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TRIAL of SEASONS - SUMMER

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TRIAL of SEASONS - SUMMERSickivionkey
TRIAL of SEASONS (MMpick) is back! Bounce and battle your way across Kaula island to save the peaceful pig tribe from a vengeful SUMMER! Easy enough for anyone to finish (N00Bz) but contains enough fun and excitement for even the most experienced players! Do you have what it takes to be a hero?

Over one year later, the sequel is finally ready! Various bits of this project were scrapped and redone multiple times until I could get things exactly how I wanted them, and eventually I had to decide to move the major boss fight into the next chapter (hopefully that won't take as long to complete...)!

You'll find various gameplay, from standard platforming, to a mini-boss, to sections where you just have to run for your life!!! Ultimately the goal was to create a level that is exciting and polished (where you're never wandering in the dark wondering what to do). Hopefully you'll like it! Please leave feedback!

Level Name: TRIAL of SEASONS - SUMMER
Creator: Sickivionkey (like Sick Monkey, but ivi)
Icon: Confused piggy face
Location: Europe


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xMnerQqvgDg

Please try the first TRIAL of SEASONS as well! I was lucky enough to be chosen for both an MM-pick and a Community Spotlight: LINK (https://lbpcentral.lbp-hub.com/index.php?t=9865-TRIAL-of-SEASONS-part-1&highlight=trial+seasons)		2010-04-05 00:21:00

Author:
Sickivionkey
Posts: 70

Yessss can't wait to play it .2010-04-05 02:45:00

Author:
brnxblze
Posts: 1318

The level is reposted as of this morning. Sorry for anyone that tried to play before the fix.2010-04-05 12:02:00

Author:
Sickivionkey
Posts: 70

Amazing level. Great graphics and scenery.

Improve:

Collector Boss:

Not anything wrong with it gameplay wise, more graphic wise. The "arms" with the creature brains on them look a tad basic. There basically rotating squares stuck on sticks. Love the rotating thingy though.

Loved "Summer", great character design and gameplay all around		2010-04-05 12:24:00

Author:
Unknown User

Ohhh! I have waited so long for this,can't wait to play it!2010-04-05 13:59:00

Author:
Mnniska
Posts: 531

I just played it, piece of paper and a decent pen right next to me.
I havent written one word.

I really love the pig characters, the really add to the theme, especially that they are all doing something different.
One in the mine, another eating a slice of melon.. and so on.
"Summer" looks really cool, the fact that he haunts you is another nice touch,
especially the "RUN" part where Summer tries to attack you has been done very very neatly.
(not to mention you made the captured Summer look cool!, nice work on the winches there)

Normally I do not like to see char's from the original levels, but meeting the Collector again felt like meeting an old arch nemesis,
especially in a level as well executed as yours.

The fact I did not write anything down was the fact that you get pulled right into the story/gameplay and there is always something to do,
may it be finding cool extra scorebubbles, may it be the sun literally breaking the floor underneath you.
The background was done nicely, Im very picky when it comes to my 3d glitch visuals, but you did a very nice job giving your world a real nice summer island theme.

Even something simple as a shaking vulcano with a rocket and a spotlight... you made it look good!

5 stars and even a heart/creator heart.
Cant believe Ive never heard from you before lol.
*ashamed*

My only pointer being, at the end where the scoreboard appears..
for some reason my framerate drops to about 4 frames/second.
Did you use a glitch scoreboard perhaps?		2010-04-05 15:01:00

Author:
Luos_83
Posts: 2136

I'm very excited to play. I've been waiting to see this level for such a long time.
First one was excellent and well deseved of the mm-pick..

Can't wait to play!		2010-04-05 15:40:00

Author:
KQuinn94Z
Posts: 1758

Awesome level. I really can't think of one negative thing about it. The 3D background was great, your placement of point bubbles added a lot of fun, and your pig characters were very cool. The whole level felt like an intense chase (aside from the part in the mines) and the boss was great too. Five stars and a heart from me.2010-04-05 23:14:00

Author:
Camden1
Posts: 83

Thanks for the kind words! *blush* Your feedback is the only reason I put so much effort into these levels. I regularly check this board to figure out what levels to play, but I rarely post. I'm amazed people still remember my last level!! :hero:

1. Design of the boss: I agree with you on the boss... it looks like garbage. Unfortunately I ran out of thermo at the end and couldn't make the epic boss fight I was hoping for (multi-stage face-off with the collector and summer). At this point I can't even fit in another score bubble.

