Archive: 6 posts

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This was my first movie and level link remake of an old series my bro started but didnt finish. So I remastered everything and created Arc Madness. Your on a plane ride to settle a score with a former friend when suddenly your planes engiens die. praying to god you will survive the crash. You crash land on a mysterious uncharted island where the people are acting very strange. Play Arc Madness to find out what is causing this, and try to find a way off the island. http://lbp.me/v/e9t15r http://lbp.me/v/e9t15r

2012-07-24 10:11:00 Author: Unknown User

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Alright, I've played this level and here's my review below, which I typed up while playing the level. Just a fair warning, in case I switch between future and present tense. Also, if I happen to have a lot of criticisms, don't be alarmed. It is simply my duty to find what in my own personal opinion, can be either fixed, removed, or replaced. So basically, don't let some nitpicks get you down, and I hope you understand that I respect your hard work, and only wish to help you as a creator. But of course, I'll also make sure to throw in some compliments for the good stuff, it's the least every creator deserves, right? --------------------------------------------------------------------------- So, the level starts as you hinted at, in a plane. Now, I don't mean to judge you, I understand that things like planes aren't easy to create, but I do believe your own plane could've used more effort and polish, no offence. Nobody's looking for anything ridiculously realistic, but even working at matching an plane's proportions can improve the overall look of the aircraft. Here's an image of your plane. http://i1.lbp.me/img/ft/f513c15c08e3260656c57a1dfc24db4d2d4c5e83.jpg Now, here's an image of a plane in real life. http://www.airplanepicture.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/Airplane-Pics.jpg I like how you've placed in windows, and even threw in a wing giving it a more realistic feel with more than one layer for the plane, but I think the back end shouldn't be so...uhm, oh what's the word..circular? It seemed to lack edges, I'll just put it like that for the time being. Now, like I said before, creating planes is no easy task, and seeing how I fail to create objects, and probably have no idea what I'm talking about, you're welcome to skip this part, but I'd make the back sharper, and maybe do something about giving the side wing a triangular edge. Also, it might be cool to extend the front window with a triangular edge as well, that way it looks more like a true plane's window, if that makes any sense at all. If not, I'd be happy to clarify afterwards. Alright, so I think I've talked enough about the plane. Moving on, we get a bit of a glimpse inside the plane. Getting a closer glimpse into it, I like how you've thrown some bots in as passengers, and the FBI agent-looking pilots are pretty boss additions as well. One downside is that when really looking closer at this plane, I see some parts that look a tad jagged, or just a wee bit sloppy. For example, I think the bottom of the plane's front window could be straightened some (although I enjoy how you did the triangular extension on the zoom-in, it's almost as if you're psychic or something) and the top of the ceiling material could be adjusted to fit with the exterior texture of the plane. But yeah, the inclusion of passengers is good, but I think it drags on a little bit too much. The beginning part with the kid slapping the old lady was fun, but certain moments aren't required, and just take up time as you wait. This can be reduced by having the player walk over quicker, and maybe make the pause after him/her stopping and before he/she speaks again shorter. There are also several typos in some of the dialogue which I'd be happy to inform you about, but that's up to you. I just don't want you to get attacked by the Grammar Nazis, they can be quite vicious you know. But it's not just that that made the plane ride feel long. It was also lack of sounds. Maybe throw in a few gibberish sound bites when at least certain characters talk. The inclusion of sound should keep the player more attuned to what's going on, thus he or she will enjoy watching this introductory video more. I do like though how the pilots began panicking as the plane had been hit, and having the alarms go off. I'm just going to guess though that you used LBP2's default brightness. In my personal opinion, I think it's too bright most of the time. When I try creating, I like to at least lower it down a bit. I highly recommend doing so in this scenario, because when zooming out, the only effect being used as the plane is falling is grey smoke, which isn't all that visible with the oh-so-shiny lighting. So yeah, I'd just make that go down a bit, I think it'll bring out the smoke more for a nicer effect. As for other effects, it might be see something else, but it's up to you. Maybe bits of fire on some of the edges, I dunno. I found it interesting how things faded to black, but once things do, I think it'd be great to hear a big crashing sound in the background just to sort of add to it. My major complaint with the fading to black, is that it's not completely black. In fact, there's a chunk of the blue background sticking out over on the right. This is a big distraction, and detracts from what you're trying to convey, so I'd make sure to fix that so the whole screen is black. Here's a picture I took to show you what exactly I'm referring to. http://i5.lbp.me/img/ft/d25a1660d015fff51ffab8a48a594626a73b3df0.jpg The only thing I