Archive: 37 posts

---

I hear how you should plan out a level on paper? And spend a ton of time on it otherwise it won't be good? Now when people say they spent weeks on a level i shrug it off and assume that means from start to finish was 1 week but they only spent like 2 days on it. Everytime i hear someone recommending planning and taking weeks on a level i get terrified at the thought of it. Do people really spend legit X amount of weeks on 1 level? How many hours at a time?

2012-08-01 19:05:00 Author: ryano775 Posts: 32

---

weeks...? nope... months The more time you invest the better the result. I've been working on 2 ideas for 6 months now.

2012-08-01 19:12:00 Author: ForgottenEnigma Posts: 1414

---

weeks...? nope... months The more time you invest the better the result. I've been working on 2 ideas for 6 months now. But that could easily make creating seem like a horrible job rather then a fun level you can create in a day or two.

2012-08-01 19:19:00 Author: ryano775 Posts: 32

---

But that could easily make creating seem like a horrible job rather than a fun level you can create in a day or two. Yes, at times creating can seem like a chore...that's when you need to take a break. I typically create my levels in the span of 2-3 weeks in which I work furiously and become a sleep deprived maniac. When a level is new I'm excited to work on it and I can't spend enough time in create mode...but when it stretches on longer than a few weeks my enthusiasm starts to wane, so that's when I stick a bow on whatever I have at that point and call it done. There is no "right" way to create a level, if spending a couple days is fun for you and you are personally happy with the result...keep doing it. Spending lots of time on a level won't necessarily make it good...I've created plenty of levels that took weeks and aren't good. It's unlikely that you'll create something that will wow people in a day or two, but it's not impossible depending on what type of level it is. Also, why are you creating? Is it to impress others or to amusing yourself?

2012-08-01 19:59:00 Author: fullofwin Posts: 1214

---

it depends on what you are creating really : ) I planned out a mini game on paper and created that in less than a week. But, of course, as Dav1d0 says, creating a polished, fun level will take weeks or months and some people take great joy and pride in simply creating and thats great. If you are making a level for yourself, do whatever you want; create something wacky and fun, that you and your mates can breeze through! If you want to create a level for the community however, you need to take a little more care in what you create. Some people love to just create and create, until they have a perfect level, but the process is by far for everyone. If you don't like the prospect, ignore it : ) and just do what you want; and most importantly, have fun whilst doing it!! hope this helps!

2012-08-01 20:01:00 Author: Hallm3 Posts: 252

---

weeks...? nope... months Months?! LOL. Amateur.

2012-08-01 20:18:00 Author: Antikris Posts: 1340

---

I think in the past my attempts at getting views failed, so the enthusiasm has been shrinking to even want to make a level, but since ima try posting my levels on the forums and see if that helps.

2012-08-01 20:36:00 Author: ryano775 Posts: 32

---

Iv spent months on my levels just trying to make them perfect it dont take me long to make them..But i spend for ever trying to make them look perfect.

2012-08-01 22:29:00 Author: Lbphart3 Posts: 813

---

But that could easily make creating seem like a horrible job rather then a fun level you can create in a day or two. Why? If you have the attention span, you could work on one level for a year. The problem is people aren't committed to producing a level they enjoy. If you like what you do, the time required should not be an issue. That's how I look at it, anyways.

2012-08-01 23:27:00 Author: Ostler5000 Posts: 1017

---

I'm entering day 62 of working on Zombie Epidemic (http://lbp.me/v/czqhd7). To answer your question on spending weeks on a level. The first 23 days I worked endlessly on my level, maybe 5-7 hours of work per day. The next 7 days I put 2-3 hours into it each day. The following 15 days I worked on my level every other day for about 2 hours. Since publishing v0.20 of Zombie Epidemic I've worked on the level for about an hour a day every other day. Some of us kinda do spend a lot of time on our levels. I'm pretty sure I'm not the only whose started a level and then slowly and slowly worked on it for decreasing periods of time at increasing intervals. Planning isn't necessary. You'd be shocked to hear that Zombie Epidemic originally was meant to be a one or two-day distraction of creating random stuff I didn't plan to publish. Another shocker is that at one point I used paintinator projectiles for ammunition. I only really knew what I was going to do a few days after I started work on my level. I had no clue how to make any of the logic currently in my level until I came across it and experimented with stuff and looked at little bits of logic that other people made to see how I could piece it all together to create my logic system. (I might've had pieces of logic from other people, but I still had to put them together to complete the puzzle that was creating my realistic ammunition logic system, which is much more difficult than I'm making it sound.)

