CSTSF 2016 Modding Competition Showcase & Voting Thread

Jul 21, 2016 at 5:14 AM
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HERE WE GOOOOOOO
#1 - Hacker Story. The music choice is really what bring this all together IMO, combining with the visuals for a truly classic feel. The encounters didn't get too bad for me and were mostly enjoyable + what flavour text there was was enough to keep the interest boosted an extra notch. The only thing I really thought it could have done with more of was a few more healing items to find outside of battle.

#2 - Critter TD. Tower Defense is a heavily addictive style of game at the best of times, and this has done an entirely respectable job using the CS engine. I know balancing these sort of things isn't easy; change one weapon or one wave somewhere and everything else shifts slightly. Despite that it's been improved to the point almost every weapon ends up being potentially useful at some point during a level, which is nothing to sneeze at. Different waves between maps would've been another boon, but at the same time I don't mind being able to have a 'feel' for what's coming when. It only takes one look at the mod's TSC files to start going crosseyed :critter: :critter:

#3 - STARZZ. What that isn't Sonic BLink WHAT HAVE YOU DONE :muscledoc: The fight is rather hard to control, as others have said, but the player health was generous enough that I was still able to get used to it and beat both forms first time. Fairly impressive hacks, appropriate music and that trailing rainbow effect is far too pretty for its own good. Rainbow Critter hype!

#4 - Precious Thoughts. Oh gosh everyone is liking their own thing aren't they? :toroko2: I do think this retains a leg up In terms of overall depth and content, though, even with the mistakes I didn't have time to fix. I'm happy with a lot of the spritework too, I've never made anywhere near this much original-ish visual content before. Next year/time/whatever I intend to be a lot better prepared in terms of time management.

#5 - Metronari. I love simple line artstyles in games, and here it's backed up by some solid level design that opens up nicely as you go along. The Fire Whirrs in particular were used very well I thought, though sometimes I had trouble telling if there was supposed to be a roof or floor due to a lack of line. You've done a good job of making something enjoyable while still working within your limits.

#6 - cat gay. Looks and sounds gorgeous (at least what was changed) and fun to learn to play while it lasted. The cat's movement was only really problematic when it would fall down when there were still enemies above, e.g. the little cloud section. Having time for just one more map or a boss or something would've been great.

#7 - The Final Level. I can see why people have compared this to Precious Thoughts and they may be more right than they realise yet :koron: Good scenework and nice graphics, the level design is competent but feels a little thin. I echo comments about the boss fight too, first part is slow and the second messy. Still a good entry on the whole.

#8 - Autopilot. The stuff with the critters and beetles in particular is very well-coordinated, they really come from every direction. It could've maybe done with one extra map in the main game though? Feels like there's more unexplored potential to be had here. Maybe.

#9 - Σο ψου Χαμε. This is kind of a mess of ideas and execution. Overall it's too clunky to get into it for very long, though the debug save is mostly well-implemented. I took one look at the final area and decided to hax through it, which is a shame because the boss is a lot better (that massive block-spawning attack is actually really cool) and doesn't take too long with the Sharp Shooter. Also thought the ending scene was nice :chin:

#10 - Valastos. It's uh... really not that bad??? Unreadable text aside, the design of the first area is simplistic but effective. I didn't feel like there were too many enemies and the branching paths worked well. The level 3 Shoryuken wasn't so bad either after I tried jumping and 'placing' it near things. I enjoyed the intensity of the second area too, it could have done with some hidden hearts or slightly fewer chasers spawning but the overall effect still works (wouldn't try it on hard mode though). Tilesets are pretty good and so is the music, dunno what Spirit was on about tbh. The biggest downers in terms of ranking are that it's short/unfinished and mostly vanilla.

#11 - KILLJOY. Very slick levels and a neat idea that works while it lasts. Problem is it goes by so quickly that it barely feels like anything has happened :balrog: There's not a whole lot of variety between maps yet either.

#12 - One Eye Story. There's some nice artwork and slightly varied level elements, which is what puts it ahead of

#13 - Lara. I approve of the delightfully eye-searing shade of green, and a couple other things (save point sprite, rain effects), but otherwise it's mostly plain/simple and the scripting needs work. Also if you miss the keycard and go back for it it sends you back to the start of the cave instead of where you came in from?

#14 - catfall. Simple idea, would've been more fun if it were less spammy and more dodgy, which wouldn't have been that hard to do I don't think.

