Archive: 6 posts

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Trial of the Faceless is a top down RPG with loads of features. Some of these include leveling up, a full working inventory, a very large number of items, weapons, and spells, a shop system, and countless other features. And the best part? No sackbots, all models made entirely of decorations. http://lbp.me/v/d8yh2b http://lbp.me/v/d8yh2b

2012-07-27 03:40:00 Author: Tynz21 Posts: 544

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sounds cool, in the queue. you should add some pics.

2012-07-27 17:37:00 Author: biorogue Posts: 8424

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Trial of the Faceless, well, i can say that that name has already gotten me intrigued! Here's a review for the level below. (Just a bit of a fair warning, this review might turn out to be very long, and I might sometimes accidentally switch between past and present tense. These are both because when I review levels, I review it while I play it. This way I can soak up all the details buzzing in my head.) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ As the level starts out, a beautiful, scorching flame makes itself visible, with a beautiful variety of colors, as a large, metal sword cuts through, Conan-the-Barbarian style. A luminous glow shines over the sword, as a nice and bold logo for the game fade in, with the letters themselves shining brightly, in front of the fire behind them. The attention to detail to showing simply the LOGO for the level is absolutely more than enough to intrigue a creator. Sounds also accompany the introduction with the clash of the sword, and the glimmer of the lights, as a bell in the distance rings four-fold before transitioning into a rising tone that becomes a dark and adventurous piece of music in the background. If there's one sound I might want to have been added, I'd probably say a bit of crackling sounds or something close to it at the very beginning of the level, as you see the flames stand there before the sword enters stage left, although that could be overdoing it. I'm not trying to list that as a nitpick, or even a minor nitpick, since it's so tiny of a detail that it really doesn't matter that much whether it's thrown in or not, but being a reviewer, it's my job to throw in even the little-est afterthoughts. The menu also has a great level of polish, presenting a dark and twisted, black and white theme to it, but with the addition of fire and ice sort of colors, which are made even more powerful as the rest of the screen lacks color in a beautiful way. As different spots radiate a dark glow all around, the options are simple and intuitive, letting you get straight into playing, or to head on over to the credits. The credits are nice to watch, as they share the same, simple style as you'd find in movies, and with a calm music track that gives off a laid back, seaside feel to it. Looking at the credits also showed that you've stuck with the font no matter what, which is great, seeing how the font itself is nice, bold, and clean, something people should have no trouble reading. Once deciding to hit play, I was given two sub-choices, a tutorial, or survival mode. Before I could even choose, a white, subtitle message littered the bottom of the screen. I do have some beef with this, or, actually, several portions of beef. The main problem is the fact that it constantly disappears and re-appears before you could read the whole message. I mean, it didn't take long for me to read it, but it's still a huge annoyance. It would be a lot more friendly to the player if the message just showed up once, not constantly disappearing and reappearing. There's also of course, the problem that it's white text appearing, over a white background. The reason I didn't list this as my main complaint is because I know that you have less control over it. (Unless colored text is a reality, then shame on everyone for not telling me so! xD) I totally understand, subtitles are amazing, and I'm sure you wanted them to warn you more than some speech bubble. First and foremost, it's a smart choice for you to create this message, and have the tutorial and survival modes available in separate levels, but maybe there is in fact a better way to display the message, where for others who can't see as easily, will be able to read it more carefully. Maybe when you choose one, it fades to black, but it doesn't activate the level link just yet. What I'm saying is, whichever you choose, after you choose it, it could fade to black for a second, and then display the same exact message, not repeated every second, over a black screen, and then it would activate the level link. So you'd still be able to keep the same message, but now it would be easier for the eyes. --------------------------------------------------- Moving on though, I decided to start off with the tutorial. The first messages you get to help get you used to the controls are great. You've done a good job on explaining how everything works, and even if there's something you don't get, the controls are still fairly simple, and the menu mentions things like equipping and dropping items. The menu you've forged is absolutely amazing, providing you a great item inventory, as well as a status page, which informs you about your level, kills, health points, Mana, AND skill points. It's ridiculous how cool it all looks, fit nicely together into this awesome package. Like I said before, the controls are straightforward, and it's very easy moving your angle. Your mana and health also appears in-game and not just in the creator-made menu, which is a good resource. Not only can you move around and change your direction, you can also zoom in and out, which is yet another rad concept you've managed to fit in. The starting room in this tutorial is great, as you learn the basics with a hypnotic beat you'll eventually start humming in your head if you're not too careful. The addition of things like tables and stones, as well as the ambient lighting, really puts you in the mood of this cave/tavern. I also have to give a shout-out to the test dummies, for it wouldn't be a tutorial without them. Smart choice man. Once finishing the tutorial, I was greeted by the satisfactory joy of leveling up, and with my childlike instincts kicking in, I just had to go over to the menu, and nod my head in sly happiness to see myself at Level 2, with one, yes, read it and weep, one skill point. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Now for the final, and yes, the true challenge, the survival mode. A beautiful piece of war-time music accompanied myself as I wandered about in the large, open forest, waiting for the monsters to appear. The design of the stream, as well as the large rock walls that quarantined you into this level all fit well into the scenery, and I also enjoyed seeing the tops of trees stretch out in front of the foreground. Having little tables to purchase items was great, and of course, having the option to start the survival when you wanted to. Maybe I just have horrible memory, but it might not hurt for when you pass by objects, when it shows the description for them via subtitles, to add in "Press Square to purchase", or something like that. Then again, that could just me, and it's just a tiny little suggestion. I liked how those worm-like creatures weren't the only enemies in the level, that would've gotten a bit boring. Now, I'm no pro at these kind of things, and didn't get very far, but I did enjoy seeing another type of enemy thrown in as well after a little while, the flying insects, even if I could never quite get each one in time. In the end, there was one thing I was confused about. At a certain point mid-game, the area suddenly glowed blue, and a shining, brighter blue light glowed around me. It was very temporary, and I didn't see anything out of the ordinary for me. I'm pretty sure this meant I levelled up, but just to make sure for everyone else's sake, it might be good to throw in a little bit of subtitles saying you've levelled up. At least, it might be good to say so the first time you level up in Survival Mode. --------------------------------------------------------------- TL;DR.. Pros ------- 1. Amazing menu system with great content. HP, Mana, items, skill Points, Levels? Seriously, it's great. 2. Controls are fluid, as are angle movements. Zooming in and out is great, even if it's something I couldn't focus on during the survival. I still thought it was a neat addition, and it never got in the way of other controls. 3. Things like dummies, weapons put on tables, and other minor design choices really bring out a mood this level sets greatly. 4. An utterly fantastic intro and menu, with a nice little credits section to accompany it. 5. Multiple tracks of music immerse you left and right. 6. From the tavern in the introduction, to the forests in the survival mode, the different settings are fun to explore, and that's what's important. Cons ---------- 1. Subtitles that appear in menu, while trying to send a helpful warning, could be hard to read for some, and are very annoying since it constantly repeats just about every second. A little tweaking should fix both problems concerning it though. Overall, this was a fantastic feat you've achieved, it's too bad there are still lots of limitations in LBP though. Nonetheless, it's so great that you've implemented things like skill points and leveling up in, and hopefully with LBP Vita adding save functionality within community levels, as well as other cool new tools too, we'll hopefully be able to see more and more things to make large projects like these an even bigger reality.

