DKC Atlas Forum

[Gnawzooka]

I think it'd be cool to have a level that involves defeating lots of enemies before you can move on to the next part of the level

Ah, well DKC2 and DKC3 have something like that in the way of Destroy Them All and Bash The Baddies bonuses, so it should be something reasonably easy to implement. Jet Force Gemini had areas like this that were closed off by 'life force doors', so maybe something like that could work in sections of a DKC level... Perhaps a barrel could appear once certain baddies are defeated, and that can be used to open the door. It's a cool idea, and not too much of a departure from DKC's play style.

Indeed, although, I was actually thinking of a Mine Cart level in which after defeating a bunch of enemies (not in teh cart yet) a Krash would arrive, who would then jump out (as a kritter) so you can use his cart on the track .

[Qyzbud]

That's a cool idea, Gnawz. Hey! I've just found a set of level layouts I was developing a little over a year ago... Here's one of them:

'Canopy Climb' - incorporates Forest and Treetown elements

custom-level_canopy-climb_v.png (86.83 KiB) Viewed 117234 times

Hopefully that image doesn't stretch everyone's display out of shape...

"Canopy Climb" is a mix of Forest and Treetop level types, and encourages lateral thinking to solve little puzzles. You don't need to solve these puzzles to complete the level, but as you can see, there are some worthwhile features accessible to those who seek them!

[Jomingo]

That looks cool so far. I would hope there would be some clever gameplay designed around having Expresso though, so as there would be an incentive to have him. If it's just a regular level not designed around Expresso, he can actually be a handicap sometimes. He can't kill enemies, he dies easily, and he can be hard to control.

[NS Guy]

My idea would be a haunted house level when you have to collect the + and – barrels to stave off the Kackles while you open doors with the check barrels. This would be an on-foot level, not a rollercoaster one.

[The Guy]

Sorry for bumping...

One of ideas of a level is one with a Nibbla, and it's like Kreeping Klasps... without the ropes! You simply have to use Dixie's ability to hover in the air or Kiddy's "Water bounce" move.

Other than the Nibbla, there are Knockas and Kobbles.

[Kiddy14]

Now I'm the one bumping
But I just had this awesome level idea, kind of =P

Its name: Snowy Ropey Sky-Hills

It'd be a combination of archetypes from DKC3, you use Dixie and Diddy in it.
It's supposed to be a jungle level, in a hill, near the very top of K3 (that's the why of the name); so the main terrain is a blue-greenish jungle, with a blue cliff as the background, and snow falling. I'll find the way of making it look good, and probably make a little image in Paint to see how it'd look.

Besides that, this level has a gimmick; featuring the same moving ropes from Konveyor Rope-Klash, some moving, some not... not only the terrain would also be slippery, but the ropes would be too! You take more time to start moving in between ropes because of the lower friction.
There are also little waterfalls, you have to swim up or else you will get dragged by the current (custom sprites may be needed =P)

Enemies include Krimps, Kuchukas, Skiddas and red Buzzes. Of course Koin's there too, you get his coin similar to how you get it in Konveyor-Rope Klash.

So yeah, this is my idea.

[Qyzbud]

Hehe, the name is a bit of a mouthful, but I really like the ideas. I think a snowy jungle would look great, and I like the idea of slippery ropes... We never got slippery horizontal ropes in any of the DKC's did we... They would make things a bit more interesting. Oh, and there should be Klasps, too, don't you think?

I wonder why you decided to have Diddy instead of Kiddy for this level... Hmmm...

[Jomingo]

Other than the name I like the idea. How about "Ropey Slopes"?

[The Guy]

I have another idea...

It simply takes place on a coral reef (DKC1's version). However, someone land enemies are suberged, yet slowed down alot. Later in the level, you have to avoid Klobbers and Kabooms in narrow passages while you avoid jumping Kritters and pearls being shot from Clambos in wider areas.

I have a name now, and I think it shares the name with an enemy class in DKC2 but oh well...