#15 - The Water Challenge!. Nobody can get past the first room :v It's sorta been done before as well, if not as a direct focus. Hope you have more time to put something else together in future. Oh geez it actually does work :toroko2: The mod actually demonstrates some neat use of physics rather than just being broken, even if the first jump is still very touchy about where you make it from. I may have slightly overdone my reranking of this but I want to make up for my own ignorance :hoppy:

#16 - CS Live & Uncut. I chuckled a few times and some of the more complex sound-mixing was impressive. Aside from that I felt it was mostly trying a bit too hard without breaking a whole lot of new ground.

#17 - Pierce Feverdream. Plays fine enough for a basic intro, didn't really creep me out so much as make me unsure I'll want to see any more.

#17 - RAVE BAR. Some well-made facepics and I found it funnier than Live & Uncut on average, still not much to this aside from talking and memes.

#17 - What To Do When Modding. This actually wasn't as bad as I thought it might be, it's more not especially useful than anything. Good idea that needs a lot more work.
 
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Jul 21, 2016 at 12:16 PM
Catz R cool
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So here's how the scores are going on at the moment:
Keep in mind that these are only the temporary scores, and that they will change following new votes.
EDIT: Updated link slightly
 

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Jul 21, 2016 at 9:30 PM
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So here's how the scores are going on at the moment:
Keep in mind that these are only the temporary scores, and that they will change following new votes.
EDIT: Updated link slightly
The format of this bugged me along with the fact that it's in a separate .txt file, so I decided to spruce it up a little. Again, this is temporary; it only takes into account the votes made up until the time of typing this and also doesn't include the technical score.

1st Place: H4CK3R.STORY
Votes: 54 + 60 + 60 + 35 + 54 + 45 + 54 + 60 + 60 + 60 + 60
Technical: n/a
Total: 602

2nd Place: Precious Thoughts
Votes: 60 + 49 + 19.5 + 60 + 22.384615... + 60 + 60 + 45 + 45 + 41 + 45
Technical: n/a
Total: 506.8846153...

3rd Place: Critter TD
Votes: 21 + 54 + 49 + 45 + 60 + 29 + 23 + 41 + 41 + 49 + 54
Technical: n/a
Total: 466

4th Place: The Final Level
Votes: 45 + 35 + 54 + 23 + 41 + 18.571428... + 35 + 54 + 49 + 54 + 35
Technical: n/a
Total: 443.571428...

5th Place: Autopilot
Votes: 41 + 38 + 19.5 + 21 + 38 + 27 + 49 + 49 + 54 + 45 + 32
Technical: n/a
Total: 413.5

6th Place: STARZZ
Votes: 27 + 45 + 19.5 + 41 + 22.384615... + 54 + 29 + 35 + 35 + 25 + 49
Technical: n/a
Total: 381.8846153...

7th Place: Σο ψου Χαμε
Votes: 19 + 41 + 45 + 49 + 49 + 49 + 25 + 27 + 23 + 23 + 29
Technical: n/a
Total: 379

8th Place: Metronari
Votes: 29 + 29 + 38 + 54 + 22.384615... + 38 + 27 + 23 + 32 + 29 + 41
Technical: n/a
Total: 362.384615...

9th Place: cat gay
Votes: 35 + 32 + 19.5 + 32 + 22.384615... + 18.571428... + 45 + 38 + 21 + 38 + 38
Technical: n/a
Total: 339.4560439...

10th Place: Killjoy
Votes: 25 + 19 + 35 + 38 + 45 + 18.571428... + 32 + 32 + 29 + 27 + 25
Technical: n/a
Total: 325.571428...

11th Place: One Eye Story
Votes: 38 + 23 + 19.5 + 29 + 22.384615... + 41 + 41 + 21 + 27 + 19 + 23
Technical: n/a
Total: 303.8846153...

12th Place: Lara
Votes: 32 + 18 + 41 + 27 + 22.384615... + 35 + 19 + 25 + 38 + 18 + 21
Technical: n/a
Total: 296.384615...

13th Place: Cave Story - Live and Uncut!
Votes: 49 + 15 + 19.5 + 18 + 22.384615... + 18.571428... + 38 + 29 + 25 + 35 + 18
Technical: n/a
Total: 287.4560439...

