Super Mario Maker!

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I just uploaded a new level and it's called Heads Up Mario. It's like crazy falling Enemies but I made it better and added more features and I used the SMW theme. I also made sure to add stars and added coins to warn players from traps. I might improve the level again to hint there is a hidden vine in the block.

I am still currently working on a new level and I keep getting ideas from other levels. I see how people make their houses and buildings, I see how they make furniture and I will sometimes download a level just to see how they do it. It feels like I am stealing other peoples ideas. Originally the level was supposed to be where Peach is just dancing but then I got carried away. But I like to create my levels first and then add the enemies and items.

Here's my new level titled "HOW many pipes?!".

ID: 6F7B-0000-00B3-11A7

The basic idea behind this level is to have smaller rooms and areas connected with pipes where you sort of complete one challenge room after the other.

It was originally going to be a NSMBU themed level, but I changed to SMW eventually as the flow and tempo suits this level better.

I appreciate feedback on this if anybody wants to give it a try.

I'm still working on finding the optimal difficulty. I try to make challenging levels with fun gimmicks without relying on cheapshots and all that. Still working on finding the optimal pacing and balance.

I still get ideas in my head about what levels I should make but I am too afraid to even list them because I don't want anyone to steal my idea.

I like how some people make their levels a mini game. Get an answer wrong, you're dead literally and also pick a right block or you get a enemy you have to defeat and I saw one level where you had to find the correct pipe. I even saw a Mario Party mini game level but it was so disappointing because it was hard and I wouldn't make it past the first part.

But because I can only upload to ten levels at a time, I would have to delete the older ones and leave the best ones I like. I deleted my son's level and my first level because the first one was lame and barely any work and my son's was crappy because it was nothing but platform spam and enemies and items.

I just did one of my ideas. It's my first mini game and it's called Pick A Pipe or Door and the object of the game is to pick the right pipe or door, the wrong door will lead you to instant death. The right door or pipe will lead you to another area and you have to pick the right one again, the right one will lead you to the pole. I would make it long but the warp pipes are also limited.

not a good idea. i don't think anybody likes levels like that, and there are tons of them.

you should read this:
gamefaqs: What's so bad about luck based levels?

Instead of instant death, I'd punish the player with a slight setback if I were you.

Players get discouraged if they not only have to pass one insta-death, but then another, and maybe one more. The incentive to memorize several in a row just isn't there in the average player.

Someone said in an article that I read that if you feel the level is just difficult enough for you as a creator, reduce that by 30% to accomodate to a player who doesn't know it. You are biased in being the creator. I try to think of this, but I doubt I'm successful. It is very difficult to objectively evaluate your own work as a creator.
The art seems to be to nail the right kind of difficulty. There are cheap ways to create difficulty and we see this all over the place in the 100 Mario challenge. It's littered with cheapshots.

Puzzles are fine as long as they aren't too long or have too many parts. And if there are punishments, don't make them too harsh or the player will be discouraged.

Keeping the player interested and nailing the right difficulty, good design(both aesthetically and gameplay-wise) and the right length is very difficult to achieve.

Here is a fantastic analysis of level design in Super Mario World. There are lots of good clues as to how to develop an idea and also how to balance the difficulty curve by giving the player breaks in between challenges:

http://thegamedesignforum.com/features/RD_SMW_1.html

another good one. you don't need feedback; you know what you are doing (or at least I think so)

One thing I can't understand about this game is how some poorly made levels can get so many stars and some troll levels too. Even the highest ranked game is so lame all you do is jump to touch the goal post and you have completed the level and all the enemies are in a big box they can't even hurt you. And even some automatic levels get so many stars and I just skip those except for in the Mario Challenge. Also some levels that are nearly impossible you have to be a gaming savant to beat them or because they have so many enemies and obstacles and I wonder how they can get so many stars too. In Mario Challenge I often skip levels because I don't want to spend lot of my lives with trial and error and trying to beat a level but if I was just playing it from the level select, that is different. I just played a level where I had to race the spikes to the finish to make it to the goal post and I had to make it past these obstacles that try to slow me down. It took me lot of tries.

I even came across an Ice Climbers level I think was very well made but the only thing is do not lose your shell helmet or you would have to start all over. The creator got a lot of negative comments and he also got positive ones and had over 200 stars for his level. I think he got so many negative comments about his level was because they found it too hard so they said it sucked and thanks to those comments, it starred his level automatically.

I guess I am weird that I like guessing games because I can memorize the order. I came across a level today where you had to pick a path and only one of them is correct, the other two led you to enemies and instant death because you were tiny Mario. But I found it impossible for me to beat so I had to quit it. I also went down a pipe today in another level and I got bombed with a bunch of springs and I was able to get back out through the pipe again despite the light going off saying I did the right turn and arrows pointing to the pipe. People call those troll levels. I always called it a tease.

But I wish video game based levels would appear in Mario Challenge.

I can answer this one easily:

ALOT (nearly all, probably) of the levels that end up in the highest rankings with 10 bazillion stars are made by Youtubers and such, the popular ones. It doesnt matter how bloody awful their levels are: They WILL get 10 bazillion plays, they WILL get 10 bazillion stars. It's very... irritating. I dont even look at that tab anymore. What's the point?

And yeah, I skip auto-levels in the 100 Mario Challenge too. Just... no. I refuse to even give them the credit of finishing the level. And I'd prefer to actually earn these victories that get me closer to the end of the mode.



