[small/easy/environmental] Snow Machine

Snow Machine is a small holiday-themed Knytt Story I've put together in the past week or so. Special thanks go to beta-tester sergiocornaga for his error-checking and input. I hope you all enjoy it!

Download - http://www.knyttlevels.com/levels/RichardJ%20-%20Snow%20Machine.knytt.bin

Nice, i like the smooth transitions/overlaps of tilesets, and the fact that every area

Nice, i like the smooth transitions/overlaps of tilesets, and the fact that every area

Spoiler: (click to show/hide)

had their winter counterpart

Thanks, using smooth transitions to give the impression of a real world was something I tried hard to do, while using tilesets that

Spoiler: (click to show/hide)

what is the detector powerup there for?

Wow. This had some of the nicest transitions ever - . I'd love to see a larger level (i.e. with larger areas) in this style. Also, awesome KS humor (tm) and a perfect ending. Thank you for making this!

Wow. This had some of the nicest transitions ever -

Spoiler: (click to show/hide)

the non-winter part, anyway. Couldn't like the dead snowy plants in the winter versions  :/ :crazy:

. I'd love to see a larger level (i.e. with larger areas) in this style. Also, awesome KS humor (tm) and a perfect ending. Thank you for making this!

Spoiler: (click to show/hide)

(Nitpicking: some of the solid snow wasn't solid, and some was. Wouldn't it work better if all of it was solid?)

Thanks! Making this level improved my confidence working with the editor and designing KS levels, and I even tried to include options for possible future stories in this one (it's set in the same world as my first level, 'A lovely day for a picnic', and I hope to use the same world for any future levels I make), so watch this space!

Regarding your 'nitpicking': ()
As for the ending, that's Sergio's work. I simply had Juni returning home, but after I sent it to him he'd added the extra screen, which I agree is perfect (and includes his

playthrough

Cool, thanks! It's interesting to see that you played through it in much the same way as I did when testing it - jumping to bypass the terrain. I'll keep that in mind when designing future levels, though I don't think it'll have much effect on my design since the terrain is mostly there for visual effect rather than as an obstacle.
By the way, how did you get my full name to credit me on your video?

from the flickr photostream that you link to in your profile

Apologies for bumping my own thread, but I couldn't think of anywhere appropriate for my question: Do you guys think my levels would be more enjoyable if they had an element of challenge? I've been having ideas about my next level, and when ortoslon posted 'Snow Machine' on his latest TIGSource review, he described it as 'devoid of challenge'. Obviously this is an accurate description, but it got me thinking about the above question. What do you guys think?

I don't think challenge is really necessary for an enjoyable Knytt level. It's more of a personal preference, and there's plenty of people who play Knytt Stories who prefer easier games. (Remember The League of Crap Players?) If you think the level would honestly benefit from having some challenge in it, that's fine, but you shouldn't feel obligated to make all of your levels one way or the other.

reviews are evaluations, my posts are merely descriptions except for "good" in post titles

the question is odd: how would i compare existing Snow Machine and potential "Snow Machine + challenge"? there are many ways to "add challenge" to it, some of them might distract from the scenery or delay the player's progress enough to break the pacing, some of them would turn it into a pretty obstacle course, i don't know. that said, i've never thought "oh man, i wish i could die here" while playing a good environmental level

that said, i've never thought "oh man, i wish i could die here"

I have that thought very often   

reviews are evaluations, my posts are merely descriptions except for "good" in post titles

the question is odd: how would i compare existing Snow Machine and potential "Snow Machine + challenge"? there are many ways to "add challenge" to it, some of them might distract from the scenery or delay the player's progress enough to break the pacing, some of them would turn it into a pretty obstacle course, i don't know. that said, i've never thought "oh man, i wish i could die here" while playing a good environmental level

Sorry, I meant 'review' in the sense of a collection of things being shown. I don't intend to go back and 'add challenge' to Snow Machine (or to A Lovely Day for a Picnic), I'm happy with how both of those levels turned out. What I was trying to get at in the question is, is there a general consensus that a pretty level with challenges (i.e. jumping exercises and enemy avoidance) would be preferable to a pretty level without challenges (such as my two previous levels)?

I don't think challenge is really necessary for an enjoyable Knytt level. It's more of a personal preference, and there's plenty of people who play Knytt Stories who prefer easier games. (Remember The League of Crap Players?) If you think the level would honestly benefit from having some challenge in it, that's fine, but you shouldn't feel obligated to make all of your levels one way or the other.

Thanks. What I may end up doing is making a level with some challenge aspects in order to see how I like it, if I'm good at it, etc., before starting on my 'next level' mentioned above (besides, that's only a cloud of vague, blurry concepts in my head so far).