14th Place: catfall
Votes: 17 + 25 + 19.5 + 17 + 22.384615... + 32 + 17 + 19 + 17 + 21 + 19
Technical: n/a
Total: 225.8846153...

15th Place: Valastos
Votes: 15 + 27 + 19.5 + 19 + 22.384615... + 23 + 18 + 17 + 14.5 + 16 + 27
Technical: n/a
Total: 218.384615...

16th Place: RAVE BAR
Votes: 23 + 16 + 19.5 + 14 + 22.384615... + 18.571428... + 21 + 16 + 18 + 32 + 16
Technical: n/a
Total: 216.4560439...

17th Place: Pierce Feverdream
Votes: 16 + 17 + 19.5 + 25 + 22.384615... + 25 + 16 + 15 + 19 + 17 + 17
Technical: n/a
Total: 208.8846153...

18th Place: Cave Story - What To Do When Modding
Votes: 18 + 21 + 19.5 + 16 + 22.384615... + 18.571428... + 15 + 18 + 16 + 15 + 15
Technical: n/a
Total: 194.4560439...

19th Place: The Water Challenge!
Votes: 14 + 14 + 19.5 + 15 + 22.384615... + 18.571428... + 14 + 14 + 14.5 + 15 + 14
Technical: n/a
Total: 174.956043...
 
Jul 22, 2016 at 12:10 AM
Indie game enthusiast
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Okay I decided to play Σο ψου Χαμε and oh boy what an experience this was:
I'm surprised this mod has as many votes as it does, given how impossibly hard it becomes near the end. I can only assume people haven't actually finished this mod, at least not without cheating. If the difficulty didn't ramp up to 100 at the end (and you could actually SAVE past spike hell), and the green boss wasn't stupidly hard, this mod would be alright. But those difficulty spikes kind of kill the experience for me.
I was disappointed about the SAVE feature being gone during the one area you actually need it... And I agree that the spikes are insane, but if you notice which ones are -4 dmg and ones that are -10 dmg... Using invinciblity frames you can get through most of it with a sloppy playstyle like mine. I really recommend full screen for this section though. I just used OBS to preview it in fullscreen and played it that way.

HERE WE GOOOOOOO
#19 - The Water Challenge!. Nobody can get past the first room :v It's sorta been done before as well, if not as a direct focus. Hope you have more time to put something else together in future.
It really isn't too bad... once you realize the importance of the "No Movement Key" ;)
So!
I've been playing the entries off and on, and wow nice job to everyone who participated!! It's been a joy ride playing everyone's mod... And while I have to rate everyone's mod, each one was fun imo and am glad for the turnout.

My Ranking (Might edit this after I replay the newest H4CK3R.STORY)
1. Critter TD
2. H4CK3R.STORY
3. The Final Level
4. Precious Thoughts
5. Autopilot
6. STARZZ
7. cat gay
8. Metronari
9. Pierce Feverdream
10. Σο ψου Χαμε
11. Lara
12. RAVE BAR
13. Killjoy
14. CS - Live and Uncut!
15. One Eye Story
16. catfall
17. The Water Challenge!
18. CS - What To Do When Modding
19. Valastos

Basic overview of why it fell where it did:
I broke up the games into a few different categories...
Top tier (probably a complete experience, had a lot of original ideas, excelled in some fashion)
1. Critter TD
2. H4CK3R.STORY
3. The Final Level
4. Precious Thoughts
5. Autopilot

Almost top tier (Probably just as good, but lacking in completeness, length, or something)
6. STARZZ
7. cat gay
8. Metronari

Second tier (Pretty complete experiences or demos, but lacking something to place it higher)
9. Pierce Feverdream
10. Σο ψου Χαμε
11. Lara

Almost second tier (Not enough content, or missing something to be placed higher)
12. RAVE BAR
13. Killjoy
14. CS - Live and Uncut!

Third tier (The right direction, but missing something)
15. One Eye Story
16. catfall

Almost third tier (Missing content for a more satisfying experience)
17. The Water Challenge!
18. CS - What To Do When Modding
19. Valastos

Reviews to come...
 
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Jul 22, 2016 at 2:02 AM
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It really isn't too bad... once you realize the importance of the "No Movement Key" ;)
Oh snap that's way cooler :O I have some reconsideration to do.
 
Jul 22, 2016 at 4:19 AM
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here we goooo

diph.php

It's a short talky mod with lots of in-jokes that I only kind of understand. It would have been cool to see something like this be longer and maybe have some real plot but as it is it just kind of is.