liked about it is when the player says all he sees is black, when that wasn't truly the case here, lol. So yeah, if you could fix that, that'd be greatly appreciated. I'd also hide the level link, because it's actually visible for a split second before you're transported from the Opening to Part 1. Let's just say going from a fading to black, pondering if you're dead or not, to seeing a mexican wrestler face plastered onto a level link sure makes things interesting, to say the least. xD Now that I'm done with the Opening, time for Part 1. I enjoyed watching the burning parts of the plane float up above the water it crashed in, so maybe having bits of the plane on fire in the opening would really fit in, although that's just a minor suggestion. I thought the movie dragged on moving around, looking at the crashed plane, only for it to show you not even on a part of the plane. After it had moved right, looking at scorched parts, it moved back left, making it look as if it would turn to you, still on there. Only, you weren't and it just randomly faded to you on a piece of land. What I would do is cut to you after the camera pans to the right, and cut out the part where it goes back left, since there's nothing else to see of importance over there. Also, I'd shorten the time it focuses on the flight attendant. Maybe it do it for a couple second, but that's it. Show her for a few seconds, then go back to you via gameplay. You've also got it to where if you move right, then move back left, the movie for Part 1 replays itself. That's definitely an annoyance I'd try sorting through if I were you. The same goes with bot dialogue. If you pass by the Arck soldier, he'll keep repeating what he said. I can see more typos going through, and while it was fine at first, it is a little annoying now. Not just misspelling things, but the absence of commas make some of the text look a bit awkward. But yeah, I can go over a few them in a later post, if you want, but that's your call. I do like the different surviving bots you accompany, but when you leave the flight attendant outside as you go in the factory, I really don't see why it's necessary to add a layer of gas. I suppose there are a at least a couple ways to interpret this. One way to think about it is that once inside, you acquire a creatinator that spews water. Obviously, to keep things organized, you and many other creators wouldn't want the power-up to be used somewhere it wasn't planned to be used, so you added the Enhancement removers. But then, there isn't a need for gas if the removers are there. Another idea that popped up in my head is that you wanted to convey that a trap was sprung and now I, or, the player, is now trapped in the building. If that truly is what you were shooting for, the message came out a bit foggy. If it's a trap, maybe have a door fall down to block you, and maybe have the player respond with a line or two of quick dialogue. I could be wrong though on both guesses, it could be something else entirely. Whatever this wall of gas' purpose is though, it needs some editing, because if you stay there for a while after the gas wall is emitted, it will disappear, until you "spring the trap" again. Moving onto the elevator, I think you should put a checkpoint in it instead of the beginning of the building. If you start moving the elevator upwards and get out, it'll be stuck there, and you'd have to retry the level like I did. Judging by the size of the inside of the elevator, I'll make a guess saying you'd probably have to make the inside of it bigger, which might be a good thing. In my opinion, I think it's a little small, and the walls of the lift seem a little too thick. another way of handling this so the player doesn't have to restart if they fall out of the elevator is by having the elevator go back down when the player drops out of it. I like the inclusion of the water creatinator, and it's clear that it serves a purpose in the level, but it was a tad bit annoying destroying the dissolvable wall with it, only to take it off to go up the lift, and get it right back on. I think it would be more interesting if the grabbable switch on the lift was actually activated by emitting enough water against it, to sort of tie in with the rest of the water gameplay. Now, I understand if you're opposed to this, considering the other emitter, while controlling water still, is more of a "double rapid fire" version, I just think it was a little weird having to get the creatinator on, do something, get it off, get the other one on. Moving on, I found myself in the next section of the lab, after taking down some weird green aliens. Certain things appear in this section that probably should be made invisible. For example, the music track. Now, there are in fact levels that make the music visible, and it works with the scenery. But this is not that kind of scenario. Another thing that should be made invisible is the small LED. light on the tube of bubbly water travelling downward. Now, I know you can't make this light invisible, and hiding it behind something would most likely diminish the lighting effect you're aiming for. That's why I use LED light bulbs, which have the same kind of lighting effect as other lights, yet it can be made invisible. I'd experiment with that if I were you, and if it turns out to fit your fancy, I'd replace them with the others. While I think the transitioning to the blue wire material in the walls could be touched upon some, I have to say, I loved the moment leading up to it, as you climbed up the metal stairs. The darkness lurking on the edges of the walls, along with the glowing lights (even though they should be changed to what I recommended, which