Archive: 9 posts

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I just published a level in the LBP2 beta, "Tank Mission (game concept)". It's mostly built for me to demo the LBP2 tools and bug test stuff and so forth, but the best way to do that is to actually try to build something. It may not look amazing but it plays decently. A few things of note: It's a top-down shooter. There are upgrades available for your main gun (R1). You pick up powerups in the field to switch between them. There are also special ability (L1) powerups you can pick up in the field. You drive the tank like a true dual-motor system; each analog stick up/down controls one tread's throttle. You have to push both up at the same time to go forward, both down for reverse, and any other combination turns. (If you've never driven like this before it can take a little getting used to) For one or two players only. (If you have more players it just ejects you.) Two player mode takes one player as the gunner and one as the driver! The level does lack some polish, but I think people will enjoy it anyway. For the lucky beta people: Have fun! (http://beta.lbp.me/v/ek86) For the rest: I'm excited at how easily this went together once I got the hang of the new LBP2 stuff. It's not as hard as I thought it would be to be able to create at this level. I don't have access to any video capture equipment; if someone else wants to record it that's fine with me.

2010-11-18 14:59:00 Author: Risen Posts: 251

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Nice! I'll throw it on my que for this evening.

2010-11-18 15:52:00 Author: CCubbage Posts: 4430

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Ok, I played it - gotta say, I'm really excited by this one. It's got a great feel to it, I love how the tops of the tanks turn, and the enemies work well. Right now the only week point I can see in it is the controls. The control scheme is really difficult to get used to. Maybe have the right stick simply move the tank forward and back, and the left stick turns it left and right.... something like that. But the concept and gameplay are terrific.

2010-11-19 03:54:00 Author: CCubbage Posts: 4430

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Thanks! I understand about the controls, but one of the things I was setting out to do here right from the beginning is make the tank drive using a dual-throttle control set. Real vehicles that have treads on both sides use this type of control. I had a remote control car that drove like this. It's definitely learnable. (well, it would be if learnable was a word.) While I knew LBP2 must have rotation and direction systems built in, I wanted to see if I could make this control scheme work. Maybe I'll set it up later on so you can pick from easy mode (boring control, heh) or hard mode (tank controls). If I take the concept to a full-on level I'll consider doing that. For as complicated as it is, I still have PLENTY of thermo left. Yay!

2010-11-19 04:13:00 Author: Risen Posts: 251

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Or maybe have the left analog sick controll motion whilst the right controlls the turret ?

2010-11-19 11:34:00 Author: Unknown User

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Ok, I'll go back and practice a bit more then and see if I can master it. I THOUGHT I knew what I was doing, but I may not have been controlling it correctly.

2010-11-19 17:57:00 Author: CCubbage Posts: 4430

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Ok, I went back and spent some more time with it. I TOTALLY get the controls now, and they work beautifully. In fact, once I got the feel for it I played it for a pretty long time and had a blast. I would suggest a couple things: 1. On many of the sound effects you can only hear them if you're near them. 2. It may give a bit more "oomph" if you add a small explosion effect when you hit something even if it takes multiple shots to kill it. 3. Big one - a tutorial at the beginning that teaches the player how to use the controls. On the final release in LBP2, I think it will make a huge difference on how this game is accepted. I think many, like me, might not realize what you've done here. This is a big, pretty meaty game that deserves attention. Fantastic job, once again!

2010-11-21 11:53:00 Author: CCubbage Posts: 4430

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Thanks! Yes, I know it's a bit complicated. A full-on release of this should include a short tutorial on driving as well as things like the health bar and powerups and special weapons... not to mention just ejecting players from the level if 3 or 4 of them go in at once is not a good way to make friends! When I do that I can easily make a switch that flips between "basic" and "advanced" control sets. I also finally got to play it 2p last night... it's a blast to play, but maybe a "basic" control mode wouldn't be bad there either. The "advanced" control sets will have to be given some kind of point bonus of course... As for the sound effects... it's because the camera is so far back that the visible area exceeds the game's radius for hearing sound. I didn't want to set all the sounds to 'play always' and lose directionality. I did log a suggestion on the beta forum about it.

2010-11-21 19:36:00 Author: Risen Posts: 251

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Actually, IMO I think the tank controls intuitively.... once you understand it. Maybe some simple animated images at the beginning showing how to use the 2 sticks. I actually just beat it.... ended up with 10 points below you... About the sound, are you more concerned with directional or having the sound be softer as it's farther away? One thing you could do to simulate a nice effect is having, maybe, 3 sounds of different volume. One of the 3 explosion sounds go off based on proximity from your tank. This way you can control the volume of the explosions.

2010-11-21 22:28:00 Author: CCubbage Posts: 4430

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