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The Incredible Time Box

Archive: 21 posts

I've just published another level.

You are presented with the Time Box, an invention that can temporarily stop time! Unfortunately, The Don and his gang of thugs would very much like to take it for themselves. Can you master the use of the Time Box and stop The Don before it's too late?

This level features various puzzles and enemies for which you will need the power of the box. Needless to say, not only must Sackboy make it through the level, but so must the Time Box

Enjoy.

YouTube - The Incredible Time Box		2008-12-01 04:52:00

Author:
Gilgamesh
Posts: 2536

Sounds awesome, I shall try it out 2008-12-01 04:57:00

Author:
Stix489
Posts: 2080

What is the name exactly? I can't seem to find it, I see Midnight Train and all the others but not this one.

EDIT: Nevermind found it, and I'll give you feedback once I'm done.		2008-12-01 05:52:00

Author:
Whalio Cappuccino
Posts: 5250

Well I played this a little while ago and here are my thoughts. I will break it down into things I like and things I think can be improved upon:

Positives

1. With Midnight Train you proved you are a creator who thinks outside the box and here you have done it again. The idea is innovative, fresh and inspiring. Like Midnight Train it should have people saying "wow, you can do that too!?". I applaud the thought you are putting into your creations, keep it up.

2. The various puzzles that make use of your concept are very well done and are all varied so the player never feels like they are doing the same thing over and over again, bravo.

3. The dude throwing knives, very cool

4. The use of music in relation to the time machine fits perfectly and is a nice little touch.

Things that can be improved upon:

1. COLOR THE SPONGE! Near the beginning of the level you have the ball of sponge attached to the winch and it is the default, ugly yellow. The same goes for all the switchs scattered throughout the level. This may seem like a minor thing but it is often the small details that can elevate a level above and beyond it's percieved potential. Take 10 minutes to color all that sponge and your lvl instantly has a much stronger visual impact.

2. The puzzle near the beginning with the burning house I found impossible to clear. No matter how quickly I tried to jump up those stairs I could not make it to the top before things reanimated. Either I am doing something wrong or this part was not properly playtested. Please let me know.

3. The part just before getting on the elevator. I did not see there was a platform to walk so I assumed I had to carry on by myself and maybe I would get the box back some other way. Once I realized I had to go back for the box I kept getting crushed by the rusted metal beams on pistons and had to restart.

4. Custom characters please! I know it is so much easier to use the MM stuff gathered in Story mode but for me personally it's a turn-off. I want to see new things and I think the time taken to make everything in your level custom really pays off and truly makes it your own. Having said that, lack of custom content has not prevented me from hearting levels in the past and it will not in the future but I definitley want to see creators going the extra mile.

I did not get a chance to finish the lvl for the simple reason that I am trying to play as many levels from users on this forum as possible but I will be trying again within the next 24 hours. I am sure there will be some great surprises and I hope you take the feedback I have given into consideration.

Thank you for another wonderful concept, I look forward to playing again later.

EDIT: Just cleared it, great work, 5 star and hearted. I agree with Whaaale regarding checkpoints and the elevator thouhgh. The elevator sections became very tedious and took about 5 minutes to do so adjusting the speed would definitely help. Thanks for adding the speech bubble before the elevator, much more apparent what needs to be done.		2008-12-01 12:47:00

Author:
OCK
Posts: 1536

Wow, thanks for the reply OCK. I didn't expect such a structured feedback so soon

I had no idea I could color the sponges on the switches, I'll be sure to give them a more theme-appropriate color from now on.

The burning house can be done but it's one of the trickier optional puzzles. The trick is not to hesitate, a moment's hesitation can mean the difference between making it in time and burning horribly. If you still have trouble, you can give yourself extra time by placing the Time Box in front of the house and jumping directly onto the second floor once you've pressed the button.

The factory area does get a bit trickier. I'll add a mouth to explain that you have to place the box onto the gears while you have to pass on the platform next to them. I'll also add a switch at the end to turn the crushers off in case you forget the box.

As for custom characters... I've never been that good at designing characters. I'm more of a machinery and beast nut myself. I can come up with tons of unique machines and beasts, but characters are another story. I did try to add my own twist to the ones I used to make them different though.

It's too bad you didn't get to the boss fight. Because...
the boss has his own Time Box which he uses against you. It was quite a challenge to make that work.

Hope you enjoyed what you played though, I'll try to fix some parts if I have time tonight.

