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Lost Ages Series

Archive: 18 posts

EDIT: i am just going to keep using this thread for ongoing work on the Lost Ages series. Any interested parties can stop in here for updates as well as leave feedback on the series as a whole. My original plan was for 5 levels, but that my increase as thing develop. As comphermc can probably attest to, my creation style is to create vaguely and then renovate. i would like to believe this leaves me very open to suggestions and outside ideas. if you don't like something you see in my development, please tell me why. it is quite likely i was considering destroying and rebuilding anyways. that's just what i do.

anyways keep an eye out for LA3 alpha. i will keep using the same method of publish as i go, so anyone with the key can come and see what i'm up to.		2009-07-08 20:57:00

Author:
Deftmute
Posts: 730

Alright I've got some feedback for you.

First of all, I loved the key giveaway room. I think you'll appreciate the one I just made yesterday (I'll send you instructions via PM - it doesn't lead to anything yet, though). I uploaded some pictures to your level with the respect to some of the comments I make here.

Alright, starting out, I notice that you've stuck with the clean overall look. It looks pleasant. I'm not fond of the bed - it might just be the proportions. Try fiddling with other materials and see what you come up with. Is there a reason the bed is there?

Climbing up the tower, I see some candles, which you should probably cover with invisible strips of thin dark matter. The stairs to each level are missing some kind of support sections. Check out jump_button's levels for examples of how to make these look pretty nice. I like the trapdoor idea, but it seemed kind of heavy. Try making it out of a lighter material, and stickering it with a picture of the material you want to use. If you're worried about it flapping all the way open, try an invisible rope or weak elastic. I'm sure you're not done building, but there are invisible pieces of dark matter and pistons on either side of the tower as you climb.

The new architecture looks nice - it gives it it's own flavor compared to part one. I think it would look even nicer with a little influence from the art direction of the most recent Prince of Persia game (Peep these pictures (http://media.ps3.ign.com/media/890/890665/imgs_1.html)), which would just mean adding some broken wooden platforms to what you already have. Or you can just stick with your own style - it worked for you in part one. The only reason I suggest this is because your areas reminded of me of that game. I can also tell that you are considering the cameras as you build, as I don't notice really any areas where the camera is frustrating.

I liked some of the platforming puzzles you have worked out so far, but they seem much easier than part one. Are you aiming for a more 'popular with the masses' level, or are you trying to stick with the style/direction you used in part one? Also, don't forget to add gas below the level - I had to pop myself several times.

There are areas where you have to jump one plane back into a doorway, so you can continue in a direction - it would be nice if these were level with the floor, so I don't have to jump (rather, just plane shift). The part where there are 2 grabbable blocks - the hole is small enough that it can be completed with only one, by pulling it over the gap. Perhaps widen the upper portion of the hole, but keep the bottom portion narrow enough to stop the block from falling through (and make it look jagged/broken?). I uploaded a picture of this.

I liked the puzzle where there are 2 switches up above, but it seemed kind of easy - I'm not sure if you are going for some sort of progression, so they'll get harder...

I managed to get stuck at one spot where I drop down a large ledge and activate a checkpoint (on both play-throughs). It didn't seem like there was anywhere to go. I uploaded a picture of this spot. It seemed like there was some sort of ledge that would be activated, but I'm not sure if it hadn't been built yet - there seemed to be some stuff on the other side of the gap, though, so I assume I was stuck. If there is in fact something I forgot to activate, then you should delete this checkpoint because there was no way to go back up.

Generally, you want to make sure that any gas you add underneath is flush with the bottom of your level (or slightly above it), as when I got stuck, I climbed down the side of the wall and swung hand over hand across the bottom of the level for fun-zies (I managed to make it pretty far). That's the one downside to building with sponge - everything is grabbable!

I like what you've made so far, but I would like to see more of challenge (or maybe I'm just used to your style). I really don't see anything wrong with reusing some platforming elements from part one (especially if you run out of ideas). Just look at great platforming games like Prince of Persia - there are a lot of repeated elements, just repackaged in slightly different ways. I enjoyed the platforming from part one, and I wouldn't mind seeing it again in part two (especially since the art style is slightly different).

I hope this is thorough enough for you . If I managed to miss a trigger somewhere at the end of where I played, let me know and I'll finish it up.

