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The Dying Core [challenge/hard/medium]

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Offline yohji

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Re: The Dying Core [challenge/hard/medium]
« Reply #15 on: January 08, 2012, 21:57:46 »
Excellent level, as usual! I was particularly impressed by the plot -
Spoiler: (click to show/hide)

My only gripe is that I thought the music was mixed a bit too loud, and I had to turn it down, and then off after a while - since many of the challenges require a lot of attempts... Not sure if this type of chip sound - rough, unpolished - was entirely suitable here, but I guess I'm in the minority, since I can't see anyone else compaining  C)p
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Offline egomassive

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Re: The Dying Core [challenge/hard/medium]
« Reply #16 on: January 09, 2012, 00:10:55 »
I'm going to release an update soon. Ortoslon wants to make a video of the final version. There are just a few minor adjustments to make that will mostly go unnoticed. I'm just sounding an early warning in case anyone is holding onto some sage advice.

@ Yohji: I intentionally left the music a little loud. The graphics are simple. The trials are linear. So, I felt the music could have more presence without getting in the way. This extends not only to the volume but the harshness. As to the use of 8 bit tracks, I felt they would accompany the blocky mechanical environs. I can imagine they could begin to weigh on you if you've died a bunch of times. Guess, I'll tone it down a bit.

@ Talps: I was a bit flabbergasted, but mostly that I never would have thought of that myself. If it hadn't been GreyFace it would have been someone else.
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Offline Widget

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Re: The Dying Core [challenge/hard/medium]
« Reply #17 on: January 09, 2012, 01:21:58 »
At the risk of sticking in another oar, I really liked the front-and-center role of the music in the level. It was the main factor in making the level feel novel and exciting as it's so much less common than soft ambiance in a KS level. I also thought the style was a perfect complement to the environment and, as LordMarzog said earlier, wonderfully nostalgic too. I've actually turned my speakers up on subsequent playthroughs to make the most of it.

I guess what I'm getting at is that reducing the volume of the music would actually lessen the experience for me. While the KS sound effects are very good they're not new and exciting anymore, while the music is.

Sorry to add another note to the feedback you're trying to process but I wanted to mention that there's a strongly held inverse view on the subject aswell.
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Offline Talps

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Re: The Dying Core [challenge/hard/medium]
« Reply #18 on: January 09, 2012, 02:20:02 »
Sorry, my odd sense of humour. (I did enjoy the increasingly angry-sounding easter-eggs throughout B-Man's 'The Great Race' as he complains at players for getting into the difficult-to-reach places that they're clearly not meant to go to).

I thought the music was good myself; the volume didn't bother me and I particularly liked the music in the ship. But saying that, one of the tracks in one of my own levels seemed a bit borderline loud to me, and I decided to turn it down and see the result, and was much happier with it quieter than I'd ever thought I would be.
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Offline egomassive

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Re: The Dying Core [challenge/hard/medium]
« Reply #19 on: January 09, 2012, 05:55:09 »
Version 1.1 is here! I was going to release update and full downloads, but since I adjusted music volumes they would be essentially the same size.

Yes, Widget, I wanted the music loud, but every time I entered the first and last trials I noticed how loud it was. I'd say to myself, "It's supposed to be loud! If they complain I'll hit them with some intellectual babble. Bwahaha!" but in the end I should have listened to my first impressions. If you ask nicely, I'm sure Ultigonio will release the sound track at full volume. That reminds me, did you know there are 5 hidden rooms in the game?

Quote from: Talps on January 09, 2012, 02:20:02
Sorry, my odd sense of humour. (I did enjoy the increasingly angry-sounding easter-eggs throughout B-Man's 'The Great Race' as he complains at players for getting into the difficult-to-reach places that they're clearly not meant to go to).

