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Brain Chain Mini-Game: Survival Challenge

Archive: 34 posts

Brain Chain Mini-Game: Survival Challengecomphermc
"Give your jump button a break and survive by stomping some creature brains. This level is very difficult, intended for ONE PLAYER ONLY, and can be very addicting. It gets progressively harder - how long can you last?"
all
Hey Everyone,

I know I said I wasn't going to release another level for a while... but, I've had this idea for a couple of months and finally just cranked it out. It's a short little level, but don't think you won't enjoy it. The premise for the level is to survive by bouncing off of creature brains... but I wouldn't let you all off that easily. Expect a few surprises as you progress. There's not much to show in terms of pictures, but since you all enjoy them so much...


http://img375.imageshack.us/img375/511/aphoto1.jpg http://img213.imageshack.us/img213/2976/aphoto.jpg
http://img375.imageshack.us/img375/1622/aphoto4.jpg

This first picture is a little instructional/training room. The other pictures are from the challenge itself. You really do have to see it in motion to appreciate it, though.

Deftmute was able to rack up an amazing 250,000 points while testing, but I couldn't even come close to matching that. Therefore, I've considered making this a contest. If anyone would be up for a contest, speak up. I've already bought the ability to give away xp, so I just need some interest.

Thanks,
comphermc

This level is now a Community Contest. Information can be found here: Brain Chain Mini-Game Community Contest (https://lbpcentral.lbp-hub.com/index.php?t=t=13643)		2009-07-10 22:25:00

Author:
comphermc
Posts: 5338

I just played it, there seems to be some problems... the brains won't show up in the training room nor in the challenge room; i don't think it's only my problem 2009-07-10 23:17:00

Author:
Shadowheaven
Posts: 378

Weird - I will have to look into it. My roommate's playing Call of Duty right now, so I'll probably just have to republish the level new if my rating got destroyed. Can anyone else confirm?

Edit: I checked it out. There doesn't seem to be anything wrong with either the training room or the challenge room when I play. I have about 100 plays and no mention of that problem. Have you tried exiting to your pod and trying again? Perhaps you had some compile error. I published a new copy over the old one, so I don't know what else to tell you. There are a large number of emitters, but the level itself is only like 4-5 bars of thermo. Hope it works for you .		2009-07-10 23:18:00

Author:
comphermc
Posts: 5338

You weren't kidding, it is very hard and very addicting. It's like a super version of "Pop the Poos" and it doesn't make me want to tear my hair out. The level was well done, it kept a strict theme of white, black, and blue, which looked very nice. The actual gameplay bit was simplistic, yet very demanding and quick. It played very well, though I have no idea how you managed to get 100,000+ points. I got about 800 on my first play-through (training room points included), but got progressively better. The game room looked interesting and was well done, sticking to the theme and looking menacing and intimidating, all of the qualities you want in a survival challenge that is meant to be hard. I didn't experience any gameplay issues or glitches, everything ran smoothly on each play-through. I gave it :star::star::star::star::star: and a heart, I had fun playing it over and over again, and there wasn't really anything that discernibly could have been improved, though you can basically stand over the same slot and rack up a combo for a while before you have to gain height. It was great that it gradually ramped up in difficulty, and I currently sit at a pretty 2nd place.

For F4F, please check out my LittleBigMemory level: https://lbpcentral.lbp-hub.com/index.php?t=t=13198		2009-07-11 01:08:00

Author:
BSprague
Posts: 2325

You weren't kidding, it is very hard and very addicting. It's like a super version of "Pop the Poos" and it doesn't make me want to tear my hair out. The level was well done, it kept a strict theme of white, black, and blue, which looked very nice. The actual gameplay bit was simplistic, yet very demanding and quick. It played very well, though I have no idea how you managed to get 100,000+ points. I got about 800 on my first play-through (training room points included), but got progressively better. The game room looked interesting and was well done, sticking to the theme and looking menacing and intimidating, all of the qualities you want in a survival challenge that is meant to be hard. I didn't experience any gameplay issues or glitches, everything ran smoothly on each play-through. I gave it :star::star::star::star::star: and a heart, I had fun playing it over and over again, and there wasn't really anything that discernibly could have been improved, though you can basically stand over the same slot and rack up a combo for a while before you have to gain height. It was great that it gradually ramped up in difficulty, and I currently sit at a pretty 2nd place.

