Archive: 14 posts

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Steelhead: Act 4: The Steel DragonRichasackboy http://i55.tinypic.com/fcifer.jpgFree from the shackles of chronology, the hero sets out to find the monster that set the clock of Arnivaras, fated to be the destroyer of the universe, ticking. LBL 4-in-1: Steelhead: Act 4: The Steel Dragon Hello everybody! This is my entry for the LittleBigLand Boss Category contest. I worked really hard on it, and the dragon took ages to make. http://i55.tinypic.com/fcifer.jpg Boo! A dragon! Now, if you're wondering where all the other "acts" are, this is a sort of backwards series! Well, the other ones will come in normal order, but they'll be in LBP2! I'm not going to put a huge rant in here, like I did last time, but I am going to say that this might just be my best level yet, even though it is only a boss fight. I stole rtm223's light machine to make some glowing lighting effects, even though there aren't very many lights around. Actually, in all seriousness, this level took me about a week of non-stop work ethic. The dragon itself was a nightmare to animate, especially as the thermo was screaming at me to because of all the decorations in the level. The boss has 5 attacks; 1? Fires lava from its mouth 2? Hits ground with right forepaw, sending gas forward 3? Fires pure energy from its mouth 4? Roars, causing a sort of avalanche of lethal rocks 5? Fires slimey stuff from its mouth It then starts the cycle again! You have to diminish the paintinator switch 4 times before he dies. The dragon is harder to hit before you have diminished its paintinator switch once; attacks 4 and 5 are locked off until you have managed to diminish the paintinator switch for the first time. After you have done this, the dragon will carry on with its attacks, and you have to kill it from there! http://i54.tinypic.com/mkvsw2.jpg Blurry volcano shot ftw! As for the story of it, the level is based around a vague story about sackboy and time breaking apart. Here's a snippet; "Alone in the dark, misty wasteland, the hero struggles to find a way to the mountain half submerged in the murky lake, to find a salvation, as time stands still and stagnant around him". Just a little something I thought up. Probably something more full and with a proper base... sooooon. Well, not very soon, seeing as I'm going to school soon, and I won't really have time for too much LBP. Except... LBP2 BETAH Z!!!!11 *ahem* *adjusts collar* Anyway, please give me your thoughts on my level, how you thought the boss moved, how the level looked, and give me some honest stars and hearts, people! Have fun with playing it! EDIT: Oops, I forgot to make those sprung bolts invisible! Gawd help mah. BTW, haven't really tested the mine-cart ride with 4 people, but I recommend trying it all the same. Just to let me know. The boss fight is better with more people splattering, though! However, I am still not sure about that mine cart ride. If it doesn't work in 4 player, just tell me. Won't be able to fix it, because of contest guidelines, but it would be nice for me to know! Spread the word, peeps!

2010-09-07 05:27:00 Author: Richasackboy Posts: 619

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Well very very nice level design. The flow was perfect the whole way through. I am sure there is not much space left on the thermo, but wish the coaster was a bit longer, it ran nice and smoothly. The dragon was awsome and the attacks were nicely done. At times it was hard to know the death zone at the dragon's feet. The life meter of the dragon went on for a good while, it may have been cool if parts broke off as you killed more and more. THe infinate lives did not seem needed, but the fact that the dragon had so much life... Amazing visuals though, nothing needs to be changed, but if you are looking for things, just the infinate life, longer coaster, something more obvious for being killed when you walk too close (if you are dodging the avalanche), possibly not allowing you to run back to avoid attacks, seemed somewhat simple, but still good, less dragon life, or same life but with damage taken as you hurt him. Great level!

2010-09-07 08:18:00 Author: celsus Posts: 822

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Hey Rich, Thanks for the feedback on Archaic Ascenson! I tried out your boss, and I thought he was very awesome! The intro cut scene that leads to him was really well done, I really liked the 3D and the volcano. The boss itself looked amazing. fantastic decorating on him, it really gave him a unique look. He was a really cool boss to fight because of his varied attacks, and the fact that when he was injured his attacks sped up and he started up some new ones. The only complaint I could have is that you kill him with only the paintinator, and there's only one spot to shoot. Bosses with multiple varying weak points, or with a different way of taking damage really up the stakes and make the experience unique. Besides that, I really enjoyed the encounter. His difficulty level was perfect and the visuals were stunning. Good luck in the competition, you've definitely got a contending level!

