As I mentioned before, I want to extend my apologies for initially thumbing this up but not actually getting the chance to play it until now. Had a really fun time with this one as well! I played through all of the new content the mod had to offer. This means All Story Missions with the Hover Car, and then all Monster Cards post-game - I did not bother with the Black & White Beast until post-game, and didn't extensively play around with the missions using any other vehicles. I also didn't bother with any of the Wasp Cameras, as all of them appear to be unchanged from vanilla Level 6? Please correct me if I'm wrong, however:


kRoLLiK and several others have touched on this aspect of the mod before me, but I really enjoy the vintage silent film aesthetic to the mod! A fair amount of care went into the sound design as a whole to sell the illusion of it being a silent film. From the goofy little FMVs, the filter over the gameplay, and the music. These three things alone kinda remind me of how Rayman Arena/M had a gag cheat code that aimed to do the same thing:


It very much feels like a 'less is more' deal, in a funny way. Given the small time frame to develop the mod, I think this was a smart and clever decision to have less assets to retroactively modify to an extensive degree. It has the benefit of being unique too since it's something I don't believe has ever been seen in a publicly released mod as well, so it definitely gives it a unique identity. There's some other pretty fun recontextualizing in the mod itself, like the Electrons replacing Coins or Missions being treated as film scenes. I really ended up liking those touches! The ending credits being touched up to match a B-Film credit roll was adorable too.

The plot setup is also really entertaining. I appreciate the concept of using Professor Frink as the mod's primary protagonist since there are a fair amount of possibilities with the 'nutty scientist' persona he offers. The premise of Frink bringing something that isn't alive to life feels as if it takes some cues from the 'Frinkenstein' segment from Treehouse of Horror XIV. However, similarities end there, and the mod creates it's own plot and pre-established lore for the characters. This also isn't exactly an entirely uncommon thing for Treehouse of Horror segments, either! I appreciate the direction this went in knowing you had previously created Attack of the 50 Ft. Eyesores, as I believe the different directions give both mods a neat 'horror' feel that isn't specifically tied to Halloween. There's some decently funny humor in the mod too that showed it wasn't taking itself too seriously. The small fourth wall break with Frink not being able to fix the monster's arms on such short notice got a decent chuckle out of me. After regaining my composure and recovering the laptop I threw across the room, I also had a good laugh out of The Honey Monster's card description.

The mission design was also pretty fun, and I honestly think might be my favorite of the one Level campaign mods you've released thus far? Objective variety is pretty good and never really completely retreads the exact same concept. You've even your got your solemnly seen 'destroy before X reaches Y' objective! They're all divided up pretty evenly. No one mission feels like it goes on for a bit too long for my tastes, or has an out of place objective. There's a nice even split between 'building the monster' and 'attacking the monster' missions, with two missions revolving around both (obviously not counting the filler Mission 0). It results in never feeling like one part of the story overshadows another. I think my favorite mission of the bunch was probably Curse of the Monster or The Monster Returns. The former has a pretty great stage involving saving the injured sea crew. While I initially failed it as I was a bit overwhelmed and overthought on how to use my vehicle to round up the crew quicker, I found the stage provided a fun challenge with a lot of engaging little platforming opportunities the vanilla game's mission design doesn't go into. The Monster Returns has Van Helsing acting as the 'final boss' for the mod (which was a fun change of pace since I was anticipating the creature itself to be the final boss), and the concept of 'luring' the monster with the item bait is actually kinda cute. My only real criticism with the latter is that the organs the monster drops seem to have slightly unforgiving trigger radiuses, so it's a bit easy to accidentally miss them while chasing the monster. There also appears to be a lack of a 'RESET_TO_HERE();', so failing/restarting the mission results in the 'get in to your vehicle' stage briefly awkwardly appearing. The segment is short enough however that it's not a huge deal, but I'm unsure if you'd even have any interest in updating it (especially since I know you have your hands full!).

The 'increasingly destroyed Springfield' was also another highlight. I was actually anticipating that these aesthetics would simply only be active throughout the missions, but continue to persist throughout the entire Level depending on what pre-mission you're on. It actively caught me off-guard to see the broken Ambulances blocking the stairway shortcut and having to plan around that once that effect permanently sets in.

Overall, a really fun time! The silent film approach makes this a joy to play with audio enabled, there's some fun custom aesthetics sprinkled throughout the Level, and the missions are pretty enjoyable without feeling as if they drag on for too long. A lot of it feels like a pretty natural evolution and improvement over your previous work with Eyesores, such as the concept of fighting a 'boss character' or a 'boss' that isn't a traditional 'vehicle' I think most are accustomed to. It's lovely seeing a 'horror' themed hack that isn't specifically entirely Halloween-themed. Good job all around!

Out of curiosity, was the Monster that Frink builds an entirely custom model built from scratch? It almost gives some slight Monsters Inc. vibes to me for some odd reason, but I wasn't entirely sure and I couldn't find anything in the mod that explains the origins of it. If it's entirely custom, it's really cute!

