My crack at level design

localflick · Post by **localflick** » Tue Nov 15, 2005 6:11 am

I'm not trying to re-invent Super Mario Brothers, but I am re-designing it. I'm only through 2-3 so far, and it's still buggy, but it is playable, and fun.
Read the article, and text file for more info on the project. I'm shooting for 8-4 by New Year's Day. We'll see how it goes.

Check it out here. And let me know what you think. If you give feedback, please just critique what is, and not "what you should do..." suggestions since the rest of the levels are planned out on paper the way I want. if someone else has an idea I already have on paper I don't want to be accused of stealing their idea when it shows up where I planned it.

I'm not formally trained in game design, but I have learned a lot of theory that goes behind it. As for the site itself, I'm updating it all the time, so keep checking. Enjoy!

Edit: It was kind of late when I wrote that. Long story short, there's an awesome SMB mod here.

Zophar · Post by **Zophar** » Wed Nov 16, 2005 1:08 am

Wow that was pretty good, I was only able to get to the 2nd level but that's because I am bad at those Mario games.

localflick · Post by **localflick** » Fri Nov 18, 2005 9:00 pm

Thanks. The trap in the 1st level seems to get EVERYONE. It is fun watching my levels kill people. Well, just Mario, but hundreds of times. :wink:

But they are pretty difficult levels.

Zophar · Post by **Zophar** » Sat Nov 19, 2005 12:17 am

localflick wrote:Thanks. The trap in the 1st level seems to get EVERYONE. It is fun watching my levels kill people. Well, just Mario, but hundreds of times. But they are pretty difficult levels.

Dude, that's evil! Kind of reminds me of this flash game that my friend made where you had a 90% chance of dying from just taking a few steps. He called the game: "Game Over" with captions saying: "You WILL die."

phyco126 · Post by **phyco126** » Sat Nov 19, 2005 1:00 am

... how do you run it?

Werefrog · Post by **Werefrog** » Sat Nov 19, 2005 1:03 am

phyco126 wrote:... how do you run it?

I'm guessing an NES emulator. Haven't tried myself.

localflick · Post by **localflick** » Sat Nov 19, 2005 5:33 am

... how do you run it?

...yeah I didn't put that on site's page did I? Sorry about that. Any NES emulator should run it. Personally I use Jnes. Just Google Jnes and look for Jabosoft's site. You could Google "NES Emulators" but beware of the Ad-ware hell that some of the sites have.

When I'm 100% done I'm going to inject it into a copy of Pocketnes so it can also run on a GBA emulator, or with a Gameboy Advance Flashcard.

I'm still working on the page since it's still as barebones as can be. I'm working on a Flash animation to go with it too, and putting a download link higher up so you don't have to scroll all the way to the bottom. I set it up when I was tired, and it shows.

phyco126 · Post by **phyco126** » Sat Nov 19, 2005 5:36 am

Ah, well, thanks. I'll have to try it out sometime.

scaryice · Post by **scaryice** » Sat Nov 19, 2005 8:46 am

Good stuff.

1-1: I fell off the blocks at the end, or I probably would've died there too.

1-2: I like the enemy at the top of the screen, nice touch.

1-3: I like how Lakitu could not be reached. However, it froze up on me the the first time I played it at the end of this level.

1-4: Tough. I notice with the big "firebar" or whatever it's called, if you're small Mario and you just run to the right, he seems to go through it unscathed.

World 2: Harder than normal, but still true to the original.

localflick · Post by **localflick** » Sat Nov 19, 2005 4:24 pm

Hmmm... The 1-4 bug is interesting. I've never seen that happen before, but I'll try it. And Lakitu has been the cause of a lot of problems, but it's what makes the level work. It froze up on me once too. Also every once in a while it does something very wierd, where if you die after the halfway point, when you come back all the levels "objects" like platforms, blocks, etc... move a few squares to the right. I'm still trying to fix that one. As for the rest of 1-3, unfortunately, without a staircase at the end, Lakitu won't go away, but I do kind of like the little hurdle at the end. Maybe I can put it in 2-3 instead since it's another running level.