Submerged Seadogs!

[Kiddy14]

Submerged Seadogs XD That's an interesting level. It would be cool that if you touched the Klobbers in the head, you could put them in your back as in underwater carrying.

You're right Qyz! Klasps are a must have!
I couldn't think of a good level name for my level perhaps some help would be cool
It's just that I'd like the name to resemble the level's characteristics and to be made of 3 words; I can't find the correct ones for it. How about Sky-High Cliffs? Is it bad too? XD

[Jeff_Ray Barrels]

I have a few level names in mind. I'll develop the ideas later. Here are a few:

Snail Trail - You follow a giant snail across a forest level. You have to avoid the floor it moves on, as its trail is dangerous! (Forest Theme)

Cannon Canyon - You enter a barren wasteland, and all of the cannons are shooting at you! Try to get through the barrel-filled pits while avoiding the cannons set to kill you!

Zinger's Zipper* - You enter a cave inhabited by Zingers! Look out, for when you reach the halfway mark, you'll be chased by a gang of them who just want to see you dead! (Cave Theme)

*Ok, it doesn't make sense, but can YOU find a nice word to go along with Zinger here? :\

Vine Visitors - Another Bramble level! This time, you must platform around the wooden decks, avoiding the deadly vines under you. (Stickerbrush Symphony)

Rising Relics - You find yourself in a maze deep beneath a temple! Beware, though, for your average enemies have been turned to relics that hunt for every living thing that they can find! (Temple Theme)

Juggle Jungle - Another jungle level... but there are Krocs who actually juggle? I guess that some planning will be necessary, and maybe have those jugglers toss you across those large chasms... (Jungle Theme)

Tropical Tale - You end up on a beach in an exotic island. However, some of the inhabitants are not quite happy to see you...

Cramp Camp - You wind up in an abandoned Kroc Military camp. Its guards are some of the best there is. Be careful, if you wish to leave alive!

Basically, I was just showing off some ideas that I had in mind. I'll maybe make more details on them later. Hope you liked the ideas!

[gamer_boy997]

I have a pretty good idea for a level/part of a level, I'll post the terrain later if I can make one.

[Simion32]

All this dealing with the Brambles terrain gave me an idea for a level, called "Thorn Theatrics" which involves the use of many elements from DKC2, especially a good helping of invincibility barrels. To spice things up a bit, some parts would be like Haunted Hall with the +/- barrels, except the timer counts down to when your invincibility will run out. So you must hurry along the path of brambles while hitting the + barrels to survive. Of course some parts would include barrel blasting.

Yet another bramble level that I just now thought of, would be a cross between Brambles and Ship Hold... several possible names are:
1. Saturated Spikes
2. Quill Quay
3. Prickly Plundering
4. Horticulture Hold
I think #1 and #4 sound the best, what do you think?

[Cyclone]

All this dealing with the Brambles terrain gave me an idea for a level, called "Thorn Theatrics" which involves the use of many elements from DKC2, especially a good helping of invincibility barrels. To spice things up a bit, some parts would be like Haunted Hall with the +/- barrels, except the timer counts down to when your invincibility will run out. So you must hurry along the path of brambles while hitting the + barrels to survive. Of course some parts would include barrel blasting.

Yet another bramble level that I just now thought of, would be a cross between Brambles and Ship Hold... several possible names are:
1. Saturated Spikes
2. Quill Quay
3. Prickly Plundering
4. Horticulture Hold
I think #1 and #4 sound the best, what do you think?

Sounds like good ideas. I like the level names "Thorn Theatrics" and "Horticulture Hold" the best.



What about a shipwreck level where the bottom of the shipwreck playing area is covered in brambles? There would be those +- barrels that would raise the water level for a set time. When the time runs out the water lowers and exposes the brambles which would then make the Kongs vulnerable to getting hurt. This could also lead to some interesting secret ideas like an underwater bramble maze?

