New Level "The Extinct Bird"

Hi everyone!

It took me quite a while to finish "The Extinct Bird". The level relies almost entirely on custom tiles and music. I even felt compelled to animate the grass and create some new water animations.

It would be great to get some feedback! Especially concerning the difficulty level, I think it is a bit too easy (see screenshot ).

Download it here: http://www.reduktion.ch/the-extinct-bird/

Wow, this is an excellent level! The best I've played in a while
It gives you that feeling of "not exploring everything" which is great, because the world feels quite open-ended which helps with the immersion. Speaking of the immersion, the story was really well done. A simple story, but very well executed. I really felt as if I was chasing a bird.

The tilesets and CO's look amazing, I especially like the grass and the vines or whatever they are that are hanging from the ceiling.

Don't worry about the level being easy, a lot of people around here appreciate easy levels (me included )

Two things I wanted to point out (attached some screenshots)
1) This invisible wall didn't seem to serve a purpose (unless you're planning a sequel?)
2) It felt weird that these things were solid, since they look like the belong in the background.

But those were only tiny things, great job

Agree with bulbapuck. Great level. Very good material.

A fairly good level. I liked the artstyle, and the custom objects were well animated. The running bird that fled from you every so many screens was an original and awesome idea. The music fitting well with the level. It's such a shame that the level's design is mediocre quality. Lots of "cheap shots" such as flat walls and nearly-empty screens waste the tilesets' potential. On top of that, the level was too easy and you 'gave away' power ups too early and too frequently.

I have to ask you something though, does the level has only one ending? On my way to the end, I stumbled across several side-paths I didn't take. Either your level has more than one ending, or all of them were dead-ends and I just was lucky enough to always take the right path.

The comments and the screenshot above made me dig out KS and give this level a try, and I'm glad they did.

It's a nice, very enjoyable level. The screens are well-composed, so is the music. A couple of SGEs and design mistakes aside (which I'll list below), I found nothing faulty. The difficulty level was just right for me. Nothing outrageously frustrating that would've made me resort to cheating or quitting (though the platform-sequence-continues-on-the-next-screen-you-just-gotta-guess-where-to-land' type of challenges brought me close to it ).


The SGEs are a floating enemy and a couple of wallswims, shown on the attached screenshots.

Good level overall - thanks for sharing!

Thanks!

@pulbabuck: there's just one ending. The invisible wall serves the same purpose as that pile of rocks which blocks your way in the cave: it should give you the feeling, that the world doesn't have a border. – but perhaps that's stupid. 

@TheYelloWDucK: There shouldn't be any dead-ends. Where you can choose between two ways, you'll still come out at the same place. - You're certainly right that the power-ups are given away to easily. I'll try to fix that.

@SiamJai: Even I'm annoyed by the platforming-part! Needs to be changed!

That was a really solid little level. The tilesets are lovely and some of the screens have really interesting designs, especially for a Normal difficulty. Catching glimpses of the bird all the way through really brought the story to life as well.

I did notice that it's possible to get past the overhang on x1016y997 and climb up which causes a wallswim, though 

I uploaded a new version with bugfixes and a few design improvements.

Your feedback really helped me a lot. Thank you all! 

Still, suggestions how to improve are still welcome ...

Hello! I loved your level, and I don't think there's much to change! I noticed a few wall-jumps, at least one void screen... I didn't take note of them, but I can tell you the WIN-tiles at the end are not high enough, since the 1st time I jumped behind the bird and climbed to a wall-swim. So probably 5 or 6 corrections to make. I love the light-diffusing anemones, the backgrounds, and the moving grass, although it moves kinda slowly (don't know if it was your intention). Thanks for the level

PS. The music and FX also fit very well! I will play the new version to test the wall-swims.

Played and beaten. Nice level!

Thanks! Especially for the playthrough, ortosion!

A version with fixed WIN-tiles is now online.

Wonderful graphics and atmosphere.

One more update ist online. Hopefully this closes the chapter on wallswims. 

A very nice level! Can't really add much to the praise others have already given; as for drawbacks, I thought the world was a bit empty - not much in the way of little plants here and there, harmless critters, etc.; just the essentials for the most part. Also,
Also, interesting music here. I don't think I've ever heard anything as.. post-rock-ish?  as this in any KS level before