Archive: 11 posts

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For memory preservation advice/tips: You should check out my "memory preservation 101" thread @ https://lbpcentral.lbp-hub.com/index.php?t=t=6638 This is how i did it with my latest level, I used my 10 years of experience to get the most out of this level.. just to get it lost. genral Idea is still in my head, so ill probably redo it when the bugs are fixzzored. Start: First I work out an idea on paper, sometimes a few lines is all i need. Then I think of the theme and search for a few materials to put in my hearted menu and start working on a floorplan, If there arent any vehicles I probably build more globally from start to finish, if there are vehicles (especially ones using "rails") I build more from section to section not focussing on detail at all. (often the first room is filled with more decoration to get a feel for the theme). Gameplay: I tend not to use more than three to six materials at this point. (dark matter/dissolvant/glass for switches), and two for floors/walls and start working on the general floorplan. I try to keep in mind what I want to do with a room, Will it have traps? puzzles? rollers? that kind of stuff. And since I wont focuss on decoration yet, everything is easily edited when I focuss on the traps/puzzles etc. When the basic floorplan is ready, I focus on gameplay. From beginning to end, I add all the switches, moving objects, puzzles, speakers and preferable also bubblepoints. Here and there I might add some lighting to get a better impression of how the theme feels. Note: If I am using vehicles, I will test these out while im working on the general floorplan since they will probably affect the enviroment the most. (they shouldnt get stuck etc). When I am done with most of the gameplay i go(play) trough the level one or two times, and make notes of where adjustments are needed and work down the list. Again one or two times going trough the level to see if everything works ok, if i didnt accidently glue things together and if all the switchboards are working.. (is the timing correct etc). You should also let one or two good lbp-players/editors play your level for pointers.. sometimes you are so in love with your own level you dont see its flaws.. Theme: At this point my level was taking almost 80% of the room you have to build, but my thermometer was still under 50%. How? My shapes wont be to complex, often using some thin layers in combination with thick ones can give more depth and style to a map than a very complex floor can do. Also, since I only used a few materials, my thermometer wont be that stressed. EXTRA NOTE: if you use pre-made objects like the gears and that kind of stuff, always!!! watch your thermometer when placing, you can see how much memory an object takes, and its then up to you if you want to sacrifice that much memory. If everything is working, I will start on making sure the theme feels right, hence.. focussing on detail, theme and now the real enviroment artist can get his satisfaction. (there is allready a lot of satisfaction knowing your level is allready working fine, and this gives you an extra boost to finish your level) Lights: In some places, you just cant put a light, because they will distort the feeling.. for instance.. a forest with lights hanging from the tree's just wont do.. So I create a small dmm (dark matter material) and attach a led light on it, adjust the light so it looks nice and make it as small as possible.. Note: be sure to adjust the radius when you decrease the size of your light.. it will also be decreased! I now place these lights where i want em, red/orange/yellowish near fires, blue/yellowish near open plains (unless its dark offcourse!) if the level is more.. "build" than organic i try to create a few small decorations with lights attached to them so the lights arent just for lighting.. they are a real part of the level.. the enviroment. I will also add these to the level, making sure they are in an orderly fasion, and I will probably make a few of them flicker so that the enviroment feels more alive. Note: Before you start placing lights, You want to adjust the "lighting", "Darkness", "Foggyness", "fog collor" and "collor correction" to get the right feel of the lighting. IF its a cave, i make it rather dark so that lights will have more impact.. if its day.. It will be more lightish, but I do tend to use a few lights for added sunrays or volume... it can really add to some parts. Just try it out.. if your eyes tell you it doesnt feel right.. it probably isnt right. and only then start adding lights! When I got a decent lighting setup, and all the lights work just right I will probably play the level one or two times to see if everything is right, and if there are lights that are affected by gameplay I need to make sure that they are working fine. (note: If the lighting is very important to gameplay, like in my "Nightmare in darkness" level, I will add the lighting placement together with the gameplay for obvious reasons.) Again, you can/should let it be tested by the two same people who tested it before, go with them and see where they get stuck and such. Enviroment decorating: Now its time to see if memory allows it, and it probably will since you mostly just reused the lights and objects (with lights attached to them) and reusing objects almost dont use up extra thermometer space, unless its extremely complex, or has all kinds of moving objects attached to it with wires for instance. I will choose two or three more materials and start adding them to the general floorplan, may it be walls, for thin layers, floors and ceilings to give the theme a mayor boost and give the player the feel its really there.. and not just build by a person.. Note: I never use the foreground layer untill im 100% sure everything else is done when it comes to decorating, because the foreground is very powerfull. When the floorplan is decently dressed and now looks mighty fine with its new materials, the lighting is nicely set up and everything is working fine.. Is everything working fine? Just to know, playtest it one or two times, again making notes if something is wrong. Sound: Then, if I have at least 1/4 of the thermo left I will often add some sound around the level.. maybe some bird sounds outside, some bubbly lava in a cave.. metal sounds in a industrial complex etc. Some sounds might be used for gameplay.. like a sound when pressing a switch.. these I often add when I focus on gameplay. After that I play the level again and see if the sounds work fine, arent anoying or overly used.. some might need a player proximity switch with a permaswitch setup attached to the sound to make it go only once, or when its connected to a flickering light, it should emit sounds just when the light is on, and not when its off.. Extra detail 1: Now, if I havent used them yet to make the enviroment less repetative.. stickers will be applied where needed.. sometimes a finger smear to break up a repetative wall, sometimes something like a text on the background to make it more alive.. it obviously depends on your level. Now I will also add sticker decoration, like flowers/masks/pipes/vent's and such.. they wont take up that much memory, but always watch your thermometer.. you dont want to found out that a sticker decoration used up a lot of memory.. and you have to delete all 100 of them.. for instance. Now, if I am totally finished with stickering, decorating and making the enviroment feel alive and lived in I will probably focuss on the front layer. Front layer: If it is a jungle, I might add some tree's in front of the view to give the player the feel he is looking trough the tree's, If its a cave, I might add some stalagtites and such for the same reason. I also use the front layer to "hide"oddities like "DMM" (last time: dark matter material), lights, seams, rod's that I dont want the player to see. but also increase the feel of the level.. If the player sees more depth because you used all the layers well, it really gives the feel your sackboy is there, in a real sackboy world. Music/camera's/final tweaking/other: Now, I tend to listen to all the music LBP has to offer and see what music fits at which room and place them where I want them, set up the right switchboards if the music needs to be played at a certain moment that kind of stuff. And If I didnt allready I will also make notes about the savepoints.. You want to give the player a lot of savepoints (unless gameplay allows different) so they wont quit your level halfway, but you dont want to let your player walk 10-20 seconds to where he was.. so if a savepoint is to far away from its dessignated puzzles/obstacles.. i tend to put them closer to keep the player in the gameplay and not in boredom. Edit: Camera's: as Pinchanzee mentioned, Camera's really can add to the scenery and even help you to "hide" some things you dont want the player to see, like the outside of a level, or even lights that shouldnt be seen. Dont overuse camera's but use them where they really add. Sometimes I create a camera so when the little sackboy gets at a certain spot, all of a sudden the whole room is shown so sackboy knows where he can go, other can be that if you are in the right spot.. it shows some score bubbles behind a small wall. Note: you can use switches to trigger camera's as well. This way you could use a switch or an event to show sack a new door or the boss his weak point. Now I should invite a few people to playtest the level again and see if they enjoyed it, what wasnt clear from their view but was from mine, where I need to clean up a bit of the front layer, or where people can get stuck.. (sometimes your hard work on decorating the place makes you forget that sackboys can get everywhere if they put their mind to it). Also look out for what the camera does when playing, sometimes you have to tweak the player tracking or zone to make the camera not go to fast from one angle to another this can be really anoying for the eyes! take notes and fix it. Maximize the thermo?: Now your level should be complete.. If you want, you can push the thermometer up but adding some extra deco, price bubbles or extra monsters untill the thermo goes "please no moar". Final things: Now play it one more time, get a good shot of an awesome room in your level, and use that as your level picture.. (make sure it still looks good on the worldmap offcouse) add a nice name to your level, and also fill out the discription. Now publish it, and wait for people to play it.. post it here on lbpcental, and just know.. People will heart community bonus item levels more, and rate them higher.. unless your level name comes from a game. This might change in the future, so dont feel sad if even after a month only 500 people played your level. Know that you found satisfaction in creating your level and published something with great amounths of awe. And those people who do play your level will be satisfied. For memory preservation advice/tips: You should check out my "memory preservation 101" thread @ https://lbpcentral.lbp-hub.com/index.php?t=t=6638

