Back in 2012, I had a crazy idea to make a huge SMBX episode with levels based on all the 2D platformers I had played. I released individual levels in the thread as I made them in the hopes of getting feedback; how naive I was. Eventually, I realized that I simply wouldn't have enough time in my life to finish it (on top of the fact that most of my levels weren't that great), so I cancelled it. However, now that the Levels forum has changed, I decided to repurpose this old thread as my levels thread.
The Levels
These are the levels I made for the project so long ago. They're still here for archival purposes; you can still play and review them, but I probably won't update them.
Green Hill Zone based level Updated (v 1.1)
When I was thinking of what to make for my episode's first public level, I went with something that I knew everyone in a Super Mario Bros. based community would be fond of: Sonic the Hedgehog! Okay, technically I started with the mode 7 tech demo (see below), but that wasn't really a level; it was a tech demo. Anyway, this level takes advantage of the editor's inability to pause to provide a musical intro before the loop jumps in. For the updated version, I fixed the alignment of the grass and checkered tiles, as well as slightly decreased the amount of time the sign spins. No loop-dee-loops, though; that was for another update.
Spoiler: show
http://www.mediafire.com/download/m4csr ... ill1.1.zip
Gradius III based level
After my debut with Green Hill Zone, I decided to take a departure...FOR SPAAAAACE! My reason for this departure was to achieve a level of parallax scrolling beyond that of Mystic Cave Zone, and Gradius III gave me just what I was looking for. In this level, you take control of half the Vic-Viper (the half without the gun, but at least it sparkles!) and must avoid various Rinka sprite-swaps, all in front of a sea of parallax-scrolling stars.
Spoiler: show
http://www.mediafire.com/download/x5k4s ... espace.zip
Metal Storm based level
Once I finished the Gradius III based level, I didn't know what I should follow it up with. Then, I REMembered IREM's Metal Storm! This is my first anit-gravity level, but since that has been done in SMBX before, that's not the real draw for this level (or, rather, it isn't supposed to be). The real draw for this level is that the NPCs' effects have multiple frames of animation! It may not be as impressive as any of my other levels' gimmicks, but it's something I hadn't seen done before (heck, I don't even think I've seen it done SINCE), so I decided to do it. Also, I did put effort into making the upside-down part have traps that are also a hindrance during the right-side up part, and vice-versa.
Spoiler: show
http://www.mediafire.com/download/uvocd ... lstorm.zip
Sonic 3D Blast level: Green Grove
Yes, you read that right; this is a level styled after Sonic 3D Blast. It took four months of my time to create this level, and I think it paid off. This isn't just some cheap gimmick, either: the bullets and spiked ball won't hurt you if they're in the "background"; they have to be on the same "plane" as you are. The only problem with this level is that you can only play as Mario or Luigi (at the time, this was my only level that couldn't be beaten with all playable characters) because the 3D effect will be destroyed should you play as anyone else. Also, when you hear the Blaarg sound effect, don't hold right or you will die.
Spoiler: show
http://www.mediafire.com/download/809yh ... ngrove.zip
Zelda II Death Mountain based level
Once I finished my 3D level, I knew that it would be difficult to top it, so instead of just making a level, I made a level connected with the world map. Let me explain: normally, SMBX levels take up one spot on the world map, and once it's completed, a line is drawn to the next level. For this level, much like Death Mountain in the actual Zelda II, completing a section or two of the level takes you to another part of the world map, where you can move a bit and continue the level. You might even have to choose a path. Think of it like having multiple midway points in a level. The only problem with this type of level is that it doesn't really end; it just sort of stops. That's why I added a town at the end, and when you make it to that town, you have beaten the level, and rather than hearing a short tune, your reward is that you can explore the town and talk to the people in it.
Spoiler: show
http://www.mediafire.com/download/jois8 ... athmnt.zip
Little Samson based level
Once I finished the Death Mountain based level, I thought that I had ran out of what I could possibly add to SMBX aside from HD graphics (I didnt' know that A2XT levels had beaten me there already). It was then that I realized that it's the little things in life that truly matter, hence the basis for this level. Also, I finally added something that I felt other members might actually use in their levels: a health bar for layer+event bosses! I was even able to remove that pesky kill-in-one-hit-with-hammer bug that used to plague these kinds of bosses. In fact, I felt that I did such a good job with this level, I submitted it to the Make a Good Level contest, even though it would lose 10 points for me not following the directions properly.
Spoiler: show
http://www.mediafire.com/download/plfb1 ... eruins.zip
Raocow's play-through of Little Ruins in MAGL X (skip to 1:00 to bypass watching him go through the hub).
Spoiler: show
Wow, I can't believe it took me a year to put this together. Sure, I took a break to work on my SMWCX entry, but that only took so long to make. Ever since I began this project, I have always wanted to make a level that had a cut-scene comprised of full-motion animation. However, I wasn't quite that skilled at the time (heck, I'm still not quite that skilled), so I decided to make a cut-scene using large, detailed sprites instead, not unlike Ninja Gaiden (NES). Of course, it wasn't until I began making the cut-scene when I realized just how time-consuming it really is. Even then, I'm quite proud of what I have been able to accomplish. I was even going to go so far as to say that this cut-scene would revolutionize storytelling in SMBX, but I knew that would never happen.
