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Run For Your Freedom - Finally updated

Archive: 67 posts

http://lbp.me/v/qe93n7
Run For Your FreedomOmegaSlayer
Inprisoned as a pet for aeons.
The rusty cage opens.
Will you manage to reach your freedom?

UPDATE: THE LEVEL IS OPEN AGAIN

What users say:


"The look is okay. But the real thing that makes this lvl alive is gameplay! I liked all the obstacles I ran through" SiXth

"i didnt realize that was your first level until i came back here and read it again. great " deboerdave

"If this is your first level, then we should expect great things to come" GrantosUK

"Oh, it's out now?" Zwollie

"Globally it's a good and pretty complex level, and it's obvious that you worked hard on it!" dajdaj03

"However, the level is cool and the gameplay is brilliant.
I can't wait for your incoming levels " gonzinger

"So all in all, a very cool unique level that has some great areas" (___Neo___)

"Ok, I played this and... it's extremely good! I love the use of complex layers, and you definately have a handle on gameplay. I enjoyed it from beginning until end." CCubage

"Played it this morning and had a blast" compermc

"Wow, super impressive for your first level!" Squirlin

"Tremendous visual effects and an overall great level." Burnvictim42

"I've really enjoyed watching this develop and get better each time I play through " rtm223

"I was really impressed that this was your first official level." Powershifter

"I like your level but I would recommend you to make your level more "idiot-save". Otherwise a lot of frustrated people will give you low ratings." SantaAnna

"The layering is another point id like to bring up. it had a lots and lots of platforming in a small space. good job. " poorjack

"With a few tweaks to fix some of the rough spots, I think you've got a real winner here." V0rtex (yeah, I have to...)

" the level is too easy for me personally." s3xnstilettos

"I gave your level 4 stars as is and as a first level it's really good." Morgana25

"First of all, the level looks horrible, it wasn't aesthetically pleasing at all. " chazbell

" I REALLY liked this level. The length and overall difficulty were very good." coyote blue

"Overall I think you did a great work" Miglioshin
all
http://i238.photobucket.com/albums/ff113/daelthasaar/LBP/RFYF/Unafoto_14-1.jpg

http://i238.photobucket.com/albums/ff113/daelthasaar/LBP/RFYF/Unafoto_4-1.jpg

http://i238.photobucket.com/albums/ff113/daelthasaar/LBP/RFYF/Unafoto_3-1.jpg

And a Slideshow (http://s238.photobucket.com/albums/ff113/daelthasaar/LBP/RFYF/?albumview=slideshow)

This is finally my first level.
I'm working on it from late May.
I really grew working on this level, I experienced a lot of things about creating and had a wonderful experience.
I'm quite happy about how it turned out, even if it is 60% of my original plan.
My thermo was so full that I had to cut back some stuff after I finished since stuff won't emit.

I really have to thank the community, since they all have been really kind and always have good words of advice.
I absolutely must mention rtm223; without his advices, my level would have been really much worse, and contraptions would have been flawed.
He quite forced me on the use of logic gates.
Then Swanbrown, who tested my level until sickness.
And Goldenclaw13 for countless laughs online between a building section and another.

I also want to thank the huge group of beta testers I had
BSprague, Shadowheaven, Miglioshin, GEK83, (___Neo___), Mother-Misty, Snowy_joe, TonyTwoGunz with an honour mention to Burnvictim42 and Trindall.

I would also like to thank a lot of creators that had inspired me...play my level and you'll figure out who they are.

I dedicate this one to NinjaMicWZ, a great guy that we all are missing online too much.
Come back soon buddie!

I had a blast, and having the chance to collaborate with amazing people has made this whole experience just priceless.

Thanks a lot LBPC and to the MM guys for this wonderful magic game!
I hope you'll enjoy my level as much as I enjoyed working on it!
What are you waiting for?
GO PLAY IT NOW! 		2009-09-19 20:13:00

Author:
OmegaSlayer
Posts: 5112

hey,omega. I just played your lvl. This is the feedback

Pros
The look is okay. But the real thing that makes this lvl alive is gameplay! I liked all the obstacles I ran through.
Cons
Need sound effect at the beginning, I don't even know what does what.
The poison hazards are all over the place it'd be better if can can cover them by thin layers
You may attach "mouths" to the trigger to let players know what's going on after the trigger is activated

Overall
:star::star::star::star: Very good!!!
2009-09-20 23:39:00

Author:
SiXth
Posts: 59

Thanks, I'll see what I can do with the sounds in the beginning.
The level is really overheating, if I put something in it, there's a serious risk that the paintinator doesn't shot.

Anyway, thanks, I hope the level will reach the 4 stars rate.
It began with some 1 star of people who didn't even finished the level...		2009-09-21 06:22:00

Author:
OmegaSlayer
Posts: 5112

I'll play it when I get back from school 2009-09-21 06:53:00

Author:
Kn0cked-0ut
Posts: 562

Cool, I'll try this tonight after work!

How come it's only your first level..? heven't got the time before?		2009-09-21 13:09:00

Author:
dajdaj03
Posts: 1486

Yes, that's my first one.
Incredible, but I have online only from early June, even if I bought LBP day one.
I brought my PS3 to work to dowload stuff
But couldn't play the levels on a 6 inches monitor LOL
So I didn't know what kind of levels was around, I had seen a lot of vids but never actually played them.
So I started to work, but my work was poor as I didn't had an high quality standard.
When I started to come here regularly I upped my standard a lot, and I learned a lot.

Then I have very few spare time, and when you're not good, you need an insane amount of time.

I already started to build a new level and I'm speeding through it now that I know what I have to do.