I tried a few different endings, including a timing based puzzle (kind of like the old golf games where you have to hit the button in the middle of the bar) and just having the player trapped in a cage. I ultimately decided to squeeze in the boss and just end with a "...to be continued". Now I can convince my wife to let me finish the next level so that I can do a proper boss fight.

2. Slowdown issues: Depending on how long my Playstation has been on, the entire level has a drop in framerate for me. I'm trying to find the specific problems and correct them (often too many lights in one area). The slowdown at the scoreboard is probably a combination of lights, the glitched scoreboard, and the massive amount of paintballs and score bubbles flying around all at once. I need to figure out which of those I'm willing to reduce. Maybe require more shots before you get score bubbles?

3. Negative Feedback: Those of you that are unwilling to insult my level, please don't hold back. Even if you just found an area a tiny bit frustrating, it helps to figure out what I should streamline (if you had the problem, a dozen other people will too).

Coming soon: A video or theatrical trailer, for those of you too timid to play without a proper advertisement!		2010-04-05 23:59:00

Author:
Sickivionkey
Posts: 70

Well if you want negative feedback..
I see room for visual improvement, but thats not something I can force trough somebodies throat,
thats something that just comes with experience and the urge to improve thyself.
(stickers, structural detail like beams/trims/support)
(not saying I am any better than you, I am still learning).
I dont think its too many lights, my sack level has 30 at one or two spots, and most rooms have 6 to 8 lights, with at least 1 or 2 of them with shadows etc.
I think its a moving scoreboard, easy to test in an empty level though a I am not sure.

and fyi,
I actually digged how Summer/Boss looked.		2010-04-06 00:33:00

Author:
Luos_83
Posts: 2136

I tried deleting the giant red spotlight under the scoreboard. If that doesn't work I'll have to rig something so that the scoreboard move is immediate (right now it moves for about 11 seconds... so you're right, that may be the problem).

Also of note, did anyone notice any areas without music? I've been experiencing a bug where half the sounds and music objects in the level randomly don't work. The very next time you play, it fixes itself. Weird.		2010-04-06 02:01:00

Author:
Sickivionkey
Posts: 70

I'll make sure I get to this today! I'll edit this post with feedback. 2010-04-06 15:50:00

Author:
Richasackboy
Posts: 619

This level is fantastic beyond belief! Wonderful, characters, story, epic fast pace gameplay! There was so much going on I never even had a chance to take it all in!
Wonderful, epically brilliant. Great visuals, along with unique and fun gameplay just made it win win. I waited so long to see another level from you, and now that I know you're still in the game, I'm very happy. 5 stars/ heart/ creator heart.		2010-04-06 15:52:00

Author:
KQuinn94Z
Posts: 1758

Wow can't wait to play this level... I loved the first, has been one of my all time favourites for a while! I'll be sure to give u some feedback soon.2010-04-06 16:00:00

Author:
ladylyn1
Posts: 836

ok so i just played this level and i though tit was pretty kick *** i love the amount of detail you put into everything and the game play was very satisfying i give 5 stars and a heart =) great work keep it up2010-04-07 14:59:00

Author:
RiseOvBaphomet
Posts: 35

OMG! My post just went up in flames! But anyway...

Maybe you could change the plasma obstacles into plasmafied objects? It would make it cooler and they wouldn't disappear. *runs out of steam*. I'm sorry, I had all my feedback in my last post, but now it's gone so... >.>

Storyline was entrancing, maybe you could make the walls where the sun chases you bigger and higher? Gameplay was great, could you make the Green VR boss as well?

*sigh* Oh well, sorry for being really stupid - might edit this later with better feedback. What were the checkpoints for when you were walled off by the sun? (when he shoots rays of explosives at you) Is it supposed to activate? The spinning spikes in water were cool, but I thought that even though you gave it a twist, it's still an overused idea- Plasma under water? Does that even work?

?

I loved it, and 4.99999999999/5 stars, and a heart for both of the Trial levels. Heart you as a creator today!		2010-04-07 15:56:00

Author:
Richasackboy
Posts: 619

Maybe you could change the plasma obstacles into plasmafied objects? It would make it cooler and they wouldn't disappear.


