Re: Are You A Master Mario Maker 2020 - Grand Final Results PG 36!

Qikz wrote:.

Is your new avatar a vtuber? I feel like I recognise it but I can't place it.

Karl_ wrote:

Qikz wrote:.

Is your new avatar a vtuber? I feel like I recognise it but I can't place it.

No, it's my avatar in VRChat, she's called Erqyuna but she's not a vtuber. I also edited her a little bit to give her Orange hair <3

Qikz wrote:

Karl_ wrote:

Qikz wrote:.

Is your new avatar a vtuber? I feel like I recognise it but I can't place it.

No, it's my avatar in VRChat, she's called Erqyuna but she's not a vtuber. I also edited her a little bit to give her Orange hair <3

Ah, I see! She looks a little bit like Senko-san so maybe that's why it felt familiar!

OrangeRKN wrote:

Hime wrote:Is there an easy way to pay all your levels? I've never bothered adding friends on Nintendo's systems.

In game you can follow individual makers. You'll need to type in a code for each person once (either their maker code, or as it's probably easiest as they are listed here each week a level code) to search for them/their level, then you should be able to favourite the maker. No Switch friends needed.

In course world there is then a favourite tab that is just a feed of new levels uploaded by the makers you follow. That's how I've been playing all the levels every two weeks as my feed is basically just a feed of AYAMMM levels! If you want to play past levels, you can view each maker's uploaded levels individually.

Thanks.

Are all the codes in the Switch thread?

Hime wrote:

OrangeRKN wrote:

Hime wrote:Is there an easy way to pay all your levels? I've never bothered adding friends on Nintendo's systems.

In game you can follow individual makers. You'll need to type in a code for each person once (either their maker code, or as it's probably easiest as they are listed here each week a level code) to search for them/their level, then you should be able to favourite the maker. No Switch friends needed.

In course world there is then a favourite tab that is just a feed of new levels uploaded by the makers you follow. That's how I've been playing all the levels every two weeks as my feed is basically just a feed of AYAMMM levels! If you want to play past levels, you can view each maker's uploaded levels individually.

Thanks.

Are all the codes in the Switch thread?

The OP of this topic has the level lists for each week, you can just use one of them to follow everyone taking part, otherwise mariomakers/ has a bunch of levels from people.

Hime wrote:Are all the codes in the Switch thread?

You can add people from these:

Week 1 Levels!
Mushroom Group

SupaChipz
MMM: Sweaty-Palm Skies
NFT-H8H-TDF

OldSoulCyborg (Stainy)
The Mole Underground
XRG-Q9L-TCG

Jenuall
Beginnings
NWQ-L0Y-L5G

Hyperion
Welcome to AYAMMM!
DCQ-WW9-87G

Yubel
Stone-Studded Quarry
LGL-TW0-XDF


Flower Group

Qikz
Pokey's Pyramids
V0H-6SN-THG

Jawa4
Be Pacey
JRW-H7J-TVG

Karl
Snowtop Caves
0W7-8D9-9GF

OrangeRKN
Trundle Tracks
8CW-1ML-9YF

SuperDragon64
Ice to See You
224-PJQ-VMF

Sorry guys, I didn't open the spoilers

Qikz wrote:

Karl_ wrote:

Qikz wrote:.

Is your new avatar a vtuber? I feel like I recognise it but I can't place it.

No, it's my avatar in VRChat, she's called Erqyuna but she's not a vtuber. I also edited her a little bit to give her Orange hair <3

Qikz gets VR and instantly starts living a new digital life as an anime girl.

Cheeky Devlin wrote:

Qikz wrote:

Karl_ wrote:

Qikz wrote:.

Is your new avatar a vtuber? I feel like I recognise it but I can't place it.

No, it's my avatar in VRChat, she's called Erqyuna but she's not a vtuber. I also edited her a little bit to give her Orange hair <3

Qikz gets VR and instantly starts living a new digital life as an anime girl.

Cheeky Devlin wrote:Qikz gets VR and instantly starts living a new digital life as an anime girl.

I'm jealous, using the power of technology to become an anime girl is living the dream.

Mario Maker and the AYAMMM contest came up briefly on the latest Twitchcast which happened on Wednesday (you can probably check it out on the GR Twitch channel now or wait for it to come to podcast platforms). Pedz was asking what my approach to designing/creating levels was which I thought was an interesting question and worth throwing open to everyone to see how we all might differ!

