Originality in Atmosphir is like money in a store. The more imagination and originality, the more plays a level will receive. As with everything else however, there comes a time in every idea’s life that it becomes such a good one that everyone wants to use it in their own designs.
When everyone insists on using the same idea, it loses its originality and one-of-a-kind attribute. There are a few ideas what are so overused that I find myself rolling my eyes and giving a poor rating to them. Of course, I don’t base my rating off of that, but originality is very important in my opinion. Today I’ll be discussing the levels that make me wonder what happened to effort.
10-Second Finishes. One of the most common types of levels that I see is a straight line between the start and finish flags. There are no jumps involved, and every space as a speed power-up. All the player has to do is run in one direction to the finish. As long as you can run in a single direction, you can beat these levels. Now be honest, how fun is a level like this? To me, not at all. Something like this can be made in a few minutes. If a level is based off speed, make it a nice racing level, not a line from one place to another.
Start and Finish Maps. Honestly, a map that has the finish flag five feet from the start (with nothing in-between) is just… I’m not sure what. There certainly isn’t much work put into it. I think this one explains itself.
Treasure Spam Maps. A variation of the Start and Finish Maps, these kinds of levels are generally a large platform filled with treasure, a start flag, and a finish flag. Nothing to them. All you have to do to get a high score is run in lines, collecting everything. If you don’t want to do anything, you don’t have to. Just walk to the flag.
Unbeatable levels. I’m not sure what to say for these levels. Any map that cannot be finished is just another bad mark on anyone’s play record. Please, beta test your levels before publishing them. Run through them to make sure they can actually be beaten. If it can’t be beaten, do us all a favor of fixing it before publishing.
I’m sure there are other types of levels that get on our nerves. My point to everyone is that it is not difficult to add some spice to your level. Have fun with Atmosphir, and let your imagination run wild!
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