Vanilla Level Design Contest 13 - 15th Placed Entry - Trials of the Great Caverns (w/ EvilGuy0613)
4Collab with @EvilGuy019! Description has a lot, so feel free to read!
Vanilla Level Design Contest 13 (also known as VLDC13) is a Super Mario World Central contest where you try to design your best vanilla (Lunar Magic only) level and compete against 87 other entries. VLDC13 is SPECIAL where a lot of restrictions in terms of tweaking 'global stuff' has been lifted, so you're allowed to change the first two pages of map16 to create a number of interesting effects. You can also remap global graphics data, which can result in changing graphics that can't normally be changed in a level-to-level basis (like the player sprite or global animations). The final thing is you can change global palettes, which while at first doesn't seem that useful, but you might be surprised.
So Evilguy and I have once again collaborated! We were happy with our work that went into the "Old Level Design Contest", so decided to attempt another level together. This is the "Trials of the Great Caverns", a level featuring:
- Global palette shenanigans
- Level entrance jank
- A new player character ("K.A.", aka the "Koopa Assassin")
- Map16 page 0/1 manipulated blocks (One-use question and bounce blocks)
- Many alterations to global graphics
- Other tricks that were allowed in prior VLDCs
- A brand new original soundtrack!
As one can tell, the both of us went hard with this one, wanting to really explore the possibilities these mechanics can provide. As a result, the level is on the longer side, having a maximum of 4 small sections per checkpoint. The main premise of the level is that you need to light up the next area of the 'main hall' in order to progress to the next trial. This is thanks to the ability to store palettes in a level with custom palettes to a level without them. The VIPs took advantage of this with some of their global blocks, and while this was allowed in VLDC, you couldn't convincingly do it without being able to change global palettes unless you wanted them mostly vanilla.
The level is pretty big because we went with a sorta "Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze" approach where there are a handful of gimmicks that are introduced and combined together as the level goes on until a final obstacle. These include the two one-use blocks, and these green blocks that create vines that do not have stems, so their purpose is to eat most blocks. All of them are combined together when you take the relic near the end of the stage, where everything turns grey and you have to escape.
In terms of like what's going on with this being connected to "Super Mario World: The After Years II", this is a sort of origin story for one of the villains "Koopa Assassin", the son of the Great Koopa. Of course, not to be confused with the one from Krack The Hack, this Great Koopa is the "EvilGuy0613" variant. Princess Alice wants to test K.A. with trying to steal what is known as the "Great Relic", an artifact his dad hid in Lunar long ago. That's it, that's your goal in this level. We believed having a sorta theme makes the level feel like a part of a grander thing, even if most people won't care too much (especially with what's going on these days....lord).
Anyway here are the timestamps:
0:00 - Mission Start
1:18 - Trials of the Great Caverns
9:15 - Secret Cameo (Easter Egg)
10:42 - Midpoint Thingies
11:19 - "Hm hm hm. Ignorance is bliss child."
This was a pretty tough contest, so 15th place is still like really good. Regardless how people felt about length, difficulty, what have you; we're pretty happy with how this turned out.
As a sidenote, the level's main theme is a rearrangement of Super Mario Bros' Underground theme. It actually was going to be for a completely different project, but it wasn't done at that time. I'm glad I waited, because it actually turned out really catchy I think!
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