The 'Shroom:Issue 230/Strategy Wing
Director's Notes
Written by: Hooded Pitohui (talk)
The winds of fortune are howling!
Welcome, all you readers of The 'Shroom, to a blustery edition of Strategy Wing! No, that draft isn't from the hole in the wall that Waluigi Time marked as "fixable with a large poster" on my last budget request form. I thought the air in the office was getting a bit stale, so I've been practicing wind magic so I could improve the circulation in here! Considering we haven't been beset by that mold problem that seems to be spreading through the building this year, I'd say my gusts are doing some good. Or... perhaps the fans and Ty-Foos I brought in are doing the heavy lifting. In either case, we've improved the air quality for only the cost of a few dozen extra paperweights!
These steady gales have blown in some familiar faces, too! Everyone, give Shoey (talk) and Koops (talk) a warm welcome back! Shoey has been quite busy carrying out a census of the newly-annexed Xiang Ping, but now he returns to us with a fresh edition of So You Want to Romance the Three Kingdoms?. Admittedly, the not-yet-imperial coffers are running a bit low after subduing Yuan Shao, but that just means it's time to shuffle around some officers and to focus on city development. As for Koops, our resident video playthrough-maker has a new job! I hear he's taken up a position in the city, buuuuut I'd better let him tell you all about the work. Additionally, former Shine Sprite-collector Waluigi Time (talk) has flown over with a guest edition of Rising From Obscurity! Wish he hadn't put a crater in the ground with his landing, though... Even if that purple scarf was snazzy...
Of course, our regular writers have prepared some special treats this month, too. Sparks (talk) faces some fiercely cold winds in the last NES game in the series as he moves into Mega Man 6. Roserade (talk) reaches far back into the history of Killing Games to offer some insights into the evolution of role design philosophies. Elsewhere, Four Steps for a 3D World has received a fresh coat of paint, and trust me, with winds like this whipping through the office, paint dries quickly!
There's plenty more to read beyond just the sections I've mentioned, but bear with me through one important message to someone before you go flying off.
As I'm sure you've read by now, we've put this weather-themed issue together to commemorate Lakituthequick's (talk) 100th issue as Website Manager. LTQ, from the bottom of my heart, thank you for all you have done for The 'Shroom and for this community. This paper has run for nearly two decades and has been maintained by well over fifty staff members, and no staff member has had as great an impact on it as you have. I say that not to minimize the massive contributions of many wonderful Team Directors or Graphic Design Managers, but to give proper acknowledgement to the extraordinary effort you have poured into this paper.
It is thanks to your hard work that we have had features ranging from easily-altered main page buttons to moving curtains. You've made the stars shimmer in the night sky and you have lit up our celebrations with beautiful fireworks. You've made it possible to smoothly scroll through specialized galleries and to dispense items from vending machines. You've given Strategy Wing the gift of specialized comic boxes for certain image-heavy sections and have brought joy to our days with numerous scavenger hunts. You turned hours of work into minutes by creating ShroomBot to automate issue uploads, and you made Awards more organized and efficient with all of Uncle Awards' nifty little features. You kept us up-to-date on the ongoings of Awards for years (with fun little quotes, no less!) and have given us a little insight into the backend of Nintendo's webpages. I leaned on you heavily during my time as Director, and I am enormously grateful for your guidance and patience.
Beyond the paper, you've smoothed out some of the drudgery involved in hosting Scribble and helped it to become an enduring community tradition. You have been the pillar of Awards record-keeping and have more recently become an excellent meeting host. Without you, we wouldn't have Bonus Stars or the iconic AC Hubbub. Interactive maps, new pollsorter features, plant gachas... I could go on and on. Our collaborative projects, our games, our traditions - there's nothing in this community that you have not improved. Just as importantly as any of that, though, you've brightened our days and expanded our knowledge simply by being present and talking with all of us. Even early on, you made me feel welcome by allowing me to be a part of some presentations and scavenger hunts, and ever since you have shown me great kindness. You were even the first to show me that Toady hanafuda art!
You are a pillar of this community, LTQ, and a good friend to me. Thank you for being a part of this space with us, and congratulations on hitting this milestone.
Now then, the rest of Strategy Wing awaits you, folks! Catch the breeze and enjoy!
Section of the Month
Going out of the way to collect all those letters was no easy task, but thanks to them, Sparks (talk) delivered a memorable BEATing to Dr. Wily! A big congratulations on snagging first place with your crawl through Wily's fortress! We're also raising our ping pong paddles up to celebrate Zange (talk), who took the silver with tips on conquering touchy moai and off-beat bird calls. I'm forecasting a torrent of votes this month, so make like a cloud and rain your support down on our wonderful team of writers!
| STRATEGY WING SECTION OF THE MONTH | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Place | Section | Votes | % | Writer |
| 1st | An Overly Detailed and Funny Walkthrough of Mega Man 5 | 6 | 35.29% | Sparks (talk) |
| 2nd | Rhythm Review | 3 | 17.65% | Zange (talk) |
| 3rd | The Tattle Log | 2 | 11.76% | Hooded Pitohui (talk) |
Brothership Boss Battle Guide
Do I even need the spoiler warning anymore?
Oh well. Welcome to the penultimate edition of Brothership Boss Battle Guide! I can't believe it's almost over; how has so much time gone by? Anyways, the next boss to check out is Glohm Pipegunk, the last of three optional Glohm bosses! That also means it's yet another shorter section... sorry.
Dewey Fightem sends Mario and Luigi back to the Brrrning Sea, Great Lighthouse Island to take down Glohm Pipegunk! Defeating it will be no easy task, as the boss is the strongest one encountered so far...
Here are the stats of Glohm Pipegunk!