can go invisible) and the stairs and railings, made a nice moment, with the purposefully unbalanced angle being a sweet addition. ' Along with the creepy music which fits this eerie lab, there are a number of sounds that go about. There's one in particular you can hear go off after passing through the visible hologram wall, but it appears too late to give it any true effect. Not that I have anything against it, but maybe add in a quicker sound as you pass through this oddity of a wall, to give it a true yet fast scientific effect, to cut to the chase with a nice sound, that could probably go along well with the siren in the background you've already thrown in there. Even though, when first laid eyes on the blue wiry wall, I thought the bottom part should've been straightened, when getting past the hologramic wall, it seemed to fit in more and more, and the addition of purple and yellow slime gives a natural yet scientific feel, which again, fits well with the level's theme you try to portray. Passing the hologram and the nice blue wall behind me, I arrived at a new set of enemies. These guys were much more lethal than those green guys though, firing an army of plasma bullets. I am acquired with another creatinator, but it's that neverending rapid fire one I've used before, but not the double rapid fire one. I've reached the point where I can't remember if I used this at the start or not, because there's been so much switching back and forth between different kinds of creatinators. Beating the plasma-shooting enemies just to get yet another one isn't helping either. Here's the thing, there are some great, great ideas, and personally, I love the concept of these multiple water creatinators, and even a crystal one? Great. But the execution seems...lacking, no offence. there are multiple creatinators, with different abilities. But before you can get your head wrapped around one, another one is thrown at you. See, what it's lacking here, is substance. We nee dto get familiar with these before moving to another one. But that doesn't seem to matter, because the double rapid fire and mega rapid fire water creatinators have the same purpose, killing enemies. You need to give them other differences, make each unique, and maybe, idk, throw in more gameplay for each one. It's just too much no offence, when you've got powerup after powerup thrown at you, when these powerups are in fact not official ones, but ones created by the creator of the level. I'd also like to make a note about the enemy. I enjoy how you're going for diversity between enemies. First there were the green aliens who tried running into you, and now there are these other guys who actually shoot at you. Nonetheless, they feel a bit...well, cheap. This might just be me, but at least, at first, it might be nice to get a quick charging sound before the enemies start rapid firing at you. Now, I'm not trying to complain about difficulty, I just wanna make sure it's fair. The main strife I have with them though is that they interfere with the so-called "safe zone". The safe zone refers to an area where you cannot damage your enemy, and it can not damage you. In this scenario, the safe zone is the area below the plasma-wielding enemies. It's where the checkpoint is, and where the stairs are. You exit the safe zone when you get off the stairs, and go up above. But enemies can actually shoot and kill you as you're climbing the stairs, which is a little cheap, since you have to climb the stairs just to be at equal level with them, ready to fire. After obtaining the crystal creatinator and firing at the weird diamond-like structure, a set of stairs is revealed. This is where I was boggled, because honestly, I couldn't find it. I think it would've been much more helpful if it panned from you to the stairs, and then cut back to gameplay. Also, maybe when the stairs are shown, have a light or two show up? Anyway though, I had to stop at this point because I looked all over the area to look for it, but I couldn't find it. I'm sure it's not in the area where I shot the diamond, but I can't go anywhere else, because I can't go down the stairs, and have to stop here until that glitch is resolved. TL;DR... Pros ------- 1. The setting of the giant factory building is nice and creepy, and certain moments like climbing up those stairs to a certain section rocks, plain and simple. 2. Certain effects, like when things went to black, or when smoke covered the plane are good, even if some things like lighting and visible background can get in the way. 3. The addition of different characters are good, and fit in nicely with your level, even though typos and lack of commas can muddle parts of the overall experience when encountering them. Cons -------- 1. Some designs come out a little jagged or curvy, and need some polishing 2. While the variety of creatinators is nice, they lack substance due to not enough time with each one 3. Cutscenes can drag out with unnecessary panning and pauses, and there can sometimes be a lack of sounds in these mini-movies. 4. Certain things like lights and music, should be made invisible. Overall, it's a good start, but will need a number of things to polish it up. Hopefully you fix that bug that wouldn't let me continue. As far as F4F goes, I don't have any levels out just yet, so what I will suggest is this. Pick a level with a thread made for it some time recently here at LBPC, and give it some feedback. It certainly does not need to be as long and drawn out like my own, just a paragraph or two would be fine. So yeah, if you could do that, that would be great. (I encourage the level you pick be one that hasn't gotten as much feedback as others have)