You can do that??? o_O;; If I'd know that I would have used those in multiple cases. The boss might have even been different. Is there a good tutorial or glitch library where I can find that stuff?



maybe you could make the walls where the sun chases you bigger and higher?


I'll look into it. This has actually been bugging me for a while too. Unfortunately I designed everything so that it looked nice, and then I had to zoom the camera out further to keep SUMMER in frame. As a result, the walls look thin, short, and really out of place. I've been afraid to touch them because it might break some of the other logic I have in the area (For example, if you die, the new wall may pop up without you dissolving the old wall. That works right now, but if I increase the thickness of the wall... it won't.)



What were the checkpoints for when you were walled off by the sun? (when he shoots rays of explosives at you) Is it supposed to activate?


If you die in this section, the next checkpoint activates and pops out of the ground. This keeps you moving forward quickly and punishes you by not letting you stay behind to collect the score bubbles that fall out after the explosion.



The spinning spikes in water were cool, but I thought that even though you gave it a twist, it's still an overused idea- Plasma under water? Does that even work?


I agree with you. They're actually kind of unnecessary, but I threw them in as a test and they were fun enough to dodge that I kept them. Water actually tends to "pop" plasma balls, so I haven't really been able to find a good hazzard other than electricity to use. I tried everything imaginable to have the boss be underwater, but after plasma wouldn't work and electified projectiles were unreliable, I just went with a jet-pack boss instead.

Thanks for the feedback!		2010-04-07 23:11:00

Author:
Sickivionkey
Posts: 70

Short preview video of the level I threw together last night:


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xMnerQqvgDg		2010-04-08 22:50:00

Author:
Sickivionkey
Posts: 70

I played this today. You have a lot going on in there! This level is AWESOME! Great use of the layer glitch. Along with great visuals, funny characters, and adrenalin pumping game play. Make this level one you wouldn't want to miss! Great work!!!

Could you give me feedback on my LBP Paint Factory?

Thanks. 		2010-04-08 23:11:00

Author:
smasher
Posts: 641

So I played it today and it's really good. I like the funny parts of this level.
And the action parts are genius! The atmosphere is really good, I like the start with the islands in the background!
The chase parts are really exciting and the puzzles are nice, too.
I found a bug: After getting the pig up with the elevator, you should take of the jetpack. But you can grab the ground (gras) and go outside with the jetpack.
And I think the camera was a bit bad at the water part with the electric gears. Maybe some changings would be nice.
The ending, oh well, I was like: "OMG, I wanted to kick the *** of this tiny little piggy." But then it was over! Makes me hungry for more, but didn't find it good.Maybe some thermo problems or you have to cut there for some reason. But I don't think it's such a big mistake.

Over all a really great level. It was fun to play.
I gave it 5 stars and a heart!

Maybe I'll get back to it later to give some more feedback. But I hope this is enough!		2010-04-09 19:52:00

Author:
RedShadow_88
Posts: 100

I played this a couple of days ago and it was awesome just like I expected...

The level was clean and had some great gameplay elements. The sunstone section was very well thought out. Good use of the layer glitch too.

The sun was a simple, yet well created and stood as a worthy enemy on par with winter.

My only criticism is the involvement of the Collector. Id would have much preferred to see a unique character... but u could argue that he's a clever choice being that most people playing the game know who he is. Also I was slightly annoyed by the frame rate drop towards the end... im guessing its a pretty complex section of the level. Out of interest is the logic near by? Perhaps moving that to another area of the level will help speed things up again. Also removing unwanted corners and such will also help.

Rating: 5 star and hearted.

*looking forward to the next!		2010-04-09 20:02:00

Author:
ladylyn1
Posts: 836

Wow. Good suggestions.

1) For the jetpack, I've seen a few photos where people escaped and broke the level. Now I know how! Thanks for your help.

2) For the ending, yes I ran out of thermo and had to settle for this limited ending. I haven't been able to figure out what's causing all the lag around that area, but you are right in your assumption that (a lot) of logic is nearby. I'll try moving it to see if it fixes the problem!