Glohm Pipegunk's stats
| Image | Level | Location | HP | POW | DEF | SPD | Type | EXP | Coins | Item(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
43 | Brrrning Sea, Great Lighthouse Island | 10,800 | 288 | 214 | 637 | Glohm, Spiked (in fire and ice forms) | 5000 | 1700 | Rainbow Medallion |
Glohm Pipegunk's abilities
Like the other Glohm bosses (minus Glohm Bowser), I'll only list the changes in their attacks. They're the same ones used by their normal counterparts, just more dangerous:
Normal form attacks:
Goo balls: The projectiles look to be the same, but when Glohm Pipegunk jumps up, it lands at a faster speed.
Slimy charge: Much faster than the original's version!
Like the original fight, Glohm Pipegunk can change temperatures during the battle, although instead of Shun it's a weird shadowy version of him.
Before Glohm Pipegunk attacks in its normal form, it gets a 10% increase to POW. This can stack if done multiple times, and does not carry to other forms. Fire form attacks:
- Fireballs: Other than the massive power increase, there doesn't seem to be a difference with this attack. Maybe the puddles stick around for longer?
- Fireball rain: The fireballs fall down at a faster pace.
- Fireball barrage: The fireballs seem to travel at a slightly slower speed, requiring more tight jump timing. Glohm Pipegunk also does more rounds than before.
Ice form attacks:
- Icy charge: Glohm Pipegunk seems to "charge" at a slightly faster speed, and the screen freezes up slightly faster too.
- Icicle rain: While slower than the fireballs, the icicles fall at a faster pace than they did before. Mushrooms shot out heal 200 HP.
- Ice barrage: Both forms of projectiles (puffy and icicle) are still present, and the boss can switch between the two. The boss may also do more rounds than usual.
While Glohm Pipegunk is fiery or icy, there will be winds that heal the boss by 540 HP, and it will immediately counterattack if attacked. Additionally, all attacks from the boss, regardless of form, can inflict Glohm!
If Shadow Shun shows up while Glohm Pipegunk is hot or cold, it'll allow for a Luigi Logic opportunity! Make sure Mario and Luigi are able to act when he shows up!
Luigi Logic
This Luigi Logic is the same as Pipegunk's, although Shadow Shun fights back with force right from the very beginning. Strangely, the same tutorial message from before appears, simply calling Shadow Shun "Shun". If you're successful, be sure to choose the opposite temperature to make Glohm Pipegunk vulnerable for a short time! The boss will also take 600 damage.
Tips and tricks
Recommended gear
From here on out, the best purchasable gear is found on Conductor Island! It's the same stuff from the previous few bosses.
- Boots: Great Conductor Boots (also increases SPEED by 8 points and STACHE by 5 points)
- Hammer: Great Conductor Hammer (also increases DEF by 7 points and STACHE by 5 points)
- Wear: Great Conductor Wear (also increases STACHE by 12)
Astonishing gear pieces are still good, but for the "gear that isn't found at shops" list, I'm only mentioning gear stronger than the Great Conductor stuff:
- Forge Boots DX: Awarded for clearing the Jellyfish Pizza minigame on hard mode. It is 7 points stronger than Great Conductor Boots, and also has the passive ability of increasing damage dealt by 30% when the wearer's HP is low.
- Accel Boots DX: Rarely dropped by Glohm Snaptors in the endgame. 3 points stronger than Great Conductor Boots (with a 4 point increase to SPEED) and increases SPEED by 30 whenever an enemy is defeated. Not very helpful here though...
- En Garde Boots DX: Rarely dropped by Glohm Curlups in the endgame. Same stats as Accel Boots DX, but their ability allows you to deal 30% more damage to an undamaged enemy, making them useful in this fight. Start out with a strong attack!
- Adaphnikki Boots and Adaphne Boots: They have the same POW as Great Conductor Boots, but both have unique properties. Adaphnikki Boots increases damage dealt with Jump-attack combos by 30%, while Adaphne Boots increases the strength of single Jump attacks by 30%. You can only get one of these Boots, and they're both from the Dueling Geniuses side quest. If you let both Adaphne and Technikki work together, you'll get the Adaphnikki Boots. If Adaphne worked on her own, then you'll receive Adaphne Boots instead.
- Knockout Hammer DX: Rarely dropped by Glohm Drillbies. It is three points stronger than Great Conductor Hammer (with four points in DEF too) and increases POW by 20% whenever an enemy is defeated. That ability doesn't help here...
- Gamble Hammer DX: Rarely dropped by Glohm Milltons. It's 7 points stronger than Great Conductor Hammer (with 5 points to STACHE). Whenever an enemy is defeated, a random stat increases. Once again that ability doesn't help here.
- Master Hammer: Earned by clearing the Max-Mix Vortex Expert Challenge. It's the strongest hammer in the game (15 points stronger than Great Conductor Hammer) and increases the damage and speed of hammer attacks by 20%. Normal attacks will be tougher to perform, but the strength makes it worth it!
- Dodgy Jump Wear DX: Found inside a ? Block in the back door of Bowser's Castle on Wayaway Island. It's 3 points stronger than Great Conductor Wear and also reduces damage taken by 20% if you fail to dodge an attack.
- Whittledown Wear DX: Earned by completing the Last Groove Dance. It's 12 points stronger than Great Conductor Wear and has the nice bonus of reducing additional damage if there are fewer enemies. Yeah!
- Repel Wear DX: Found after clearing a puzzle on Morsel Islet. It's 12 points stronger than Great Conductor Wear. Its bonus of reducing additional damage if lots of enemies are present has no use here sadly...
- Blocky Hammer Wear DX: Found inside a ? Block on Dropplet Islet, but you'll have to take down three Glohm Shower Fish to get it. It's the same strength as Great Conductor Wear (with a bonus of 4 points to SPEED), but it also decreases damage taken by 20% if you miss countering an attack.
- Zokket Wear: Found inside a Hidden ? Block at Fortress Zokket. It is the same strength as Great Conductor Wear and also increases SPEED by 4. Furthermore, it reduces damage taken by 30% when the other brother is absent or KO'd, allowing for a less stressful revival when fighting as a duo.
