Portal VVVVVV

Started by calstin898, September 01, 2011, 08:05:00 PM

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calstin898

Another level to play! (note: Updated version is out)

YouKnow

It was pretty good.  The writing was great, the rooms were fun, but graphics-wise, it looked a little unpolished.

Personally, I always think floating spikes look out of place.  A couple lines of text were a bit hard to read because they were on the edge of the ceiling.  There was also I think two checkpoints half-floating, but those are just my opinions.

Also try to avoid having a spike pit less than 4 blocks away from a room exit/entrance.  It's always annoying to run right into them on the first go.

Overall, it was short, sweet, and fun.

PJBottomz

If you don't take this feedback/criticism, I will be pissed.

Things that need to be fixed:

1.

Your checkpoint is off screen. That is a bad level design.

2.

Putting a checkpoint over dissapearing/moving platforms makes it look bad, especially with spikes below it. It's okay on conveyors, but not platforms.

3.
4.

Single tiles like this look bad, and putting a checkpoint overtop of them is even worse.

5.
6.

This has to irritate your brain somewhere: FLOATING SPIKES?! That is a horrible level design.

7.

Spikes at the very edge of the screen, causing unsuspecting death? This is okay if, say, on the screen before it, spikes are there to warn this, but without warning is bad.

8.

This entire room needs to be either revised or removed. Firstly, checkpoints on single tiles are, as I said, bad. And besides that, there is NO time to react. If you don't move as soon as you land, you die. That's not cool. It might have been okay for you since you knew what was gonna happen, but for others, they don't know.

So, my overall thing is, you need to hold off on making anything else until you have the proper skills. You can't just jump in, make a level in 10 minutes, and post it on the internet, thinking that it's going to be loved and adored and featured and all that. The featured levels were featured for a reason - there was blood, sweat, tears, blood, and effort all put into them, and they came out good and not, not...



... like that.

So, stop making levels for now. Go and look at some tutorials, get advice from others, and then try again. Eventually, you'll get good at it. Most of my first levels sucked, but I got feedback and criticism from people on the forums, and now, I can make a level that DOESN'T compare to a a piece of rotted fish.

Like I said, learn.

calstin898

Version 2.

PJBottomz

 :-X Effort requires more than a 2-minute edit.



You didn't even fix that.



Did I NOT tell you that floating spikes were bad?



DID YOU EVEN LISTEN TO A WORD I SAID?!?

WBojangles

Fun level, I too liked the writing. A nice short level that gave me an excuse to play VVVVVV really quick.

As for PJBottomz's criticisms:
Yes, there were some things that were formatted to where many players would be a little put off. I agree that single tiles and floating spikes can be a bit bothersome. But to tell someone to give up because their creation doesn't look the way most people's levels do and insulting them is taking it way too far.

You can't tell someone that they are horrible at creating levels just because it doesn't agree with your design preferences. How dare you go as far as to insult ("piece of rotted fish") while trying to appear a good example. What clastin898 made was a short enjoyable level that you could play through for something fun to do and for their benefit; you give the creator constructive criticism, you do not belittle them. And at the end, you said you wanted the author to learn how to make levels first. All clastin898 learned after reading what you said was that this community might not be as friendly and helpful as it seemed.

Sorry, I may have been a little harsh. But I do not want to see someone turned away so easily, especially when they tried create something that was fun nonetheless.

clastin898, I'm glad you posted the level to get yourself into the community, that you obviously have the mental stoicism to accept PJBottomz's comments, and I like that you went ahead and updated the level with some of the suggestions anyway. Please, do NOT stop making levels for now. Some tutorials might not hurt, but if you have a creative idea, I for one believe that syntactic design shouldn't stand in the way. I hope to see more of your levels in the future as you progress.

PJBottomz

...

I did not tell him to "give up." I would never tell some one to give up unless they truely had absolutely NO talent. clastin, I can clearly see that you have potential for becoming a great level designer, it all just takes time and work.

Design preferences? He had checkpoints offscreen, floating spikes, and god knows what else! I don't have design preferences - I have a sense of what is meant to be and not to be. And yes, the level was fun and creative, and that's why I didn't just flat out say, "GTHO of here cuz u toats sux!" and instead told him to hold off on it for a little until there's a better grasp of how to use the editor.

You know, most of my criticisms are not nice, and I can't help it if people percieve them that way. Sometimes, yes, I do go too far, and I get angry, and I apologize for it, but sometimes, it's just something that NEEDS to be said. Most people can get their point across by being nice, but that is NOT something I'm good at, and I certainly don't want to try.

