Archive: 14 posts

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Hiya guys and gals, I've been working on making Treetop Escape a reality for a couple of weeks now. I've made some progress, and thought that I'd put up a thread here in the projects forum to write about the creation of this level. I don't have much to show about the level yet, and I'm not going to show the whole level with screenshots until it's released - I'm going to focus more on what hurdles I encountered, what's taking the most time and all sorts of thoughts I have about the creator, creating and LBP in general while I tinker away. I have drawn a quick picture showing what parts I've worked on so far and where I am at right now. In the picture below, the green areas are parts that I've nearly finished gameplay wise (no fancy decorations yet), and yellow areas are sections that are at least partly made, for example the obstacle mechanics might have been worked out, but everything is not in place yet (as is the case with the rightmost section displayed below). http://linque.pp.fi/LBP/lbp-treetop-progress1.jpg Stay tuned for a bit of info on making the first section of the level. I'll write it tomorrow, after getting a good night's sleep.

2008-11-17 22:59:00 Author: Linque Posts: 607

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Nov 18th 2008 Alright, this is the first entry to my project diary. I don't know if anyone really cares about this stuff, but enjoy writing this stuff, so who cares? There's so many things I'd like to talk about over creating levels in LBP, I don't know where to begin. As with pretty much any project you can take on, there's only so much you can do by preparing. I've had the basic idea of Treetop Escape in my head since the beginning of the year. In March I finished drawing the layout (http://linque.pp.fi/LBP/lbp-treetop2.jpg) for the level, and over the summer I adjusted some of the ideas as we got more detailed information about what's possible and what isn't in the Create Mode. Once the beta came about, I realized that some of the stuff I had in the level were going to be pretty tricky to create. And as it turned out, the hardest parts were concepts I thought would've been really easy to create. Building levels is definitely a learning experience. I'm glad I got into the beta, as I was able to try out a lot of things and actually learn a few tricks of my own. I've noticed that creating new obstacles and contraptions gets easier each time. Once you learn how the triggers, winches and springs work, you're able to create a lot more complex and interesting obstacles. I've also understood the importance of the grids when making delicate objects. But really, by far the most difficult task is to make the level fun to play. I was able to whip up the section marked green in the progress picture in the first post fairly quickly. However, it has taken quite a few hours to make it actually fun, challenging and interesting. Also, given that there's quite a lot of timing involved with everything in that section, tweaking one thing might mean changing ten others to keep the system functional. Now that I've been able to tweak and tune it, I'm actually really satisfied with what I have managed to build. The rope system is in place, and there's a lot of fireballs involved! I really wish I could work on this 24/7, but unfortunately I've only got a couple of hours here and there. I'll be sure to post more on this project thread. I'll probably dissect some obstacle I've build and what difficulties I ran into while trying to make it work.

2008-11-18 19:38:00 Author: Linque Posts: 607

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Oh yeah, I remember reading your initial post about this a few weeks ago. Seems you've got this one planned out to every square ince. I look forward to it's release. How long would you say until it's done roughly?

2008-11-18 20:10:00 Author: UmJammerSully Posts: 1097

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Nov 19th Here's two preview shots: http://linque.pp.fi/LBP/treetopsneak1.jpg http://linque.pp.fi/LBP/treetopsneak2.jpg

2008-11-19 15:16:00 Author: Linque Posts: 607

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Looks fantastic. Upon joining the forums here at LBPC, your ideas always sounded the most exciting to me. Can't wait to take a crack at it when you're done.

2008-11-19 16:06:00 Author: supersickie Posts: 1366

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Thanks. It's still a long way off though. You might have to wait until January, even though I'm aiming to release before the holidays.

2008-11-19 17:00:00 Author: Linque Posts: 607

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looks great, can't wait for it!

2008-11-19 17:12:00 Author: Unknown User

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Dec 3rd It's been a couple of weeks since my last update. The first week I was super busy and wasn't able to work much on the level, but now I've made tons of progress. Also, thanks to some quality testing, I've been able to tweak a few parts of the existing level for better enjoyment. But the concept drawing I had for this level is next to useless now. The first half of the actual level reflects the concept quite well, but the latter part is something completely different. Actually, the rotating platforms that you see in the sneak preview shot from Nov 19th are gone - it would've been too hard to make them fun or challenging at all. I've replaced them with something completely different. Well, most of them. I've learned loads of valuable lessons regarding creation in LBP. I now know how to better manipulate objects, avoid messing up with gluing and working with pistons, triggers and well, pretty much all the tools. Goes to show that tinkering with the tools in practice really is essential in becoming good at this. For example, I knew how pistons worked before, but something like which end of the piston I connect first is something I had no idea had any difference until now. It functions the same regardless, but the animation and look of the piston is difference. Same goes for winches. Anyways, I'm close to having all the obstacles from start to finish in place. It'll take a while to tune all the obstacles to perfection, but at least now the level will feel a bit like what it will in the finished version if you play it. I'm actually quite satisfied with how things have progressed so far, and I'm also happy with how original I've been able to make the level feel, even before I start decorating it. That's it for now. Here's one more sneak preview screen shot: http://linque.pp.fi/LBP/treetopsneak3.jpg

2008-12-03 21:57:00 Author: Linque Posts: 607

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For example, I knew how pistons worked before, but something like which end of the piston I connect first is something I had no idea had any difference until now. It functions the same regardless, but the animation and look of the piston is difference. Same goes for winches. Actually, I've encountered some moments when it does make a difference. Say you attach a piston from a large block to a small one... It'll push the small block. Turn it the other way around (from the small block to the large block), and the small block will actually attempt to push the large block, oftentimes breaking (the small block). I'm not sure if this is a bug or when it exactly happens (it doesn't always), but I guess you could say it matters. Anyway, I really wanna see this solely for one reason. I remember seeing this concept of yours back at GameFAQs (I think?)... That was about a year ago. I want to see how much it changed. Ah, so many good memories... The good old times, when we didn't even know switches existed.