Thanks, comphermc.		2009-07-09 02:36:00

Author:
comphermc
Posts: 5338

Big fan of the first level, I'll be back soon with a little feedback on it.2009-07-09 02:54:00

Author:
iiiijujube
Posts: 594

thanks for checking out the level.
i should mention early that my building style might be a little different.
i kinda just throw things together and advance and then come back and make them better as my ideas flesh out. at least i hope i make them better.
thats why i think getting early feedback like this is really gonna make this level an advancement from chapter one.
i was thinking myself that the platforming was too easy. i was kinda aiming to be a little more mainstream, but even when i test play through those parts i dont feel that platforming joy.
i own the new prince of persia, as well as all the previous titles and assassin's creed and ico and SoC and drake's and.... okay point is i love the genre.
i love getting to a new area and looking around and visualizing how i'm gonna jump all over it.
i'm gonna try to stick to a different architecture and landscape for each chapter to represent being in a totally different world. unfortunately this means coming up with a new system for building the landscape.
(i kinda just make up rules in my head to follow as i throw stuff together)
the goal of course, is to maintain or hopefully even heighten the challenge as well as a unique look. the landscape for this world is still under development.
i'm not totally happy with it.
oh yeah before i forget to mention it the part your stuck at:
if you continue to drop down there is a cave in the wall you can fall into.
its to the right.
i was thinking of having falling into holes in walls being one of the new elements for the landscape but it seems its not so good.
i want you to get to the upward part.
up and down are tricky to come up with.
i made some flingers, but mine are just pentagonal sponges on wobbles. they take some getting used to.
and yes the gate house puzzle is lame. i sputtered out on my idea there.
i dont want the puzzles to be too hard in this series. i want it to focus more on the platforming.
i have plans for a myst level later that should be good for that kind of stuff.
anyways this is turning into a wall of text. thanks for checking out the level, come back to see changes. your input would be truly beneficial to the process.		2009-07-09 08:02:00

Author:
Deftmute
Posts: 730

Most anticipated LBP level!

As comphermc said, the two basket section doesn't quite play right, the basket doesn't fit in the hole. For the doorways with the small steps, I think either making no jump necessary, or making it a larger, more obvious jump would be okay. It's kind of a neat idea, but with the railing blocking your vision, it's hard to see that you're supposed to jump.

Your bridges shake a lot on their own and have spinning pieces of string. I also find bridges annoying to create but maybe you could make them calm down.

The section with the two arches and the two switches seems totally unnecessary. I guess that's only since I know it's safe to jump off the broken bridge, but the door on the right doesn't seem to serve any purpose. Maybe you could have a draggable item on the right side, and you have to open the door to pull it through, maybe some kind of little puzzle inside, some more switches down below, or anything really.

I think the cave idea is pretty cool, (dropping down to a hole in the wall) but maybe you could give a more obvious visual indication that you are supposed to go there. Show the hole on the other side more prominently, make both the openings larger, maybe some decorations to highlight the holes, something to draw attention to it. It would be a shame to scrap that idea.

Maybe my sackboy is just a sissy but sometimes it took a lot of swinging and struggling to get the baskets down from ledges.

The part up in the tree branches was a little frustrating since I couldn't really tell where the branches extended, and where it was just thin leaf sponge. I fell several times, and once I even landed on the checkpoint at the base of the tree to add insult to injury, I guess. Making the vine a little longer might help. The first grab isn't too bad, but any subsequent grabs are made rather difficult as the vine swings.

You have some dark matter squares showing in some places. I usually use a tiny square in the farthest back plane. You have a nice looking level but the dark matter kind of clashes with trees and stuff.

The spinny sponge balls killed me One of them didn't spin me all the way upright, so I grabbed again, and squish! I went. Maybe lowering their strength would fix that? or putting them closer enough to the branch that sackboy didn't fit in the gap.

I cut a bell loose and it fell all the way down, and I went after it, and ?? I hit a checkpoint but I can't get anywhere from it. Is that the end of the beta? Oh, nevermind. The flag isn't visible from the ledge, though... takes a leap of faith to find it I guess.

If done carefully, it's possible do use the candles instead of the sponge in the room with the glass-bottomed candles, just fyi. It's not really a problem. Okay, now I think I'm at the end.