For F4F, please check out my LittleBigMemory level: https://lbpcentral.lbp-hub.com/index.php?t=t=13198

Thanks, man. I noticed you were holding down the #2 spot. Unfortunately, I don't think your score will hold that spot for very long. The key is to keep the multiplier going - I won't give any hints on how to do this, as I intend to make this a contest, but it's possible to keep one combo the entire time (it actually gets easier as you progress because it starts spitting out point bubbles). As the original post says, deftmute was able to crank out a 250,000 point run in the beta, lol. I can't even come close to that. There are certain little tricks that keep you alive, but it takes a while to pick up on these.

I have to ask though, did you make it until the music changes? There are 5 stages:
-the initial stage
-the plasma beam stage, with music tempo increase
-the green light stage, with constant point bubble streams and music change
-the yellow light stage, with moving electrical spikes from above
-the disco stage (or the 'how the heck did you survive this long?' stage)
You make it to the 4th stage and you've probably cracked 100,000. I'm waiting for someone to break the 20,000 mark. Anyone out there up to the challenge?		2009-07-11 02:38:00

Author:
comphermc
Posts: 5338

I was on the green light stage, but I've wrapped my mind around how to make it much further now. It's all about getting a feel for it. This is a great level. 2009-07-11 03:46:00

Author:
BSprague
Posts: 2325

Thanks, BSprague!

The 100,000 mark has been broken by someone I don't know. Deftmute saw that I published the level, and he is trying his darndest to claim that top spot. I played again and got a personal best 222,000, so good luck to the rest of you .

Edit: for anyone who hasn't played yet, you really have to give it a chance (maybe a few tries) before you understand how it works. Once you do, it becomes infinitely more fun... trust me. I've probably played over a hundred times from initial testing until now, and I'm still not sick of it.		2009-07-11 04:20:00

Author:
comphermc
Posts: 5338

I feel like a failure...I cant even get 10,000. Curse you comphermc!!! I am going to be playing this all night now...I will get this high score...I must!!!!2009-07-11 05:27:00

Author:
Spider-Jew
Posts: 1090

I feel like a failure...I cant even get 10,000. Curse you comphermc!!! I am going to be playing this all night now...I will get this high score...I must!!!!

Yeah, I can tell you are committed, lol. I keep getting updates letting me know how you are doing. Good luck. If you are having problems, PM me and I'll give you some guidance.

Edit: Deftmute stole the top spot from me . He's at like 249,000...

Edit2: Sweet Zombie Jesus...

comphermc: ~550,000
deftmure: ~545,000

This is definitely going to be a contest!		2009-07-11 05:44:00

Author:
comphermc
Posts: 5338

Well I've turned out to be absolutely horrendous at this...

It is so much fun though.

*****		2009-07-11 06:31:00

Author:
ApellesJr
Posts: 282

It seems to work for me now... anyway, *cough* 135.000 on the second run *cough cough* but there's a trick: if you sticker the 5th cube in the instructions room, a jetpack will be spawned, it's a lot easier with that

just kidding as usual, great job, there's nothing much to add or to edit: it's pretty **** simple with a basic logic (tell us the truth, after the logic behind GLaDOS you wanted a break, uh?) and quite fun, even if i find it pretty easy (don't kill me for this guys)

The only thing is a sound of something impacting (i guess wood?) that can be heard about 10 seconds after you get in the room

5/5 and tagged fun, keep up the great job

EDIT: i'm now in third position with 250k points 		2009-07-11 08:28:00

Author:
Shadowheaven
Posts: 378

This will eventually turn into a scoreboard with 10 people with 1,000,000 points, if people do continue to get progressively better as is happening now. 2009-07-11 12:23:00

Author:
BSprague
Posts: 2325

BSprague, I hope you're wrong, that would ruin it.
I'm hoping it gets to the stage where it becomes pretty much impossible rather than people getting 1,000,000 points.