And if I did insult, I fully aplogize. Like I said, I can be mean, but have a sense of being rational.

But you know, I don't care if it looks like other people's levels - hell, it could be just jumping from block to block with no room structure or backing, or it could be tightly-woven passages lined with warp tokens, and I would criticise the same way. If all levels looked the same, well, that would just be flat out boring as hell. Variety is good, but it has to have structure, and not be hellish to survive!

And anyway, since you imply seem to be a better level critiquer than I am, I'd like to see YOU test a bunch of levels everyday just to help people, and see if it doesn't piss YOU off a lot of the times. It's a little harder than you think, ya know.

Okay, I'm done. :verdigris:

WBojangles

That's fair, I understand. It did just seem a bit harsh to me.
I didn't mean to imply I was a reviewer though I'm sure it seemed; I'm horrible at it. I've seen some of your other posts, you are in-depth and hit a lot of good points. I just wanted to give clastin898 a word of support, I'm really one for supporting those who put up their levels even if they might have some doubt as to their credibility, not to say I think that you are against that at all. I believe I have seen you yourself post a few levels. That's the kind of spirit I mean, and now I realize you couldn't possibly be against that. I'm sorry for ranting against you, there's something very ironic in that regarding what I was talking about...

Sorry for the argument folks, I let myself go.

PJBottomz

It's fine. :) It's nice that you stick up for the underdogs (especially against mean people like that PJBottomz person. Pssh, what is his deal? </stupid joke>)

I did as well. :-[

Sendy

Take some pride in the physical appearance of your level is my advice. And be careful - if you don't get a B grade or higher for your next revision, PJ will give you a detention  :vermillion:  :P

Is that a checkpoint OVER SPIKES I see?! Seriously, WTH?!

I was watching someone playing another user's level on youtube an hour or so ago, and after making a series of really unfair 2-block-safety fiddlejumps, he got to a part where the corridor wasn't quite wide enough for  :viridian: to fit through. End of the line... Pure comedy.. I know mistakes slip thru the net, but some people I'm sure don't even playtest their efforts  ???

xTwoTails

That a small stage but yeah what " PJBottomz " said is all the critique I had.
It's clever trying to do the Portals.

overall I give you: 6.4/10

Dispensers Heal

Single tiles = You're gonna attract a wild PJBottomz.  :victoria:And we don't want that, now do we?

Damn It AL to Hell

#12
Very nice level, enjoyable, but a few fixings are in order, after all some of the rooms are horrid, but nonetheless, pretty cool, 8.9/10 :viridian:

Damn It AL to Hell

#13
Dejavu  :o, this conversation reminds me of my level Blight.

ThePaSch

Quote from: PJBottomz on September 02, 2011, 12:29:56 AM
You know, most of my criticisms are not nice, and I can't help it if people percieve them that way. Sometimes, yes, I do go too far, and I get angry, and I apologize for it, but sometimes, it's just something that NEEDS to be said. Most people can get their point across by being nice, but that is NOT something I'm good at, and I certainly don't want to try.

And anyway, since you imply seem to be a better level critiquer than I am, I'd like to see YOU test a bunch of levels everyday just to help people, and see if it doesn't piss YOU off a lot of the times. It's a little harder than you think, ya know.

Why would you even be pissed off at something people do in their free time? It's not like it's their job; and nobody forces you to play a level. If you don't like it, don't play it instead of criticizing the hell out of it, going all capslock if something you mentioned doesn't get fixed and comparing it to a piece of rotten fish. It can be hard to get your point across while still being nice, but I can't see why you wouldn't want to try.

Thing is, level creating is something people do for fun. Some spend hours refining them, some finish a level in 20 minutes. In the end, they'll both contain mistakes, and while the one spending hours will probably notice and remove them, the one spending 20 minutes will most likely not and release his map. That's where criticizing comes into play. You tell him what mistakes he made and hopefully he fixes them, improving his level.

However, why would you start a review with this line?
QuoteIf you don't take this feedback/criticism, I will be pissed.
If I didn't know you're normally a nice guy, my first impression of you would be totally ruined since that single line just gets across one message: Do what I say, or I'll be very angry at you.
And that's rude. Too rude.

So in the end, reviewing levels to help their creators is not a bad thing at all. Just remember that they spent their own very time on it, and getting something torn apart in front of yourself if you spent a lot of time on it can be very, very frustrating.