Archive: 22 posts

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Hey all. I'm new here officially, but I've been following behind the scenes for a while, and I'm here to present the first of [hopefully] many levels: SACK NINJA TRAINING Sack Ninja Training was designed to showcase a few unique obstacles that have been mulling around in my head for a while. You will be given infinite checkpoints throughout, but by no means does it make the level any easier. Your thumbs are sure to be challenged here, as you progress through the ninja training course. It truly feels good to conquer. In addition to the core course, there are 5 hidden targets to find, some of which will require you to go beyond the expected solutions to gain. I have attached a video below of a few of the obstacles, and hope you enjoy my work! (I apologize for the video quality): YouTube - Little Big Planet: Sack Ninja Training

2009-06-01 02:33:00 Author: comphermc Posts: 5338

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AAAlone, perfectly quoted the level; "Beautiful AND deadly! Thank gosh for infinite checkpoints!" This level is visually pleasing, and the challenges are great, and orginal. The way you used the wood materials was great, and made the whole place have a sort of Japanese feel. Every challenge and puzzles was great, and they all had a very original feel. I had to use my brain for most of the puzzles, which is what you want from them. You had the simple, flip a switch puzzle, but then you took it to the next level with the doors opening and closing idea. This is the best Ninja Challenge level I have played yet, and was worth the many deaths. But, at one part with the 'You only have one chance at this challenge' challenge, when you swing on the green rope, you can see the dark matter, and the logic. Maybe put those up higher. Also, the last challenge was easy, the challenge that should of been last was the one with the two brain things that went left and right really fast, as that was REALLY hard, and took tons of tries, unlike the last one which took one. Overall it was an amazing and fun level 5 stars and a heart!

2009-06-01 03:09:00 Author: Kog Posts: 2358

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Thanks, Cog. I was wrestling with the simplicity of that last challenge when I made it. When I first put it in, I couldn't time it right, but now it seems so simple. Perhaps I will go back and update it to make it more difficult (or just rearrange the order). The original intent was to have to hit 2 brains to get to the lower switch, 3 brains in a row to get the top switch, and then 4 brains in a row to get out. When I changed the architecture to make it look better I accidentally made it easier... I hope I didn't get you too bad with the the double-brain-spike trap. My roommate saw me make that, and he was like, "You *** hole." Your heart is appreciated. Edit: Whoops, gotta keep it kid friendly. He said, "you meanie head!"

2009-06-01 03:41:00 Author: comphermc Posts: 5338

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Hi there comphermc! I've already sent you a couple comments on the level and I'll give you some more detailed feedback later when I give the level another play through. As you already know, I really enjoyed this level. However, since you guys were talking about the double brain trap I figured I should add in my two cents. I highly recommend you change the pistons on the two doors from flip in to normal. You currently have the brains hooked to these doors via one shot magnetic key switches. Replace these wires with an invisible grab switch on a non-grabbable material set to direction and inverted. Halve the piston's timing (because piston timing is cycle time so switching from flipper to normal actually makes the piston slower). Now, set the piston strength to 5. Once you are done with this change the doors will always be in the down position. So you hook up a winch to the doors. Give it the exact same length as the piston. Set the strength of the winch to 10 and set the timing to 0.1. Now change the magnetic key switches on the brains from inverted 1 switches to non-inverted direction switches. Hook these to the winches. This is the technique I borrowed from rtm223. Basically, it takes advantage of the winch only being able to pull in one direction and therefore creates two speed movement. The doors will now open quickly and close slowly. The reason I recommend you do it this way instead of the way you currently have it is because if players die (which they will because that jumps is brutal) they must wait for the doors to reset before jumping again. The 1 switches set on flippers only work if the flipper has finished its motion. With the weak piston, strong winch combination, the door can be opened again, even if the cycle hasn't finished yet! This is the same change I made to my timing circuits for inside the reactor to make it so people didn't need to wait. In your level it will serve much the same purpose. People won't run across, get a good jump on the brains, only to impact door on the other side. I did this quite a few times, when I would get one brain but not the other on one try. Then the next try I would hit both brains but one of the doors wouldn't open because when I hit the brain the cycle hadn't been completed.