On a side note, I can't judge the difficulty or annoyance of the puzzles anymore because of how often I've tested them :hero:		2008-12-01 15:05:00

Author:
Gilgamesh
Posts: 2536

Can't wait to try this level later today! I'll give you feedback asap.2008-12-01 20:54:00

Author:
Neverynnal
Posts: 374

Just an update to say I've republished the level with some minor fixes to keep a couple of the challenges from breaking and to make the factory challenge a little more obvious and forgiving.

Enjoy 		2008-12-02 00:19:00

Author:
Gilgamesh
Posts: 2536

OCK, the trick to the burning house is to jump from the time box to the second story rather than going from the first.

I'm not going to make a long post, because OCK has hit most of the bases, however, I will say that it might be nice to see a multi-player challenge somewhere in there.Other than that, I really loved your level, the Time Box was a great concept.		2008-12-02 23:33:00

Author:
BassDeluxe
Posts: 984

Ooops, forgot to leave feedback, Ok so here goes:

Pros:

1) Once again, you have proven you could do so much more with LBP, I love the Time Box, original and very well thought out.

2) OCK, basically stated the rest.


Things you can IMPROVE on:

1) Double Check-points please, I really didn't notice any double checkpoints, if there were any, sorry. But I believe there should be one at least next to the burning fire house.

2) When holding onto the box, you pass a certain spot and a building starts to fall, I don't know whether I was suppose to "Stop" time, so I just kept going, I believe you are suppose to just keep running, I would of made it but there was one problem, you have the magic mouth right after a little too close, causing the Timebox to lose it's shape or something like that, which didn't allow me to drag it with me because it would get stuck, it was weird. Simply move the mouth a bit to the right, or shorten the radius.

3) I didn't get past the elevator section, one because I really had no idea what I was suppose to do at first, and when I did I couldn't really do it because the elevator was moving too fast, maybe slow it down a tad bit?

These are really only small adjustements as I didn't see anything major, good job I really love these concepts, can't wait to see what else you come up with 		2008-12-03 00:30:00

Author:
Whalio Cappuccino
Posts: 5250

Hey, thanks a lot guys.

I've republished with the following changes
-Changed the checkpoint near the burning house to double-life (even though you don't HAVE to do the challenge )
-Moved the bank robbers a bit further away from the falling building
-Made the elevator move slightly slower


Just some things I would like to point out though. You have plenty of time to use the Time Box to keep the skyscraper from falling, it stops time after all

And Whaaaaale, I have slowed the elevator down a tad, but did you figure out that you can use the Time Box to completely stop the elevator

As for having multiplayer challenges... I've thought about it, unfortunately since it's not a very conventional level most of the ideas I came up with didn't fit the theme very well, so I opted to leave that out. The box should be easier to carry with more than one person though, and some challenges should also be a bit easier with one person manning the box while the other takes care of business

Edit : I hope somebody at least makes it to my boss, lol. I worked so hard on that boss fight to get it just right :hero:		2008-12-03 01:35:00

Author:
Gilgamesh
Posts: 2536

Hey, thanks a lot guys.

I've republished with the following changes
-Changed the checkpoint near the burning house to double-life (even though you don't HAVE to do the challenge )
-Moved the bank robbers a bit further away from the falling building
-Made the elevator move slightly slower


Just some things I would like to point out though. You have plenty of time to use the Time Box to keep the skyscraper from falling, it stops time after all

And Whaaaaale, I have slowed the elevator down a tad, but did you figure out that you can use the Time Box to completely stop the elevator

As for having multiplayer challenges... I've thought about it, unfortunately since it's not a very conventional level most of the ideas I came up with didn't fit the theme very well, so I opted to leave that out. The box should be easier to carry with more than one person though, and some challenges should also be a bit easier with one person manning the box while the other takes care of business

Yeah I did notice that, but I'm really bad at timing, and at first you don't even understand why the switches are there, so I had to make like 2-3 round trips to do it all. As for the falling building, I didn't know that it would stop it from falling if i was to press the button, because I thought physics would still be in play.		2008-12-03 01:38:00

Author:
Whalio Cappuccino
Posts: 5250

As for the falling building, I didn't know that it would stop it from falling if i was to press the button, because I thought physics would still be in play.

I laugh at the face of physics! Ha ha ha!

