4:27 No one ever expects the legend of Spiked Wall Man. EDIT: I just realized that the timestamp was a second late, so I went to change it. And now the heart is gone. Dang it.
@@slash6814 oh so your Mr critic guy,this guy tried his best and probably work very hard on this, so don't put people down it just makes you sound like errogant person
*makes a comprehensive, long stage with various gameplay mechanics and ways of playing* Rating: -2 *makes a small stage showcasing that one cool little thing you found others didn't yet* Rating: 34
Yeah, I hate when that happens. Seriously, I put my heart and soul into creating my Intergalactic Weapons Quest levels (the remaster of the first one is uploaded on Dr. Lumen's channel)... and the only get 4 or 5 upvotes. WHAT? Can somebody explain THAT logic?!
@@JNewsted1988Because some people rarely want to go for what's original. I see remakes of Mega Man levels in the database, getting better recognition than if you make your own campaign series or something. Not saying you SHOULDN'T, though.
A bit of bad level design the really grinds my gears: no energy refill before required weapon segments. If you're going to make a specific weapon required to beat a segment of your level, for the love of fuck people put in a fast and easy way to refill that weapon's energy before the segment! ESPECIALLY if the segment comes right after a point of no return checkpoint. There's nothing worse than hitting a checkpoint after a vertical fall segment then walking one screen to the right and finding an impossibly long bottomless pit that can only be cleared with something like rush jet or thunder claw but you spent all the weapon energy earlier in the level and now have to either farm energy from the single telly that slowly drifts in from the far side of the screen or restart from the beginning of the level.
Even the official games give you energy refills in those situations. In Mega Man 1, right before the screen where Magnet Beam is required, there's two small energy pickups to the right of the Footholders. If you collect them, they respawn when you go to the next screen and then come back down, so you will have enough energy for Magnet Beam, as well as every other weapon.
Just another bit of advice: if you _have_ to put up with screen wobble (let's say you're making a Metroidvania, which will inevitably end up with joined T-junctions in the map), at least make sure to fill the the surrounding screens with tiles if you can.
I don't play Megaman Maker myself, but playing Mario Maker has made me realize just how big of a pet peeve bad level design is of mine. THANK YOU FOR MAKING THIS.
Ah I’m rather glad this showed up on my recommendations, not only do to the humor of it, but also if I ever need to explain to someone how to make a good mega man maker level I just show them this video, and tell them these are some basics to keep in mind cause frankly this really is on point when it comes to the rules of making a good an enjoyable level at the least
This video can also apply for people who want to start making their own fan games, this is a great tutorial for level designs, thank you for making this video.
4:37 another way you can avoid screen wobble is if you fill a whole entire screen with the same tilesets. I used this truck before in one of my mashup levels.
No! You can't just make a fair stage with an interesting use of enemies and gimmicks that's not MegaMan 2 design you need to make your levels be like MegaMan 2 MegaMan 2 is the best MegaMan game eveeeeeer!!!
Oh boy, this is video is four years ago... But that way... This is very easy to understand why level designs was harder for newbies, yet easier make good design choices for professionals... Also 1.9 update is coming August 15th 2024, so yeah... If update is getting released, mostly going crazy sometimes...
when i made my third* level, i get negative votes and in the time i didn t realise that the level is shit and when i played now, i understand why is so bad. So i made a redesign of this level and is now good. (i think).
As far as level design, one faux pas I've seen numerous times is a screen with no obvious exit: if you have pits at the left or right of a screen but your level is meant to continue to the left or right beyond those pits, you have to leave some ground there to let players know. Otherwise they'll think the exit is through the pit and die. That can be funny once, but it becomes frustrating *very* quickly. EDIT: Unless of course this type of blind jump is part of a larger level gimmick. You can find a way to justify just about any weird idea, but you have to be smart and fair about it. Like you said in the video, there are no hard and fast *rules* about how to make a level, just game design principles that make for a good starting point.
I try to do most of these already but never really thought about the Wily Challenge one at all and mainly just used lives for a quick heal for the next section
This doesn't only go for Mega Man, it goes for every creator game, well at least most of them do. Also for someone with a little amount of subscribers this video has tons of polish on it. Nice job.
Here's a couple things you could have mentioned: First, weapon based levels. If your level requires usage of special weapons, please, HAVE REFILLS EVERYWHERE. Your weapons don't reatores after death, so you need to include refills at EVERY CHECKPOINT Also, If you really, REALLY, want to include an overpowered weapon, make It a secret. Make the player fall down a suspicious hole, or slide against nothing, for that overpowered weapon. You can include your favorite weapon, and incentivise exploration from the player, both at the same time And finally, remember about Boss weaknesses. No matter How tough your Boss fight is, If you give It a weakness, the player Will Destroy it in 10 seconds. I've seen so many "custom" Bosses which Are super cool, but they have a really Dumb weakness that makes them completely mute. If you're going to give your Boss a weakness, have a reason to do so. Is the Boss hard to hit in the arena you built? Or are there multiple Bosses at once? Or is the weakness a hidden weapon? The reason weaknesses Are a thing in the original Megaman games is to add Variety in repeated playthroughs, and make the later Bosses easier than the earlier ones If the player decides to experiment their arsenal. There's no reason to give your player 12 weapon slots, and make the most broken weapon the boss's weakness. Also, please don't Just remake original classic levels. If you're gonna remake them, add your own Twist Like the creator of this vídeo, im not salty or anything... Just... Don't simply rebuild a level
I agree, but it feel these are some "step 2" and not so much the bare bones aspects i was going for (xept the boss weakness could've had that at the challenge section actually...) Might do these for some slightly more advanced mistakes in a future video.
