Archive: 11 posts

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Level name: Machinima Jungle Creator: Laekroth Location: Europe Hey all! Recently I have published my first big level "Machinima Jungle" and after quite some finetuning (version 1.4 at the moment) I would like to have the lbpcentral.com community's feedback on it. The level is best described as an interactive chain reaction. A big wheel rolls through the level taking the players inside with it on its journey. Some parts of the trip need player interaction in order to advance. I think it contains concepts that I have not yet seen in any LBP level before and I hope this level will inspire other creators to new ideas. I've spent alot of time creating this level, finetuning it and trying to make it run smoothly. Please let me know what you think, I'm looking forward to your reactions! Thanks! /Laekroth Some screenshots: http://i388.photobucket.com/albums/oo321/Laekroth/th_start-1.jpg (http://s388.photobucket.com/albums/oo321/Laekroth/?action=view¤t=start-1.jpg) http://i388.photobucket.com/albums/oo321/Laekroth/th_stuck.jpg (http://s388.photobucket.com/albums/oo321/Laekroth/?action=view¤t=stuck.jpg) http://i388.photobucket.com/albums/oo321/Laekroth/th_bigwheel.jpg (http://s388.photobucket.com/albums/oo321/Laekroth/?action=view¤t=bigwheel.jpg) http://i388.photobucket.com/albums/oo321/Laekroth/th_Harvester.jpg (http://s388.photobucket.com/albums/oo321/Laekroth/?action=view¤t=Harvester.jpg) http://i388.photobucket.com/albums/oo321/Laekroth/th_insidebigwheel.jpg (http://s388.photobucket.com/albums/oo321/Laekroth/?action=view¤t=insidebigwheel.jpg)

2008-12-10 19:38:00 Author: Laekroth Posts: 23

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OK so I played this last night (and played it again 5 minutes ago) because you left me some in game comments on my lvl and the first thing I do when someone leaves some comments within LBP (and these forums) is I go check out their levels, I think it's the least one can do. So here are my thoughts: Pros - This level has absolutely INGENIOUS design. I don't want to spoil it but there is a part near the beginning where you cause a domino effect and well... wow, just wow. VERY cool design elemnts going on here that I have not seen done anywhere else. - This is a vehicle type level but it does have portions where the player is on foot which was pleasantly surprising and added a different gameplay element. I can honestly say I have not played another vehicle type level that has done this so great work. - The pacing is perfect and I never felt bored. The music works well and I really kept wanting to see what's next. - EVERYTHING WORKS PERFECTLY!!! The wheel never got stuck, not once. This was very refreshing and could only have been achieved through extensive playtesting. Bravo!!! Suggestions: - Color the piece of dissolve at the very beginning. Get rid of all the visible dark matter (there are 4-5 spots where it can be seen), make all your switches invisible. All these things are visual distractions that really take away from the overall polish of a level - Remove the LOL sticker and yellow arrow stickers (near the spinning wheel). They do not fit you theme and stand out in a not so good way. - Color the afformentioned spiining wheel. Basic wood is very plain. Use the material changer to switch it to dark wood (or any other wood) and I think it instantly looks 10 times better. - The 5 second race at the end just did not fit the theme of your level and I really don't understand why it was put in there. - Decorate your scoreboard - Maybe add some more custom content? This really is the right way to make a vehicle based level and it makes me even angrier that a garbage level like RAMP is on the first page while levels like this are lost in the shuffle. I really enjoyed this and I hope my comments here will spark some more interest in your level becasue it deserves it. Hearted and I look forward to future projects. Oh and I have the number 1 score

