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Doll Parts

Archive: 20 posts

PSN: ZipCity
Level: Doll Parts

Level Description: A girl's big brother has taken her baby doll and broken it into pieces. Sackboy must explore the little girl's bedroom while she sleeps, finding the five scattered doll parts. The level plays with scale and attempts to capture the whimsy of a young girl's bedroom.

Why You Should Play: This is not your typical LBP platformer. It's nearly impossible to die; the goal is to find things, not survive. The inspiration for the level was my 6 year old daughter, but it turned into something more challenging once I got into it.

Screenshots:

http://www.simleaguebaseball.com/derwood/doll1.jpg


http://www.simleaguebaseball.com/derwood/doll2.jpg


http://www.simleaguebaseball.com/derwood/doll3.jpg

This is my first level, but I've already started a second (and COMPLETELY different) level that I hope to have out in the next 7-10 days.

Please provide feedback and I promise to return the favor.

Thanks,

ZipCity		2009-05-10 00:43:00

Author:
ZipCity
Posts: 208

Hey there

First of all I'd like to say I love the idea for the level, well done. I like the design style, and the fun with the scale - the bed and the little girl are particularly great, as well as the plant above them. The spider under the bed gave me a bit of a shiver so I liked that bit, but perhaps you should make it a little less dark under there? (I did use the torch).

I found a few bugs though (pun intended ) - I let go of the sponge you grab to get back up after you go under the bed and didn't land on the upper level, but when I fell back down the sponge broke and I couldn't get back up except for killing myself to get back to the clock. When I restarted and tried again, I stayed on the sponge all the way to the top and then let go and somehow died against the bedpost when it flung me towards it. Also, the invisible barrier to prevent you jumping down off the bed onto the floor is a bit funny, you get moved forward onto it if you try and jump over the girl's leg and it's tricky to move back, so perhaps lowering the barrier a touch would help? An alternative would be to have the mattress, and then a layer of wood on the frontmost later to be the frame of the bed and that would stop the player from jumping down to under the bed.

The cat should tell you to turn back BEFORE you go past the checkpoint, just in case you need to kill yourself to get back up to the clock instead of using the sponge past the spider. Also, the ball jumping section is a bit frustrating, the golf ball is hard to push back if it moves because the game automatically moves you back a layer and you can't grab it, maybe you could make your own tennis ball object out of sponge instead so it can be pushed more easily?

The swinging stars section is a bit tricky because of the small points you have to grab, I found myself constantly grabbing the same star I had just let go of.

I saw the block of dark matter that the owl that tells you about the air duct is attached to, maybe you could just attach him to ceiling above, and if that dark matter is holding THAT up move it a bit. Also at that bit, it's possible to jump down off the bookshelf to the left if you don't realise you are supposed to swing on the lights, and when you try to go back up you can't because the robot's elevator is stuck up at the top because you left the coin there. The elevator should also move a bit slower, with pauses at the top and bottom, it was a bit fidgety to get the coin off it because it would jerk and stop and start, maybe play with the sensor radius a bit? The second time I played through one half of the piggy back got stuck under the elevator and I couldn't shift it to get the coin on it... and I gave up because I didn't want to play the first half for a third time You can also see the dissolve that the hammer is attached to, maybe you should inlay it so it's flush with the bookshelf and sticker it to match?

I hope it doesn't sound like I'm stomping all over your level, I really enjoyed it, just pointing out the things I'd want pointed out to me if it were mine. Overall I rated it 4 and gave it the 'cute' tag, I hearted it too .		2009-05-10 12:46:00

Author:
MrOrangeOh
Posts: 20

I really like the concept of this level and the environment you created. The girl on the bed, all the toys, the flashlight, the gum ball machine, etc all look great. However, I also ran into almost all of the issues that MrOrange ran into. Here are some thoughts:

Highlights:
- Exploration aspect. I loved the idea of searching around the room for the missing parts!
- Nice object design. The Gum ball machine was probably my favorite!
- Nice use of the Global Lighting Object for under the bed.

Suggestions:
- The invisible barrier is very odd. I assume this was to keep players from falling to the floor? What if you added a bed frame instead? It could take up the front layer and you could place it under the drawer. So, if the player falls, they won't be go underneath the bed, but will land on the frame and can go to the end of the bed from there.
- The ball and star sections were a bit frustrating. If you could make the basketball a bit smaller and the golf ball easier to move (or create a tennis ball like MrOrange suggested) I think it might work better. For the stars, I would suggest mixing in some fully sponge stars with the lit stars. It was a bit frustrating trying to grab the little bit of sponge on the stars.
- After breaking the piggy bank, I found it difficult to get the coin on the elevator. I'd suggest some kind of ramp that you can pull it up. Also, I fell off the elevator once, but it stayed up, causing me to be stuck at the bottom. This forced me to restart the level.
- At the end of the level, the doll only had 4 lights lit up, but I found all 5 parts. The finish did open correctly though.