2012-08-02 03:48:00 Author: BIGGamerer Posts: 182

---

Months?! LOL. Amateur. , you've been working on that for over a year now, no? Probably longer, since it was September when I saw it functioning iirc, must have started much earlier than that. I've had nothing to do for the past 2 weeks. So far have spent roughly 70 hours making a starcraft 2 remake. Almost full time Another 40-70 hours and it should be nearly complete. Like ostler brought up, time becomes unimportant when you're doing something you enjoy. I wouldn't be surprised to see my time in create mode pushing 1000 hours. Don't have much to show for it besides 4 moons of unfinished levels, but I enjoyed it and that's all that matters to me. As for planning. I started this without any planning whatsoever (besides playing the original game). I spend the day creating, and the night solving logic issues on paper and organizing my tag labels. Needed to start doing the latter since I hit the label limit. It helps organize your ideas, and that alone can save you a week of wasted time remaking things.

2012-08-02 04:36:00 Author: SSTAGG1 Posts: 1136

---

Months?! LOL. Amateur. Lol true, sometime projects (series levels) take a lot of months to make even years depending on how much you play. For example, I started working on my rpg during the beginning of july 2011 and as you can see even though it's been more then a years now I still haven't finish working on it.

2012-08-02 09:09:00 Author: Sport_dude Posts: 622

---

I'm almost reaching Antikris level at the moment - started early march, still only about 50% done now.

2012-08-02 09:39:00 Author: Ali_Star Posts: 4085

---

How long has it been since LBP1 was released, 3 years? I've been working on a series of 4 huge levels and a few side levels for about that long. I've taken a few long breaks when I stopped playing or had a bit of writer's block, but each one of them has hundreds (if not 1000+) hours of actual creation time put in, from paper to actual creation. They each have at least an hour or so of gameplay, so there's alot to put in the levels, and it really adds up when you're tweaking and optimizing things, changing based on feedback, changing until things are "just right," etc.

2012-08-02 11:26:00 Author: Unknown User

---

We all create differently so we all take a different amount of time to finish something. There should never be a expected amount of time to create a level because then we'd all be robots working at a deadline (unless it's a competition) It's littlebigplanet, work for as long as you want, however you want. (BUT DON'T COPY, OR NYAN CAT WILL GET YOU IN YOUR SLEEP)

2012-08-02 12:21:00 Author: dermZ96 Posts: 86

---

It took me 6 months to make Space Assassins 2. Even my last project which was only a music video took a week to make the song and then another 3 weeks to put the video together, working on it 6-12 hours a day, every day. I have a pretty solid workrate, but I believe that if you want to push your level beyond being just "satisfactory" and take it to the stars then you gotta put in the time. Sometimes that can mean scrapping days of work and starting afresh on a section, not because there's anything wrong with what you've made, but because it disrupts the flow of gameplay or deviates from a cohesive aesthetic when considered in the holistic context of your level. Sometimes you just need to stand back from your level for a few days while you plan your next approach or wait an epiphany of creative inspiration. Even when the level is "finished", it's never really finished. That bit that always bugged you for some reason but you're not entirely sure what else to do with it and oh, it took you soooo long to do it in the first place? Well, you can guarantee that it will bug the player too, so don't rest on your laurels. If you know there's room for improvement then get off your lazy posterior and work to improve it. Thermo left? Use it. So yeah, if anyone says they can produce a high quality level in less than a week, they're either Luos or they're lying.

2012-08-02 13:09:00 Author: Ungreth Posts: 2130

---

It's very true that creating can be a long and difficult process, but the result is usually worth it. I shouldn't know though, I haven't spent more than a month on a single level. I get really bored and disappointed in a level I've been building for more than a week and a half. I feel like it could be so much better, or that I simply don't want to make it any more. It's like a one-time thing. I hear many people saying "create for yourself", but honestly, that just doesn't cut it for me sometimes. Everyone has their own method of creating, whether it be for themselves, others, or for fun, and I just don't feel like I should be creating this way, or that way, or doing it the "right" way. There are some ways that really help some, but hinder others. However, another reason I don't spend much time creating is because I have to share my PS3 with two others, so we have to split the time into turns, and it really doesn't give me enough time to create. It DOES, however, give enough time for the ideas in my head to cook, and that is good and bad in certain ways. I don't want to keep creating multiple levels and ditch others. Also, some ideas are obviously better than others, and sometimes better than ideas I've already started working on, which leads me to delete many, many levels that never make it to my Earth. But I guess it doesn't entirely matter how much time you spend on a level. That doesn't mean you have to spend a year on a level for it to be good, you can just be a really quick and efficient creator. Of course, taking time and practicing are very important, but it doesn't mean it has to be SO much time that it's stressful.