2009-01-07 14:33:00 Author: Luos_83 Posts: 2136

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That's a very nice guide Luos. Most of the stuff I already do or do in my own style, but the lighting section in particular had some new and interesting ideas for me. I'm hoping to get started once again on a new full length level. I'll take some of these tips to heart.

2009-01-07 20:07:00 Author: Elbee23 Posts: 1280

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You missed out cutscene camera's! (well I never read all of it, but just incase you forgot, a little reminder ^^) These add a lot of atmosphere to the level and can be great for focussing your attention onto certain objects or making complex puzzles/mechanisms more viewable! (for the people that don't know that already )

2009-01-07 20:57:00 Author: Pinchanzee Posts: 805

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You missed out cutscene camera's! (well I never read all of it, but just incase you forgot, a little reminder ^^) Doh! I thought about em, but forgot when writing ^^ thanks, will update!

2009-01-07 21:04:00 Author: Luos_83 Posts: 2136

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Very nice guide, it should be sticked up at the top, it will definitely help beginning creators. Cheers!

2009-01-08 07:06:00 Author: RAINFIRE Posts: 1101

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Excellent guide in reponse to my question thread! I think what I struggle with most is not theme or atmosphere or mood, its building a plot around an environment. Story is underrated by most creators I think. With enough time, any level can be polished to the hilt, but that doesn't guarantee a fun experience.

2009-01-09 15:46:00 Author: Thegide Posts: 1465

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story would go in the design plan, With my legendary sack trilogy the story was thought off even before I knew the exact theme

2009-01-09 15:48:00 Author: Luos_83 Posts: 2136

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Very good guide. I know testing in one thing that creators should constantly do as you move from one phase to another but I believe that testing should be added as a subphase for each phase you have now. I can't believe how many levels that are published with broken lifts and switches. Also you may want to add that you can move the entry point to the section your working on to make testing easier. Great post.

2009-01-09 18:09:00 Author: Psybex Posts: 32

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This thread is great! I really need to try to work after this, my level creation usually is a mess and not thermo friendly at all X(. Thanks for all the advice, I'll definitely use this as a guide for my next level!

2009-02-08 18:28:00 Author: Marklin80 Posts: 458

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Genius! I'll definatley use this guide Thanks

2009-02-08 21:19:00 Author: Coxy224 Posts: 2645

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Man... I'm just too lazy to go through all that... What i do is something pops up in my head, probably a good level idea (i.e. pirates) Then i think of how the level progresses by parts (i.e. bar, ship, ship battle, island, boss) Then, just to see if this is possible i make the hardest parts first (i.e. ships, boss) I now start the first part, and finish it completely. Then, the second and so on. After the level gameplay is finished, i proceed with polishing and dialogues. And of course, more troubleshooting.

2009-04-05 02:22:00 Author: uzman Posts: 209

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