2010-09-08 06:37:00 Author: Duffluc Posts: 402

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Grr, my message didn't post last night. << Verry annoyed at my internet right now. Good stuff - I liked the little mine cart ride past the 3d scenery at the beginning even if it was a little out of place with the actual boss - Good pattern and set of attacks, this gives it good difficulty and a fair pattern. - At no point will the boss kill you just as you respawn, so thats definatly good (the gravest boss sin of them all tbh) - I liked the angled decorations on the nose to give it a rounded looking effect. Stuff to think about - The lava running down the volcano that you go past in the cart looks like its just dribbling down rather than pouring down. it might be good to make it with less vertexes with the corner edit tool not smearing a small circle. - His body and front paw aren't very animated, which is a shame because his head is so very well animated. maybe think about disconnecting them from the head and having them move independantly but also in sync with the boss. Full body animation is the thing to strive for here - Theres no difficulty curve, it woulda' been cool if he unlocked his attacks as you did more damage to him but thats not really that important. I do think he could have done with more attacks. I only consider him to have two attacks, which is gas and a breath attack. - His gas claw attack; it's not obvious where you are safe the first couple of times. Maybe its just me being inept. Basically, the first time I saw it I thought It was only on that back layer, the second time I thought I could hide from it in the cave. The third time I didn't think i'd have to run so far back that the camera zone changes. It was only on the 4th+ time that I realised to dangerous the attack was. I suppose its fine as it is, but it makes that little cavey bit a bit pointless, I was sure it was going to be used to hid from attacks in So yeah, pretty nifty little tumble you got here

2010-09-08 12:57:00 Author: Asbestos101 Posts: 1114

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This is a great boss, looks fantastic but there was a great deal of slowdown as I was playing. Don't know what you could do to prevent this... maybe use fewer lights? Maybe use a different technique for his fire breath? It might be unavoidable but surely it can be improved. Once I attacked him once (I think) he then started using a roaring attack that brought rocks crashing down. This was a great weakness as he opened his mouth and I could damage him twice over whilst he did this. That means the boss got much easier as I progressed... he should start by using this attack, and THEN it should get harder when he uses fire and gas. Also all the stages felt the same... it would have been nice to have maybe a 3 stage battle where each stage looks different - it's not a suggestion for this level so much as for a future boss level you make (hey you're not allowed to republish anyway for the competition). So for instance, you start off waking the dragon up in the cave, and he breaths fire at you, then the camera zooms out and he's chasing you back and forth through the cave and you have more vertical gameplay smashing rocks on his head, and then he chases you right out of the cave and you're running away on a mine cart as he flies above you burning everything as he goes. On the other hand, this level looks better than anything I've ever made and it IS a fun boss battle. I gave you :star::star::star::star: Good job!

2010-09-09 12:06:00 Author: thor Posts: 388

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I'm looking for any epic boss battles to get me any good ideas for the finale of my level series so I went to see this level and this one is a jawbreaker. The dragon design is really cool thanks to like about 100 decorations [I think] and the volcano that erupts while riding on a mine cart looked awesome. The attacks are amazing too but they're very easy to dodge to me. Overall this level deserves 5 :star:s and a <3

2010-09-10 00:19:00 Author: JustinArt Posts: 1314

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Very nice level rich, the dragon is epic! 5 stars and hearted

2010-09-18 13:30:00 Author: Alec Posts: 3871

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Nice work on this one, the dragon design was awesome! I also loved the intro mine cart ride. However, I felt the boss had variety in attacks but no variety in ways to kill it. It also got a bit repetitive. The visuals were great though and it was a great boss fight!

2010-09-18 21:58:00 Author: wolverinebball2 Posts: 55

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Looks great, I'll try to give this a play later!