I'm looking forward to your review dajdaj!		2009-09-21 13:58:00

Author:
OmegaSlayer
Posts: 5112

Alright, I didn't have time to finish it before having to run off to class, but from what I saw, it was epicly varied. 5 stars so far...2009-09-21 15:35:00

Author:
comphermc
Posts: 5338

That makes my day, thanks comphermc!
I'm glad you liked it so far!		2009-09-21 15:52:00

Author:
OmegaSlayer
Posts: 5112

wow really awesome for your first level. good job. i also agree so more sounds throughout to increase atmosphere and maybe some camera zooms when i pull a switch or push a block, as i didnt really know why i was pulling except for the fact they are there and then something happens off screen. i really like the obsticles like the rings and the platforms with spikes on top. and the begining was pretty cool how the path constantly overlaped itself. as was said above some material on gas is usefull sometimes instead of just plain gas killing you, in the same respect plain fire hazards look kinda stale, usually grated materials look good on fire or you can just make the edges firey and the rest of the blocks material that blends with the atmosphere. i didnt realize that was your first level until i came back here and read it again. great2009-09-22 05:51:00

Author:
deboerdave
Posts: 384

Thanks for the tips, they're really spot on, especially the one about the look of the fiery maze.
I won't be able to touch the level a lot since it's already overheating and there's the risk that the paintinator won't shot.
I added some sounds yesterday, I will try to tweak something more, like some more dramatic camera.
Thanks a lot!		2009-09-22 06:54:00

Author:
OmegaSlayer
Posts: 5112

I just got done playing the level.

+ Nice lighting, and little puzzle.
+ Good material and decoration choices,
+ Liked the sense of height you have when coming down the tower.
+ Nice overlapping, criss-crossing section
+ Nice effect, with the smoke coming down, and the electrified trees.
+ Cool dragon.

- Limited paint balls are a pain. But I read above you're having trouble with the paintinator.
- I did'nt like the red gas everywhere, I prefer it if the colour matches the enviroment, or its hidden.
- The wheels went on to long.
- No sound on the switches in places.

Nice level, it was fun to play and the only problems I found were minor ones. If this is your first level, then we should expect great things to come

****		2009-09-22 09:28:00

Author:
GruntosUK
Posts: 1754

Thanks Grant!
I'm not 100% satisfied with the work.
It has some conceptual flaws, I really hope the experience helped me to focus on some things.
I'm more than fine with 4 stars. since it's claerly not a masterpiece.		2009-09-22 09:53:00

Author:
OmegaSlayer
Posts: 5112

Hello !

I played your level but I'm not that enthusiastic about it as the others. I don't think it's a bad level but it has some things that bothered me.
Personal opinion of course, I hope you don't mind my honesty.

Let met start with the bad things:

- I didn't like some parts of the level (the jetpack part was ok but hard to see where I had to go, I would have used glass as an outer layer or something better to see through).

- the part where you had the pieces of rock dissapearing and reappering was good, but waaaay too long. It took me 15 minutes to finally get past it by swinging or trial and error run and jump.

- the part near the end where you had to jump to rocky platforms and the beast said light my way or something, there was a platform too low in the middle. When I fell on that one I couldn't get back up and the only way out was death.

For the most part the rest of the level was pretty good and playable.

Now for the good things ! Yeeej

+ The beginning was amazing! I really liked the visual style of the cage area and the lighting was topnotch. It really felt like a bummer that the rest of the level didn't have this visually beautiful style.

+ although visually the middle part was not very good (too many materials used that didn't really match), the gameplay was good. There were challenging areas that were nice to play

+ I really liked the lenght of the level. It's clear to see you put a lot of effort into this level so kudos for that.

since this is not a review topic i cannot give a score here, but if you want future levels reviewed visit my review topic nightwing's reviews in the review section.

Please F4F on one of my best levels (in signature) . you can pick one you like		2009-09-22 14:41:00

Author:
nightwing
Posts: 422

Oh, it's out now? nice, going to play it later today for sure!!2009-09-22 14:56:00

Author:
Zwollie
Posts: 2173

- Limited paint balls are a pain. But I read above you're having trouble with the paintinator.

Yes, but that's a deliberate choice.
I have not many bubbles in my level, so your score relies on the two races.

It's not clear at first sight but there's a lot of thinking behind the first race, that it's made of different sections.


The first one involves the paintinator, the block, the glass floor, and the plasma ball.
You can face the section with different styles.
You can jump the plasma ball, it has a dimension and a speed that allows you to do so. This will save a lot of time but it's higly risky.
You can then rely on the block.
You can fire to drop the block firing at will, but then you're forced to push the block with your hands slowing down a lot through the slippery glass, otherwise if you spare the shots and snipe the switch, having enough paint shots to push the bock firing without losing momentum.

The same goes for the next section.
You can time the run and jump on the floor for mach speed, you can swing on the roof and go very slow, or you can alternate run and swing.

Then if you made the bridges collapse you lose time to wait the grappable sponge.

These are things you don't explain because the player must have the freedom to choose and experiment with a little patience if he finds the level fun.

It's the same for the wheels, once you know the pattern you can really fly through them in 30 seconds.

@Zwollie
Thanks!		2009-09-22 15:28:00

Author:
OmegaSlayer
Posts: 5112

Hi Omega

maybe your next level can be something in the style of the beginning?

you captured a great atmoshpere there and I would like to see something like that in the future but in a whole level 		2009-09-22 15:43:00

Author:
nightwing
Posts: 422

Thanks, that's a good idea.
Maybe some puzzle level, for now I'm already working on Run Part 2, there's the progress of the story, since there's actually a story in the subconscious feeling of the level, something even symbolic, but as I said I prefer if the player himself enjoys the level to the degree he wants to enjoy.
I don't want it to be heavily based on text, since the language barrier will prevent a very good work.
I don't want only puzzles, and not only platforming, but I might balance things differently according to my feelings once creating since I like to "jam" around some concepts.