My response was that I tried initially to do some drawing out of ideas on paper before then recreating that in game and tweaking until I was happy, but quickly found that this approach wasn't working well - what I drew on paper was hard to convert into the game and the whole thing just ended up taking longer! I now just tend to start throwing random ideas down directly into the game and seeing what works well, picking the best ideas and pulling them together into something which is (hopefully) more coherent in time for submission. I find that once I get something down on screen and get over the initial "fear of the blank canvas" phase the creativity starts to flow and generally things progress well.

I usually don't get much time during the week to work on the levels for AYAMMM so actual creation usually happens not long before the weekend but I always try to jot down thoughts and ideas in the run up to this to give me something to work from. For example this was my notes file for the "1 screen" week:

* Coin collection time limit (coins shooting out of cannons? Fun ways to grab coins? Trampoline?)

* Bubble bobble level style with a twist? Or other single screen homage e.g. manic miner?

* Simulate something more than 1 Screen with moving objects? An auto scroller where the scenery moves not the camera?

* Get to the end as big mario - need to guide a super mushroom through various traps before you can get it?

* Reach goal without leaving the ground - various timing challenges to traverse moving platforms to get to the pole - need to time movements so get to the next platform without jumping but still avoid the obstacles?

* Ghost house night mode challenge? Using the limited visibility to make things challenging? Hidden enemies? ... Need to find a way to make it not annoying...

Similarly for the auto-scroller challenge last week I jotted down the following:

Bit where you have to jump between changing on off walls to stay above lava whilst waiting for a platform?

Section where you need to hit switches to get through before screen squashes you?

Seesaw to get pow block or some other thing needed to progress?

Three tunnels but don't know which is best before screen gets there?

Obviously not all of these ideas get followed up on or included in levels but I find it helps to have a few core concepts jotted down to act as a starting point for creating a level. There's still always an aspect of stress and fear that a level just doesn't work right or that the ideas aren't clear or well refined but with enough time to tweak and playtest I usually find that I'm happy with the results!

So, how about you guys - how do you go around coming up with your ideas and successfully completing the process of designing and creating your Mario Maker levels?

Jenuall wrote:
So, how about you guys - how do you go around coming up with your ideas and successfully completing the process of designing and creating your Mario Maker levels?

Obviously I'm not in the competition this time, but I used an approach similar to you, make some sketches and write ideas down, back in the past Wii-U competitions.

For my one-screen wonder Wii-U entry 'No time, no space, no way' I though about the range of old plastic handheld toys from my childhood called 'pocketeers'. One of them had a small silver ball that you had to guide through an obstacle course, with a path that crossed itself several times, and I remember loving the fact that it fit so much into a tiny 2x4 inch (or so) case.
So I set out to make the longest, most convoluted course you could fit on one screen, with doubling back, unlocking things, Yoshi, fireballs, vines, and a lot of to-ing and fro-ing, with a time limit that was easily possible once you knew the method. I still feel pretty proud of that one!

The 'Clenchcheeks' series of levels (for those who remember them) were inspired by the opening of Super Metroid where you're racing against a collapsing level. I'll never forget Cheeky's despair as the finish line appeared but with about 3 seconds too few to complete it, with all the 'countdown' note-block alarms firing. Ah the memories!

I tend to take one idea - often times born from a particular aesthetic, such was the case with the exposed frameworks of hollowed out buildings in Maker's Skyline: Mechanised and certainly the feminine vibes* seen in Florescent Depths - before then forging a path through it.

Like Jenuall, I tend to leave a trail of abstract riddles notes. I believe we all go through the same process overall, although we all take different approaches.

*I saw this as an extension for Pom-Pom's character, who features as the final boss.

Interesting to read! Especially:

> Simulate something more than 1 Screen with moving objects? An auto scroller where the scenery moves not the camera?

I had this idea too, but it quickly became clear it wouldn't really work - the spawn distances and track limitations just made it too limited from what I explored.

In general my approach starts with taking the overall theme and identifying a central mechanic and/or theme I want to base my level around. This earliest stage is where I play with lots of ideas and just see what I find most fun, and in several cases explore how the mechanics of the theme work. With the 3D World masks for example I spent a while just using them all and seeing what they were capable of and how they interacted with other mechanics/objects.

I then try and set a narrative and chunk the level into discrete sections - for simpler levels like my first in Trundle Tracks this might just be the one discrete section (ignoring optional bonus rooms that I'll tend to add towards the end). For more complex levels, like my last in Shmuper Mario! that might be three distinct sections plus the connecting parts (Shmuper Mario! had Space Invaders, Vertical Shooter and Side Scroller as the main sections plus the opening and the rocket launch as small bridging sections - and arguably the start of the side scroller was like a bridging section too as the rocket crash).