I liked what I played, but it never really seemed dangerous, you know? I guess part one wasn't full of deadly obstacles either, and maybe it's just because there isn't gas in part 2 yet. Thinking about it, I did actually kill myself a lot...I think the final version might require a lot of suicide. Some parts, if you miss a jump, you'll fall down to a lower level instead of to your death, so the player can either redo a section or suicide to shortcut back. I don't think that's really a problem either, as long as you're aware of it.		2009-07-09 15:45:00

Author:
tashi
Posts: 60

yeah i usually add gas after everything is finished, because i change up the jumps and stuff as i go if i think they need tweaked. thanks for playing the level. also the checkpoints right now are just so you guys dont have to start over if calamity happens, they arent the planned locations.
yeah i know i got green matter showing, thats another thing i usually save for near the end.
Right now the level is in the stage of "under drawing".
i am going over everything with my light blue pencil putting in the outlines as it were.
on the plus side that means if you have any ideas or suggestions i can quite likely work them in.
i was intending to kinda follow the same model as the first, start each section with some mostly nondeadly type platforming and moving on to hard stuff from there.
if you don't think that i should follow that for chapter two, i'm sure i can ramp it up.
in fact i'm going to do so a little bit to day i think.

thanks for checking out the progress so far. you have the highest score on chapter one!
did the second race work for you this time or is that just from the one and butterflies?
i tried to fix it but i didnt have time to truly test it.

i got myself reviewed by the little big review group and they gave chapter one 4 stars and a heart. hopefully, that will get me some more plays. up to 76 right now.
i'd like to get a trailer, but it seems the recorders are away for now.		2009-07-09 17:11:00

Author:
Deftmute
Posts: 730

I played through again, and got to the end this time. (yay)

I agree with a lot of what tashi said. About the thin sponge in the trees - I don't see much reason to make it thin. Keep it thick and place it over top of the wooden branches - it actually looks surprisingly good (check out the tree at the end of my Aperture Science series). I don't know why you put elastic on the vines - it seems like it would work better with ropes (but that's just me). Instead of replacing them all, you should just set the elasticity to 0 (or whatever that property is called). I too had trouble getting the sponge from the ledge. I didn't have much trouble with the spin-flings once I figured it out.

The little hole in the wall was awesome once I realized it was there. A way to make it more obvious would be to put little "windows" on the passageway down below - covering them with thin, invisible dark matter, of course, so they can't jump down into the window. Alternatively, you could put some led light just out of view of the holes, so it lights up the inside.

I have a suggestion for the bell falling down the tower... put a magic mouth on it with a cut-scene camera, so you can "follow" the bell down. If you don't want us to see all of the dissolve and what-not below, attach the magic mouth to the bell through a small piece of dissolve, and then dissolve the piece off using mag switches when it gets far enough down. The magic mouth is destroyed so the camera comes back to sackboy. You don't even have to put any words in the bubble (as it's not really your style), you could just leave it blank.

Hope that helps.		2009-07-09 21:42:00

Author:
comphermc
Posts: 5338

path to tree has been significantly altered... i think i actually like it this way.
its more like my original plans.
somewhere along the line i thought "hey! i'll make giant trees!"
and sorta lost the vision.
the climbing tree is still there for now but may get an extreme make over.
cant get all the way there yet... working on that.		2009-07-10 01:59:00

Author:
Deftmute
Posts: 730

Bed is better. Wow, you redid almost the whole thing!! I got to the section with the two doors and switches, and don't see anything past it. I really like the new direction you've gone with the platforming. It feels like Lost Ages

About Lost Ages part 1, of course I have the highest score! I'm your biggest fan. I like the ace level prizes, too, they're neat. I got the high score from some butterflies and the left-side race. Just tried the right side, and still can't get it to finish. Where is the finish gate exactly on the right side?		2009-07-10 02:22:00

Author:
tashi
Posts: 60

its supposed to be right at the bridge to the dungeon like the other side...
i will definitely do some more tinkering.

oh and the bed is there because i was thinking about working in a more active storytelling method:
notes a la resident evil.
this is one of the later worlds to fall.... i won't say more yet.		2009-07-10 04:35:00

Author:
Deftmute
Posts: 730

there are now two versions of the level up. if you guys would be so kind as to post up your opinions, it would help me to move on.

basically two different upward sections.		2009-07-26 18:52:00

Author:
Deftmute
Posts: 730

Will do... Give me some time - I have some preemptive feedback, though:
I have been sneaking in and testing the level every so often, and I loved the wheels with sponge on ropes. The only problem is that it's very tricky. I would add in as many infinite checkpoints as possible. Too many is not as bad as not enough. Also, is there going to be speech bubble telling the player that the fling pads are in fact fling pads? At first I thought I was supposed to grab on and then jump when it gets all the way around (which doesn't work at ALL). It would probably work if the sponge part was perfectly flat, but I assume you don't want to do this...