Thanks guys to be around and reading my blabbering about my stuff.

Anyway I'm definitely going to try your stuff, since I'm really curious.		2009-09-22 16:14:00

Author:
OmegaSlayer
Posts: 5112

Ok so I've just played your level for the second time.
Played it yesterday, late at night, but I wasn't very focused and a little tired,
so I gave it another try tonight!

Globally it's a good and pretty complex level, and it's obvious that you worked hard on it!

GAMEPLAY
Challenging difficulty and long level : I had a hard time getting to the end as i'm not the best player... but it's a good point!
Nice gameplay ideas, well done, but my least favorite part was the turning rings :
too long and getting from ring to ring was a little difficult...i spend long minutes turning and waiting

I felt that the level, globally, lacks of a certain "logic".
The layout being very complex , I felt some section or switches were just placed randomly with no real coherence.
sometimes I felt a little lost and I was not sure where to go or what to do... and this, even if was doing the right action.
Maybe it needs some more indications, with sounds or a mouth camera to view the result of the action we've made.
For example I think of the part of the big stone that we must awake, or at the dragon head part....

It was not :" OK I must go there and turn on the switch"
but more like "should I go up?, or down?, is it the right way? what is this switch for?"
Don't know if I'm explaining mysel right
Maybe it was intentional, but I didn't find the gameplay very intuitive

VISUALS
Globally great work and you made the right choice for materials, atmosphere, and lightings.

But there's some effects that was not my taste :
- Thin layers electrified blocks (big or small)... I just don't like this effect
- Visible red gaz : not great, maybe white gaz would be nicer
- Before the dragon head, there's a turning smoke.. I found this effect is too much

My favorite part in terms of visual was the last one just after the turning rings, till the end :
great blue, brown, beige colors, clean design, nice material (stone, map)...


Conclusion

I just gave my honest feelings as a player... hope I don't seemed too hard
For a first level, it's really a good one,
and it's easy to see that you learned a lot by participating in this forum before starting it.

:star::star::star::star:
and I'm sure the next one will be 5 stars


Wow, that's the longest post I've ever written in LBPC....		2009-09-23 01:07:00

Author:
dajdaj03
Posts: 1486

I played your level but till now I hadn't the time to write a detailed feedback here. But this will follow soon - I guess this evening!!! :-)2009-09-23 06:43:00

Author:
(___NEO___)
Posts: 206

Thanks guys.
I really appreciate honest feedback.
I must make a little plan and work on some adjustments.
First of all, the change of the colour of the gas

As I said to people who tested the beta, I wanted the player to feel alone and a bit lost.
That's why I wanted to know where they felt lost, to add some tips here and there.		2009-09-23 06:56:00

Author:
OmegaSlayer
Posts: 5112

The level is very well made. I can't believe it is your first level. Good work. However, it seems you have serious problems with your thermo ... next time try to use less materials in order to keep it low. You can use stickers instead, it is possible to create materials out of stickers

Besides, there are some framerate problems in some areas due to the use of too much fire, smoke and light effects, I think.

However, the level is cool and the gameplay is brilliant.
I can't wait for your incoming levels Keep up the good work.		2009-09-23 09:18:00

Author:
gonzinger
Posts: 20

Thanks a lot, I still must learn a lot.
As I said I'm not satisfied 100% with the work but I'm very happy with the response, since it's much better that what I supposed.		2009-09-23 09:55:00

Author:
OmegaSlayer
Posts: 5112

So here we go with the feedback due to this level:

Pro:

* nice gameplay elements (the rotating wheels, the "awaked stone - cool...)
* awesome look of the section where the "dragon" blocks the way - this dragon-head looks fantastic and the treas with the rotating electrified stuff looks very unique
* the complete starting section was nice
* the section where you get your jetpack was very cool too - great look, great structure
* some challenging parts that has to be played very carefully

Cons:
* the lenght of this level is way to long for my taste: I played it two times and I needed at least (!) min. 20mins to finish (I think this could be (beside the difficult of this level) the reason why only 10% of the players has finished this level at the time I've played it - and this level defenitely deserves more than that!!)
* the section with the rotating wheels became quiet boring after falling down due to a wrong directed jump - this section took me at least 4 (!) minutes - that was tough
* the section where you can hang off the ceiling and where the passage-stones desolve and come back - it's also very long and it was frustrating to fall into the fire one jump before the secure area was reached.
* you are right: i did felt "lost" in this one, because there only a few text-messages that tells me why I have to do this or to do that... well, I just didn't felt like I was "a bird that try to find his freedom" :-) a little more story here and then would do the job perfectly in my view

So all in all, a very cool unique level that has some great areas, but a bit too long. I am very curious what you will create in the future - for your first level it's a pretty good one!!!

My rating is :star::star::star::star: because I like it really much (even if there are some things that could need some fixing)

Keep up the good work OmegaSlayer!!

Greets
Neo :-)		2009-09-23 17:27:00

Author:
(___NEO___)
Posts: 206

Thanks Neo, I appreciate your comments
Republished and tweaked some other stuff.
Added some sounds and helping mouths.
Tweaked the colour of the gas.

Thanks guys.		2009-09-23 20:17:00

Author:
OmegaSlayer
Posts: 5112

Ok, I played this and... it's extremely good! I love the use of complex layers, and you definately have a handle on gameplay. I enjoyed it from beginning until end.

A few things you could think about adjusting:

The "reach for the sky" text box - was done as a cut scene camera and threw me off. It's generally best to do cutscene cameras when the player is firmly planted on the ground.

Spinning circle in the same area - one of the upper ones - since I was spinning quickly, and trying to avoid the spikey thing while attempting to jump to the next one - it about gave me a headache. You could solve this by using a firmly placed camera while the player is spinning, and lower the tracking on the camera.


