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Beneath The Machine (Pinball) (SPOTLIGHTED!!!)

Archive: 29 posts

http://s1189.photobucket.com/albums/z437/smasher1973/lbp/?action=view¤t=DSC00247.jpgThis is a pinball game with a machine theme. It has exiting graphics, and lighting. With unlock-able sections, free ball opportunities, and even multiball.

Unfortunately I fear most people won't see the best parts of this level, due to its difficulty. But for the non-pinball lover, I think they can still have some fun in here.[/div]


Here's some pics!

http://i1189.photobucket.com/albums/z437/smasher1973/lbp/th_DSC00273.jpg (http://s1189.photobucket.com/albums/z437/smasher1973/lbp/?action=view¤t=DSC00273.jpg)
http://i1189.photobucket.com/albums/z437/smasher1973/lbp/th_DSC00272.jpg (http://s1189.photobucket.com/albums/z437/smasher1973/lbp/?action=view¤t=DSC00272.jpg)
http://i1189.photobucket.com/albums/z437/smasher1973/lbp/th_DSC00271.jpg (http://s1189.photobucket.com/albums/z437/smasher1973/lbp/?action=view¤t=DSC00271.jpg)
http://i1189.photobucket.com/albums/z437/smasher1973/lbp/th_DSC00274.jpg (http://s1189.photobucket.com/albums/z437/smasher1973/lbp/?action=view¤t=DSC00274.jpg)
http://lbp.me/v/td800n		2010-09-11 17:24:00

Author:
smasher
Posts: 641

This level was fun. It is the first "pinball" LBP level I've played and so It took me a few rounds to figure out what was going on. I didn't immediately understand the sticker switch set-up and the first time I played I ended up scoring zero because I neglected to close out my popit as soon as I put a sticker on the "start" switch. After that, gameplay was straightforward and intuitive, if occasionally laggy. Not sure if that was the graphics or my wireless connection though.

Great job on all the background and foreground supporting visuals, just like a real pinball machine, there were lots of bells and whistles and distractions. I gave you four stars and played several times.		2010-09-11 23:04:00

Author:
Unknown User

Two and a half hours later, thirty plus attempts, forty-six-thousand plus high score and I still haven't managed to try everything in this level. The level requires precision, timing, patients, strategy and a really quick trigger finger. Theme, perfect, lighting, brilliant, very well constructed and excellent game-play.

Now the flaws. The right hand side rescue bumper occasionally fails to work, it only happened three times but very annoying none the less. When I hit the tree blue lights above it gives a seventeen times multiplier but has no sound or light effects praising the achievement. Getting extra balls is very hard, may I suggest you make it a tad easier, the most I ever had was five. The red pressure pad beneath the bell I accidentally broke once. I once managed to fall out of the elevator and stand on the glass. The way to activate the side rescue bumpers needs to be more obvious, or told to us in the tutorial. Getting from the Main Arena to the Pipes Arena is very tricky, no first time player would be able to get there, after saying that there isn't much you can do about it. Getting multi-ball is nigh impossible, I only managed to get to a position to get the multi-ball twice and I never actually managed to do it

Well worth the play. It's true novices will enjoy it, even though they miss the secondary area, and die hard fans of pinball will love it. One day I'll get that one-hundred-thousand point high-score, one day.

I have a F4F level but it is far two easy, would you give feed back instead on the level "The Town Road" and find all of it's hidden places, ie. The hidden race, the underground town and under the crane tower. Thank you.		2010-09-11 23:42:00

Author:
Regan Spor
Posts: 9

This level was fun. It is the first "pinball" LBP level I've played and so It took me a few rounds to figure out what was going on. I didn't immediately understand the sticker switch set-up and the first time I played I ended up scoring zero because I neglected to close out my popit as soon as I put a sticker on the "start" switch. After that, gameplay was straightforward and intuitive, if occasionally laggy. Not sure if that was the graphics or my wireless connection though.