Or an Underwater Bramble level in complete darkness with Glimmer used to light up the environment. Similer to the level Gimmer's Galleon but harder.

[BlueTronic]

What about "Flowerbed Flood"?

[Katastrophe Kong]

A level where you turn into Winky and there are lilly pads that you use as platforms, some move, some fall when you touch them, and Flitters and Zingers and Click-clacks and Nibblas. It would be called Winky War or something with the name Winky.

Also a riverside level called Gnawty's dam. It would be filled with Gnawty's and log bridges and such.

[FefeRawft]

Dixie and Kiddy in DKC?

Moving around animal buddies (Rambi in DKC3, Rattly in DKC)

[Simion32]

Name: Polluted Permafrost
Archetype: DKC2 Transparent Ice, with pallet effects and water
Gimmick: Limited time when swimming underwater

The environment in this level will be transparent ice from DKC2, except it will make use of a pallet effect to turn the ice to a black color. This should look awesome if I can manage to get the colors right. This level will also do something that DKC2 could never have done: combine transparent ice with water. Apparently, the SNES is only able to handle one transparent layer, so you never see transparent ice in the ice levels which contain water (which is also transparent).

The gimmick of the level, is that there was an oil spill in the area before everything got frozen; now, there is still oil trapped along with the water inside the polluted ice cavern. The oily water isn't necessarily harmful to the Kongs, but you can only stay underwater for a limited time. If you stay under too long you lose a life and must start over from the beginning or the halfway barrel - even if you had two Kongs while swimming. It's very similar in some ways to Rusty Bucket Bay from Banjo-Kazooie, although that's not what originally gave me the idea. Polluted Permafrost is definitely going to be one of the later levels when I design my (as of yet unnamed) DKC remake.

Dixie and Kiddy in DKC, Moving around animal buddies

Both those will be possible. The DKCLB will be built in such a way that all custom levels have the same formatting: any object from any game can be added into a custom level, and these levels can be of any type (e.g. jungle, factory) from any of the trilogy's level types.

[Gnawzooka]

Oilt and icy? Sounds liek it's fir perfectly between Gorilla Glacier and Kremcroc Industries.

[Simion32]

Indeed, that's where I plan to put the level. I might actually put it on the world map, because there is no "in-between" on the level maps.

Arr mateys, ye need to keep an eye out fer DKCRE v0.0.5.0, it be comin' out in about a half-hour it has been released now!

[Doctor Phileas Fragg]

I was always disappointed with how little Steel Kegs were used, aside from DKC3 hero coin collection. I thought of using them in a bramble level where you need them to move across the throny vines, jumping through gaps in flying enemies along the way. In some cases, you have to jump on kegs thrown by Mankeys.

In general, Steel Kegs could be used as rolling stepping stones to cross huge gaps. And what if I made them the only hoistable object heavy enough to hold down buttons? Tons of puzzles like that in Zelda games.


I also thought of "ambush" enemy spawners, they pop up without warning because there's no enemy barrel. They'd probably only release one or two, though.
With that said, I had an idea for a stage where at the very beginning, a Kritter is ambush-spawned behind you and lands in an animal barrel. For the rest of the stage, you are pursued by Bad Rambi. Well, until you get to the No Rambi sign.


Finally, throwable Plus and Minus barrels. When they hit an enemy, they multiply or divide its number. You could cross a huge chasm by throwing the right plus barrel at a single Flitter.

[Gnawzooka]

I like where you're going with the Steel Kegs.
Also I've had ideas of an evil Rhino of some sort.

[The Guy]

A good idea for me would be some sort of water AND saw mill level...

[diddykong]

That looks cool so far. I would hope there would be some clever gameplay designed around having Expresso though, so as there would be an incentive to have him. If it's just a regular level not designed around Expresso, he can actually be a handicap sometimes. He can't kill enemies, he dies easily, and he can be hard to control.

