[Challenge/Environmental][Easy/Medium] Juni's Life

David C

29
4

[Challenge/Environmental][Easy/Medium] Juni's Life

« on: August 30, 2015, 21:22:24 »

Another little level, i had less of a clear feeling about this one, but i still liked it.
Original version: http://knyttlevels.com/levels/david%20-%20Juni%27s%20Life.knytt.bin
version 2: http://knyttlevels.com/levels/david%20-%20Juni%27s%20Life%20v2.knytt.bin

Music taken from brainwaltzera's soundcloud page: https://soundcloud.com/brainwaltzera/8-vertical-spacebar-ruff-aft_live_fastmix

« Last Edit: August 31, 2015, 04:47:53 by David C »

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pfrangip

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Re: [Challenge/Environmental][Easy/Medium] Juni's Life

« Reply #1 on: August 31, 2015, 00:24:25 »

Another interesting little dadaist adventure from david.

I must say, this is a marked improvement over your last one. Its got some structure, some challenges, the various comments were interesting and/or funny, and I liked the music. I enjoyed this.

Spoiler: technical difficulties (click to show/hide)

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Spoiler: KS Levels by me: (click to show/hide)

David C

29
4

Re: [Challenge/Environmental][Easy/Medium] Juni's Life

« Reply #2 on: August 31, 2015, 04:42:31 »

ah, i didn't mean for the player to start out with the high jump. i think i fixed all the stuff and added in a bit more. I might've missed something, but i don't think i'll make more changes. Here is the redone version : http://knyttlevels.com/levels/david%20-%20Juni%27s%20Life%20v2.knytt.bin Also, i forgot to put the source to the music, it definitely isn't mine, and i don't want to get in the habit of not crediting people whose things i've used. i'll put it at the top.

« Last Edit: August 31, 2015, 04:46:42 by David C »

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Fubaka

643
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We are the music makers.

Re: [Challenge/Environmental][Easy/Medium] Juni's Life

« Reply #3 on: August 31, 2015, 06:04:35 »

Quote from: David C on August 31, 2015, 04:42:31

ah, i didn't mean for the player to start out with the high jump. i think i fixed all the stuff and added in a bit more. I might've missed something, but i don't think i'll make more changes. Here is the redone version : http://knyttlevels.com/levels/david%20-%20Juni%27s%20Life%20v2.knytt.bin Also, i forgot to put the source to the music, it definitely isn't mine, and i don't want to get in the habit of not crediting people whose things i've used. i'll put it at the top.

I downloaded and played the fixed version you posted here. Unfortunately, there are a good many more technical flubs I found. To help you out on future level design, I'll post them here for you.

Spoiler: List of flubs (click to show/hide)

On the very first screen, the text that the girl says to you moves as you do. This is not a major flub, but it is a sign of amateurism. Allow me to demonstrate how to make that not happen using visual cues from the editor:
In general, you should avoid making areas in your level where you are forced to commit suicide if you fall into them. This is not a hard rule, and I can forgive you if you break it, but you should at least make it clear that if you end up in such a place, the level tells you one way or the other that you have to suicide.
In the house interior area, at x995y1001, neither of the walls are actually walls. It is possible to jump out of the screen and end up in Voids and/or wallswims on either side.
At x999y1001, where you get the Climb powerup, there is a save point in the midst of some retracting spikes. This is one of my Knytt Stories cardinal sins. Should a player accidentally or intentionally save there, then die, they will have to keep dying over and over until they restart the level, or just get tired and quit. In general, it is not a good idea to place a save point in a place that is inescapable, even if it's obvious.
The music you used does not appear to have been extracted properly. It breaks at certain intervals. Try to control the quality of your music imports, and if you can't do that, ask one of us and we can help you. (I have music editing software that could do the trick)
There are a number of screens where climbing the walls leads to wallswims. (one at x998y1001, another at x999y1000) Make sure you always catch places where you forgot to make the walls transition properly.
In general, the walls and background objects do not mesh well between screens. Some designers do this deliberately to create a glitchy feeling, but unless that is your goal, try to make things consistent. Ego's KS+ Editor can help you in this regard.
The bouncer at x1002y999 glitches through the ceiling and creates an awful noise. I suspect you left it like that on purpose, but it still was a bit grating. Not to mention the fact that climbing higher leads to a Void.
At x996y1001, the cliff is actually possible to jump up with the powerups you gave the player. It's hard to do, but still possible. Making it impossible is just a matter of making the cliff edge one block longer.

That is my report. I hope you will find it useful.

Otherwise, I think your level is interesting. I liked the dialogue, and I think you could have a bright future in this if you keep at it.

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Things to remember when writing figures of speech and sound:
The power of poetry comes from the ability to defy logic. Defy logic often.

Use a metaphor and tell us that your lover is the sky. Tell us that your lover is the sky. When you do that, we won't believe you. We won't believe you because saying so makes no sense, but we'll see a meaning. We'll see a meaning.

The other thing is the ability to be remembered. Love anything.

Love anything

Vegetal Gibber

780
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Sorry excuse for a game designer

Re: [Challenge/Environmental][Easy/Medium] Juni's Life

« Reply #4 on: August 31, 2015, 15:03:33 »

That was short but entertaining. I liked the dialogue and the "cheesy" (literally) look of the scenario

In addition to everything that pfrangip and Fubaka said, I'd like to offer a few tips about descriptive tags for your future levels:

Leaving the tags blank in the World.ini file makes it cumbersome to find your level in the list of when you have a big amount of levels installed, because you can't use filters to narrow the search.
The categories you put in the thread title don't describe this level well enough in my opinion. An Environmental level has, by definition, a heavy focus on ambience and visuals. While it doesn't look bad, I think your level doesn't feature the usual detailed backgrounds and structure a typical Environmental level does. Just "Challenge" would be much more accurate.
Also, I think the specified size should be Small instead of Medium, as the game can be completed in just a few minutes.

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Some KS levels by me:

David C

29
4

Re: [Challenge/Environmental][Easy/Medium] Juni's Life

« Reply #5 on: August 31, 2015, 16:02:13 »

yeah, i meant small to medium difficulty, i got confused with these tags. i'd definitely make sure not to have possible traps in future levels, because that happened to me with a part of azure serenity where i think i was supposed to have an umbrella, but i could get there anyway. Tags would be nice to include as well. I wasn't aware of the sign area feature, thanks for the tip, and thanks for all the tips in general

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