Archive: 7 posts

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Frank Herbert's Dune - The Spice RefineryDaveMuadDib A short level inspired by Frank Herbert's Dune universe. You play as Sack-Muad'dib, who stumbles upon a particularly strange cave in the deep desert after fleeing the Harkonnens. Hey people - this is my first ever level on LBP, so please be kind! I had an idea for a sprawling epic based upon the whole story (Which you may have guessed, is my favourite novel of all time), but it boiled down to this brief episode when I realised how out of my depth I was

2010-09-08 17:26:00 Author: DaveMuadDib Posts: 16

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Hi Dave, I too am a big fan of Herbert and his Dune series. First off, as this is your first level, let me be the first to welcome you to the level showcase forum. Glad you could make it. First levels are really about learning a lot of things, and for a first timer, I think you demonstrate a fair bit of understanding about what goes into a level. Making a level isn't as easy as it looks. I'm sure build this helped you learn a lot about the tools and how to put things together. I did like the sand worm chase because it felt as if the worm was closing in on you. That's a plus. You obviously understand how to put together some obstacles to get past with moving pieces, so that's another plus. I also liked the material you chose for the spice in the carts. That said, here's some things I think you should think about. Sometimes it's okay to see bolts and switches and pistons, but I usually like to hide mine because I find them a bit distracting. Also, think about the tone and feel you want the level to have. A stone and the rusty metal were good choices, but I wouldn't have gone with the taxi yellow metal or the wood struts material. I don't think they really fit. Along with tone and feel, think about music to match the mood and possibly add lighting to achieve the effect as well. A level must be fun, but it must look good as well. I would try learning to use the corner edit tool and the grid to help clean up lines and shapes. They take a bit of getting used to, but once you do you'll see how handy they really are. Also, experiment with stickers in unique ways. One thing I did to learn about stickers was to remove the stickers from the MM objects and see how they used them. You can do this with any level you play in for that matter. It's pretty cool. Well, good luck to you and you future level building. I had fun playing. I'd love if you played my Flying Saucers From Mars and gave me some feedback on it here on the showcase. Thanks.

2010-09-09 03:34:00 Author: thanatos989 Posts: 248

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I loved your Flying Saucers level!! Not much I could really say about it, it's pretty flawless! I truly appreciate your honest feedback, it's certainly not easy to make a level on here (as I've just learned!). I went for the taxi yellow to indicate that they're moving platforms and the wood was supposed to be Elacca Wood from the Dune universe but I agree it doesn't really fit, in retrospect it would have looked a lot more polished with better materials and less machinery on show. The music was a tricky one with the limited options. I'm hard at work on my next level a horror movie remake, but I don't want to give too much away just yet. I've already learned how helpful the corner edit tool is - don't know how I made the Dune level without it!! Thanks again for giving me your honest opinion, I've taken it all on board!

2010-09-09 10:43:00 Author: DaveMuadDib Posts: 16

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I really love Dune, even some other guys around do, and there's something cooking for LBP2, so I really want to see your interpretation.

2010-09-09 11:06:00 Author: OmegaSlayer Posts: 5112

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I just gave this one a go and got stuck after I pulled the switch that said something like "I can sense that something has changed nearby". Could you clue me in as to what I'm supposed to do there? I went back the other way and couldn't find anywhere else to go. it's probably something simple I missed. Maybe try skipping the text and putting a speech bubble on whatever that switch changes so you can see what it does. The chase at the beginning was good, the angled camera was nice there. As far as advice goes since this is your first level I think thanatos989 put it well. I didn't feel like the spice sticker fit the levels overall look and the choice of music seemed off. You can hide the pistons and stuff unless you like how they look. Also you can put strings and winches and stuff on things that don't actually do anything just to enhance the visuals. I'm not sure if that would work here but I do it in my levels a lot. I did like your choice of materials from what I saw. They looked good together, but maybe try messing around with the global lighting and making some areas darker and lighting them with some of the light objects you get in the story levels. Also maybe put a checkpoint right after the start point, beneath it where you drop down because if you die at the chase part it takes you back to the beginning and didn't seem right to me. Thats about it for now. Have a look at my newest level called Motel if you like.

2010-09-09 11:22:00 Author: MofoSuperVillain Posts: 88

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Argh, I was worried the "something has changed" part would stump people, but I didn't want to make it too obvious with a cut scene. All you need to do is go back to the dangly thing that you swung into the cave on. It's moving up and down now and takes you to a different part of the cave. I'll change that if I get around to a remake. Thank you very much for playing and giving your feedback, it's very much appreciated! I'll just reply to a couple of your points: I purely put the "Nice Spice" sticker on there because I saw it and it made me chuckle In retrospect, this, coupled with the music, makes it all a bit too whimsical, but it was fully my choice to make it a fairly lighthearted LBP-style level. I ummed and arred about leaving the winches, pistons, bolts etc on display and I decided to keep most of them in - it is a factory, after all, so I thought it was kinda neat to see these things. I hadn't unlocked global lighting when I made the level, trust me, I spent ages trying to figure out how to do it, and it's only now when I went back and did the tutorial level that I realised I hadn't unlocked it yet :-S It'll be a must next time around. The reason you're taken back to the beginning is because the Sandworm moves on wheels, but is pulled back on a big winch if you die. If the winch is too fast, the worm blows up, so I needed to give it time to churn back, so unfortunately this requires going all the way back. It's not ideal though, I know! The sandworm chase was the very first level element I worked on, and I spent absolutely AGES trying to get it to work right! Thanks again for your feedback, I'll have a go at Motel next time I'm online!

2010-09-10 10:47:00 Author: DaveMuadDib Posts: 16

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Makes me wish I'd had space left for a section where players can run from a worm! I played this level a long time ago and thought you had some genius puzzles going on - in fact I couldn't get through it the first time round and it had some friends scratching their heads later on, but in a good way. We had a lot of fun

2010-10-25 11:48:00 Author: Tanuki75 Posts: 172

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