Great job on all the background and foreground supporting visuals, just like a real pinball machine, there were lots of bells and whistles and distractions. I gave you four stars and played several times.

Thanks for playing Random Cheese! I'll try to figure out something more straight forward for the tutorial. I don't really get any lag, but even if I did I don't think I could fix it. Thanks for the feedback!

Do you want any F4F?



Two and a half hours later, thirty plus attempts, forty-six-thousand plus high score and I still haven't managed to try everything in this level. The level requires precision, timing, patients, strategy and a really quick trigger finger. Theme, perfect, lighting, brilliant, very well constructed and excellent game-play.

Now the flaws. The right hand side rescue bumper occasionally fails to work, it only happened three times but very annoying none the less. When I hit the tree blue lights above it gives a seventeen times multiplier but has no sound or light effects praising the achievement. Getting extra balls is very hard, may I suggest you make it a tad easier, the most I ever had was five. The red pressure pad beneath the bell I accidentally broke once. I once managed to fall out of the elevator and stand on the glass. The way to activate the side rescue bumpers needs to be more obvious, or told to us in the tutorial. Getting from the Main Arena to the Pipes Arena is very tricky, no first time player would be able to get there, after saying that there isn't much you can do about it. Getting multi-ball is nigh impossible, I only managed to get to a position to get the multi-ball twice and I never actually managed to do it

Well worth the play. It's true novices will enjoy it, even though they miss the secondary area, and die hard fans of pinball will love it. One day I'll get that one-hundred-thousand point high-score, one day.

I have a F4F level but it is far two easy, would you give feed back instead on the level "The Town Road" and find all of it's hidden places, ie. The hidden race, the underground town and under the crane tower. Thank you.

Thanks for the feedback Regan Spor! I'm glad you liked it enough to spend that much time in there. As for the flaws. I'll try to address some of these. Some I already know about, and am still working on. Some I can't fix, and some you opened my eyes to em. As for the difficulty of the second table. I made it hard on purpose. I have spent MANY hours testing this. Sometimes you can open all of it up with hardly any effort at all. Other times..... Needless to say. It can be tricky, but who doesn't love a challenge? Also, on the free ball area, you can get really lucky up there some times.

Thanks for the feedback!
I'll get right on that feedback for your level.		2010-09-12 00:18:00

Author:
smasher
Posts: 641

Update, I changed a bunch of stuff. I added more to the tutorial. I decided to make the left side a little easier. I put ejectors on the left side. i fixed the ejectors on the right. I made the switch for the bell more robust. I also made the free balls a little easier to get. If anyone else tries this out, and you have any trouble. Please let me know. This level is very complex, so it's easy to miss something. Thanks!2010-09-12 16:40:00

Author:
smasher
Posts: 641

I failed to get the sticker thing right away, but i got it. This level is really great; I can tell a ton of time and effort was put into it. Everything looked really polished and well done. I've just played through it once so far but I'm about to play it again.

I'm not a big pinball buff or anything but i still really enjoyed the game; the only thing I could really recommend is to make getting balls a little bit easier. But I might have more feedback later. But I would like feedback on my level Farmageddon!!(Bomb Survival)! when you get a chance please.

