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https://twitter.com/SAMarioMaker/status/1145494277826469889 It's time for the first week's creation jam. Just make a course based on this week's theme and submit it to the form in the tweet above. You can find the form in the third post above Bob Markley's smiling face if you don't twitter. #JackisaNazi That's also where you'll find the list of all the levels submitted to our Jams. If you submit a level I'll be sure to share it on twitter for you. The first week's theme is "Try Switch." :ItIsADarkSoulsJoke: There are new on-off switches in SMM2, there are also old P-Switches. Maybe you feel like switching off the light, or switching gravity? Whatever that phrase brings to your mind, just make the best level you can about it! The Jam lasts until Friday evening, but if you don't make it in time you can still submit levels for a Jam after the closing time.
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Jul 1, 2019 02:18
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| # ? Jun 4, 2024 13:22 |
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Man, the quality of courses in Endless Mode is impressively poo poo. I have a question for level makers: how can you stand to do this? Every time I try to make a level I end up staring at the screen for a while, placing some random blocks in geometric shapes, adding fun noises, then getting overwhelmed and quitting or going to play Course World instead. Is this normal? Am I broken? Is Level Design Anxiety a real thing?
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Jul 1, 2019 02:19
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Pollyanna posted:Man, the quality of courses in Endless Mode is impressively poo poo. I was playing endless normal today and actually got some decent levels. In fact I know a couple goon levels showed up. I suspect they’ve got it set up to favor stages liked by people who made stages you liked or something. Designers block is certainly a thing. If you haven’t already I’d recommend deciding on a theme for your level. Pick a mechanic or a couple of course elements and build your stage around that. Obviously you can bring in other elements but try to do that to enhance your main element rather than just make theme soup.
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Jul 1, 2019 02:23
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Pollyanna posted:Man, the quality of courses in Endless Mode is impressively poo poo. I've found that deliberately limiting the objects I can use (maybe only 1 or 2 enemies, a couple of gizmos) really helps me, especially for creating a "normal" Mario level.
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Jul 1, 2019 02:24
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I asked myself, "What are everyone's three favorite kinds of Mario levels?" The answer was obvious: swimming stages, autoscrollers, and levels where you have to avoid something crushing you. What would happen if I combined all three? And so I give you Volcanic Voyage WGM-2WN-HNF It's the only night castle themed level you will ever need. (This is something like my fifth significant revision. The first one was beatable as long as you got small, danced on the edge of the lava, and got within a couple of frames of being crushed off the edge. See if you can spot the fixes that don't really work!) Random Stranger fucked around with this message at 02:27 on Jul 1, 2019 |
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Jul 1, 2019 02:24
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Double post.
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Jul 1, 2019 02:24
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Pollyanna posted:Man, the quality of courses in Endless Mode is impressively poo poo. Having a theme or a few items in mind is a good place to start. Give yourself limits. Decide you're only going to use one or two types of enemy, or gizmo or whatever. Play other people's levels (or the story mode campaign), focus on parts you find the most fun, and try to build something similar. Giving yourself limits feels like the most important thing to me, because otherwise there's just so much and it's really intimidating to even get started.
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Jul 1, 2019 02:24
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Level design is definitely really hard, even to make the awful garbage you find in Endless mode. Talk to the pigeon to get some basic tips but the easiest way to get started is to pick a handful of things and just play around with those few things. Maybe on-off switches and claws. See how you can use them together, how they do/don't interact, and use that to come up with your obstacles.
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Jul 1, 2019 02:25
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AlBorlantern Corps posted:This one isn't for guessing, you can run over the top to see where all four go. I don't really consider it having to backtrack because you just go half a screen over The backtracking was annoying because you teach the player to skip keys at the very beginning of the level. Most people aren't going to assume they need to run over the top of your pipes. Bills after the red pipes were also extraneous. Just block the path instead or add a pit. You expect players to explore over the glass pipes, but punish them for exploring past the red angled pipe. You know where to go in the level so its layout makes sense, but somebody who hasn't done it before has no idea what you had in mind. You have no hints suggesting where players should go while providing conflicting in-level messages.