He's referring to comments made privately during some last minute beta testing. Mainly, he misses the core's dialogue that I ditched. Originally, it output some cryptic lines that were patronizing, and to ^some^ quite humorous. The last beta is still available. 1.8 MB
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Offline Widget

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Re: The Dying Core [challenge/hard/medium]
« Reply #20 on: January 09, 2012, 06:28:24 »
Re: egomassive: Hey, as long you're happy with your level I can mix'n'match my end to play it as I most enjoy it. Currently I'm seriously considering just keeping all three versions permanently installed anyway; I own and play multiple versions of the 8- and 16-bit Final Fantasy games and this level's definitely better than some of those.
Edit: Hope it doesn't sound too critical but axing the text did wonders for this level. It was fascinating to see the "before" version (and there was nothing inherently bad about the text itself) but it only really interferes with the clarity of design. Definitely settled on 1.1 with the 1.0 music.

I did not know there was a fifth hidden room, though. That's definitely a bit of a head-scratcher..
Spoiler: Found it! (click to show/hide)
« Last Edit: January 09, 2012, 08:37:12 by Widget »
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Offline ortoslon

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Re: The Dying Core [challenge/hard/medium]
« Reply #21 on: January 09, 2012, 10:41:15 »
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Offline egomassive

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Re: The Dying Core [challenge/hard/medium]
« Reply #22 on: January 09, 2012, 22:04:30 »
It's always interesting to see how a good player approaches the challenges I've made. Thanks for making the video Ortoslon.

@ Widget: I support people altering my levels to fit their own tastes. It's not like I have room to complain. I've corrected an SGE in my personal copy of A Walk at Night, and I'm hosting my fixed version of Super Juni Land --the original version has game breaking bugs and the author has disappeared.
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Offline Widget

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Re: The Dying Core [challenge/hard/medium]
« Reply #23 on: January 10, 2012, 10:25:34 »
Thankyou for your blessing. I feel a bit guilty now that I simply stated my intent rather than asking permission; I've always modified levels I keep (filling out categories/dificulties etc. deleting unmodified intro and ending folders and spellchecking world.ini files) and never considered that what I was doing might be stepping on the creators' toes  :oops:
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Offline RichardJ

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Re: The Dying Core [challenge/hard/medium]
« Reply #24 on: January 10, 2012, 16:16:47 »
This was absolutely fantastic. The design, the visuals, the music, and the story were all great in their own way, and came together even better than Voltron. I've still not been back and tried to find all the secret areas, but I definitely will soon.
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Offline mechamind

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Re: The Dying Core [challenge/hard/medium]
« Reply #25 on: January 12, 2012, 00:46:03 »
Great level, and I do think Medium/Hard difficulty is accurate for this level. Some areas can get a little tricky at times, but I do consider them to be fair.
Spoiler: (click to show/hide)
Personally, there are only good things I can say about this Knytt Story.
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Offline egomassive

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Re: The Dying Core [challenge/hard/medium]
« Reply #26 on: January 12, 2012, 11:00:41 »
@ Mechamind: Medium is the size. :) Glad you enjoyed it.
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Offline Polana

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Re: The Dying Core [challenge/hard/medium]
« Reply #27 on: February 10, 2013, 21:26:06 »
I just want to say, that I've replayed this level today and it fascinates me, how everything fits. Tilesets, challenges - it is so all right...
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Offline pfrangip

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Re: The Dying Core [challenge/hard/medium]
« Reply #28 on: February 12, 2013, 01:26:17 »
Played this for the first time just now. Great level!

The best thing about this level for me were the challenges, in that they were not unfair or random in the least. I hate difficult screens that are only difficult because you have to wait for some amount of randomness to finally go the way you want. (Especially those damn electro-sparkle-head things that send out the long-lasting slow sparkles that fill the area.)

(I might've actually said this was a bit easier than I expected, which is neither bad nor good.)

Spoiler: (click to show/hide)
« Last Edit: February 12, 2013, 01:28:48 by pfrangip »
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Offline egomassive

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Re: The Dying Core [challenge/hard/medium]
« Reply #29 on: February 12, 2013, 06:25:12 »
Thanks Polana. I had hoped people would find it worthy of replaying.

Pfrangip, you only missed 2 of the things you can find in the level, and I'm sure you already know what they are. Your take on the game's story isn't far from correct. Although I do have a story for it, I think it's better to let players fill in the gaps how they like. However, I like reading peoples interpretations. It gives me insight on how to tell a story with a game. I can see where I succeeded and where I failed.
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