Things I liked:
+ Dancing
+ nerds

Things I didn't like:
- The target audience is too narrow

I thought this mod was cute, but it left something to be desired. I ended up going the wrong way a few times, mostly because I couldn't tell that the little door on the bottom floor was actually a way to another area. I did figure out how to get the Map System, which ironically helped me progress despite its usual pointlessness.
overall it was quite brief so I guess I don't have too much to add.. the facepics kind of clashed with the rest of the game's style because of how they were soft-edged.

Things I liked:
+ Cats
+ Original graphics - even if the scale is a bit questionable.

Things I didn't like:
- Some errors
- Quite short overall

I'm gonna be honest - I haven't beaten this one. And I don't actually plan to myself, because from what I've seen it stops being fun at about the part where I quit. I got about as far as the green squiggle zone before I died to the boss of the zone, and then I got transported back to the sign that tells you to save because that was the only place I actually bothered to save. The debug save thing is cute but it kind of creates more problems than it solves. Save points don't just serve their obvious function, they warn the player about danger ahead and remind them that they SHOULD save before Bad Thing befalls them. Nowadays, autosaves are a lot more common it seems but it's a similar idea - protect the player from accidentally nuking all their progress. As the designer YOU should know where the player ought to save, but the player does not have that insight and should not have to earn it in trial by fire.
Otherwise.. first cave area is nice, it seems to go downhill from there from what i've seen. I know it's long, but it might also suffer from "fake difficulty". The "you have to jump over the cat mouth" is kind of not great design. As well, backwards text is funny like once but if you have to read a whole lot of it suddenly it's just a chore. Overall my impression of this is that there was a fair amount of effort put in that was ultimately crippled by a few bad design decisions.

Things I liked:
+ Some innovation in the "no-interact-button" style, even though it could have probably been handled better
+ Upside-down grasstown is an interesting idea

Things I didn't like:
- nintendo-hard fake difficulty and also I ragequit
- not great sound design
- a smattering of other questionable decisions that drag the experience down as a whole.

And here's the final batch - after this I'll post my rankings :pignon:

Everyone is complaining about the second form controls,but I didn't really take too much issue with them. I really enjoyed the invincibility section, and think it was paced just about right - it's satisfying to just blast through critters. I think there should've been some reward for getting a perfect slaughter though. The first phase of the boss is a joke, although I found it a bit annoying that it tends to jump OVER you rather than into you. I guess that gives it some kind of challenge..
Phase two, as I said at the start, not too bad once you get used to it. I still attest that you move faster on the y-axis than the x-axis. And the third form was a bit easy with all that extra HP. It made sense for the second form since you kind of had to figure out how to move as well as how to fight the boss, but then it's pretty standard cave story fighting with some bigass lasers that don't respect accessibility.

It didn't last me long but it was enjoyable while I was there.

Things I liked:
+ super star rampage
+ a fight in space
+ lots of shit goin' on

Things I didn't like:
- Perhaps a bit more focused on the inclusion of ASM than the utility of its application
- The personal message at the end was maybe a bit unnecessary in my eyes

You probably should have just tried to salvage Stove but I think you're painfully aware of that by now.
I managed to make it to the second floor down.

This mod is a trip. I don't actually understand anything that happens in it, from the chest with a desert inside to the 5 or so executables it comes with to the bossless room with a bloody table. The graphics are honestly alright, the jungle tileset was maybe a bit weaker but the temple looked nice. The text is nigh unreadable if you have ClearType enabled, the fireballs chase you WAY longer than they should, the music was OK, the weapon was annoying (level 3 blade is such a weird weapon and i hate it).
I don't really know what to think of this other than "Well, that was something". I kind of wish there was even a shred of a story to go by but I guess this feels more like a modder's playground than a finished product.

Things I liked:
+ The temple music + gfx
+ It's original, whatever it is

Things I didn't like:
- Way too hard if you don't take the health
- very unfinished
- Lvl 3 blade is a Bad Weapon
 
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Jul 22, 2016 at 8:36 PM
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I adjusted my ratings, and wrote a

Quick Mod Reflections:
Disclaimer: I really should have made notes as I went... but, ONWARDS!

