[Small][easy][Challenge] The Gate

Follow the adventures of Jinu, Guardian of the gate! hooray!

Volume 2 of my first level.
I've really only Removed some wallswims and added The red castle, but here it is.
http://knyttlevels.com/levels/Willomo%20-%20The%20Gate%20V.2.knytt.bin
Here's the link to the file! tell me what you think!

Version 1:
http://knyttlevels.com/levels/Willomo%20-%20The%20Gate.knytt.bin

I've included 2 screenshots, which have the updated background from this http://nifflas.lpchip.nl/index.php?topic=3314.0

there's a lot of problems 

wall swims everywhere, voids, etc... i didn't even bother finishing it, sorry

you need to think more as the player... you gave us the climb power up so early that we can pretty much go anywhere... including over walls into areas where we're not supposed to be... like at 1 point i was just standing on top of the colored locks... on top of them... gotta think about the game play more

i'm sorry i can't link you but you should try reading the level making guide (somewhere in this forum, i'm sure someone will direct you to it) it really helped me with like signs and stuff like that

i do like your storyline tho, so maybe if you spiffy it up a bit i'll come back and finish

Oh bother. I thought I'd found all the wallswims- can you point some out to me?

And I did read the level making guide.

Finally I have some time to spend playing other people's levels and criticizing them to death!

It's not a bad level. It has a few interesting challenges/puzzles and the plot is funny (and you didn't abuse trap/enemy objects, like many people do on their first levels ), but there are quite a few problems. The main issue is that, just as theiza said, the level lacks polish. There are several paths that you obviously didn't mean for the player to take, but they are reachable and lead to void screens/wall swims. Here you have a list of what I found:


Aside from this, here are a few suggestions for improving your level:

x1002y1002: If you put so many "Sign" objects, the text will start moving with you as you run through the screen. You should put only one "Sign" object and then fill the rest of the text area with "Sign area" objects.

x1011y1004: This is just a minor glitch, but the woman should have been placed on the floor. If you put her over that block, she'll start walking in the air

x999y1003: Instead of using so many shifts here, you could just put a Warp object (obj. #20 on bank 0) on x1000y1003 and then specify a "warp left" destination for that screen. This way, you can warp Juni to wherever you want as soon as she tries to go left on that screen.

x1001y1002: There's a visible shift spot floating in the air on this screen... but it looks like it doesn't have any purpose whatsoever.

I also agree with theiza on the starting power-ups. It would have been better if the player didn't have access to some of these powers until much later. Having the climb and high/double jump power-ups from the start makes most of the challenges too easy.

As for the level design... well, I'm not really the best person to give you advice on that, but I thought that some of the level's areas felt too empty and bland for a challenge level, specially the "white castle". Maybe you could add a few platforming challenges or make the castle more maze-like, adding multiple paths. You should also try to fill up those screens adding a ceiling and a more detailed background, instead of just using a plain green gradient.

Anyways, congrats on finishing your first level   I hope you find all this rambling useful and I apologize if I sounded too harsh.

Finally I have some time to spend playing other people's levels and criticizing them to death!

It's not a bad level. It has a few interesting challenges/puzzles and the plot is funny (and you didn't abuse trap/enemy objects, like many people do on their first levels ), but there are quite a few problems. The main issue is that, just as theiza said, the level lacks polish. There are several paths that you obviously didn't mean for the player to take, but they are reachable and lead to void screens/wall swims. Here you have a list of what I found:

Spoiler: Void screens / Wall swims (click to show/hide)

x1001y999: You can just jump/climb the wall to the left and go above the keylocks. Then you can just jump to the left side of the screen and immediately win the level   Also, if you jump to the right of said screen, you get stuck on the left wall in x1002x999 (entrance to "chess land"). You can also double-jump from the top of the pillars and reach a void screen.

x1000y1004: If you jump straight down when you collect the umbrella power-up, you'll fall into an endless void pit.

x1003y1003: The wall is climbable once the enemies have fallen onto the floor, and it leads to another void screen.

x1005y998: You can reach a void screen if you double-jump to the left from here.

x1003y1000: This is the area where you collect the eyeball. If you try to climb up the left wall, Juni gets stuck into a wall-swim. If you want the players to use the teleport spot to the right, you should make the left wall unclimbable (not necessarily using the "no-climb" object)

Aside from this, here are a few suggestions for improving your level:

x1002y1002: If you put so many "Sign" objects, the text will start moving with you as you run through the screen. You should put only one "Sign" object and then fill the rest of the text area with "Sign area" objects.

x1011y1004: This is just a minor glitch, but the woman should have been placed on the floor. If you put her over that block, she'll start walking in the air

x999y1003: Instead of using so many shifts here, you could just put a Warp object (obj. #20 on bank 0) on x1000y1003 and then specify a "warp left" destination for that screen. This way, you can warp Juni to wherever you want as soon as she tries to go left on that screen.

x1001y1002: There's a visible shift spot floating in the air on this screen... but it looks like it doesn't have any purpose whatsoever.