2008-12-03 22:34:00 Author: aer0blue Posts: 1603

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This sort of thing is a joy to read and I have been inspired to do all my future projects in this way, it looks like it really helps to clear the ideas out of your mind and get them down. This is a shining example of how to go about creation! Keep it up Linque it's a joy to read.

2008-12-03 23:27:00 Author: Dave-la-kingenbo Posts: 43

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Dec 13th I haven't been able to work on the level at all until this friday. But on friday I spent about 6 hours on the level, much more than I should've spent, considering I've got loads of exams to take next week. But then again, I made a lot of progress on Treetop Escape. About an hour and a half was spent with fixing the level as some parts of it fell apart regularly. There's so many things in the level that it's a wonder it actually functions properly. Especially considering that I've used quite a bit of complex tricks and abused some bugs a little bit to make everything work the way I want them to. Anyways, the things that fell apart were mostly stuff getting unglued when I unglue something completely different, and me noticing that the other part has fallen to the floor 15 minutes later, unable to undo thing back to the way they were supposed to be. It's pretty intimidating, noticing that something has broken. But that's what backups are for. I sincerely suggest that everyone would make a backup of their level every few hours. Just copy the backup to another crater on your moon. Another thing I want to mention to everyone is something I noticed regarding the thermometer. If put spikes in your level, make **** sure they're glued to the floor even if they work just fine even unglued! I had an area of about 50 to 70 spikes on the floor, unglued but firmly put as they were surrounded by walls. However, the fact that they were unglued made a big difference in the thermometer. Once I glued them to the floor, I got almost 1/4th of the thermometer back! Unglued spikes seem super heavy on the level, but really, you want to have all things glued to either dark matter or the corners of the level if at all possible. The level itself is in pretty good shape now. I've added points bubbles, and all the areas (including secret and bonus areas) are finished in terms of gameplay. Now all it needs is quite a bit of testing and after that (and the subsequent fixes) I can proceed to working on the appearance, sound effects and tuning the level to perfection. Once all that is done, it's time to release a beta version to a few more testers and get everything just right before the actual release. If anyone reading this is interested in participating as a beta tester one that phase is on, feel free to reply to this thread. I'll get in touch once it's time for the beta. I'll see if I can work out some new screenshots soon.

2008-12-12 23:49:00 Author: Linque Posts: 607

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I'd like to be apart of this awesome test, can't me in as a beta tester, I will give you as much feedback and suggestions as possible.

2008-12-13 00:05:00 Author: Whalio Cappuccino Posts: 5250

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UPDATE: Dec 21st Whew, the level is finally released. Took a bit of work this one did. Here's the link to Treetop Escape's level showcase: Treetop Escape Level Showcase (https://lbpcentral.lbp-hub.com/index.php?t=t=6237) Dec 19th The release of Treetop Escape is coming closer by the day. I hope to have it released before christmas eve. No promises though. I've played through the level probably close to 50 times now, not counting jumping around in create mode. I'm getting pretty good at it, which was apparent to me as I got a few complaints about the difficulty of certain parts even though I ace them myself every single time. You need a lot of resources to be able to properly test levels, because once someone has tried the level a few times, there's no way he can have the same reactions as someone trying the level out for the first time. Therefore you need to introduce a new tester every now and then so you get a fresh view on things, and the problem with that is that the new guy can be from a completely different skill level as the previous tester. To sum it up, testing is really actually quite hard. But things are going well. The level is starting to look (and sound!) good, and the difficulty level is getting close to exactly where I want it. I want you to feel like you've accomplished something even if you only manage to finish the level, regardless of your score. But I don't want it to be so hard that only a fraction of the players who try it ever reach the end. Basically, if you rush the level and don't focus, you're going to get punished. If you take your time and think the section through, it's going to be easier. Then again, if you want a good score, you're going to need to proceed really fast in various points, as the points bubble multiplier needs to stay on! Also, I'm pretty happy with the secret/bonus areas. Whenever you see a treasure chest sticker in my level, you know that you've reached an optional area where you're rewarded with a few (or not so few!) extra points. http://linque.pp.fi/LBP/treetopsneak11.jpg I promise to post a few screenshots later. These will probably be the last ones before release. EDIT: Here's the pictures as promised. I took these with the in-game screenshot tool, so they're pretty poor quality. http://linque.pp.fi/LBP/treetopsneak4.jpg http://linque.pp.fi/LBP/treetopsneak5.jpg http://linque.pp.fi/LBP/treetopsneak7.jpg http://linque.pp.fi/LBP/treetopsneak9.jpg http://linque.pp.fi/LBP/treetopsneak10.jpg

2008-12-19 19:45:00 Author: Linque Posts: 607

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Oooooh!! Nif-tee

2008-12-27 11:17:00 Author: neonrage0 Posts: 284

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