1. Critter TD

Critter Tower Defense is a neat idea. It does get repetitive especially upon dying, but I love blasting CRITTERS. (I was actually planning a mod with critters in it for the contest, but it never took off beyond some experiments.)
Anyway, it's a fresh concept for a Cave Story mod, has a lot of gameplay (albiet repetitive), and it's pretty fun to watch. While I might appreciate some other mods more in the long run, it's one of the most complete, creative entries available imo. Good stuff, I hope you keep refining it...
(Epic fireworks btw. I swooned the first time lol. Though they should play at the end of a successful level!)

+ Original CS mod concept
+ Most of the game is bug free
+ Fun
+ Some replayability
+ Amount of possible gameplay
+ Fireworks

- Reptitive
- Bonus Critter Level broken in newest version?? (played the old one and it was nice)
- No Firework Turret...

============================================================================

2. H4CK3R.STORY

Played it to the end! Well here's the good:

+ Graphics
+ Creativity
+ Music
+ Technical wizardry

I really like what you're doing here. Even if I was never a huge fan of this genre, there's a firm direction you had in mind or at least it came together very well! Very creative use of Cave Story's engine... I mean who would have thought!? As for the gameplay, it seems you ran out of time to add all the bells and whistles; but it tells a little story, and I liked what I saw.

On the flip side

- Level 2 puzzle? (might be just me)
- Wanted more! ;)

I didn't really get the Level 2 puzzle myself... (N S E W?) Why in that order? I mean you never see E S W N or something... but, it didn't click with me. And I thought maybe the frog on unicycle was some kind of clue. Or maybe it was...??????? (My problem probably was that I acted like the keyboard cat... kept pressing the button over and over probably messing up the puzzle?? Was like come on!!!! BUTTON PRESS. Oh and I replayed hoping the Ping would give me a clue ;) Well past that, I did run into a few soft locking bugs in random battles. But wasn't able to recreate them. (It would just sit endlessly in battle mode after defeating them, or a laser stayed on permanently...)

In the end, I applaud what you've done. Wouldn't know I was playing Cave Story, and it's basically a complete experience. Great music too~ Fun wise... I have mixed feelings, but it was definitely interesting.
The only reason it ends up in second place, is that I had more fun with TD.

============================================================================

3. The Final Level

This was an entertaining mod. Lots of Mega Man nostalgia with the design, and some great effects. Story was pretty neat, and characters were fun. It feels a bit incomplete imo, being like half of the Final Level, but still enough content to be quite satisfying besides the cliff hanger ending. Gameplay was slightly tough due to instant death lasers, and that final boss was a bit frightening. (Though I never had an problems with him...)

btw What was that strange fireplace intro??? And why make the yoku blocks useless? Just a gag?

+ Some story!
+ Presentation and cutscene work is quite entertaining!
+ Graphics
+ Final Boss insanity
+ Likeable characters
+ Nostalgia

- I want more!
- Pacing is abrupt

============================================================================

4. Precious Thoughts

This mod had a very interesting story, pretty great pacing, and solid gameplay. It's well executed, and does a few creative things I haven't seen before... Like that press puzzle! That was pretty neat ;) Great reactions from the main character. I don't have too much to say, except I want to see more of this one particularly.
(I recognized a lot of those old mods!!)

+ Face pics
+ Level design
+ Interesting story
+ Decently Challenging Gameplay

- Portal press section feels out of place without initial commentary.
- Wish there was some original music, at least for the title.

============================================================================

5. Autopilot

No strings required mod. Just sit back and enjoy the show xD Really got a kick out of this. Especially the boss fight. I wonder how long it took to time all of this?!
Feels like the sequel to last contests "Don't Let Go", except with a little story... and an amusing alternate ending.

+ Just fun to watch

- Replay value

============================================================================

6. STARZZ

This was one of the quickest and most enjoyable surprises of the contest. Star man xD Really nice effects, epic boss battles, and nice commentary at the end.

+ Fun
+ Creative battle
+ Nice choice of music!
++++++ TITLE SCREEN GODD

- Short, basically no story

============================================================================

7. cat gay

Why cat gay??? why why
GOD, that music at the title blew me away. And the main theme is enjoyable as well... Sweet use of Chrono kitty and great graphics... Oh and that cat is OP. Dam.

Unfortunately, there's no story beyond hello kitty. And the game literally ends with a cliff hanger...
Errrrrrrrrrrgh. Whyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy
Great potential, but ultimately just a tech demo.