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Jul 1, 2019 02:31
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Good Sphere posted:I just farted out a SMB1 desert-themed level called Beneath The Great Pyramid: YCY-JPL-SHF I liked this one. Not terribly challenging, although I still managed to die like a doofus 2 or 3 times. Is there a powerup in the water section after the midpoint? There didn't seem to be one, which made the cheep cheeps in the dark pretty fraught. The pyramid climbing section with a million magikoopas had a lot of fun mayhem without actually being too difficult.
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Jul 1, 2019 02:34
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Pollyanna posted:Man, the quality of courses in Endless Mode is impressively poo poo. This has been my exact experience with making. There are artists and then there are consumers, I suppose. 
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Jul 1, 2019 02:35
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Pollyanna posted:Man, the quality of courses in Endless Mode is impressively poo poo. Check out beginner dojo lesson 3, “On Inspiration”
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Jul 1, 2019 02:35
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Pollyanna posted:Is Level Design Anxiety a real thing? Absolutely yes, it's a real thing. The best advice is really this: someone awful. posted:Having a theme or a few items in mind is a good place to start. Give yourself limits. Decide you're only going to use one or two types of enemy, or gizmo or whatever. Play other people's levels (or the story mode campaign), focus on parts you find the most fun, and try to build something similar. If you're still stuck, I'm going to do a mini'blitz' on Thursday that might help.
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Jul 1, 2019 02:37
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I played a handful of courses out of the spreadsheet. I Like Big Slopes by Straight White Shark 5T2-22F-Q1H I enjoy stages where jump timing is a major factor. I'm not sure, but it felt like there were multiple paths? It was good. Starter Level 1-1 ish by Q-res Y3M-W6W-QJG I couldn't figure out how to get past the last obstacle Jungle Crawl by ThisIsACoolGuy 1HS-1K0-T1H This course was full of fun and clever obstacles. I particularly enjoyed the iteration on the flying ant obstacle. The coin placement was great and the secrets were intuitive. Fantastic course. Down Unda by cheesetriangles 1HL-D06-GVF I got stuck in the cannon room with my P block used up and decided to call it there. Global Warming ~磯焼け~ by BabyRyoga P5V-CC0-J3G Like any proper Angry Sun course, I felt hounded at every turn. The enemies felt really unique, especially the para-skelefish. The stage felt very frantic. I got nailed by a fish flying from out of nowhere a couple times and it never stopped being funny.
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Jul 1, 2019 02:39
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Araxxor posted:Stompopolis: This was dope! Sadly took me a few tries because I'm rusty as hell, but this was indeed short and sweet! I liked that the skeleton-hopping wasn't mandatory 100% of the time - it made it all the more satisfying when you could string long bounces together because you're just so dang superhot
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Jul 1, 2019 02:44
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If you want a rather inferior version of those "Get the power stars so you can navigate a level full of spikes and stuff" levels that I always loved as a kid, give a look to Super Mario Power Fantasy (5Y8-BYM-FFF). It's funny how I already knew I was bad at Mario, what I didn't know was how there's been a whole bunch of new moves since I've last played these games.
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Jul 1, 2019 02:46
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New level: Slipstrim A run to the right and jump level. K1P-747-7GF
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Jul 1, 2019 02:47
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MisterBibs posted:My first level. It is rich and complex and hard and not at all any of these things: I like it. It's enemy-dense and there aren't very many safe spots, but it's short enough that it's not a problem. I think you'll have to space things out a bit more if you make anything longer, but the high-pressure feel is about right for a stage this size. President Ark posted:I made a dumb level while fiddling with the creator for the first time. It's about mario robbing a bank. 3JV-VCB-LQF  Doomykins posted:My favorite Mario levels were the Airship/World 8 Tanks in Super Mario Brothers 3 so I hope you enjoy my very first excited attempt to make a Mario. I'd like to make levels that are challenging without using Kaizo tricks. Definitely challenging. I liked that there were multiple paths through the level!
