show people the potential that new levels for NightSky could have.

[Dangit, I knew I shouldn't have left those stupid menu backgrounds in. I've been working on some much nicer looking, much less stupid title graphics]

As for the rest, thanks for your feedback. I'm trying to improve the quality of my level designs and graphical changes. And you're absolutely right that I shouldn't let you roll off to the left and die, especially since some of my levels start you on the middle screen so you have to go left.

As for mechanisms/vehicles, I've tried to create a few new ones, but they are overall much more difficult to design.

Thanks again!