Just an Ice Level

I'll beam you out after I finish my soap opera.

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35th: Just an Ice Level Make a Good Mega Man Level 2

Lives up to its name.

Overview Creator(s): Pachy Composer(s): NKZ, 40nix Statistics Scores: 35 31 19 34 32 Total: 30.2 / 50 Rank: 35th Elements: 1 Collectables: 4 Nickels Enemies: Au-Au Bomber Pepe Metall EX (Reskinned) Metall Mommy (Reskinned) Neo Metall (Reskinned) Penpen Penpen Maker Shield Attacker Springer

Theme Music Mega Mari 8-bit Remix - Cirno's Stage Stage Order Location: Tier 6 Previous: Lava Factory Next: Biplane Bay

"i hope i win"

―Cirno, Ice Fairy from the Touhou Project games

Overview

Just an Ice Level is the 35th place entry in Make A Good Mega Man Level 2. It's just an ice level.

Development

Having been intrigued by video playthroughs of MaGMML1, Pachy took the opportunity to participate in the second contest as it was announced. Just an Ice Level was the first completed Mega Man level Pachy has ever done. The icy theme was chosen purely because of the music, as it was the song tested while Pachy was playing around with the devkit.

The initial plan with the level layout was that the top portion would be primarily focused on platforming, and to appeal speedrunners with the relatively small enemy density; Meanwhile, the bottom portion would focus more on enemy challenges. Both sections were planned to be connected again at the end, but it was cut due to time constraints. To an extent, the final version sort of achieved what they were intended. Though, due to the lack of playtesters, the snowy part ended up being too demanding for less experienced players, with the amount of precise jumps it requires, on top of the wind gimmick being much buggier in the released game makes the section vastly more frustrating compared to the cave section.

The lack of boss at the end was because of Pachy's inability to program new enemies at the time, and having the wrong impression that using devkit bosses would somehow cut down the level's overall score. In reality, using devkit bosses is completely fine.

Strategy

Don't die.

Noble Nickel Locations

• At the start of the stage, head left. You'll be greeted by Cirno and the first Nickel behind her.
• At the end of the first section, use Wheel Cutter to get over the right wall where the two Mets are standing. You'll get two small bolts and two large bolts alongside the second Nickel in the next room.
• At the cavern area (bottom portion after the split path), there are Chill blocks in the way of a slide passage. Destroy the Chill blocks, slide inside and you'll find the third Nickel along with four small and large bolts and a large weapon pickup.
• At the snowy area (top portion after the split path), at the end of the first pit section near the two penguin shooters, an invisible ladder indicated by the small health pickup right below it. Go up the ladder, the fourth Nickel resides, along with five small bolts, three large bolts and an M-Tank.

Trivia

• The stage was intended to have two exits, hence the split paths. Due to an oversight, the two elements ended up counting as one in the released version of the game.
• During judging, the application had an error that rounded up the nickel count wrong, that combined with the obscure nature of the invisible ladder Nickel, none of the judges actually found said Nickel until the judging period was over.
• The name "Just an Ice Level" is just a dumb naming gimmick Pachy came up with, no other deeper meaning were intended.
• An NPC of the character Patchouli Knowledge was made, but it was never imported into the final level.
  

  Planned NPCs for the level.

Judge Comments

Judge Comments
snoruntpyro  : 35 / 50
Design Fun Creativity Aesthetics Functionality Skip Teleporter? 10 / 15 6 / 10 9 / 15 5 / 5 5 / 5 No mfw two levels use the same megamari cirno 8 bit theme. I like this level, it's cute! The winter hat mets are an adorable touch, and there's a lot of cute ideas that I think are executed pretty well. The penguin shooters, while difficult to deal with, are pretty interesting to actually work around, especially when they're used with the Shield Attackers, though I do think the blocks that mark where they're going to come out are a bit hard to see sometimes. They just blend in too much with the tileset, I think. I also really like how the Chill Man cracking blocks are used here, the interaction with the Metall Mommies is really clever and the setups are legit dangerous and difficult. What brings the level down for me is the snow (Toad Man rain) section; there's a lot of reeally tight and obnoxious jumps and the penguin spawners tend to just surprise you here. It just feels way more frustrating and...less good than the rest of the level. But the rest of the level is pretty great as is. Also I HOPE I WIN
JupiHornet  : 31 / 50
Design Fun Creativity Aesthetics Functionality 6 / 15 5 / 10 11 / 15 5 / 5 4 / 5 I really liked how you recolored Stone Man's tileset to make an icy theme. It looks so good! The level in general was pretty cool (see what I did there XDDD) with an overworld-underground ice theme going on. The last section in the underground part was a bit too hectic though, it was very hard to stay on the top path without using Rush Coil. On the top route, the penguins were spammed WAAAY too much in the snowy section. Jumping on those red platforms in the wind is hard enough without having to worry about a flying penguin knocking you into a pit :V
Enjl  : 19 / 50
Design Fun Creativity Aesthetics Functionality Skip Teleporter? 6 / 15 1 / 10 6 / 15 2 / 5 4 / 5 No Starts out decently but the issue of enemy placement quickly becomes visible as you go through the level. The level has ideas, but for their execution it tends to add more enemies than needed. The two paths are also way different in terms of difficulty, with the skyward path often causing death by penguin cannons which need a sprite that stands out more to be fair. I get the feeling this level was designed with Jewel Satellite in mind, as that's the most reliable way to make it past all the penguins, though for that the level does a very bad job at introducing this as an option that will be almost required in the level's later bits.
Garirry  : 34 / 50
Design Fun Creativity Aesthetics Functionality 8 / 15 7 / 10 9 / 15 5 / 5 5 / 5 Mostly solid, but there are parts with bad enemy placement or too many enemies in general. It was enjoyable. Nothing too particular but it's enjoyable. It's alright. Nothing stood out too much for me, the ice theme seems to be inspired too much by Ice Man / Blizzard Man but I think some parts are pretty cool. Looks and sounds very good. Works just fine. I don't think this level impressed me enough. It looks just fine, but overall it's not particularly interesting. Generally, I do like its appearance and the ideas behind it, but the level often suffers from bad level design, which consists of an exaggerated quantity of enemies, not to mention the ice floor and that one section with wind, where very precise jumps must be done. I think this level could have been done better.
ACESpark  : 32 / 50
Design Fun Creativity Aesthetics Functionality Skip Teleporter? 8 / 15 8 / 10 8 / 15 4 / 5 4 / 5 No Well, creativity wise, it lives up to its name, Still.. This level was pretty cute! For using pre-made assets, the level looks nice! And the new Met designs are adorable! Overall this was well built and the variety of challenges was pretty effective. There are a few spots where the stage drops the ball though. Some of the later challenges are a serious difficulty spike and one or two are borderline unfair, (some of the later Penguin spaner challenges are a bit much) and on the Chillman path, it doesn't seem quite right that you are forced to use weapons or kill yourself off if you fail the challenge or mistime it. I know the asset is a dev-kit one, but the level does need to be designed around the fact that these don't respawn. [CHANGED POST JUDGING] The E-Tank path is that last cave was pretty clever and well thought out though! As simple as it is, this was probably the highlight of the stage for me. I think this one worked, and overall, felt above average, which by Mega Man standards still means it's pretty good. Oh, and that first Noble Nickel was hilarious. Top marks for that one. Lastly: Don't put boss corridors in if you're not going to use a boss, or a stage climax. It ends your level on a low note!