Archive: 26 posts

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Hidy Ho Sackfriends! Over the last few days I have been asked multiple times about how I go about promoting my levels for PSP, so I decided to just make a thread here about it. Getting noticed in LBP can be pretty difficult, and in my opinion it can be even worse for PSP since there are no "Cool Levels", so unless your level is highest rated or featured, then chances are that you probably won't get all that many plays. So, what should you put in your promotion thread? #1) Pictures - I think one thing that currently really makes a promotion thread stand out is pictures. The reason I say this is that it is sort of rare for a promotion thread to have pictures for PSP since there is no photo transfer function for the PSP. I have only seen a handful of threads that even have photos. But it is so easy if you just take a little time to get used to it!!! Just get a camera, figure out the best lighting (or get your parents to help you with that if it is a bit too complex), and take some pictures of the best part of your level. After that, transfer them to your computer and find out what your favorite ones are. I usually cut the pictures a bit so you can't see the edge of the screen. To do this, view the picture, press "Print Screen" which should be near the top right corner of your keyboard (it might say "PrtSc"), and then open up Microsoft Paint and paste the picture you copied and you can mess with it there. Then, once I have the picture finished, I save it, and transfer it to Photobucket.com, and once it is there, I have a http address for every photo and I can do whatever I want with it online. I must warn you, different websites have different formats for how you add pictures, so it can be a little tricky at first, so if people are interested in this then just ask and I can give you details for each site. It can be a little rough getting used to all of this (taking pic, transferring, modifying in paint, transferring to photobucket, adding it your thread), but after 2 or 3 pictures it should be second nature, and then you will have a thread that really stands out [NOTE: There may be better places to go than Photobucket for this, but it is what I use, so that is why I referenced it] #2) Be Careful What You Say - I see sooo many threads that end up making me NOT want to play the level just because of what the person says in their thread. Just tell about the level and what you think is unique, but do not show off or be overly excited. Here are the two cases that I see the most: A) Someone is just plain telling me that their level is the greatest level ever --> Don't do this! Even if the level is awesome, you have now given the reader the impression that it is awesome, so when they play it they will probably be disappointed and rate it lower than they would have. Just describe the level, but don't act like you are the god of LBP. B) Someone says that this is their first level and it sucks --> This is a great way to make me avoid your level. Sure, I am up for giving constructive criticism, but if you are telling me that the level is a broken mess, then my constructive criticism will probably take me an hour and a half to write up, and the level will end up giving me an ulcer, so why in the world will I play it? Just tell some good things about the level and what you were trying to do with it, but don't bash the level while you are promoting it! #3) Be Nice When You Reply!!! - Ok, listen up, and listen GOOD! When people give you feedback, then they are taking the time to play your level, and not only that, but to also log on and write what they thought. Sure, it may not be what you wanted to hear, but DO NOT start a flame war with them! You are trying to sell your level to people, so when you explode in someone's face for giving some criticism, then it REALLY tells me that I should not get involved with the level since you are most likely going to be mad if I say anything bad, and you might even attack my levels and rate them badly. You should go into this expecting some bad feedback. If someone is just plain mean in their feedback, then maybe you can just thank them for the feedback and leave it at that. #4) Post Everywhere - I have listed all of the sites where I advertise my levels below, along with a description of the response that I have gotten for my level. Obviously, your experience could be completely different from mine, but at least I can give you my experience so that you can have a bit of an idea of what to expect. A: LBPCentral (http://www.lbpcentral.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?106-[PSP]-Level-and-Object-Showcase) - This is easily the very best site to promote a PSP level. I am blown away by just how much feedback I get here and how awesome the community is. B: Gamespot (http://www.gamespot.com/psp/action/littlebigplanet/forum.html?board_id=m-1-954362&pid=954362) - When I advertised for "Now and Then", I posted here as an afterthought a few days after posting on the other sites, and boy was I surprised when the feedback came rolling in. Perhaps it was a unique case that I got so much feedback, but either way, I will post there from now on, and I would currently classify them as my second favorite site to post about PSP levels on. C: LittleBigNetwork (http://www.littlebignetwork.com/forumdisplay.php/23-LittleBigPlanet-%28PSP%29)) - I have always been a huge fan of the community here because they are just so friendly and awesome. In all honesty, they sometime lean more toward chatting and social activities rather than LBP, but when they do start talking LBP, they can be really helpful. They have a much smaller LBP PSP community than LBPC, but there are a few core members who leave some very helpful feedback (like b-coli who was recently on the LittleBigPodcast). D: LittleBigLand (http://www.littlebigland.com/forum/viewforum.php?f=39) - This site is actually one of my very favorite LBP sites in general because it has the nicest community out there, but sadly, the PSP community is a tad bit small. "Now and Then" got some good feedback there, but in general, I wouldn't expect much if any at all. I would certainly post there though since it is really easy to just copy and paste a level ad over to LittleBigLand. E: LittleBigWorkshop (http://forums.littlebigworkshop.com/lbp/board?board.id=psppromo) - While this site can give a bit of feedback, the PSP side of it seems pretty dead, and in my opinion, it has the harshest community out there. For some reason it feels like everyone here wants to pick a fight. LOL, I guess I have had some bad experiences there. But I would still post there in hopes that people will give some feedback. I know that "Now and Then" got over 100 views over there in its first week, and that isn't bad F: European Playstation Forum (http://community.eu.playstation.com/t5/LittleBigPlanet-PSP-General/bd-p/bEN_Games_LBP_PSP) - I'm not really sure how responsive this forum is. It took a few days to get feedback on "Now and Then", and then it poured in for about 3 days, and then it just stopped again. I did not get any feedback on "Lost at Sea" from them yet and it has been about 36 hours since posting, so we will see. When they reply it is pretty good stuff though. Hopefully that is all helpful