+ Use of assets!
+ MUSICAL GOD
+ Kitty is best
+ Gameplay while odd, is definitely creative

- Short
- What????
- Ending????????

============================================================================

8. Metronari

Very nice dungeon romp. There's nothing bad about Metronari, although it's a bit unsatisfying with the lack of a plot. Dive into the box... Struggle to leave again... Well alright... I guess. Legend of Zelda NES dungeon theme was a bit repetitive... Gameplay wise, there wasn't a lot that seemed new to me, but it was very well done. It just needs an edge to really grab hold of the player's interest imo.

+ Solid gameplay
+ Neat graphic style

- Music is grating after a while

============================================================================

9. Pierce Feverdream

What is that song?! Why do I know it??? Why does it haunt me??? Hm... Anyway. Interesting story. Ignoring the creepy drool face xD, it's a solid Cave Story universe mod, and I want to see how it ends!

+ Story
+ Haunting Song
+ Fuzzy Mimigas *drool*

- Cliff hanger
- The choice I made wasn't allowed due to not being implemented ;_;

============================================================================

10. Σο ψου Χαμε

It's mostly a simple Cave Story mod with some very nice ASM. Strange story??? If any. Difficulty is a little haywire imo. But, for most of the time I never needed the save feature. EXCEPT the one place IT DOESN'T WORK. The final area... Still I made it through and enjoyed it. Music was alright, it was nice to have something new. Also, nice job. This is the only mod with a different application icon! Well, slightly different...

+ Epic new battles
+ Potential horror atmosphere
+ Save anywhere feature

- Not really a Save Anywhere feature
- Story???

============================================================================

11. Lara

I thought this mod was really pretty neat the first time I played it with an earlier version. I was impressed by the art, the storytelling style, and the interactivity of the house. Good music too. Ends a bit early imo... But, great start. Finding out that the art isn't yours did put a little damper on my enthusiasm, but still well done. However, on replay of the new version I find the gameboy colors a bit too harsh, and look forward to a possible colored version. Great cliff hanger btw xD

There were some bugs btw, such as if you backtrack forgetting the keycard; it skips the whole cave back to the start. And if you re-enter the house and sleep again, you end up restarting the same dialogue sequences.

+ Story
+ Music
+ Gameplay
+ Graphic choices and rain effect!
+ Characters

- Gameboy style seems too harsh
- A bit short on gameplay

============================================================================

12. RAVE BAR

Love what you are doing. But it was WAY TOO SHORT. Just two areas, and no real gameplay besides talking to everyone once. Also ran into a bug on loading in the bar somehow... made it to the left side, and strange things happened.

+ Style
+ Dialogue and cutscenes
+ Graphics
+ Music

- Too Short

============================================================================

13. Killjoy

Really interesting titlescreen.... expected something a bit dark... Ended up with a Kirby experience! Not sure what was going on, didn't really see the progression, and the randomness was a bit odd. Great concepts though, and mildly fun. Catchy music and graphics, although they clash with the character and title style...

+ Graphics
+ Technical work
+ Music
+ Gameplay

- Confusing

============================================================================

14. CS - Live and Uncut!

Hah... This was a bit amusing. Dialogue in Cave Story IS nice. Though the humor didn't always click. Great mixing and voice impressions though. What was up with Mahin though?! Would enjoy more voice overs in the future...

+ Creative
+ Cool
+ Voices

- Humor not for everyone

============================================================================

15. One Eye Story

Cute little story. Not too much to say about it. Loved the graphics, and the CATS. Man that brother is something else though. lol.

+ Cute
+ Graphics
+ Cats

- Doesn't really go anywhere

============================================================================

16. catfall

Technically probably pretty epic. But as for fun... Not so much. Creepy seizure text and silent cat wars. Also not sure if it's different on your system, but the cats moved FAST. And the cave story part moved SLOW. Really slow. Oh and as GiR mentioned earlier, you can just stay still and win if you tap fast enough.

+ Technical Aspects
+ Music

- Not very fun...
- Runs too fast or too slow
- Silent wars

============================================================================

17. The Water Challenge!

It's a very short little challenge! Not bad, but doesn't look very good... Plays well enough and I enjoyed it. Only done in a few hours, so not bad~

+ Challenge!
+ An ending~

- Short
- Not very aesthetic.