P.S. 5 Star and hearted		2010-09-12 18:06:00

Author:
Hamsalad
Posts: 2551

Just played this level, and I am not a pinball fan, but you did a really great job. I was not sure about the begining...you could have a simple tutorial system set up by a timer with a R1 switch to scroll through it, but the stickers allow the user to completely skip it...just a large amount of stickers there. Music wise, I think I wanted some ofhte songs, I know you had a ton there, but the ones I like weren't...which is kind of funny for the number of options...most likely should not add more. The play mechanics were good, the upper flippers were slower than the lower. The camera was well done, I don't know if you could tilt the screen back more to gice the pinball look, but foor some reason I wanted that...but that could ruin the level if you built it for a straight on view. The ball died a few times on my out of the blue, but with so many things hitting, LBP is nefariously evil for things just getting killed...(every one of my stupid failed free walking mech legs). I am not sure if using an electic shiney metal for the ball would have it live longer and sound better, the platic clink of it was a bit of a let down to all the of the hard work you put into the level. At times the level seemed a bit dark, and I missed the massively bright bonus flashing lights that one gets in the cliche' pinball games of yore. The scoreboard to the right was ok, but the wording to it was really good, just a bit fast.Not sure if it is possible, but if the scoreboard was on top it would make it more real...with the Pinball name adn the cool credits. Great job, like I said I am not a pinball person so take the feedback as you like, just the lighting, sound of hte ball, substance of the ball, intro selection, credits and score moved to the top...not sure if your thermo would allow you to do so, or if it is so tweaked moving anything will break the level. So great game...I think I got third, but those scoreboards never update anymore, have a level that has several completes...but no actual player scores.

If you get a chance I am still looking for some feedback on improvements on my Choice level.		2010-09-12 20:55:00

Author:
celsus
Posts: 822

I played trough again, loved it, again. I noticed it got a bit easier, I might just be I got better at it, I still haven't worked out the technique on how to actually get the multi ball so I still can't feed back on it. I picked up another two flaws, in the extra balls arena, the top buffer on the far right broke once, also the ball managed to get stuck between two of the buffers twice, it came loose after a brief moment.

I'm loving the additions, I'm enjoying myself much more, keep up the good work!		2010-09-13 01:32:00

Author:
Regan Spor
Posts: 9

I have played your level and really at design it is good enough, you managed to do an excellent pinball and it has seemed to me to be enterteining, i like that you have all these options and successful bundle a good game, I like me totally the visual style that you put. Good work


I have given you 4:star:'S

I wait could play my level WOOD WOLD https://lbpcentral.lbp-hub.com/index.php?t=34593-Wood-World-(with-VIDEO)-*SPOTLIGHT* and i would like to know your opinion. Thank you		2010-09-17 19:00:00

Author:
psyntens
Posts: 562

This is the best pinball level I've ever played in LBP. The visuals looked radical and it's really cool to see the gears that looked like it's a layer glitch. The pinball gameplay works well like a pinball machine. The only flaw is well you heard that a lot already is the problem making a command because you're still in a popit after looking up tutorials and change musics. You should somehow tell people to close the popit really quickly. Don't know if it's random to me but my PS3 automatically exits the game in the middle of the level and I'm not sure if it's a bug or it's just my PS3 [don't know I'll try again and get a score]. Overall that's is a great level [ a thousand times better than the pinball minigame I made a long time ago but it's going to be deleted in order to make room for my last two LBP1 levels]. 5 :star:s and a <3.

Play and F4F "The Hero Chronicles LV7 Dragon Ruins"		2010-09-21 01:14:00

Author:
JustinArt
Posts: 1314

Thanks for the feedback Justinart, I can easily fix the poppit thing by either making it start by R-1, or by just adding text. Any opinions on which would be preferable? I'll feedback your level tomorrow. Thanks for the feedback! 2010-09-21 01:35:00

Author:
smasher
Posts: 641

Hi Smasher!!!!

I will not write a lot of comment in here, cause I can reduce it to just one word:



! ! ! __<3<3_____G O D L I K E_____<3<3__ ! ! !



Ok ok ok, some more thoughts :-) This level ist the most impressing level I've ever seen in LBP, and I've seen a lot of great levels indeed! This level has it all: breathtaking visuals, great gameplay, outstanding hidden areas with two amazing additional tables to raise up the score, an absoutely brilliant camera-system that follows the balls move perfectly, a stunning table-theme with gorgeous light/sound-effects etc. etc. etc....