2010-09-19 01:10:00 Author: X-FROGBOY-X Posts: 1800

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Well very very nice level design. The flow was perfect the whole way through. I am sure there is not much space left on the thermo, but wish the coaster was a bit longer, it ran nice and smoothly. The dragon was awsome and the attacks were nicely done. At times it was hard to know the death zone at the dragon's feet. The life meter of the dragon went on for a good while, it may have been cool if parts broke off as you killed more and more. THe infinate lives did not seem needed, but the fact that the dragon had so much life... Amazing visuals though, nothing needs to be changed, but if you are looking for things, just the infinate life, longer coaster, something more obvious for being killed when you walk too close (if you are dodging the avalanche), possibly not allowing you to run back to avoid attacks, seemed somewhat simple, but still good, less dragon life, or same life but with damage taken as you hurt him. Great level! Thanks for the comments! I did update the dragon with some indicators of damage before the deadline, and I think it works very nicely. I would've added a longer coaster, but my deadline was pressing me. I wish I could've made it longer, but to maintain the level of detail, I would have to cheat the thermo. Thanks anyway! Glad you liked it. Hey Rich, Thanks for the feedback on Archaic Ascenson! I tried out your boss, and I thought he was very awesome! The intro cut scene that leads to him was really well done, I really liked the 3D and the volcano. The boss itself looked amazing. fantastic decorating on him, it really gave him a unique look. He was a really cool boss to fight because of his varied attacks, and the fact that when he was injured his attacks sped up and he started up some new ones. The only complaint I could have is that you kill him with only the paintinator, and there's only one spot to shoot. Bosses with multiple varying weak points, or with a different way of taking damage really up the stakes and make the experience unique. Besides that, I really enjoyed the encounter. His difficulty level was perfect and the visuals were stunning. Good luck in the competition, you've definitely got a contending level! Added more volcanoes, with candle flames on them. They didn't take much thermo up. I agree, I probably should've added more shooting points, but I honestly didn't know where another paintinator switch could go, without being easily shot. The jaw is one of the only moving parts (apart from the leg), and seeing as the leg was in the back ayer, I couldn't put a switch on that. I really wanted to put one more on, but I had the deadline. Thanks for the feedback! Grr, my message didn't post last night. << Verry annoyed at my internet right now. Good stuff - I liked the little mine cart ride past the 3d scenery at the beginning even if it was a little out of place with the actual boss - Good pattern and set of attacks, this gives it good difficulty and a fair pattern. - At no point will the boss kill you just as you respawn, so thats definatly good (the gravest boss sin of them all tbh) - I liked the angled decorations on the nose to give it a rounded looking effect. Stuff to think about - The lava running down the volcano that you go past in the cart looks like its just dribbling down rather than pouring down. it might be good to make it with less vertexes with the corner edit tool not smearing a small circle. - His body and front paw aren't very animated, which is a shame because his head is so very well animated. maybe think about disconnecting them from the head and having them move independantly but also in sync with the boss. Full body animation is the thing to strive for here - Theres no difficulty curve, it woulda' been cool if he unlocked his attacks as you did more damage to him but thats not really that important. I do think he could have done with more attacks. I only consider him to have two attacks, which is gas and a breath attack. - His gas claw attack; it's not obvious where you are safe the first couple of times. Maybe its just me being inept. Basically, the first time I saw it I thought It was only on that back layer, the second time I thought I could hide from it in the cave. The third time I didn't think i'd have to run so far back that the camera zone changes. It was only on the 4th+ time that I realised to dangerous the attack was. I suppose its fine as it is, but it makes that little cavey bit a bit pointless, I was sure it was going to be used to hid from attacks in So yeah, pretty nifty little tumble you got here I really only wanted one place to hide in - and that was as far away from the boss as you could get. I think the gassy stuff adds to the difficulty. Also, the boss does have a sort of "difficulty" curve, however, it's more of a "anti-difficulty" curve, as when you have diminished the paint switch once, it becomes easier to destroy him due to more attacks being activated (i.e avalanche one). I really wanted more animation, but the fact is, the body is all one piece. I would have to do some extreme separation and decoration work in order for the body to move. The back legs aren't even visible, so I suppose I could take those out. If you didn't notice, his front claws (if you manage to jump on them) are spikey! Thanks for the +s and -s! This is a great boss, looks fantastic but there was a great deal of slowdown as I was playing. Don't know what you could do to prevent this... maybe use fewer lights? Maybe use a different technique for his fire breath? It might be unavoidable but surely it can be improved. Once I attacked him once (I think) he then started using a roaring attack that brought rocks crashing down. This was a great weakness as he opened his mouth and I could damage him twice over whilst he did this. That means the boss got much easier as I progressed... he should start by using this attack, and THEN it should get harder when he uses fire and gas. Also all the stages felt the same... it would have been nice to have maybe a 3 stage battle where each stage looks different - it's not a suggestion for this level so much as for a future boss level you make (hey you're not allowed to republish anyway for the competition). So for instance, you start off waking the dragon up in the cave, and he breaths fire at you, then the camera zooms out and he's chasing you back and forth through the cave and you have more vertical gameplay smashing rocks on his head, and then he chases you right out of the cave and you're running away on a mine cart as he flies above you burning everything as he goes. On the other hand, this level looks better than anything I've ever made and it IS a fun boss battle. I gave you :star::star::star::star: Good job! Yay! I really enjoyed this feedback. It really gave me stuff to think about for my next boss level (if there is one... probably LBP2). I could probably have arranged his attacks to act like that, but the idea had slipped my mind at the time. Also, the slowdown could be due to the lights and 3D layer glitch use. Also loads of decorations. I do like to tax the level engine though, so I couldn't help myself. Thank you very much! I'm looking for any epic boss battles to get me any good ideas for the finale of my level series so I went to see this level and this one is a jawbreaker. The dragon design is really cool thanks to like about 100 decorations [I think] and the volcano that erupts while riding on a mine cart looked awesome. The attacks are amazing too but they're very easy to dodge to me. Overall this level deserves 5 :star:s and a <3 Thank you. There are around 2-300 decorations on the dragon itself, and around 100 on the body alone. The head has about 50-75 decos, and the claws are 50-75 too. Lots of stuff going on there! Very nice level rich, the dragon is epic! 5 stars and hearted Why thank you! Nice work on this one, the dragon design was awesome! I also loved the intro mine cart ride. However, I felt the boss had variety in attacks but no variety in ways to kill it. It also got a bit repetitive. The visuals were great though and it was a great boss fight! Yes, I understand the repetitiveness. I wish I could fix that now. Oh well! No time to do that. Thank you anyway!