============================================================================

18. CS - What To Do When Modding

Love the idea, but it was a bit short and the tips didn't seem too useful? I think I need to replay it since I don't remember any advice standing out...

+ Helpful idea

- Advice choices?

============================================================================

19. Valastos

What? It looks interesting for sure, but what??? No story, and the temple is basically the ending?? Boss music plays but nothing??????????????????????????? Anyway... Nice temple area... *places mod into execution box...*

+ Interesting assets!
+ Graphics
+ Music

- What
- No ending
If someone wants an actual review, I'll replay their mod and see what I can do~
 
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Jul 22, 2016 at 11:15 PM
Senior Member
"Huzzah!"
Join Date: Dec 2, 2015
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Posts: 211
Age: 25
My votes

1. Final Level
2. STARZZ
3. Critter TD
4. Metronari
5. Killjoy
6. H4CK3R.STORY
7. hey
8. Σο ψου Χαμε
9. Autopilot
10. Precious Thoughts
11. Lara
12. Valastos
13. Cave Story - Live and Uncut!
14. Cave Story - What To Do When Modding
15. Pierce Feverdream
16. Catfall
17. Rave bar
18. One Eye'd Story
19. The water challenge

Maybe I'll provide some reviews on them later.

@X-Calibar The song at the beginning is "Alone" from Persona 4, the one at the end is "corridor" from the same game.
 
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Jul 23, 2016 at 12:02 AM
In my body, in my head
Forum Moderator
"Life begins and ends with Nu."
Join Date: Aug 28, 2009
Location: The Purple Zone
Posts: 5998
I adjusted my ratings, and wrote a

Quick Mod Reflections:
8. H4CK3R.STORY

I had this at NUMERO UNO. Super creative total conversion of CS. Great music. Interesting mechanics... What's not to love??? Oh... right. Getting stuck on Level 2 and pressing "Buttons" that do nothing??? While being constantly engaged in my unfavorite mechanic... RANDOM BATTLES. Grrrrrr. I should be Purrrring right now, but after restarting several times with different characters I'm either missing the obvious, doing something wrong, or I don't get the clues. At. All.

Still Noxid you've outdone yourself... I just wish level 2 wasn't the ultimate culmination of you killin me.

+ Graphics
+ Creativity
+ Music
+ Cool
If someone wants an actual review, I'll replay their mod and see what I can do~
what are the letters of the compass directions
 
Jul 23, 2016 at 1:50 AM
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what are the letters of the compass directions
To be fair, it wouldn't have hurt to include "a crude drawing/engraving of a compass rose" or something similar.
 
Jul 23, 2016 at 10:46 AM
In my body, in my head
Forum Moderator
"Life begins and ends with Nu."
Join Date: Aug 28, 2009
Location: The Purple Zone
Posts: 5998
To be fair, it wouldn't have hurt to include "a crude drawing/engraving of a compass rose" or something similar.
I know. The puzzle is a bit problematic. At the suggestion of one of the testers I added a small compass arrow to the minimap, but I guess that didn't help as much.
 
Jul 23, 2016 at 2:46 PM
Indie game enthusiast
"What is a man!? A miserable pile of secrets! But enough talk, have at you!"
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Location: Forever wandering the tower...!
Posts: 1787
what are the letters of the compass directions
I'm a little confused still, but I made it to the end!! And with that, I've played all the mods through, and updated my previous posts and ratings accordingly.

@zxin - I absolutely liked Safusaka's mod. I just didn't like the vague nature of the mod. It had all the makings of greatness, but it just felt like a tech demo, and ended randomly?? (I mean you can just jump off the cliff at the start of the second area and it's over.) If it had been a bit more complete I'd been all over that.
 
Jul 23, 2016 at 3:01 PM
thinks dogs are cool
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Join Date: Apr 6, 2014
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Posts: 620
Oh, that's the end? I thought it was just really in-obvious where to go.
1: safu never explains anything in the mod so it's reasonable to believe this
2: safu is always in-obvious so idk what you expected
 
Jul 23, 2016 at 7:13 PM
In my body, in my head
Forum Moderator
"Life begins and ends with Nu."
Join Date: Aug 28, 2009
Location: The Purple Zone
Posts: 5998
I'm a little confused still, but I made it to the end!! And with that, I've played all the mods through, and updated my previous posts and ratings accordingly.