Comphermc, this level is excellent. You're right, it needs a few good goes to get the hang of it. It may be worth having players told that on entry. And perhaps some sort of story as in introduction?

That's all I can think of to suggest. It's so well made, I had quite a few goes, and eventually secured 4th with over 150,000 points.

Had to give it the full :star::star::star::star::star: and heart it, etc.
Well done indeed.

Please leave feedback for my moo co-op level, if not possible then the other one in my sig, cheers.		2009-07-11 12:37:00

Author:
LieutenantFatman
Posts: 465

Hey guys - while I agree that 1,000,000 is possible, it doesn't seem likely, lol. I haven't made it a contest yet because I wanted to make sure it was hard enough for everyone. If someone gets close to a million, I will have to make a super impossible final stage. The final stage right now becomes very difficult, and if you've kept your combo, it happens when you are at about 250,000 so I don't foresee someone playing it until a million. Granted, deftmute and I have posted scores above 500,000 - but it was so nerve racking in that final stage!

Yes, there is a piece of wood being emitted behind the scenes, and it strikes another piece of wood (this is part of the randomizer I use). I can move it further away if it's distracting. Yes, the logic on this is much simpler than the GLaDOS level, ha ha. It's got your standard permanent switches, a timer to trigger the stages, and a randomizer, which is very similar to the one Yarbone used in Canyon Jazz.

About an introduction/story - I can maybe add a speech bubble to the training side, but I will not add one at the start gate. I would like this level to be mastered by those who play it, and I feel it would be annoying if you got a speech bubble every time you had to replay it. Thanks for the suggestion, though.


if you sticker the 5th cube in the instructions room, a jetpack will be spawned, it's a lot easier with that

Actually, if you remove every sticker on the level a special reverse sticker switch triggers the level to spit out infinite score bubbles and floor becomes de-electrified That would be awesome, lol. But great score!		2009-07-11 14:12:00

Author:
comphermc
Posts: 5338

Well I played this a couple of times, ~4000pts twice, then 3rd time I got to the plasma bit and got nailed (would be nice to have SOME kind of warning there were going to be hazards), then on my 4th go I didn't get a single brain in the game room, just jumped on the floor

I'll leave it at that for now, may get it out again later, but I doubt I have the patience to play for the big scores

Nice concept, one idea I had to extend it is to have the brains gradually being emitted less frequently, but with more velocity as a way to step up the challenge. Or the reverse (I'm not sure which would be easier or harder lol. But changing that would be nice.		2009-07-11 14:41:00

Author:
rtm223
Posts: 6497

Well I played this a couple of times, ~4000pts twice, then 3rd time I got to the plasma bit and got nailed (would be nice to have SOME kind of warning there were going to be hazards), then on my 4th go I didn't get a single brain in the game room, just jumped on the floor

I'll leave it at that for now, may get it out again later, but I doubt I have the patience to play for the big scores

Nice concept, one idea I had to extend it is to have the brains gradually being emitted less frequently, but with more velocity as a way to step up the challenge. Or the reverse (I'm not sure which would be easier or harder lol. But changing that would be nice.

Thanks, rtm. Yeah this level is pretty darn challenging for the first couple of plays. I know there's not really a warning per se for the plasma ball effect, but when the light comes on, it means "Hey, we are about to fire some plasma balls." There's about a 2 second delay.

About the brains - I think making them change in frequency would make it tougher with the stages that occur later. Eventually, there will always be 2 plasma beams going at once, and the spikes on the ceiling will pulse up and down - I think it's plenty hard .

But I agree, going for a huge score takes some commitment, ha ha. Deftmute must have played it like 50 times by now... I am not offended that you don't have the patience for it - I was going after a certain type of player, and you may not fit into that demographic. Thanks for playing.

---------------------

I have moved the randomizer away from the challenge area, so you shouldn't hear the wood anymore. Also, I have added a speech bubble to the lift when you are done with the training room. It says, "Please give this level a chance - it takes a while to get used to it."

