olcbatnegativeone.j2l | EvilMike's Not-So-Evil Fortress | 10.26 kB | 11 Oct 2010 |
DreamlandPLUS.j2t | Dreamland PLUS | 143.01 kB | 08 Apr 2010 |
Music can be found here: http://www.mediafire.com/?o8wxq6qdci6668n
It’s a track from Super Mario RPG.
This is a sequel to EvilMike’s Evil Fortress (olcbat01). It’s also the complete opposite of that level, in a lot of ways.
This was actually made in 2006, but I didn’t like the original version and thus never released it. It was good enough to save though, so earlier this year I polished it up with the intention of releasing it on J2O (eventually). So, here it is.
This is a fairly large level, and it’s meant for public servers and large games. Therefore, the level design isn’t meant for dueling (although you are welcome to try). I tried to focus on just making a fun level, rather than a tactical one. It is full of powerups, plenty of carrots, a shield, and even a couple of secrets. There’s also a death pit at the bottom, but it’s clearly marked. I would recommend a minimum of 6 players in this level.
Two things make this level unique. The first is that this level is quite tall, but not very wide. The second is that this level has a lot of coins, and a double coin warp system. Pay 100 coins and you’ll get to a place with a seeker powerup. Inside that area, there is another 100 coin warp, which will give you a long lasting water shield! Therefore, you have a choice: spend your money now and get a seeker powerup, or wait a bit longer and get a very powerful shield. I find that with the right amount of players, it’s fairly easy to get the seeker powerup, but quite hard to get the shield.
Well I really enjoyed playing this. It had a different feel to it than other levels do. I suppose since its got more height. The eyecandy was nice. I liked what you did with the space background. Great job. Going into my levellist
This particular level comes from 2006, which was the year of many releases by many prolific JCS people. Even if it wasn’t released until now, it competes against other popular releases (can they be called “classics”, if it’s only been 4 years?) from back then: namely, Helldome, The Chasm, or the IC releases (sorry for being so self indulgent, but come on, those were pretty damn good levels).
This is a mostly vertical battle level, and a unique one at that. The layout isn’t anything revolutionary – it’s basically two towers intersecting at the bottom with surprises at the top – but it utilizes its space well, and it allows for fast action in what may seem like a huge level (100×200). I did wish for a slowly respawning copter, though, for one more fast route from the bottom to the top – useful when you’re chasing your prey. There’s a couple of death pits (one of the first levels utilising them!), they’re nothing to worry about unless you’re really careless. Getting the Blaster powerup (one out of five) may be tricky though.
There’s another powerup that could prove tricky to get. The Seeker powerup requires 100 coins, which may be a little annoying to do with a lot of people in the level, even with the sheer amount of coins in this level. If you get 200 coins, you’ll be awarded with a Water Shield and a whopping 70 seconds of shield time – a definite game changer if there ever was one. With 5 powerups, 4 carrots, and the lingering thought that someone can appear with the shield and dominate everyone, will make playing this level online quite an experience.
While I’m not a huge fan of the Dreamland tileset, I do find this level a very good piece of eyecandy. The background is the highlight: a starry sky behind a series of cascading clouds that feels like taken straight from a Windstorm Fortress level. The upbeat Super Mario RPG music sets the atmosphere – themewise, this level is a 180 turn from the violent and brooding halls of EvilMike’s Evil Fortress, which was a top notch looking (and sounding) level itself. I didn’t get the sequel vibe myself though; if anything, it felt much more like a sequel to the untitled desert level (olcbat03), with its big open spaces and plenty of action (and a coinwarp with a shield :P)
Summing up, this is a very good “forgotten” battle level, and there’s no reason to not download it. It’s big, it’s fast, it looks good, and it’s got the letters MIKE on it. It’s not EM’s best level, or my favorite one, but it deserves a high mark. I give this an 8.2, you should give this a go.
Fun Fact: When EM showed me this level back in 2006, something glitched and all items appeared as double. The image of double seekers in the tunnel at the right was what inspired me to put (deliberately) double ammo in An Uninspired Psych Level. So know you know that it’s not all that uninspired of a level after all.
The sequel thing isn’t so much due to the layout or gameplay. It’s more of a thematic thing. EMEF is a cloudy, stormy, fortress level. EMNSEF is cloudy, peaceful, and also has a sort of fortress. They also have similar backgrounds as you pointed out.
@Toni: That’s not a tilebug. Consider it a hint to a very, very hidden secret. I left it there on purpose.
EvilMike’s Not-So Evil Fortress, as the name says, is fortress with 2 towers. Good, decent, and pretty tactical battle level with a big surprise on the top of the level. I won’t tell what it is, download level and see, but I really like it. You did a great job when you made this.
I like placement of Power UP’s and carrots. Maybe you should not put Water Shield, because it is usually disabled in MP games, but that’s your opinion, you liked it and because of that you added it. Anyone can has a big advantage if (s)he get the shield. Even the worst player can beat you here. That’s very good, and it gives a chance for win to everyone. Also I recommend you to make more battle levels, because this one is very good, with a lot of tricks. Sucker tube is smart-placed there where it is, and in a lot of cases in battle games, very very useful.
Eyecandy is something what is the best in this level. Very good usage of every tile. Maybe you should use translucent tiles somewhere, and captio tile if you wanted to decorate the JJ2 window, but that’s not important now.
Suggestion: you should try to fix that tilebug on the top of the level with layer 3. Position 35,45. I am not 100% sure if that is a tilebug, but it looks very bad. You are able to see your character’s foot =( .
This level will never be annoying. If battle games are as popular as CTF games are, this would have the same “rate” as EotM has in CTF.
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Eat your lima beans, Johnny.
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