Splitting into gameplay and decoration...
Gameplay
Generally not much bugs and problems, but I feel that the gameplay lacks variety and is not dynamic enough, considering the song is quite upbeat. Occasional readability issues and the loss of sync also contributed to the feeling that gameplay is sub-par. Here are more detailed tips.
- 0% to 21%: The ship does not sync well with the music. Yeah, I know it’s hard to sync with the ship, but you should try syncing inputs with beats.
- 10%: Taking the coin route will actually skip the gravity portal. Especially when the skipped one is invert gravity, not the reset gravity one, allowing skipping of portals can have effects like lowered difficulty, bugs and even cause the coin route to be the only route possible to beat the level, if you are not wary of it.
- 30%, 34%: Obscure orbs. 30% is still acceptable because I know that activating the green orb will kill me, but the one in 34%? I cannot see the bottom spikes, so I cannot tell that the red dash orb is lethal. You don’t want the level to play lame, even if that means the level becomes more difficult. (also I cannot see where the magenta orb is at 30%, so it’s me blindly tapping, which is not good)
- 46% to 60%: The black border… Yeah, it gives some dynamics, but it takes up really huge portions of the screen. I have less confidence simply because I see less. Covering up parts of the screen is okay, considering other levels also did that, but beware that the border may become too close to see clearly.
- 61% to 68%: The dual is quite easy to read, but does not sync really well. Overall this part is quite good, but not perfect.
- 73%: Bug. Player can actually touch the remove dual portal and skip the last segment.
- 73% to 100%: Here’s the last segment. It does not have problems but it feels bland. I believe the spikes just lying on the ground and too simple cube jumps are the reason why the diversity is lacking here. I know designing the reverse direction gameplay may give you limitations. However, you should work around that limitation rather than letting it limit the gameplay. Friendly reminder: cube still looks absolutely the same even with reverse direction gameplay, so no need to add a white square.
DecorationI feel like the decoration is really poorly made. I believe is that there isn’t really much detail. For example, you can often see a large lump of pink for blocks, with some simple shapes on top. Also, you opted for gray in a few segments, which I don’t think it’s an intentional design choice to fit a theme. It feels like picking a couple of objects to fill up the whole level and call it a day. A single deco element, such as block deco or air deco or background, is often composed of different types of objects from different tabs. With the huge amount of resource available, the requirement of detail and complexity also increases. It is really really important to learn to combine objects to create something you desire. Here are some specific suggestions.
- 0% to 21%: Completely opaque objects can really block the view, and does not really look that good when put in front, except for something like frames and transitions. Also, consider adding oblique lines, instead of making them too blocky.
- 0% to 21%: Why the background is not moving when the foreground does? smh
- 0% to 21%: Consider spacing the >s a little bit more. It feels a bit cramped by now. Also, you may consider customizing your > instead of picking the official pulsing one.
- 21% to 41%: ‘4-leaf clovers’ (if that’s how you say it) does not fit well with ‘cog-like spinny spins’ (if that’s how you say it) in my opinion. To be frank, two spinning objects don’t really fit well with each other, so avoid that.
- 41%: Background missing. Either fill you BG with black or add something to it.
- 41% to 60%: The background feels rigid, suddenly teleporting away from the center and returning to it. The two black cover also feels rigid, pulsing occasionally and rotating occasionally. Especially when you are placing these in the drop, make the move more fluidly and continuously by placing connecting Move triggers or using more smooth easing such as Sine and Back.
- 61% to 70%: Random flowers flying by is not a good background idea. It is more ideal that the design of your background to span across the whole y-axis, but small objects that is not as tall as the screen can also work as background. For example, your flowers can have different sizes, and pair with larger objects. (or object groups)
- 70% to 72%: Ditto to 41%. Autos are usually given a black background. (not gray/grey) Some levels do not use black background, but will decorate around the auto and leave the pads visible. Both are viable, so choose one that fits your upcoming project.
- 73% to 100%: Animate your cube, or at least rotate the cube, if you want a custom icon. Don’t use pulsing objects for your icon because pulsing sucks when it’s what you are focusing on.
- 100%: Make an end screen. It should not be too hard – move triggers, alpha triggers, and good design will do the trick.
- Make your BG change colour, or at least, change brightness. It looks better because the BG blend into the level.
- I would avoid using the spinning objects that are not completely opaque, because it does not really fit well in either modern or tech. While they can be used with orbs, I think they don’t really fit well in 2.1 decoration meta.
- Check in different tabs to see what objects does the tab hold. See if you will encounter something nice that you never thought it existed.
Trigger usageI see that you used triggers in the level. However, you usually use them to make simple effects. Consider that you know about different triggers, and you know easing, you can actually take your trigger usage to the next level and create bonkers effects. Tweak the settings and try out different parts of the setting of triggers, and you may discovering different features that are useful to you. It seems like you didn’t make use of Spawn triggers and more technical triggers. Learn them and try to integrate them into your levels, for example creating some mini-coin sections, adding some small challenges that are powered by trigger contraptions, add a little bit of animation, etc.
VerdictNeeds Improvement. I think this level is both sub-par at gameplay and decoration. However, with your technical knowledge of the editor, you are capable of making epic levels already. Play epic levels and see what you need to aim for. If you cannot make good deco in a short period, let dedication remedy that. With patience and perseverance, you can make awesome levels.
PS I never thought I would write a Deco section longer than the Gameplay one
>>> Moving to NI.