New Stream Archive! In Which We Get Lost In Both Sidequests AND Main Quests, Eventually Finding Our Way

new stream archive! in which we get lost in both sidequests AND main quests, eventually finding our way to the wind element! spent a lot of time with my head in the clouds, ehehe~

if i were to stream this weekend – possibly even tonight – which would you most like to see

new stream archive! in which we play my very favorite part of Minish Cap: returning books to the library. it's more exciting than it sounds~

new pre-stream archive! in which we discuss Retrush, ADHD meds, and getting out from the holding pattern that such a big project put me in…

Marshmallow Mash-Up (4-4) | Retrush

FLAGRANT SYSTEM ERROR. sprint to the finish line as the game itself corrupts around you in real time, smashing together data from every previous level into the ultimate test of confidence and finesse!

dev commentary time! in true adhd fashion, Vinegar Void is one of the first levels that i finished for Retrush. originally titled Venison Void, it was a major casualty of weird version regressions, where updating to later versions of Mari0 required huge structural reworks.

the level features lots of purple gel, which flips Mario's gravity until he touches the ground. early versions took this to the extreme, with walls and pipes covered in purple gel from top to bottom – turning simple structures into logistics and navigational puzzles!

unfortunately, later versions of Mari0 made purple gel on walls almost entirely un-viable, so i had to pivot to ceiling gel / upside-down only. surprisingly there wasn't *too* much wall gel, but i did have to substantially rework several sections of the level over this.

the only remaining wall gel is in this tiny little U-turn, which is a small enough section that it doesn't fall apart and minimizes the chance of players running into issues.

before i show the other major section reworked for wall gel, let me mention another factor of the regression: old versions of Mari0 also let *enemies* climb all over wall gel, whereas enemies in new versions don't interact with any type of gel.

that's fine, because i didn't have any *normal* enemies climbing on purple gel...

one of Vinegar Void's many unique mechanics are these upside-down enemies with reversed gravity. this is a native feature of the enemies that has nothing to do with purple gel.

these "gravigoombas" (etc) were made by setting the gravity of the enemy to a negative number, tricking the game into reversing its gravity.

now, take a moment before scrolling, and guess what happens if you put THAT on purple gel.

—

—

—

—

You Get This.

so returning to the purple gel on walls, this middle section had pipes slathered in the stuff. and the only enemy in the whole section, was a single gravigoomba... bouncing all over the insides of the passages.

absolutely absurd nonsense. i hate it so much. i love it so much.

the section that replaces it is frankly less interesting, but taps a little of that original "navigation puzzle" intent with the gravity gel to get the player to think on their feet. not half bad for only being limited to two directions!

honestly, though, the level as a whole is probably better off after the conversion; limiting my options made me seriously consider how much purple gel i was using across the board, and limit it to the best interactions i could muster rather than just slathering it everywhere.

the last major change to the level is the vanishing tiles; the old versions used to blink in and out, which was hard to look at after a while. the new versions palette fade, which was an inspired choice, and fits the space theme quite nicely~

outside of this list, the vast majority of the level is the same as it was originally, which is super impressive for being one of the first levels completed. i feel like i balanced it really well, all things considered! a great penultimate challenge leading into the grand finale.

Vinegar Void (4-3) | Retrush

A true test of talent, this orbital station features gel that flips your gravity, giant laser cannons, and line after line of vanishing blocks. Altogether, it's an *incredibly* satisfying and impressive-looking run!