2009-06-03 14:38:00 Author: dcf Posts: 468

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Nice. All round nice. Some of the stuff wasn't that original but some of it really really was. More imortantly, almost none of it was the mainstream obstacles you see in every level and each seemed well thought out. I didn't quite understand the "you only get one go at this obstacle", was there a specific purpose to this? Some of the paintenator stuff was brilliant though. The section after the paintenator puzzle, with the slanted wooden blocks, can be cheated by plane-shifting down twice and then jumping right. The two brains and two doors puzzle - 1 you can't see the hazard on the other side. This makes it unfair. Also, is there some extra mechanic going on here? My sack wouldn't stand still under the doors, it felt like there was something invisible pushing him, it was very strange... Gameplay was good and the visuals were nice - nothing too fancy, just clean and consistant. The only real gripe I had was the camera angles in certain places where the "follow" option was set to low. I got very close to the edge of the screen a couple of times, or upcoming hazards weren't visible. 4*s As an aside: This is the technique I borrowed from rtm223You odn't need to credit me everytime you menion this. Not that I don't appreciate it, I gave you a basic tool and you've run with it, take some of the credit for yourself

2009-06-03 22:29:00 Author: rtm223 Posts: 6497

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Thanks very much for the feedback guys! I am working on a level that I hope to much better than this one, but if I get a chance, I will definitely go in and fix/adjust things on this one. That sounds like a neat little trick for the brain section - it had never occurred to me that there was another way... About the lack of a follow option, I wanted to make it so that you would only see one obstacle at a time. Since this is one of my first "real levels," I wasn't used to the spacing required to make sure you don't see multiple obstacles at once. Also, some of the cameras are positioned so that you can see what a lever is doing to something far away, for example. I will go through and try to tweak those to make them a little more friendly. I can think of one spot where I assume it was the worst (right before the checkpoint before the double brain puzzle). The "you only get one shot at this" test was supposed to reward players who are going for the high score. Looking back, the fact that you are rewarded so heavily for finding all of the hidden targets really negates the purpose of this test, but I decided to leave it in for nothing more than shear laziness. Like I said, this was my first real level, so I was a bit inexperienced at the big-picture part of it. I feel like I have a better handle on creating an overall experience, so let's hope it pays off in my next level. Shameless plug: My next level is based on Portal's Aperture Science Enrichment Center. It's nowhere near complete, but if anyone out there in LBP-land wants a key to the pre-Beta (Alpha, that is) level that I will be updating periodically, add me on PSN: comphermc. Visually, it's much more pleasing than this level, and I hope to capture accurately the best possible mix between the Portal universe and LBP's universe. There is no gimmicky portal mechanic, but there are going to be some solid Portal-type problem solving elements (great game, by the way). Again, thanks everyone for the feedback.

2009-06-03 23:16:00 Author: comphermc Posts: 5338

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I quit at the double fast platform part. Every time I died I had to go back, get the paintinator, go back through the switches, etc. Maybe a new paintinator at that check point?

2009-06-03 23:52:00 Author: ZipCity Posts: 208

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About the lack of a follow option, I wanted to make it so that you would only see one obstacle at a time. Since this is one of my first "real levels," I wasn't used to the spacing required to make sure you don't see multiple obstacles at once. Also, some of the cameras are positioned so that you can see what a lever is doing to something far away, for example. I will go through and try to tweak those to make them a little more friendly. I can think of one spot where I assume it was the worst (right before the checkpoint before the double brain puzzle). Mostly they aren't bad at all, camera work is quite difficult in LBP - I swear it's taking up waaay more of my create time than it should... Another alternative to increasing follow is make the activation zone noticably smaller than the vieing zone, so you can't reach the edges of the screen. I can't give you exact locations because I wasn't taking notes. I'll let you know once I've played it again.

2009-06-04 00:14:00 Author: rtm223 Posts: 6497

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I'll have to admit copping out of the level once I hit the two moving platforms with the double doors, i just couldn't do it for love nor money... The main paintenator puzzle with the levers and doors is really great though, definitely worth expanding upon for an entire level. As has been noted, a couple of the camera angles don't track quite enough to let you see far enough ahead, but its really nothing major.