-- Apologies for not playing this sooner
No problem. Thanks for your feedback!

-- I noticed that the 'MISSION COMPLETE!' text was modified, but the modification didn't appear to have it's intentional effect.
I also noticed that bug in development, but didn't pay attantion to it, as I have russian localisation in my game instance which gives some oddities with that 'MISSION COMPLETE!' font when rendering english text. I thought that there'd be no troubles with original localisation, but watching videos about my mod I realized I was wrong(((

-- I also kind of figured that choosing to resume the save results in a crash. If you're interested in fixing it, adding a stage with a 'dummy' objective that has 'RESET_TO_HERE();' in it fixes the issue. This is what the script should look like.
Copied your script and it really works! Thanks! Appreciate your help!)

-- but perhaps having a bugfixed release as a separate download from the original mod entry release might work?
Here's the bugfixed release with fixed bugs mentioned above

Apologies for not playing this sooner. While I actually gave this topic a 'Like' when it was initially posted, I had not yet played this until yesterday. I actually meant to visit this project in a much more timely fashion after it's drop and give my opinions on your entry (as well as the other two mod entries!), but got sidetracked with planning an event with my girlfriend. I commend the work on display for all of the entries and the amount of creativity packed into each, since working with those deadlines can be tough!

I really like the setting for the mod, even knowing that the excuse to participate in the race is intentionally not very deep given the mod submission deadline. Choosing Burns a race host feels extremely fitting given his 36 Stutz Bearcat. I can definitely see him wanting to go ahead and do a race because he's feeling nostalgic. Simple and to the point, and it feels all in character.

The map design itself is also pretty enjoyable! A lot of the map assets all seem to be repurposed from the Trailer Park side of the Evergreen Terrace map, with a few custom props here and there. It feels like it might have been easy to go overboard, but the recycled assets actually work in the map's favor and create this really nice rural landscape. It manages to create a feeling that I managed to get when exploring Evergreen Terrace's Trailer Park side for the first time and is a nice breath of fresh air from all of the industrialization. It also works really nicely with the old-timey cars and helps make the lack of NPCs feel a lot more natural (in addition to perhaps not being the best thing to have for a Street Race). There's enough distinct locations to help prevent the map from feeling too 'same-y'. I really liked the little bridge area the player passes over, for instance. Just really cute:


The road blockage barriers seen near the start of the race did initially throw me off as I initially assumed they were shortcuts the AI racers wouldn't bother with. The radar would also suggest they might be paths the player can take. Instead, they serve as invisible walls that block the player. I think coming from the vanilla game, most players would be conditioned to think that these props are smashable due to their usage in the Downtown Springfield map to indicate shortcuts. I understand their usage was likely due to a lack of more 'organic' feeling roadblocks, and it's something the player is quickly reconditioned to, but I felt a bit silly running into those ones at the start full speed on a blind playthrough. Again, I struggle to think of a roadblock that fits the landscape that doesn't feel very artificial, so I understand the repurposing here.

The difficulty is also pretty well done. On my first playthrough of the mission (with no familiarity of the track itself), I found the AI racers were able to keep up with me pretty well. I think for newer players, it feels comparable to a late game Street Race, coming from Level 6 or 7? Definitely not impossible. It provides a good challenge with plenty of opportunities to catch back up. Especially with the 4 laps.

The only real noticeable bug/oversight I found during my initial run was near the end of my first playthrough. I noticed that the 'MISSION COMPLETE!' text was modified, but the modification didn't appear to have it's intentional effect. I decompiled the mod real quick to double check, and I think the issue is that the 'MISSION COMPLETE' font lacks any lowercase letters. It's a pretty simple fix, and changing everything to uppercase fixes the issue. I'm unsure if you wish to address this due to the nature of the Mod Jam, but perhaps having a bugfixed release as a separate download from the original mod entry release might work?

I also kind of figured that choosing to resume the save results in a crash. If you're interested in fixing it, adding a stage with a 'dummy' objective that has 'RESET_TO_HERE();' in it fixes the issue. This is what the script should look like. The end result is a make-shift 'free-roam' that would allow the player to explore the track at their own leisure. Otherwise, there's not an indicator that tells the user choosing to resume the game crashes it. I don't think it's a huge issue given the nature of the mod, but I wouldn't mind an update that patches this in.

Overall, really enjoyable mini-mod! The countryside theming and vintage cars create a pretty nice theme that feels very distinct. Even looking past the aesthetics, you've got a fun custom map that offers a custom mission with an enjoyable challenge.

my man this is SOOOOO difficult. but amazing.

Perfect work!!
I found wonderful old soundtracks for myself in this mod and enjoyed vintage silent movie vibe at all!)
Also found it funny how music beats are synchronized with Frink's animation of running!))