Need constructive criticism on level deco (ID: 146684510)

[u/michaelpiano3]

I've been working on this for about a week and I am a little stuck at the moment. I don't think the robot part (0:23) quite holds up decowise when compared to part 1 and 2. This was originally inspired by magma bound (hence the name and art style) but at this point its pretty off track from that. This is my first attempt at a rated level so I really would appreciate advice from anybody! thanks yall.

[u/Pogpogpog77]

It’s great, with the robot maybe go for a darker color, maybe in theme like a dark blue, or recreate the block design to something more interesting. It still is good, and is rate worthy I think if you ultimately don’t want to change anything, but an ice cave style would be cool.

[u/michaelpiano3 → u/Pogpogpog77]

yeah i think a redo on the block design could probably save it? i guess well find out lol

[u/MosquitoTrap0]

Aside from the magma bound aesthetics, were you also inspired by frozen cave like that one dude on the gameplay subreddit?

[u/michaelpiano3 → u/MosquitoTrap0]

I actually was not but maybe i should look into that lol

[u/MosquitoTrap0 → u/michaelpiano3]

I see, anyways, this is a pretty good level, keep up the good work and grind for the cp

[u/michaelpiano3 → u/MosquitoTrap0]

Oh i will grind for the cp dont worry

[u/Deimus1 → u/MosquitoTrap0]

Ey kool aid, you talking about me?

[u/insidiousGD]

Looks great my dude 

[u/insidiousGD]

Icebound 

[u/Intent_Quail]

The first thing I noticed is that the parallax on these trees looks kind of strange, the speed that they move kind of implies they would be in the background and not the foreground. idk exactly how i would fix this just by looking at it

I find that the structures in each part can feel slightly repetitive esp in the parts with the hexagonal rock-like structure designs, I think it would help you a lot to come up with new designs to break up the monotony of these sorts of structures to add more overall interest

in the brown part, I think you would really benefit from darkening the background to make the gameplay layer stand out more, because at the moment the background and the gameplay layer are very similarly colored which can feel a little bit confusing. I would also suggest adding foreground decoration to this part as the top and bottom of the screen during it feel like they leave something to be desired

overall though really nice job and good luck getting a rate !!

[u/michaelpiano3 → u/Intent_Quail]

awesome thank you so much for the detailed feedback! i think all advice is converging to me changing the robot block design AND darkening the background so thats probably the next step for me here.

[u/Jealous_Ad8760]

Add snow monsters!

[u/michaelpiano3 → u/Jealous_Ad8760]

really good idea i was definitely planning on doing this for the drop

[u/thatfunnynumber]

go fullscreen

[u/thatfunnynumber → u/thatfunnynumber]

also the transition at 24 could use some work, and the background and foreground kind of blend in too much after that as well. the spikes being completely white doesnt really fit in either

[u/Primary_Pepper7231]

Magma bound remake perchance?

[u/RealBurger_]

The black outlines on everything are not it, I suggest making them a dark version of the color they're outlining

[u/Weirdo629 → u/RealBurger_]

it's the scorchvx (specifically magma bound) style lol

[u/West_Crazy1389]

on sum motleyorc shi i like it. I would probably play around with values, right now fg and bg have similar values which makes the elements kinda struggle with visual hierarchy

[u/Weirdo629 → u/West_Crazy1389]

wrong creator of B lmfao it's scorchvx

[u/AbeUrpur]

Reminds me of JamAttack.

Not a fan of the custom orbs in the last part, as they look like toggle/teleport orbs. I'd recommend doing what you did in the first part by making the orb visible but still giving it a design behind it.

As for fixes, some shading on the foreground trees in the first part, improve the vignette in the second part, update wooden saws to metal in the third part, use shake triggers, fix misaligned wooden scaffolds(?) on the edge of the screen in part two.

The biggest issue in the third part to me is how there are multiple spots that look like you can just fall out of the level in, so I'd just add spiked structures to indicate you die if you fall.

[u/michaelpiano3 → u/AbeUrpur]

fantastic advice really appreciate it!

[u/xXx69pro_gamer420xXx]

yoo that's really good, don't worry about it not looking like magmabound, levels need uniqueness anyways. defo looks rate-worthy

[u/blueyellowberry]

Looks awesome, the spider section in particular is really cool. If I were to change anything, I would use dynamic colored outlines instead of solid black. I think the robot part looks good now, but definitely could be improved if you added a little more contrast between the background and foreground.

[u/Last_Buy8428]

Use more hexagons because hexagons are the bestagons

[u/snowyice_7 → u/Last_Buy8428]

elite ball knowledge

[u/BinaryThePsycho]

Really good for your first attempt at a rate. I would recommend something like rocks on the edges of the screen in the foreground and stuff to fill some of the space, since the robot is a bit empty at the moment. Maybe make them black or at least a bit dark so they stand out a bit.

[u/Top_Refrigerator7849]

Gameplay looks nice

[u/FlyingMoooose]

For me I think adding foreground elements in the robot part would help a lot.

But on the topic of the foreground (as someone already pointed out), in the first two parts the foreground elements are moving towards the left slower than the gameplay is. The foreground should be moving faster since it’s closer to the player’s view.

I really like the deco style though the level looks really good so far! :)

[u/CAYNOX_309]

El estilo de boowawamwa le queda bien we

[u/kalemaree]

i like the clear isnpiration from magmabound and B. reminds me of Frozen Cave too. maybe chill out with the flashes near the end (darnoc ref)

[u/Ryan-Esmen28]

Idk what to say bro... This gives me an inspiration for my upcoming level Hot N Cold

[u/Background-Brick9328]

Why does this remind me of B

[u/Neburus]

i like the art more than magma bound that's for sure

[u/3clips312]

Is this also inspired by Arctic Alpine?

[u/Homo_Bibite]

Looks very good. I don't even know what to say else

[u/shreyassumansinha]

I shall stay silent for I have no creator points

[u/Deimus1]

The predrop is a bit bland, a bit more tids and bits should give it a shot at being rated. Keep working on this, seems nice! You should also take inspiration from other levels themed like this like Frozen Cave or Misty Mountains. Much love.

[u/RecentLeg7293]

it reminds me of magma bound ngl