I agree with pretty much all points in your video, but I feel that, when talking about "trial and error", you didn't specify what kind of trial and error you mean and made it look like it's just bad design in general. It's not. You need to balance it out, which is really hard, but makes levels more memorable and challenging. See, it's all about overcoming obstacles, and to do that you have to learn something. And sometimes you can only learn the hard way, through trial and error. The easiest example is pretty much any bossfight in pretty much any action game. It HAS to force you to learn how to dodge and attack, to memorize it's pattern or understand it's AI, before you can beat it. If a bossfight doesn't do that then most of the time it ends up being either lame, boring, laughably easy or all of the above. So trial and error IS very important to a certain degree. The same principle can be applied to the leveldesign (to a much smaller degree, but still). If you see an enemy or a gimmick combo you've never seen before - you need to get used to it, to get the feel for it, to use your prior knowledge to adjust your timing. That's the process of learning. And, unlike school, in videogames learning can be very fun. I also have a personal issue with the current "ideal" introduction screen. I feel like people who make separate "DEMONSTRATION" screens for every basic gimmick and every simple enemy end up treating players like idiots. I'm not saying introductions don't need to be safe, but you can be more creative than just make a freaking gallery of all your assets. You can (and should) treat players like human beings that understand basic logic and have an average reaction time. If I jump onto a long ring bridge over spikes I CAN see that it disappears from the opposite side and I can THINK and REACT fast enough to realize I need to get back to safety. All that garbage setup at 3:06 needs to be perfectly acceptable for introduction is a little piece of solid ground to the left. If you rush forward while clearly seeing that something is not right then it's very much your fault and a punishment for not paying any attention at all. You say "trial and error makes you feel like a rat in the lab", well, I think it applies just as well to the concept of a 100% fool-proof introduction screen because it feels sterile and soulless. In my book, good introductions most of the times don't need a separate screen OR to be 100% safe. They have to slowly blend into the level, keeping the flow instead of breaking it to a halt for a "LOOK HERE YOU IDIOT THIS IS A GIMMICK" screen. I honestly don't care all that much for what MM fans consider to be 100% truly authentic leveldesign. I'm just tired of all the sterile traditional levels that always play safe and provide zero actual challenge, never taking any risks or trying something new and unexpected. It's like they're following a step-by-step guide on how to make a generic uninteresting level. Of course, those said levels always seem to get praised the most, getting 40+ score. Is my opinion worthless then? Probably. Anyway, great video.
You're probably right If going by the actual definition of trial and error, a level devoided of it, is either imposible (to make) or patheticly easy. The main goal of the video is to convince the stubborn new players who, as prefixed by the statement "it's not meant to be easy you know?" (which i've really been told to to defend some of the stuff recreated here) use trial and error as something to die on to create a fake sense of challange. I've seen some really weird and unnatural gimmick introductions too... Maybe a mention of that and a diference between proper trial and error where in order, but i failed to in my attempt to keep things super simple. Yet, i don't think they're nearly as common mistakes. (btw as said in the description i don't hold these rules above creativity and experimentation. I fear that someone may start hating on stuff just because it doesn't follow this video)
Yes, with the amount of time it goes into one level, the lack of exposure a level usually gets, and the reddit-like votes system, it isn't hard to get salty for getting less likes.
That killer bullet level looks fine, I think. In a game where you have the Mega Buster as your default weapon they are hardly comparable to the likes of Medusa Head. I also feel that some of those can get a pass depending on the intentions of the levek creator. The need to introduce a gimmick cam get in the way if a level is supposed to be reaction-based, but not quite a kaizo. But overall I think it's a pretty good video. There are some grammar slips here and there, but it gets the point across and is entertaining to boot. Great job. Also, I lost count of the amount of times I find a level with an elevator section with weak enemies where they give you Jewel Satellite.
Great advice, and great production value too. And the black & white part with the sad flying bug enemy legitimately made me chuckle. One of my pet peeves is when sliding into the next screen drops you off of a pit or into spikes. I could be wrong, but I'm pretty sure the original NES games were pretty consistent in giving you a slide's worth of "breathing room" at the start of each room so you could freely slide through screen transitions if you wanted to.
One thing that an old friend recommended to me, which is very useful, you can put the objects that you are going to use in the levels in a little room far away (preferably also the backgrounds).
I just noticed how asshole past me was when i remembered a level with a hidden wall where you get the key to win the level, dude, i am a horrible human being
@@velocilevon People who follow the Meta of "3 enemies and two gimmicks" while making the stage easy and give the player energy refills constantly get praised.
Also a tip dont include too much weapons its just feels so disorginised (and of course many of the same types like rolling cutter, shadow blade, ring boomerang etc)
I'm glad I'm only guilty of the texture blending issue (with spikes) and the camera wobble issues. I try to avoid those but sometimes my level design doesn't allow it and by the time I notice I already cram packed every nook and cranny in a small segment with decent level design that I don't want to mess up.
...I only just got that the Met walk in on Megaman's shower at 1:14 Love this video, even on re-watching. Everything from pacing to humor, to also how you defend explain your opinions.