For each section my approach is to try and introduce the central mechanic or theme and then iterate on it to increase it's complexity as the section goes on. I'm also trying to fit the sections onto a similar, broader curve, but while within a section I tend to design chronologically as you would play it, those sections I often don't make in order - with Shmuper Mario! I made the middle vertical scrolling section first, then space invaders, then the opening and bridging sections, then the side scroller, and finally the bonus stage within the vertical scrolling section. With this weeks level I'm currently at a point where I've pretty much finished all of the bridging sections but haven't yet made the core boss battle! Those bridging sections have also shuffled around in order and the one I first made which settled me on the overall idea is now in the middle of the level.

Like Yubel I definitely give a lot of weight to the aesthetics and visual theme of the level, I find that really satisfying and I enjoy the actual making of things that look coherent as a place and not just an abstract obstacle course - which is perhaps not quite the Mario way!

Thanks for the responses, I do find it really interesting hearing about how different people go about the creative process in something like this!

Aesthetics is definitely an area that can be fun to play around with, finding a look that feels consistent and attractive without obscuring the actual goals and mechanics of the level is always an interesting challenge. That's definitely one of the aspects that I felt I dropped down on to a degree in my last airship level. Due to a lack of time I kind of abandoned the attempt to make it feel like traversing an airship about halfway through. The intention was to go back and work on the look of the later sections after getting the functionality down but alas there was no time!

SMB3 airships are really cool because they always give the impression of being these flying fortresses, and your brain is happy to accept this theme because everything you see you'd expect to see - jets of flame, gangways, cannons etc. - but actually step back and inspect their appearance rather than playing the level and they don't stand up to any kind of logic of design. That's not a bad thing, it's really neat how the game maintains that illusion! They're one of my favourites because of it. My other would be SMB's mushroom platforms and bridges over water - again the theme feels really coherent, but hell if I know what those stages actually are meant to be when I look at them They're abstract obstacle courses without appearing abstract.

Yeah there's absolutely an art in making something abstract that still feels coherent with a theme!

My process usually goes something like this:

1a. An idea comes to mind and I immediately get excited about it. Usually this idea is for some kind of puzzle element or contraption that I think has potential for a full level to explore all of its possibilities.
That POWs-on-tracks level I made as one of my final levels in the first AYAMMM I took part in came from this sort idea. I had noticed that with POWs on tracks, when they left the tracks they would bounce off Mario's head, and they could be redirected onto other tracks. I knew there was potential there for some interesting puzzles.
Sometimes the theme itself sparks this idea, but more often it just comes from thinking about the way elements work (and how they work with one another).

This is a rare occurence and is not in any way a reliable strategy for coming up with ideas, which means the following is more often how it happens:

1b. I think about the theme and wonder what elements could work well with the theme. Spinies? Bullet bill launchers? Koopas? I ask myself some questions:
Can I combine two or more elements in an interesting way?
Can I utilize the theme itself in a creative and unexpected way? (that puzzle in the middle of my latest level is an indicator of what the entire level would have been like if I hadn't asked for clarification about the theme; a bunch of puzzles that make heavy use of auto-scroll and scroll stops to hide essential information after just a quick glance... the level would still have technically been an auto-scroller, just in a herky-jerky kind of way)

2. After I have an idea of what kind of level I'm making the rest of the process is a lot less structured. I'll typically start by building out the first challenge of the level, and then I keep going. How it all fits together in the end kind of comes about naturally.
I think about the level a lot during the week and try to think up solutions to problems when I'm away from my Switch. Sometimes this works.

3. I keep working on sections until I'm happy with them (or until I'm sick of them).
If I, the creator of the level, fail in the execution of what's supposed to be an easy part of the level then I need to make that part easier or less janky. Move a block to make a jump easier, remove an enemy, require less precision of the player, etc. This is probably the most important part of the entire process in terms of making something other people might actually want to play.

Also: Play the level from beginning to end while taking notes about every little thing that needs fixing or could be better.

4. Visual polish. I just look at what I have and try to come up with ways to make it look better.

I clipped the bonus stage from last week's level (just about fits in 30 seconds!)

twitter.com/orangerakoonps4/status/1269017873839558656

https://twitter.com/orangerakoonps4/sta ... 3839558656

I was really happy with this and wanted people to see it, but at the same time I just knew it wouldn't work unless it was an optional bonus!

Fun fact: That text is written "upside down". In a mirrored way, not a rotated way. It took me a few tries to get my head around that!

Level submitted. Hopefully this one people like a bit more, although I'm worried it might be a bit harder than my normal levels!