Castle Turtlevania by Speaktrap - Download Information

Castle Turtlevania Single player, by Speaktrap, requires The Secret Files with JJ2+

Rating: 6.9

Description

A Castlevania inspired Metroid-like level.

After about a year of stagnant development I decided to at least roughly wrap this level up and upload here on J2O.
I’m not fully satisfied with the outcome, but I got tired of this tileset very long ago and there are few fun quirks I wish to share with you.
The code is a mess, but my next metroidvania level (and I hope this time will be finished much faster and more polished) is already leaner from the ground-up.
But if despite of this anyone is interesed in expanding this pack you’re free to go!
In the meantime I wish you at least half a fun :)

I almost forgot: here’s the missing file (just a climatic ambient on the start of the level)
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B6KmVRnBmlTNb2dzNmxtaXVfNGs/view?usp=sharing

Credits & Acknowledgements

Some stolen snippets and music, too lazy to write them all down

Contains 13 Files

turtlevania.j2l	Castle Turtlevania	25.20 kB
HauntedH1fix.j2t	HauntedH Fixed	364.86 kB
Pip Malt - Amiable Arachnids.it	Amiable Arachnids	4027.30 kB
Pip Malt - Redemption.it	Redemption (Shadows Fall)	2521.07 kB
Pip Malt - The Serpent's Wings.it	The Serpent's Wings	1317.24 kB
fear2.mod	fear 2	237.95 kB
goodbye_world.mod	goodbye world	128.08 kB
life_of_stagelife.mod	life of stagelife	117.16 kB
turtlevania-music.mod	castlevania 1	35.83 kB
KNEW.S3M	No one knew	956.22 kB
WHISPER.S3M	The Whispering Rain	383.66 kB
._turtlevania.j2as		0.17 kB
turtlevania.j2as		23.56 kB

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Reviews and comments

Violet CLM 13 Jan 2017, 07:17

Featured

Castle Turtlevania is that frustrating level that does a lot of things fairly well but nothing great, and you have to wonder what would happen if that weren’t the case. If there were all new enemies, for example, would it be an amazing single player experience or would everything else suffer as a result? I’m not sure. But it’s still possible to play this and think every few minutes “huh, this is pretty cool,” even if not “this is incredible.”

TreyLina’s review includes a lengthy list of cons that I find myself about half-and-half on. Yes, firing up is weird, hiding vital warps behind layer 3 is rarely advisable, the death system is frustrating, and it is kind of barren-looking. Haunted House is always a kind of barren tileset, at least in that it has no background layers, but it is possible to do more with it than this. Still, I appreciate that eyecandy was never the main focus here.

Other things she listed I’m more okay with giving a pass. Being Jazz-only is fine in principle (though the implementation shouldn’t be buggy). Not being able to run (initially) is fine. The health system, including the carrots you’re always allowed to pick up, is fine. Branching out a bit from typical JJ2 gameplay is generally something I’m in support of, and I don’t think any of those things are bad decisions. The bird mode is maybe a little silly, but I didn’t mind that much because the antigravity buttstomp was so much fun that why would I ever want to be a bird? Again, maybe it’s a little bit buggy, but it’s fun! Enemies dropping ammo is somewhat muted by the fact that they’re all the default enemies, so non-blaster ammo isn’t as useful as it could be, but by gosh I’m glad the level tried doing it anyway.

Basically, Castle Turtlevania is a level with a lot of heart. (Even though it chooses not to represent health with heart icons anymore.) My reaction to its flaws is not “eww” but “aww”—it’s clearly trying and I want it to get better. I look at its pride in its ideas—two distinct unlockable ways to fly! distinct areas with captions and themes! a non-euclidean maze!—and I look forward to what those things can look like someday with a bit more polish. Yes, it’s buggy and not so pretty and the bosses really aren’t very good, but these feel like symptoms of a lack of practice, not of passion. This is a great step. This is good confidence. I hope to see more.

Blackraptor 6 Apr 2017, 08:09 (edited 6 Apr 17, 08:09)

Blacky’s Single Player Catch Up Review #4:

My time spent playing this map was in near equal parts awe and frustration. My advice would definitely be set up a checkpoint/lives system of some kind so you could expand the level, more routes and areas but less dead ends, less linearity but way more direction (I had no idea where to access the chaos realm and eventually ran into it by luck/accident for example, because it was hidden with no indication), spend the same focus and passion on eyecandy and actual level design as on the creativity of the scripting. You have done a better homage to Castlevania than I have with my sprawling colossal single player level, I have never been as hyped about something I rated in the 7’s as I am about this, I feel like the shortcomings in this level are a lot easier to improve upon compared to the stuff you did well, there is lots of potential here – it’s like a swing that was almost a grand slam but was ruled a foul ball or something. Looking forward to your next upload!

