Archive: 14 posts

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Me and my friend were going over just how long my game should be, and this is strangely a very tough decision. I think lengthy games can turn players off, me being a prime example as there are plenty of stages out there that seem to drag on- and i dont finish them. At what point do you say a level is too long? Of course this will seem like a bash to Role Playing titles, but seriously, the vast majority of LBP players are casual gamers. Realistically, barely anyone will spend more than 30 minutes on one stage without wanting to try the other 4 million stages published throughout LBP2.Without a lack of a saving system, it seems long levels are discouraged naturally by the structure of LBP2. With that said, what do you guys think is an appropriate length for levels?

2011-04-08 05:14:00 Author: Rpg Maker Posts: 877

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there are plenty of stages out there that seem to drag on- and i dont finish them. That's when a level is too long, when it seems to drag on. An RPG can go on for 30+ minutes because that's what you expect when you choose to play it.

2011-04-08 05:39:00 Author: Ayneh Posts: 2454

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I don't mind long platformers. As long as the (gameplay) quality is consistent! RPGs have lots of wiggle room. So if it's a long RPG I wouldn't worry.

2011-04-08 05:46:00 Author: midnight_heist Posts: 2513

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This is Miglioshin and mine level http://lbp.me/v/q4dsjs It has been quite bashed for his length, so you may want to take a look and hopefully it will help you to make a decision

2011-04-08 06:16:00 Author: OmegaSlayer Posts: 5112

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Long levels depend. If its just alot of doing nothing then i say not a good idea. If there are tons of not so fun puzzles also VERY bad. But if the puzzles mix platforming and are fun its fine. and to me a long platformer is great aslong as its fun all the way through. also a small amount of story line would help keep a player griped to that level. honestly when im having fun with a level if its long then i love it. if it sux and its long i hate it. I made a semi long level, takes 10-15 minutes to complete depending on your skill level. its a platformer and i was wondering if it was too long aswell, then i saw levels that are 30 mins plus and I noticed i was fine lol. I coughed up 80 hours plus Into my level. mostly just figuring things out.....final scene has so many times/ sequencer combinations i wanted to kill myself lmao Falling grace is the name and http://lbp.me/v/zk1j5f is my link. I'll try your level when its done!

2011-04-08 14:22:00 Author: Unknown User

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My advice would be to split up your level into different Chapters. Don't just add a level that has 19 sublevels that takes 10 hours to play, but just divide them into different chapters with each taking maximum 30 minutes.. It would also make you more proud of your work because you could publish them one after another up as you go instead of publishing all at the same time..

2011-04-08 14:30:00 Author: thi766 Posts: 135

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Almost all my levels take near 20 minutes to complete, and even if they get praise, there are always people who post, "looooooong", in the comments. Also, keep in mind, a LOT of people simply won't finish. A good number of people who's names I recognize from this site played my level, only 1 finished it. In my experience, the more difficult and longer your level is, the more likely it is people will quite.

2011-04-08 15:09:00 Author: CYMBOL Posts: 1230

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@CYMBOL - I finished it! : ) There's no wrong or right here, it pretty much depends purely on the level. If it's a long one, playtest it, and just be blatently honest with yourself if there's a point where it just starts to drag a bit and you lose momentum, because if you feel it, then the players definitely will. If you don't get that slightly deflated vibe going off in your head at any point then you should be fine.

2011-04-08 17:14:00 Author: julesyjules Posts: 1156

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Length is relative, as mentioned, a level's length should be appropriate for the content. Nobody likes a level that drags on needlessly, but nobody likes a level that cuts short, either.

2011-04-08 17:35:00 Author: Foofles Posts: 2278

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@CYMBOL - I finished it! : ) There's no wrong or right here, it pretty much depends purely on the level. If it's a long one, playtest it, and just be blatently honest with yourself if there's a point where it just starts to drag a bit and you lose momentum, because if you feel it, then the players definitely will. If you don't get that slightly deflated vibe going off in your head at any point then you should be fine. Yeah, I know, you were the "1" I was referring to! Haha. I thought your Star Wars level was long,but I was s happy camper the whole time, and wanted more.

2011-04-08 19:16:00 Author: CYMBOL Posts: 1230

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This is something that I don't understand among the majority of lbp players. Personally, if I'm playing a level and I don't hate it, I finish it, but it seems like most players won't finish even a medium length level, to say nothing about a long one. My most recent level has 170,000 total plays and 89,000 unique, but it's only been finished 45,000 times. I'm not sure if the stats show how many unique players have finished it or how many times it's been finished, but I'm pretty sure it's the latter. That would mean that that for every time somebody finished the level, three people didn't. It's not even very long --maybe 12 minutes if you're slow. I published a level on lbp that didn't get anywhere near that many plays, was shorter (I could finish it in three minutes, but I figure it was probably around 8-10 for most people), and had a similar ratio of plays to finishes, despite the fact that both of these levels were pretty well received. So yeah, I really don't understand these guys. The levels got good ratings and a lot of positive comments, but three out of four people didn't bother to finish. Maybe they just play for a minute, "that was fun," and then go on to another. Anyway, if you want people to finish it, I'd say a long level is out of the question, but if you want people to play and have fun, the length shouldn't matter too much as long as the level is fun. I will say that I personally don't want to spend more than 20 minutes in most lbp levels, though there have been a handful that I enjoyed enough that I wished they'd have kept going.

2011-04-08 20:00:00 Author: Sehven Posts: 2188

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My advice would be to split up your level into different Chapters. Don't just add a level that has 19 sublevels that takes 10 hours to play, but just divide them into different chapters with each taking maximum 30 minutes.. It would also make you more proud of your work because you could publish them one after another up as you go instead of publishing all at the same time.. Yea i think this is best, it seemed to work good for you series in LBP. Thanks for the reply's everyone, really helped me understand alot about length. I havent uploaded any stages yet so its good information coming from you LBP vets. I guess i'll just make the whole game first (well first episode) and delete any parts that drag on. Try to keep the player engaged for as long as possible. To the people who posted your levels, i'll play your stages, it will help me understand a bit more. And maybe i could give some feedback as a casual player ( i always leave reviews)

2011-04-08 21:13:00 Author: Rpg Maker Posts: 877

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I think long levels are good as long as the gameplay experience improves as the level progresses. So often I play levels that just get worse and worse, until they reach an anti-climatic ending

2011-04-09 01:01:00 Author: DaSpoony Posts: 191

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Long levels that are great will not be boring, but long levels with not much going on will cause me to leave. I really didnt like that MM picked rpg called flame something. I could tell it was quality, but there just wasnt enough fun to warrant me to stay for so long, not to mention the extremely boring, long, unskippable cutscenes.

2011-04-09 18:31:00 Author: Jrange378 Posts: 573

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