Howl

by Submohr
created Nov 7, 2012
Leaderboards
379 views | 731 downloads

Rating
/ 10 votes

Difficulty
/ 8 votes


map notes
this is a variation on the inspiration for tunnel snake.  i think it's better.  it looks nicer and it plays smoother.  difficulty is relatively easy, i think, since i can clear it.  

there's a hardish any% route that's slow and an easier any% route that's faster.  so the hard route doesn't matter.  it didn't really play out but it didn't really hurt the level so i left it in.

there's a lot of explorable cave if you leave the main route but it's not decorated so much.  i wouldn't recommend exploring.

there's a couple of unforgiving killboxes but i sort of needed them there to prevent a frustrating unbacktrackable fall without also killing people progressing later in the level.

this is my first real foray into camerawork and i think it was okay.  there are a few spots where the camera is a bit funky and sometimes if you want to backtrack you'll have to fight the camera for vision.  but it's nicer overall than having no camera tracks at all.

i think the level flows smoother than other levels i've done, but there's nothing really in this level that's unique (there's the 'tracks' like in tunnel snake, long jump, etc).  it's kind of a mess thematically.  i don't know what to use as props to make some of these rooms more interesting so i just ended up throwing plants inside the building.  gg.

as usual, let me know what could use work/what you like.
retagged Nov 8, 2012

13 comments

Submohr
said Nov 7, 2012
i have no idea if it's my fault or not (or if i'm the only one seeing it) but the replays on this map are acting really strangely for me.  ending at times that don't match leaderboard times, leaving dust on the map but getting SS, etc.  is kind of weird.
Denferok
said Nov 7, 2012
It's fine for me, gonna get a good time now.
Tinker
said Nov 7, 2012
Fine for me too.
Submohr
said Nov 7, 2012
:< i might have just done a run too soon after the map went up or something, the leaderboard had my time at 45 seconds where the replay showed 35~ish, and it replaced both with a 42ish second run i did later.  and denferok's run for a while was leaving a dust patch while still being SS.  all seems well now though :)
Tinker
said Nov 7, 2012
Man, you're a map-making MACHINE. This is really smooth and well-flowing, and fun, as well. The only hitch in the camera I noticed was the bit with the spikes in the any% run, where it can be hard to see where you're going.
Submohr
said Nov 7, 2012
yeah, i'm starting to get the hang of the camera, but it still seems a bit tricky to let the camera detach for an any% and not have it accidentally detach during normal play.  i still have a bit to learn with it i guess.  that being said i didn't expect your initial speedrun route to happen (where you skip most of the level but still wrap around to attack the flag inside) - i expected more like your current run, and so didn't run into the camera problem when testing it.  sorry about that - it was impressive though!
Tinker
said Nov 7, 2012
Haha, I was just exploring to see if I could find some fast routes, but surely the route I took in the end was by far the fastest
Denferok
said Nov 7, 2012
#1 SS and any% :) Great fun but if you would've made the end of the ceiling "snake" then your character wouldn't stick to it after dashing down. Keep making these awesome levels!
SubparFiddle
said Nov 7, 2012
Cool!  I'm saved as "Anonymous" on the replay board! (And I thought that there was actually a person named "Anonymous" that played occasionally... derp)

Nice level, but you should play around with the fog filter a little more to make layer 19 "pop out" visually.  Right now the foreground kinda blends in with the castle backdrop, which can easily be fixed just by making the backdrop a bit darker.  It's not detrimental, but it would help a bit!
lifeformed
said Nov 8, 2012
I second that - it's super important to get the fog filters down, so that background elements sit further back visually.
Submohr
said Nov 9, 2012
out of curiosity, where specifically did you think there was a problem with this?  i didn't feel that way when playtesting it but that could have been because i was familiar enough with the level layout from having designed it to know what was and wasn't backdrop
NoobSlayer
said Nov 8, 2012
Really cool map.  i gotta remember to get a good time when i knock off my rust...
BladeBread
said Jun 26, 2023
Your level design is perfectly balanced. Thank you!

Please log in or register to post a comment.