There is just one little con: the start-area where you have to choose music/info/start. I understand the reasons that made you create it that way and once the player adept to it, it's not a real issue. But it happens that you're not closing your popit fast enough (while looking at these amazing table and getting stunned) and *dang* the first ball is gone cause you can't use R1 :-)

I've been kicked out LBP two times till now while playing - but that's not a problem to me cause I know that all the logic that's needed to run this level pushes the game-engine to it's limits.

That's a masterpiece and I gave :star::star::star::star::star: and <3 for level and creator! Top notch!!!


For F4F-reason: if you find some time you may try my LBL: 4 in 1 ATTENDER-ALLIANCE (co-op) ... it also has been spottlighted :-) Enjoy!!!		2010-09-21 08:43:00

Author:
(___NEO___)
Posts: 206

LOL at Neo. He was bragging he got 2nd place and then I came along and took it lol. Anyway, this is one of the best pinball machines ever to be made on LBP. Camera shifting was perfect. The only time it jerked is when its coming down from the free ball area but thats no problem. There 1 thing I think you need to change though. When a ball breaks it gives you 100 points. Its easy to break it when it just lauches and you hit it towards the top area with the top left flipper. Other than that it is a top notch pinball level. 5 stars and a <3! If you havent played my level Umbra Valley: A Lost Soul, could you please? The link is in my sig. 2010-09-21 12:50:00

Author:
L1GhTmArE
Posts: 519

Thanks for the kind words everyone! I'm gonna change the start so you start with R-1. That way you can't start until you close your popit. I'll also look into the ball breaking giving 100 points. It shouldn't do that, but I may have hooked that system to the scoring system. I'll play your levels promptly. Thanks!2010-09-21 22:10:00

Author:
smasher
Posts: 641

Well, the ball-breaking and the sticker-section is not a real issue here. At least I'm a lot more concerned about the fact, that in over 50% of my plays lpb quits to the ps3-main menu or the ps3 freezes completely... That's a bit scarey..... I don't see a possibilty to change it cause there is so much going around here, that this seems to be the reason for this freezing-glitches and I think you can hardly take away something of this beautiful level.

@LIghtmare: hahaha.... don't challenge me.... you will loose... I played pc-pinball long before you've be born HAHAHA.... I will be back with a highscore.... :-)		2010-09-21 22:22:00

Author:
(___NEO___)
Posts: 206

At least I'm a lot more concerned about the fact, that in over 50% of my plays lpb quits to the ps3-main menu or the ps3 freezes completely... That's a bit scarey.....

I know. When it was happening to me I thought it might be my ps3. Apparently it's the level. You know, just think how I feel. I've spent all that time on it just so it can crash peoples ps3. The thing about it is, is that it doesn't do it on my moon. It only does it on the published version. I've recopied it, and republished it to no avail.

I don't know what to do..........

I haven't the slightest idea why it's happening........




@LIghtmare: hahaha.... don't challenge me.... you will loose... I played pc-pinball long before you've be born HAHAHA.... I will be back with a highscore.... :-)

Yeah if you can make it through a game without it crashing on ya!		2010-09-22 00:23:00

Author:
smasher
Posts: 641

The freezing has never happened to me once yet so idk whats going on with that. Maybe a certain area or condition has to occur.



@LIghtmare: hahaha.... don't challenge me.... you will loose... I played pc-pinball long before you've be born HAHAHA.... I will be back with a highscore.... :-)

LOL ok old man (not really). Ima blow your score away XD		2010-09-22 02:07:00

Author:
L1GhTmArE
Posts: 519

I haven't the slightest idea why it's happening........

Suggestion - On "roll out the barrel" there is a section where there are huge spinning wheels, lots of lighting effects, and the such. Periodically this section would lock up my ps3. I removed a couple spinning wheels (which were there for visual effect) and the issue stopped happening.

It sounds like an obscure lbp bug can sometimes cause this kind of issue.... who knows why.... maybe eliminate a bit of non-essential visuals a bit at a time and re-test to see if the issue still occurs. It's a pain in the neck I know....