He could have bonus arenas that you have to fly to. Also the level could be set up so you could fly over most dangerous spots. Or the enemies could mostly be klap traps, but that may not fit the theme...

[Doctor Phileas Fragg]

More ideas!

Remember the hedge maze in the haunted world in Banjo-Kazooie, with the huge ghosts chasing you? Let's do this in DKC with brambles and Kackles! And maybe there will be strategically placed torchlight Squawks to act as safe havens. I can't decide between the obvious "Haunted Hedge" or "Floral Freakout."


DKC3's Kobble will probably be unpopular compared to Kritter and Klomp because of his ridiculously friendly appearance. So, let's make him one of the good guys! Since he's a Kremling defector, the other Kremlings will try to kill him on sight. That means you have to protect him! It's an escort mission!

Now, should it be one Kobble that you guard throughout the whole stage, as in the "For Pete's Sake" Earthworm Jim stage, or one of several that you need to guide to specific places to advance, or a bunch at once trailing behind you that decrease when you get hit (lose too many and that's it).

In any case, I'll call the stage, "Kobble's Konvoy."

[Gnawzooka]

Ha, I like those ideas, especially the second one.

[diddykong]

More ideas!

Remember the hedge maze in the haunted world in Banjo-Kazooie, with the huge ghosts chasing you? Let's do this in DKC with brambles and Kackles! And maybe there will be strategically placed torchlight Squawks to act as safe havens. I can't decide between the obvious "Haunted Hedge" or "Floral Freakout."


DKC3's Kobble will probably be unpopular compared to Kritter and Klomp because of his ridiculously friendly appearance. So, let's make him one of the good guys! Since he's a Kremling defector, the other Kremlings will try to kill him on sight. That means you have to protect him! It's an escort mission!

Thats a very good idea but can you please post a picture of kobble. I can't find him on the internet and I can't remember who he is .

[Doctor Phileas Fragg]

http://spriters-resource.com/snes/dkc3/sheet/12177

[Katastrophe Kong]

Man Dr. Dude (Doctor Phileas Fragg), you've got some good ideas

I had this dream... a dark purple cave level like Bouncy Bonanza with the music from the DKC snow levels, and it was like Barrel Canon Canyon. At the end of the dream it was named Barrel Canon Caverns or something... yeah I know its strange.

[diddykong]

I had this dream... a dark purple cave level like Bouncy Bonanza with the music from the DKC snow levels, and it was like Barrel Canon Canyon. At the end of the dream it was named Barrel Canon Caverns or something... yeah I know its strange.

Thats an okay idea. When the level builder comes out (or peaple who can use the japenese version) should try and make this.

[FefeRawft]

DKC3's Kobble will probably be unpopular compared to Kritter and Klomp because of his ridiculously friendly appearance. So, let's make him one of the good guys! Since he's a Kremling defector, the other Kremlings will try to kill him on sight. That means you have to protect him! It's an escort mission!

Idea,

You don't play as Kongs, you shot the gun from that DKC3 level (What was it called? "Kroc on Krack"?). To cross gaps, you shoot a + Barrel, and a Barrel Cannon appears. If you hit a - Barrel Kobble gets hurt.

Hitting a DK Barrel fortifies Kobble and then it takes two hits (Max) to hit Kobble, to check if he has two hits, a DK barrel is in the corner (Like the two Rambi symbol in DKC2).

To make Kobble jump, shoot him, he uses his death sprites and moves up in the air about as far as a Kong, but when he lands, he doesn't lose a hit.

[Simion32]

The level was Krack-Shot Kroc.

That would be a great idea for DKCLB, as we'll have some mouse-driven object behaviors at our disposal. Would be much easier to control the targeting with a mouse than it would using the + pad to move the cursor.

I have already mentioned (in the DKCLB thread) barrel cannons in which you can use the mouse to aim and shoot to precise locations. I've already programmed this in Multimedia Fusion 2 (which is overly complicated, I think...), so it should be very easy to add to the DELTA Game Engine. The main advantages of C++ are that you can code whatever you want for basically free, and you don't have to deal with any clunky GUI-based system.