Overall, I really enjoyed the concept of this level, but I think a little more polish in some areas will really help. If you fix some of the issues, let me know and I'd be happy to give more feedback.		2009-05-10 16:54:00

Author:
mrsupercomputer
Posts: 1335

Thanks for all the feedback. The bedframe idea is great; I had struggled with now to prevent people from getting under the bed before heading to the foot of it first (but still have it make sense aesthetically). The invisible dark matter thing just hasn't worked the way I'd hoped.

Putting an invisible barrier at the top of the bookshelf to keep players from falling all the way back down is a good idea.

I agree that the ball section is tricky. Maybe I can add a fourth ball in there or something.

I tweaked the robot elevator last night, but will continue to tweak. I extended the lower book that the piggy bank is sitting on so that it's flush with the elevator, and I changed the mechanism so that the coin object starts the elevator, but isn't required to keep it moving (in one play test I accidentally fell off the elevator when it was half way up and had no way of getting back onto it with the coin.)

I've had several people comment on the swinging stars part, so I'll look into it. I never have a problem completing it, but I guess that's irrelevant.

Thanks for all the input. I'm working on a second level (completely unrelated to the little girl concept) and feel like everything I've learned making Doll Parts has really paid off.		2009-05-10 19:56:00

Author:
ZipCity
Posts: 208

How do I get the hammer to swing?2009-05-10 22:01:00

Author:
Matt 82
Posts: 1096

How do I get the hammer to swing?

Grab the tip. This was another area that stumped me for a bit as well.		2009-05-10 22:09:00

Author:
mrsupercomputer
Posts: 1335

Got it, thanks. That could do with being a bit clearer. The box propels you up on top of it, so grabbing the end is not intuitive.

Other things that could do with tweaking:

- The piggy bank could do with a back layer. While running about looking for a switch to release the hammer, I jumped while behind it and landed in it. Problem being that I couldn`t get out again so had to pop which meant I had to do the stars again.
- The robot lift. If you know what a permanent switch is, put it on that (if not, look it up. You`ll find loads of videos including one from Mm). That way, once you get the coin, it`ll just go on regardless. I had issues with it as well because if you move the coin away from the centre it stops.
- I had the same deal with the doll parts not being lit up at the end.

Other than that, there were some nice details in there. The girl in her bed was very well made.		2009-05-10 22:40:00

Author:
Matt 82
Posts: 1096

Huh, I thought I HAD changed the robot elevator to a permanent switch. I'll look into that.

I was going to ask if people thought the hammer thing was a rewarding challenge or frustrating.

Also, I thought I solved the back layer (piggy bank) issue with some invisible dark matter.

Now that I'm typing all this, I'm thinking I fixed this stuff but didn't republish with the changes. I'll check tonight		2009-05-10 23:33:00

Author:
ZipCity
Posts: 208

Okay, I just played this and thought it was very clever. I'm absolutely stunned it has 2 stars on it. I gave it 5 just to maybe balance it out a bit. Maybe once you've gone through the whole review process and made changes you could delete and republish it to get the rating you deserve.

Few things that I came up with:

1. Grabbing the tip of the hammer..... definately needs to change. There is NO way most people are going to get that one. Maybe have a switch that releases it, OR have something to grab on or above the hammer that is a bit more obvious.

2. Also on the piggy bank - got stuck in the back of the piggy bank jumping up, after I had no idea I was supposed to use the hammer.		2009-05-11 05:25:00

Author:
CCubbage
Posts: 4430

Just finished playing, some feedback...

+ l love the idea of your level (putting the focus on finding parts instead of platform fun & bosses)
+ the level is very well designed, love all those custom made objects (girl, robot, bubblegum machine, ...)

- It seems like there's a problem with the sponge on the far left, i broke it 2 times (maybe you need to leave some more space there)
- the jumps with the balls can be hard IF you change those balls from position, didn't really know what to do there so i moved them, the golf ball was on the right of the beachball so it was impossible to make that jump, had to restart to get them back in the right order. (probably won't happen to many people :-) )
- got stuck between the robot-legs :-(
- wasn't really clear how to use the hammer, took me a while to figure that out (don't really know if that's bad because this level is about exploration)
- didn't know what to do after the bubblegum machine, an arm felt out (i think) but i couldn't get the bubbles out...