This style of video is really great! I always thought explaining things through text would be overwhelming, but you’ve shown me that text isn’t so bad. Amazing video!
I find this a very good guide since I've been working on a series of levels that will follow a bit of a story. In other words, a Mega Man game within a Mega Man game. And yes, I went to these situations before I learned from most of my mistakes in designing Mega Man Maker levels.
I feel like if I picked the thing up after seeing this I would mostly go by what it lays out but... just bend the rules so much. Sometimes knowingly break them just for a laugh- enemy at a checkpoint that can't possibly reach or be reached by the player, One lone enemy of a unique type in a level with an otherwise reasonable amount of enemy variety, introduce a gimmick in an environment that doesn't _look_ safe but actually _is_ and can be identified as such after looking at it for long enough(or allows the player to Remove The Danger before interacting), that sort of thing.
One interesting thing I've noticed is that unlike Super Mario Maker, it tends to be a lot easier to make fun Mega Man levels without trying too hard. Classic Mega Man has such tight controls that you almost have to be actively _trying_ to frustrate the player to make a genuinely bad level.
I subscribed just because of this video. I have been playing this game for quite a while and never got any some kind of advice from my levels. Boi did that change when I found this video. I learnt so many tips that will definitely help me later when making more levels. Thank you so much, great video.
Really funny and underrated. Since I was already a functional human being with a functional brain, I knew pretty much every single one of these myself, but it's really good to see that people are actually trying and not actually sucking more than MM9. Also, you forgot one thing: Text-editing does not automatically make your level good. Fancy editing should not be used as a way to hide the level's flaws.
So, most of the Time, i put enemies that can't hit You in Checkpoints, to test if people learned something. I did it pretty horrible back then (Put a Goddamn Picket in a Tight space). Now i'm careful to just don't commit such mistakes. Although i must recognise that i fear Cheeses and Trial and Error being in My levels, so i Made sure the Weapons don't Break the game
Drop ups (not from enemies, inside the levels) should be placed correctly. A 1-Up should not be placed a too risky place because there is no logic. Only tanks should be placed risky places. As to 1-Ups, they can be placed where a special weapon use is mandatory. Small energy pellets should be 2 or 3 at most once a time.( 5 small pellet is equal to 1 big pellet) Except for tanks and 1-Ups, no item should be on the first screen. But first screen drop ups should not be able to be taken directly. The middle checkpoint room can have drop ups, that is a good idea. But they should be placed in a way that they must be taken after passing the checkpoint everytime. Boss gates should not have drop ups. Boss rooms should not have drop ups. Midboss rooms should not have drop ups. 2 tanks or 2 1-ups should not be in the same screen, but can be in the same level. 1 tank and 1 1-up can be in the same screen. If there are 2 paths in the level, harder path should have more (as number) or more valuable drop ups. Tanks may be before the midboss while 1-ups may be after them. Gimmicks that vanish drop ups is a very creative idea. In a level which requires a or more special weapons, there must be weapon energy pellet(s). Drop ups's number should not exceed a limit as to the level's difficulty. But there may not be drop ups, if the level is pretty easy. My personal view, a level should have these at maximum amount of them: 1-Up: 2 E-Tank: 2 W-Tank: 1 M/S-Tank: 1 Big energy pellet: 2 Big weapon pellet: 3 Small energy pellet: 5 Small weapon pellet: 7 (Remember that one hp bar is 28 unit of energy, and small energies refill 2 unit)
*YES YES YES!* this is exactly what I wished I could make! I was pretty lucky and learned these tips quickly through trail and error, watching other people’s levels, and looking closely at classic megaman levels, but I could see that other people don’t know some of these tips. I’m not good at making videos so I’m very great full that you made this. You have gained a subscriber. -Fluff Man/Captain Nomekop.
I appreciate this. These are the basics of decent level design. I try to follow these as best I can, even before seeing this. If you have a gimmick, explore it. For instance, I'm making a long stage that explores 6 of them independently based around a single weapon before mashing them all together at the end to see what you can do with them together. I could stand to make the challenges a bit easier, though. (I'm not done making this level, either. It'll be done when I get around to it.) Also, your screen transitions in funny situations are killer. Well made video.
I made a whole Metroidvania, and Im at the testing stages now, its one thing to make a challenging part and be able to do it multiple times when its the only section you're focusing on but when its a full on game you have to take players skill to account, fatigue, the time it takes to finish the game, and of course if its fun or not if you're not having fun making it or playing it most likely others won't either
Thanks for explaining screen wobbles. I wondered why mine did that in one level. Camera panned right for like 1/5 of a second when moving to the next screen.
I need to update on Mega Maker. I’ll improve by this tutorial on how to do so. Thank you Edit: I'm still guilty on some of these but I have improved a bit over the years. This was still helpful.
He is speaking the language of gods! Just Kidding... amazing video you got there, bro. There were some points you mentioned that I already was aware, and others that I will pay more attention next time I'm developing a level. This is really helpful for new players or for those that doesnt know that much about level design.
Honestly, just think about Mega Man 2 when talking about bad level design. Quick Man stage, second to last (I think) Wily stage, where the boss was a couple of orbs stuck on the walls, COMPLETELY immune to any weapon except for crash bomber, and if you didn't know that before entering the room and you don't have full ammo for it then RIP because there's no way to refill ammo, like, ZERO ways. Oh, and be ready to go through half of the damn stage again after dying on that cheap boss, deal with those annoying Sniper Joe Walkers and that one Sniper Joe in the tunnel with zero maneuverability in it. Avoid all this (and what was said in the video) and you're golden.