I can even give these Turret Barrel Cannons an adjustable maximum range, so you could have a huge level where you use a turret (or two or more) to navigate the level. This could prove to be very interesting, and would indeed make for some tricky puzzles.

A name for such a level could be Cannon Canopy, Turret Temple, or possibly Fire-arms Factory.

[Doctor Phileas Fragg]

For the record, I think the Bazuka enemy in DKC3 should have been named "Krack-Shot" instead. Kremling names should start with a "k"!

Anyway, Kobble's Konvoy + Krack-Shot Kroc is a great idea! I don't know if I'd involve jumping though, just shooting enemies and hitting switches. DK Barrels, though, yeah!

OOH! I have one more idea! An animal barrel that allows you to switch to any animal at any time (But you can only be an animal)! The entire stage you find these on would be would be filled with animal-buddy specific puzzles! Examples:

* Long jumps divided by a column of Zingers, necessitating Rambi's charge+jump.

*Anything involving barrels requires Ellie.

*Swimming of course requires Enguarde, unless you have to carry a barrel across the pond, then you need Ellie again.

*Squitter makes platforms for other animals, like Ellie, to give her the right position to clobber obstructive Bazu-- KRACK-SHOTS with a TNT barrel.

*I haven't decided how to use Rattly.

I figured I'd do this on a Toxic Tower-type stage, so there would be a sense of urgency that would actually necessitate using Rambi as listed above instead of Squitter or Squawks.

[The Guy]

Ruby Rage is an idea I had for a while...

Anyway, in this stage it takes place in a cave full of Rubies. However, since it's on the volcanic part of DK Island there's magma here! The magma rises up and down every once in a while, so the kongs should do a mad dash before it's too late.

BGM: Something like Ice Cave Chant

Enemies: Mini Drums (They shoot out Slipas), Bazukas, Kritters (Green and blue types), (Green) Klobbers, and Mincers.

[FefeRawft]

I had an idea for a world called Air-Krem, which is basically a giant Flying Krock (That's what it's called right? I don't think I'm as far off as I was with Krock on Krack.)

The start of each level is in the same room as the K. Rool fight (The first one) but you jump into a warp barrel and end up in a factory (Somewhere in Air-Krem).

[PotoGamer]

I've always thought about a DKC3 riverbank level in which the water is boiling lava (like Lava Lagoon from DKC2), which means you have to throw steel barrels to cross through the water. The problem is that the steel barrels heat up after a few seconds, so you have to be quick before the kongs get burned by the barrels.

The name? I guess Red-Hot River sounds good...

[Donkey King]

Two ideas:

Chilly Circumstances

FG: Ice cave from DKC.
BG: See above.
BGM: See above
Enemies: Kritter (Blue), Zingers (Blue & Green), Mini Neckies, Flying Neckies, and Throwing-Nut Neckies.

Description:
You start in a Icy cave in the cold wind (the color is blue). If you stay in the cold wind for 30 seconds, you get hit. There are some alcoves in the ceiling and the floor, which protects you from the wind. In the second part of the level, there's red wind instead of blue. Instead of 30 seconds, you get hit in 15 seconds, so you better find an alcove quick!

Water Wastement

FG: Lockjaw's Locker.
BG: See above.
BGM: See above.

Description:
You start in an alcove, falling into the water. When your in the water, you have 20 seconds to stay in it. If 20 seconds is over, you lose a life. To stay in the water longer, you have to get in the 32X32 sized bubbles. The timer goes up by that, but the maximum is 20.

Both of these ideas have a timer at the top of the screen.

[The Guy]

I have a great idea...

Carnival Calamity

Theme: DKC2 Theme Park (Only it's not on a roller coaster, but it takes place on the grounds.) and one part is the DKC1 Forest.

