EDIT-Eh, nevermind. The level I was going to show isn't worth showing in it's current state.

K, I've got some more complete screenshots this time. [i]High Roller Road[/i] [img]http://i48.tinypic.com/2cnj8y.jpg[/img] A level in Frost Vegas that features Gamble Guys. They toss bouncing dice at you. [i]City Heights Hop[/i] [img]http://i45.tinypic.com/ri7udz.jpg[/img] Mario is on the roof tops and theres a part below. You'll have to hop along the rising balloons to make it through. For this level, I'd like to have confetti raining down from above and possibly some spot lights (basically rotating transparent yellow cones) to add to the overall feel.

Frost Vegas? Is that a mixture of the frozen worlds with a Las Vegas theme?

More or less, although Frost Vegas is more of a section in the ice world, not the ice world as a whole.

it kinda looks like Sonic Heroes casino zone

[img]http://i45.tinypic.com/dzjdjt.jpg[/img] It has returned! And yes, the snowball is riding on the platform.

Just curious but do you like making ELYK annoyied with scrolling level? ;P

To be fair, that isn't a scrolling level, it's a chase level, and even then thats part of the final level of world 4, so it's only a small section. [s]Also yes I do.[/s]

[quote="Chaoxys"][img]http://i45.tinypic.com/dzjdjt.jpg[/img] It has returned! And yes, the snowball is riding on the platform.[/quote] If you look closely there is a castle BG here. AND A MOON!!! Moon inside a castle???

[quote="SuperArthurBros"][quote="Chaoxys"][img]http://i45.tinypic.com/dzjdjt.jpg[/img] It has returned! And yes, the snowball is riding on the platform.[/quote] If you look closely there is a castle BG here. AND A MOON!!! Moon inside a castle???[/quote] That's a snowball.

Same level, different section. [img]http://i48.tinypic.com/2w2prg7.jpg[/img]

[img]http://i45.tinypic.com/dzjdjt.jpg[/img] [img]http://i48.tinypic.com/2w2prg7.jpg[/img] Honestly, these don't even look like they should be in the same level, if not even the same world theme (almost). I get this is some sort of "Ice Castle", but there appears to be very little use and consistency of colour palettes between the two. One's a dark section that's almost all black, grey, and blue with a giant snowball (that honestly doesn't scream "giant snowball" when you first look at it). The other looks like a castle section from another castle, and not one specific to an ice theme (or one of such variance of the screen before it. Especially with the orange-ish glow at the bottom of the pillars, hinting at the presence of heat/lava below and nothing akin to ice/cold). My only recommendations, if you'd like to hear them, would be to add some ice particles of some kind to your giant snowball to sell it's role better (though that may require adjustments to all that BG frost effects you got going on too). If not, then maybe you could just make it into... I donno, I giant spiked ice ball, or a giant snowman head; either would sell it's roll better than an almost entirely white ball. As for the flying section, I'd find some way to get some ice and snow onto all that castle flooring (and maybe even make it snow inside, despite how silly that sounds). Maybe also remove all that green and orange from the BG sections, as those colours aren't much good indicators of the "ice/snow" theme (at least, not as well over colours like black, white, grey, blue, and purple). Heck, I wouldn't even put torches in there. A glowing crystal could work much better in it's place. Take what you want from my words. It's hard to judge without seeing it all in-game, as always.

The castle starts out bright and lava filled and what not and becomes darker and more ice themed as you get deeper in. The cloud riding section is near the start where as the snowball is near the end. If you haven't noticed, all final world levels do this. World 1 starts in Peach's castle, then it goes to an airship. World 2 starts in a pitch black tomb, then has you scaling the sides of ruins outside. All of the end of world levels more or less have "harsh" transitions to make the overall tone less repetitive since they are all about 3 levels long each. EDIT- My bad, I meant to say that the cloud room was mid level. It's more or less the divider between the classic castle section, and the frozen over sections. I'm actually planning on dressing it up a bit more once I have the required materials to work with (in this case lava). I'm thinking I'll have lava below while it's snowing above (since all the rooms prior to this one make use of lava while all the ones before it have snow). Also, did I ever say that this was an ice castle? I may have but I don't remember doing so. Either way, although it features ice and what not, it acts more as a visual theme than a gameplay theme. The actual theme in this castle is spinning platforms.