When I made this puzzle I didn't really realize how culturally biased it was. Because, if you're an english speaking canadian that attended public schooling the puzzle is probably immediately obvious - we're taught the mnemonic "Never Eat Shredded Wheat" as a way to remember the orientation of North, East, South and West on a compass. And by the time the deadline rolled around I didn't get a chance to replace it with something less dumb.
 
Jul 23, 2016 at 8:46 PM
Lvl 1
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"Life begins and ends with Nu."
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When I made this puzzle I didn't really realize how culturally biased it was. Because, if you're an english speaking canadian that attended public schooling the puzzle is probably immediately obvious - we're taught the mnemonic "Never Eat Shredded Wheat" as a way to remember the orientation of North, East, South and West on a compass. And by the time the deadline rolled around I didn't get a chance to replace it with something less dumb.
I was taught "Never Eat Soggy Weiners" where I'm from, so I really think this is a regional thing.
 
Jul 23, 2016 at 11:23 PM
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Meanwhile I was literally never taught one. I learned NSEW in elementary school, and we didn't even have a saying to remember it by. I literally never used it again until high school.
 
Jul 24, 2016 at 3:57 AM
The TideWalker
Modding Community Discord Founder
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Join Date: Apr 5, 2013
Location: In my mind and of my body.
Posts: 1640
Age: 26
Here's my new list with all the mods; some of it is copy paste so you've been warned:

1 - H4CK3R.STORY duh
2 - The Final Level; Great story; ok level design; and it's omg complete. and has my new waifu!!
3 - STARZ; I CANT BELIEVE I'M DOING THIS
4 - Critter TD; cool assembly hacks even though I sucked at it and had no fun playing it at all. -.-
5 - Cat Gay; Awesome music and enjoyable gameplay. too bad it was so short and kinda broken at the end... if it was longer like final level I wouldn't have a hard time putting this a LOT higher
6 - Σο ψου Χαμε; I didn't really like this one either for any particular reason... and I couldn't beat the last level but the factory was cool; and it's the most complete mod in this entire contest outside of the final level and critter DT and it has the longest playtime and that playtime was for the most part very decent.
7 - Lara; I liked the story though the graphics were kinda bad on the eyes
8 -Metronari; It was pretty ok, but he formula got old kinda fast... also right before you get the spur you can do down the water tunnel and go OOB
9 - Precious thoughs; This was also ok, but after the 30th time on the press puzzle I finally raged and hacked it And the final boss was kinda bad because I got TERRIBLE RNG on my first 7 attempts and couldn't see the black balls that turn into lightning. (But ABERT!!! Mimiga army omg ;_;!!!! And some other cool mods I need to play sometime that apparently I'm missing out on.) The mods finish with a really waining TBC where I just wanted more; and the two character introduced were just so sudden I couldn't appreciate opals sacrifice And it just felt like a worse executed "inside out" scene .
10 - Cave Story - Live and Uncut! HILARIOUS stuff but not super creative; it pains me to put this mod so low; considering that I got chest pains from so much laughter. but It just doesn't have enough original content to be placed higher on this list. I wish my biased list reflects better how I really feel about this mod
11 - Killjoy; next not sucky mod on the list; not much to say about it except the main character looks like a MLP character.
12 - Pierce Feverdream; Very short and TBC also I think this type of plot has been done before a lot
13 - Valastos; ok music ;ehh gameplay; decent tiles and right now it's just a concept and not much more.
14 - One Eye Story; It was really short but not at TBC!! I'm not crazy for cats, but the tiles were at least decent and It had some content in it.
15 - Catfall; It's a button mashing, music playing, piece of potential.
16 - Autopilot; I didn't really find this very creative or fun it was kinda nice to watch through the first time; but it didnt' really leave me with anything since I've seen it dones at least 100 times in mario maker. and it feels like DLC to don't let go
17 Cave Story - What To Do When Modding; I'll give you an A for effort but telling someone what to do and actually being able to do it are two entirely different things; though I do see a bright future for the maker possible if he can stick it out.
18 RAVE BAR; target audience was really small and I didn't understand any of it...
19 The Water Challenge!; I couldn't get past the first room......
 
Jul 24, 2016 at 8:42 AM
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16 - Autopilot; I didn't really find this very creative or fun it was kinda nice to watch through the first time; but it didnt' really leave me with anything since I've seen it dones at least 100 times in mario maker. and it feels like DLC to don't let go
You do realize that this isn't Mario Maker, right?
 
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