In this level you have to go through the carnival playing some mini-games like one where you have to hit the targets with barrels, shoot at fake Kremlings and some others to progress through the level. At one point the kongs enter a forest where the is some old roller coaster tracks that surpringly still have the Kremlings riding them. Then you exit the forest and go up a ladder to dive into a pool where the end point is. (It's a refrence to the Dive of Death of Banjo-Tooie.)

Enemies: Kanons (All Carnival parts), Cat O' Nine Tails (All parts), (Yellow) Klobbers (All parts), Zingers (Carnival parts), those Krems in the Skull Karts (Forgotten their names...) (Forest part), Kutlasses in general (All parts), and some Krimps (All parts).

[Katastrophe Kong]

(Insert corny ice pun name here)

A glacier level where if you stay on the glaciers too long, they sink.
Enemies: Eddie the Yeti, a white furred Manky Kong that throws tnt barrels which destroy glaciers if they make contact with the ice. Those mint green zingers. Hill Billy (see the make up your own enemies thread). Lockjaws that jump out of the water.
It would look something like this.

[Gnawzooka]

What's the background?

[Katastrophe Kong]

I'm not really sure how the level would play besides falling glaciers. I took that background from Animal Crossing.
The only official Donkey Kong Country Music that fits would be the DKC2 ice levels.

[Gnawzooka]

What about Northern Hemispheres?

[Katastrophe Kong]

I guess so, I'll have to try it out some day. Northern Hemispheres always sounded so slow pitched, I guess it didn't fit the face paces gameplay to me.

[Gnawzooka]

Slow tempo, you mean? Yeah, it can be that way, although it's quite the opposite in some places.

[Katastrophe Kong]

Yeah I was thinking about Snow Barrel Blast, you know what else could fit? Ice Cave Chant.

[Simion32]

Name: Chill Chamber
Archetype: DKC Cave & Walkways
Music: Cave Dweller Concert
Special Effects: Pallet effects, lighting/darkness effects, walkways light fixtures, water in some locations
Gimmicks: Terrain is slippery. You must navigate the level while in almost total darkness.

Simion32_ChillChamber.png (38.68 KiB) Viewed 116653 times

This is an excellent level idea which I had a dream of this morning. I went through several possible names and arrived at the name Chill Chamber, which stuck like glue. This image is quite an accurate depiction of what I viewed during the dream.

Chill Chamber is a blue-colored DKC cave shrouded in darkness. It is located near the bottom of a chasm in an antarctic world similar to Gorilla Glacier. Since most of the terrain was once ice and has since melted away, walkways have been built inside the cave to aid anyone who might pass through this area.

However, since this level is dark you must rely on the only thing providing visibility: the light fixtures that were installed along with the walkways. Unlike DKC's level Loopy Lights, the light here are always on, and do not switch off and on. However, light is rare in this level, so you must be careful wherever you tread. Adding to the difficulty of this level, is that the terrain has been glazed-over with a thin layer of ice due to the frigid environment. So you must deal with slippery terrain in near-complete darkness.

[gamer_boy997]

^ Nice level! Perhaps we could include it in our future fan-game?

[Cosmicman]

That image looks freaking sweet. I like the whole level idea, a must do.

[Simion32]

Thanks! I was pretty sure this level was going to be up there on the awesomeness scale. Indeed it MUST be done.

The image, if you're wondering, was edited using Game Maker 6, MS-Paint, and a bit of my own image processing code to layer the "light-cone" onto the image. i don't know of any image editor that can easily be used to do additive overlays like that.

Perhaps we could include it in our future fan-game?

I'll most likely be using this for a fan-game of my own, rather than the ongoing collaborative project. I have a few more things up my sleeve, but it may take a while for them to come to fruition...

[FefeRawft]

What about a level where you play as a Kremling. He uses jump sprites from the jumping Kremling. Throughout the level, you fight off enemies that look lie the kongs. But to avoid confusion, there is only one type of the Kong onscreen at a time.

Possible?