I've been working on a level lately, mostly as practice to figure out what does what in the game. I've decided to put up a few screenshots of it to get some feedback on the design, when the level is closer to completion, I plan to make a video of it. Here's the shots.

Can we have a little more info on the level please.

Looks like a generic castle. Dunno where it could fit, W1 is pretty much full.

Guys, did you read the OP? Its a test level to get the hang of GM, not a level he plans to submit.

Some more shots...and a odd background glitch as well. The castle is starting to become less generic each time I open Game Maker... o.o

Sorry for the double post as a note.

Looks good so far.

What is that,A docking bay for those flying ships within a castle?

If so then Bravo.

Practice putting in more obscure stuff as you get a better feel for GM.

That way, when you do actually submit levels, they don't seem like bland, skinned Mario levels.

Here is a few tips for the MKF engine. If you would like to make your enemies have skins IE if you want to make your Goomba grey ala SMB1 got to the object mrskinner and mess around with it. Check with the other levels and their Goomba skins to see how they work.

If you want Podobos to work, you have to put them at where you want them to be a the peak of their jump.

And if you want your level to run even smoother, externalize the backgrounds. Put the background as external 1, 2, etc until you have as many layers of parallax as you want. (that means layers of BG) Then put the BGs you want like this at the end of the level's map tile's creation code.

If you want to learn to code, look at the coding of other objects, and see what makes them work, then put what causes the things that make the object alike to the thing you are trying to code. If stuff doesnt work that is already in the source, its likely that there is another object needed to make it work.
Whew. Long post is LOOOOONG.

Thanks for the comments so far everyone. I have a fairly solid plan for this level now, and it's far less generic then it was (well, the later parts aren't as generic at least). Here's some screenshots of the third room, where some of the airships are.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f_S3-f_yLNg

A video of the level itself. I'm not the best MKF player, but I think I did a decent enough job.

The layout is very orginal and the level itself is awesome.

If the level itself can't get in, maybe it could be combined with Airship Armada.

Been working on the level quite a bit lately. I made a new video, but even it's out of date now. Forgot about my WIP thread for a little bit there, so for the nonIRC folks, here you go.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ns33yL7EEfQ

Changes made after video was made:
1.Autoscroll segment about 25-30% faster.
2.Tank treads are animated and rotate to the left, to give a better illusion of movement.
3.Airship propellers are also animated.
4.A few of the flame jets have been moved or removed inside the castle itself. I can't recall all of the ones I changed, but the one at the third lava pit in the middle was removed completely.

Amatsu, the design of your level is awesome. <---

However, it still feels lacking in difficulty. It's missing the MKF-calibur difficulty. Play around with enemy placement. You definitely need more enemies. I understand some places will be better when cannonballs are added, but elsewhere try playing around with more enemies and their placement.

What parts do you feel are the most lacking, then?

If you add some coins and rupees it should be pretty much perfect.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wniSf4UelL4

Bit of a thread necro, I know, but I had to share my hardwork. >.>

edit: copypasted wrong link.

thats looking really good, however maybe a few changes be better

1. Elecman needs a small update in attacks. that lightning bolt attack being used at random would make him a small bit trickier likly.

2. music is good, but can get annoying, how many times did it loop in the video? maybe see if you can find a longer version of that song or change the track a bit up the tower at some point. This is a minor complaint for me however.

3. this would a small addiction, but the super blocks, maybe we can pick them up? if so, add another one or two to elecmans room, but that means he have to be more prone to jumping.

You will need to add a buster pistol or some other way of fighting Big Eye.

Oops, I didn't even catch the Big Eye problem. I guess pop in a few Mushroom blocks. As for the music, can't someone cut it off at a point so it sounds like it's looping? I tried editing some of the tracks with Audacity a while back but never figured out how to cut segments off. The Quickman music will need the same treatment 'cause it's got like 2 minutes of no sound at the end for some reason.

Hmm. I'd say it still has some more work that needs to be done on it before it's finished.

Firstly, the timing on those electric beams needs to be sped up. They spend too long both active and inactive.
Second, the coding on those green enemies looks like it could use some tweaking. They seem to shoot way too fast for the player to respond well.
Elec Man himself looks like he could also use some tweaking. His charge-up time before firing off that lightning bolt attack seems rather long, and the delay between bolts could be sped up a little. He also seems to spend a bit too much time being invincible after each hit he takes.

Other than all that, it looks good.
I do agree with everyone else on your choice of music, though. Personally, I think this might fit the level a little better, although it will probably have to be edited a bit first.

Haha, that's what music it was for a long time. I changed it due to the forums typical reaction to Techno music. That and I don't like the talking in the track. I think the current music is fine if it would last longer.

I never could get Audacity to even let me use the cropping tool, but now that I think about it...I think I remember Obreck saying you could only cut WAVs and not MP3s with it. That would explain why I couldn't do it.

Anyway, yeah, some enemies and Elecman need sped up. I was in slomo that day or something, lol. ElecMan's immunity is fine though. It's the same as the other RM's after taking damage. He's just invulnerable while doing that lightning attack. The extended flashing at that point is temporary and will be replaced with a shield.