Archive: 11 posts

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http://lbp.me/v/xwfmkm http://munrohk.com/lbp/chukka.jpg Disclaimer: This still needs a lot of work. I've given the Troll Kingdom a crude, hastily-constructed look because it allowed me to hastily construct the level and focus on the puzzling elements. I need to know if this concept works before I invest time into it. In this level you control 3 different sackbots, with very different abilities. Using the d-pad you'll switch control from one bot to another and use their abilities to guide them through a level infested with trolls that use simple-but-effective AI to bully you. Odin http://munrohk.com/lbp/odin.jpg In the previous level you played as this sackbot and watched him get a creator chip installed. In this level he's learned how to use it. Because sackbots can't respawn like 'real' sackfolk, Odin's greatest gift is the ability to repawn his brothers and himself using the power of runestones. He can even summon his brothers to runestones even if they're not dead, and he can self-destruct and travel as a ghost to whichever runestone he last activated. This precious ability comes at a cost of points, however. As the group strategist, he can also summon holographic ravens. Switch to Odin: d-pad up Self-destruct: hold Square Activate Runestone: R1 (grab it): Summon Thor: at runestone, hold Circle Summon Loki: at runestone, hold Square Summon Raven: at runestone, hold Cross Loki http://munrohk.com/lbp/loki.jpg Loki is an old, gas-powered sackbot that Odin met in the previous level. Loki can jam his dump valve to compress a large amount of gas, and then ignite it to set himself on fire and surge through the air. He can use this ability to reach places that are too high for the others, and he can use it as an attack. His flames go out when he lands, however, so it's a very situational ability and risky in the face of enemies that can shoot. Switch to Loki: d-pad left Charge Fire Surge: hold Circle. (once charged, it stays ready until you use it). Use Fire Surge: while in mid-air, choose a direction with LS and press Square. Thor http://munrohk.com/lbp/thor.jpg Thor was a construction sackbot that was sent to be scrapped when his faulty wiring electrified his colleagues while they were all sitting on an I-beam eating lunch. Odin repaired him, however, and now he can emit electricity at will, granting him protection from electricity and even the ability to power some devices. He calls it 'storm mode', and while in storm mode he can electrify his hammer and throw it at enemies - a powerful attack that can plow straight through enemy fire, making him the bot of choice for combat. The hammer tends to bounce unpredictably, causing delight when it bounces amongst your enemies and panic when it bounces towards your friends. Thor is permanently equipped with grabinators. Switch to Thor: d-pad right Toggle Storm Mode: Circle Throw Hammer: In storm mode, Press and hold RS in the direction to throw. [To throw again, let RS go neutral before repeating] Hugin and Munin When Odin summons a Raven, you stay in control of it until it fades away or you dismiss it. They can be used to scout the terrain, allowing you to think before you act or search for secret areas. Fly: Tilt Controller Zoom Camera: LS up/down [camera will often be overridden near enemies and rooms] Dismiss: Circle Known issues: You can fly off the level with a Raven, and this seems to happen often as people hold the controllers tilted before they realize the control system. If you get 'counted out' for being off-screen and you pop, you'll have to restart. Point and prize bubbles are uncollectable. [I know why this happens, but there are other considerations that prevent me from changing it to work]. For now you get points when you activate a Runestone for the first time. The tutorial level can be found here (http://lbp.me/v/xq-q2x). It links to the main level so no need to queue both It's incredibly crude but it will get you going with the controls. Please let me know if you completed it when giving feedback about controls. http://munrohk.com/lbp/odinsits.jpg http://lbp.me/v/xwfmkm

2011-02-18 16:24:00 Author: munrock2 Posts: 96

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Tutorial: Accidently killed thor, didn't know how to respawn him. Text is unskippable, which means I didn't really want to replay it. Would be nice if a little holo pointer appeared for a second above each sackbot's head when you switched. Couldn't figure out how to get the Odin to the final runestone. What did that high switch do? I got the hang of it though. Spawn scoreboard death on checkpoint though. I had Thor powered up ha. There were a few layer switching annoyances, and the team of glove guys near the end threw my team back to the part below (managed to spawn again though). I didn't use the circle yellow swingy sponge near the end. Took me a while, but was satisfying for the most part. I think my comment in bold would really help the player.

