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Into the Castle Depths

Archive: 23 posts

Into the Castle DepthsZynax555
It's a dark and rainy night when you stumble upon an abandoned castle.
This is a puzzle platformer that may challenge you to think... just a little. As the title suggests the level is set in a castle.

I suggest that you play this level by yourself to heighten the mood that it creates, and also, I generally design my levels for one player so some parts may be solved incorrectly with two. You may also need to adjust your tv if you have your brightness set low because the level is sort of dark.

Here are some pics
http://img844.imageshack.us/img844/9937/aphotoa.jpg
http://img46.imageshack.us/img46/1622/aphoto4.jpg
http://img137.imageshack.us/img137/4354/aphoto1l.jpg		2010-10-02 03:28:00

Author:
zynax555
Posts: 170

You had me sold at 'challenge you to think'' Will play asap2010-10-02 03:41:00

Author:
L1GhTmArE
Posts: 519

Well I played and I think I got stuck. I liked the intro. The castle tower was nice, pulled the lever before I could see what it would do. Went into the castle, I liked the look there, the jumps worked real well...but they did not look like they should have been jumps...which is a good thing I think. got the gate open, got he the crate with the glass base adn flipped it twice by accident...was able to move it when I was in mid-air too? With out touching the ground I was able to move it left and right. Well flippe it back because it would not move when it was flipped...made the jump across..and the physics of LBP made the jump up no work and I feel all teh way down from teh broken scaffolding instead of making up the broken wall above...that got me a few times. Made it to the left, got the box down, pulled obth levers there, nice puzzle, camera showed me a painting on the otherside? Figured it was showing something had moved. Went across to the tall towers with the hanging ladder...the fourht step up on the right side seemed to not always want to let me land on it (once in a blue moon) and I would just fall all the way back down. Pushed the box over to the right, made it to the pictures...and could og no further, went below and saw the wall was moving a little up and down...ran and jumped and after many tries made it in...turned out to be a bonus area...went back out, looked all over and could not find any lever I had not moved. I like how the levels looks and plays, just a few jumps where the area may need to be bigger to avoid slightly unfair falls in the areas mentioned, moving to the forward plane form the back where the spawn point is in the castle courtyard sitcks a little, adn the bonus area randomly moving up and down may need to be fixed...oh and I could see I needed to go further to the right in the area above the bonus chest...but the wall way blocking me. I must have missed something. I will try and finish it again later...but I have to run.2010-10-02 08:44:00

Author:
celsus
Posts: 822

This is one the best thinker levels I ever played. The corner editing and material palette was superb. Everything flowed together and nothing felt out of place. All the puzzle were well thought out, too. The part that had me stumped the most is the second part of the water section. I think I spent like 15-20 min in that part trying to figure out wat to do. I smacked myself after I figured it out. That spiked spinners is a point eater but I love it still

Problems: I had the same problem as celsus on my 1st playthrough. I had brung the box down first then I pulled the switches later on that run. The next area didnt open up. When I replayed I pulled the switches 1st then got the box down and it worked.

Despite having to play twice I still gave it 5 stars and a <3.

For the F4F could you play my newly published level, Foulmouth Grotto. The link is in my signature.		2010-10-02 09:34:00

Author:
L1GhTmArE
Posts: 519

Lol, I was worried I lost my touch! I was hoping it was a glitch, because I could not beat this one, that ninja level, and the battle level. I will give this another try. 2010-10-02 09:49:00

Author:
celsus
Posts: 822

Ok, thanks guys. I've never ran into this problem you two are talking about but I'm going to go try to recreate it. Is it that you guys pulled the block to the left. I just realized it gets stuck there and fixed that.2010-10-02 14:06:00

Author:
zynax555
Posts: 170

I am not sure what caused my issue, but I will see if I can recreate my problem.2010-10-02 20:36:00

Author:
celsus
Posts: 822

Please do. Because what you explained shouldn't have any negative consequences on how the level acts. I tried doing exactly what you did despite my knowing that is shouldn't do anything out of the ordinary. Nothing out of the ordinary happened, maybe it's that you didn't pull the switch all the way? That's the only thing I can think of.2010-10-02 23:17:00

