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#1

Ravine Ramble

Archive: 11 posts

I've been lurking here a while and I am now posting a level for the first time since I finally feel I have made something that I can be proud of. I will trade feedback or even give feedback just for a play through as long as you let me know. I will continue to leave feedback a while and if I need to quit I will edit this post to let people know.

As for why you should try my level:
-It features a large amount of vertical platforming. You will have to travel from the top to bottom of the available space.
-I tried to make a variety of areas while maintaining a common theme. I tried to make transitions smooth and believable.
-I have added many hidden or hard to reach areas for people who like to explore and collect bubbles and prizes.
-Some enemies/harmless animals feature a stun mechanic that works with the grappling hook. This allows you to use the more harmless ones to navigate the level or get past the dangers enemies more easily. In addition to this, there is a paintinator section where destroying an enemy with a head shot will give more points.
-A timer based hint system to make a puzzle more manageable if the player takes too long. It offers a vague hint and then a more obvious one after a certain time.

My main concern with my level is difficulty. I would like the opinion of people who don't know what to expect. If it is too difficult for everyone to finish, I will try to think of creative ways to give an easier path, but with less reward. Thank you to anyone who takes the time to play my level. I will certainly return the favor.
http://lbp.me/v/qcb31s

EDIT: Thanks to all the people who have left feedback. Here are my changes so far:
-Logic and switches have been made invisible.
-I have added some extra visuals near the end. I've been playing with hologram animations, so I gave added in a short one.
-Some switches have lights associated with them. They change from red to green to show that they have been activated.
-I made sure the switch in the mine cart puzzle can't be reached without completing the puzzle. In addition, I added stickers to the gear that falls down to show that it is grab-able since it is a material that is not normally grab-able. The glitch that Jdsfrog mentioned seems to be fixed, but I have no idea what even caused it. It certainly wasn't intentional, but It would be nice if I could intentionally reproduce it to have other objects act similar to hologram material.
More changes thanks to good reviews. Thanks everyone:
-Slowed down the speed that the mine carts come out. I also added some warning signs earlier, but I don't think I could pull off the flipping over part without a high risk of death on the first attempt. You need the speed to get enough momentum and if I make the gas further away, it just puts the grapple out of range anyway. I did at least leave a little slot so the wheel shouldn't be able to crush anyone anymore.
-Zoomed out camera for the puzzle.
-Added extra grappling beam at the one checkpoint in the water area. Simply a dumb mistake on my pert for forgetting it. Working on the lighting in this area has not been redone yet, but I will continue to work on it since that will take a bit of time to get right.		2011-02-07 17:21:00

Author:
waffledogRTK
Posts: 22

The level started off well..very different trying to platform down for a change! The snails were my favorite...Very creative! You lost me after that area though...the gameplay got sloppy in the following areas and the visuals began to get less and less appealing near the end. I also noticed some recycled LBP1 logic...which is no big deal...but the level would look better if all these things were unseen.

Strong start with a bad finish..

Shawn		2011-02-07 21:57:00

Author:
shawneboi
Posts: 221

Review up on the level page! Thanks for playing mine!2011-02-07 22:08:00

Author:
Robo-Bear
Posts: 9

Thank you both for the reviews. I will try adding a light or something similar next to that switch at the mine cart part to make sure it is visible. As for shawneboi's comment, I did indeed start in LBP one before I was finally able to get it to a way where I liked it. I actually had more switches visible in earlier version since I like MM's approach to incorporate them into the visuals of the level. However, most got phased out simply because it is really difficult to make them look good as I was going through revising the level. I guess I missed some near the end, so I will go clean those up as well. Once again, thank you both. I will make edits and then edit my original post to reflect this.2011-02-07 22:33:00

Author:
waffledogRTK
Posts: 22

I was impressed, that was a great level! I liked how it felt like you were traveling really deep underground. You did really well with the enemies and creatures, and the stun mechanic was pretty awesome. The jellyfish were my favorite, I liked how they chased you down if you fell in the water. When I got to the part where you need to grapple a button to summon a cart after the snail area, I dragged the cart down and managed to pull the lever on the wall by jumping off of it. This destroyed some of the metal and changed the music, but I could not figure out where to go next. The walls glitched up and I could walk through them, but I'm not sure you meant that to happen, so I could not finish the level. However, I still liked all of it a lot, and I think you did a really good job!2011-02-08 17:44:00

Author:
Jdsfrog
Posts: 97

Lots of great ideas in this level.
I really liked the idea of working against gravity. It felt like cave diving or mountain climbing, which I think you were going for.
The enemies were well designed. The jellyfish looked fantastic and they moved very realistically.
The cat theme was a strange, but unique idea. I appreciated it.
The section with grappling onto the boxcars was fantastic. You're really great at coming up with obstacles and making them feel fresh.
The snail idea was a mechanic I've never seen before, very inventive

I didn't have too many problems with the level. I thought it was well designed.
The biggest problem I had was the section with using the mine cart to hit the switch. The puzzle was really ingenious, but to the point where it's almost too tricky to be worth the payoff. What's worse than that is I encountered the same glitch Jdsfrog did. I couldn't get back up when I fell. I retried it 4 times last night and couldn't progress. I did try it tonight though and it worked great. The other part I had a little trouble with was the jump with the electric snail. Trying to get across to get the grappling hook was really hard for me.

