[Challenge/Scenic] [Hard] [Small] Emerald Sanctuary

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Offline Vegetal Gibber

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Re: [Challenge/Scenic] [Hard] [Small] Emerald Sanctuary
« Reply #15 on: March 25, 2018, 15:11:43 »
Glad you guys enjoyed the level :D I really appreciate the comments and feedback!

@ego:
Spoiler: (click to show/hide)

@Fubaka: Apparently, I've become incapable of making a level without adding those shading tiles everywhere :P  I'll probably post the auxiliary tilesets in my "custom KS content" thread at some point, although I may try to fill up some of the unused space with additional tiles before I do that.

Spoiler: (click to show/hide)

@Talps: It's a very versatile and beautiful set, and I've actually been thinking of using it for quite a while. The only things I really missed were alternate colors for the walls (I always like mixing at least two different types of walls in my screens), which is part of the reason I made that auxiliar tileset. I did notice that the set was quite bright, so instead of trying to build a dark "forgotten cave/temple" area, I decided to go for the complete opposite and make a very shiny scenario to take advantage of that.

I probably should have held a quick betatesting round, especially for balancing out the difficulty and minimizing the pointless backtracking. I didn't do that because I wanted this to be a small project I could finish and release quickly. I'm going to need all the energy I can muster for those upcoming DLC packs 8)

@LPChip: Thanks for giving the level a try. Glad you enjoyed the aesthetics! It's a shame your first experience was that frustrating, it seems I definitely understimated the difficulty level here :/ Here are a few hints in case you're curious and want to give those challenges another shot:

Spoiler: First steps (click to show/hide)

Some KS levels by me:

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Offline LPChip

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Re: [Challenge/Scenic] [Hard] [Small] Emerald Sanctuary
« Reply #16 on: March 25, 2018, 16:29:35 »
I did manage to get on the jump pad only once and then still died, although it took me a very long time to realize that jump was actually possible. Once I realized that it was the route to go, and I knew I never was going to get this, I used cheats to get past.

With the eye jump, I figured I had to do that, but that is way outside of my skill level. Definitely Very Hard territory.

Those are the places I cheated. The rest had hard challenges, but were doable. I consider those to be Hard or lower.
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Offline egomassive

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Re: [Challenge/Scenic] [Hard] [Small] Emerald Sanctuary
« Reply #17 on: March 25, 2018, 17:01:19 »
@VG: No, backtracking from there wasn't any harder than the rest of the level
Spoiler: Difficulty (click to show/hide)

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Offline Wibi

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Re: [Challenge/Scenic] [Hard] [Small] Emerald Sanctuary
« Reply #18 on: March 26, 2018, 03:55:38 »
Late to the hype but yeah this was a neat level. The beginning was a bit difficult, but after getting the run powerup it was pretty clear where I had to go. Found the
Spoiler: (click to show/hide)
without cheating, then just didn't feel like getting the normal ending.

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Offline Vegetal Gibber

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Re: [Challenge/Scenic] [Hard] [Small] Emerald Sanctuary
« Reply #19 on: March 26, 2018, 18:32:07 »
Wow, I didn't expect to get so much feedback on such a short level :O  Thank you all for the comments!

@LPChip: It seems the two jumps you mentioned are the main difficulty spikes here. I added a few extra ledges and made a few other minor adjustments so those jumps are still challenging without requiring as much precision, hopefully making the entire level fit into the "Hard" category.

@ego: I definitely see this as a huge problem in large or even medium levels, so I was a bit worried that this approach would not work very well even in a map this tiny. Still, I've made some (very) subtle changes to hopefully make the first steps a bit clearer, such as moving around a few save points and making the first doable challenge a bit more obvious.

Spoiler: (click to show/hide)

@canteven: Glad you enjoyed it! You're not missing anything if you got that ending before the normal one, since the first is just an extension of the latter.
Some KS levels by me:

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Offline egomassive

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Re: [Challenge/Scenic] [Hard] [Small] Emerald Sanctuary
« Reply #20 on: March 27, 2018, 07:48:56 »
@VG: I can't figure out what I did. After reinstalling the original release it's still a mystery. I can get to the room, but no further . I must have remembered it wrong. :/ By the way, the sound effects in the intro are nice.

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Offline Purple Ink

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Re: [Challenge/Scenic] [Hard] [Small] Emerald Sanctuary
« Reply #21 on: March 28, 2018, 07:54:20 »
Wow great level! Really well put together and had some nice challenges. Some of the back-tracking felt a little annoying but it did give me more time to take in the nice graphics. Although, I'd say that for an average or inexperienced player this might be a "Very Hard" level. Especially the spider screen and that first spring jump.

Spoiler: secret stuff (click to show/hide)

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Offline Vegetal Gibber

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Re: [Challenge/Scenic] [Hard] [Small] Emerald Sanctuary
« Reply #22 on: April 04, 2018, 14:54:38 »
Thanks for the feedback, glad you enjoyed this small level! Yeah, it seems I misjudged the difficulty here, especially in the very first release. Guess that's what I get for skipping betatesting :P2

Spoiler: (click to show/hide)
Some KS levels by me:

Re: [Challenge/Scenic] [Hard] [Small] Emerald Sanctuary
« Reply #23 on: April 18, 2018, 18:02:50 »
Such a nice little level! The combination of that tileset, the music by Fubaka and your excellent design made it a perfect level to relax and wind down to :-)
Initially I was stumped, as others, about wich challenge to be able to make without the run powerup.

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Offline Vegetal Gibber

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Re: [Challenge/Scenic] [Hard] [Small] Emerald Sanctuary
« Reply #24 on: April 19, 2018, 13:46:15 »
Thanks for the kind words, glad you enjoyed the level! :)  It's true that it can be somewhat disorienting at the start, though, which is why I tried to make the path to the Run power-up a bit easier to find/follow in the updates. I'll probably take a slightly different approach in future challenge/exploration levels to avoid this.
Some KS levels by me:

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Offline bernd

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Re: [Challenge/Scenic] [Hard] [Small] Emerald Sanctuary
« Reply #25 on: May 08, 2020, 16:47:29 »
Hi, I am currently playing the level and I know basically where I have to go.
but I just cant find a way to cross that one room 2 screens right of the umbrella.

this is a jump that basically requires the umbrella, yet you have to cross it in order to get it.

no idea how. there are no secret blocks or anthing ( i looked at that screen in the editor, so I can be sure)

Edit:Nevermind. I'm dumb :-)
I totally forgot about the hologram ability...
« Last Edit: May 08, 2020, 17:08:42 by bernd »

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Offline pfrangip

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Re: [Challenge/Scenic] [Hard] [Small] Emerald Sanctuary
« Reply #26 on: May 09, 2020, 01:43:47 »
Just saw this at the top and played it for the first time. Love these little levels with custom tilesets, custom music, and a wide range of difficult challenges. I loved this tileset especially. Thanks for making this!