TreyLina 8 Dec 2016, 21:45 (edited 10 Dec 16, 06:48)

Ok, so apparently this level is Jazz-only…

The error should be specified that you have to play as Jazz (instead of totally nothing), and neither should Spaz be able to play since he looks incredibly awkward with Jazzes abilities (he has uppercut even though he lacks sprites for it). Which is inconsistent because Lori can’t play at all.

EDIT: Okay, “done” playing. Before anyone goes crazy at the rating, read the cons. This contains many spoilers.

Overview
In this level, you start as Jazz (or a Spaz that works weird), incapable of running. Instead of blaster, you get a weapon that behaves like a boomerang. Gain abilities such as running, turning into Chuck the bird and antigrav. You will also gain some (mostly) classic ammo and powerups along the way, to access more areas. Also, many custom bosses must be fought along the way.

Pros
More scripting fun – new bosses (or at least mechanically) and abilities you gain throughout the game.

You can play as the bird, Chuck! (later on)

A few points for creativity.

Overall good music choices. Each boss and sub-world has its own track. None of them have been used before and fit pretty well, if I recall.

Cons
This level completely eliminates the lives system and has no checkpoints. Infact, it doesn’t allow you to start from the beginning of the level after death either. So instead, you must tediously exit the level and restart from the menu. This is not fun by any measure. And gives no chance for the player to stop and take a break.

So, when you enter the Chaos Realm and collect all the coins then reach the warp, you arrive at “Yuo are dead” in its incorrectly spelled glory. Then I look up in JCS…OH, you have a wall to destroy in this room, and then you win! What is this moon logic?

Now, for the less bothersome cons

There’s no difficulty support, or at least there doesn’t seem to be.

Shooting upwards with your default weapon looks incredibly buggy/underpolished. The HUD flickers and an array of sound spam happens, though nothing comes out. Also, it would be nice if the default weapon made its appearance on the HUD instead of blaster.

The Clock tower to enter the Chaos Realm is layer 3’d. Such key areas are usually indicated by well, not being tiles that are normally completely solid. Which strikes as a bit unintuitive. It wouldn’t matter as a secret, though.

It looks pretty barren. Especially eyecandy-wise.

Maybe it’s just my bias for dislike of mazes for finding the Devils Gallery more tiresome and tedious than anything. But it’s also where the barren look sticks out the most. Some transitions aren’t so smooth, resulting in a part of the layout flicking away in a flash (particularly that bookcase and bottom-right window).

Enemies that respawn right in front of you. SDjksdjakjhjk.

Some empty deadends. :( Ammo could be placed into them.

At Castle Wall, there are thin platforms that invisibly lose collision when you get hit. It looks buggy (because absolutely no one would expect why it happens here – it’s not suggested in any way) and either way, it’s not really fun.

The full carrots are also unintuitive. On my first play attempt, I avoided them because I assumed they were just carrots that fully restored your health, not increased your max amount, since they looked exactly the same. Perhaps change the colour of them?

You can take normal carrots even though you have full health. This does not normally happen in JJ2. There’s a good reason for that.

I guess it’s just a nitpick/personal dislike, though I don’t like the run function being removed, even if running is made into a powerup. It feels kind of tedious. To me, a lot of the charm of JJ2 comes in being able to go fast. Even a jog would be more acceptable (faster than walking but slower than running).

The controls to get flight mode is awkward. I got it consistently eventually, but I think it would be a better idea to use one of the unused ammo numbers instead (like a toggle).

Conclusion
This level has some potential, though it has a lot of confusing design and a few elements I dislike, and too punishing on players for dying. Not recommended for less-skilled/easily frustrated players, but more seasoned ones may want to check it out.

…I preferred Damn Lava Planet. Sorry.

EDIT: I’d also like to note I only died twice. Which was on the first boss – so it’s not a matter of me rating 6.5 simply because of the no lives/checkpoint system. I could see this being a 7 or 8, depending on the amount of (or which) issues are fixed.

gorkemdeniz 18 Dec 2016, 02:32 (edited 19 Dec 16, 15:05)

The Tileset is pretty solid, eyecandy.
Some interesting Script features but having no checkpoints is really disappointing for such as newbie as myself.
Liked the Music picks, surely fits on the atmosphere, especially for boss fights.

cooba 28 Feb 2017, 12:53 (edited 28 Feb 17, 12:53)

While I agree this is flawed I believe it’s a bit more than the sum of its parts.

PurpleJazz 16 May 2018, 17:47 (edited 16 May 18, 17:49)

Despite all of its flaws, I did enjoy this level. Despite the rather spartan visuals and simple gameplay, it was a decent attempt at bringing Castlevania style gameplay and atmosphere to JJ2, perhaps helped by the excellent music choices. I thought the ending was rather anti-climactic though; a final boss would’ve been nice.