I'll certainly give it another spin, because i've played it rather quickly
and this is the kind of level that you shouldn't be playing quickly, but from what i've seen i really like it!

misty.		2009-05-11 19:25:00

Author:
Mother-Misty
Posts: 574

maybe I can have the pig give a hint about grabbing the hammer2009-05-11 22:24:00

Author:
ZipCity
Posts: 208

Or coat the hammer with really thin grabbable material so that no matter where you grab the hammer it falls. In fact, probably the most appropriate place for a grab would be on top of the hammer instead of the head - as in real life you grab the handle of a hammer to swing it, not the head.2009-05-11 22:33:00

Author:
CCubbage
Posts: 4430

I'd agree with most peoples thoughts, it's a very unique feeling level, which is an achievement in itself. With a few minor tweaks it'll be very nice.

I had similar problems to most people in the thread, it's worth persevering with those little problems and re-publishing!		2009-05-11 23:07:00

Author:
julesyjules
Posts: 1156

Hey Zipcity , I actually played your level a couple days ago, I thought it was pretty cool and unique. It sort of gave me a feel of free roam even though it had a set path, which is nice.I thought the drawer comming out to reveal a part was cool, i wasnt expecting it.I liked the under the bed part, nice humor, but maybe a detail you could add is maybe toys under the bed? I dont know a kid who doesnt shove everything under there. It was very smooth and looked good and polished. I had no problem with the balls part unlike other people, but i did get stuck on the hammer and pig part. In my opinion you shouldnt have to grab it, was getting frustrated and almost quit because i was come out and hit it without grabbing and it wouldnt fall down.I think i grabbed it on accident. The elevator wasnt too bad, it stops when you move the coin to the side, otherwise it would have been a problem. Sadly i was unable to finish after this area because after i got the go into the closet message i couldnt find it, the vent was empty. Overall good level rated 4 stars and cute. Can you check out my Human body level?2009-05-12 00:52:00

Author:
Jrange378
Posts: 573

thanks for the feedback. Did you not run to the right in the vent and descend into the closet with all the hangers?

I'll definitely tweak things tonight or tomorrow and republish. I'm also working on another level that will be very cool (I hope)		2009-05-12 02:19:00

Author:
ZipCity
Posts: 208

I fixed a lot of little things in the level and have deleted/republished the level

Some fixes:

- added a few toys under the bed
- slowed down sponge lift behind the bed to (hopefully) avoid breakage
- redesigned the "and" gate that opens final door
- made the hammer switch activated
- changed the logic of the robot lift so that you AND the coin have to be on it to start it
- tweaked the proximity switch that opens the air vent door
- added invisible barrier to prevent falling off top of bookshelf
- increased size of star sponges
- added 4th ball at bottom of bookshelf

So if you played before, please play again and re-rate based on the fixes.

thanks guys!		2009-05-12 06:30:00

Author:
ZipCity
Posts: 208

I checked it out tonight too and most of what I found was mentioned above. Broken sponge on left side of bed, stuck in piggy bank, hammer wasn't easy to figure out.

BUT even with the stuff you know about - it's a sweet level. I adore your character design for the little girl and the whole environment is playful and cute. Had a lot of fun exploring the room.

Thanks for sharing it!


EDIT: I'm not sure if I got it pre or post update - I'll try it again tomorow.		2009-05-12 08:10:00

Author:
Morgana25
Posts: 5983

The update happened at about 1:30am EDT, so you may have missed it2009-05-12 14:35:00

Author:
ZipCity
Posts: 208

Very nicely designed level, great concept... Just a few annoyances.

Comparing the thread to my notes... kinda cuts this post down to a few points, as everyone has said everything else. So here we go!

There is a little hole under the girl's hand. I somehow got in there mid-jump, and got stuck. Had to pop to get out of it, as jumping in any direction didn't help much... Maybe fill it somehow?
Magic mouths... My advice is if it's a situation where sackboy is moving or doing some sort of continuous action (like swinging sections)... Please just have it a non-camera angle speech bubble. You end up messing up whatever you were doing during the cut scenes otherwise.
Apart from that... The spider bit where you jumped onto a platform that was behind the screen (which the spider and head were subsequently in front of) is kinda annoying. Maybe have a platform on the same layer, whilst lowering that thin screen to avoid messing up might help?

Liked the level overall, but it's like a nice shirt that's just come off the washing line. It's great, but you need to iron out the creases.		2009-05-12 20:44:00

Author:
Sirinden
Posts: 16

spider bit by the screen?2009-05-12 22:19:00

Author:
ZipCity
Posts: 208


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