- Liberation Wear DX: Rarely dropped by Glohm Palookas in the endgame. It has four more points in DEF and POW than Great Conductor Wear, and it increases SPEED by 30% whenever you take damage.
Use whatever gloves and accessories you wish! Bring ones that fit your playstyle.
Recommended Battle Plugs
You'll need the best Battle Plugs you can get for Glohm Pipegunk! Here are the ones I recommend:
Anti-Glohm Specialist: Glohm Pipegunk is a Glohm enemy, so of course this is a good choice! Only affects normal attacks and counters however.
Temperature Guard: Defend yourself from the Burn and Freeze status effects with this!
Glohm Guard: Prevents the Glohm status entirely! No need to use up Ampberries with this around.
Auto Ampberry: A great substitute if Glohm Guard isn't available.
Bros. Boost and Performance Bonus: Will absolutely destroy Glohm Pipegunk if the right Bros. Attacks are used. Get EXCELLENTS to get some BP back!
Waitaminnit: Combine this with the Bros. Attack Battle Plugs for massive destruction! Two turns to act with such powerful attacks? Of course that's amazing for a hard boss like this!
Easy-Peasy Counters: Very helpful with the boss's fire/ice barrages, allowing Mario and Luigi to float in the air while they dodge them!
Notdroppin: While Glohm Pipegunk has very strong multi-hit attacks, this Battle Plug may save a character if they lose all of their HP. Remember that it only activates once per attack, so if they're hit afterwards they'll get KO'd.
Protectus: Has only 3 uses before it has to recharge, but completely nullifies all damage taken, no matter how many hits there are in a single attack! Only one charge goes down per enemy turn (if you get hit). Note that this won't save you from status effects like Glohm.
Boomerang Items: Nothin' like using a Max Nut or Max Candy and getting it back for free. Recover with your best items without losing them!
Auto Mushroom, Auto Syrup Jar, and Deluxe Auto: Any of the first two combined with Deluxe Auto ensures top notch recovery while not using up turns!
Auto 1-Up: If a brother was to get KO'd in the battle, this Battle Plug will get them back in the fight without delay! This may even save you when a Luigi Logic chance presents itself!
Other things
Glohm Pipegunk is not easy. It's capable of causing lots of destruction with powerful, usually multi-hit attacks that cause various status effects, including (but not limited to) Burn, Freeze, and Glohm. To win, you must bring your A game!
Oh yes... I can finally talk about the final Bros. Attack in the game - Conductor Connector! This is by far Mario's strongest attack and also the best to use against Glohm Pipegunk. The only downsides are its expensive BP cost and the attack being difficult to perform. Even if you get all the meteors, you can still fumble the targeting part of the attack, resulting in a small amount of damage being dealt. If you're worried you'll fail the attack, equip the Auto EXCELLENT Battle Plug for a guaranteed EXCELLENT!
- For the most damage potential possible, equip Waitaminnit and Bros. Boost and perform two Conductor Connectors while Glohm Pipegunk is stunned! Performance Boost will make sure you don't use up too much BP, as long as you get EXCELLENTS.
Make sure your damage is higher than the boss's healing!
Sometimes it's better to not attack Glohm Pipegunk while it's fiery or icy, because of its counterattacks.
DON'T switch the arena to the normal one when you steal the remote from Shadow Shun! That's basically a waste of a Luigi Logic.
The earliest you can fight Glohm Pipegunk is right before storming Fortress Zokket at the Stormstar Sea. I recommend waiting until you acquire both Max-Mix Vortex and Conductor Connector as their incredible power will make this fight easier.
- If you do want to battle Glohm Pipegunk without delay, then I won't stop you. You'll still have access to the Great Conductor stuff and Waitaminnit (if you got it), but you'll likely be underleveled. Don't let that stop you! Clockout Blow and Jump Helmet are still satisfactory.
Alright! With Glohm Pipegunk dealt with, there's only one more boss in Mario & Luigi: Brothership: Reclusa, AKA the final boss! Sadly, that means June's issue will bring the final section of Brothership Boss Battle Guide... but it'll go out with a BANG! It'll be the biggest and best one of them all! You won't wanna miss it!
The Death of the Player
225... 226? 229... no... 228! Yeah, 24 issues exactly, sounds good to... oh, whoops, nevermind, 230 it is. Hi! Hi! Hello! Yes, you're not going senile and hallucinating yet, that's me, I'm Koops. Uhh... There have been some complications in getting back into the swing of things, and we're gonna take a small detour from where we left off, and this is probably getting longer than it needs to be, isn't it? Let's just get this show on the road.
(Fair warning, though it is mostly cartoony in nature, the game we're playing today still does feature some graphic imagery.)
You heard it here first, everyone! This idiot is putting himself through the eternal torture chamber! For funsies!
Anyone here in the audience who knows me would not know that I have a special history with Project Moon. And well. That's because I don't. I've only gotten into that side of the collective media blob last year. While your boy was vehemently swearing over his own dead body that he'd never play any gacha games, he got baited and now I'm tragically a Limbus Company player forever, and the worst part is I'm pretty comfortable with that fact. Nonetheless, through that little journey through the mental asylum that is the Project Moon fandom, I got increasingly curious about Lobotomy Corporation as time went on, and eventually, I was in there. My morbid curiosity was bad enough, but to add on to that, I ended up enjoying it, as messed up as that sounds. There is simply something undeniably fascinating about having a whole collection of weird creatures that can kill you for the slightest wrong thing and having to pile more and more of them as the game goes.
As said in the video, I actually never really got to finish the game because my last playthrough was gone into the void after some unfortunate series of events (which included having to upgrade to a new laptop). Now that we're here though, I intend to make good use of this opportunity! And much like I was doing with my other playthroughs on this section, I will be sort of writing a guide alongside each video, as knowing about how each abnormality works is pretty vital to not spontaneously exploding. And to kick off our roster, we have everyone's favorite Messiah.