Author:
zynax555
Posts: 170

There is some kind of glitch when you pull the lever all the way up to the left of that area it does not lower the walls all the way to the right. I played again and it worked this time. Last time it wanted to move down but justwas caught on something and would not go down. I liked the next puzzle, the redbutton did not match too well with the rest of the level. don't know if you could hide it. The cardboard walls that move up and down in the water also seemed a little off, the cahins looked good but when I hit them they went spazzzz...so it may be better to put a little weigt on them or some really small (invisible) anti grav...but then they won't move at all...so it may no be a good as just a metal ball or something. The part where you put the larger box in to go the rest of the way through did not look as refinded as the rest of the great level...maybe the glass and the cardboard was bugging me, but it just seemed a little less there. The spikes were pure evil. Perhaps I spend too much time creating and not enough playing but I lost 3000 points there...I am sure infinate lives made me less cautious...but the wheels seemed a bit fast for a slick surface and very little room. The ride down was great, the grabby ceiling at the start of the toxic gas had a bit of a steep bump so a few times I grabbed the floor instead of the ceiling and then if I let go I would just fall and die. The hammer looked good (although a stone hand weilding it may add more flavor), but the gas was a bit hard to judge with the speed, and I died a few times going oh I guess there was gas in that area too. Last thing I noticed is something everyone seems to do...and that is the magic mouth with no text just for a camera view. That really bugs me because all I can think is...shoot I forgot to put text in...there is some weird thing where if you put in text it will do the stupid slow update global symbol you save and play...and it never put it in because I think the auto censor rejected it and refuses to save it...so after fighting that one many many times in making my levels I am sure blank speech bubbles annoy me more, but it also seems like just simeple things like, "You hear something move in the distance" or "a long hallway opens before you" would fit perfectly into the bubbles, if you are worried the person may read instead of look at the camera then a short word blurb like "What that sound" or "...it's blocked?" may work. All in all great level, just those minor issues...and the bigger one of the path not opening. THe first time I could not get through I re-pulled the switches several times (all of them)...but the camera did show the first time, which is why I think it got stuck.2010-10-02 23:38:00

Author:
celsus
Posts: 822

Okay, I gave this level a play since it looked very interested and I just loved Dimension 555. Anyway, here's my review.

I really liked the temple and forest theme to this level and the puzzles and gameplay were amazing. The final puzzle, before going to some tricky gameplay was definitely my favorite and of course, the most challenging as you knew by watching me take quite a while to figure it out . But anyway, I loved how they're challenging and never got frustrating alhough I did have that glitch with one of the rooms to go up and down, luckily it stopped when you joined though. The gameplay that was after the puzzles were great like the circles with the tiny spaces between the spikes , that was great. This was a blast and if anyone wants to play a level with some great and challenging gameplay and puzzles with a fine choice of stickers and materials and not too many bugs xD, I'd recommend this level. :star::star::star::star::star: and a <3 Great job zynax

Plus, this level has now been mentioned on my blog.

As for F4F, could you give feedback on my friend shookie's level, Castle Crawler 3? If you need a link to thread, I can provide one 		2010-10-03 03:18:00

Author:
Dragonvarsity
Posts: 5208

Yeah this was a great thinking level

Positives:
+Detail looked great
+Scenary looked amazing
+Visuals looked great
+Gameplay was very smooth
+Puzzles were awesome

Overall I recommend this to everyone to play and hopefully they play it all the way out...:star::star::star::star::star:
if you dont mind playing my level SSBB- Battleship Harlberd Interior i'd appreciate it 		2010-10-03 03:19:00

Author:
Sabre_
Posts: 653

@Dragonvarsity - I think the glitch should be fixed. I've still never been able to recreate or even understand why it's happening but whatever. (doesn't make sense for a perm switch for directional to go in more than one direction.) Also glad you liked the level.

I think a lot of people are going to just rage quit on the water puzzle though, oh well.

I'll get to both of your feedbacks tomorrow.		2010-10-03 03:34:00

Author:
zynax555
Posts: 170

You could add a little hint on that water part. It was neat that the boxes did not move if there was no water (the one on the left) but you could add some kind of hint. I was just messing around looking for bonus points and I got it by accident right away...but if I was trying I may have been confused. Are you sure the room is not hanging on anything< You do have a few pistons in that area...some times they can fight? If you have them set to stiff you may need to replace them. I have the weirdest luck with them, my spaceship had them...then they were removed because they were acting up, now it hastons of pistons, srpings, chains, wobbles, and bolts but it works fine. The while on the walker I had to remove all but one piston to heep it from suddenly spinning in circles and legs breaking off. That chest below may be acting up...I saw it doing the woerd glitch jumpy thing that pistons do so it is not the switch unless it is set to on and the timing of the piston is several seonds rest and like .5 seconds on move.2010-10-03 04:46:00

Author:
celsus
Posts: 822

My opinion the level didnt need hints at all, the fact that the level was challenging & test your thinking skills was perfect and by far the best.. But I to agree with you on the other hand only for the level to get more completions for those who get stuck.. But as I said I like it the way it is but if you want more people to pass it then I guess its ok to add a hint or to.2010-10-03 07:47:00

Author:
Sabre_
Posts: 653

That was quite an challenging puzzle level that had me think what am I supposed to do next. A lot of obstacles are hectic, yet a lot of fun and the visuals looked amazing as it seems to remind me of "Zelda" and "Lord of the Rings". The rain effect is outstanding too and the zipline ride at the end of the level is breathtaking. Overall, I recommend this level to any experts who want to test themselves to solve the insane puzzles. 5 stars and a heart.2010-10-03 21:41:00

Author:
JustinArt
Posts: 1314

Just played this level through and thought it was brilliant. It definitely lives up to its description. I love how elaborately planned everything feels and it's genuinely satisfying to solve each area.