Off I go...		2009-07-26 19:07:00

Author:
comphermc
Posts: 5338

yeah, my primary concern is that the fling pads are too demanding.
i originally had them set up to not have fire on the top, but a flat platform that could be jumped from, but it felt too easy (maybe just me). of course, i think they were wider then too. i will try delethalizing the smaller ones to check em out in addition to any suggestions you come up with. also do you see embroidered stars on the fling pads? they are there in edit mode but i dont see them in play mode.		2009-07-26 20:30:00

Author:
Deftmute
Posts: 730

yeah, my primary concern is that the fling pads are too demanding.
i originally had them set up to not have fire on the top, but a flat platform that could be jumped from, but it felt too easy (maybe just me). of course, i think they were wider then too. i will try delethalizing the smaller ones to check em out in addition to any suggestions you come up with. also do you see embroidered stars on the fling pads? they are there in edit mode but i dont see them in play mode.

Not sure what the embroidered stars are supposed to be, but I don't notice them.

I played through both parts, and my only complaint is the last little rubber-flinger thing. The one where you have to swing and grab it as it's falling. I kept undershooting or overshooting the ledge here. I'm not sure what could be done to fix it, but it's definitely the weak point in the level so far. The part right after this - am I supposed to be able to make the jump to the flag-pole or is it not done yet? I tried twice, and came nowhere near making it.

I wouldn't mind having flat platforms on top of the flings, as when you fail to make one of the flings, you can fall down on top of the previous one. It doesn't seem too easy - trust me, this level isn't easy.

Nice work... I can't wait to see it all put together. Going back to your previous version though, I think you should re-evaluate the part where you need to wiggle the block down from the flag-pole. This is where you get the black and have to push it off the edge. This part would be a level-ender for some people.

I would like to congratulate you on the most nerve-wracking lbp level creator I've ever seen, lol. (that's a good thing, here)		2009-07-26 20:38:00

Author:
comphermc
Posts: 5338

I would like to congratulate you on the most nerve-wracking lbp level creator I've ever seen, lol. (that's a good thing, here)

in what way?

anyways i am practically done now.
minus one gate room.
which i probably dont have thermo for :hero:		2009-07-31 04:59:00

Author:
Deftmute
Posts: 730

Nerve wracking in the sense that my hands get all sweaty and I pray there's a checkpoint soon. You, know, it's very intense when playing, lol.2009-07-31 05:19:00

Author:
comphermc
Posts: 5338

okay, i am practically finished with the level now
just making the outro and adding details now.
but i need to make a sticker that kinda previews the next level.
i did this somewhat with chapter one.
i knew i wanted chapter 2 to have lush vegetation so i hinted at that in the outro for the first chapter.
however this time i am not 100% on what chapter 3 is gonna be like.

the series is planned to be 5 chapters (or more if i feel up to it and i think its worth it)
i have some vague ideas and i would like your opinions on them:

dune type desert with tombs or above underground sea...or both
snowy fjords and ice caverns with rough wooden forts and longhouses (probably better for a later chapter?)
menzoberranzan type underground palace/city (see also royal palace from prince of persia)
desolate midwestern suburb or metropolitan city(reminder to our courageous sackperson that worlds like his own have also been lost)
jagged mountains with gothic cathedral type architecture and a network of fumaroles.
futuristic utopia (also to show range of victimized worlds)		2009-08-04 18:28:00

Author:
Deftmute
Posts: 730

i am just going to keep using this thread for ongoing work on the Lost Ages series. Any interested parties can stop in here for updates as well as leave feedback on the series as a whole. My original plan was for 5 levels, but that my increase as thing develop. As comphermc can probably attest to, my creation style is to create vaguely and then renovate. i would like to believe this leaves me very open to suggestions and outside ideas. if you don't like something you see in my development, please tell me why. it is quite likely i was considering destroying and rebuilding anyways. that's just what i do.

anyways keep an eye out for LA3 alpha. i will keep using the same method of publish as i go, so anyone with the key can come and see what i'm up to.

i should point out that LA:II would not be anything at all like it is now if not for comphermc. only you can prevent forest fires!		2009-08-07 16:26:00

Author:
Deftmute
Posts: 730


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