One Sin and Hundreds of Good Deeds
"It feeds on the "evil" that seeps out during conversations between people."
Classification Code: O-03-03
Risk Level: Zayin
E.G.O: Penitence
Work Result range: 0-3 / 4-7 / 8-10
If it's your first day in the facility, first of all, congratulations! Second of all, don't let its intimidating presence fool you, this clattering cranium is completely harmless! Employees will face minimal risk facing this one, as the work damage is limited at a measly 1-2 white damage. If you're good at your job and get a good result, you'll heal 4SP, and if you're ESPECIALLY good at your job (all 10 boxes obtained in a single work), a special surprise might be waiting... (your entire department heals 4SP) so always be sure to give it your all! Now being real with you, the SP healing does not actually really matter, One Sin mostly just exists to ease you into the process of working with abnormalities and is also fairly flexible, so you can train whatever stat you want on it, which is never a bad thing. All in all, the least dangerous thing in this facility by far, with passable EGO gear for the time being.
1.76MHz
"This is a recording of the day we must never forget."
Classification Code: T-06-27
Risk Level: Teth
E.G.O: Noise
Preferred work type: Repression
Work Result range: 0-5 / 6-9 / 10-12
1.76MHz is as hard to contain as it is corporeal... which is to say it's actually quite easy, despite its lack of a physical form. Work damage is 2-4 white, which, while double One Sin's amount, is still hardly an issue provided you don't get a bad result. It is worth noting, however, that employees with Level 1 Fortitude will have their success rate multiplied by 1.2. It is also worth noting that early in the game, Justice is a tough stat to come by as it's expensive to raise via LOB points, so doing repression work on easier abnormalities such as One Sin will generally help you there.
1.76MHz has a Qliphoth counter of 4, with a 40% chance to decrease by 1 after a "Normal" work result and a 80% chance to do the same after a "Bad" result. The counter is fairly lenient, but do be careful, as this abnormality can be annoying when it breaches. Once the counter hits 0, it will starts slowly but surely spreading around the facility, dealing 4 white damage every 3 seconds to anyone inside any room it occupies. Since 1.76MHz is incorporeal, it cannot be suppressed through conventional means. Instead, you need to fill up its counter back to its maximum value, which is achieved by working with it while it is breaching (A good result will increase the counter by 1, getting all 12 boxes by 2). This means your chosen nugget must be resistant to white damage (or have a million SP). It's a pretty tedious process, and all the unimportant background clerks will probably be dead by then, but this scenario is easy enough to avoid in the first place that you're unlikely to have too many issues.
Forsaken Murderer
"What's really pitiful is people like you dying to the likes of me."
Classification Code: T-01-54
Risk Level: Teth
E.G.O: Regret
Preferred work type: Instinct
Resistances:
Red - 1.0
White - 1.0
Black - 1.5
Pale - 2.0
Work Result range: 0-6 / 7-10 / 11-14
We got a grumpy one over here! Forsaken Murderer is our first "proper" breacher, since 1.76MHz is a bit quirky in that department. Work damage is 2-3 red damage, which is fairly inconsequential. He offers a decent amount of boxes for the early game, which counts for something, and his EGO weapon is a hammer that deals a whopping 12-18 red melee damage, which is not bad at all.
Forsaken Murderer's Qliphoth counter is a scary 1, and decreases by 1 with a bad result. That is all it takes for him to breach, as was expertly demonstrated in the above video by yours truly. He boasts a low, but initially respectable 270 HP, and attacks in a small area for 2-4 red damage. Overall not all that threatening when you have anything above basic equipment (which was why I got bodied :3).
The Heart of Aspiration
"Excessive aspiration would bring about unwarranted frenzy."
Classification Code: T-09-77
Risk Level: Teth
Our first tool abnormality, and a pretty good one at that! Equipping this will grant the corresponding nugget 10 HP and Attack Speed, which is a pretty nice boon when fighting hostiles. Try to return the Heart to its containment room before 30 seconds have passed, or before fighting anything, however, and your poor lil' nugget immediately descends into panic and will start attempting to murder people. Don't go throw yourself into your own panic just yet, though, because you can still bring that employee back from the brink by hitting them with white damage until their SP is back to full. After that, said employee can safely return the Heart back to its room or keep holding it as long as they want to. They've earned it.
Well, that was fun. See y'all next month, hopefully! I probably won't disappear again haha.
Four Steps for a 3D World
Written by: Hooded Pitohui (talk)
Hello all you readers of The 'Shroom, and welcome back to Four Steps for a 3D World! Here, we look at levels from a selection of 3D Super Mario titles through the lens of a design philosophy Koichi Hayashida discussed in an interview, either mapping out how they use it or contrasting them against it.
In brief, 3D Mario game levels in certain titles are designed around an introduction (
) that lets a player learn a mechanic in a safe environment, further development (
) that builds on what the player is learning and introduces more complicated aspects of a mechanic, a twist (
) that adds some kind of significant wrinkle or challenge to force players to consider the mechanic from a new angle, and a conclusion (
) which gives players one final satisfying chance to show they've mastered the mechanic. We look at 3D Mario levels and see if they conform to this model while trying to get some insight on how a good level is constructed.
As you almost certainly know by now, we're celebrating Lakituthequick (talk) this month. Lakitus being famous for riding around on clouds and Strategy Wing's offices being rather blustery this month, it only felt right to dissect a mission built around using clouds to ride the wind. We'll be going back to Super Mario Galaxy 2, a game which released before our familiar four steps were publicly discussed but which did feature Hayashida as director. Outside of the 3D Land and 3D World pair, it's the title to which our four steps most cleanly apply. Its missions have followed our four steps very closely in the past, but it has also thrown us a curveball before.
