[Knytt Stories] Second Basement

    http://nifflas.ni2.se/forum/index.php?topic=6175.0

    Slightly unconventional for Mapcore, sure, what with it being a 2d platformer level, but damnit I made it and I'm gonna show it off.

    It's a custom level for Knytt Stories, an indie 2d platformer, and the basic setup is that the main character becomes trapped in her basement during a cave-in, and discovers a tunnel leading to a large underground area beneath her house. You must explore it to escape.

    Screenshots:

    [Blocked Image: http://img184.imageshack.us/img184/5233/secondbasement1dv1.png]

    [Blocked Image: http://img184.imageshack.us/img184/4403/secondbasement2bw7.png]

    [Blocked Image: http://img184.imageshack.us/img184/3919/secondbasement3ys9.png]

    [Blocked Image: http://img184.imageshack.us/img184/1636/secondbasement4mm4.png]

    HOW TO PLAY:

    1. Get Knytt Stories

    http://nifflas.ni2.se/index.php?main=02Knytt_Stories

    Knytt Stories is an indie 2d platformer with a focus on exploration and collecting powerups. It's made by Nifflas, who I'm told is Swedish, and follows Knytt and Within a Deep Forest in a line of atmospheric awesome platformers by this guy.

    2. Play the Tutorial level!

    You can filter levels in Knytt Stories by clicking the options on the left, on the play screen.

    The content cannot be displayed because it is no longer available. Knyttstoriesinstall.PNG[/attachment]

    Do as it says. Open the folder you saved the map to, and simply drag it into Knytt Stories on this screen. The installation will occur automatically.

    4. Play!

    Go to the Play menu, find Second Basement in the map browser (It's listed under "Hard", and "Challenge"), and click it. Select a Save Slot, then click "Start New Game".

    1. You can't swim.

    2. You can't touch spikes, either.

    3. Or enemies. Your character glows red when standing near an enemy that will hurt you.

    4. If at first you can't get somewhere, look somewhere else for a powerup. Gain new abilities and come back later.

    5. Hold jump to jump higher, just like mario. If you want to make a shorter jump, tap S instead of holding it.

    6. Saving: Around the level you'll find white glowy marks on the ground- they're hard to miss. Just stand in one and press down to save your game, and you can continue from there any time. Anytime you die you'll start from the last save you hit. There's no limits or penalties associated with saving.

    7. You can check your inventory by holding Q. Faded out items are ones you haven't found yet.

    8. The Powerups:

    [Blocked Image: http://img237.imageshack.us/img237/5710/runnv8.png] Run. You start with this in Second Basement (and in almost all maps), it lets you run. You can hold A while you move to walk instead.

    [Blocked Image: http://img237.imageshack.us/img237/561/climbbr7.png] Climb. This lets you climb most walls by walking or jumping onto them, and pressing up. Without any button presses you'll slowly slide down the wall. You can climb faster by jumping while holding up and the movement direction towards the wall. You can walljump by pressing away from the wall and jumping at the same time. Holding down while on a wall will slide quickly downwards.

    [Blocked Image: http://img128.imageshack.us/img128/481/doublejumpcc9.png] Doublejump. Press jump again in midair to jump a second time. The second jump is somewhat shorter than the first but very useful for getting places you couldn't before, including getting around obstacles and corners in midair- your second jump can be in an entirely different direction than the first! If you walk off a ledge or slide off a wall without jumping you can still jump once in mid-air- use this technique to move to the other side of hanging pillars if you can't touch the ground beneath it due to spikes or water.

    [Blocked Image: http://img128.imageshack.us/img128/2019/hijumpjp3.png] High Jump. This doubles the height of your normal jumps and effects double jumps as well. Essential for further exploring. This will be one of the earliest powerups you find.

    [Blocked Image: http://img179.imageshack.us/img179/5817/eyeen5.png] Eye. This makes previously invisible things such as ghosts and some blocks appear, as well as showing some hidden things. This will open up new paths to you through previous non-existent objects! You can easily identify ghostly things by their grey shimmer.

    [Blocked Image: http://img128.imageshack.us/img128/4773/radarto8.png] Radar. This makes your character glow red when near dangerous enemies. Machines don't set off the radar, so treat them uniformly with distrust.

    [Blocked Image: http://img179.imageshack.us/img179/5650/umbrellaru2.png] Umbrella. The umbrella lets you jump farther than ever before by letting you float softly downwards, greatly slowing your fall speed. Use in conjunction with double jump to move around stalactites. The umbrella slightly slows you down, and reduces your jump height while it's out, so put it away with D when you're not using it.

    [Blocked Image: http://img244.imageshack.us/img244/6774/hologramvp2.png] Hologram. The hologram makes you appear to be where you dropped it to enemies, allowing you to slip by unaware. Place a hologram by double tapping down. Do it again to remove it. Enemies that fire constantly won't be effected, but enemies that specifically react to your presence will be fooled. Just make sure to place it BEFORE they see you so you can slip by.

    [Blocked Image: http://img223.imageshack.us/img223/674/keyqo8.png] Keys. Keys are color coded- they unlock the doors of the same color as the key. They unlock automatically- the door will disappear when you get near if you have the right key.

    You may have to excuse the folks from the mapcorians who judge a book by it's cover. You need to make instructions on how to run this with links to the app, how to install your custom levels, how good you should be at the game, etc. Chances are, very few to none have heard of this game. I ran through the tutorial and tried to get through your mission;

    - Having only played the tutorial, I'm not familiar enough to understand what the powerups are when I get them by their visuals. I understood the one was the higher jump, and the key was obviously a key, but other than that, not much else.

    - There were some poorly placed level transitions / jumps that were pretty annoying. It's one thing to show the player the door before you give them the key, but it's another to show them something completely random for no reason. When I got the first key I thought the door it was for was above it at the unreachable space, only to later find it was off to the left of where I dropped down. Doing something like placing the locked door right next to where the player drops down the long chute would be a nice natural progression.

    - I was getting owned and clearly not good enough when trying to jump the chasm with the strategically placed dropping spider next to it so I quit there.

    It is in the "Hard" category after all... designed for experienced players.

    By "It's one thing to show the player the door before you give them the key, but it's another to show them something completely random for no reason." did you mean the Double Jump and Eye powerups visible one screen above the key?

    [attachment=1]Secondbasement5.PNG[/attachment]

    I thought it'd be pretty obvious from the height too high to jump, with spikes at the top, that this isn't a place you can get to yet. Perhaps if you were more familiar with the available powerups and style... I'll write up a how-to with links and pictures of the powerups and update the OP.

    For "I was getting owned and clearly not good enough when trying to jump the chasm with the strategically placed dropping spider next to it so I quit there.", do you mean here?

    [attachment=0]Secondbasement6.PNG[/attachment]

    It's the hardest part of the map, though again it's simple enough if you're familiar with the game. That powerup is wall climb. What you have to do is jump, grab it, and hit the wall at the end of the jump without getting hit or touching the spiders below. It's the part of the map that's gone through the most changes from area to area, and I'm still not 100% happy with it. I might just scrap the puzzle entirely and make a different one there depending on other people's feedback.

    I'd recommend trying to play some of the other maps, especially the official ones that come with the game- you can search maps by marked difficulty, so you can start easy. I'll write up a basic beginner's guide now.

    Edit: OP updated with guide to getting started and playing.

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