That happened in 1st MM game, from NES, at Willy's castle stage 1, in a part where u must jump into green flying things, but some of them shots u unnoticed. U don't see it come.
And also, something that is also quite important, is something that people think that makes "hard levels": Telling the player what to actually do: By this I don't mean to give them the solution to everything, but, you have probably seen those kind of maps where you seriously ask yourself how could this be even uploaded, since you can stay like 10 min trying to figure out what the hell are you supossed to do, don't tell exactly what to do to the player, but hell, at least give them a little hint? I don't like getting stuck on the first stage of a level just because I can't find any way out, even with the weapons given to me
Video: *Has good presentation, visuals, structure, pacing, comedy that is subtle and not too in-your-face, fitting with the video's theme, and is just generally good, all the afformentioned traits unfortunately being un-present in most popular modern TH-cam Channels* Channel: *678 Subscribers*
Nah fam, _you don't understand._ If my level doesn't meet the required 78 or more Picket Mans every screen, I'll lose my job!
TH-cam literally crashed a few seconds later after I saw this comment
Picket Man can die in a fire
Is that you, Gutsman?
"Here at picket man co, we treat our jobs very seriously"
That’s rude.
Well boys, we did it, bad level design is no more.
Well... not quite. We need to ACTUALLY eliminate these bad levels from existence.
Not if I have anything to say about it, and I do!
I'm gonna spam the death spikes!
(Thomas Light, get DOWN)
_clap clap_
*makes level with bad level design*
Awezome Person FBI OPEN UP!!!
4:27 What was the name of this boss ?
"Spiked Wall Man"
Oh you suck Wily.
"Well, finally..."
Classic!
this is a great reply
SCRacing2017 “Convert it to a ZIP file Bass, I don’t want to hear it!”
"You'd think an evil GENIUS would've thought about making an inescapable ROOM full of instant death spikes WAY before he made a SPRING MAN."
4:27 No one ever expects the legend of Spiked Wall Man.
EDIT: I just realized that the timestamp was a second late, so I went to change it. And now the heart is gone. Dang it.
Here, have it
❤️
No homo tho
ItsMeFacu :)
Oh… You suck wily
*_THEFIRSTVICTIMOFTHEROBOTAPOCALYPSESAYSWHAT_*
I'm sharing this everywhere I can. Why doesn't this have more views?
Not to be THAT guy but the pickman levels aren’t exactly traditional levels. They are supposed to have a different approach than regular levels.
Ik
Because people are too broke for computers
@@slash6814 oh so your Mr critic guy,this guy tried his best and probably work very hard on this, so don't put people down it just makes you sound like errogant person
@@slash6814 oh and you're shitty videos do?
Me: (Make a good level, mechanics and bosses)
2 upvotes
Someone: (Make a fan-service level with Mega Man 2 tematic)
1783 upvoted the most popular
Don’t forget that random downvote 4 minutes after you publish your level.
*makes a comprehensive, long stage with various gameplay mechanics and ways of playing*
Rating: -2
*makes a small stage showcasing that one cool little thing you found others didn't yet*
Rating: 34
Yeah, I hate when that happens. Seriously, I put my heart and soul into creating my Intergalactic Weapons Quest levels (the remaster of the first one is uploaded on Dr. Lumen's channel)... and the only get 4 or 5 upvotes.
WHAT? Can somebody explain THAT logic?!
I hope you've got over these meaningless ratings.
@@JNewsted1988Because some people rarely want to go for what's original. I see remakes of Mega Man levels in the database, getting better recognition than if you make your own campaign series or something. Not saying you SHOULDN'T, though.
it killed me whenever he spawned in room full pickelman
2:23
3:13
5:59
He turned him into a pickle, Wily. The funniest thing I've ever seen.
@@Frog-ux5qu OMG he actually did? God that's hilarious
He called himself
*Megaman Boss transition starts*
PICKLEMAN
@@krisalis_ i know I just made the name funnier
it also killed the player
These bad levels are as cursed as Mario maker ones.
A bit of bad level design the really grinds my gears: no energy refill before required weapon segments.
If you're going to make a specific weapon required to beat a segment of your level, for the love of fuck people put in a fast and easy way to refill that weapon's energy before the segment! ESPECIALLY if the segment comes right after a point of no return checkpoint. There's nothing worse than hitting a checkpoint after a vertical fall segment then walking one screen to the right and finding an impossibly long bottomless pit that can only be cleared with something like rush jet or thunder claw but you spent all the weapon energy earlier in the level and now have to either farm energy from the single telly that slowly drifts in from the far side of the screen or restart from the beginning of the level.
Was that a robot pun?
Even the official games give you energy refills in those situations. In Mega Man 1, right before the screen where Magnet Beam is required, there's two small energy pickups to the right of the Footholders. If you collect them, they respawn when you go to the next screen and then come back down, so you will have enough energy for Magnet Beam, as well as every other weapon.
4:27 Nice reference to Dr. Wily Fails at Life.
Dude the comedic timing with your editing in *on-point,* well done.