I also agree with theiza on the starting power-ups. It would have been better if the player didn't have access to some of these powers until much later. Having the climb and high/double jump power-ups from the start makes most of the challenges too easy.

As for the level design... well, I'm not really the best person to give you advice on that, but I thought that some of the level's areas felt too empty and bland for a challenge level, specially the "white castle". Maybe you could add a few platforming challenges or make the castle more maze-like, adding multiple paths. You should also try to fill up those screens adding a ceiling and a more detailed background, instead of just using a plain green gradient.

Anyways, congrats on finishing your first level   I hope you find all this rambling useful and I apologize if I sounded too harsh.

yeah, that's what i meant to say 

Finally I have some time to spend playing other people's levels and criticizing them to death!

It's not a bad level. It has a few interesting challenges/puzzles and the plot is funny (and you didn't abuse trap/enemy objects, like many people do on their first levels ), but there are quite a few problems. The main issue is that, just as theiza said, the level lacks polish. There are several paths that you obviously didn't mean for the player to take, but they are reachable and lead to void screens/wall swims. Here you have a list of what I found:

Spoiler: Void screens / Wall swims (click to show/hide)

x1001y999: You can just jump/climb the wall to the left and go above the keylocks. Then you can just jump to the left side of the screen and immediately win the level   Also, if you jump to the right of said screen, you get stuck on the left wall in x1002x999 (entrance to "chess land"). You can also double-jump from the top of the pillars and reach a void screen.

x1000y1004: If you jump straight down when you collect the umbrella power-up, you'll fall into an endless void pit.

x1003y1003: The wall is climbable once the enemies have fallen onto the floor, and it leads to another void screen.

x1005y998: You can reach a void screen if you double-jump to the left from here.

x1003y1000: This is the area where you collect the eyeball. If you try to climb up the left wall, Juni gets stuck into a wall-swim. If you want the players to use the teleport spot to the right, you should make the left wall unclimbable (not necessarily using the "no-climb" object)

Aside from this, here are a few suggestions for improving your level:

x1002y1002: If you put so many "Sign" objects, the text will start moving with you as you run through the screen. You should put only one "Sign" object and then fill the rest of the text area with "Sign area" objects.

x1011y1004: This is just a minor glitch, but the woman should have been placed on the floor. If you put her over that block, she'll start walking in the air

x999y1003: Instead of using so many shifts here, you could just put a Warp object (obj. #20 on bank 0) on x1000y1003 and then specify a "warp left" destination for that screen. This way, you can warp Juni to wherever you want as soon as she tries to go left on that screen.

x1001y1002: There's a visible shift spot floating in the air on this screen... but it looks like it doesn't have any purpose whatsoever.

I also agree with theiza on the starting power-ups. It would have been better if the player didn't have access to some of these powers until much later. Having the climb and high/double jump power-ups from the start makes most of the challenges too easy.

As for the level design... well, I'm not really the best person to give you advice on that, but I thought that some of the level's areas felt too empty and bland for a challenge level, specially the "white castle". Maybe you could add a few platforming challenges or make the castle more maze-like, adding multiple paths. You should also try to fill up those screens adding a ceiling and a more detailed background, instead of just using a plain green gradient.

Anyways, congrats on finishing your first level   I hope you find all this rambling useful and I apologize if I sounded too harsh.

Thanks! That'll be really helpful! Fixing now.

Sup, didn't know if you were still working on this but. . .

x1001 y1001
If you want to go through walls with the eye you have to use the "wall x" object.
Like so.

x1003 y1003
It's possible to get into a void from climbing the wall.

x1008 y998
I'm guessing you were trying to add the eye instead of the radar (since I can't find the eye anywhere.)

x1010 y1003
So is there anyway to get past the meanies?

x1010 y1003
So is there anyway to get past the meanies?

Yes, it's all about timing.

I never thought I'd actually get to this point, but.... Version 2 is out! hooray!
See first post for link.

I tried the new version. Most of the previously reported errors are fixed   But there's still the matter of the void screens at the leftmost part of the area where you get the umbrella. I suggest adding more empty screens to prevent this. However, I found a bigger problem with that part:


Also, it seems you forgot to add an exit to the red castle   You can enter it through the gate, but you cannot leave the same way.