A suggestion for your NEXT level:

Strangely, even though this is a really nice level... it almost seems like the name and lack of story hurt it a bit for the general public. When people go into a level called "run for your freedom" they kind of expect simple shapes and colors in the form of a challenge. However, your level seems epic.... but without the story to back it up. This combination probably confuses some players because you're attracting an audience expecting a challenge, and then throwing something epic and complex at them.

Maybe for your next level write an aztec story or something, then wrap your already great gameplay and visuals around the story. That way the visuals and gameplay will enhance the drama of working through each section.

Anyway, I gave it 5 stars and a heart - great job!		2009-09-24 23:29:00

Author:
CCubbage
Posts: 4430

Woah!
Thanks a lot CCub.
Great advice for the spinning section near the "Reach for the sky" section.
I...:blush:...never understood the purpose of the tracking of the camera.

What I am going to say it's not meant to be just an excuse for laziness or very little experiments with the stuff, but even if the Italian localization is very good, something got lost or got unclear during the translation process. (Example "Stiff piston" in Italian is "Pistone bloccato" that translates in English with "Blocked Piston"...quite different perhaps)
I learnt more stuff here in 1 single day, that playing tutorials.

Anyway I'm more than happy with the comments so far.
I decided to make a story, but maybe the unfolding is a little too slow.
I'll try to solve the problem in the second part.
Thanks again CCub for the worthful tech advice and the wonderful feedback.
I really appreciate it!		2009-09-25 06:55:00

Author:
OmegaSlayer
Posts: 5112

I updated the level with some visuals upgrades and camera tweakings.2009-09-27 15:49:00

Author:
OmegaSlayer
Posts: 5112

Played it this morning and had a blast. There was a ton of variety, which was great. There were some challenging parts, but nothing to rip your hair out over. The only problem I experienced was the paintinator not working anymore. Luckily I didn't need it at that point, but it's something to consider.

5 stars, hearted.		2009-09-27 17:09:00

Author:
comphermc
Posts: 5338

Thanks Comphermc!
Some of the comments in this thread makes me really proud of my little first achievement.
It's really good to know that someone appreciate my work.

As far as the paintinator shots.
The paintinator is filled with 40 shots.
I know it's an unpopular choice since many pointed it out, but it's a thing I won't change, since the way you decide to use the paintinator greatly determines the time of the race and your final score.
As well as your approach on the emitted floor.

I explained my reasons in a previous post under the spoiler tag.

Last thing...I clocked my run through the rings, and I did it with 1:40 minutes, missing the timing on the last ring...but I made the section and played it to death and beyond 		2009-09-28 10:26:00

Author:
OmegaSlayer
Posts: 5112

Wow, super impressive for your first level! A heart for this. I like your style, parts of the level didn't seem entirely unlike something i'm working on now. . . just materials and obstacles you used. . . Very nicely done, not too easy not too hard. There were a few areas where i'd get frustrated with the lighting or obstacle. . . sometimes it seemed like vision was obscured too much. . . like in the fire maze. And a few switches felt superfluous. . . like, pull this switch, so you can walk over here and pull this switch. Guess I'm ramblin' about nothing here. . .it was really quite an enjoyable level. 2009-10-01 19:10:00

Author:
squirlin
Posts: 224

Hey OmegaSlayer!

Thank you so much for your nice and detailed feedback. I really appreciate that.

I've tried to play your level a few times but I never found it (the searching-tool is sooo buggy recently). I'll try it again and send you a request (this is the easiest way to find levels).

Greetings,
Anna		2009-10-01 20:18:00

Author:
SantaAnna
Posts: 51

Wonderful level again. I think the addition of the speech bubbles has made this an even better level. I noticed you tweaked a few things here and there, and it all worked great. There is an issue with the part after the jetpack maze though. If you flip the switch then pop yourself, you don't have to go back up the ramp. You can force the player if you put a door in there Tremendous visual effects and an overall great level.

4*, but i gave 5 for rating.		2009-10-02 02:13:00

Author:
Burnvictim42
Posts: 3322

Thank you Squirlin, for not having forgotten me!

Thanks Anna, for the will to try my level, this search bug is really killing levels.
(Try to serarch my PSN ID, you find 3 levels of a contest, search for more levels from me and you should find it)

And thx Burn for the extensive beta and the overrating.
4 stars would have been more than good anyway
(I know the prolem that you mentioned, but I didn't find it a great problem, but yeah, maybe I should swap the position of the bubbles and the checkpoint.)		2009-10-02 06:33:00

Author:
OmegaSlayer
Posts: 5112

I'm really sorry I haven't posted in this thread yet. In honesty I've hardly played any levels in the last couple of weeks. I played and rated on two accounts right when you released, but I can see that a lot of changes have been made since then so I'll try to find time this weekend time to go back and play again as I've really enjoyed watching this develop and get better each time I play through 2009-10-02 10:52:00

Author:
rtm223
Posts: 6497

Are you joking, man?
You don't have to be sorry at all, you have played this level since beta testing soooooo much, I quite feel sorry for you.
You dedicated so much time and gave me so many worthful advices that I couldn't ever thank you enough.		2009-10-02 12:22:00

Author:
OmegaSlayer
Posts: 5112

Just finished playing your level - Here are my thoughts:

Pros:
- I liked the length of the level
- I liked the use of the layers throughout the level
- The visuals were really nice in some parts (the awakened stones, the big circle things, the spiky platforms that moved up and down, the dragon head)
- Puzzles were intuitive
- Platforming was really fun throughout

Cons:
- The golden elevator is a bit quirky - I think that's because it seems to be activated by a proximity switch?
- The puzzles were intuitive, but I agree with what other people said about the placement of the switches - they seemed to be randomly placed
- Some parts were just long - the big circles were really cool, but since there were so many, it started to become monotonous

Overall:
I was really impressed that this was your first official level. This is leagues better than my original level. Nice Job!!