But apparently my gf says she would have made the same assumption if she hadn't seen me testing that part of the level 		2008-12-03 01:40:00

Author:
Gilgamesh
Posts: 2536

Tell your gf that great minds think alike 2008-12-03 01:56:00

Author:
Whalio Cappuccino
Posts: 5250

I left the time box behind at the elevator part. I'm not sure how to get it through the fire and stuff. It was cool level though.2008-12-03 02:58:00

Author:
Walter-Kovacs
Posts: 542

Wow, more people should play this level. I don't think I can say much more than, what has already been said. Good job. I think I know how you did all of it, if not, then I know of a way to do it good job tho, very creative.5 stars and a heart from me. I really don't see why this level isn't rated higher... but I did kinda get stuck on the elevator part... lots of switches there... but figured it out.2009-02-09 03:09:00

Author:
Maraz_Matari
Posts: 105

Thanks.

I know, I've heard a lot about how people can't figure out the factory/elevator area. But it's really not that complex.

Then again, I'm used to solving puzzles with few hints. When you try to figure out how to get something to work and then finally get it, you get a sense of accomplishment.

I don't like games that try to lead you by the hand for every little thing, and so I've tried to make a level that uses a lot of puzzles that requires you to stop and think for a second. Most of the puzzles involve use of the Time Box, so it's really not that hard to figure out. At least I hope.

Though I suppose this probably backfires on me when people don't take the time to figure out how the puzzles work by themselves. That's fine though, I'm satisfied with the level I've made and other people do enjoy it.

I only wish I would get more comments on my boss. I still get the feeling that no one has actually gotten there.		2009-02-09 16:32:00

Author:
Gilgamesh
Posts: 2536

Hey, I'm new here so I'm not sure the best ways to find levels, but I searched "The Incredible Time Box" and didn't find anything. I don't know your psn name either, so I couldn't search it based off of that.

I'd love to play your level and give some feedback, so any help is appreciated!		2009-02-09 17:47:00

Author:
superezekiel
Posts: 120

Hey, I'm new here so I'm not sure the best ways to find levels, but I searched "The Incredible Time Box" and didn't find anything. I don't know your psn name either, so I couldn't search it based off of that.

I'd love to play your level and give some feedback, so any help is appreciated!

Hey, welcome to the forums.

I don't recommend doing a search for a level name, you're almost guaranteed to be handed 10 pages' worth of results that are nowhere near related to what you're looking for.

Your best bet is to search for PSN, by putting @ in front of the name. So to search of my levels, you would search for @Jirugameshi and it should point you directly to one of my levels, from which you can get the list of my published levels.

Also, the PSN of members here is generally written on the left side below their name and avatar if they've written out the PSN in their profile. This makes it so we don't need to write it out in our posts or signatures.		2009-02-09 18:59:00

Author:
Gilgamesh
Posts: 2536

I knew about the @ thing luckily, but I was searching Gilgamesh and finding nothing Didn't know about the PSN in the profiles! Very cool, I'll go add mine now.

I'll edit this post with impressions as I go along through the level

edit: Okay, I forgot how cumbersome it is to switch input modes on my monitor, so giving impressions throughout my playthrough is a no go. But I'm more than happy to give them now!

The one thing that bothered me throughout the level was the Time Box tipping over. It's a little top heavy with the way you have it set up, and it tips often, sometimes making getting out of an area take an extra few minutes for me when I could've gone faster if it had just stayed upright. I suggest maybe putting more heavy material at the bottom of it and then a thin layer of glass on the bottom side so it slides easier as well? Maybe toy with some ideas, because it tipping was my biggest problem.

Aesthetically, it could be better, but I can tell you were mainly going for a simple look so you could focus on the time stopping puzzles. And those puzzles were great. The knife throwing guy was awesome, and freezing time to take those guys out really felt like freezing time. Plus burning building, bank robbery bombs and then the getaway vehicle were all the highlights for me. The last boss encounter could've been better, but it was fun for what it was.

My only suggestions are to add a bit more visual flair, try and make the time box more bottom heavy than top heavy and create some unique characters for the level. The stock characters worked great, but unique characters are always the best!

Gave it 4 stars overall and hearted it, because I love the Time Box

PS. It made me giggle with glee numerous times from how neat it was to freeze time.		2009-02-09 19:55:00

Author:
superezekiel
Posts: 120

I played this level a while back. I remember it having a well written story that i might just make a spin off off. 2009-03-12 09:26:00

Author:
uzman
Posts: 209

Video added, courtesy of Vanemiera. 2009-03-13 11:09:00

Author:
Gilgamesh
Posts: 2536


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