10 Tips to Create The Best Super Mario Maker 2

Pro Tips to Create Amazing Mario Maker 2 Levels Welcome to MojoPlays! Do you feel like your Mario Maker levels are missing something? Well you’ve come to the right place because today, we’re looking at 10 pro-tips to create amazing “Super Mario Maker 2” levels. Watch Yamamura’s Lessons Upon booting the game, you’ll be able to access a robust array of optional lessons for how to make a course. You’re free to figure things out on your own if you want, but if you’re looking for some tips or ideas then it can’t hurt to check them out. If you haven’t memorized every power-up or enemy in the games “Mario Maker” uses as its basis, then getting to grips with the basics through the lessons and learning what’s what is a great way to start. As they might introduce you to mechanics you didn’t even think of at first. Producer Takashi Tezuka said he’s actually worried there was too much information in the lessons, and that they’d be giving away lots of Nintendo’s secrets. Play Story Mode The second instalment features the addition of story mode, where Mario is tasked with rebuilding Princess Peach’s castle, and you do this by playing lots of intricately-designed, professional courses. Completing story mode is a reward in itself, but it can be a huge help when it comes to your own level design, since what you’re doing by playing it is learning from the masters. There’s no better way to see what’s possible than seeing how the developers themselves used the tools on hand to make something great. Create a Theme While it’s tempting to use everything at your disposal, this could result in a messy level that doesn’t feel particularly polished. To avoid this, plan around a specific stage theme and make sure you stick to it, perhaps your course is a warzone? Or maybe you’ll want to recreate an iconic stage. Takashi Tezuka also suggested coming up with a name for your course first before you start building it, that way you’ll have a good idea of the sort of course you want to make. Setting the right game mode can be crucial too, especially if you want to set your level at night. Experiment with what mode you use. Make Your Course Presentable Having a cool theme still might not be enough for a memorable stage, though; you have to make sure you level actually looks good. That means; making sure you fill all your gaps in your terrain, make sure your pipes have something their connected to, or use semi solid blocks for decoration. Most important is to make sure the terrain is well laid out without being so confusing that people will get lost or stuck, and ensure your enemies and items work the way they’re supposed to. Get a Good Stylus The Switch screen is certainly responsive enough that you can use your finger to build when in edit mode, but no screen can stop you getting fingerprints all over it. This is why it might be a good idea to get a stylus that’s at least halfway decent, so that you can keep your screen clean and also be as precise in your editing as possible. You don’t want to risk damaging the expensive Switch screen, either, or getting too frustrated by not being able to place a platform exactly where it needs to be. If you were fortuitous enough to pre-order, in certain countries an official “Mario Maker” stylus is being given out with the game. Try Out Clear Requirements A new addition for the sequel is clear conditions, where you can add extra goals and objectives to make passing a level a little trickier. Plenty of the story mode missions include quirky criteria you have to meet, like passing an entire level without jumping for instance, or having to collect a certain number of coins before you can raise the flag. Including an interesting clear requirement can add an entirely new dimension to your level, and the possibilities are truly endless. Just remember that you can’t place checkpoints if your using clear requirements, so try not to have your courses drag on too long. Avoid Cheap Tricks Implementing cheap tricks to artificially inflate the difficulty is never going to go down smoothly. If you end up using hidden blocks to make it hard to reach the flag or prevent people from making jumps, players will either skip your course or boo your level (maybe even both). Equally, making the players go through doors or pipes that lead to an instant death is also ill advised. Remember: the majority of players will find your course through Endless mode. And with very limited lives, if you build your course around Trial & Error, you’re not making a challenging level, you’re just making something that’s going in the skip bin. Check for Soft-Locks A Soft-Lock in an instance where the player can get stuck and cannot progress any further in the level, so making sure you don’t have any is absolutely vital. If players get caught in one; your level may get frequently booed and skipped. An On/Off Switch might trap the player, or maybe they lost a certain power-up needed to reach a platform – and then the level becomes impossible all because of poor design. For Puzzle levels an easy way to avoid this without changing too much could be as simple as adding a restart door, or maybe you want to take the opportunity to rework a whole bunch of things to make your level the best it can be. You won’t get good ratings if your stage is unbeatable without a warning beforehand. Get Someone to Test Your Level It’s rarely a bad idea to get somebody else to check your work for you to get some objective feedback. If there’s a bit problem that you can’t see, you’ll want to get it fixed before finalizing and uploading your course. Maybe your puzzles are just too cryptic, or you need to do obscure platforming trick not everybody can pull off to beat it, which wouldn’t make for good level design. Aside from that, sharing your creations with friends, family, and other players is bound to be fun, especially if it’s something you’ve spent a lot of time on and something you’re proud of. Focus on Fun The most important thing of all is to remember that whatever you make, it needs to be fun. The only way to really be bad at “Mario Maker” is if you end up creating something nobody wants to play, so that should always be the first thing on your mind when building a stage. It’s also a good idea to be forgiving to other players. I’m not saying you should avoid making a masterfully difficult level, though if you are going down that route; you should make the players feel like they’ve accomplished a tough but fair task. But practice by making less difficult courses first before you attempt Super-Hard, the gradual learning experience will payoff in the long run.