GRcade

Bridge Is Out!
YRR-5JH-F0G

Here is my attempt! "Where'd the ground go?" immediately made me think of the floor collapsing. Combined with the thought that water at the bottom of the screen would mitigate the added difficulty from constantly being close to falling to your death, I landed on having the level being a collapsed bridge. From there I decided the regular moving platforms looked suitably construction-y, and hammer bros made natural enemies (with fish in the water for variety). Finally I wanted an "extra challenge" hidden in there with pink coins, to provide reason to replay, so while the level is short completing it fully requires you to go back through it.

Ooh, that's a really nice level. Looks good, nice theming, decent challenge (and the bonus room adds reasonably onto it). All in all an A+ effort.

Minus six thousand points for using hammer bros.

Just realised that my Online subscription has run out!

Hitting a real creative block with my level at the moment, I think I need to get a pen and paper out and sketch what I want to do before returning to it in game.

I find it very frustrating that they don't let you edit the level from the zoomed out view - I like to get a feel of the wider area when working and it's annoying to need to keep cycling through the zoom levels!

OldSoulCyborg wrote:Minus six thousand points for using hammer bros.

Thanks otherwise!

I don't know if it was just me, but personally I felt a bit overwhelmed getting back into making levels. I felt like I had to make something big and grand, which is why I still haven't finished my level (I'm close though!).
Therefore this week we're keeping it short and simple.

This week's theme is...

Single screen +

Single screen?
Drag the goal all the way to the start to limit the size of the level to just a single screen.

+?
An optional further limitation. Pick whatever suits you from the following list, or come up with your own. Or pick none at all. Remember the only rule: there are no rules.

• Rising and falling water/lava/poison
• Strict time limit (100 seconds or less)
• Clear Condition of your choice
• Pink coin hunt
• Enemy: sun
  In a single screen the screen doesn't scroll and therefore the sun will always go through the same tiles every single time. Just something to keep in mind if you pick this.

Finally finished my level for last week's theme!

(Don't) Dip Your Toes In - 9W0-0KT-39G

It took me a while to get going with this one. I'm really happy with the final result, but I felt like I had no idea what the hell I was doing for the first half of it and thought it was pure garbage. Most of the time I start making a level it's like this. It's like I have to realize, every time as if for the first time, that it's a slow and iterative process that takes a while to work itself out.

Maker's Oasis: Desolate Sands

7JM - QSK - QKG

Perhaps the most standardised of all my creations so far as all I really wanted to do was make a desert themed level. Let me know what you think, especially if you find it lacking. For whatever reason I just can't shake the sense that something is missing.

Good level. Lots of nice little touches. Coins on trees, very clear hint of (optional) goal right at the start of the level, some neat puzzle elements.
Looks good, very nice use of the desert theme.
Not too challenging if you're just trying to beat it, and the red coins add naturally on top. Not sure what lies beyond the key-door as I didn't get all the coins. Boss fight presumably?

The commitment to coins on trees is a little too much at times and leads to a blind jump into a pit in the subworld if you're just running and jumping for the coins. Something to slow you down before the pit (an obstacle or an enemy) might do the trick.
Seeing that sledge bro + winged mole stack coming running towards me was a neat, pants-shitting moment. Probably a bit much, though. Both moles and hammer/sledge bros are unpredictable enemies and need to be used carefully when used just by themselves. Stacked together? Chaos made manifest. Maybe give the player some way to fight back, or make them more resilient (kuribo's shoe, shellmet)?

I think the sledge bro/winged mole combo will be making more appearances in future.

Glad you liked it anyway.

Anyone else making something this week?

Broke the theme a bit and am making use of the scroll-lock feature to make a series of single-screen rooms instead of just the one. Scroll-lock may just be the best new feature in the game.
Each room has a key and a key-door, but I want to add an optional pink coin in each room for a special reward at the end. It's kind of tricky adding a different and unique challenge for each of the rooms given how little space there is to work with.

Sounds cool! Yeah the scroll lock is really handy at times.

I've pretty much put my creations on hold until I can pick up a new Online sub, hopefully at the end of the month.

Jenuall wrote:Sounds cool! Yeah the scroll lock is really handy at times.

I've pretty much put my creations on hold until I can pick up a new Online sub, hopefully at the end of the month.

Why no year-long subscription package with the purchase of the game? Was that a pre-order only bonus and you got it after launch or something?