3) I understand some people's disagreement with including the collector. My goal was to make the story a little more complicated than I did with Winter (she was just attacking for no good reason), while still keeping it simple. I figured an easy way to do that was to use a villian mastermind (other than Summer) that everyone already knew. Plus, I for some reason really liked the Collector in the story levels. I don't really know why... all he ever really did was steal things and laugh about it.		2010-04-09 23:16:00

Author:
Sickivionkey
Posts: 70

Hiya. You've got a level hole here. Next to the pig with melon and cake, if you walk slowly left, the player drops behind the front layer in the water and can swim out below.2010-04-12 08:41:00

Author:
TheAdipose
Posts: 533

https://lbpcentral.lbp-hub.com/index.php?t=10596-How-to-plasmafy-objects&highlight=Plasmified+objects

There ya go.

Great level by the way, only problem I had was the lag, but I played it without someone else, so I can't really be talking.		2010-04-12 19:16:00

Author:
srgt_poptart
Posts: 425

I see I have hearted your last level, so I hope this is just as good.
I'll comment as I play.
- The magic mouths from the first pig should activate sooner. When I was running along I thought he was a mute for a second there.
- sun design next to the pig is great!
- could add something in the water under the first bridge. It's water! People are gonna jump in, haha. I did.

At this point I ignored my laptop and just enjoyed the level!

Can't say much other than that. Everything was awesome. (designs/scenery/music/sound effect/lighting/etc)
The most impressive thing was the seemless combinaton of gameplay and cinematics when a sub-boss showed up. Great set pieces thoughout. For example sun battle, and collector intro. Boss at the end was nice too.

Five stars and heart, great level!

Much secret stuff in this level? I went left at the start and got that bit, but didn't find any other parts while playing.
Oh yeah, I didn't care for the lag either. I don't think the point bubbles are necessary as the scoreboard comes up a bit after.
Also in that area it didn't light up until I moved further right toward the sun. (First time I shot it out of reflex, nothign really happened so I moved right and it lit up.)

(F4F level in sig)		2010-04-12 23:39:00

Author:
midnight_heist
Posts: 2513

I just saw this thread and was totally stoked. I loved the Winter one and I'd thought you'd given up on creating since then. Glad you're still around.

I mostly enjoyed this one, but it just didn't seem to have the same fun factor as Winter. I'll have to give it a few more plays to see if I can nail down why exactly. I liked the characters (I hate pigs, but that's just personal taste...I actually don't like monkeys much either but that didn't stop me from enjoying winter). The designs were well done and I liked the little nuances like how the one right before the boss fight was eating.

The framerate dropped a LOT for me. Pretty much from the start of the boss fight to the end of the level. I was looking around for the culprit but couldn't find it. Are there a lot of objects in the area that aren't glued down? Are there more lights than what it looks like? There were a lot of lights in the area but I didn't think it was enough to cause that much slowdown. Actually, too many objects in a small area can cause slowdown even if they're glued down (though they're worse when they're not glued). So it may be an issue of using fewer objects: fusing blocks of material together; or using fewer lights. If the logic for everything is nearby, you might want to move it to another part of the level, cuz that can cause the too much complexity problem too.

Other than the cripplingly bad framerate, it's a great level. Hope you're able to find what's causing it and get it fixed.		2010-04-13 00:17:00

Author:
Sehven
Posts: 2188

1) Alright... just published an update that will hopefully address all the comments that I've recieved so far.

I think I may have fixed the lag, although I'm not sure what caused it. My best guess is that several of the walls in the final area were one LARGE piece shaped with the corner editor. Having such big objects that don't fit on screen may have been the problem.

But, I simultaneously deleted a few lights and unnecessary sound effects, so any one of those may have been the problem as well.

If you've previously had lag problems, play through again if you have the chance and let me know how it works out this time.


2) When (if?) I finally get around to making another sequel, I plan on making it a series of boss fights with a little bit of platforming thrown in (kind of the opposite of what I've done up to this point). If anyone has any recommendations, my ears are open! I'm particularly interested in any old-school NES boss battles that you remember fondly that I could draw some inspiration from.		2010-04-15 01:57:00

Author:
Sickivionkey
Posts: 70

Oh, by the way, I found a few level holes. The first one is at the beginning where you see Sun sleeping. If you grab his pillow, you can get behind the sand castle and slide down into the water. If you keep swimming behind the level, you get to some logic and a huge lightbulb. The second one is at the pig eating. If you jump on his head, and then jump as far as you can to the left, you get stuck in the wall, and then if you jump again, you go up a plane. Then you can run to the right and get out of the level.2010-04-17 03:58:00

Author:
srgt_poptart
Posts: 425

LOL! I need to train my playtester (my wife) how to find level holes! Unfortunately, I think there's always going to be a few.2010-04-17 21:23:00

Author:
Sickivionkey
Posts: 70

To be honest, the second one was a total accident, I was trying to do the one Adi was talking about.2010-04-18 09:07:00

Author:
srgt_poptart
Posts: 425

To be honest, the second one was a total accident, I was trying to do the one Adi was talking about.