Which way will the winds blow in the "Head in the Clouds" mission of the Cloudy Court Galaxy? There's only one way to find out, so make like a Lakitu and hop on a cloud! We've got a breeze to catch!
| Step | Image | Notes |
|---|---|---|
 Refresher |
|
The stage starts off by putting Mario down on a large, grassy planetoid with a couple clouds (each hosting a coin), a couple hedges, and a Flaptack. There is a Cloud Flower dead ahead of Mario, but one of the clouds is placed nearer to the starting point than the Cloud Flower. A player who has forgotten the mechanics of cloud platforms might jump towards the coin and fall through, reminding them they'll need to collect the Cloud Flower before they can stand on any clouds. The nearby Flaptack can refresh players on how enemies interact with Cloud Mario. A sauropod-shaped hedge incentivizes players to jump and spin to reach its head, reminding players of how they can create cloud platforms. This is all wrapped up with a series of platforms, blocks, and Paragoombas spread far apart as a test of the player's ability to handle platforming with the Cloud Flower. It all feels akin to a quiz at the start of a class session. The developers are asking players if they remember how to use the Cloud Flower and giving them a brief chance to refresh themselves and to prove they've retained that skill. |
| Introduction |
|
At the end of that little platforming quiz, players arrive at a planetoid with a raised wooden platform positioned in the path of a windmill's gusts. Making it as blatant as possible that this is an Introduction step, a Whittle nudges players to ride the wind and a controller prompt pops up in the corner encouraging players to make a cloud. Once players do as told, gusts carry them across a gap to a higher platform. There are no enemies to interfere, no jumps to make, and no obstacles. It may be the shortest Introduction we've ever seen, but it does introduce the mission's new mechanic in a safe environment, so it qualifies! |
| Intermission |
|
After their brief wind ride, players ascend up a series of bouncy drums to arrive at a pair of cymbals hosting a Launch Star. This neither fits in with the rest of the mission mechanically nor with our four steps, but it is pretty memorable. This is one of those moments in which a Mario mission prioritizes spectacle over mechanical cohesion, as we've seen before. It's fast-paced and goes by quickly, so it manages to avoid disrupting the rest of the mission. That's a crucial consideration with these moments of spectacle. They can fall flat if they rob players of momentum! |
| Development |
|
Players land on a planetoid with another raised wooden platform, through which a rising wind blows. Armed with knowledge, players make a cloud and begin to ride the wind upwards. Wooden blocks serve as obstacles during this ascent, forcing players to move around during the ride to avoid being pushed off of their cloud. A Goomba and Elite Octoomba wait on solid ground at the end of the ascent, past which players reach another breeze that they ride to cross a distant gap and reach a planet with a Launch Star and a smattering of enemies. The Goombas and co. don't add much danger since a player must always be able to reach a fresh Cloud Flower to proceed, and by wandering around on solid ground, they don't help to develop the idea of players encountering obstacles while riding the wind. The enemy placement here could be improved by taking away some of the existing enemies and putting some Paragoombas in that second wind segment. Having mobile enemies as obstacles would iterate nicely on the immobile blocks during the vertical wind section, reinforcing the Development section's core idea. |
| Twist |
|
Players move on to a 2.5D section where gravity always pulls downwards towards a bottomless abyss. They're immediately confronted with a rising wind which they must ride while avoiding prickly plants. It feels like an extension of the Development section... but I'll elaborate on that below. After the ascent, players must jump down into a wind gust. This is where one half of the Twist becomes clear, as players have to time their cloud creation so they don't undershoot the wind (going nowhere) and don't overshoot the wind (falling into the abyss). This is followed by a section where players must wall-jump through a narrow passage and use clouds to crest a steep slope, which is in turn followed by a large, windless gap. To cross this gap, players must create multiple cloud platforms. By forcing the player to space their clouds out efficiently so they don't run out prematurely, these segments represent the second half of the Twist. This culminates in one final vertical ascent using a rising wind, with the extra complication that players must ride the wind through moving walls. If players don't time their cloud creation right, they can end up crushed by these walls as they ascend. |
There are two "messy" aspects of the Twist section I feel are worth highlighting. First, notice that the Twist section here introduces two wrinkles. At different points, it tests players on their ability to use their clouds efficiently or on their ability to create clouds at the right moment in time. While this feels a little messy, I wouldn't call it poor mission design. In fact, there's a benefit to this approach, and it can be seen in this mission! Timing challenges necessarily slow down a mission's pace, since players must stop to observe patterns or to plan their approach. Stringing timing challenges together, then, will slow down a mission's pace considerably. There are times where that's appropriate and desirable, but in a series like Mario, those times are the exceptions and not the rule. "Head in the Clouds" maintained a fast pace until this point, and clearly the developers wanted to maintain that pace. To do so, they broke their timing-based challenges up with a pair of challenges built around efficient cloud usage. Having multiple challenges or mechanics in a Twist section allows a developer to pull off tricks like this, giving them finer control over points like pacing without causing the Twist section to meander aimlessly.
The other messy element of the Twist section is one to which I previously drew attention. Why is that first vertical ascent (the one with the prickly plants) included with the Twist? It certainly isn't adding any new challenge that we hadn't previously seen in the Development section. In a game where steps can often be mapped to different planets or sets of planets thanks to Launch Stars and Sling Stars breaking missions into discrete units, this first ascent's placement feels off. I wondered why this little ascent was grafted on to the rest of this 2.5D segment, and I've reached the conclusion that checkpoints are the culprit. There's a Checkpoint Flag right at the beginning of this segment, and so the devs needed a way to ease a respawning player back into the mission. It wouldn't have done to toss a player right into a timing challenge! It's best to let them re-acquire the Cloud Flower and to give them a chance to get their bearings before they jump back into the mission's biggest challenges. The ascent gives players a moment to reset, and that's a good reason for including it!