2010-01-21 05:18:00 Author: amazingflyingpoo Posts: 1515

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Cool list Afp! Everything you listed is excellent. I personally feel like the key to it is #4; Post Everywhere. Different people go to different sights and the more you can spread your name across the littlebig galaxy, the better your level will do! P.S.- Afp, unfortunately, I haven't been on in quite some time, since we're on the topic, how's my level doing? Last I checked it was on the most hearted page.

2010-01-21 05:26:00 Author: FULLGORR Posts: 245

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I haven't taken a gander at most hearted in a while, but I am pretty confident that you are on at least page 2 or 3. As for Highest Rated, you have been duking it out with a few levels to stay on Page 1. I noticed yesterday that you fell of page 1 a few times and came back, but this morning you were running strong

2010-01-21 05:28:00 Author: amazingflyingpoo Posts: 1515

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Some really good tips here, the ones that seem to jump out at me the most are "Post everywhere" and "Be respectful and receptive to comments about your level." Not only should you thank people when they offer feedback on your level, but you should also take that feedback into consideration! Don't throw it away, the important thing about feedback from others is that it gives you another view of your level. You will always have a limited view of your level in that you will never ever be playing your own level for the "first time." That kind of insight can only come from others. So be nice and people will be happier to offer you feedback. And one last thing, just a note about the Gamespot forums. It's actually a shared forum with GameFAQs, which makes it a great place for feedback because it's 2 forums in one. However if you post pictures or links just keep in mind that GameFAQs has very limited HTML coding (they've got bold and italics and not much else) so be sure to post text links to your pictures as well.

2010-01-21 05:31:00 Author: SirPaper Posts: 150

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Hey poo, Thank you so much for sharing these valuable places for promoting levels. I never knew there were so much, and I guess it's a little late for promoting my levels there at this point in time...but maybe I should try. Oh well, I'll make sure to visit those other sites for my next level. The gamespot one also caught me by surprise...however, most of your links appear to be broken. I had to access the gamespot forums by manually searching for LBP on the PSP and clicking on the forums link on the left-hand side. The only link that appears to be working is LittleBigLand. Anyways, thanks for the advice! Fortunate to not have had a flame war yet , jeffcu28