Never heard of this "Picket Man" until now but I'll be sure to avoid him and just stick to filling my levels w/the Pickelman! ;D
Funny guys get the guillotine
@@xboxerhummer aye aye captain
@@Fizz-Q lmao
@@jestfullgremblim8002 You'll be next lmao 😆
@@xboxerhummer I agree, the French were hilarious
4:39 *Splash woman’s stage and wily 6 in mm2 would both like to have a word with you*
The base games aren't exactly the pinnacle of design themselves either. Though I will uphold that most of mm9's level design is good.
Just another bit of advice: if you _have_ to put up with screen wobble (let's say you're making a Metroidvania, which will inevitably end up with joined T-junctions in the map), at least make sure to fill the the surrounding screens with tiles if you can.
I don't play Megaman Maker myself, but playing Mario Maker has made me realize just how big of a pet peeve bad level design is of mine. THANK YOU FOR MAKING THIS.
Why was he here? What was his backstory?
What's his favorite ice cream flavor?
The last sentence cracked me up
Ah I’m rather glad this showed up on my recommendations, not only do to the humor of it, but also if I ever need to explain to someone how to make a good mega man maker level I just show them this video, and tell them these are some basics to keep in mind cause frankly this really is on point when it comes to the rules of making a good an enjoyable level at the least
This video can also apply for people who want to start making their own fan games, this is a great tutorial for level designs, thank you for making this video.
4:37 another way you can avoid screen wobble is if you fill a whole entire screen with the same tilesets. I used this truck before in one of my mashup levels.
Well the screen still shakes there. But if changing the layout to outright prevent it sacrifices some of the level desing, it's a fine alternative
Truck
@@xboxerhummer You could make the two screens be some squiggly path leading to a proper direction.
No! You can't just make a fair stage with an interesting use of enemies and gimmicks that's not MegaMan 2 design you need to make your levels be like MegaMan 2 MegaMan 2 is the best MegaMan game eveeeeeer!!!
Haha checkpoint go *prrrrWnn*
bobem trap funee bos god bos mm2 best
Quick man laser goes BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOP
Haha Sniper Joe in tunnel with literally no space to dodge go pew pew
@@gotekeeper9519 haha metal blade go BZZZT
Therapist: shiny e-tank isn’t real, it can’t hurt you.
Shiny E-Tank: 6:36
Oh boy, this is video is four years ago...
But that way... This is very easy to understand why level designs was harder for newbies, yet easier make good design choices for professionals...
Also 1.9 update is coming August 15th 2024, so yeah... If update is getting released, mostly going crazy sometimes...
when i made my third* level, i get negative votes and in the time i didn t realise that the level is shit and when i played now, i understand why is so bad. So i made a redesign of this level and is now good. (i think).
I DIDNT KNOW THERE WAS A MEGAMAN MAKER HOLY SHIT THANK YOU SO MUCH TH-cam RECOMMENDED
As far as level design, one faux pas I've seen numerous times is a screen with no obvious exit: if you have pits at the left or right of a screen but your level is meant to continue to the left or right beyond those pits, you have to leave some ground there to let players know. Otherwise they'll think the exit is through the pit and die.
That can be funny once, but it becomes frustrating *very* quickly.
EDIT: Unless of course this type of blind jump is part of a larger level gimmick. You can find a way to justify just about any weird idea, but you have to be smart and fair about it. Like you said in the video, there are no hard and fast *rules* about how to make a level, just game design principles that make for a good starting point.
I try to do most of these already but never really thought about the Wily Challenge one at all and mainly just used lives for a quick heal for the next section
The editing on this is really good.
Like, even without a vocal track, the subtitles felt perfectly paced with the visual gags.
This doesn't only go for Mega Man, it goes for every creator game, well at least most of them do. Also for someone with a little amount of subscribers this video has tons of polish on it. Nice job.
This was the video that made me downloaded Mega Maker. All I can say is that I am very, VERY glad I watched this before I started making levels.
Here's a couple things you could have mentioned:
First, weapon based levels. If your level requires usage of special weapons, please, HAVE REFILLS EVERYWHERE. Your weapons don't reatores after death, so you need to include refills at EVERY CHECKPOINT
Also, If you really, REALLY, want to include an overpowered weapon, make It a secret. Make the player fall down a suspicious hole, or slide against nothing, for that overpowered weapon. You can include your favorite weapon, and incentivise exploration from the player, both at the same time
And finally, remember about Boss weaknesses. No matter How tough your Boss fight is, If you give It a weakness, the player Will Destroy it in 10 seconds. I've seen so many "custom" Bosses which Are super cool, but they have a really Dumb weakness that makes them completely mute. If you're going to give your Boss a weakness, have a reason to do so. Is the Boss hard to hit in the arena you built? Or are there multiple Bosses at once? Or is the weakness a hidden weapon?
The reason weaknesses Are a thing in the original Megaman games is to add Variety in repeated playthroughs, and make the later Bosses easier than the earlier ones If the player decides to experiment their arsenal. There's no reason to give your player 12 weapon slots, and make the most broken weapon the boss's weakness.
Also, please don't Just remake original classic levels. If you're gonna remake them, add your own Twist
Like the creator of this vídeo, im not salty or anything... Just... Don't simply rebuild a level
I agree, but it feel these are some "step 2" and not so much the bare bones aspects i was going for (xept the boss weakness could've had that at the challenge section actually...)
Might do these for some slightly more advanced mistakes in a future video.
