Archive: 9 posts

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one of my first ideas for a level to create with LBP quickly became an epic story that was told over somewhere between 7 and 10 levels. the problem is it's taking me FOREVER. i spend most of my time daydreaming about cool functionality that fits in with the story and levels, testing out ideas and creating prototypes to prove that my concepts can work. i haven't even begun a lick of actual level design (which i find the most difficult). my intent was to post all of the levels at once rather than working on the 1st one, releasing that, and then moving onto the 2nd. my question, or really i suppose topic put forth to discuss is, how do other people approach their level designs and ideas? do most people just come up with a singularly contained level? has anyone else had ideas for level collections (i'm keeping my subject matter a secret )? do people start with level design first or contraption and feature creation? discus.

2008-11-04 22:58:00 Author: Conall-Star Posts: 157

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one of my first ideas for a level to create with LBP quickly became an epic story that was told over somewhere between 7 and 10 levels. the problem is it's taking me FOREVER. i spend most of my time daydreaming about cool functionality that fits in with the story and levels, testing out ideas and creating prototypes to prove that my concepts can work. i haven't even begun a lick of actual level design (which i find the most difficult). my intent was to post all of the levels at once rather than working on the 1st one, releasing that, and then moving onto the 2nd. my question, or really i suppose topic put forth to discuss is, how do other people approach their level designs and ideas? do most people just come up with a singularly contained level? has anyone else had ideas for level collections (i'm keeping my subject matter a secret )? do people start with level design first or contraption and feature creation? discus. I prefer minigames. I find series'es and long levels epic and stretched out to do, while small levels and minigames allow for massive amount of work on contraptions and mechanisms to work them.

2008-11-04 23:07:00 Author: floor3013 Posts: 287

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My levels are going to be from one not-so-epic story. My approach will be to make sure each levels story is self contained and makes sense as a standalone. Also each level has one or two main gamplay elements i.e. puzzle, platforming, fetch quests, boss battle etc. This should avoid the level getting to bloated. Keeping consistant art and characters should help the levels feel part of the bigger more epic story. Plus little references to the overall story arc and its done... ...or not as I've not even finished my first level. One level at a time *sigh*

2008-11-10 15:26:00 Author: staticvoid Posts: 37

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I'm starting off by making one self-contained level. I'll be done with it probably by the end of the year. After that, I'll begin on the real big (huge) project, spanning over four levels. It'll probably take at least three or four months to complete, probably more. Important part is to release the whole thing at once, to make the experience as complete as possible. It might be too big a project for me alone, though. If it proves too much, which it definitely might, I'd be more than glad to join a similar project or manage one, where there are equal number of creators as there are levels, the goal being having the creators make one level each. This would be a much quicker way of creating something of a grander scale. I feel like it requires multiple levels to make a truly engrossing experience, with a real final climax. For example, let's take donkey show's Azure Palace (mainly because it's the most awesome level I've seen so far). It's incredible, but think about how much more incredible it would've been if it had three levels before it to build up to the final boss fight. A bit of story about the Azure palace, perhaps first traveling to the site where the palace supposedly is, then entering the cavern (from which the Azure Palace level begins), then an underwater level, where you go from the cavern to the Palace, and the final part being the palace itself and the boss fight. But as you said, one good level takes months. Four good levels take four times as much. EDIT: Oh, and here's a reply about how I approach creating levels. First, I figure out a concept, and plan upon it. Best case scenario (meaning if I have enough time and enthusiasm), I manage to draw out a preliminary plan for the layout of the level (http://linque.pp.fi/LBP/lbp-treetop2.jpg). Then it's off to Create mode. There, the current way I'm creating is making the platforming part first. It looks pretty ugly, and I use a lot of dark matter to cut corners while I'm tweaking the jumps, timing, triggers, obstacles, and so on. Once I'm done with that, I'll start making sure the platforming parts look good - getting rid of the dark matter, replacing with thematic materials and polishing the forms and figures of the objects. After this I go into the really time consuming part, which is to make everything look good and add all the point stuff, rewards, and making everything prefect.

2008-11-10 20:37:00 Author: Linque Posts: 607

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that's an awesome level sketch man. truly deserving of the name "distinguished level designer". i find coming up with platforming challenges one of the most difficult things. knowing what's fun and how to pace your level is a very mysterious science. do you sketch out your levels originally on the computer or first by hand and then transfer them to the computer to really space them out properly? i'm gonna have to friend you and keep an eye on what you do. for the part in your sketch where you have to balance the scale type platforms (classic mario concept, very nice), how are you doing the pulleys? i've thought about how to do this since you can't actually drape string OVER something, only attach its ends. the best i can come up with is a tricky bit of syncing with a winch.

2008-11-11 02:47:00 Author: Conall-Star Posts: 157

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I draw straight to the computer. I like the flexibility of objects and layers compared to drawing with hands. Some boss ideas and enemies I might draw with a pencil, as it's quicker. Enemies are so much harder to plan out beforehand, as it's not that easy to make them just the way you want them in create mode. I worked a few hours on the balance platforms just yesterday, actually. What I did was exactly what you said - a tricky bit of syncing with a winch. Or four winches, actually. It works pretty well, though I can't get the platforms to remain still once you jump off of them - it will revert to the starting position, but I think it's good enough that way.

2008-11-11 11:06:00 Author: Linque Posts: 607

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i'll play around with the winch and balancing platforms tonight and see if i can come up with a solution that leaves them put when you jump off. why'd you remove the "distinguished" from your title?

2008-11-11 13:29:00 Author: Conall-Star Posts: 157

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I grew tired of it, too boasty and too long. Before, I wasn't able to edit my own title - now I can, so I did. Just 'level designer' is good enough, at least for now. If you're able to pull it off, I'd be really interested to see how it's done. I did make it look like a pulley system instead of a winch, by adding a rotating wheel. So it looks great and works exactly as I want it to, except for he part that it doesn't stop when you jump off.

2008-11-11 14:18:00 Author: Linque Posts: 607

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i think i figured it out. it's a bit complicated (but we knew it was "tricky" from the start). i'm at work right now so cant' test it out, but i will try it as soon as i get home and if i get it working, i'll add you to my friend list and send the object to you. the other very simple alternative is to simply have a seesaw suspended in air with two platforms hanging off either end...

2008-11-11 17:52:00 Author: Conall-Star Posts: 157

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