2010-01-21 05:38:00 Author: jeffcu28 Posts: 648

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I think some of his links just got cut off in the middle. Gamespot (http://www.gamespot.com/psp/action/littlebigplanet/forum.html?board_id=m-1-954362&pid=954362) or GameFAQs (http://www.gamefaqs.com/boards/gentopic.php?board=954362) (Same forum, different sites) LittleBigNetwork (http://www.littlebignetwork.com/forumdisplay.php/23-LittleBigPlanet-%28PSP%29) LittleBigLand (http://www.littlebigland.com/forum/viewforum.php?f=37) LittleBigWorkshop (http://forums.littlebigworkshop.com/lbp/board?board.id=psppromo) European Playstation Forum (http://community.eu.playstation.com/t5/LittleBigPlanet-PSP-General/bd-p/bEN_Games_LBP_PSP)

2010-01-21 05:59:00 Author: SirPaper Posts: 150

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Sorry about the link problem, and thanks a lot for the correct links SirPaper, I used those to make the corrections. Now all of the links should work

2010-01-21 08:03:00 Author: amazingflyingpoo Posts: 1515

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Great tips there, thank you! I didn't know some of those places, I'd certainly use all of them for future levels. Also, this tip is not exactly useful for promoting your own levels, but I think it's nice if you don't just post your levels on every forum, but also comment others' work. Don't expect feedback of your level if you don't leave it for others!

2010-01-21 12:37:00 Author: Lleonard Pler Posts: 277

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Hehe Poo! Since i was one of the people asking you this stuff i thinks its really helpful! P.S.- Afp, unfortunately, I haven't been on in quite some time, since we're on the topic, how's my level doing? Last I checked it was on the most hearted page. ROFL I read this and jumped right off my chair to get my psp (I am stupid so i didnt know there is more than 1 highest rated page). And what can i say? "Dream or Reality?" on page 2 with nearly 500 plays! Woohooo!!!

2010-01-21 13:51:00 Author: Arrestor Posts: 363

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Also, this tip is not exactly useful for promoting your own levels, but I think it's nice if you don't just post your levels on every forum, but also comment others' work. Don't expect feedback of your level if you don't leave it for others! This is an excellent point, and one that I think that a lot of authors do NOT take into account. I can't decide if it really belongs in the thread. Part of me thinks that it doesn't because it is more of a courtesy rather than a promotion tactic, but at the same time, people are more likely to leave feedback for you if you leave it for them. Either way, everyone should leave as much feedback as they can if they are going to ask for feedback. ROFL I read this and jumped right off my chair to get my psp (I am stupid so i didnt know there is more than 1 highest rated page). And what can i say? "Dream or Reality?" on page 2 with nearly 500 plays! Woohooo!!! LOL! This seriously made me laugh out loud! Congrats on making it to page 2. I remember when you posted about the level, and someone said that it would probably make it to page 1 or 2, and you said that that sounded nice but you didn't seem to really believe it. Well, I am glad that it is happening. Congrats

2010-01-21 14:37:00 Author: amazingflyingpoo Posts: 1515

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Yes it was Jeffcu and now he is proven right! (i am good with that) btt: I wondered how having created on LBP PS3 before does effect the amount of players for your level... And i think the YouTube Videos have an effect on this too. (But they are hard to set up)

2010-01-21 17:02:00 Author: Arrestor Posts: 363

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Awesome thread poo, thanks for putting this together. You did an excellent job of detailing all those intuitive things many of us take for granted. It's always kind of hard to read posts like: hey this iz my 1st lvl and maybe kinda sux but play anyway and give feedback thnx LOL. Your point #2 does a great job of helping to counteract posts like this. If I was going to add anything at all, I'd recommend to aspiring creators to take a look at existing "play my level" threads and use them as templates. Find the ones that have the most feedback and/or largest number of replies, and copy that style exactly. Anyway, thanks again poo - you rock.