4 :star:'s
Tagged: Platformer		2009-10-02 15:20:00

Author:
Powershifter
Posts: 668

Yay! Finally I found your level.

It took me ages to get through it (this could also be a sign for my horrible player-qualities, haha).
"Run for your freedom" sometimes reminded me of "Tomb Raider" and "Pandemonium".

PRO:
- Partly you used great materials (e.g. the indian lattice).
- The fiery maze looked gorgeous and was so complex.
- You outbid the thermometer to the maximum. Your level is huge.
- It's great how you embedded all those little puzzles.
- You created very unique obstacles (I like the awakening stones).
- Your use of the three layers was exemplary.
- Even though it's very difficult to play, your gameplay is real fun.

CONTRA:
- Sometimes it's not clear where to go (the elevator at the beginning, the secret path after the crumbling rocks,...)
- I didn't like all those light and contrast changes. I think your level would be prettier if it's a little bit more natural. But that's just my own taste.
- Some parts were just too long (the sponge-thing over the electric floor, the fiery circles).
- The race time is way too short.
- The environment, even though it's really pretty, doesn't fit to the story in my opinion.

For me it's clear that the bigger the level the more problems can occure.
So please don't take my critic too negative. The level didn't appear negative to me.

But there was something that really ****** me off haha.
When I jumped over the awakening stones I failed to grab the cat and then everything got dark. I couldn't see anything so I had to start again.

And unfortunately there are some parts in your level where a lot of people surrender. I think if you would replace all "normal" checkpoints with infinite lifes checkpoints a lot of people wouldn't think about throwing their controller against the tv and rate you with 3 stars.

Honestly your level is such a tough cookie - if I wouldn't want to do F4F I'd have given up too.

I like your level but I would recommend you to make your level more "idiot-save". Otherwise a lot of frustrated people will give you low ratings.

I would give your level :star::star::star::star: but because of the current rating I gave you :star::star::star::star::star:.

Greetings Anna		2009-10-03 12:12:00

Author:
SantaAnna
Posts: 51

first off, the level looks good. i like the gothic style, and the atmosphere. but the cage at the beginning was quite annoying as it obstructs the stairway. you may want to considder revising.

secondly it is a HARD level. it is hard to the point of frustration at certain times, namely the races, the spinning circle grabs, and the moving spikey platforms. But this works the frustration angle ALMOST in a good way. maybe dial down the difficulty a little bit, but by all means keep the difficulty. i gave it a 3 out of 5 purely from frustration, but it deserves 4.

The layering is another point id like to bring up. it had a lots and lots of platforming in a small space. good job.		2009-10-03 22:21:00

Author:
poorjack
Posts: 1806

OK - First of all... thanks for your comments on 00Sack - Revenge.

Secondly, I did not finish your level (as described below), but after reading through some of these posts, and looking at your slideshow, I realize there was much more to see, so I will give it another run later tonight. But for what I did play, here are some comments...

+ Loved the overlapping sections in the beginning. Complex, but no real question about where to go from challenge to challenge.
+ I really liked the paintinatore/block/plasma/glass puzzle. Very creatively challenging.
+ Great lighting (mostly... see note below).
+ Great camera work!
_____________________________________

- I had some trouble in the first room as it was very dark and I was playing in a sunlit room (this is a minor gripe, but was a bit frustrating).
- I agree with an earlier post, that the section of emitted blocks with the sponge ceiling was just too long. I got really bored.
- When the arched bridge(s) dropped, I was quite confused and almost quit on the first one. It appeared to me that I was trapped. When I ran to the far left, the sponge would begin to descend but not fall into the camera's view before I went back the other way. I finally stopped there long enough to see what was going on. Perhaps either drop the winch faster, widen the proximity on the player sensor, or tweak the camera angle to show the sponge dropping. Had I not been F4F playing, I likely would have quit here.
- OK - Here was the game breaker for me: After I brought the stone to life, I missed the last jump and did not grab the sponge and fell to my death. The problem here is that I triggered the GLT when I fell past the sponge, so when I was re-spawned at the prior checkpoint, it was very, very dark. I made it (after several tries) back up the slope with the flaming logs, could no longer see the swaying stones to jump back across them. I died quickly trying.

As I said, I will come back later and try again... what I saw so far looks good (if a bit cluttered and over-designed). Am looking forwarding to seeing the rest of it. A great first effort though.

:star::star::star: for this play through. I may bump it up to 4 on my next run, but I do think a couple of these issues need to be addressed. Hope I'm not being too harsh.
__________________________________

EDIT: OK, as promised, I went back and played it again. And, as I suggested I might, I gave it :star::star::star::star: this time. The issues I mentioned before notwithstanding, I feel you've made one heck of a nice level here for your first time. It's a bit more challenging than I prefer, but I will never rate low for that unless it's just unrealistically unfair and frustrating - which this is not.

I have to agree with the others about the length of the rings section. Perhaps a ring could be removed from the center and a platform with a checkpoint inserted? But I'm just brainstorming here... it's not broken, it just gets tedious. There was a point - about 2/3 - 3/4 through (the rings) were it gets very dark, and sackboy is nothing more than silhouette. I died here twice because it was very difficult to tell what plane I was on, and not realizing that I already had auto-shifted from the back to the middle planes, I tried to jump forward and dropped to my doom.

The reach for the stars section had me ready to pitch my controller at the TV, but again... it's not broken - I just suck at (and really, truly hate) spinners. But I persevered.

I loved the camera angle at the end - where we could see the scoreboard glowing in the dark below us. Very cool.

With a few tweaks to fix some of the rough spots, I think you've got a real winner here. There are kids and such who are going to hate it for its difficulty, and rate it low. Nothing you can do about this when you've made a challenging level.