2012-07-24 17:33:00 Author: Dragonvarsity Posts: 5208

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I love DV! Thank you for taking the time to write this comprehensive review. Awesome job man. I shall queue this level.

2012-07-24 19:50:00 Author: biorogue Posts: 8424

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Thank you truly for this, as well as all of your past compliments on some of my level reviews bio, it's always appreciated, and I do hope this review has been helpful Mr. Sweatshirts.

2012-07-25 01:09:00 Author: Dragonvarsity Posts: 5208

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Wow...This is the reveiw ive been looking for! This review makes me want to go back and fix everything when I get the time. To be honest I didnt make the plane my brother did a whille back. So I wanted to capture his plane in the level. About the sounds, I did think about the crash noises and the talking sac folks. But I never got around to editing them. For the black screen I didnt see the blue but then again that might just be because of the size of my tv that needs to be fixed it captures the moment. So I will deffinetly fix that one up. Truthfully the random mexican mask level link I did on purpose because I thought it would be funny. To me I thought it was funny Because haveing a serious deep intro and mexican level link was to good. The other things needing fixing will be edited. The glitch you mentioned im not sure where that one is maby a picture? Other than that your reviews was great and when I get the time I will work on the level and maby possibly get more views on the level =3. Thanks man!

2012-07-25 01:28:00 Author: Unknown User

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Wow...This is the reveiw ive been looking for! This review makes me want to go back and fix everything when I get the time. To be honest I didnt make the plane my brother did a whille back. So I wanted to capture his plane in the level. I see, although a little polish might be good, but it's entirely up to you, of course. About the sounds, I did think about the crash noises and the talking sac folks. But I never got around to editing them. For the black screen I didnt see the blue but then again that might just be because of the size of my tv that needs to be fixed it captures the moment. So I will deffinetly fix that one up. Interesting, I hadn't thought of screen size problems before. Thank you for deciding to fix both of those. Truthfully the random mexican mask level link I did on purpose because I thought it would be funny. To me I thought it was funny Because haveing a serious deep intro and mexican level link was to good. The other things needing fixing will be edited. I understand, but just like me, some people might get the wrong idea and could think it's just a mess-up. It might sound immature, but maybe you should throw something else in like a fart sound or whatever, to emphasize the sudden switch in tone. The glitch you mentioned im not sure where that one is maby a picture? Other than that your reviews was great and when I get the time I will work on the level and maby possibly get more views on the level =3. Thanks man! I'll make sure to replay it when I can (sometime this week) and post a picture of where I mean here. I appreciate the compliments, and if you happen to update the level, feel free to say so by messaging me or posting so here (although I can guarentee that I'll respond if you do the former, when I cannot for the latter) and I can provide one of my own 'Update reviews', comparing to what I said before and what's been changed.[

2012-07-25 02:50:00 Author: Dragonvarsity Posts: 5208

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