I agree with pretty much all points in your video, but I feel that, when talking about "trial and error", you didn't specify what kind of trial and error you mean and made it look like it's just bad design in general. It's not. You need to balance it out, which is really hard, but makes levels more memorable and challenging. See, it's all about overcoming obstacles, and to do that you have to learn something. And sometimes you can only learn the hard way, through trial and error. The easiest example is pretty much any bossfight in pretty much any action game. It HAS to force you to learn how to dodge and attack, to memorize it's pattern or understand it's AI, before you can beat it. If a bossfight doesn't do that then most of the time it ends up being either lame, boring, laughably easy or all of the above. So trial and error IS very important to a certain degree. The same principle can be applied to the leveldesign (to a much smaller degree, but still). If you see an enemy or a gimmick combo you've never seen before - you need to get used to it, to get the feel for it, to use your prior knowledge to adjust your timing. That's the process of learning. And, unlike school, in videogames learning can be very fun.
I also have a personal issue with the current "ideal" introduction screen. I feel like people who make separate "DEMONSTRATION" screens for every basic gimmick and every simple enemy end up treating players like idiots. I'm not saying introductions don't need to be safe, but you can be more creative than just make a freaking gallery of all your assets. You can (and should) treat players like human beings that understand basic logic and have an average reaction time. If I jump onto a long ring bridge over spikes I CAN see that it disappears from the opposite side and I can THINK and REACT fast enough to realize I need to get back to safety. All that garbage setup at 3:06 needs to be perfectly acceptable for introduction is a little piece of solid ground to the left. If you rush forward while clearly seeing that something is not right then it's very much your fault and a punishment for not paying any attention at all. You say "trial and error makes you feel like a rat in the lab", well, I think it applies just as well to the concept of a 100% fool-proof introduction screen because it feels sterile and soulless. In my book, good introductions most of the times don't need a separate screen OR to be 100% safe. They have to slowly blend into the level, keeping the flow instead of breaking it to a halt for a "LOOK HERE YOU IDIOT THIS IS A GIMMICK" screen. I honestly don't care all that much for what MM fans consider to be 100% truly authentic leveldesign. I'm just tired of all the sterile traditional levels that always play safe and provide zero actual challenge, never taking any risks or trying something new and unexpected. It's like they're following a step-by-step guide on how to make a generic uninteresting level. Of course, those said levels always seem to get praised the most, getting 40+ score. Is my opinion worthless then? Probably.
Anyway, great video.
You're probably right
If going by the actual definition of trial and error, a level devoided of it, is either imposible (to make) or patheticly easy.
The main goal of the video is to convince the stubborn new players who, as prefixed by the statement "it's not meant to be easy you know?" (which i've really been told to to defend some of the stuff recreated here) use trial and error as something to die on to create a fake sense of challange.
I've seen some really weird and unnatural gimmick introductions too... Maybe a mention of that and a diference between proper trial and error where in order, but i failed to in my attempt to keep things super simple. Yet, i don't think they're nearly as common mistakes.
(btw as said in the description i don't hold these rules above creativity and experimentation. I fear that someone may start hating on stuff just because it doesn't follow this video)
@@xboxerhummer hey, I did say I agree with pretty much all your points. I just wanted to share my thoughts on some of them. :)
@@xboxerhummer Torch Man Stage is the perfect example of how you can make trial and error balanced and overall improve a level.
{Well structured joke})
Me: )
{Picket Man room})
Me: WHEEZE)
)
@@cristobalruz9982 Callado)
No)
(Whats with the brackets)
@@noob_man8985 I now have your soul)
6:00 This made me laugh way too hard
Yes, with the amount of time it goes into one level, the lack of exposure a level usually gets, and the reddit-like votes system, it isn't hard to get salty for getting less likes.
2:21
I laughed so hard in this part Lmao
Mega man after this: X_X
😎😎🛌😎😎
I think it gets even funnier when he reuses it later. Like at 6:01
@@justsem1368 it's perfectly cut
That killer bullet level looks fine, I think. In a game where you have the Mega Buster as your default weapon they are hardly comparable to the likes of Medusa Head.
I also feel that some of those can get a pass depending on the intentions of the levek creator. The need to introduce a gimmick cam get in the way if a level is supposed to be reaction-based, but not quite a kaizo.
But overall I think it's a pretty good video. There are some grammar slips here and there, but it gets the point across and is entertaining to boot. Great job.
Also, I lost count of the amount of times I find a level with an elevator section with weak enemies where they give you Jewel Satellite.
Instant Comedy: Just add Picket Men!
No seriously, I laughed at every single of those bait and Picket switch moments I hate it.
Great advice, and great production value too.
And the black & white part with the sad flying bug enemy legitimately made me chuckle.
One of my pet peeves is when sliding into the next screen drops you off of a pit or into spikes. I could be wrong, but I'm pretty sure the original NES games were pretty consistent in giving you a slide's worth of "breathing room" at the start of each room so you could freely slide through screen transitions if you wanted to.
I took your advice, and i realice there is a very thin line between what people see annoying, and intelligent it really helped me, thanks
One thing that an old friend recommended to me, which is very useful, you can put the objects that you are going to use in the levels in a little room far away (preferably also the backgrounds).
7:03 I think the likes have more to do with the level id than the level itself.