On the bright side, when lbp2 is released you will be able to simplify the logic and create a better pinball game out of this thing:

1. You can make the pinball indestructable, so you don't have to worry about it breaking at all from impact.
2. You can use a movie camera that can move out-of-distance from the sackboy without causing an issue so you don't have to kill sackboy in the background to move to a different part of the play area.
3. You can have the ball change layers so you can have the ball roll through tunnels in the foreground and move to the background at will - no more fancy emitting logic to simulate this happening.		2010-09-22 03:22:00

Author:
CCubbage
Posts: 4430

This level was N.1 pinball level I have played. It had good features, it wasn't too easy nor too challenging.
Good:
+Very good, perhabs the best version of pinball I have played in LBP.
+Visuals were just outstanding
+Fun, many features.
Bad:
-I am not personally the best in pinball. Definetly much more joy to a pinball fan.
-Outstanding visuals caused a bit lag to me.
Critic: :star::star::star::star: It is a very good pinball themelevel, but since I am not a fan, I decided no to heart. As F4F level, I would like some feedback on my Better Life Factory level, thank you!		2010-09-22 06:05:00

Author:
FreeAim
Posts: 2462

Suggestion - On "roll out the barrel" there is a section where there are huge spinning wheels, lots of lighting effects, and the such. Periodically this section would lock up my ps3. I removed a couple spinning wheels (which were there for visual effect) and the issue stopped happening.

It sounds like an obscure lbp bug can sometimes cause this kind of issue.... who knows why.... maybe eliminate a bit of non-essential visuals a bit at a time and re-test to see if the issue still occurs. It's a pain in the neck I know....

On the bright side, when lbp2 is released you will be able to simplify the logic and create a better pinball game out of this thing:

1. You can make the pinball indestructable, so you don't have to worry about it breaking at all from impact.
2. You can use a movie camera that can move out-of-distance from the sackboy without causing an issue so you don't have to kill sackboy in the background to move to a different part of the play area.
3. You can have the ball change layers so you can have the ball roll through tunnels in the foreground and move to the background at will - no more fancy emitting logic to simulate this happening.

Thanks for the suggestions CCubbage. I'm gonna play around with it this weekend, and see what I can do. As for LBP2 I had the same thoughts. I'm gonna make a killer pinball!!		2010-09-22 10:07:00

Author:
smasher
Posts: 641

LOL ok old man (not really). Ima blow your score away XD

HAHA... hey, I AM an old man :-) don't play with the fire young kid :-) never ever underestemate the old man's power ;-) LOL
I am a freaking "I will beat it until I die"-type of player... and especially at pinball-games. I crushed my first keyboard while playing pinball in the 80's and the hunger is still there: ok, lighty, you have one big advantage, cause your LBP never crashs in this level, but oh yeah: I will be back :-)		2010-09-22 12:13:00

Author:
(___NEO___)
Posts: 206

I was having fun until it booted me out of LBP.
Shame about that.

EDIT: I would be more than happy to replay (and most likely heart) if you manage to get a more stable version up. 		2010-09-25 10:52:00

Author:
midnight_heist
Posts: 2513

I was having fun until it booted me out of LBP.
Shame about that.

I'm working on a fix. Please try again after I update. I'll post here when I'm done updating.		2010-09-25 14:51:00

Author:
smasher
Posts: 641

Really cool level! Everything was spectacular and really well designed, so i dont really have any major criticisms other than on my first run, I forgot to put away my pipit causing me to die. But I figured out my problem quickly and enjoyed your fantastic level. I gave 5 stars. Also congrats on the spotlight!2010-09-26 05:39:00

Author:
optimafrogg
Posts: 98

I've made some updates. I made it so you start with R-1, after you close the popit. I put in a score compensation system. When you get up twards 100,000 pts, and you teleport to a different area it would become a hinderance, as you lose 5% of your score when you die. This system corrects that. It compensates your score within 500 to 1000 points. I think that's acceptable. Better than 5000 @ 100,000 pts. I also believe I have the problem solved where it boots you out of LBP. It used to boot me out about 75% of the time. Since I found the cause, and made changes I haven't been booted out once. I'm not 100% sure it's solved, but at the very least it should happen very rarely now. 2010-10-03 19:33:00

Author:
smasher
Posts: 641

I saw this thread and flagged it for later cuz this level looked really good. Finally got around to trying it just now and I really liked it. I didn't even notice until after I had finished that you were the guy who made my favorite lbp pinball level: Monster Pinball. No wonder I enjoyed this one so much.