2012-08-02 14:37:00 Author: Sackpapoi Posts: 1195

---

Like me somepeople prefer to create whole games on LBP. and not just simply mere levels. and real games even with the LBPtools will take you easily a month or 2... perhaps far more depending on what kind of game you are building and how fast you are of a creator. i've been off and on have been working on a level series for over 8 months now. *mew

2012-08-02 17:11:00 Author: Lord-Dreamerz Posts: 4261

---

The time it takes for me to make a level is always different. Many of The Dups levels were created in only a few hours with a bunch of friends and we pretty much improvise around a simple idea. Some can take a few days, but that's really it. However, I've been working on this minigame level for like 2 weeks. Not because building is taking awhile, but coming up with ideas for minigames. I want this level to have lots of them, because the concept of this level is that winning or losing a minigame takes you to a completely different minigame, and it takes you to a new path. I want the minigames to be as random and ridiculous in a funny way as possible. Yeah. Coming up with them has been pretty difficult. I have at least 20 finished, but that's not enough.

2012-08-02 17:41:00 Author: lemurboy12 Posts: 842

---

By the time I've completely finished with a level, around 2-3 months have usually passed. I don't go on my PS3 for more than around 1 hour and a half a day though. You'll find the thermometer generally plays nice and lets you make massive levels, or shorter levels with really detailed graphics. Either way, it'll take a while, but if you put the time in you should be happy with what you come out with

2012-08-02 17:50:00 Author: kirbyman62 Posts: 1893

---

Well these are satisfying results. : )

2012-08-02 18:08:00 Author: ryano775 Posts: 32

---

Creating a level in my experience depends on several factors. What kind of mood your in, what kind of level you have in mind, real life, other video games, etc. I've been working on two levels for the past few weeks or so and im barely a fourth of the way done with them in terms of what i have planned for both of them. If all i did was play lbp2 and always be in the mood to create, then maybe i would be done with both of my levels by now. Of course, that would probably not be for the best seeing as how i like to put plenty of time and effort into my levels. Quality over quantity as they say. Seeing as how i have other things to do and sometimes im just not in the mood to create, I might tweak a thing or two in my level and call it a day. Other times, i can get some substantial work done. It just depends on the factors i mentioned above.

2012-08-02 21:27:00 Author: Pickle962 Posts: 25

---

I am completely crazy when it comes to creating. The most time I've created in one sitting was around 7-8 hours, which is pretty pitiful compared to some of you but quite extraordinary for me. On the other hand, I can spend almost a week playing LBP without touching create mode. It just depends on the amount of time I have. I had ample time on the PS3 once, and I managed to create Sackdroid - Intro (my best level) in only a few weeks, while it took me two months to make some of my lesser movies, simply because of less time. The level I'm working on now could possibly span many months, being my most ambitious project. If I don't have ample time, it could easily drag into 2013. So it pretty much depends on how much PS3 time I have.

