Hi! I recorded a video for you!
Level: maZe
Creator: Harry Dixon (@ashesdashes )
ID: 32247167
Song: ParagonX9 - Chaoz Impact by ParagonX9
www.newgrounds.com/audio/listen/152047Video:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=c2ozUDki1X8Gameplay:
Gameplay is a big issue for this level. The level is already pretty short, so you really need to make sure your gameplay is really good all the way through as a tiny portion is a large percentage of gameplay, which can seriously damage your score. First of all, right off the bat, there is a ton of moving objects for gameplay. These are in the old 2.0 style of stopping the gameplay midway through so the player can access passages which would otherwise be impossible to go through. This is a major issue of the level, as it gives absolutely no warning as to when the gameplay is going to stop or start. For example, in the first wave section, it stops twice, both for different lengths of time with 0 warning whatsoever. This caused me to crash multiple times and made the gameplay very annoying. Another major issue is that your player is covered! It's even larger than your actuall icon, so it just makes the whole level annyoing and confusing. What's worse are athe bugs. I was pretty certain it was impossible halfway through, luckily I finally figured it out after many attempts. Sometimes, I just got stuck at 28% for no apparent reason, only dying when reversal mode kicks in. (Which, by the way, reverse gameplay is highly hated and is very annoying) Shortly after I enter reverse, if I tap, my ball switches, but the cube above it doesn't go with. This is even worse due to you making the player invisible, so it is pretty much a certain death. This is when you stop giving the player warnings about the switch of gamemodes, which makes the following section 10 times worse. So, I could not figure out what to do. You said "here" on top, but when I tried the first time, a bug prevented me from going up. So, it took me about 20 more attempts to fugure out that's where you're really suposed to go. Then, the following part gives you know indication that you switch to the old wave path again, and no indication that you switch to the wave either, which was probably the biggest annoyance in this level. The last section is decent, the only problem would be the player is still covered and it doesn't give you warnings about switching gamemodes. The last section could've been actually fun i it wasn't for these issues. Also, there's a bug with practice mode that deletes the white screen and gameplay after you die past a certain part, which makes practicing this level a whole lot worse.
Overall: Sorry if I'm sounding too harsh, but this gamplay was a huge issue. I even thought that it could be impossible because of some bug. I actually made this section shorter than I planned, because I realized that that's all I really need to say, the moving gameplay and lack of indication caused these problems mainly, so as long as you don't do similar things in your next levels, I'd say you'd be able to make some good gameplay, as the last section was almost fun. 1/20, 1 point for some almost fun gameplay at the end, cut short due to the invisible portals and covering of the player. There was one main issue issue in the gameplay itself, with a block before the wave, but this might've only occured due to the current issues. The rest of the gameplay is buggy, and it takes up the majority of this short level, so I don't think I can give you any more points, moving gameplay is terrible in a level.
Decoration/Block Design:
The Design of this level wasn't too good. The same design, decoration, and effect went through the whole level. That being said, it is a mdeium level, but you should still have some variation. Honestly, I didn't really like the custom background in this level. It's a good start, but many aspects were poorly done. When the trianges move, they move very suddenly and fast, and it doesn't look too god, I suggest slowing it down a bit and adding some easing to it to make it look nice. The triangles were also hard to see a they have low opacity and they are over a black background, which is a bit of a problem. Also, if you look in the first section, they are a bit buggy as the layering is off with the white background and them, so you can see some oon the white background and cut off, so it looks weird. When the triangle pieces rotate, it seems off as some of them are slopes and some of them are squares, which aesteticly, doesn't look too great, especially as they overlap. The whole concept in general doesn't look too good in levels. I like how you used the blending trick to make the background the block design instead, however this means you have to make the rest white, which I don't really think it looks good alone, I suggest adding more to the white part of the background. I know it's pssobile with this particular effect, as there's that layering issue which causes the triangles to be above that background. The clouds didn't look good to me when put along with the background. The background moves to the player while the clouds do not, so when the gameplay stops, they continue onwards, but the background remains still, making it look weird. If you can make the clouds stop along with the obstacles, that would be great. I didn't understand the rotating design in the right-center. It seemed out of place, where each piece connects blend together, making it seem unusual, and you didn't apply don't fade to the pieces, which ruins the design as it moves to the player. There wasn't much deco, apart from the pulsing decoration in the second section and the clouds at the beginning, if you count those.
Overall: This remains the same design throughout. Mix it up a bit, also, I suggest adding more to the background and adding more decoration. 4/20, -5 for having the same design throughout. +2 for having pulsing deco and some clouds, but not full points for there being a minimal amount. -5 for there being issues with the custom background and it not looking too visually appealing combined. -2 for issues with the rotating design, but +2 for an interesting concept that just wasn't performed correctly.
Sync:
Unfortunately, there is not much sync in this level. First of all, there's very little gameplay sync. No jumps line up, some come close, but none completely, and most of the tansitions between gamemodes do not sync up either. At 74%, however, the transition synced up quite nicely and the fast part of the level goes with the fast part of the song, which is always good to have, but earlier in the level when the drop started, you kept the level at the same speed, which makes it stray away from the song a bit. There wasn't much effect or decoration sync I noticed either. You had some pulsing objects towards the end, you can't really go wrong there, smart choice, but other than that, only one effect synced and that was with the pieces of the background breaking up with the drop at 47%. There is not much else to say about the sync. It would be nice if you could make the obstacles move at certain points in the song, instead of randomly to improve sync. But, as I said earlier, it would be better if there were no moving objects at all.
Overall: Gameplay sync really needs to be improved, you synced a transition, and a couple movements almost lined up, but that's it. Decoration sync is also very improtant, I noticed that was neglected and even when it did occur it seemed like an accident. 2/10, +1 for a synced transition along with almost synced distinct movements. +1 for one effect syncing with the drop along with added pulsing decoration.
Originality: 0.8x
Another issue with this level is that it's not entirely original. The whole concept of your player being covered with a "skin" has been overused. The gameplay is also the classic mid-2.0 effect gameplay everyone hates by now. The whole design concept is copied too, with the blending trick to get the custom background to be the design of the obstacles.
Conclusion: 2.24/20 (11.2%) Needs Improvement
Moving gameplay is buggy and terrible, also do not cover the player. Decoration is sub-par, mix things up a bit too. Sync really isn't good. I think it could have been better if you made a level without the moving aspect.
Sorry for a harsh review, but moving gameplay needs to stop. I may check out some of your other levels later, I think you have great potential for gameplay based off of that last short section.
Also, the video is unlisted right now, if you would like me to make it public let me know!
