Super Mario Maker

Can always make sublevels that just keep moving up.

One little issue I have with this course is the spikes in the wall jump section. Feels unnecessary and I got hit because I couldn't see the ones above.

As for ways to further utilize the concept, one that I like is using Thwomps, since they could be used two ways: One is simply have Thwomps in the path of the player and Bob-Omb and the player needs to make sure a Thwomp doesn't land on the Bob-Omb or get into its way. The other is purposefully make the Thwomps fall and get the Bob-Omb to walk over them.

For this sort of course, I recommend one of two things: Auto-scroll or having the Bob-Omb come out of a pipe or something.

Helpful Scripts and Stylesheets here.

Yeah, I guess the spikes are a bit much. The main reason I put them there is because the wall-jumping didn't feel like enough of an obstacle on its own without some sort of added threat. I should probably take out the spikes in the corner so at least people won't get caught off guard.

I'd actually intended to have a thwomp in the level somewhere, but I wasn't sure where to put it. I might get rid of one of the ground-pound obstacles or something; there's no point in repeating that.

I hadn't thought of making it autoscroll. I'll have to try adding that and seeing if helps. I figured the pace would mostly be self-regulating, since you have to stay pretty close to the bomb.

edited 13th Oct '15 9:47:22 AM by JapaneseTeeth

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The reason why I suggest autoscroll is because I accidentally moved too far ahead of the Bob-Omb and caused it to despawn, making it so that I had to go back to the beginning and respawn it.

If you add the Thwomp suggestion, I suggest it being another course. I think the current course is a good length and making it longer would penalize failures too much.

Helpful Scripts and Stylesheets here.

I also want greater verticality. I came up with an idea that involved considerable vertical movement and figured that maybe doors to move to a separate area could work. It didn't work. The idea was impossible.

I'd like the ability to choose the height of a level. It's nice that if you make everything beneath the "bolded" horizontal line that indicates the difference between the upper and lower "screen", the screen will never scroll upwards. However, I'd like the option to just choose how vertical the level actually is.

Another idea I want is a zoom out feature. If there is one I haven't found it. It makes designing bigger levels a pain because you can't see how everything fits together as easily.

Or at least the ability to move the camera a bit like in Super Mario World.

Remember, these idiots drive, fuck, and vote. Not always in that order.

Very much agreed about the zoom out feature for designing levels. I'd also like to zoom out and highlight a lot more, so I can move a massive chunk of level farther away if I decide it's not in the right place.

@Meophist: Noted. I'll tweak it a bit when I get home and see how it works. I'll get around to do making a version with different traps later on.

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I can imagine one way to do verticality - start at the bottom, then have a screen width's worth of stage elements until you reach the top, which has a pipe or door. Go through that, and you reach another area that's a screen width's worth of stage elements. Repeat until you think your stage is sufficiently long, and there you go.

It's a rather imperfect technique, I'll readily admit, but that's about the only way I could see making it that up is the way to go.

For myself, I'm thinking of utilizing the trick to make blocks act like different blocks to hide a secret area in my current build. Nothing required to beat the level, but something to make it easier (i.e. warp around an obstacle and give a power-up). Would that be unfair, or just a neat trick to potentially reward the inquisitive/clever?

Reminder: Offscreen Villainy does not count towards Complete Monster.

That was pretty much my initial plan for the climbing level. Start at the bottom and climb up to a door that takes you to the bottom of the next area.

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I will say that for a level idea I have right now, the whole "pipes = next screen" idea could work.

However, there are still specific ideas that just can't work without true verticality. One example being going through a long vertical tube and trying to catch coins and such things as you fall.

edited 13th Oct '15 10:54:45 AM by BonsaiForest

For people who can't just live without checkpoints, somebody I know has worked on a method to make pseudo-checkpoints and the result is in this course: https://miiverse.nintendo.net/posts/AYMHAAACAAADVHkhmeSJZQ

Helpful Scripts and Stylesheets here.

Blocked at work. What does it do?

It's basically a password system that allows you to skip to certain places in the course.

Helpful Scripts and Stylesheets here.

Interesting, and possibly a pain in the ass to implement. How does it work there?

I really hope Nintendo is looking at these and realizing what vital features are missing.

Generally, I think checkpoints aren't needed and will probably bog down the game if included. The primary way of playing courses in Super Mario Maker is through 100 Mario Challenge, and long courses simply don't work well there.

Adding too many features will make the game bloated and too complex. If someone wants a comprehensive level editor, they could use Unity or something.

Helpful Scripts and Stylesheets here.

Unity is far too complex and requires stupid amounts of knowledge.

Mario Maker is intended to match Little Big Planet's level editor with Mario. Right now its missing so many easily implementable options that you can not even recreate a basic Mario 3 level!

Try playing em in the 10 mario challenge, they are neutered so heavily that they are barely recognizable.

At least with the Little Big Planet editor you can make pretty much everything in the non-boss levels yourself.

edited 13th Oct '15 12:10:09 PM by Memers

Regarding a vertical climb level, that's how I did my mineshaft level, albeit downward instead of upward.

Only problem is you'll hit the block limit pretty fast. I'd recommend using semi-solid blocks as dividers between areas instead of entire thick walls of ground.

You cannot firmly grasp the true form of Squidward's technique!

I think Nintendo's smart enough to realize that the game's success is primarily due to the sheer ease of use of its editor. If they do add new features, they'd have to be done in a way that keeps the ease of use very high. Like, how would slopes work? Do we draw a line and have it fill in the slope, somewhat similar to creating paths for moving platforms? Why can't we put an item inside a moveable block ala Super Mario Bros. 3? (as in, you bump into it from the side and the item comes out)

How about adding water in aboveground levels? I think that should be super easy. Either draw it in manually, or just tap a spot and let it "fill" in the remaining area. How about grasslands like in Super Mario Bros. 3?

These aren't features that will make the editor real complex to use. That's why I think they could work.

Slopes could just be a block that auto-snaps to surrounding solid blocks. Like, if there's a block directly below it and one directly to the left of it, it becomes a \-facing slope. Perhaps make the block shakeable to create 2x1 and 1x2 slopes.

For water and lava, the easiest implementation would be a "sheet" like semi-solid blocks. It could be stretched in any direction to produce larger bodies of water.

You cannot firmly grasp the true form of Squidward's technique!

You could also add a waterfall block that creates a waterfall under where ever you place it till it hits a block and shake it for quicksand.

edited 13th Oct '15 12:42:14 PM by Memers

I get wanting to keep things simple but as far as I'm concerned the game is missing some fairly basic features. It limits creativity by quite a bit. You can't even recreate actual Mario levels no matter how creative you get. The lack of checkpoints also makes long levels a chore to create and play. It's not a bad game by any means but honestly it's a bit too simplistic for its own good.

I have to wonder if Nintendo is deliberately holding back features to release as either DLC, a sequel, or free updates a la Splatoon, or if instead they spent so much time backporting features from newer games to older ones and trying to make sure every item and/or sound effect combination possible works, that they didn't have the time to add some basic features.

I mean, if nothing else, there's gotta be something in store for that bottom row on the palette that currently has nothing in it.

I sure said that!