2012-08-02 22:29:00 Author: Kalawishis Posts: 928

---

It bears minding that a lot of players are addicted to the comfort of being in progress. I could write forever about gaming addiction. A problem with LBP is that it taps into a deeper creative addiction that doesn't necessarily have anything to do with games. It ensnares the sort of us who get wrapped up in the hobby of hobbying, having goals but not assigning a number of hours or managing our time like we do with other deadline-oriented projects. Like writers who write for years, new pages every night, and are never closer to "the end", or fitness addicts who live for their daily regimen of 3 hours jogging around the neighborhood, 3 gym hours, 3 hours on the treadmill at home. That fitness addict doesn't go to bed on day 59 or reach mile 999 thinking, "Tomorrow is day 60 / I've run run 1000 miles, therefore I am finished with my hobby". That would actually depress the **** out of them. When the goal gets near, they distort it or levy it into a new goal, sometimes without ever acknowledging they met their last goal, sometimes making the new goal impossibly ambitious, to ensure they can keep running on that treadmill tomorrow and the day after and every day after. Same goes for certain folks finishing a level in LBP. "Long termers" get swallowed in the process and turn the time investment into a point of pride. "I'm dedicated to my level and I know it's good because it's the longest I've ever spent on it." I'm not belittling this attitude or the spectacular resulting levels that come out of a lengthy investment, it's exactly how I approach my own levels. But I also know where ambition stops and self-deluding security kicks in, as far as my own projects go, because I've blown right past imaginary deadlines and can say for sure that my most time-intensive levels are not my best, nor is there any benefit to spending 51 hours on a level after I've spent about 50 hours on it. There are tons of prolific, talented creators who "churn out" new levels every few weeks that are amazing. Those levels might benefit from a few extra days of work. But their creators are making better use of that time, and already a few days close to being finished with the next level because they judged enough was enough and published and moved on. Anyway, just bears minding. A lot of us are biased addicts.

2012-08-03 07:06:00 Author: Unknown User

---

anything is better than Latin player so I wouldn't really complain http://littlesigplanet.com/sigs/profile/xHuRbUrTzZ/popit_default/0/sig.png (http://lbp.me/u/xHuRbUrTzZ)

2012-08-03 20:43:00 Author: Unknown User

---

I don't create much per day, (Really the longest time I've spent creating in one day is, at the most, three or four hours. Many times I will not create for days, sometimes I'll even take long breaks from Videogames all together) but the things I plan and really want to make take more time than that. So I always end up get discouraged and make something slightly less time consuming, telling myself that this time I'm going to finish it. It hasn't happened yet. As far as enjoying progress goes, I enjoy it, but I enjoy the satisfaction that comes with completing something a whole lot more, when you can just sit back and say, "Ah. I'm done."

2012-08-06 17:03:00 Author: Unknown User

---

Months for me too. I guess each level would easily clock in about 150 odd hours. I always work on paper first too. I like to work out a gimic that would inform the gameplay (ie use just blue bounce pads) and from then start to scribble down ideas and translate them in create. I get a brain ache if I try to build and come up with ideas in game....

2012-08-07 11:25:00 Author: bossveg Posts: 47

---

Months for me too. I guess each level would easily clock in about 150 odd hours. I always work on paper first too. I like to work out a gimic that would inform the gameplay (ie use just blue bounce pads) and from then start to scribble down ideas and translate them in create. I get a brain ache if I try to build and come up with ideas in game.... Pfffffft! Amateur! I think, since my levels are mainly logic based, that's why I tend to take so much time on them. The level I'm working on now is platform, logic and puzzle based, with a lot of room for errors.... it's taking me forever, and I don't think I'll be done with it any time soon. I should quit my job and work on it full time!

2012-08-07 11:39:00 Author: Ali_Star Posts: 4085

---

Pfffffft! Amateur! I think, since my levels are mainly logic based, that's why I tend to take so much time on them. The level I'm working on now is platform, logic and puzzle based, with a lot of room for errors.... it's taking me forever, and I don't think I'll be done with it any time soon. I should quit my job and work on it full time! Amateur is true. I'm useless with logic and the longer and most frustrating moments of creating for me are in the microchips. Just the thought of trying to use a combiner or splitter brings me out in a nervous sweat.

2012-08-07 14:44:00 Author: bossveg Posts: 47

---

All i can is that you want to perfect the level. so it would take months. creating 2 days is just no true experience. some people actully can make a good level in 2 days like during early lbp2 days ( say about 1-5 days when it first came out ) there was a street fighter level which was awsome. you can still find it in cool pages using "versus" tag.

2012-08-08 20:38:00 Author: Sunbunny23 Posts: 995

---

Like many have already said here, in the end, time is relevant to no one in comparison to enjoyment factor. Sure, I've seen levels where I think "Wow, that must have taken you all of five seconds to splat together!" But then I've played levels which I have truly enjoyed, only to later learn that they were put together in less than a few days (xtrophx is always doing this - how he puts a level together so quickly astounds me - but i always enjoy it!). So it's all completely irrelevant in the end. Trying to think about how long I've actually spent on levels... hmmm.. Nina: 1 week Printz Prologue (1): 2 weeks Printz Prologue (remake): 1.5 months Printz level 1 (1 part level): 2.5 months Printz Level 1 (published version, 3-part level): oooh... about four months? Printz teaser: 2 months printz 2: rolling on 9 months. BUT. This is unimportant. I take a long time mostly because of time constraints, lack of focus (i'll create for an hour or so then get distracted) and real life responsibilities. Others may be able to cram the create time into a few 24 hour days (note: not recommended for your physical or mental health) At the end of it all, the end result is all that matters.

