Archive: 31 posts

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Yeah I often see some maze levels out there but I'm yet to see much levels really focusing this style. Would there be any interest? I really feel like making one. What I have in mind is a TRUE maze. Maze + score is the goal, no story. And by maze I mean something where you REALLY need to search for the exit, something in wich you CAN get lost. You know, a real maze. Should I? Suggestions? I also taught of constructing it by assembling different but snap-able parts + changing the envirronement/deco depending the "zone" you're in. ...

2009-07-02 17:30:00 Author: RangerZero Posts: 3901

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I quite like the idea, I'm not great with mazes due to my lack of short term memory, but it would be interesting to see. Bear in mind: I mean something where you REALLY need to search for the exit, something in wich you CAN get lost. This is the biggest selling point and the biggest downside of your idea. Selling point because it's brave and different. Downside because you know it's just gonna get hit with 1 stars and frustrating all day long. Should I? That's not for me to say. I'm sure you are aware that it may get slated, but if you're ok with that and you want to do it, then the answer has to be yes. You'll have a niche audience, but that can be fine. I also taught of constructing it by assembling different but snap-able parts + changing the envirronement/deco depending the "zone" you're in. I'm not sure what you mean here, but if by snappable parts you mean modular, then randomise it and it will be awesome, even if each square only has 2 options, that could still give you a stupid number of combos and exponentially increase the frustratingness

2009-07-02 18:47:00 Author: rtm223 Posts: 6497

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Mindphaser had a level series with some really REALLY long mazes in them. I'd suggest checking those out to find a balance between fun and frustrating. I wouldn't mind a maze level where you can actually get lost but I'd want to know there was something I could do to increase my chances of success. Like leaving a sticker trail or other strategy to finish it.

2009-07-02 18:52:00 Author: Morgana25 Posts: 5983

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I have yet to find a decent maze level, and I love doing mazes on any kind of games, even magazines. and well, you pulled of an awesome train level so I can't see why you can't pull off a perfect maze level. go for it!

2009-07-02 19:54:00 Author: oldage Posts: 2824

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The only thing I'd say make something inside it...If it was just long winding corridor, turn, pick left long winding corridor, hit dead end, turn back, pick second long winding corridor, dead end, turn back... etc. If there was like mini challenges along the way, maybe they could reward the player with optional hints if they complete them. I just think a maze on paper and a maze on LBP...LBP would like something more... but that's just my opinion.

2009-07-02 19:54:00 Author: adlingtont Posts: 321

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The only thing I'd say make something inside it...If it was just long winding corridor, turn, pick left long winding corridor, hit dead end, turn back, pick second long winding corridor, dead end, turn back... etc. If there was like mini challenges along the way, maybe they could reward the player with optional hints if they complete them. I just think a maze on paper and a maze on LBP...LBP would like something more... but that's just my opinion. This is definetely my biggest issue with the idea. I don't know why I forget to tell you guys about it. The more stuff you put, the less thermo you have to make a real mze. The more you have a real maze, the more niche you go in general appeal. It's a tough question tackle (not that I don't have time to think about that ) .

2009-07-02 21:11:00 Author: RangerZero Posts: 3901

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I have a level I made about 4 or 5 months ago called "LittleBigMaze Extreme". It is a race, and you run around in the maze with a lantern and you are completely in the dark. Only one person has finished it through all the time it has been up, and I gave them a copyable version of it just for being able to complete it. This level is not fun, it is 100% frustrating maze, in the dark. You have to remember every single turn you take, or you will never finish. I've been working on "LittleBigMaze Extreme 2" for the past 3 months on and off. What I did was take a maze off of a maze generator, found the absolute largest size I could fit into LittleBigPlanet, and started building. It is 150 across and 150 down, and I'm about 25% done. It is approximately 3x the size of the original, and I estimate it to take about 1-2 hours for a truly determined soul. To answer your original question RangerZero, yes there would be an interest. I play all of the maze levels I can find. If I can't beat it, I heart it and play it daily until I beat it. They are the only type of time-consuming, tedious levels that I actually enjoy completing. You'll probably have 10-20 plays from me if nothing else.

2009-07-02 21:20:00 Author: BSprague Posts: 2325

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OMG I just had an awesome idea. Well I think it's awesome A trail of breadcrumbs mode. Would be great for those of us who have shocking memories. Just emit simple markers all over the place. Obviously would knacker your thermo but would make it more accessible. Doesn't really fit your aim RZ or BSprague, but anyone can nick the idea if they want.

2009-07-02 21:27:00 Author: rtm223 Posts: 6497

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hey to be honest i dont think that an out and out maze level would attract many plays or stars. however if you intergrated a small maze into a regular level,it could be a hit

2009-07-02 21:32:00 Author: elliot46 Posts: 24

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Try out my invisible maze level not many people have made it through

2009-07-02 21:34:00 Author: deboerdave Posts: 384

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OMG I just had an awesome idea. Well I think it's awesome A trail of breadcrumbs mode. Would be great for those of us who have shocking memories. Just emit simple markers all over the place. Obviously would knacker your thermo but would make it more accessible. Doesn't really fit your aim RZ or BSprague, but anyone can nick the idea if they want. Actually I was planning this feature (kind of). When you enter the level, I will suggest people to leave arrow stickers around for themselve. Then I will also explain my "give up" feature: Either the whole maze will be grabable or either there will be "give up" plates. Press R1 and it will light up the way out of the maze. ( I only hope I will not run out of wiring for that extreme switch that would light some enormous amount of leds...) .