| Step | Image | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Conclusion |
|
Players reach the tops of the moving walls, which now become a shifting floor. A Power Star hangs high in the air, past a wind gust that's... pushing players away from the goal! Turning the wind into an obstacle feels like the kind of challenge we would typically see in a Twist step, not the Conclusion! However, I do believe this still qualifies as a Conclusion step. To reach the Power Star, players must not be wasteful with their clouds and must be quick in making them. It builds on the efficient use of clouds from the Twist section, while adding an element of time pressure (hurry or the clouds blow away!) that simultaneously builds off of the Twist section's timing challenges. A player who reaches the Power Star here can bask in their accomplishment, knowing they have mastered riding the wind. |
We do see our familiar four steps here, though there are some extra segments and the mission overall is a bit messier than some of the others we've covered. That feels about right for Super Mario Galaxy 2. The four steps had begun to take shape by this point, but were not fully crystallized. As a result, there's still some variation in mission structure and a few rough edges like the enemy placement during the Development step. In some of those odd, rough edges, however, we can still find lessons. In the spectacle of the Intermission and the multiple challenges of the Twist step, we see that our four steps must be complemented by thoughtful pacing. In the odd ascent at the beginning of the Twist section, we learn that we occasionally must distort our four steps in service of level elements like checkpoints. The four steps are a great starting point, but don't neglect considerations like pacing or easing players back in after a death!
If there's anything to take away from the Cloudy Court Galaxy, it's that it pays to interrogate a level's design oddities. Sometimes what appears to be "messiness" is justified, as with that post-checkpoint ascent. At other times, we can find room for improvement, as with the mission's enemy placements. If you want to improve your level design skill, always approach levels with a critical eye and an open mind!
With four purple drums, three rising winds, two Flaptacks, and one set of cymbals, this has been Four Steps for a 3D World!
Killing the Killing Game Roles
Welcome back, readers, to another edition of Killing the Killing Game Roles, the section where we analyze various player roles from past Mario Boards Killing Games in hope of answering the question, what makes for a good role? By analyzing what's come before, we can discover some tricks and tips that could even help you design your own roles!
After a few months off, we're back with even more Killing Game goodness. Over on the Awards Board, GBA (talk) and Superchao (talk) have recently launched Awards Killing Game 2x2, a reimagining of 2018's Awards Killing Game 2, a game now old enough to be in second grade. To celebrate the kickoff, I briefly thought to review a role from AKG2 - but there will be plenty of months ahead to do that (and eventually, roles from 2x2 itself to analyze!). No, there's a special occasion this month, and I'd be remiss not to join in celebrating Lakituthequick (talk) for his 100 issues on 'Shroom staff... especially when there's a role this perfect to choose.
'Shroom KG - Lakituthequick, Ultimate Scavenger
LAKITUTHEQUICK - ULTIMATE SCAVENGER
The fastest Lakitu in town, joining as a guest participant from the Awards Committee
Card 1
- Height: 4'4"
- Weight: Floaty
- Chest: Shelled
- Blood Type: B+
- Date of Birth: August 27th
- Likes: Website coding, 3D modelling, hiding Stickers
- Dislikes: Improperly-coloured shells
- Special Notes: Ultimate Scavenger
Card 2
- Developer of many useful Forum add-ons, Lakituthequick is known for his excellent coding, 3D modelling, and interactive scavenger hunts, making you the Ultimate Scavenger. You have an unmatchable talent for hiding obscure things in 'Shroom Articles, such as stickers for the Awards Scavenger Hunt.
- This gives you very high 'Stealth for hiding evidence almost perfectly, as well as 'Sleuthing and 'Situational Awareness for finding and noticing unusual things yourself.
Card 3
- As you are Lakituthequick, you can choose to move extremely fast on any given night. This means that you will not be affected by 'Stamina, and anyone who sees you will be unable to recognize who you are because of your speed. However, using this ability will deplete your 'Stamina to 1 the next night.
- Finally, as previously mentioned, computers and software coding is your forte, so you have some understanding over computing and 3D modelling, but the 3D printer appears to be inaccessible to you...
Card 4
- 'Survival: 2/5
- 'Social: 2/5
- 'Strength: 1/5
- 'Scheming: 3/5
- 'Stamina: 3/5
- 'Stealth: 4/5
- 'Sleuthing: 5/5
- 'Situational: 5/5
Forbidden Action:
The one thing you cannot hide is your murder weapon. You must leave whatever object or weapon you used to kill someone undisturbed after committing murder.
Card 5 - 'Shroom Writer Info
Has been on the Awards Committee for many years, and returns often to write the Anniversary Announcements section for Pipe Plaza. This year, he implemented a community-wide search for stickers that involved hiding small images within 'Shroom Articles and forum threads.
What's this? Lakituthequick is the role? Yes indeed, at one time he was the basis for a role wholly his own - though the actual abilities ended up in the hands of Gabumon (talk), who would go on to be the sole survivor of 'Shroom KG while depicting the legendary Luigenium. As the oldest role we've analyzed thus far for this section, what can we learn about the evolution of role design and writing, and how does the Ultimate Scavenger fare when compared to more recent roles? Let's talk about it.
General Overview
Although there are naturally aspects of the role's functions to discuss, I first want to mention a bit of the time capsule the Ultimate Scavenger card acts as. For one, Lakituthequick isn't even noted as a 'Shroom staff member! 'Shroom KG started up in December 2017, which means that role creation and distribution happened shortly before, whereas LTQ started his tenure on 'Shroom staff in January 2018. So the flavor text that calls him a "guest participant"? Well outdated by now, but just barely relevant at the time!