Spoiler: show
Spoiler: show
http://www.mediafire.com/download/o4m8i ... eerch1.zip
The Other Levels
These are the levels I made independently of the Chaotic Culmination project.
Tunnel 7: Three Mode 7 effects in SMBX
When I first discovered the SMBX forums, I was happy to know that there were more than just four episodes made for SMBX (The Invasion 1 doesn't count). However, I noticed that none of the levels featured any sort of scaling or mode 7 of any kind, so I made a short level to showcase what SMBX is capable of in the hopes that, maybe, someone would decide to use some sort of pseudo-3D effect in his or her level. So far, it hasn't worked (even Return To Dinosaur Land, which tried so hard to be SMW, didn't even try to recreate SMW's rotation or scaling effects), but I still have hope...
Spoiler: show
Download:
http://www.mediafire.com/download/z89ls ... unnel7.zip
Spinjumpable Ball N' Chain Spire
Sometime around January of 2014, I was informed that there have been no spinjumpable Ball 'N Chains in any SMBX level, so I decided to rectify that (remember that this was before Lua!). As you can see by the screenshot, my Ball 'N Chains can be spin-jumped on! They're even resistant (but not immune, unfortunately) to hammer attacks! Just download the level and spin-jump to your heart's content.
Credits:
original ball n chain = red yoshi
background = redigit
inspiration = Valtteri
Spoiler: show
Sharp Objects are Usually Deadly
Remember my CC8 level? The focus of the level was supposed to be on the pre-Lua dead-but-not-really-dead effect. I even planned on adding bullets, but couldn't figure out how to implement them. As for the difficulty...I guess that, deep down, I knew it was kaizo, but I thought I could get away with it (although I didn't really know what kaizo was until Mivixion and I discussed it via PM).
In this version (which is slightly different than the one in ToB7), I finally got around to updating the quality of my song choice. I also changed the first section slightly to prevent the player from being able to skip it with a Tanooki Suit (even though that section is pointless outside of a ToB). However, the rest of the level is exactly the same, so the original reviews still apply:
Spoiler: show
Spoiler: show
SMBX Teaches Typing
For those of you who have not played Mario Classic, there are three levels at the end that require you to cheat to progress. However, these aren't your typical impossible, poorly-designed levels; rather, these levels were built around a specific cheat in SMBX that you had to type in so you could experience the level properly. Personally, I thought this was a neat idea, but I also felt that it was a criminally underdeveloped gimmick: ignoring some of the cop-out level design choices, there was always the fact that a message box interrupted game-play to tell you what cheat you had to type in. What if there was a level where the player is told what cheat must be typed in, but it must be done within a certain time limit?
That's where this level comes in.
Basically, my goal with this was to make a level where the player needs to type in various cheats as they appear in order to reach the end (and there's some platforming in there, somewhere), as well as possibly inspiring others to expand upon this concept (I personally think that the end of my level is a cop-out as well, but I couldn't think of another way to end it). I tested this fully using a computer controller (meaning I had to set it down each time I needed to type in a cheat) and I never pre-empted the cheats (I only typed them in after they appeared on-screen), so this shouldn't be too difficult.
Spoiler: show
One more thing that should be mentioned: if you type in a physics-changing cheat, like sonicstooslow, the cheat will still be active if you die and start the level over. That's something I couldn't work around, so I decided to put this message in my post.
--END EDIT--
Download (now updated to fix the minor graphic bugs pointed out in bossedit8's review/playthrough!)
Dos and don'ts of using SMBX's pre-programmed bosses (v. 1.3)
This tutorial-level was inspired in part by Flying Brick's "How NOT to Make a Level," but it was mainly inspired by Ludwig's Flaming Fortress and countless other levels that have boring, poorly-done "custom" boss battles against SMBX's pre-programmed AIs (not to mention all the ones where the boss fight is literally just the boss NPC in an empty room). Whenever someone tried to defend this, the argument went something like "SMBX isn't capable of allowing players to make new boss AIs," to which I replied "that's not what I'm asking for." It's possible to make fun and unique boss battles with SMBX's pre-programmed AI; you just have to know how, and that's what I hope to teach with this level. Even if you consider yourself a veteran level designer, you should still give this a try; you might learn a thing or two.
Obligatory Screenshot:
Spoiler: show
http://www.mediafire.com/download/a0g66 ... _Level.zip
P.S. In this level, I give multiple examples of how to make a fun pre-programmed AI fight without having to put forth much effort. Due to how little effort it took to make these examples, I'd like to preemptively apologize in case someone has already made a fight similar to one in my level. None of the bosses are meant to allude to or rip off any custom boss fight that was made before them.
P.P.S. This tutorial strictly covers the use of SMBX's pre-programmed bosses. If you want to know how to turn normal NPCs into bosses, Flying Brick has a tutorial for that already:
http://www.supermariobrosx.org/forums/v ... =35&t=6110
The only thing I can think of that Flying Brick doesn't mention is that, if you want the boss's hit-box to move, you have to select the first HP-NPC, go to "Attach to Layer," and select the hurt-state NPC, which itself will need to be attached to the second HP-NPC, which will need to be attached to a duplicate hurt-state NPC, and so on.
Previews:
For my next level, I have a crazy idea: I'm going to try to make a fun backtracking level. I won't go back to working on it until after I finish