At first I thought u were talking about the level! But then I read your previous post


@Sickivionkey: I would appreciate feedback on my level 'A Stairway to Heaven' for the feedback I gave earlier 		2010-04-18 09:10:00

Author:
ladylyn1
Posts: 836

Ok this is one ridiculously top notch level. I liked your first trial of seasons, you had some good rythmn going on with your level design and the premise was interesting.
But now, this level simply blew me away. You improved DRAMATICALLY in matters of visuals and you even improved the gameplay by a noticeable notch. The level is really exciting and you really pulled it off in matter of great rythmn.
Continue your excellent work. This is a 5 stars + heart in my book.		2010-04-19 02:51:00

Author:
RangerZero
Posts: 3901

I absolutely loved this. Everything, from the pigs tto the sun, the gameplay, visuals and story blew me away. You know, I thought I could manage myself pretty good in create mode before playing this. Now I'm not sure can.
I already said this in your comment box but I'll repeat it here: While playing it, I felt like I should stop creating and become a monk or something!

What can I say? 5 stars, heart AND creator heart.
I'm gonna keep track on you from now on, yes I will!		2010-04-19 18:04:00

Author:
Keldur
Posts: 628

Incredible level. I loved every minute of it. Great characters, lovely animation and really fun game play. The bubbles are just right with lots of opportunities to chain but not the easiest to pull off. This plus the winter trial are must plays! 5 stars, hearted to death and yeah fun! Look forward to seeing more 2010-04-19 18:52:00

Author:
OneEyedBanshee
Posts: 1370

I really enjoyed this! Loved Winter, and it was so long ago... groundbreaking then for me as a player and creator.... Summer did the same-- but it was in no way the level I had anticipated... Mind you I have no idea what i might be anticipating... but this wasn't it!

I found the level to be a little frantic and hectic as it wore on... but not necessarily in a bad way... It just kinda felt like you were a jockey and this horse got away from you at breakneck-pace... Very exciting! and subtle and brilliant. Thanks!		2010-04-19 22:27:00

Author:
Gravel
Posts: 1308

I have to admit, if you check the comments on Winter, I commented like 5 times telling everybody that he had probably quick LittleBigPlanet. Oh how wrong I was, but happy I was wrong! That hasn't happened to me before...2010-04-20 00:55:00

Author:
srgt_poptart
Posts: 425

This level was amazing. I loved the part if you break the key. 'Maybe another one will magically appear' .

However there are some things you need to improve on...

When the sun destroys the bridge and you fall down into the water, I glitched and got out of the level. I saw some dark matter as well .

The boss and everything after it could do with some music, I found it a little boring...

At one part, I saw part a gap where there was no material (lol, can't think of any other way to put it ).

Apart from that, it was great .		2010-04-21 20:37:00

Author:
Doopz
Posts: 5592

Great level. The 3D glitch is brilliant and the character designs are good. The sun part for some reason reminds me of "Super Mario Bros. 3" and it's funny to see the collector again. I don't know if it's necessary but the infinite checkpoints under the bridges during the sun shooting a light beam part doesn't seem to be part of it or you using it for something. You know which ones I'm talking about right? I also loved your winter part of the level series. The boss is awesome and the way the season scenery changes is something I have never seen in LBP history. Awesome level series.2010-04-22 00:29:00

Author:
JustinArt
Posts: 1314

Just played this one and Winter. Left you a comment on LBP about a level hole and such in Winter. Had immense fun on both levels, though. Like the others have said, the stuff you create blows my mind. One thing that stuck out: I got the "Oh no, the key broke!..." message, even though my key didn't break. I laid it down for a few seconds, but picked it up, and it still worked. Other than that, very nice level(s).2010-04-25 01:43:00

Author:
madcatz1999
Posts: 4


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