There's a few other aspects about the role card that show its age. The design overall takes cues from the Danganronpa series, spoofing how the game presents character information, particularly on the first card. There's also the staggering number of eight total stats, the only time this has happened in the history of Killing Game. Recurrent readers will be familiar with the five "standard" stats for MB KGs that have had stats: Speed, Strength, Stamina, Stealth, and Social. In this game, there was no Speed stat, and instead Survival, Scheming, Sleuthing, and Situational were found alongside the other four. The inclusion of these stats were a one-time occasion, and barring their return is pretty understandable. A game that relies on player intuition and imagination like Killing Game is better off without stats that limit someone's ability to investigate or set up solid kill attempts, and like, how do we even measure "survivability" as a stat in a balanced way?
Really, though, I'd argue that the most dating aspect of the role is the fact that it's based on LTQ. Users being represented in projects like forum games used to be far more common in the community - every role in 'Shroom KG was based on a named user, and that's just one example. Nowadays, this practice of making user likeness integral components of the game design has fallen out of favor. Why is that? I'd argue there's a few reasons.
Back in 2017, the community was on the tail-end of its shift out of the "user fiction" heyday, a time when people were constantly depicting each other in comics, stories, and other planned projects. As far as the modern day Mario Boards culture is concerned, there has been a greater emphasis on utilizing people's characters that aren't user stand-ins for these projects. This isn't to say that the "user oc" has vanished, far from it; rather, when it comes to larger storytelling efforts, people are more invested in playing characters that aren't "themselves", and this becomes reflected back into game design. Nowadays, KG roles are more flexibly open to interpretation, as opposed to saying "you are this one person". If this kind of role existed today, it would probably be called something akin to "the Quickster", rather than "Lakituthequick, Ultimate Scavenger".
I would also argue that there's been a cultural shift away from emblemizing users in products because... well, people's attachments to this community change. Sometimes users depart gradually, sometimes they leave after some kind of explosive social incident, and sometimes they are removed outright for poor behavior. There's a sort of inherent risk of future alienation from your project by depicting a specific user in it. Now, again, this isn't the biggest gamble in the universe, and oftentimes these depictions are harmless in a broader sense, but I imagine that in more recent years, there's been a bit more cautious foresight about these depictions.
The good news is, LTQ is a phenomenal user who stuck around, and now we get to celebrate him doing his work with this paper for 100 issues!! Hooray LTQ!!
That heady preamble aside, is there much more to be said about the role upfront? I'd argue not really. The Ultimate Scavenger doesn't exactly fit into one niche; a lot of its powers are integral to LTQ the "character", as opposed to fulfilling an archetype. With that said, there's still plenty to be said about how this role is written, so let's move right on into abilities.
Ability Application
Now, something that should be quickly (hah) said: this role card was made back in 2017, practically a decade ago now, and was written during GBA's first foray into Killing Game hosting. This was alongside cohost Meta Knight (talk), though I'm not certain of who took on the brunt of role writing. I mention this because, as an upfront comment, the Ultimate Scavenger's written abilities feel a bit ill-defined. I'll be analyzing these powers as written, and I'll mention where I see these discrepancies and issues with clarity arise, while also holding that the community's, especially GBA's, touch for role development and specificity has gotten much, much stronger since. Still, with our modern-day glasses, this gives us the opportunity to see where greater specification would benefit the player who received a role like the Ultimate Scavenger.
Firstly, we have the Ultimate Scavenger's connection to the Scavenger Hunt, which was LTQ's biggest claim to fame at the time. With that in mind, the Ultimate Scavenger can hide evidence "almost perfectly", as well as having the intuition to discover unusual things. What's kind of interesting is how these abilities are correlated in-text to the high stat spreads found in Stealth, Sleuthing, and Situational. I can't recall many other cards writing out stat justifications like that, and it makes me imagine a world where instead of hard-wired numbered stat spreads, role cards came with a "properties" chart that indicated what playstyles your role leaned towards. Like one of those pentagonal diagrams, as a quick glance method of seeing your overall strengths and mechanical aims. Food for thought.
Anyway, as a major question for this role... what does it mean to hide evidence "almost perfectly"? Hiding evidence is a critical part of any KG case. The murderer has a responsibility to submit a kill attempt with enough evidence obscuring to get away with their kill. This is on the shoulders of the submitter, not something that happens incidentally. So does this power imply that the attempt can be more sloppily submitted, on account of your role naturally inclining you to hide things well? And what does "almost perfectly" mean in the context of investigation? Presumably, anything can be uncovered with careful eyes during the Day Phase; this is the backbone of solving a KG case. So evidence can't be hidden perfectly, that's a given. What is the unique strength on display here? I think this role trait suffers from a lack of definition over what hiding evidence "almost perfectly" really means. A modern-day interpretation of this idea would likely involve a unique mechanic through which this hiding occurs - for instance, imagine if the Ultimate Scavenger could turn a piece of evidence into a sticker, which they would be able to place somewhere else. Necessary balancing aside, you can see how this is a more specific, crafted iteration on the idea that builds a stronger understanding of role identity.
In comparison, there isn't too much to say about the noticing unusual things. It is also vague, but in such a way that makes it easier to tailor this trait towards what you're submitting. As examples, you could apply this skill to keeping an eye out for traps, or to digging through old books for important lore. Its mechanical throughline is a bit clearer.
Then, the Ultimate Scavenger is able to tap into their quickness for a night, going extremely fast and becoming unrecognizable as a result. I have to say, having this role be usable on "any given night" and for the entire night is one heck of a strength. This would allow you to basically be intangible, unless you end up blitzing into someone's trap, and people failing to recognize you is a great way to obscure any unsavory actions of yours. Something that I'd want more clarity on is if you can turn "on" or "off" the superspeed. If it's a permanent fixture of the night, I can see that being more detrimental, since everyone can assume it's you running by if nobody else has been able to spot you. If you're able to shift gears throughout the night, though, you've essentially got a night-long superpower.
It also feels important that the role specifies "any given night". Like, any night in the game? Without restriction on the number of times you can do it? I imagine that the following night is meant to be a restriction on this - which I'll discuss later - but from what I'm understanding, you can spend at least half the game's night phases in this speedy state. That's pretty nutty.