I loved the visual style and making the player's pod/elevator visible was a nice touch that added the machine feel. The table layout was nice and I liked that little area up on the left (more on that in a minute). I imagine there were probably a lot of things I didn't get to, so it's probably still better than I know.

Now for the complaints. The ball breaks really freakin' easily. When I was experimenting with a pinball level, I had the same problem. I finally solved it by using the compression tool to merge an invisible circle of metal into the ball (the heavy more solid metal takes the impacts so the delicate ball doesn't have to). I also don't care much for the look of the golfball (I like a darkened and stickered fairy light... put that's just personal taste), and the sound the golfball makes when it hits is really underwhelming (which is also solved by compressing metal into it... as I recall, different metals even make different sounds--I can't remember which one I decided I liked best, but if you decide to use metal, it shouldn't take too long to figure out which one you like).

As for that little area up and to the left, almost every time I got up there, I got gypped. The ball would bounce around a few times and end up at the edge and fall out the bottom before ever going near the flipper. That means it all came down to luck--I don't like playing games where you have to depend on luck. Also, I freakin' hate teleporters 'cuz they kill you and mess up your score (even with your 500-1000 pt compensation, it doesn't always work out, especially if you've racked up a decent amount of points).

And that's all the negative comments I have: everything else was great. Can't wait to see what you do with lbp2 .		2010-10-11 06:58:00

Author:
Sehven
Posts: 2188

Thanks for the feedback Sehven! Well, I pretty much agree with most of your complaints. But. I think if I change the ball now, I'll have to rework the flippers, and some level design. That's a can of worms I don't really want to open. To be honest I never really did much experimentation with different ball options. I wish I had you screaming in my ear when I was building this thing. Oh what I wouldn't do for MM to make a pinball!! As for the free ball area. I know some times it may seem unfair, but I actually did a lot of testing on this. You can get up there, and get really lucky sometimes. It does get easier with practice. I've actually gotten up to 9 balls up there. Other times I've gotten zilch. Besides, a part of real pinball IS luck. About the compensator. I know it sucks losing points, but everyone's in the same boat on that one. I promise I'll make a better pinball for LBP2 if I can ever get my hands on it. 2010-10-11 23:30:00

Author:
smasher
Posts: 641

Yup - LBP2.....

Ability to make golf ball invinsible... check
Ability to turn off the golf ball sound and make a better sound when it hits something... check
Ability to move the golf ball between layers for front-layer movement... check
Ability to change to different camera angles in different areas of the board and have sackboy out of the picture without popping.... check.
Ability to tweak the physics on the golf ball and get it to work more like pinball... check

I love this pinball game - played it several times - but it's going to really rock in a few months. 		2010-10-12 02:18:00

Author:
CCubbage
Posts: 4430

Yeah LBP2. That?ll be awesome.
Anyway, I played your level! : D

So I see you put a lot of work into it and it's great.
But, I think the most people who make a pinball lvl in LBP, don't know that the flippers are made of rubber. (Ok, they?re made of metal but rubber is all around it)
The Multiball was funny but short. In rl there is a ball saver, which saves the balls for a while.
Hm, it laggs, but you know that already.
Maybe because of the overtuned effects? (They were awesome, btw)
Okay, that?s all.
(I also post you a comment on the lvl ingame, btw)		2010-10-31 12:29:00

Author:
Unknown User


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