2009-07-02 22:49:00 Author: RangerZero Posts: 3901

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There are a lot of ways that you could make a maze level fun... One way to do this is to make it a puzzle-type level as well... You could make it in a way so that you find a colored switch at one point in the maze, which 'unlocks' an area of the maze that was previously blocked by a barrier of that same color. You could use the breadcrumb idea to leave yourself visual markers of which way to go if you happen to come across a colored barrier that you haven't found a switch for yet. This way, you have to backtrack through the maze, but with a purpose - this is a good way to get the most out of a level, while still being within the confines of your thermo (just ask GrantosUK). You could also throw in little mini-puzzles along the way, so it's not just "a maze, but recreated in LBP." I would definitely play the type of level I just described here, but that's me. In the end, it's your level, your time, and your idea! Edit: Also, a way to make the maze feel more LBP-ish would be to have paths that can only be traversed in certain planes (again, think GrantosUK). This would give the maze more depth per lateral and vertical dimension.

2009-07-02 23:09:00 Author: comphermc Posts: 5338

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I must try out some maze levels! Sprague...over an hour on one level? Actually sounds kind of good! And an invisible maze from deboerdave... My free time tomorrow has vanished in the space of a minute on this thread! RZ just an idea but you could develop the give up plates into hint plates...each time you use one it would decrease your score but light up the path for 10 seconds or something...all you would need to do is wire up the lights through a piston/mag switch/key combo timer.

2009-07-02 23:09:00 Author: adlingtont Posts: 321

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Ummmm... lighting up the path to the exit... From any point in the level. Without it leading you astray? All I can picture working for this is a tree of magswitches that would stretch from the exit to all points of the maze. Each mag switch would have to monitor all points further away from the exit and then activate if any of them activate. You can develop the tree using dijkstra's or just a rough guess but actually implementing it sounds like it would take a heavy toll, both on sanity and thermo. Please tell me I've over-engineered this and there is a simpler way...

2009-07-02 23:26:00 Author: rtm223 Posts: 6497

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I must try out some maze levels! Sprague...over an hour on one level? The one I have out now you might be able to do in 10-15 minutes, but I have the race gate set for 30 minutes. Don't play it if you don't really enjoy that type of thing, because it is fairly hard. Check the high score board, only one person has beat it. The one on my moon is absolutely massive. It runs from floor to ceiling and is 150 large grid blocks across by 150 large grid blocks down. What makes them so hard is that you can't see around you, the lantern only lights up exactly enough to see the walls and turns around you. It takes a good memory and a good amount of luck to beat it in a reasonable amount of time.

2009-07-02 23:33:00 Author: BSprague Posts: 2325

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@rtm Well couldn't you cover the whole maze in equally spaced LEDs but only wire the true path up to the mechanism? Wire it in such a way that it's done it a kind of sets of 3 way so that light 1 will flash then light 2 then light 3 then repeat a couple of times? This way it would light only the truth path (which is already set and doesn't have to be worked out by the game) and tells the player which way to actually go because the groups of 3 method would give the effect of the lights traveling in a certain direction.

2009-07-02 23:33:00 Author: adlingtont Posts: 321

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Yes. Yes you could.

2009-07-02 23:37:00 Author: rtm223 Posts: 6497

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The one I have out now you might be able to do in 10-15 minutes, but I have the race gate set for 30 minutes. Don't play it if you don't really enjoy that type of thing, because it is fairly hard. Check the high score board, only one person has beat it. The one on my moon is absolutely massive. It runs from floor to ceiling and is 150 large grid blocks across by 150 large grid blocks down. What makes them so hard is that you can't see around you, the lantern only lights up exactly enough to see the walls and turns around you. It takes a good memory and a good amount of luck to beat it in a reasonable amount of time. I'll make that two...Determination...

2009-07-02 23:45:00 Author: adlingtont Posts: 321

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I'll make that two...Determination... If you say so. It currently has about 60 plays and one person on the scoreboard, so statistically speaking, not many people finish it. If you do finish it, I'll give you a copyable version of it to look at in the light. This one was "handmade", the new one was originally generated on a computer and now I'm in the process of LBP-izing it.

2009-07-03 00:43:00 Author: BSprague Posts: 2325

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@rtm Well couldn't you cover the whole maze in equally spaced LEDs but only wire the true path up to the mechanism? Wire it in such a way that it's done it a kind of sets of 3 way so that light 1 will flash then light 2 then light 3 then repeat a couple of times? This way it would light only the truth path (which is already set and doesn't have to be worked out by the game) and tells the player which way to actually go because the groups of 3 method would give the effect of the lights traveling in a certain direction. By creating "give up" pads, I could have a somewhat limited number of mag keys on pistons that all can trigger a mag switch that turns the myriad of lights (the good path) on. .