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Jul 1, 2019 02:51
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Pollyanna posted:Man, the quality of courses in Endless Mode is impressively poo poo. Also please, please always remember the most important Super Mario Maker advice which is Sea Lily posted:It's okay to make levels that make you happy and share them even if you think they are not amazing
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Jul 1, 2019 02:53
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So I'm a dickhead, and my level "1-2 Abe's Descent" had some issues, requiring me to upload a new version. I cannot edit the spreadsheet, obviously. The new version is PCR-4CT-MVG It has the same name.
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Jul 1, 2019 02:53
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One thing I've found with Mario Maker is that sticking to a small group of enemies isn't a bad idea at all, especially because you can use one single enemy in so many different ways thanks to Wings/Parachutes/Pipes etc.
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Jul 1, 2019 02:54
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Straight White Shark posted:I liked this one. Not terribly challenging, although I still managed to die like a doofus 2 or 3 times. Is there a powerup in the water section after the midpoint? There didn't seem to be one, which made the cheep cheeps in the dark pretty fraught. Thanks, I was wondering if the water section without a power up was too unfair or not myself. I figured if it’s taken slow, you might have some close calls, or death and it will be over starting at the checkpoint without too many tries. There is the possibility that you enter that place as Super Mario, but if you don’t then yes, you start at the checkpoint with nothing. There is a secret fire flower, but it’s towards the end of the water section. Lots of secret ? boxes, in fact.
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Jul 1, 2019 02:55
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Orange Crush Rush posted:One thing I've found with Mario Maker is that sticking to a small group of enemies isn't a bad idea at all, especially because you can use one single enemy in so many different ways thanks to Wings/Parachutes/Pipes etc. I especially recommend using Hammer Bros, because they’re really easy to defeat and everyone loves fighting them. More seriously, of course it’s stressful to create a level. For every level I create, I worry that no one will enjoy playing it and that it won’t be fun for people. But really, goons are pretty nice and people will like your course even if it’s mediocre. And even seeing just one or two likes still makes me feel warm and fuzzy. This is by no means the only way to design a level, but I like to think of each level as a lesson. First I introduce the skill I want the player to learn, like fighting Hammer Bros or wall jumping in low gravity. Then I try to present the same idea in different contexts. The lessons are separated by little breathing room areas. Finally, it’s nice to add extra credit lessons too: challenges advanced students can take on but novices can safely ignore.
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Jul 1, 2019 03:08
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My last level of the night, as I get better I want to do more stealth castle? type levels. Let me know what you think. Liberate the goombas! FWM-H0Y-82G FWM-HOY-82G in case bold didn't work.
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Jul 1, 2019 03:11
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I made a Mario Kart track! Give it a shot: Luigi's Circuit 0.5 728-YRN-4YF
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Jul 1, 2019 03:11
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nrook posted:But really, goons are pretty nice and people will like your course even if it’s mediocre. Even outside of goons, making a mediocre course means that you are probably in the top 20% of levels in terms of quality!
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Jul 1, 2019 03:14
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I don't know what to do with the knowledge that you can wear a beetle or spiny helmet at the same time you are riding in a dry bones shell.
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Jul 1, 2019 03:15
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Tnega posted:Even outside of goons, making a mediocre course means that you are probably in the top 20% of levels in terms of quality! If you can make a level that isn't just like random spikes and Thowmps and a million Lakitus throwing giant Spinies on you you are about halfway there
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Jul 1, 2019 03:17
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Tnega posted:Even outside of goons, making a mediocre course means that you are probably in the top 20% of levels in terms of quality! That’s good news for my upcoming stage, “Wall Jump Between Two Snake Blocks While Avoiding Bowser Fire”
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Jul 1, 2019 03:17
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Hey guys, poster "lunar detrius" has something great for us, check out: https://randomactsofmario.com/ It's a randomizer which picks out a level from the spreadsheet for you. It'll remember which ones you've already played too.