I hope you pursue more levels in this style, it's very interesting to play. Visually simple but it works. The only thing I chuckled at is how 2 boxes of the same material are somehow different density... one floats, other sinks, one is small and heavy and one is large and light... it's possible I'm just not noticing a visual distinction but anyone who experiments could get it.

Visually speaking the level has some nice details here and there, it's clean and manages the castle depth mood just fine. There are a few lethal thrills but they're not cheap or anything. All around great job.		2010-10-05 03:07:00

Author:
Foofles
Posts: 2278

this level might be even better than Ancient Castle by _OIL... and that's no small feat. a real masterpiece of atmospheric, organic puzzles. you nailed everything. not a single thing is out of place, nothing is under or overdone, nothing needs to be cornered more, nothing is claustrophobic or cramped, no clutter or layer hassles - the scale to sackboy is perfect. the puzzle's and the mood flow and coalesce together,nothing is ever easily done, but never awkward or obtuse to be frustrating. nothing can break that i can tell, and everything is in context from place to place. even the pacing and curve in difficulty from chamber to chamber is spot on. i like the switch up at the end that still feels in tune and has a nice brisk lead to the end, the modest point placement.

one thing i'd like to praise, is your grabbable moss... most people do a terrible job throwing stickers around haphazardly for faux detail, especially for grabbable foliage... you obviously spent time giving it a seamless look and in just the right spots for gameplay and looks.

these are my favorite kind of levels, and i put it right with stuff like ancient castle and sackboy's inferno episode 3. a whole bunch of stars for this one		2010-10-05 04:49:00

Author:
Unknown User

@foofles - The box densities are wacky but I ended up making them that way for the sake of the puzzle; it wasn't originally planned out to be that way, and no there really isn't any visual distinction between them besides size, which may be misleading at first, but I leave it up to the player to figure out the properties of the boxes because I believe that they are smart enough to do so. I really don't like giving hints.

Thanks to everyone for the feedback and sorry if your someone who I haven't gotten to your f4f yet just give me some time; I've been really busy with school work, but I do plan on getting to those sometimes soon.		2010-10-05 21:59:00

Author:
zynax555
Posts: 170

I will try this out!

Edit:
Here is what I thought:
*Very nice castle
*Great puzzles
*A bit confusing
*Too quite
*Some parts were very hard
*I gave it 4 stars and a heart

Please play my Paint Deathmatch! Level found in my sig.		2010-10-05 23:19:00

Author:
Emogotsaone
Posts: 1030

By too "quite," do you mean too quiet? Because there are a lot of sounds going on and sometimes I believe that that's better than music for creating an atmosphere and mood for a level. Also more than half the level does have music too, just pointing that out. I don't know if it being confusing is good or bad for you but I did want it to be puzzling. Confusing... puzzling, they're sort of analogous I guess.

Thanks for the feedback; I'm glad you liked it. I'll get to your level this weekend. (along with everyone else's too).		2010-10-06 21:33:00

Author:
zynax555
Posts: 170

This is not feedback as such - I just wanted to say how much I love your level. This has got to be one my all-time favourite puzzle levels in LBP. It genuinely makes you stop and think but the answer is always there to be found through observation/deduction so it never gets frustrating. That's definitely a tribute to the clever design of the puzzles.

Though they eat all my hard won points, I was also pleased that you included some tricky platforming sections at the end too. It just adds an nice extra dimension.

Finally, I really liked the atmosphere you created - the gloom and persistent rain were somehow the perfect backdrop. They gave the level an original and memorable feel.

:star::star::star::star::star: and a <3		2010-10-08 22:29:00

Author:
shropshirelass
Posts: 1455

sorry for the wait...had duty this weekend...

Anyway Brilliant level! The visuals were great...not too much but nice too look at. The puzzles were extremely satisfying and had me scratching my head a few times! There were a few times when I would breathe a sigh of relief when I would finally realize what i was supposed to do...which I love!

5 stars and a heart...thanks!

Shawn		2010-10-11 16:05:00

Author:
shawneboi
Posts: 221

Thanks for the feedback everyone.

I'm really glad to hear that the sort of rewarding experience in which I tried to create for the player after finishing a puzzle is happening. I know for a fact that I love feeling that sense of accomplishment after finishing a tricky puzzle, and since I designed the level, I really didn't know how rewarding it felt to complete it. I could guess, but I could never entirely know for sure whether the puzzles difficulty gave off that sense of accomplishment.

It's really weird being the creator of puzzles as you know the solutions. Watching people try to solve them is rather amusing actually Anyway, thanks again for the feedback; It's much appreciated.		2010-10-12 22:43:00

Author:
zynax555
Posts: 170


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