2009-07-03 02:08:00 Author: RangerZero Posts: 3901

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Hey Rangerzero, I was just wondering if you would mind if I used the type of maze/puzzle idea I described earlier in the thread in a level of my own. I'm going to need something to work on once the Aperture Science Series is done (soon, I hope), and I really like the idea. I just don't want you to get angry that we'd both make a very similar level. I really like making puzzles, and I get a lot of inspiration from the backtracking in GrantosUk's maps - so the idea sounds awesome to me. I realize the ideas were my own, but I offered them to you (and I still offer them to you), and wanted to make sure everything was "kosher."

2009-07-03 02:16:00 Author: comphermc Posts: 5338

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Hey Rangerzero, I was just wondering if you would mind if I used the type of maze/puzzle idea I described earlier in the thread in a level of my own. I'm going to need something to work on once the Aperture Science Series is done (soon, I hope), and I really like the idea. I just don't want you to get angry that we'd both make a very similar level. I really like making puzzles, and I get a lot of inspiration from the backtracking in GrantosUk's maps - so the idea sounds awesome to me. I realize the ideas were my own, but I offered them to you (and I still offer them to you), and wanted to make sure everything was "kosher." No problem buddy. You do your "maze-puzzle" style and I will do something more streamlined / pure maze. I don't fear the niche .

2009-07-03 03:18:00 Author: RangerZero Posts: 3901

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Add some funny points, like if at a dead end, have a skeleton (hey, I think it's funny ). A small story would be cool too, like a child looking for his/her mother. I love mazes, and can only imagine what a GOOD LBP maze would be like. Make a maze!

2009-07-04 05:23:00 Author: Sunrise_Moon Posts: 469

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I've messed with mazes on my moon a bit... I was trying to add some platforming elements into them... my favorite experiments... were with sections that the player would put into motion... or that just rotated... causing gravity to move elements of the maze... kept me busy for hours... might be blatantly unfair for the player though...the true path became dependent on variables...

2009-07-04 05:53:00 Author: Gravel Posts: 1308

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I tried to start this making this level yesterday and did hit alot of limits. I had alot of "blocks" for my level to be in part and started to draw routes in it. At some point, the game stops to register your cutting! No complex shape message no nothing! The thermo doesn't even climb. I was really deceived. On the other hand, moving the character vertically isn't all that interesting. I really wanted to make some complex level and it seems i'm hitting a creator limit that I cannot do much about. Looks like I will drop this idea (at least, the way a saw it before). .

2009-08-10 15:59:00 Author: RangerZero Posts: 3901

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Looks like I will drop this idea (at least, the way a saw it before). If you happen to go ahead with this idea, perhaps you could implement a map system? I'm thinking something along the lines of your "give up" pads, only instead of lighting up a path, it emits a much more thermo-friendly map.

2009-08-11 05:40:00 Author: EVOin3D Posts: 91

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Mmm...mazes make me nostalgic, because my first ever LBP level was my Hedge Maze!! But that's obviously not really a pure maze levels, it's a tiny little bit of spinning puzzle action, mixed with some run and jumping and served with a side of The Gardens from the main game! To be honest a straight maze level doesn't really interest me much, as I am easily frustrated and will probably rage quit your level after 15 minutes of going nowhere. But that's more due to my poor anger management and lack of a decent sense of direction rather than any fault of your own! I say go for it, I think mazes have a lot of potential and I look forward to seeing how you give it your own twist! PS BSprague, I thought your maze through the darkness sounded familiar, and I just discovered that the reason why is because a long long time ago you left me a message on my Hedge Maze telling me to check it out! I was one of those 60 people who never made it to the end, but I'm glad to discover that that BSprague and the BSprague from LBPC are one and the same person!

2009-08-11 06:21:00 Author: CheesyMcFly Posts: 211

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PS BSprague, I thought your maze through the darkness sounded familiar, and I just discovered that the reason why is because a long long time ago you left me a message on my Hedge Maze telling me to check it out! I was one of those 60 people who never made it to the end, but I'm glad to discover that that BSprague and the BSprague from LBPC are one and the same person! That's me. I was searching around for maze levels to see if anyone had done a level like mine before. I couldn't find any "dark" mazes, but I did find yours and hundreds of other great mazes as well. I'm working on an even bigger second one for even more people to not complete.

2009-08-11 12:31:00 Author: BSprague Posts: 2325

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I think that when you reach the spot to points when you turn on the guide for the maze, you must turn the leds on only for 20-30 seconds, otherwise it would be too simple.

2009-08-11 17:35:00 Author: OmegaSlayer Posts: 5112

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Or you could use a camera zone that briefly zooms out to show the exit. Not too keen on mazes myself, though.

2009-08-20 12:22:00 Author: Rogar Posts: 2284

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You might want to try the mazes I made months ago. The Mazed and Confused series. They'ld give you tonnes of ideas. psn = mindphaser74

2009-08-20 16:55:00 Author: mindphaser74 Posts: 349

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