Also I'll just second this. I've been into level design for a LONG time, and this is the sort of style I tend to use when making one. My levels, in Mario Maker, do well. I'm over 200 stars now, and I only have 8 levels out... I'm not even at the original limit of 10! And I dont exactly advertise these very much. But they're starred frequently, and getting more and more plays more and more frequently as I keep going. I get notifications and such every single time I fire up the game, and I'll typically get a couple during a session with it too. My best one, "Traditional Grasslands #1" (yes, it's a stupid name) has been compared to actual Super Mario World levels, with people telling me that "it plays just like an actual level from the original game!". So yeah, that style of design WORKS, and can be adapted a bit to your own personal style.

And overall... it helps ALOT if you make sure to keep it FUN. Even when I make levels that are genuinely difficult (that one isnt), I still make sure to keep it interesting, and keep it fun above all else.

But I'd say my biggest tip to anyone that really wants those stars and plays is to TAKE YOUR TIME. If you've just made a level in 30 minutes.... it's probably bad. Mine take DAYS to make. And not just in the editor; I do countless test runs, and I try to approach it from a variety of angles. If I put a hidden powerup somewhere? Some test runs will include me grabbing and using it, but others I'll just pass it by as if I have no idea it is there and am not searching for hidden stuff very well. This style of testing helps ALOT to ensure that things are well balanced for those that have never seen the level before, AND for those that have played it more than once and who might be coming in with more experience than usual.

It can help alot to include some extra stuff too, optional things that some players might enjoy. I always put about 3 hidden 1-ups in my levels, and I leave a message pointing this out at the beginning of the stage. It's an optional challenge, for those that like that sort of thing. Yeah, 1-ups dont do much, but they're SATISFYING to find, just like they've always been. And finding secrets (or overcoming optional challenge areas) to earn one is satisfying too.

But mostly.... just keep it fun, regardless of what kind of challenge you intend it to be. That, I think, is the most important part. If players arent enjoying it, why in the world would they star it?

It's official as of tonight, SMM has sold over 500k for the U.S. during September.
It also boost the Wii U sales to ~89k, doubling August sales.

I usually make my levels in one sitting because I tend to lose the original idea if I get back to them later.

I have one level that has gotten 11 stars, and I'm very happy with that one. It remains my best level.

NSMBU themed levels seem to get the most plays, obviously, since most of Nintendos fanbase are kids who grew up with the Wii and that graphic style.
Then there are a few old grumps like myself who are nostalgic about the old styles. Super Mario World is closest to my heart. I played that game to death as a kid, on the SNES of course, which was hot s**t back then. It was THE place to play. Then came the N64 which remains for me Nintendos high point. I sat out the Gamecube and Wii because things got a bit bland. During the lives of those consoles, I gamed on PC and the Playstations. After such a long absence, I was hungry for Nintendos games again and bought the Wii U once there was a decent library of games.

Enough of that off-topic nostalgia-bias rambling though...

I'm closing in on getting enough stars to have my upload limit increased to 20. I hope my two newest levels will do well.

I read a bit on level design every now and then, trying to incorporate different elements into my own conceptualization of things. I don't want to follow any approach with a cookie cutter mentality, but take bits and pieces and try to bend the general principles to work with what I have in mind.

Usually, my levels are themed around gimmicks. A lot of Mario levels are too. I was playing 3D world the other day and like many reviewers have commented, no two levels feel alike. There are general themes for the words, but each one has one gimmick that is exploited and developed throughout. There is something memorable in each and every one. Like the first level with the ants and how you have to ride them to cross chasms and spike traps. That one stuck in my mind. There is a particular music theme that was introduced in the game there as well. Nintendo know what they're doing. They have a knack for delivering the whole package.

I've tried to think a bit like that when building my own levels. Take a basic idea and develop it according to the principles in the article I posted. Sometimes my inspiration takes me elsewhere and I might abandon it altogether and go off on a tangent.

I am redoing Pick a Door or Pipe because I felt the level was too bland so I added a theme to it and decided to add in two 1 ups and coin blocks and one area where it's just Koopas and you land on them both killing them and you can go back up through the pipe and guess again. I spent about two hours working on it. I know not everyone likes guessing games but you can skip it in Mario Challenge you know. But I have always liked these games. Too bad the game doesn't have a feature that allows you to send players back to the beginning of the level for picking the wrong door or pipe.

Okay, I just re uploaded the course again.

Misery, I gave all your levels ago, gave them all a star and follow you.

They were all excellent. I especially loved the SMB3 underground level. There were many good twists and turns and I got lost at one point but found the way out eventually.

You nailed the difficulty too, although the average player will probably give up in frustration.

I did not complete all the levels, but I'm going to come back to those that I didn't complete later.


I'm going to check out the levels from the creators in this chronologically from the start of the thread and give feedback and stars as I go along. Will follow up with posts as I check out each creators levels.

Ah, yeah, I tend to make levels that are a bit difficult.

With Mario Maker I'm actually forcing myself to hold back quite a bit; I'm used to a high difficulty in games, and this applies to design work I do, of any sort.

LittleBigPlanet, for instance. One of my creations in that, and which shows the sort of thing i'm used to, is this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DAa7Um6-nZA

That horrible mechanical nightmare took THREE FREAKING WEEKS to make and was pushing that game to it's breaking point. But the difficulty level of it is relatively typical for me; future boss monstrosities would be more complicated and harder (and more efficient).

I cant make big bosses like that in Mario Maker, but the game sure does let me do some crazy challenging stuff anyway.

Though, I do have certain levels that'll be more towards beginners; that "Traditional Grasslands" one sure is (yet it STILL manages a clear rate of less than 40%), and my upcoming one, which will be the next "traditional" entry, is also pretty easy (probably). Buuuuut, I know I always underestimate the difficulty, so.... maybe not as easy as I think.