2008-12-12 12:24:00 Author: OCK Posts: 1536

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Thank you very much for putting in the effort of writing your thoughts about my level. I'm happy you liked it! This level has absolutely INGENIOUS design. I don't want to spoil it but there is a part near the beginning where you cause a domino effect and well... wow, just wow. VERY cool design elemnts going on here that I have not seen done anywhere else. Thanks alot! The domino-section took me a while to get finetuned and there's still a small glitch that will be polished in version 1.4. I'm also planning to add an extra similar section soon! Color the piece of dissolve at the very beginning. Get rid of all the visible dark matter (there are 4-5 spots where it can be seen), make all your switches invisible. All these things are visual distractions that really take away from the overall polish of a level You're absolutely right and I will fix this as soon as I can. I guess I've been so busy getting the level working as it should that these final touches were lost in the effort. Thanks for the heads up! Remove the LOL sticker and yellow arrow stickers (near the spinning wheel). They do not fit you theme and stand out in a not so good way. ... Decorate your scoreboard I will have an extra look at those stickers and decorations (and over the entire level) and see if I can make improvements there. The level might indeed lack some decorations probably due to the reason mentioned above The 5 second race at the end just did not fit the theme of your level and I really don't understand why it was put in there. I created that part to have a final play with the pink floaty. My friends and I found it funny to play that part with multiple people, but it's been there from the beginning. You're probably right about it having nothing to do with the general level concept and maybe it should move to another level. I'll have another look at this part and probably remove it Maybe add some more custom content? I'm planning to create some custom content (I have it in my head, my head and the rest of me just didn't find the time to add them yet. Expect these in next versions! Oh and I have the number 1 score hahaha! must... go back online... beat... number 1 ... score... must... Again, thank you for your kind words and inspiring thoughts. It's a great boost to refine my work. Can't wait to login my ps3 and make-it-so

2008-12-12 12:53:00 Author: Laekroth Posts: 23

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Version 1.4 just got released. The following changes were made: * Starting dissolve block now has a more appealing color * Removed the visible dark matter * All magnetic key switches are invisible * Removed some unnecessary stickers, including the LOL-sticker * Big spinning wheel now has a different material * Removed the entire race at the end of the level and replaced it with a more appropriate scene * Several decoration improvements * Removed minor glitches and improved the smoothness of the experience a bit. Added screenshots to the original post in this thread. Thank you OCK for the feedback, it helped me alot! I hope you guys and girls want to play my level and let me know what you think of its improvements so far!

2008-12-15 22:29:00 Author: Laekroth Posts: 23

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I will definitely be checking this out again and look forward to all the changes you made. Once again I encourage everyone to give this level a shot, you will not be disappointed

2008-12-16 13:51:00 Author: OCK Posts: 1536

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Thanks OCK! I'm eager to know what you think of the changes I made and if you see room for more improvements except the ones you already mentioned (some of which are still on my todo-list ) Ofcourse I would like to hear feedback from the rest of the community as well. My level has been on the showcase for 5 days now and it has been updated once since then. I find it strange that with such a vivid community as lbpcentral's, there's hardly any response to it... It's not your average puzzle-story level, but I think it's worth a play. Check it out and let me know what you think

2008-12-17 07:48:00 Author: Laekroth Posts: 23

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Hi Laekroth, I had the chance to play your level few minutes ago. I loved it a lot and will give some minor comments. I didn't read the previous reviews before writing this one (i will read them just after that), so sorry if there is redondancy. PROS: -Global construction: Your level global construction was brillant. Things happened naturally and there were any bug even i played the level three times. I know how things are complicated when different mechanism must fit perfectly. It is the case here! And when i played it, i felt that the whole level was perfectly functionning. Chapeau bas l'artiste! - Floatting Splashing bubbles: I loved this effect! It is visually and aurally perfect!* - I found the sequence at the end with the wooden bridge really beautiful. It's simple but effective. SUGGESTIONS: -I think the sequence with the giant wooden wheel (in which there is a notche for the sackboy's wheel) had a slow start. I wondered at a moment if there were not a bug. But it is just the time the giant wheel turn until the notche reach you. I think you could easily reduce this dead time or give to the player a visual distraction (to virtually reduce this time). -During a big part of the level, my sackboy was passif, and i had simply to press R1 to enjoy. I have no particular problem with that. My own levels are comtemplative imho. But i think that at sometime, when the wheel stop (and i think particularly to the sequence i mentionned above) perhaps you could take advantage of the unused third plan to increase the gameplay of the level. - I think you might use the lights more efficiently in your level. You used them, but it is only white light. Actually, it is a subjective observation, but i think that a good light control give a great increase in visual aspect of a level. So, CONGRATULATION, your Machinina Jungle is great. And my suggestions are really minors comparing with the overall quality of the level. Loved it, 5 stared it and hearted it (Mention: Brilliant, Brilliant, Brilliant!) SYS.