Thanks, and happy stomping 		2009-07-11 15:03:00

Author:
comphermc
Posts: 5338

you certainly have to play this a few times to get used to it, took me about 10 plays to get a lousy 7.000 score but will certainly try again to get that higher... it's indeed addictive
Don't really have much more to add, the level was well designed and everything worked like it should be...

misty.		2009-07-11 16:09:00

Author:
Mother-Misty
Posts: 574

comphermc: ~550,000
deftmure: ~545,000

guess i have some work to do.		2009-07-11 18:21:00

Author:
Deftmute
Posts: 730

:O looks addictive indeed. I'm gonna play this2009-07-11 20:42:00

Author:
Yarbone
Posts: 3036

Update:

This level is now a community contest. If you'd like to participate, I have set up a separate level for easier leaderboard management. Details can be found in the community contest section, here: Brain Chain Mini-Game Community Contest (https://lbpcentral.lbp-hub.com/index.php?t=t=13643). There will be xp given out for this contest, so I invite you all to try it out. Prizes are as follows:

1st Place: 300 xp
2nd Place: 200 xp
3rd Place: 100 xp


Thanks.

Edit: there have been no scores posted yet, so it's literally WIDE OPEN... ha ha.		2009-07-12 03:30:00

Author:
comphermc
Posts: 5338

haha... that's awesome!

I DO still have to play it though xD

(me thinks i'm totally going to suck at this game >_< )

EDIT: omg i just saw you are the creator of aperture science levels! :O
this level can only be awesome!

sorry that i didn't know that :blush:		2009-07-12 06:36:00

Author:
Yarbone
Posts: 3036

I played the contest level... and I must say... when the lasers and falling bubbles came... I could only think one thing: THIS is a Survival Level.

... you... are King. Yep. you are. This level was super awesome D:

... I love it. That's all I can say.

... if you wanna do F4F, you could play my Vharley level... nowhere near this, but, um, yeah <_<		2009-07-12 21:26:00

Author:
RockSauron
Posts: 10882

Thanks, Rock. I'll add your level to the list of levels I need to play (it's third in line). I'm glad you decided to participate, even for the briefest of moments, but you didn't even get to see the intense latter stages... lol.2009-07-12 21:39:00

Author:
comphermc
Posts: 5338

Played this yesterday, and it's rock solid. One of the most complete survival games out there, because it's built on a unique concept (and brain jumping has never been used to it's potential in a good level), and has a great presentation. I had tried it with 4 people, but the checkpoint kept disappearing before everyone would spawn... I'd recommend moving the trigger for that down to right before the player area. When I played it by mself though, it was a blast.

The nice thing about this too, is I think it's going to rack up plays at a ridiculous rate because it doesn't hold your hand at all when it starts. You will fail at least twice before getting more than two brains, and 10 times before even seeing phase 2. Most survival challenges start out way too slow, and on replays it feels like tedious waiting - not here.		2009-07-12 21:54:00

Author:
Unknown User

Played this yesterday, and it's rock solid. One of the most complete survival games out there, because it's built on a unique concept (and brain jumping has never been used to it's potential in a good level), and has a great presentation. I had tried it with 4 people, but the checkpoint kept disappearing before everyone would spawn... I'd recommend moving the trigger for that down to right before the player area. When I played it by mself though, it was a blast.

The nice thing about this too, is I think it's going to rack up plays at a ridiculous rate because it doesn't hold your hand at all when it starts. You will fail at least twice before getting more than two brains, and 10 times before even seeing phase 2. Most survival challenges start out way too slow, and on replays it feels like tedious waiting - not here.

Thanks, Ninja! I actually made the checkpoint disappear right away on purpose because i only wanted one player at a time without the hassle of a single player gate, lol. I'd imagine this level is much harder with more than one player, lag notwithstanding. I guess I could make it have a longer delay. I actually used a method of destroying the checkpoint that I hadn't seen before, and I'm surprised no one has said anything about it until now. I stuck the checkpoint to a thin piece of dark matter, added a sound item to it set to trigger upon destruction, and captured the whole thing. I emitted it with a lifetime of 2 or 3 seconds, and as soon as it was emitted, I paused and captured it. So, wherever you go, whatever you do, the checkpoint dissolves as soon as you are in the level. No more physically destroying the checkpoint!