2009-06-04 00:39:00 Author: julesyjules Posts: 1156

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ZipCity - you don't need to use the paintinator on that part. In fact, you aren't able to complete the very next part (kind of a trap) if you have the paintinator equipped. The objective is to jump off of each one in succession, opening the doors. I'm sorry if that was confusing. For anyone who cannot beat the double brain obstacle, here is the solution: It is best to not jump, rather to just walk off the side to hit the first one. The timing is the hardest part. You have to walk off exactly when the nearest one is all the way to the left. By the time you fall, it will have gone to the right and come back to the left. The "bounce" you get from hitting the first brain in the manner is just right to come down on the second brain. Good luck to everyone else, and I assure both of you that were very close to the end, and you missed out on the most fun obstacle (the last one).

2009-06-04 01:12:00 Author: comphermc Posts: 5338

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ZipCity - you don't need to use the paintinator on that part. In fact, you aren't able to complete the very next part (kind of a trap) if you have the paintinator equipped. The objective is to jump off of each one in succession, opening the doors. I'm sorry if that was confusing.. ah, I see. I thought you need the gun because when I shot those moving platforms, the doors opened. Either way, landing one something that small moving that fast is too frustrating for me to try.....

2009-06-04 02:16:00 Author: ZipCity Posts: 208

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Just had a play comphermc, I'll give you my feedback as I play. + Nice visuals, I like the two contrasting wood colours, looks nice + That first section requires some timing + Secrets, always like secrets!!! + Liked the mind section, it was'nt overly difficult, but good to play + Excellent rolling ball puzzle, I thought it was really well thoughout and was great to play. + I loved the puzzle at the end of the mind section using the levels, brilliant + The first hard section x2!!!!! I actually did it first time, then slid into the spikes + Very hard final section, took me god knows how many attempts to do it lol + Found 4/5 secrets and am 4th on the leaderboard. - Perminant switch visable at the one chance test near the start All in all a very hard, but rewarding level. I couldnt seen any real problems other than the visible switch. I loved the visual style, and the mind test sections were very well designed and great to play. The level was challenging, but i never wanted to give up, always shows great design. *****, brilliant and hearted

2009-06-04 11:59:00 Author: GruntosUK Posts: 1754

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Thank you very much for the feedback Grantos. If you like secrets, then my next level is going to be right up your alley! Your Woveneye level looks gorgeous, and I'm about to go give it a play...

2009-06-04 14:28:00 Author: comphermc Posts: 5338

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Ok the cameras that really stuck out for me were the very first one - I died on that on my first run through, because you pretty much reach the edge of the screen before it shifts and the one you mentioned. More feedback after playing a second time. You've done really well on using all three layers in quite a few sections and less when you don't need all three, which is something that I feel is often done badly in this game. I like secrets too, so I'll be watching out for your next creation edit - after reading coxy's feedback I remembered something that I forgot to mention. The brain obstacles are a whole order of magnitude harder than anything else in the level, for me at least. They are a really nice idea but this missmatch in difficulty makes them seem slightly out of place. I generally prefer it if a level is vaguely constant in difficulty or gradually increasing than if it varys wildly.

2009-06-04 19:04:00 Author: rtm223 Posts: 6497

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Ok, saying this one is pretty tough is an understatment! This is killer - more difficult than Ranger's Crazy Train, but not quite as hard as Bridget's Temple of Trials. Pros: + The art styke is beautiful. + Minimalistic but pretty enjoyable gameplay + The mind challenges are brilliant + Secrets! + Good use of the three layers + Lovely uses of the paintinator Cons: - Really didn't like the use of creature brains to jump. I found all of the challenges involving them more repetitive and frustrating - but they were well thought out 4 stars for you

2009-06-04 19:14:00 Author: Coxy224 Posts: 2645

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This level is wonderful. I was watching the level but decided to play it instead it looked that impressive. It's very challenging but that good sort of challenging when you feel good for actually completing it. It's a fun interactive level with some great layout and clever switch designs. I loved the idea of using the paint gun to pull switches and dunno but just original... well I haven't seen it done in any other levels so I thought it was impressing. Those parts where you have to jump on an enemy to open a gate are annoying as hell but in some what in a good way ... if that makes sense. You just know you can do it and think you got it and still fail it's annoying but I loved those parts so much. The design and layout is just great, it's got a nice simple look. I gave it 5 stars and tagged complex.

2009-06-04 19:30:00 Author: LordMagicPants Posts: 187

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Thanks everyone for the appreciation of the mind-puzzles. My next map focuses solely on that type of obstacle. Expect it within the next week, but I'll try to get a release as soon as possible.