I just noticed how asshole past me was when i remembered a level with a hidden wall where you get the key to win the level, dude, i am a horrible human being
*when you have a level that violeates all of those*
Don't worry, you'll still get more likes than an average well-designed level.
@@velocilevon People who follow the Meta of "3 enemies and two gimmicks" while making the stage easy and give the player energy refills constantly get praised.
Thanks for the tips. Just made my first level and tried to follow these
Also a tip dont include too much weapons its just feels so disorginised (and of course many of the same types like rolling cutter, shadow blade, ring boomerang etc)
I always try to have at least 1 sheild and 1 screen nuke
@@toastNeko and one utility weapon like Concrete Shot, Pile Driver or Wheel Cutter.
I'm glad I'm only guilty of the texture blending issue (with spikes) and the camera wobble issues. I try to avoid those but sometimes my level design doesn't allow it and by the time I notice I already cram packed every nook and cranny in a small segment with decent level design that I don't want to mess up.
woah I had no idea this fangame still exists! I haven't heard anything about this game since it's release, glad to see it's still thriving!
...I only just got that the Met walk in on Megaman's shower at 1:14
Love this video, even on re-watching. Everything from pacing to humor, to also how you defend explain your opinions.
This style of video is really great! I always thought explaining things through text would be overwhelming, but you’ve shown me that text isn’t so bad. Amazing video!
I find this a very good guide since I've been working on a series of levels that will follow a bit of a story. In other words, a Mega Man game within a Mega Man game.
And yes, I went to these situations before I learned from most of my mistakes in designing Mega Man Maker levels.
I feel like if I picked the thing up after seeing this I would mostly go by what it lays out but... just bend the rules so much. Sometimes knowingly break them just for a laugh- enemy at a checkpoint that can't possibly reach or be reached by the player, One lone enemy of a unique type in a level with an otherwise reasonable amount of enemy variety, introduce a gimmick in an environment that doesn't _look_ safe but actually _is_ and can be identified as such after looking at it for long enough(or allows the player to Remove The Danger before interacting), that sort of thing.
This is really well made! I’m glad people are still talking about this game and your tips are very helpful for newer players!
This is a pretty good video for Mega Man Maker Building Tips.
This is also a solid video for general level design, it could be applied to Mario Maker and original games. Thanks for this, great job!
One interesting thing I've noticed is that unlike Super Mario Maker, it tends to be a lot easier to make fun Mega Man levels without trying too hard. Classic Mega Man has such tight controls that you almost have to be actively _trying_ to frustrate the player to make a genuinely bad level.
I used to make megaman maker levels back in the day when it just released and this thing has changed inmensely.
I downloaded mega man maker a few weeks ago and this was a really cool video to find thanks for making it
Nice one, I always like to test around with Gimmiks, Enemys and Weapons before I start to design a Stage
I subscribed just because of this video. I have been playing this game for quite a while and never got any some kind of advice from my levels. Boi did that change when I found this video. I learnt so many tips that will definitely help me later when making more levels. Thank you so much, great video.
"PLEASE! Stop making levels with trash design!"
Mario maker 1 and 2: "First time?"
Honestly, feels like there's alot less complete rubbish in Mario Maker 2 compared to the first one. Even in Endless Easy and Super Expert.
HOW DO YOU NOT HAVE MORE LIKES!?
The bits of comedy and the information given are awesome. I know some people who could use some of these tips
The levels are actually good in today's age, you really did a good job.
Really funny and underrated. Since I was already a functional human being with a functional brain, I knew pretty much every single one of these myself, but it's really good to see that people are actually trying and not actually sucking more than MM9.
Also, you forgot one thing: Text-editing does not automatically make your level good. Fancy editing should not be used as a way to hide the level's flaws.
I need to find a tutorial for that
I am not even a mega man fan and I am getting highly entertained by this video! Gonna use this on my Mario Maker levels!
So, most of the Time, i put enemies that can't hit You in Checkpoints, to test if people learned something. I did it pretty horrible back then (Put a Goddamn Picket in a Tight space).
Now i'm careful to just don't commit such mistakes. Although i must recognise that i fear Cheeses and Trial and Error being in My levels, so i Made sure the Weapons don't Break the game
Hot Dog is always supposed to be at a higher plane than Mega Man.
Sounds like it's Obi Wan's dog. Addicted to the power of the highground
Drop ups (not from enemies, inside the levels) should be placed correctly.
A 1-Up should not be placed a too risky place because there is no logic.
Only tanks should be placed risky places.
As to 1-Ups, they can be placed where a special weapon use is mandatory.
Small energy pellets should be 2 or 3 at most once a time.( 5 small pellet is equal to 1 big pellet)
Except for tanks and 1-Ups, no item should be on the first screen. But first screen drop ups should not be able to be taken directly.
The middle checkpoint room can have drop ups, that is a good idea. But they should be placed in a way that they must be taken after passing the checkpoint everytime.
Boss gates should not have drop ups.
Boss rooms should not have drop ups.
Midboss rooms should not have drop ups.
2 tanks or 2 1-ups should not be in the same screen, but can be in the same level.
1 tank and 1 1-up can be in the same screen.
If there are 2 paths in the level, harder path should have more (as number) or more valuable drop ups.
Tanks may be before the midboss while 1-ups may be after them.
Gimmicks that vanish drop ups is a very creative idea.
In a level which requires a or more special weapons, there must be weapon energy pellet(s).
