Aight, so let me shed some light on this map.
Fire Man CX, as anybody who's played the hack remembers was just a small room containing one of the "O-DRIVE!" letters, a hallway and the boss room. Since Sonicfam wanted a small challenge in each of the maps though, I went for it.
In this map, the mini-challenge consists of three paths, all connected in a single linear gauntlet of increasing difficulty. These paths, though connected, are separated into three sections all of which run a circle around the boss room. When players start the map, they can opt to run straight towards the boss door in front, or take the O-DRIVE! letter challenge by heading to the left after the starting area. However, behind the starting area, there are three platforms and one bigger one. Upon reaching the end of a section, one of the smaller three platforms is raised. By the time players have completed the mini-challenge, they will be able to jump up these platforms to reach the letter part.
Here's a few screenshots showing all of this off better.
The starting room, looking back to the three platforms leading up to the letter part.
Looking forward at the boss door.
Head downstairs to the left to take the mini-challenge. There's no health along the way, so thread carefully. If you're successful, there's plenty of Big Health pellets in the letter platform. Don't wanna be at 2HP to face Fire Man after all that, do you?
So the way each section works is basically adding an element that wasn't present in the previous one, while keeping the element from the previous one. So the first section has Fire Traps and lava, the second adds Fire Pillars, and the final one adds Fire Beams. When a player reaches the end of a section, they'll know because of the green walls and floor not present at the same time in any area of the map. Picture said floor and walls meeting, and that's how a "checkpoint" looks. And I use quotation marks, because if the player dies at any time during the challenge, they must do it all over again! Luckily, it isn't very long or hard, just requires some patience - especially towards the end.
That's about it for this explanation. I hope you'll look forward to this map!
Here's one more because I wanted to show off some aesthetics at the start.
Now then, there's a couple of things people are probably gonna be wondering about, such as the WW sky and (when the mod is released) the boss room. Simply put, having a black ceiling everywhere looks pretty monotonous and can even be a bit disorienting, so I spiced it up a bit.
As for the boss room, I went for accuracy in looks. So if having horizons inside and not being able to see the layout clearly around it bothers some, then I apologize. Another advantage to keeping this look is players not being distracted by everything going around them, so it's not as bad a decision as it looks.
Topic: Mega Man Cross X SP [WIP] (Read 12003 times)