2010-01-21 17:07:00 Author: Taffey Posts: 3187

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Yeah there's definite ways of utilising a thread to maximise feedback. I've said on many occasions (about the ps3, but I still feel it is relevant here) that even when you have finished your level, your work is no where near done yet. There's so many posts over on the LBW forum, and quite a few here, about how their levels don't get the amount of plays they deserve and it's not fair. But they expect to just be able to publish the level and then sit back and wait for glorious recognition...yeah, you and the other 10,000 people who have just published a level at the exact same time! You have to set yourself apart from everyone else, simply putting pictures in the thread is the best way to do this. It's very very rare that I will search for a level from a thread on here unless: A) I know the creator B) There's pictures in the thread and I like the look of it. I'd bet that many people on the forum are exactly the same. I feel that I do pretty much everything I can to get my level noticed. My 'all levels' thread over on LBW being a good example. (http://forums.littlebigworkshop.com/lbp/board/message?board.id=promozone&thread.id=26313&view=by_date_ascending&page=1) Although I wouldn't recommend everyone to start doing that!

2010-01-21 18:49:00 Author: jackofcourse Posts: 1494

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btt: I wondered how having created on LBP PS3 before does effect the amount of players for your level... I don't think there's a direct relation, but being in the picture a lot helps. Take Taffey for instance, I never heard of him on the PS3, but he's like the heart of the PSP section, so that makes me try out his levels sooner. Hmm, that got me thinking... then Gilgamesh is the brains... and jackofcourse is... some gland that makes everything really slick and smooth.

2010-01-21 23:08:00 Author: Rogar Posts: 2284

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Hmm, that got me thinking... then Gilgamesh is the brains... and jackofcourse is... some gland that makes everything really slick and smooth. The salivary gland? His levels do tend to make a person drool...

2010-01-22 00:21:00 Author: Taffey Posts: 3187

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The salivary gland? His levels do tend to make a person drool... *rimshot* And then amazingflyingpoo is... So, jack's the salivary gland eh? Interesting.

2010-01-22 03:40:00 Author: SirPaper Posts: 150

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Nice one, Taffey!

2010-01-22 10:22:00 Author: Rogar Posts: 2284

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Another tip that I just thought of: Choose a good title. Too often, levels have a common title. That's bad: it makes it harder to search for them, it makes them feel unoriginal (despite they may have brilliant gameplay), it makes it harder for people to remember about your level... Competition is huge, so starting with a good title will help to make your level noticed. Don't choose the first title that comes to mind. Try describing your level in a few words. What are the main elements on it? Is there any location or characteristic (monster, puzzle, treasure, quest...) that defines most of the gameplay of the level? Is the title personal enough or there may be tons of levels with a similar name? Does the title really fit your level or is it misleading? Coincidence or not, usually the most played levels have a great title: intriguing, or funny, or moody, or exciting, or beautiful, or mysterious, whatever, but always fitting.

2010-01-28 15:08:00 Author: Lleonard Pler Posts: 277

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because with a good title...people wanna play them!like MY psp level!

2010-01-28 15:53:00 Author: theswweet Posts: 2468

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Another tip that I just thought of: Choose a good title.Yes, this is an excellent point. I'd like to refine it further and say that shorter is better whenever possible. If a level name needs to be longer (and sometimes they just do), make sure that players can see the important part of the text when they first click on the level in the Community Moon. Having to wait for the text to scroll to the right to see what a level is supposed to be about is kind of annoying.

2010-01-28 17:46:00 Author: Taffey Posts: 3187

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Thanks for this awesome guide poo. I'll use it in the future when promoting my levels.

2010-02-05 17:41:00 Author: Fastbro Posts: 1277

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ooh ooh i wanna be the appendix!

2010-03-20 04:55:00 Author: Lilman1101 Posts: 91

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Good stuff! This should help.

2010-07-02 16:43:00 Author: eagerneph Posts: 1536

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ey, #1 dont work for psp... just saying ;D

2011-01-14 13:34:00 Author: dylan-is-cool123 Posts: 54

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Uh, yes it will. Not as good quality as PS3 pics mind, but really neat all the same. (Nooouuuuu, zooombies are arising again! D: Please no necro posts, vm maybe?)

2011-01-14 17:28:00 Author: PygmyOwl Posts: 1316

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okay...... ? nice guide poo wish I'd read it earlier... is this in jeff's tutorial?

2011-01-18 08:45:00 Author: jimydog000 Posts: 813

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