2012-07-28 14:26:00 Author: Dragonvarsity Posts: 5208

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I've kept you on my hearted list for a good reason. I'm queueing this, sounds awesome!

2012-07-28 16:21:00 Author: BIGGamerer Posts: 182

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Ah thanks for the heads up on the menu text, ill be certain to check it, along with a level up text which should only take a short time. Thanks again for the feedback!

2012-08-07 01:15:00 Author: Tynz21 Posts: 544

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Looks incredible. It's in my queue, and I should be able to play it this weekend. Also, I read your profile description. I have no idea why, but I just did. I wasted hundreds of hours of my life making an ungodly amount of features and details for Trial of the Faceless. It is by far my best level. It has what, 300 plays maybe? The community really does have no taste... I could make 1 cool little vehicle in an hour or two and get 20x the plays... When is the point where I give up? Hell, if you go by plays per hour of creation, that stupid ak-47 giveaway has almost 7000.0 compared to TotF with maybe like .7? Ugh. Just remember that not everybody out there in the LBP Community is like that. I'm certainly not, and it seems DragonVarsity's the same. I know how you feel, a shoddy FPS level I made in two hours got nearly 500 plays, while a inFamous based level that took several months for me to create got under 40 plays. Both of those levels were made quite some time ago (when I was quite a noob). Don't feel so bad, at least the LBPCentral Community is here for you. Anyway, you gotta consider that your AK-47 giveaway is much older than your TotF. Just give it some time, and soon your new level will grow in popularity. Ah, one more thing. It looks good, judging from the photos I've seen. It'd be nice if there was a really, really, REALLY outstanding Mm Picked level once in a while. It does seem like the Mm Picked levels have gone down in quality. Your level getting Picked would probably give the Mm Picked pages some life again. Okay, I'll stop typing now.

2012-08-07 05:23:00 Author: Kaboosh99 Posts: 359

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