Drop ups's number should not exceed a limit as to the level's difficulty. But there may not be drop ups, if the level is pretty easy.
My personal view, a level should have these at maximum amount of them:
1-Up: 2
E-Tank: 2
W-Tank: 1
M/S-Tank: 1
Big energy pellet: 2
Big weapon pellet: 3
Small energy pellet: 5
Small weapon pellet: 7
(Remember that one hp bar is 28 unit of energy, and small energies refill 2 unit)
Informative and humorous, this channel definitely deserves more attention
me: gets cheakpoint
picket men: ima bout to end this mans whole career
First level I made put Bass with nothing but Shine against... I want to say Magnet Man but I can't remember.
Now i know why people disliked "Bass needs fuel'' too much random enemies and no checkpoints, the creator should watch this
*YES YES YES!* this is exactly what I wished I could make! I was pretty lucky and learned these tips quickly through trail and error, watching other people’s levels, and looking closely at classic megaman levels, but I could see that other people don’t know some of these tips. I’m not good at making videos so I’m very great full that you made this.
You have gained a subscriber.
-Fluff Man/Captain Nomekop.
This video made me play Megamaker again thanks for the inspiration
I appreciate this. These are the basics of decent level design. I try to follow these as best I can, even before seeing this. If you have a gimmick, explore it. For instance, I'm making a long stage that explores 6 of them independently based around a single weapon before mashing them all together at the end to see what you can do with them together. I could stand to make the challenges a bit easier, though. (I'm not done making this level, either. It'll be done when I get around to it.)
Also, your screen transitions in funny situations are killer. Well made video.
3:10
LOL the bad level is the same one with the enemy checkpoint.
Great humor. Great pacing.
Edit: 6:00 OMG CANT BREATHE
love the editing, the cuts r rly well placed
This honestly can be called your mega man maker level sucks and here's why
I made a whole Metroidvania, and Im at the testing stages now, its one thing to make a challenging part and be able to do it multiple times when its the only section you're focusing on but when its a full on game you have to take players skill to account, fatigue, the time it takes to finish the game, and of course if its fun or not if you're not having fun making it or playing it most likely others won't either
Top reason people set the Mega Buster as the weakness for the boss: They can breeze through the level yet the boss is just the pain part.
Thanks for explaining screen wobbles. I wondered why mine did that in one level. Camera panned right for like 1/5 of a second when moving to the next screen.
I need to update on Mega Maker. I’ll improve by this tutorial on how to do so. Thank you
Edit: I'm still guilty on some of these but I have improved a bit over the years. This was still helpful.
He is speaking the language of gods! Just Kidding... amazing video you got there, bro. There were some points you mentioned that I already was aware, and others that I will pay more attention next time I'm developing a level. This is really helpful for new players or for those that doesnt know that much about level design.
This is a well made video. If I still had a my old laptop I'd probably take a crack at Megaman Maker
4:27 "Wait what was the name of this boss???"
**SPIKED WALL MAN**
4:28 "Oh you suck Willy.."
Man
This is gonna help me so much
I loved this video dude, this is high quality
I never played Mega Man Maker, but I could use your tips in Super Mario Maker! Thanks so much!
2:25 it is what it is... Begins Yeeting Picks
Honestly, just think about Mega Man 2 when talking about bad level design. Quick Man stage, second to last (I think) Wily stage, where the boss was a couple of orbs stuck on the walls, COMPLETELY immune to any weapon except for crash bomber, and if you didn't know that before entering the room and you don't have full ammo for it then RIP because there's no way to refill ammo, like, ZERO ways. Oh, and be ready to go through half of the damn stage again after dying on that cheap boss, deal with those annoying Sniper Joe Walkers and that one Sniper Joe in the tunnel with zero maneuverability in it. Avoid all this (and what was said in the video) and you're golden.
it's just what should go in the creation tutorial, i love it.
This is so good! Love this! :)
That happened in 1st MM game, from NES, at Willy's castle stage 1, in a part where u must jump into green flying things, but some of them shots u unnoticed. U don't see it come.
And also, something that is also quite important, is something that people think that makes "hard levels": Telling the player what to actually do: By this I don't mean to give them the solution to everything, but, you have probably seen those kind of maps where you seriously ask yourself how could this be even uploaded, since you can stay like 10 min trying to figure out what the hell are you supossed to do, don't tell exactly what to do to the player, but hell, at least give them a little hint? I don't like getting stuck on the first stage of a level just because I can't find any way out, even with the weapons given to me
me: watches video
also me: *spams enemies and uploads it in 1 hour*
Thx for likes (:
@@Fire-bj9ds shut your fuck
@@PoorPescado no u
@@PoorPescado what's a fuck, and how can i shut it??
@@expresionless953 yes
The Crunch Don in the thumbnail looks like he wants to break Mega Man's entire existence.
This is very useful for platforming videogame design as well, great video!
If every level creator had to watch this before uploading, the average quality of levels would jump tenfold.
Video: *Has good presentation, visuals, structure, pacing, comedy that is subtle and not too in-your-face, fitting with the video's theme, and is just generally good, all the afformentioned traits unfortunately being un-present in most popular modern TH-cam Channels*
Channel: *678 Subscribers*
So... Can we get *that* backstory now...?
Xboxer : are you mental?!
Me : I'm not mental.
It makes me happy that lots of people still know about this game!