Good job!!		2009-10-03 22:31:00

Author:
v0rtex
Posts: 1878

First of all, thanks guys and gals, I appreciate your feedback.

I'm quite baffled about the hard difficulty of the level, since I tried to keep it easy.
I think I must do something...
I'll speed up the time on the winches in the collapsing ridge section.
Thanks for pointing out the bird/cat problem with the GLT...no one reported it to me in the beta...then I think I have to work some kind of version for SD TVs.
I'll try to add some platforms during the rotating wheels section.

Thanks guys for your patience...		2009-10-04 07:10:00

Author:
OmegaSlayer
Posts: 5112

I don't have an SD TV... It was HD dark... haha2009-10-04 07:20:00

Author:
SantaAnna
Posts: 51

Yeah - I have wide screen HD as well... so it wasn't a SD issue (for me, at least). 2009-10-04 19:36:00

Author:
v0rtex
Posts: 1878

Okay, I played the level and I thought it was good considering it's your first.

About difficulty . . .

You left me a profile message to get an expert's opinion on the difficulty, as many were saying it's frustrating or hard. As I said once you get it, the level is too easy for me personally. However, I can see why this would be hard for the average person. It's borderline advanced difficulty but still in a normal difficulty, but not even close to expert. But I can see how some casual players could get easily frustrated or struggle in ways.

My feedback . . .

Pros:
-I like the length.
-Visually nice in some places.
-Nice variety of obstacles.

Cons:
-The only main con I have is that the level gives off this feeling of not knowing what it wants to do, like the level is all over the place, like messy. I don't really know exactly how to explain what I mean. Sure, some levels are meant to be like that, but this one just didn't seem to do it well.

I gave it . . .
:star::star::star::star::star:

2009-10-05 06:45:00

Author:
Unknown User

Thanks S3x, I'll take all those feedack and work on them.
The level will be locked in 46 hours from now, so who wants to play it now, should better hurry, otherwise you'll play the redux version when it will be out.
Thank you all.		2009-10-05 07:54:00

Author:
OmegaSlayer
Posts: 5112

Hey - meant to leave you some feedback the other day but with my home computer fried I had to wait till I replaced it. Lovin' my new notebook.

Anyway - played through the other day and it's pretty cool. I like how you have the colors set up and the different kinds of zones of play. The fire maze is pretty and I like the idea of mutliple layers you interact with at different points but visibility in the back section bugged me a bit. I made it through but it seemed needlessly harder than it needed to be. Just my opinion and my point of view as a fairly hardcore but mainstream player of LBP. Not an expert by any standard.

The columns section was cool but it wasn't clear at first you had to run down and left on top of what you came up through. Not sure if light or a cut scene could help there or not.

I also really liked the subtle blues and golds in the, for lack of a better word, "cave" section. Quite pretty.

I gave your level 4 stars as is and as a first level it's really good. I look forward to more levels from you although if you aim to please the "expert" crowd, alas I shall probably not see much of your future levels for lack of skills on my part. Thanks for sharing it!		2009-10-05 08:18:00

Author:
Morgana25
Posts: 5983

I don't know if I'll go through the hard way...
Actually I'm a bit disappointed about how the level is going, nice reviews, awesome people playing my level (other than people here, DEVINCENT's playing my level made me happy): that's the best part of the story, unexpected feedbacks, 20 1 stars ratings in 10 minutes after publishing.

I sure missed some goals that I set when I started the project due to ingenuity and lack of skills and experience.
Since I don't want a level that is neither fish nor meat, I'll rework it.
I'll add some platforming part, I'll rework a puzzle, maybe the level will have some more parts where sackboy can die.

Probably the thermo overheated since things are too much near, something that I didn't know.
When the level will be up again it will be better than a 3/4 stars, which it deserves.
Actually, since I worked on the level so much, I can't really stand to be average, I prefer to disembowel and rebuild it.

Anyway, thanks for the plays until now.		2009-10-05 09:27:00

Author:
OmegaSlayer
Posts: 5112

Since I don't have anything to understand, and it's always good to hear every bell, I'll post here the review chazbell/xCHAZBEARx sent me via pm:


I didn't want to post my review in your thread because I didn't think it was good at all. First of all, the level looks horrible, it wasn't aesthetically pleasing at all. Work on that in your next level. When your trying to make obstacles challenging you need to ask yourself if said obstacle is still fun. The jetpack part was not fun at all. I could barley see what I was doing. The spinning octagon part was too long and lacked direction. I couldn't distinguish between the wheels i had come from and the wheels i was trying to get to. The beginning also lacked direction, I had no idea what any of switches were doing. The part where you had to jump down from angled platform to angled platform didn't really require skill, just knowledge of when to press jump gained from trail and error. I guess my biggest complaint is a lack of direction. It should always be clear to the player where to go. With all that said, its your first level and I understand why its bad. My first levels ****ing sucked too, just keep making levels and you'll see yourself getting better.		2009-10-06 06:28:00

Author:
OmegaSlayer
Posts: 5112

Having trouble finding it on servers, but maybe that's just the servers. Will try again later.2009-10-11 15:28:00

Author:
coyote_blue
Posts: 422

Thanks for trying!
You should try with the PSN ID.
You will find 2 (or 3) levels for the Characters Contest.
Select one of those, go to the ID, and earch more from the author.
Not that my level is the awesomeness, but this search bug really killed it. 		2009-10-11 15:32:00

Author:
OmegaSlayer
Posts: 5112

Found it by "other levels by this author".

First of all, I don't need F4F - I'm pretty sure I've seen you around on my Lone Ninja threads already.

