Splitting into gameplay and decoration...
Gameplay
To be honest, I would summarise the whole gameplay layout as bland. The sections are too simple, and are really generic. Like, yeah, the layout is generally bug-proof, but it does not feel fun to play. A good level should be dynamic, and vary in types of obstacles and modes. Being slow does not mean the icon cannot move, the icon can still be moving up and down while going in normal speed. Here are more specific tips.
- 1%: Magenta orb barely visible. Beware of readability as it is closely related to good gameplay. Poor ability to look ahead can cause frustration.
- 2%: Block the ceiling. Players should not be given any consolation percentage when they mess up. Kill them as soon as possible when they leave the intended route.
- 12% to 15%: Player going up the slope a couple times is boring. Try diversifying auto parts.
- 15%: It is best to come in contact with a speed portal from the start. Because the game takes account of previous speed portals and will assume the icon will contact the portal at the start, start positions can mess up if the icon touches speed portals from the top.
- 34%, 36%: UFO is not good at fast ascends, unless you spam. Spamming usually do not sync well unless there are repeated notes in the music, so avoid that.
- 38% to 43%: Robot climbing up the stairs one step at a time is repetitive. Don’t copypasta.
- 51% to 63%: The whole section is basically spamming with wave and staying at the middle, which is too bland. Wave is best at syncing with the melody of the song, so make the most out of it.
- 69%: Orbs out of sync.
- 94%: Kind of a difficulty spike here. Short jump plus a long jump in a tight interval is on the Harder spectrum in my opinion.
- 98%: Don’t teleport players in a long distance. The player can lose focus. If you really need to, because you need to change the design completely or make effects, allow for at least 1s for the player to regain focus.
- Place mode portals at the start of bars or at the change of melody to sync better with the song.
DecorationDesign is too simple and lack detail. The background is simply blue or black, the blocks are filled with a single colour of pale pink, and apart from a couple of clouds, the surroundings is basically blank. You should at least fill up the level with air deco, and design more complex block deco. Here are some specific
- 27% to 29%: Long chains of spikes does not really look nice. Try using the black ‘grass’ (if that’s what you call it, it’s in the same tab) for long sections of hazardous floor.
- 38% to 43%: Make blocks look like one and eliminate any lines between them. Other sections also have this problem, so you need to look for them.
- 63%: Do not enlarge portals. If you want to block the path, use solid slopes or blocks.
- 69%: The clouds are too messed up and feel unnatural. To make them more natural, a) use free move to move them away to different places, b) spread the clouds further, and c) slightly alter the size of the clouds.
- The blocks are too square-y sometimes, use more slopes for decoration purposes, and use curves if you know how. (if not, learn about it)
- You don’t need to colour the block design black to specify a jump. A triangle or an arrow pointing at the positing will do already.
- The art of deco is to remove redundant objects. If you look at epic levels, you can often see that there are not much large chunks of blocks, but instead have smaller ‘pillars’. You want that because you don’t waste space that can be filled with air deco.
TriggersLearn using other triggers apart from move and colour. They can be very useful in making effects and diversify your deco. Perhaps look into these.
- Alpha
- Rotate
- Spawn
- Shake
- Toggle
VerdictNeeds Improvement. This level still has a long way till being able to be featured. However, you definitely have the skill to pull that off. It is really easy to make a rated, or even featured level. It’s just time-demanding. I hope I can see better levels from you!
Nice start to a level! My recommendation is to change up the bg and color and make the ground black and under the platforms put black colored blocks!! However, that’s your decision... Other than this, I thoroughly enjoyed this and would definitely revisit this!! For a first level this is definitely better than most!!
Hi
herobrine279 I have seen some reviews from you in the board before. I would say that a suggestion post for a level is impossible to be that short. You can describe the level in a general manner and also dive deep into specific parts of the level. For example, maybe a certain spike placement is not preferable? Or maybe one part is too crowded with deco and is messy? Try to add more and analyse more deeply. Also, explain why using a certain thing over another is better, like for better readability or make different objects blend well together. There are an infinite amount of things you can explain - it's just whether you want to take your time into writing them, just like making levels.
>>> Moving to NI.