Hi,
Looks like you've been lurking around for only about a month, so welcome to the community. 🥳 Hope you find your way to the Discord server where most of the rest of us hang out, if you haven't already.It's awesome that you're asking around for help with making levels - new builders are always exciting to the many of us that like playing customs, so here's hoping that you do share your work.
I've released quite a few levels myself over the years,
so I think I'm qualified enough to give you some helpful tips:
Firstly,
play levels! Play levels you enjoy a lot, play levels that have a really cool section or trick, even play levels you think kind of suck. They are often your best source of inspiration, and there are literal thousands to choose from, whether that be the couple hundred from the main games (Gold, Ultra, Platinum, PlatinumQuest), the many user mods, or
Marbleland's catalog of the over 6,000
from the past almost 20 years.
- The biggest advantage from a creative aspect with a game like Marble Blast, a 3D platformer with an incredibly versatile set of movements as the very fundamentals of player's interaction, is there's so much to toy around with and a lot of room to exercise your imagination - people are still coming up with new stuff these days, and especially the better customs that have been released recently don't feel anything close to stale.
- The other half of playing levels for inspiration lies in the argument that speedrunners tend to make the best levels - obviously not always the case, there are many great levels out there made by people who didn't quite get the full memo on Learning to Roll, but there's at least some truth that the better players have the best feel regarding physics and fluidity. Again, argument, but consider the perspective.
Regarding actually building levels,
try not to overthink it. I fall victim to abandoning a lot of my works in progress because I plan too broadly, or I try to accomplish something that just doesn't quite have a way of working out, or I burn myself out trying to get the perfect result.
- One way of starting levels that's often mentioned is using the level editor (the classic "place pre-existing interiors everywhere" method) to make a sketch - this is implying the use of Constructor afterwards (which you didn't mention if that was in your sights or not, but
here's a guide I've made to get started on Constructor
if you want to make your own stuff from scratch). All the weird shapes and imperfections you get from using pre-existing interiors has an aspect of work-with-what-you-get to it, and if you do decide to use Constructor to rebuild your sketch with more polishing, the livelier character of your final result can come out pretty quickly.
- If you've been at something in a level that just doesn't seem like it's going to work out, move on. Put something else in its place, try that idea again later - sometimes you can have a total change of scenery in the form of changing the main texture you're using for your level (again, if you're using Constructor) and you start to see everything with a different set of eyes.
When you think you're done with your level,
play it over, and over, and over again. You are eventually releasing your level for other people to play, but it still should be something that you're excited about too. I've put out levels days after I got something to a ready-for-release state because I just had fun goofing around. This is typically also the best time to see if your level feels good to you: if everything flows well, if you find some tiny thing that you want to tweak (lower a platform, remove a gem, even change the value of a Time Travel), if you're having as much fun exploring your level as you are getting the fastest time you can on it.
- People ask for level testing efforts from other people in the community. Take advantage of that every now and then.
Finally,
listen to feedback! ... but still find a balance between that feedback and your own ideas. You won't improve unless you try new things (whether they be new to you, or a completely novel idea in entirety), but keep an eye on what you are comfortable with so you have something familiar to return to. You don't have to please everyone - realistically, you won't. There's too much variety in the game for everyone to like a level (I think Morph is a great level, most do not; obviously, they are wrong), but something you're proud of is what's most important to release, and oftentimes that pride will turn into appreciation and praise from others.
And keep asking for help. Show off what you're making, and see what others are working on too.
Here's part of something I've had in progress for a little while now.
Best of luck! 🍀🏗️
I want advice for Improving Marble Blast Custom Levels?