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Jul 1, 2019 03:19
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Pollyanna posted:Man, the quality of courses in Endless Mode is impressively poo poo. A big part of the creative process is that in the middle of experimentation and refinement you usually get further flashes of inspiration. Here's a rough idea of what I do and plan to do for my next level! Have an idea: I want to make a nice snow level. A bit easy, a mid-game Vanilla Mario level. Inspiration and theme: Maybe I'll use a lot of pipes as my "ground" to shake things up and challenge myself with that limitation. Checklist of ideas associated with big hit of inspiration: Pipes can spit out good and bad things and many Mario players will compulsively check every pipe to see if one is a warp pipe. Considerations: A good design tic would be to use subconscious hinting(coins, course shape, absence of anything coming from pipe) to help observant players notice which pipes they should try. There could also be no mandatory sub-world section so people who ignore pipes aren't forced to play find the one right pipe. Rough Draft: Basic outline of level. Blocks of simple land Mario can run across from start to goal. Refining 1: An empty level is boring, so we need to use my checklist to start thinking of fun things to add. Various types of jumps. Here's a section where piranha plants attack you. Here's some conveyor belts and maybe a switch and although you can't reach them you can control when these pipes dumping enemies will fire a bunch of stuff at you! Maybe one belt has a power up and the other a bad guy, so you need good switch timing or dodging! Playtest 1: Check each individual segment you make to see that it works. Test for normal play, speedrun play, obsessive investigation play and accidental/glitch actions(If I'm big Mario and I get hit, can I not break these vital bricks? If I'm small Mario and I get a mushroom under this 1 tile opening, am I soft locked?) Refining 2: Once you have more than 1 working section together make sure they link smoothly. (I have things on rails here, do they spill over into other sections if I'm going too slow? Too fast? Will they activate and mess up their timing as I approach from a screen away? Again, while slow or fast?) Second Draft: Once you've linked your ideas together play through them and try to imagine how you'd feel if you had no insight into how the level worked, were really good at the game, were really bad at the game, etc. Go from start to finish and see how it feels. Refining 3/Playtest 2: You're a bugtester IRL! The more you check these things the more you can iron out hard inconsistencies(that doesn't work if I approach it too fast!) and soft feelings(this jump is doable but feels awful because it's frame perfect!) Third Draft: Try to get a feel for how hard the level is overall. Can you go from start to finish without getting hit? Reliably? Should there be power ups to let people get hit? Think of every mushroom as permission to make a mistake and a reward for finding it, even for a task as simple as hitting question blocks. If your level is 1 easy short section, 1 long tricky section and one unwinding medium section, where are your checkpoints? If you have none, every death in the long section makes me resent the easy section as wasted time and any deaths in the medium section make me irrationally upset about the long section! Advanced: If your course revolves around use of advanced functions(fire flower, cape, etc) you have to test for having these items(which are advanced fighting/mobility checks) and what happens if they're gone(is this a section where Mario flies through a bunch of spikes and any hit is just lol ur ded?) Can you make a course where there are options? If you kept your mushroom, congratulations, smash these bricks for a path? If you kept a fire flower, this boss is much easier? Refining 4/Playtest 3: Think of how players want to break your levels. Did the madman keep the cape from start to finish? Oh no, he flew over this hard puzzle! Test your walling! Polishing: There are great techniques for adding visual flairs to levels like spreading ground until you get decorations and moving that particular tile, or using semi-solid platforms for "walling." When your course feels finished, can you make it prettier? The actual upload check: You should be regularly beating your course as you put it together but at the end of the day you have to clear from start without checkpoints(no dying!) and from each flag(to check power-up state/back track softlocks/loading state of game from the checkpoint instead of the start) to upload it.