Anyway - I REALLY liked this level. The length and overall difficulty were very good. I would recommend the following as fixes:

In the jetpack-through-fire sequence, I recommend removing the flames from the sides anytime the player must fly BEHIND another piece of scenery. I personally just don't think anyone should die when they can't see why.

The rolling fire arm jumps were a bit dark. Also, they and the spike box jumps before them seemed a bit too random. I prefer a tough jump that I can guage beforehand - jumping between unsynchronized, moving platforms makes me feel like the game maker is cheating. But, I'm not the best platform player. Deftmute's another guy who makes awesome levels that I have trouble finishing.

Loved the use of races and the switches in the prison tower. The sponges-into-pits seems like an afterthought. Have you seen rtm223's reset switches? Maybe you could put all the sponges out at once, and force players to drop them in in order. Then, if the player fails, he could grab a switch and start over.

Anyway, 4 stars and a heart. If I could have 4.75 starred it, I would have. For me, it's just a bit too dark throughout (My screen is already set at 60-70% brightness, so I know it's not just me.) What the heck. I'll play it again, 5 star it that time, and give you the average.		2009-10-11 16:02:00

Author:
coyote_blue
Posts: 422

Thank you SOOOOOOO much coyote.
Yeah I love your Lone Ninja series, so you saw me much when you came out with the 5th episode (I hope that MM will give us anti grav so that you will make us run on the ceilings )

Yeah, I think I can do what you say in the jetpack section.
I'm trying to rework some sections but I can't cut my level (as you saw in the help section).
I wanted to do something different, but the thermo got crazy, since there are a lot of things in a little area.
I really want to change some stuff, but the game disagree.

Anyway thanks again for your play and your feedback.
I really appreciate it!		2009-10-11 20:28:00

Author:
OmegaSlayer
Posts: 5112

Hi Omega,
just passing by and stopped to leave my humble opinion on your level.

Today afternoon I started my new project but first I decided to give a roll to your level (which I played unfinished).

I must say that I do not agree with the majority of feedbacks you received in this thread.
I found your level challenging enough, and I have few complaints about it.

- When you have to shoot the ceiling to obtain the shield... well... it's not very clear you have to do that; according to the magic mouth you have to use the paintinator as a shield, but you intended to use the paintinator to retrieve the shield, I guess.

- I strongly disagree with people saying ''...that is in the way and it's difficult to do that...'' or ''...it's difficult to understand where to go next...'' or ''...it's a matter of trial and error...''; no way.
In general I disagree with people who say a level is difficult because they fail a jump three times in a row.
IMO, and don't take me bad, your level is still pretty linear.

- I don't think the level is so messy like stated in earlier posts, in fact to me is always clear that if I can't go forward I have to backtrack.
I loved the visuals and the general appeal of the level, like in a vision or in a weird dream... though I can argue that some of the changes in the colors correction (or such kind of settings) ruined a little bit your hard work; try to choose them better to fit the situation the player is in that moment.

- That said, you have to consider the general audience of the game if you want to hit the top, and the general lbp audience is made of people who can barely distinguish R1 from L2, who have to watch where is the square button, who still wonder about the position of the R3 button (Is there an R3 button? REALLY!? OMG XD).

I have read quite all the posts and I found your level was not considered as it is; your first level.
Some people have to remember the **** they uploaded as first level before leave an effortless feedback with no interesting suggestions only to receive a feedback to their level in return.
I have a bunch of them (suggestions) for you concerning level desing and I'd love to share them ''personally'' with you the next time we catch online.

Overall I think you did a great work even considering your lack of practice with the editor tools and their tricks.

You are not forced to please the crowds, I found your level suitable for skilled and expert players; absolutely not suitable for suckers (the majority of lbp players, remeber the target audience); IMHO it's useless to completely redo your level; tweak something that's wrong, fix the bugs, BUT, if you have to put a great amount of effort in doing something with the editor, I suggest you it's preferable to start to build a completely new level.

I noticed your level is poorly rated and has a low amount of plays, probably you didn't pimped it enough... let's talk about it next time.

Stars: :star::star::star::star:
Nevermind the stars: 7.5/10		2009-10-12 00:10:00

Author:
Miglioshin
Posts: 336

Ciao bel!
M'shin, I have to work on it since it's a series, and I'm not convinced enough about some stuff.
As you said the level is quite linear, I can do something to make it a bit more fun, and eliminate some things that annoys people, but not make the level easier.
I'll say it honestly and square: I want this level to deserve the spotlight, since I worked hard on it.
For now it doesn't, since I was dumb enough to not understand some things in advance,
things that with the experience gained working with rtm, Zwollie, comphy, Grantos and mrV on the beta, I can pull out in 2 or 3 hours now, if the game allows me to do it (since now it doesn't).

For the plays...I published the level, and within the first 10 minutes I had 20 plays and 1 star ratio, without anyone who finished the level.
Then there's the bug that doesn't show new levels.
Then I made F4F but many people has still to "feedack back", I even had to call them out (I'm really disappointed since I don't like to beg for something that someone "owes" me)
It has been quite a massacre.
Anyway thanks again M'shin!
See ya online!		2009-10-12 07:36:00

Author:
OmegaSlayer
Posts: 5112

Well said, Miglioshin. And Omega, please understand: I find the platforms I talked about difficult, but that does not mean you have to change them if you'd rather not. I played the sponge puzzle, so I obviously got past them. An infinite life checkpoint and an obvious clue about how to move forward is all you need, and both of those are there already.

As for spotlighting: for what it's worth, this level is good enough to qualify, in my opinion. M'shin's color correction/lighting comments would be the ONLY thing I'd change, in order to make sure the cool stuff you built looks its best.

If you don't make it this time, don't worry. Just keep building stuff like this. You're on your way there already.		2009-10-12 15:03:00

Author:
coyote_blue
Posts: 422

I'm Returning the F4F, I'll review it as I play, I've played it once before and it was a bit frustrating because I didn't know where to go but once I worked it out it was quite logical.