I'm glad you appreciate the little things I did, like decrease restart time. I get annoyed that many survival challenges take so long to restart, so I tried to make it as fast as possible. Unfortunately, I don't think many people will even make it to the 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 5th stages, so won't appreciate it as much. If you don't last for more than 30 seconds, it will seem highly repetitive.		2009-07-12 23:06:00

Author:
comphermc
Posts: 5338

This level is so addicting! I played it about 10 times until I got the number 8 spot. I'll probably play it again later and try to get an even higher score.

The only problem with this level is that it hurts my eyes after you're in the level awhile and all the brains are moving and the point bubbles are all over the place and the laser things are shooting everywhere, maybe I just need to put my contacts in.

This is a great level and in my top 5 favorite survival challenges. I gave it :star::star::star::star::star: and tagged it "hectic"!

If you have time could you F4F my level The Unfair Platformer.

Thanks!		2009-07-12 23:15:00

Author:
Dr_Vab
Posts: 134

Thanks, Rock. I'll add your level to the list of levels I need to play (it's third in line). I'm glad you decided to participate, even for the briefest of moments, but you didn't even get to see the intense latter stages... lol.

you mean... there's MORE? O_O

... wow. Can't wait to see what madness there is after the second stage.

*just to be sure, I got to the VR music. Is there music after this?*		2009-07-12 23:16:00

Author:
RockSauron
Posts: 10882

you mean... there's MORE? O_O

... wow. Can't wait to see what madness there is after the second stage.

*just to be sure, I got to the VR music. Is there music after this?*

The last stage has pulsing lights. You get here and you probably are going to be in the top 10.		2009-07-12 23:24:00

Author:
comphermc
Posts: 5338

Oh, in that case, it's an excellent idea then, because other players do just make keeping your eye on the ball and having brains to land on nearly impossible.2009-07-13 00:15:00

Author:
Unknown User

Absolutely addicting level (about 20 plays so far).

Love it!

Don't know if I'll ever get anywhere near the top oh.. 100 scores but I know I'm sure gonna try..again and again.

I enjoyed the visual and challenge of this level.		2009-07-13 01:39:00

Author:
Lady_Luck__777
Posts: 3458

Really challenging, really addicting, really fun, and a really nice, simple look. The 4 things that make up a great survival challenge, great job on this one. If I'm not mistaken, you had a part on your ninja level similar to this. I was horrible then and horrible now, I couldn't do that part in that level (my brother had to do it) and in this on I couldn't even get past 1000 (lol.) Anyway, great job and also congrats on making it to Cool Levels. LBPC has been OWNING the Cool Level page lately .2009-07-13 08:16:00

Author:
brnxblze
Posts: 1318

whassszzzaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!! O_O that's awesome!!!! @_@

wojooowjoooo!!!

as been said before, you really have to get used to it. But when you do, it gets so addicting!

man, this just awesome! I came to the point where the roof starts moving like. And then i died about 10 secs later.

I'm #8 now.

it's all about the multiplier that's why you see diffences that big in the score.

right?

anyways

:star::star::star::star::star:

and a heart... akshually i hearted all your levels! 		2009-07-13 12:33:00

Author:
Yarbone
Posts: 3036

Hm... about giving the jump button a rest... I'd prefer not. When I'm sandwiched between two lasers or a laser and the wall, and I have to keep jumping on one brain fountain, pressing the X button at the right time gives me the boost to not die at the floor due to not being able to move =D ... I may regreat saying that <_>2009-07-13 15:01:00

Author:
RockSauron
Posts: 10882

Hm... about giving the jump button a rest... I'd prefer not. When I'm sandwiched between two lasers or a laser and the wall, and I have to keep jumping on one brain fountain, pressing the X button at the right time gives me the boost to not die at the floor due to not being able to move =D ... I may regreat saying that <_>

Yes, but it launches you high enough that your combo breaks... besides, the timing on this jump is pretty tough. I do find myself using it as a last resort, though.		2009-07-13 15:25:00

Author:
comphermc
Posts: 5338


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