As long as it lets players "unlearn" what they know about SMB, break their old habits, and enjoy it as if it was a new game, my goal's been achieved. But it's taking a lot longer since I find new bugs in old levels while I'm trying to design new ones. Ah well. I'm shooting for a new version by the day after Thanksgiving.

Post by **Kizyr** » Sat Nov 19, 2005 5:48 pm

I haven't tried this yet, but I'll just toss out there that there are several SMB 'hacks', some better than others. My personal two favorites are one where you play through an entirely new set of worlds as a Koopa, and another where you play through as Yoshi.

But yeah, it tries to stretch the limits of level design, and they came up with some pretty challenging stuff. I'll give this one a go and let you know what I think, maybe how it compares to other 'hacks' I've played if you'd like. KF

EDIT: ZeldaClassic.com is my favorite retro-gaming site. KF

localflick · Post by **localflick** » Sat Nov 19, 2005 8:46 pm

there are several SMB 'hacks', some better than others

There was one that was a variation of "The Lost Levels" which I found to be the toughest version of SMB I've ever played. I should try to track it down again. The only problem was that it was too hard for me, and ended up being more frustrating than fun.

Aside from the first time you encounter the evil trap in 1-1, (and 1-2 since it's programmed to be the same area, and I can't control it) I tried to minimise unavoidable death as much as possible.

phyco126 · Post by **phyco126** » Sun Nov 20, 2005 6:04 am

Okay, tried it, but I'm finding it impossible to jump over the third pipe (some issues with the second as well.) Is this intended? Or just something you didn't make strong enough?

localflick · Post by **localflick** » Sun Nov 20, 2005 7:01 pm

Okay, tried it, but I'm finding it impossible to jump over the third pipe (some issues with the second as well.) Is this intended? Or just something you didn't make strong enough?

Which pipes? In 1-1? It should be possible to get over every hurdle and pipe I've set up. You may have to hold down "B" to get a running start though. I've been able to clear through 2-4 which is the last modified level in this set. Which emulator are you using to run it? I've only tried Jnes so far, but I'm going to get some others to test with. How is it impossible to jump over? Is there something blocking it?

phyco126 · Post by **phyco126** » Mon Nov 21, 2005 12:15 am

I got Nessie. And yes, it's 1-1. Tried running, didn't work. Took me over 10 minutes to jump over the last pipe in the beginning before the gap to jump. Nothing is blocking it, but I just can't jump that high (I remember the original you could jump pretty high to get on anything.) I mean, maybe you designed it that way, but it's a real pain. Also, I have trouble clearing the gap in the beginning as well, even if I did jump on the turtle in the middle of the gap. Still fall to my doom. *sigh*

localflick · Post by **localflick** » Mon Nov 21, 2005 3:21 am

Whoa! None of that should be! I'll be sure to try it with Nessie to see this wierdness. Thanks for letting me know about it.

I never altered Mario's jump height, and while they aren't always easy, all the ? blocks/coins etc... are accessable. Problem is I can't test it in every NES emulator that's been released since there's so many. Ideally it would work in all of them. Realisticly, I'm shooting for 100% in Jnes 1st since it's what I use and I'm naturally bias towards it. Then when it's done I'll go back and tweak it to make sure it works in other popular Nes emulators like Nessie, Nesticle, and Nesten.

But for now, that sounds like something to check out. Thanks again.

phyco126 · Post by **phyco126** » Mon Nov 21, 2005 10:11 pm

No problem. Glad I can help

Perhapes I can try to grab other nes emulators to try and compare the game. I have the free time ^^;

localflick · Post by **localflick** » Tue Nov 22, 2005 1:55 am

No problem. Glad I can help Very Happy Perhapes I can try to grab other nes emulators to try and compare the game. I have the free time ^^;

Awesome! Here's a link to TONS of them at Zophar's Domain.

http://www.zophar.net/nes.html

phyco126 · Post by **phyco126** » Tue Nov 22, 2005 7:12 am

Okay, I tried 3 Emulators for it. Short and brief.

Jnes - Works as intended
Nestopia - Starts the game in an underwater world (level)
Nessie - Works decently, but Mario will not jump as high

scaryice · Post by **scaryice** » Tue Nov 22, 2005 10:55 am

Personally I use Nnnester.

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