2011-02-22 09:53:00 Author: midnight_heist Posts: 2513

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Really like the gameplay in this level. The 3 characters with their different abilities make for some fine puzzles. I like the look of the trio, like the way their powers work, the sound the summoning makes. Great stuff. This being a work in progress, it needs some changes to keep it from being too frustrating: -the collapsable bridge can fall to the right if you hit it with mjolnir, this requires a restart. -the gap just before the castle is almost too wide too jump across with Thor. Maybe let something drop down here, once you've jumped across with Loki. -the trio of fireball lobbing trolls in the castle are really frustrating. I died A LOT here. Mjolnir needs a faster firing rate or the trolls need a slower speed so that electrocuting them with Thor becomes easier. -after the big battle in the spikey room nothing happened. All trolls were nicely electrocuted. The doors wouldn't open & the bounce pads wouldn't move out. This is a really promising series. I like the way you've linked the story to the MM-storyline. I'll be on the lookout for your new stuff!

2011-02-22 13:39:00 Author: pickled-punk Posts: 598

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Tutorial: Accidently killed thor, didn't know how to respawn him. Text is unskippable, which means I didn't really want to replay it. Would be nice if a little holo pointer appeared for a second above each sackbot's head when you switched. Couldn't figure out how to get the Odin to the final runestone. What did that high switch do? I got the hang of it though. Yeah... I'm gonna redo the tutorial from scratch. It turned into a level of its own right toward the end. I've got to change it so that the player jumps in, learns how to control the trio, and then moves on. I might use the spare heat to compose an expositional cutscene - that Mr. Moon character has a larger role to play in future episodes. The holopointer is a good idea. I actually had a holo d-pad that would appear that was coloured to match each Sackbot's colour scheme. It looked clunky, though, and in the building phase I removed it because there were no fixed camera angles and the game camera gave enough feedback by moving when you switched. Spawn scoreboard death on checkpoint though. I had Thor powered up ha. There were a few layer switching annoyances, and the team of glove guys near the end threw my team back to the part below (managed to spawn again though). I didn't use the circle yellow swingy sponge near the end. Took me a while, but was satisfying for the most part. I think my comment in bold would really help the player. Layer switching - by the old water wheel, right? Need to fix that. The spike room battle needs revising. Those trolls were originally electrified, and so was the floor, and there was only one button. I was hoping for a sort of electrified battle royale between Thor and the grabinating trolls and those spikes. Turned out you ca't lift electrified things, so it turned out to be a sort of loitering contest. Ho hum. I guess you left Loki behind if you didn't use the sponge? That still works out okay, story-wise. I actually could have ended it with Odin being trapped and a cutscene... but the template had that ramp... and now there's jump pads and friction removal chips... Really like the gameplay in this level. The 3 characters with their different abilities make for some fine puzzles. I like the look of the trio, like the way their powers work, the sound the summoning makes. Great stuff. This being a work in progress, it needs some changes to keep it from being too frustrating: -the collapsable bridge can fall to the right if you hit it with mjolnir, this requires a restart. -the gap just before the castle is almost too wide too jump across with Thor. Maybe let something drop down here, once you've jumped across with Loki. -the trio of fireball lobbing trolls in the castle are really frustrating. I died A LOT here. Mjolnir needs a faster firing rate or the trolls need a slower speed so that electrocuting them with Thor becomes easier. -after the big battle in the spikey room nothing happened. All trolls were nicely electrocuted. The doors wouldn't open & the bounce pads wouldn't move out. This is a really promising series. I like the way you've linked the story to the MM-storyline. I'll be on the lookout for your new stuff! Mjolnir's made of metal, and players rarely get the chance to chuck metal... did you try using it to bump other things that aren't nailed down? Funn. I'd be interested to see how others found those castle trolls... they're a pain on flat ground like that, but if you skirmish with them for a while and get to know their behaviour, it makes for an interesting dance... blocking with mjolnir, giving ground and taking ground and layer switching. If more people had your difficulties, though, I'l have to modify it. Not sure why the spikey room failed to resolve. That room needs a better boss fight, so I'll cover that bug when I pull the room down and put something better there.

2011-02-22 14:14:00 Author: munrock2 Posts: 96

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Using mjolnir as cover didn't really work, because the trolls fire much faster. Layerchanging did the trick. I eventually drove the castle trolls back to the second gate (opened up by Loki), and used the wood in the foreground layer as cover, while drawing them out. Maybe think about adding some extra cover in the first castle room, to make the challenge less frustrating.

