Difference between revisions of "User:Game Trooper"
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== Dev Commentary == | == Dev Commentary == | ||
HELLO! This is my unofficial commentary of how I created my level, [[Volcanic Furnace]]. I'll try to keep this brief, but I imagine that some people will be curious as to what I was thinking of when designing this level (I assume that a particular Durgon will 'eventually' get to this, so hi!). | HELLO! This is my unofficial commentary of how I created my level, [[Volcanic Furnace]]. I'll try to keep this brief, but I imagine that some people will be curious as to what I was thinking of when designing this level (I assume that a particular Durgon will 'eventually' get to this, so hi!). | ||
| + | |||
'''(It will go without saying that if anyone else edits this, this will NOT be reliable until I personally fix it.)''' | '''(It will go without saying that if anyone else edits this, this will NOT be reliable until I personally fix it.)''' | ||
=== The Concept === | === The Concept === | ||
As any fan would understand why I entered, I have always wanted to create my own game, and after 'insert-Gaben-9-years-dev-joke-here', I finally got to throw my hat into the ring. The idea for a fire level was actually one of the things I stayed with from the get go. I had FEVERISHLY watched AceSpark's | As any fan would understand why I entered, I have always wanted to create my own game, and after 'insert-Gaben-9-years-dev-joke-here', I finally got to throw my hat into the ring. The idea for a fire level was actually one of the things I stayed with from the get go. I had FEVERISHLY watched AceSpark's | ||
| − | level design video series and reviewed MAGMML1's winner, Glass Man, for direction. I concluded that for reference, keep the stage about 28 frames long, introduce each gimmick one section at a time then combine them near the end, and place checkpoints around areas of difficulty. The idea of a fire stage stemmed from an early Robot Master of mine named '''Scorch Man''' (kinda silly seeing Bootleg Zook and Sunrise actually showed up, and originally so did Eternal's). Ultimately, despite being a programmer by trade, he was cut due to time restraints and lack of game maker experience. The stage was mostly winged and I plopped down what I thought might make for a fun or challenging setup. One of the ideas I | + | level design video series and reviewed MAGMML1's winner, Glass Man, for direction. I concluded that for reference, keep the stage about 28 frames long, introduce each gimmick one section at a time then combine them near the end, and place checkpoints around areas of difficulty. The idea of a fire stage stemmed from an early Robot Master of mine named '''Scorch Man''' (kinda silly seeing Bootleg Zook and Sunrise actually showed up, and originally so did Eternal's). Ultimately, despite being a programmer by trade, he was cut due to time restraints and lack of game maker experience. The stage was mostly winged and I plopped down what I thought might make for a fun or challenging setup. One of the ideas I KNEW I wanted to have in some form was some sort of mine cart segment (akin to the final moments of Indiana Jones: Temple of Doom(YOU KNOW WHAT PART IT IS)). However, due to poor spriting skills and again, lack of game maker experience, I used Guts Lifts as a substitute. Some things I know people might wonder is the Foot Holder showing up and why not a Guts Lift. The short answer was that I thought it'd be kinda fun and challenging; simple as that. I had understood that I had to combo the two elements that I implemented near the tail end of the stage. The idea of guts lifts over some of these traps not only fit classic Mega Man level design, but actually looked fun and challenging. In retrospect, it may have been a little too tough still, despite putting safe platforms in as a breather. Another part people might be wondering about is the skippable mini boss. I had not realized this until I decided to try it. When I found it out, I felt it a funny little way to speed run, so I left it in. A similar quirk can be found if you grab the 'hidden' E-Tank, where if you die before reaching the actual route you needed to take, it would spawn you at the next checkpoint. Again, this was left in as to compensate for some difficult level design portions. In terms of the Killer Bullet segment, I was thinking that a simple Guts Lift segment would have been too easy without any enemies. In hindsight, 'explosive sinewave enemies on tiny moving platforms while jumping over to other tiny platforms' was a bit excessive, and Tackle Fires or more Guts Lifts could have solved such a problematic area. As for the '''interesting''' choice of tilesets, I wanted to explore my artistic prowess in level design. This looked okay at the time, but in hindsight I can safely say that it is pretty bad (I can assure you that I am actually a better artist than that). Lastly, because I am certain people will wonder this, while multiple test playthroughs of the level were done, they were all done by me. I had no other means at the time to be able to get others to playtest. Had I known how and who I could playtest the level, I am sure many of the issues would have been able to be solved. |
| − | |||
=== The Reception === | === The Reception === | ||
| − | Of course when an announcement for a MAGMML2 contest placement went public, I had to be watching where possible. And I was thrilled to find out that (In terms of tier placement) I had done rather well. All criticism was taken into consideration, from both the judges and the streamer (FlashMan85, who is now also a judge in MAGMML3, so I made a good call | + | Of course when an announcement for a MAGMML2 contest placement went public, I had to be watching where possible. And I was thrilled to find out that (In terms of tier placement) I had done rather well; it was actually where I expected to place in the competition. All criticism was taken into deep consideration, from both the judges and the streamer (FlashMan85, who is now also a judge in MAGMML3, so I made a good call). In addition, I had went to look at other youtubers who played the game for more feedback; some were harsh, others more encouraging. One thing that I did as soon as I could collect my thoughts, was to go back and update the level to be more polished. I chose more consistent enemies that fit the stage, used more appropriate graphics (as well as fewer tilesets), and apply every judge suggestion. I also had made a few other changes, but are not worth mention at this time. I can safely say that the level has been improved over its submitted version, and I have learned that with a little more effort and polish, I do have what it takes to for a competent level designer. |
| − | |||
=== The Future === | === The Future === | ||
With MAGMML3 to release a devkit in the future, and a chance to show off what I learned, I feel that my best works are yet to come. In the meantime, I hope this was helpful to getting to know a little more about me and my entry. Enjoy the wiki, and I will see you in MAGMML3! | With MAGMML3 to release a devkit in the future, and a chance to show off what I learned, I feel that my best works are yet to come. In the meantime, I hope this was helpful to getting to know a little more about me and my entry. Enjoy the wiki, and I will see you in MAGMML3! | ||
Revision as of 12:42, 19 February 2018
About me
Greetings one and all, I'm Game Trooper!! Entrant of MAGMML2's Volcanic Furnace, and long time Mega Man fan. I'm seasoned in editing various wikis (which will be listed below) as early as high school, so I feel that I can be a big help to one I feel very passionate about. I have also helped build one of them up from its infancy, and have even been an admin for one of them. I absolutely enjoy helping out wikis like this one grow, and educate newcomers on what the wiki's all about. If you need any help, please don't hesitate to post it on my talk page!! I'll get back to you as soon as possible.