2010-09-19 05:05:00 Author: Richasackboy Posts: 619

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Hey, very cool level! The dragon was amazing looking, I smiled when I kept some of that green stuff in his mouth for a few seconds by rapidly firing the paintinator, Overall, very neat level! I rated the level :star::star::star::star::star:.

2010-09-19 14:22:00 Author: X-FROGBOY-X Posts: 1800

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Thanks for the comments, X-FROGBOY-X! Glad you enjoyed it. As of today (19th of September) my level has been given a spotlight nod. Didn't see it at first, but now I have! Thread title updated.

2010-09-19 19:06:00 Author: Richasackboy Posts: 619

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Great, great work. Good stuff, dude. It was one of the best looking bosses I've ever seen, and that's saying something. Duffluc mentioned it already way up there, but I'd like to clarify and explain, since you seemed disappointed and talked about trying harder: it was a visual masterpiece and the varied attacks were really well done. The main issue I had with it was the sole use of the paintinator. Constant shooting in the same spot for ten minutes (I'm clumsy ) tends to get a little repetitive. I think if you varied it up, maybe shoot at different spots, maybe even run around on top of the dragon and vary the attacks for the Sackboy, it would work really well. Again, good work, and I'll be looking forward to playing more of your levels!

2010-09-19 20:57:00 Author: Ryhas Posts: 179

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This...is....crazy. xD crazy in a good way after u showed me the logic it wowed me even more because -it gets more attacks as it goes along -the mouth health bar resets (which is awesome) -the sounds are awesome -the visuals are 10/10 along with the music that fits really well -i love the mine cart at the beginning as well overall i say 5 stars a heart, and a big chance at a tasty crown (mmmmm) from this contest xD good luck, i hope yu win

2010-09-22 03:16:00 Author: Unknown User

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