OldSoulCyborg wrote:

Jenuall wrote:Sounds cool! Yeah the scroll lock is really handy at times.

I've pretty much put my creations on hold until I can pick up a new Online sub, hopefully at the end of the month.

Why no year-long subscription package with the purchase of the game? Was that a pre-order only bonus and you got it after launch or something?

I wasn't even aware that they did a package with it!

I picked it up on launch via CDkeys and don't remember there being a sub included - I already had one at the time.

OldSoulCyborg wrote:Anyone else making something this week?

Broke the theme a bit and am making use of the scroll-lock feature to make a series of single-screen rooms instead of just the one. Scroll-lock may just be the best new feature in the game.
Each room has a key and a key-door, but I want to add an optional pink coin in each room for a special reward at the end. It's kind of tricky adding a different and unique challenge for each of the rooms given how little space there is to work with.

I decided to break the rules using a similar method (a series of challenges relegated to roughly* one screen apiece) and I'm quite enjoying the challenge. Haven't been on much this week but hopefully I can get it done over the weekend.

*(I'm sticking close to the brief in that each task and everything relevant to them is tightly packed, but I did forgo lowering the height and I've extended the width of each area for aesthetic purposes only)

Just spotted this thread ! I'll enjoy watching the results of this (if there are any videos?) !

but

with no switch, I'll have to watch from the sidelines.

I could make a level on the theme in SSM 1 I suppose, minus the extra features, but I'm guessing no-one still has their Wii U set up to play it.

So week 2 has passed. How's everyone doing?
I'm almost done with my own take on the theme, just need to take a bit more time to polish things up a bit before I upload it.

Anyway, onto week 3...

Week 3 theme:
This flag looks familiar...
(Reusable checkpoints)

Reusable checkpoints?
A reusable checkpoint level has you going through several separate challenges, with each challenge rewarding you at the end with a pink coin. The goal of the level is to collect all of the pink coins to gain access to a key-door that leads to the end of the level.
To save your pink coins after each challenge the level funnels you through both checckpoints before allowing you to move on to the next one.
I know from experience that it can be a little confusing to think about how to set the checkpoints up if you haven't done it before. If you're having difficulty visualizing how the setup works exactly you can check out this helpful video on the subject:


(it's Mario Maker 1, but it works exactly the same in Mario Maker 2)

Or play the reusable checkpoint level I made : BKK-0QD-WLG

Useful things to keep in mind:

• Remember that when uploading you're going to have to play through all of the challenges in one go three whole times (!!!) so consider, for the sake of your own sanity, making the overall difficulty of the level on the easy side.
• Keys are not saved at checkpoints, so it's a good idea not to put anything that can kill the player after the key-door
• "Safety coins" are a common technique for reusable checkpoint levels. This is a coin to be placed next to the key door and should only be picked up by the player after getting all other coins. Why? If they're running out of time after finishing every challenge they can safely let the time expire without losing all of their progress. (remember: pink coins save, but keys don't)

When I made my own reusable checkpoint level in MM2 I did not do any of the above and therefore I and my level suffered greatly for it. Don't be like me. Be smart.


---- ---- ---- ----

Question: What would you guys like to see from future themes?

Lime wrote:Just spotted this thread ! I'll enjoy watching the results of this (if there are any videos?) !

but

with no switch, I'll have to watch from the sidelines.

I could make a level on the theme in SSM 1 I suppose, minus the extra features, but I'm guessing no-one still has their Wii U set up to play it.

No videos sadly, at least not from me.
I may get around to making a highlight video once we have a few more levels, but it'll just be what I can manage using the Switch's built-in video-capture.

Do you plan to get a Switch at some point?

I will try and get round to playing some of these levels this week, I picked the game up again for the first time in months a couple of days ago and and keen to see what new challenges from GRcade are out there.

OldSoulCyborg wrote:Do you plan to get a Switch at some point?

I've had a bit a disastrous year with my work, so holding back on upgrading at the moment. Hopefully sometime in the next year things will come good.

My submission for week 2:

The Three Keys - MJL-CXS-T6G

Three bitesize challenges and a couple extra secret challenges for the "true ending".

My course for week 2 should be up this week.

Iv'e just been expanding the level overall, doubling down on the number of 1 screen (ish) challenges and pooling all my ideas for bite-sized challenges into one complete stage rather than having to revisit them down the line.

EDIT:

1-Screen Quickies: SMB Edition

CXV - 9RB - WYF