2012-08-08 21:44:00 Author: rialrees Posts: 1015

---

I think it depend on the type of level and the amount of hours per day you Create. Quality: "Normal" Platformers should take you about 3-4 weeks. 'Normal" Minigames should take you 2-3 weeks. Levels where you use innovative gameplay ideas, like using different sackbot abilities can take you even 2 months. Any level with more complexity, a truly well done FPS, or a really complicated RPG, can take you a looot of time, there is no way to tell you how much, it depends in the idea; because they have lots of bugs.

2012-08-08 22:37:00 Author: yugnar Posts: 1478

---

the apocalypse(psp) prologue alone took 5 months...

2012-08-09 07:13:00 Author: Sunbunny23 Posts: 995

---

I take a long time mostly because of time constraints, lack of focus (i'll create for an hour or so then get distracted) and real life responsibilities. Others may be able to cram the create time into a few 24 hour days (note: not recommended for your physical or mental health) I can 100% confirm that last remark. I've spent too many days (and nights) creating non-stop, then breaking down the next day. Coming back after that usually takes another day just to unravel what I had done. I fear I've trained myself to sleep during create sessions. Over the last 3 days, I've dozed off too often to count.

2012-08-09 07:18:00 Author: SSTAGG1 Posts: 1136

---

BUT. This is unimportant. I take a long time mostly because of time constraints, lack of focus (i'll create for an hour or so then get distracted) and real life responsibilities. Others may be able to cram the create time into a few 24 hour days (note: not recommended for your physical or mental health) At the end of it all, the end result is all that matters. Since you're in a similar position to me, with how long you've taken on your level, have you ever been at the stage where you've had enough? You've had too many issues with your level and thought.... is it really worth it? My level is so intense logic-wise in some places, that I have a feeling that it will just fail whenever people test it online. Thing is for you, is that you're a well-known creator, so you WILL get a lot of plays when you do publish, I know a lot of people will be waiting for the sequel to Printz Diaries. But I'm still relatively unknown.... I'm optimistic that if it does all work, it will do well, but well enough to justify +10 months worth of creation time? I dunno. Don't get me wrong, I don't create just for the plays. I'd rather a few people play it and love it, rather than a lot play it and hate it, but when I put this much effort in, and have so many problems during the creation process, I want it to be worth it in the end.

2012-08-09 10:11:00 Author: Ali_Star Posts: 4085

---

Since you're in a similar position to me, with how long you've taken on your level, have you ever been at the stage where you've had enough? You've had too many issues with your level and thought.... is it really worth it? My level is so intense logic-wise in some places, that I have a feeling that it will just fail whenever people test it online. Ha, I know that feeling. No matter how long I test for, there's ALWAYS something that unravels after I've published. I haven't published a level in nearly a year, and my current one has been on the burner for about 6 months due both to time restraints and having to learn a bunch of new logic tricks to get it up and running. I'm still not sure if switching to bot avatars is worth the obvious benefits given the time munching mountains of absolute faff you go through just to get the level working like it would with a regular sack. It depends on the type of level, but I used to be able to knock these things out in about a month and a half. Now there's all this crazy stuff that you know you could get to work, that in LBP1 you would have just gone 'err, no' and thought of something less complex instead. And it's a major time sink.

2012-08-09 18:32:00 Author: julesyjules Posts: 1156

---

I make zombie levels...and it would take me a maximum of 2 months to make. I make my levels very fun and at the same time have nice level detail.

2012-08-09 23:45:00 Author: SackBoy98 Posts: 588

Posts: 1077139    Threads: 69970    Members: 9661    Archive-Date: 2019-01-19

Aus dem Archiv wurden alle persönlichen Daten wie Name, Anschrift, Email etc. - aber auch sämtliche Inhalte wie z.B. persönliche Nachrichten - entfernt.
Die Nutzung dieser Webseite erfolgt ohne Speicherung personenbezogener Daten. Es werden keinerlei Cookies, Logs, 3rd-Party-Plugins etc. verwendet.