2008-12-19 10:00:00 Author: Takelow Posts: 1355

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I had a chance to check out the new version and I really like all the changes that have been made, well done. A couple of more suggestions though: - Change the red sponge in the wheel, it does not fit the overall look at all - Make everything custom. Now that you have your materials/decorations/gameplay in place the only way to make this level better is to make all your objects custom (the cat, the bouncing head etc. -During a big part of the level, my sackboy was passif, and i had simply to press R1 to enjoy. I have no particular problem with that. My own levels are comtemplative imho. But i think that at sometime, when the wheel stop (and i think particularly to the sequence i mentionned above) perhaps you could take advantage of the unused third plan to increase the gameplay of the level. - This is a very good point and I think the best solution would be to add some funny speech bubbles ex: "hmmm, I wonder what my wife is preparing for dinner" etc. Just a thought. Once again, this is on of the top 3 vehicle based levels I have played in LBP and I encourage everyone to check it out

2008-12-20 01:29:00 Author: OCK Posts: 1536

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I dont really understand the machinima part... The level sounds great from what everone has said. I might have to check it out.

2008-12-20 01:32:00 Author: moleynator Posts: 2914

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-Global construction: Your level global construction was brillant. Things happened naturally and there were any bug even i played the level three times. I know how things are complicated when different mechanism must fit perfectly. It is the case here! And when i played it, i felt that the whole level was perfectly functionning. Chapeau bas l'artiste! - Floatting Splashing bubbles: I loved this effect! It is visually and aurally perfect!* - I found the sequence at the end with the wooden bridge really beautiful. It's simple but effective. Thanks man! It cost me quite alot of effort to get the entire level-mechanism working. I'm happy you liked the last part of the level as well. Good thing I got rid of that race -I think the sequence with the giant wooden wheel (in which there is a notche for the sackboy's wheel) had a slow start. I wondered at a moment if there were not a bug. But it is just the time the giant wheel turn until the notche reach you. I think you could easily reduce this dead time or give to the player a visual distraction (to virtually reduce this time). ****... There are a few things that need to be in place before I publish. I must have forgotten to do this one. It should not take this long and I will fix this. Thanks for the heads up! -During a big part of the level, my sackboy was passif, and i had simply to press R1 to enjoy. I have no particular problem with that. My own levels are comtemplative imho. But i think that at sometime, when the wheel stop (and i think particularly to the sequence i mentionned above) perhaps you could take advantage of the unused third plan to increase the gameplay of the level. This is a very good point and I think the best solution would be to add some funny speech bubbles ex: "hmmm, I wonder what my wife is preparing for dinner" etc. Just a thought. You're both right about this. Most of the level is kinda passive. I do not want it to be more interactive, since this is just the way the level was meant to be. However, I agree it could use some spicing-up. Personally I don't like this level to contain many speech bubbles since I think the level should do the speaking for itself (it's got no story, so I don't want to pretend one either ). I will think of ways to improve this and take up OCK's advise as well! - I think you might use the lights more efficiently in your level. You used them, but it is only white light. Actually, it is a subjective observation, but i think that a good light control give a great increase in visual aspect of a level. True that! There are some colored lights, but many white lights could use some coloring for further atmosphere - Change the red sponge in the wheel, it does not fit the overall look at all I was fiddling with its materials as well, but didn't find one quite fit yet, I'll check it out once more! So, CONGRATULATION, your Machinina Jungle is great. And my suggestions are really minors comparing with the overall quality of the level. Loved it, 5 stared it and hearted it (Mention: Brilliant, Brilliant, Brilliant!) SYS. Thanks alot Takelow! I'm honored that you think so, since (together with OCK and a few others) you're one of my favourite level creators. Thank you both for taking the time to check out my level and provide me with valuable feedback The level sounds great from what everone has said. I might have to check it out. I'm looking forward to what you think of it moleynator!

2008-12-22 09:17:00 Author: Laekroth Posts: 23

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Just wanted to say I absotively LOVE your Machinima Jungle, keep up the good worx ! And also worth mentioning is the SchpeedMaster 2000 ;-)

2009-01-05 13:59:00 Author: kickspace Posts: 1

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