All in all, great job. You very clearly had a lot of passion doing the level. It shows.		2011-02-09 03:49:00

Author:
alexstone108
Posts: 15

Awesome, I've added this level to my queue and I'll play it and review it tonight ^^

In return, could you please try and review my level, Bounce Pad Level 1.

http://lbp.me/v/xk-j9v

It's much appreciated ^^		2011-02-09 15:12:00

Author:
Unknown User

Very interesting (read: strange) level! It provides a challenge (which I enjoy) with cleverly designed creatures (which I also enjoy) and grappling hooks (which I love). Visuals, also good. Started off a little weird, but gradually got better, and weird again at the end (mainly because it's the start, sort of... you know) but still good. I particularly enjoyed the cart challenge. That had me thinking.

Great level overall! Hearted, too.		2011-02-10 09:25:00

Author:
Breezy-The-Pro
Posts: 134

Pros:
*I didn't really get into the level untill I was under ground at the water with the snails. Once I got to that section I really started enjoying the level a lot more. The ambience you created in that section was really cool and I could see a whole level being built around that look.

*The whole feeling of going deaper and deaper into some wierd under ground tomb/lair was cool and I want to know more about that (maybe in a sequal?).

*The grapple stun was cool but I didn't understand why it was needed. Maybe some puzzles that require it would be good.

Cons:
*There were a couple of parts where dieing came naturally. Maybe this was the intention and I just suck but it seemed to happen quickly and with out warning. For instance. The part where you have to jump on the moving card was cool but It would be nice if the cart stopped for a brief moment. Also when your on that cart you have to grapple before you die. That is fun but I felt like I didn't get enough warning. Maybe a few earlier ! signs would be good. Also when I did grapple it sucked me up into that wheel, spun me, and then squished me.

*One frustrating part was that when I got to the water I died and lost the grappling hook. I couldn't get another one so I had to wing it. Again im not sure if that was intended or not. I was unclear about how to get across with out it...but I did and I finished the level.

Conclusion: After finishing the level I can say I had a good time playing. I was a little unsure at times where to step with out dieing. I liked decending into a wierd funky place with an evil presence and I would play more levels with that theme.		2011-02-10 20:54:00

Author:
Siljin
Posts: 76

-+ That was a short level. I don't know about you, but I always travel the opposite direction when starting a level. For bubbles/secrets.
+ Vertical downwards gameplay was interesting.
- Stun not needed on the hedgehogs.
- Ugh. Cats occupy one layer each, but one of the cats hazard areas is two layers thick?!
+ Nice character designs though.
+ Conveyor grapple is kinda fun how it switches the way they move.
- The mine carts come in -way- too fast. Hard to drop down in time.
- No way for the player to react to the gas on the right in time. A level should always be aceable on the first playthrough.
- Direction somewhat unclear because player is behind purple glass, I also got squished when holding onto the yellow rotating circle. (unfair death)
+- Snails were cool, but a little annoying (slow, poor lighting/direction/etc)
+ Nice use of cart/grapple/switch, but it's too dark and the camera is too close to even see the switch while grappling. A decent concept, but could be designed better.
+ Eye animation.
- Died when jumping off the rocket.

Some interesting stuff, but could be better.
The main problems are restricting cameras, clarity and lack of light.
Still recommended. 		2011-02-10 21:35:00

Author:
midnight_heist
Posts: 2513

I really enjoyed this level -- so many different, unique ideas, each one of which would be strong enough to base their own level off of.

The climb down was interesting, and the stun mechanic was unique. The drop into the mine cart was difficult but rewarding to get right. As mentioned in the in-game review, I had trouble the first time on the yellow wheel -- I somehow got flung miles off into stranded water. Also didn't realise that the "correct way was down" -- the purple glass obscured it a bit.

The snails were very cool -- uite challenging and there seemed to be multiple paths. However, I wasn't sure if I was going the right way; you may want to signpost it.

The puzzle, again, was unique. However I really needed both hints -- mainly because I wasn't that sure that the objective was to move the level. Perhaps placing it more centrally with lots of arrow stickers pointing to it would help? The puzzle itself was ingenious though. You could base a whole level of these kinds of clever (infuriating?) puzzles!

Really looking forward to playing more of your creations.		2011-02-11 02:24:00

Author:
PetPirate
Posts: 8


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