2011-02-22 16:31:00 Author: pickled-punk Posts: 598

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Layer switching - by the old water wheel, right? Need to fix that. The spike room battle needs revising. Those trolls were originally electrified, and so was the floor, and there was only one button. I was hoping for a sort of electrified battle royale between Thor and the grabinating trolls and those spikes. Turned out you ca't lift electrified things, so it turned out to be a sort of loitering contest. Ho hum. I guess you left Loki behind if you didn't use the sponge? That still works out okay, story-wise. I actually could have ended it with Odin being trapped and a cutscene... but the template had that ramp... and now there's jump pads and friction removal chips... Yeah, the water wheel was the worst layer switching bit. I lost a yellow sponge down there in the corner as well. No I got all the bots ups without respawning, and didn't touch the yellow sponge. I think I used fire dude first, and bounced electric dude up with bounce pads.

2011-02-22 17:31:00 Author: midnight_heist Posts: 2513

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Yeah, the water wheel was the worst layer switching bit. I lost a yellow sponge down there in the corner as well. No I got all the bots ups without respawning, and didn't touch the yellow sponge. I think I used fire dude first, and bounced electric dude up with bounce pads. I was thinking of a different yellow sponge - for the one you meant, it's just there to give Odin something to grab on to if you use chucking him with Thor as the means to reach the switch (the other means is to chuck a hammer at it). Using mjolnir as cover didn't really work, because the trolls fire much faster. Layerchanging did the trick. I eventually drove the castle trolls back to the second gate (opened up by Loki), and used the wood in the foreground layer as cover, while drawing them out. Maybe think about adding some extra cover in the first castle room, to make the challenge less frustrating. Cover would perhaps swing it the other way and make it too easy - but that's better than too hard. I'll experiment with that room, maybe add objects that have to be knocked down to form cover, os something like that.

2011-02-22 17:43:00 Author: munrock2 Posts: 96

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Hey, played this one today. I love the concept. The puzzles are great. I had a couple of problems though. The water wheel area needs work. It's just too easy to get pulled onto a different layer when you don't want to. Another thing is the bridges. They're too scalloped, and the spaces are too far apart. IMO you shouldn't die when your simply trying to cross a bridge. That gap before the castle. That was a little frustrating. The electric guy can barely make it, and when he does 2 out of 3 times he hits the back layer scenery stuff, and it knocks him off. One other thing. The fire guys charge move. I think it would be better if once you charged it you just hit your direction, and one button to set it off. I just think it would be less fidgety that way. Overall though I think you have a great concept here. Just take your time, polish this baby to a mirror shine, and you'll have a real winner on your hands.

2011-02-24 00:58:00 Author: smasher Posts: 641

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Sounds cool and a lot of wicked ideas. I could send you a microchip with sackbot checkpoints.

2011-02-24 01:02:00 Author: creator22 Posts: 162

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Thanks for the offer. I already have invisible checkpoints in the first part of the series and was loath to put them in there. I want the sackbots to have a different feel from playing as your own sackperson. The ruestones give the feeling that the bots are relying on Odin's 'gift' to be able to respawn and accomplish more than regular sackbots could, and at the same time it's still basically a checkpoint system.

2011-02-24 05:57:00 Author: munrock2 Posts: 96

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I've completely revised the tutorial. It's now an utterly different level. Some storytelling that throws a couple of teasers and foreshadowings out. The sackbots are sleeping and you choose to either spy on their dreams (tutorial) or wake them up (skip tutorial). The trouble is it's far, far too tempting to wake them up... I've implemented some of the suggestions here, like hte pointers to show the active sackbot. I also altered the overall instructoinal method. There's less cutscenes (after the story bit ends) and you start very close to a runestone, so no hardcore death-means-restart opening. Instructions are reduced to a handful of holographic prompts, and the small playspace encourages the player to experiment and figure some stuff out for themselves. I think that the story, the tiny spot of comedy and the dream-puzzles make the tutorial a very playable level in its own right, despite being much shorter than the previous level. But it doesn't matter what I think; I'm wondering what others think?

2011-02-27 16:52:00 Author: munrock2 Posts: 96

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