In case you wanted to know what I'd look like...
One of my Wiki portraits I created.
Other Wikis
I can be found on many other wikis.
They include:
- Mega Man Wiki
- Ratchet and Clank Wiki
- Scaler Wiki
and
- Overlord Wiki
Dev Commentary
HELLO! This is my unofficial commentary of how I created my level, Volcanic Furnace. I'll try to keep this brief, but I imagine that some people will be curious as to what I was thinking of when designing this level (I assume that a particular Durgon will 'eventually' get to this, so hi!).
(It will go without saying that if anyone else edits this, this will NOT be reliable until I personally fix it.)
The Concept
As any fan would understand why I entered, I have always wanted to create my own game, and after 'insert-Gaben-9-years-dev-joke-here', I finally got to throw my hat into the ring. The idea for a fire level was actually one of the things I stayed with from the get go. I had FEVERISHLY watched AceSpark's level design video series and reviewed MAGMML1's winner, Glass Man, for direction. I concluded that for reference, keep the stage about 28 frames long, introduce each gimmick one section at a time then combine them near the end, and place checkpoints around areas of difficulty. The idea of a fire stage stemmed from an early Robot Master of mine named Scorch Man (kinda silly seeing Bootleg Zook and Sunrise actually showed up, and originally so did Eternal's). Ultimately, despite being a programmer by trade, he was cut due to time restraints and lack of game maker experience. The stage was mostly winged and I plopped down what I thought might make for a fun or challenging setup. One of the ideas I KNEW I wanted to have in some form was some sort of mine cart segment (akin to the final moments of Indiana Jones: Temple of Doom(YOU KNOW WHAT PART IT IS)). However, due to poor spriting skills and again, lack of game maker experience, I used Guts Lifts as a substitute. Some things I know people might wonder is the Foot Holder showing up and why not a Guts Lift. The short answer was that I thought it'd be kinda fun and challenging; simple as that. I had understood that I had to combo the two elements that I implemented near the tail end of the stage. The idea of guts lifts over some of these traps not only fit classic Mega Man level design, but actually looked fun and challenging. In retrospect, it may have been a little too tough still, despite putting safe platforms in as a breather. Another part people might be wondering about is the skippable mini boss. I had not realized this until I decided to try it. When I found it out, I felt it a funny little way to speed run, so I left it in. A similar quirk can be found if you grab the 'hidden' E-Tank, where if you die before reaching the actual route you needed to take, it would spawn you at the next checkpoint. Again, this was left in as to compensate for some difficult level design portions. In terms of the Killer Bullet segment, I was thinking that a simple Guts Lift segment would have been too easy without any enemies. In hindsight, 'explosive sinewave enemies on tiny moving platforms while jumping over to other tiny platforms' was a bit excessive, and Tackle Fires or more Guts Lifts could have solved such a problematic area. As for the interesting choice of tilesets, I wanted to explore my artistic prowess in level design. This looked okay at the time, but in hindsight I can safely say that it is pretty bad (I can assure you that I am actually a better artist than that). Lastly, because I am certain people will wonder this, while multiple test playthroughs of the level were done, they were all done by me. I had no other means at the time to be able to get others to playtest. Had I known how and who I could playtest the level, I am sure many of the issues would have been able to be solved.
The Reception
Of course when an announcement for a MAGMML2 contest placement went public, I had to be watching where possible. And I was thrilled to find out that (In terms of tier placement) I had done rather well; it was actually where I expected to place in the competition. All criticism was taken into deep consideration, from both the judges and the streamer (FlashMan85, who is now also a judge in MAGMML3, so I made a good call). In addition, I had went to look at other youtubers who played the game for more feedback; some were harsh, others more encouraging. One thing that I did as soon as I could collect my thoughts, was to go back and update the level to be more polished. I chose more consistent enemies that fit the stage, used more appropriate graphics (as well as fewer tilesets), and apply every judge suggestion. I also had made a few other changes, but are not worth mention at this time. I can safely say that the level has been improved over its submitted version, and I have learned that with a little more effort and polish, I do have what it takes to for a competent level designer.
The Future
With MAGMML3 to release a devkit in the future, and a chance to show off what I learned, I feel that my best works are yet to come. In the meantime, I hope this was helpful to getting to know a little more about me and my entry. Enjoy the wiki, and I will see you in MAGMML3!