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Jul 1, 2019 03:19
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I was curious about what could be done with the dry bones shell's invincibility, so I made a level (my first!) with the stuff I found. All of the tricks except the jump at the end are simple if you know how to do them, but it might be tricky to figure out the timing of when to go into/get out of invincibility. I think the hardest one to figure out is the sideways thwomp behind some on/off blocks at the end of the main world, where you have to ground pound the on/off switch as the thwomp is retreating; keep holding down to go into invincibility immediately after getting back up, then hold run and right as soon as you collapse into bones a second time. You barely make it to safety in the lava. Maybe someone can get inspired to incorporate some dry bones shell tech into real levels! YWM-77R-XPF
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Jul 1, 2019 03:19
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nrook posted:That’s good news for my upcoming stage, “Wall Jump Between Two Snake Blocks While Avoiding Bowser Fire” There's a story mode stage about jumping between a snake block and a wall while avoiding stationary saws, so if its just the Bowser fire, its probably going to be great!
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Jul 1, 2019 03:20
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DalaranJ posted:Hey guys, poster "lunar detrius" has something great for us, check out: https://randomactsofmario.com/ 
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Jul 1, 2019 03:20
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DalaranJ posted:Hey guys, poster "lunar detrius" has something great for us, check out: https://randomactsofmario.com/ this loving ruuuuuuules!!!
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Jul 1, 2019 03:22
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You can sort by level type if you click on the magnifying glass symbol too.
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Jul 1, 2019 03:22
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Araxxor posted:Story mode was a lot better than I was expecting it to be. It does a very good job of demonstrating level gimmicks and showing off possible interactions players wouldn't normally think possible. And it feels a lot more creatively refreshing than a NSMB title too. One of the missions surprised me and reminded me a bit of Tropical Freeze in how it told a story within a level (and tied in with the campaign too.) The one where you had to get a stone from the underground was a nice example of this. Thanks for noticing and reading that behemoth. Agreed on all fronts. It's really peculiar how there's this handful of things that are exclusive in a mode that's designed to showcase the editor. Those are the two obvious ones, but there are other objectives like "don't get grabbed by claws" or "climb to the top of every tree" which I guess you could make the second one pretty easily by just using a coin total objective and putting a coin in each tree, but that's beside the point. There's also some granularity employed in story mode courses you don't have available in the editor, like setting wind direction and duration in the desert night theme. I have to imagine that kind of material is coming in a future update, otherwise it's a really weird tease to dangle in front of creators.
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Jul 1, 2019 03:23
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DalaranJ posted:https://twitter.com/SAMarioMaker/status/1145494277826469889 I think maybe the jam levels should be on a separate spreadsheet. I think that'd just make it easier to keep track of them as opposed to the regular ones which we're already 230+
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Jul 1, 2019 03:23
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Pwnguin posted:Maybe someone can get inspired to incorporate some dry bones shell tech into real levels! I learned by accident that dry bone shells bounce off grinders(buzzsaws) and I'm keeping that in my pocket for a future level.
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Jul 1, 2019 03:23
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A good way to start is by focusing on a mechanic or an enemy or two you want to be the centerpiece of your stage or what you want the player to be interacting with a lot of the time. Then go from there and decide on other elements to enhance or support your main element. This lets both you and the player focus on the level's theme and what you and them can work with.Intl Cron posted:This was dope! Sadly took me a few tries because I'm rusty as hell, but this was indeed short and sweet! I liked that the skeleton-hopping wasn't mandatory 100% of the time - it made it all the more satisfying when you could string long bounces together because you're just so dang superhot Thanks! I had a ton of fun working on and fine tuning the level. Here's a little dev speedrun of Stompoplis. I really like making my stages fun to master. In this case I designed the speedrun route first, and then worked from there so it was suited for casual play, for those that wanted to take it slow. Well, as slow as could be possible with this gimmick. Did try to make it slightly forgiving in my own ways, like adding in 2 Dry Bones over a lava pit to buy players time to bounce to the next set.
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Jul 1, 2019 03:26
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