12 - daydream by pineapple (me)
STORY IN DESCRIPTION :
Released in approx 23rd January 2015
At the time was a trend of making "sunset levels" I think Jeyzor started that and with me being more involved with the community and more social I decided to join in.
And what better way to join than make a badland themed level.
Badland is a game where the art direction is heavily oriented to be like the "sunset" style which is basically have most the obstacles dark or close to dark while the background and other deco is colourful or in a light shade = The resulting contrast is always nice. Definitely check how Badland looks like to have a better idea what I tried to make ! That game had a sophisticated editor that didn't have as much success as gd : different formula, different incentive, more complex to use also. Still some managed to pull amazing stuff with it and I definitely recommend giving a quick peek into what badland custom levels if you make something in a similar style, be it in gd or something else.
I tried to make use of "touch trigger" to make light switches just like the original game as I discovered the tt feature and found it weird nobody used it.
My approach when trying to make demons was always to make it start easy, then as the level progresses it gets harder.
At 0:18 you get hit with a speed trap dual ball gameplay which is again inspired by speedracer I think since I copied the level 2 levels ago.
And then the level goes from somewhat harder (insane at the time) to demon difficulty dual ship and ufo which will 100% of the time just kill you if you don't learn it. During the dual you get called noob because I just felt that's what the song implied (you can see this as some sort of song representation). The song sounded like it's mocking the player so I did just that. In retrospect I know it's pretty rude to mock the player and some people don't take it too well. I also know people react differently to this kind of stuff. Some people will get annoyed. Some others will be motivated by getting their head slammed into the desk or being ridiculed (think of it like people entering a villain arc) but I won't go in depth about how psychology works. The message here is there are many ways to give people the drive to complete the level, and while mocking them can be funny it's not always the case.
There is a tight corridor around 0:24 where it says "NOPE^^" and there are 2 ways to pass it either be really good at flying or just use the slope to get a perfect trajectory. Basically I was on to the fact that you can actually make demons by using cheaper methods except it didn't work since the level was rated insane 9 (again I think it's because the beginning was too easy)
The parts after that are pretty easy there are 2 timings with the mini wave at 0:30 which you also need to learn (1st = early 2nd = late) and an ufo clicsync. After that assuming you have decent skill level (harder difficulty wave) the level is free.
There is a tbc at the end (to be continued) implying I planned a sequel
Another problem with this type of level is you have to make sure hitboxes are properly adjusted which I don't think I did.
In retrospect I just think a lot of people rated the level harder based on the first part. Nobody plays unrated levels long enough to properly assess the difficulty but that's the game.
I kinda like this level, it would have been a banger if it was executed better and would have had a better reception with a demon rating. It also was fun to experiment a new style.
It's easy now but back in the day on a 60hz low end trash device it was slightly more difficult.
Anyway I was still motivated enough to get a demon difficulty level.
Stay tuned for the next episode in my "I tried to make a demon level" arc !
Take home messages :
The usual, avoid timings, avoid weird clicsync (song representation is always better than clicsync)
Try to have the gp balanced no ultra-steep difficulty spikes
It's fun to experiment new styles
Make sure hitboxes are fair
When you make interesting gimmicks, try to use them a lot through the levels some are really worth it and enjoyable despite being simple especially those that don't require player inputs. My light gimmick felt satisfying and was 100% visual
You can make easy parts that look hell by making use of slope mechanics. This could be interesting if you want to make a part way harder than it actually looks. I should have inspected this particular phenomenon more because the opposite can happen and most my levels look easier than they are (discrete wink at inverted slopes on my earlier levels)
Remember that when going for demon, people judge your level based on the 3 first seconds so make sure people understand it's demon or hyperbuff it to ensure the rating
And finally don't call people "noob" in your level that's mean, rude and sensitive ! Call them sweetheart instead to motivate them to play the level more ! :D
Level info :
Level: daydream by pineapple
ID: 4401283
Song: Garden Party by Blarsa
