Complex Simplicity - By Devann

I wasn't satisfied with this. I really wanted to be able to create my own levels and be able to play them too. After a while, some people started releasing some pretty cool Mario fan games, like Super Mario Bros. X, which have level editors in them. This was awesome and neat to play around with, but the physics in these fan games always felt off and weird. It wasn't enough. I wanted to be able to make my own REAL Mario levels.

A friend of mine from way long ago (I don't even remember anything about them anymore) from an ancient message board showed me something called Lunar Magic, which is a tool to create your own Super Mario World levels. It absolutely blew me away. I could finally make REAL Mario levels on my own. I was in heaven. This was it for me. This was the way to finally unleash my creative freedom...

...and then I was told that my levels stunk. Like, really bad. Apparently my levels were hot garbage. No matter what I tried, no matter how I changed them up, I just couldn't seem to get them right. 

I got put off, and I stopped using Lunar Magic. I distanced myself away from the Super Mario World community. 

Then that fateful day, the presentation for E3 2014 came, and with it, the blowout bombshell announcement I never expected, but always deep down wanted.

Mario Maker was announced for the Wii U.

This was it. This was going to be it. Every moment of my life has been leading up to this point.

I was going to be able to OFFICIALLY make REAL Mario levels. With REAL hardware. OFFICIALLY, with the love and good grace of Nintendo themselves.

I bought a Wii U JUST to be able to play Mario Maker. And I had at it. From 2015 to 2019, my final upload count for Super Mario Maker was 59 courses. 24 of which were Complex Simplicity. I don't know for sure my exact counts right now, but my Super Mario Maker profile the last time I checked had over 1400 stars. I know there are makers on there with millions, but it's absolutely insane to me that people enjoyed these that many times. I'm so grateful for each and every single person who plays my courses, and enjoys my work.

See, in actuality, I make levels specifically for myself. I like to make levels that I know I'd like to run through and play. I spent the most time in Mario Maker 1... just playing my own levels over and over. That might sound egotistical, and hey. It could be. But it's pretty difficult to find GOOD, challenging, well put-together traditional style levels, which is the only content I really enjoy playing. I don't care for Kaizo levels, I don't understand the appeal of automatic or music levels. I'm glad there are communities for these types of things, but they just simply aren't for me. 

This series is extremely important to me on a personal level. I've spent an extraordinarily long amount of time creating this. I've never been able, not one time in my life, to say that I've started a project, seen through with it, committed to it, and then completed it from start to finish. All of my projects I ever start end up being unfinished, or cancelled. Or end up having too many major problems to be able to continue. But this, I can do this. I did this. I'm very proud of myself for being able to see this through to the end.

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