Lastly, there's the Ultimate Scavenger's strengths in computing and 3D printing. These are more niche skills, but I think best-case application is probably having the ability to 3D print just about anything you want. That's what I would assume the role card is implying, and if so, you could have a fully functional weapon or defensive item in your hand from somewhere technically "unsourced" on the map. That's definitely a boon, especially when you can then proficiently obscure whatever new item it is you've made. It's a good thing the Ultimate Scavenger doesn't have immediate access to the printer, or otherwise this would be a vicious feedback loop of evidence creation and disposal.
Environmental Functionality
As far as environmental interactions are concerned, the Ultimate Scavenger doesn't have a ton of them! Both the Scavenger Hunt abilities and the superspeed are irrelevant to the map design. The proficiency in computing and 3D modelling does require some access to the necessary technologies, however. Unless the host is willing to be lenient in what counts as "3D modelling" and make the Ultimate Scavenger skilled at sculpting or something, these traits will require a computer and a printer. I like this trait being an inherently "gated" aspect of the role as well. If the computer is locked with a private password, this would add some natural progression to the Ultimate Scavenger's capabilities.
Drawbacks & Balances
What balancing factors are in place for the Ultimate Scavenger? Firstly, there's the almost of the "almost perfect" evidence hiding. As I talked through before, this is a nebulous trait in its current writing, but it remains true that the almost is a balancing factor. It ensures that the Ultimate Scavenger can't make evidence vanish wholesale.
Then, there's the clause for using your superspeed for a night: "using this ability will deplete your 'Stamina to 1 the next night." In mechanical terms, this makes it so that the Ultimate Scavenger is frailer and less capable of accomplishing all of their tasks the following night. This is a fair trade-off overall, especially when the superspeed is affecting the entire previous night. That said, the card doesn't explicitly say that you can't just use the superspeed again the next night, so if a lenient host really wanted to play the card strictly as-written, that might become a balancing issue.
As idle commentary, I feel like this "full night effect -> weaker following night" is a bit different than how I would expect this role to be limited in the current day. Rather than a restriction on the following night, I would anticipate it being accessible every night but with a restriction on the amount of time or movement the speed is afforded. For instance, maybe you get a burst of movement once per night lasting around five rooms in length, leaving you temporarily winded afterwards. I can't say there are many roles that are active throughout an entire night these days, unless the abilities are passive or unlocked in some way. Neither approach to ability scaling is wrong; this is simply some observation on the gradual evolution of role design philosophy.
Last but certainly not least, there's the Forbidden Action. The Ultimate Scavenger must leave murder weapons or objects "undisturbed" after utilizing them, and cannot hide the thing itself. I think this is a reasonable angle for limitation, though I'd be curious about hedge cases. If the kill is a trap, can the player clean up the surrounding mess, leaving only the knife that dropped from the ceiling? If they kill using a shot from a gun, do they have to drop the gun where it was fired, or is it technically the bullet they cannot move? I imagine in both instances, the answer would likely be whatever qualifies as the weapon, be it the knife or the gun, while the rest is fine to mess with. However, if the answer is "none of the components of the trap"... that breaks the role in half, doesn't it? What good is hiding evidence if you have to leave behind all of your evidence of your kill? This is an example of where a host would need a fair and discerning eye, to ensure that the Ultimate Scavenger is able to utilize their role to the greatest extent while still following the limitations.
Player Responsibility
In terms of player responsibility for this role, there's not too much they need to consider. It'll take some consideration to determine when it would be best to use their superspeed; do they keep it stored up for when their murder plan comes together, or hold off and save it for a more perilous night, thus keeping it defensive? The Ultimate Scavenger also requires eventual access to the computers and 3D printers, which could be considered a player responsibility. That said, passwords and keys can be found by any player, so it could just as well happen incidentally that the Ultimate Scavenger gets access. If this role indicated that only this player could find the correct information to utilize the printer, there would be more responsibility placed on their shoulders.
Host Responsibility
Of the roles we've discussed over the history of this section, I'd argue that this one of the lightest in terms of host responsibility. The speed and computing powers are both pretty straightforward, without necessitating much of a host's touch - though a host might need to make some decisions about what the 3D printer is capable of outputting. I'd say the biggest host responsibility rests in the scavenger hunt abilities. If the Ultimate Scavenger can passively identify "unusual things" easier, it's up to the host to determine what qualifies as an "unusual thing", especially if the player hasn't specified in their submission what flavor of "unusual thing" they want to spot (be it lore, traps, etc). Passive investigation traits are sometimes tricky to write in night results, since the host is often thinking about the flow of movement during the night, not necessarily every fine detail. Thankfully, memory check mechanics allow for further elaboration on detail readily during the day phase, where more "unusual things" can be specified for the Ultimate Scavenger.
A last aspect of host responsibility is determining what "almost perfectly" hidden evidence looks like. To not drill this point too hard yet again, if you read "almost perfectly" and are unsure yourself what that would really mean, it's likely a good indication that this role trait needs some fine-tuning. As it stands, it's too up-to-chance of host interpretation and balancing for my liking, and having clearly stated mechanics attached would alleviate this burden of responsibility.
Overall Thoughts
We've spent much of this month's section discussing the age of this role and how it fares with eight years of hindsight. While I've been critical of its components, I still think there's a lot of good in this role, as well as many other roles from 'Shroom KG. More than anything, this analysis makes me proud to be part of a community where this game format is ever-evolving and constantly reiterating, careful hands guiding it to new heights and possibilities. With every new Killing Game, fresh blood enters into the role creation pool, more deliberate mechanics are delivered, and that is an exciting prospect.
And I mean, that's the broader thrill of being part of this community as a whole, right? With every month, our ideas are flourishing and growing. In these past eight years alone, not only has Killing Game changed, but so have the forums, the chat venues, the 'Shroom, the Awards Season. All of these passion projects continue to refine and rei