At the beginning it was annoying when I fell down on the right side of the cage because I had to wait for the cage to move back again so I could go back up the stairs.

The Part with the disappearing platforms was good except it was a bit too long

The Part with the collapsing platforms was fun and interesting

The area where you go through the flaming maze with a jetpack looked Awesome and was very fun, The fire and stone in that lighting looked absolutely amazing.

I loved the idea of the moving platforms moving with the chains attached it looked fantastic.

The part with the flaming rotating wheels was extremely fun but it was a bit frustrating when you missed the next one and you had to wait, Also I loved the design and choice of materials, The electric glow from the background looked really cool.

At the part where you dodge the fire and jump over the electrified pillars, you didn't really need a checkpoint after you finished jumping over the electric pillars because the pillars between that checkpoint and the next one don't really kill you.

I thought that the part where you have to "Soften the pits of Darkness" was quite cool.

Once I took the golden elevator upwards, it seemed it glitch a pit and try and get back down again, but I was fine.

Overall it was a rather enjoyable level, It was a bit frustrating at times for various reasons but otherwise it was very fun.

:star::star::star::star::star: + Heart + tagged with Brilliant, A heart for you too of course .		2009-10-13 03:32:00

Author:
Unknown User

Hi Omega!

I was going to leave you feedback last night, but I couldn't finish the level. I've just tried again, but failed at the same point.

I escaped the cage and made my way up to the top. Dropped down, used the shield against the plasma, then made my way across the dissolving blocks. All good stuff so far. Challenging, but not too hard.

Now then, there are 5 walls that lower when you jump on them. And there's a winch in between the last two. I grabbed the winch, went up, and then I spotted some bubbles that I'd missed, so I dropped off the winch again to collect them. I waited for the winch to come back down, but it didn't. I don't know if it had got stuck, but this happened both times I played. Sorry, maybe I'm doing something wrong?

From what I saw, the level looked good and I enjoyed the bits I managed to do. It was just a bit strange and disappointing that it happened to me both times.

I didn't want to sound like I didn't enjoy it - I did! But I'm wondering whether a few other players have had the same trouble, and just quit and rated low?

I will try again, but I rated 4 stars after what I'd seen already 		2009-10-13 20:30:00

Author:
MrsSpookyBuz
Posts: 1492

Hi MrsSpooky!
Ah...ok..you stopped at the collapsing bridges.
You should run and jump before they collapse.
If you miss the jump the winch with the sponge will fall, but you have to swing to the right (there's an arrow) to make it contracts and reach the next bridge.

I'm sorry, I've realized that I missed to put some info on the level, but I must rework it a lot to add some stuff here and there.
I hope you enjoyed what you seen so far.
Thanks for the play.		2009-10-13 21:04:00

Author:
OmegaSlayer
Posts: 5112

Yes, yes, I did enjoy it so far - I was just puzzled that the winch didn't reappear. (My fault for being greedy with the bubbles!)

This is very good for a first creation, well done - I will play it again! 		2009-10-13 21:10:00

Author:
MrsSpookyBuz
Posts: 1492

I played your level yesterday and got stuck in the exact same place as MrsSpookyBuz. I'll have another go at it tomorrow as I was really enjoying it until that point.2009-10-14 00:01:00

Author:
shindol
Posts: 78

Thanks, I think I just have to add a text bubble there.

Fixed some stuff according to feedback.
Now it's really hard to get lost.

Still I'll rework the last part of the level.		2009-10-14 06:57:00

Author:
OmegaSlayer
Posts: 5112

Woah, totally missed feedback on this...despite playing it agess ago!
Well, I liked the level. The visuals were solid throughout and the platforming was challenging and fun. I wasn't keen on a few of the challegnes though, which felt to me like pot-luck (such as the emitting platforms.
And also there was a lot of flawed things grouped together. You took a mechanic that was maybe a little annoying - but then you put tonnes of them together which made it really annoying.

It was still very nice, 3 stars 		2009-10-18 20:29:00

Author:
Coxy224
Posts: 2645

Level is closed, so no more F4F.
Thanks to anyone who played it.		2009-10-20 18:57:00

Author:
OmegaSlayer
Posts: 5112

Update: The level is open again. Still there's no way I can manage to touch thing in edit mode without having my PS3 freeze, so I can't change and update the level.2010-01-17 05:40:00

Author:
OmegaSlayer
Posts: 5112

So there is no way to edit anymore your level? There is a problem in the purple ring. i try and try and something is out of timing or maybe the camera in that section is messing the perspective to grab the next ring. This level is too fun and i like how you use the layers to create the path. Not only me, some other people have the same trouble in the same place. But still a great level.2010-03-05 22:46:00

Author:
Duckywolf
Posts: 198

Thanks Ducky!
Yeah, the level freezes if I try to move or delete something.
My guess is that there's some piston that unglued from its spot (I've seen a lot of this problems).
Anyway, the only thing I could do was setting the sync the best I could, but scrapping a quarter of second from a wheel messes everything up.		2010-06-21 06:45:00

Author:
OmegaSlayer
Posts: 5112

Sorry for the bump
Well, with some patience I managed to rework on my level a bit and make it better, so if anyone that hasn't tried it wants to give it a shot, well, it's a bit old, almost a year and not on par with thing released nowaday, hard but fair and never cheap (only 10% of players finished it...) but well, you can give it a go.
On the first page you'll find comments quoted from the people who played it, so you'll spare the time to browse the thread.
THANKS!		2010-08-16 18:18:00

Author:
OmegaSlayer
Posts: 5112

Cool il try it when i get back on lbp! 2010-08-16 19:57:00

Author:
Fenderjt
Posts: 1969


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