2009-06-04 20:38:00 Author: comphermc Posts: 5338

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Just played this one. I really enjoyed it. I don't think I had as much trouble as some of the other people. I thought the difficulty was just right. Challenging, but not frustrating. Your visual style is right on too, as it doesn't distract you much, and is very pleasing to look at. I don't have any complaints about it. I think it's good to go as is. GREAT WORK!!!!! 5 stars/ fun/ hearted F4F: mountain marathon

2009-06-04 23:51:00 Author: smasher Posts: 641

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I really enjoyed this level. Sure, it was beautifully crafted: excellent use of contrasting materials, tightly composed with little wasted space. Pehaps a little simple for some folks, but I like that clean look. It was also loaded with great puzzles. I had to think about the goals and figure out what needed to be done. Often our puzzles are merely a series of steps that we follow in order (pull switch a, revealing b, press b, go to c). I found yours to be deeper than that, requiring real consideration rather than simple trial and error. The skill challenges were hard! Man, jumping onto the little brains oscilating over the pit, bouncing off of them through the briefly opened the door! Sheesh! I thought my controller would melt! However, the placement of the infinite checkpoints took the edge off, not simply becuase I could keep on trying, but because I didn't have to retread a bunch of stuff to get back to where I was stuck. Some how it all seemed very fair (if frustrating). The true testiment to this level was that I wanted to get past the difficult parts to see what was next! IMHO if a level is brutally hard it had better be worth it. A brutal challenge will not ruin a level, but it definately doesn't make one either. If I make it past the whirling, spikey, flame spitting, challegne from hell, I want to find something on the other side that was worth seeing. I feel your level did that. Five stars.

2009-06-05 01:22:00 Author: AAAlone Posts: 71

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However, the placement of the infinite checkpoints took the edge off, not simply becuase I could keep on trying, but because I didn't have to retread a bunch of stuff to get back to where I was stuck. Some how it all seemed very fair (if frustrating). I'm generally not a fan of infinite checkpoints, but you hit the nail on the head there, they are perfect for levels like this.

2009-06-05 01:32:00 Author: GruntosUK Posts: 1754

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Checked this out last night and it is challenging. I'm not the best LBP player out there (Silveleon can testify to that) but I'm pretty good at finishing most levels. This one - while I did make it through - has some really good and challenging parts to it. The moving brain bouncing area with the door openers were the trickiest thing on the level for me and boy did I spend a ton of time on them. My only problem with those and a few of the other obstacles you had was it didn't seem like skill was being tested so much as luck at a few points. Better players than I may have a differing opinion on that but I made it through so I can't complain too strongly, can I. I liked your choice of materials for the level too. The natural wood in varying shades looks really good together and kind of gave it a traditional training area kind of vibe. I especially liked your concentric circles with two shades of wood in them. Nice graphic motif that stood out for me. My only criticism would be that while it looks good and challenges the heck out a player - it can seem a little predictable/repetitive in a few spots. They are all different challenges, I know, and none are exactly the same but I kept feeling like some of the areas had the same mechanics as earlier ones and they weren't as fun to get through as the earlier versions were. Does that make sense? It's hard to put the feeling I was getting into words. Overall - it's a nicely challenging level that plays very well - if you can get through it. I rated it 4 stars! Thanks for sharing it!

2009-06-05 07:32:00 Author: Morgana25 Posts: 5983

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speaking as a player with strictly average skill (on a good day), I found this level challenging, but not so much that it discouraged me. At the first obstical, the single brain hop, I thought, "man! this IS hard", but after I learned the timing it wasn't so bad. (also, I liked the fact that the same timing worked on the double brain hop later in the level) The second obstical with the thumping pistons didn't seem nearly as hard as the first..nice beat, though (waltz). Anyway, having played through the whole level, I like the difficulty curve as-is. I liked seeing the perminant switch at the top of the one-shot. made me feel kind-of special, like I'd found somthing I hadn't been meant to. Since the reward for reaching the top isn't all that much compaired with the later score, I think the visible switch gives a differant kind of reward to comphensate. My one thought for improvement would be to put a little plug in the description, or first prompt for Brain chain survival challenge. I think playing that set me up well for the later challenges here. (made the last test 1'st try). hope this helps.

2009-07-30 20:03:00 Author: swanbrown Posts: 898

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