[quote="Chaoxys"]The castle starts out bright and lava filled and what not and becomes darker and more ice themed as you get deeper in. The cloud riding section is near the start where as the snowball is near the end. If you haven't noticed, all final world levels do this. World 1 starts in Peach's castle, then it goes to an airship. World 2 starts in a pitch black tomb, then has you scaling the sides of ruins outside. All of the end of world levels more or less have "harsh" transitions to make the overall tone less repetitive since they are all about 3 levels long each.[/quote] Now that you say that, I have to say those details completely flew over my head. Peach's castle felt like empty filler to me and not a serious part of the level, and the Pyramid as a whole was just another awkwardly concepted Desert level with the same tiles/backgrounds I had seen before then. Not intending to sound mean, but if that was your intention to make those ideas stand out, it didn't work at all for me. Sorry. :( Now, knowing that idea of the Ice Castle, it sort of makes sense to me, but that doesn't make it look right to me still. Maybe if you were floating over ice platforms in the lava, or all the ground was frozen despite the lava, or there was extreme contrast between reddish colours and blueish colours in the palette, then that would sell the impression stronger. However, that first section just looks like a misplaced castle section with a bit of the background showing a snow world to serve as a reminder that you are, in fact, still in the ice world. Still, run with your idea, if you're sold on it. Not saying it wouldn't work, just that I don't see it working right now. EDIT: Alright, seeing your edited post, I can say with certainty there is no obvious or consistently implied theme then for the level (at least that's given through these screens). If the theme is "Spinning Platforms" (or whatever. Sounds better suited to a "Clock" stage over an Ice/Fire Castle stage) in an Ice World with a castle level that progressively turns from classic/fire into dark/frozen... then it just sounds like the level's doing whatever it wants over sticking to any sort of idea, or there's so many ideas for focus that it's all sounding... really misplaced. Again, if you're convinced it'll work, go with it. I'll say otherwise when it's finished.

I'm trying to get your point, but most of it seems to be "It's an ice world so everything NEEDS to be made of ice", which isn't the case, unless I'm misunderstanding you. Simple fact of the matter is that it starts with you entering a basic castle, and as you get deeper into it, it becomes progressively more and more frozen over. I'm not making a million new BGs and tiles for every teeny tiny little level just to make it slightly fit the overall theme a bit better.

I don't know if this is just me, though the smog in that snowball picture looks like mist from a freezer or something like that.

[quote="Chaoxys"]I'm trying to get your point, but most of it seems to be "It's an ice world so everything NEEDS to be made of ice", which isn't the case, unless I'm misunderstanding you. Simple fact of the matter is that it starts with you entering a basic castle, and as you get deeper into it, it becomes progressively more and more frozen over.[/quote] No, no, I don't mean to intend the "Ice world = Ice" idea, but just that the presence of ice/snow SHOULD be present in order to involve the world. Your "Frost Vegas" stage has snow on all the rooftops, but it doesn't necessarily NEED anything else to sell the fact that it can exist, and belong, in an ice world (In fact, as it looks now, it does). What I'm saying is that first section of that castle, if you changed/removed the background of the snowy hills, doesn't sell that location at all (Especially if ice/snow plays no gameplay mechanic in it either). It could be anywhere for all you've done. With your idea in mind now, I'd recommend to try and ensure there is SOME evidence in the level, even in the "non-frozen" sections, that there IS relevance to it being located in an Ice World (More subtly in the beginning to accompany your idea). Even snow on the ground in some places and/or a colour palette adjustment to the background castle walls would help, and expanding/increasing these sorts of things as your level progresses would better help capture your intended vision of the decrease in temperature. [quote="Chaoxys"]I'm not making a million new BGs and tiles for every teeny tiny little level just to make it slightly fit the overall theme a bit better.[/quote] Considering you're only really responsible for the graphics of this game... why not just do your best? I'm sure no one would mind.

I feel that the BG represents what it needs to. The higher leveled rooms are inclosed and have lava and what not, and as you get deeper in, you see ice patches on the ground, theres snow and mist and its darker. The room without the wall also has a lot of ice blocks and what not in it, plus the newer version has snow as well. As for the pillars in that area, they are place holders anyways since the only castle BGs, aside from the one seen in the snowball pic, have a glow effect to them, so I'd need to replace them anyways, which now that I think about it, I may do it with a more blue toned version without the torches so that they will work for both the ice areas, and if we do an underwater area later. Also, I feel I should point out that it suddenly going from a lava filled castle to dark and frozen is explained via a joke near the end of the level (at least, thats what I have planned).

Sounds like a plan, and a direction that should yield a result that'll work well for design (BTW, to save me from sounding too harsh, knowing if there's any place-holder sprites used in the screens would be nice in advance). I'll give the thumbs up to that, and I look forward to it and any other designs you showcase. [spoiler]I suspect by your point of a "joke", and my knowledge of Ice Bowser (which I'm assuming is the boss of this level), that the reason the stage is cold is because Bowser himself has caught a "cold" or something? I donno, I'm guessing, but that would be funny. ;)[/spoiler]

Rainbow Radish Road [img]http://i48.tinypic.com/2m349pl.jpg[/img] [img]http://i46.tinypic.com/21e3ptg.jpg[/img] To be honest, this level may not be in the game, I was just messing around with some of the earlier graphics and I ended up with this.