tl;dr
as a kaizo player, this is really really fun, map variety is non existent and really needs easier maps since most players aren't very experienced in anything that isnt vanilla, really needed more playtesting, theres a lot of bugs that have been caught after playing for half an hour and lots of big shortcuts that trivialize certain maps
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To start, I don't think this is very friendly towards most players. But for me, it's a lot of fun and has a lot of potential that really isn't tapped into. I'm a kaizo player so I'm much more experienced in tech that most players just wouldn't be able to do, and this mod has maps that try to capitalize on that to varying degrees. But the amount of bugs I've found just sour my experience altogether.
GAMEPLAY
The gameplay in this mod is very mixed to say the least. For one there's a lot of slides and a lot of wallkicks that most probably wouldn't be able to understand. Wallkicks especially have like, one cool feature about them that makes it remotely interesting, specifically in Real Rumble where you can hop off the wallkick walls to skip a few wallkicks and save time.
Then again, it's still very fun but gets really repetitive after a while, even more so than flood for me. Increasing the lengths of these maps would be a nice touch, especially considering the lack of maps in the first place (will be touched on more in next section). Adding more paths or even just more unique obstacles would also solve some of these issues for me.
MAP VARIETY
There are only 3 maps in this entire mod. Just 3. And they all use the same obstacles with a few exceptions that are specific to their themes. I understand that map creation is difficulty, but even adding two extra easier maps would be satisfactory for me personally. I see the potential that this has, but it feels like each level was rushed in certain places, just so you had something to show. They're at least fun in a few places, but once again the sheer lack of map variety really hurts the experience.
The only saving grace when it comes to map variety is that others can implement their own maps as well. That's great and all, but map creation once again takes a long time, and just starting out, there really isn't much. Alongside suggestion more maps be created, getting other modders to help make a few more maps would be great, since that's the crux of this entire concept.
DIFFICULTY
Once, again, I have a lot of experience in kaizo, so my experience will be a lot more different compared to others. I had an easy time with these maps, dare I even say, I had fun. They feel decently difficult for someone of my skill level, and even if they're somewhat short for my liking, they're a nice challenge. The real issue is how the general community's skill will stand up to these maps.
So far, the difficulty level just doesn't work for most players. It's too tight and not very forgiving, although the checkpoint system is *okay* for players struggling with the difficulty (even if it has some bugs alongside it, more about it later). Another part of the difficulty is that better players just completely stomp others, rendering everyone else's fun and enjoyment completely moot. the moment someone reaches the end, everyone's forced to stop and restart. A better option would be to have a varying amount of winners that the host can set, which would have players' positions be displayed on the winning screen. This way, players can have a chance at winning without really needing to be THE fastest.
PLAYTESTING + BUGS
As mentioned before, I only really played this for half an hour with some friends, and I've already found a number of bugs that I want to mention here.
- if one player has connection issues, new rounds cannot begin unless the player(s) with connection issues leaves the server
- at random times, if the host attempts to start a new round, they could warp incorrectly, which softlocks the entire server from playing new rounds until the server is shut down
- because checkpoints can be set anywhere on checkpoint platforms, setting a checkpoint at the edge of a checkpoint platform allows players to build up speed infinitely, leading to a very easy shortcut in Slippery Place that allows you to skip 80% of the map
- if players die in Real Rumble while scaling the lava stream, all the leftover damage from each lava bounce frame isn't reset, causing players to die multiple times until all the stored damage is taken
- in Slippery Place and Real Rumble, the slide section with quicksand obstacles has major texture layering issues, making it very difficulty to see what's going on without changing camera angles
I'm not sure if there were public playtests or just playtests with a couple of friends, but it's clear that this wasn't really playtested enough if I could find these within half an hour of playing this mod. Just having a few public playtests (or honestly having me playtest) would reveal a number of bugs that wouldn't have made it to release.
SUGGESTIONS
Here's a bunch of suggestions just from the top of my head. These will be a lot more concise.
- add an accurate timer (down to the millisecond), including final times for all players on the winning screen
- reset players' speed when respawning
- only respawn players at specific coordinates rather than anywhere on checkpoint platforms
- add a proper countdown when beginning rounds
- add a map voting system
- add a map api so maps can easily be implemented
- remove hp loss when falling into the void (not sure why it exists considering any time you would take damage, you're essentially going to die anyways, plus theres zero penalty for having low hp)
- add more base maps (ask other modders for help, or just adding just 2 easier ones are fine)
- add an adjustable amount of racers needed to finish a round (1 - 5 would be good)
- add more obstacle variety, the fact there's so many reused assets kinda sucks
Overall, I personally find it really fun. It has a lot of potential but is really bogged down by the lack of variety and easy to find bugs. For others, I fear the difficulty may turn them off from playing this. Another update to clean up some bugs and improve map variety would be a blessing, since it's one of the few gamemodes I really do enjoy despite its flaws.
Accurate rating: 3.6/5
If you want the mod to have a kind of rubberbanding so that new players have a chance, what you could do would be to include Character Select characters with custom movesets like Yoshi, Peach or Pauline so that new players have an advantage.
Regarding the music bug you mention, it is very strange what you are telling me, it has never happened to me before and no player has ever reported it to me before. I would appreciate if you could give me details, where do you play Coop, do you play the PC version, or do you play on Android in one of the custom builds of the community? Regards.