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Cater-Puzzler (1-4 Players)

Archive: 5 posts

http://lbp.me/v/dm72q7

Welcome! This is a puzzle game based on the story mini-game "Mind Control". You guide 2 or more sackbots to specific goals in each puzzle. Some of them take a bit of brainpower but are also easily completed. There are 10 levels to complete and prizes are given based on how quickly you finish the whole game. Please Enjoy! By Curtis_Larkin and DreadPirateCash.
http://lbp.me/v/dm72q7

2012-08-10 16:14:00

Author:
curtislarkin

Posts: 157

Oh sorry I forgot to reserve my spot, for I Q'd this a couple days ago.

Anyways I Q'd this level and anything below this spot (within this post) is reserved for my review/feedback. Happy?

Yay, a fun puzzle level. This level was very creative and entertaining. I enjoyed playing it even though I managed to get zero points. :'(

Anyways I was doing quite well until I got to the second to last puzzle.( i think) it was the one with the swinging axe. Anyways I couldn't get past it for the longest time till I got both sackbots down at the left and jumped up by the goal. I didn't even land up there they just barely touched it so it registered that as success. You might want to fix that. Though all in all the puzzles weren't that hard, for most of them all you had to do was get one sackbot in and then worry about the next. Not much co-op between the two. In most of the puzzles. But I still really liked it so I'm glad you decided to make a sequel to my favorite story mode level.

2012-08-10 16:42:00

Author:
SilverTriforce7

Posts: 183

EDIT:
Not posting for the bump or whatever. I'm just curious, Whats the point of wasting my time posting up a level i'm very proud of if no one is even going to play it. It is really starting to seem like no one cares about the work of people who don't have 500+ posts. I'm annoyed.

I'm sure you did in fact work hard on this level, but sometimes it simply takes a while. I can see you've already put the effort in to making a level thread, linking to your lbp.me page, and have even created your own icon and description for the level as well, but even then it can simply take a while, that's all. Sometimes it's just difficult getting a lot of plays, but if you want to try other ways to get more recognition, I recommend you try utilizing LBPC's F4F system if you haven't already. Leave some reviews on other people's levels, and then ask if they can leave some feedback here. You can also try taking some pictures of the level, upload them to lbp.me, and then showcase them here in the opening post as well.

Anyway though, I've decided to give this level a shot, and here's my review below. (If the review turns out to be extremely long, or switches between the past and present tenses, then please note that these are both common side effects to my way of reviewing levels, in which I play and review the level at the same time. It's just a way of reviewing I do so all the details are fresh in my head.)

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Alright, so I'm at the start, getting on the back of a caterpillar. The caterpillar's pretty interesting looking, and I do like the trees in the background, but if I were you, I'd make the music sequencer invisible, and maybe experiment a little with how the checkpoint appears. Now, the latter point I made about the checkpoint could just be one of my tiny nitpicks I tend to slip into some of my reviews, but the way it's placed and appears is a bit odd. Maybe have some strings attached to let it hang, or have it attached to a tree, idk. As of now though, it kind of just floats there a bit awkwardly. The caterpillar is pretty interesting, and it is fun how it moves forward, and if you want, but it's probably not necessary, you could try experimenting with throwing a sound or two in for it moving. Something squishy or bug-like, idk.

The rocky floor below you and the caterpillar is nice material-wise, but it might be nicer to have a grassy material on top of it, yet still right below you and the caterpillar. I'm all for using story backgrounds to your advantage, but a bit more work on the opening scenery could make it look more polished than it is at the moment. Moving on though, as the caterpillar crawls around like a boss, I notice you've decided to throw in some mushrooms and sunflowers. While they're definitely decos that would fit the same nature-esque theme of it's spiritual predecessor, I think one thing to consider is that size can be key with decorations.

Now believe me, using big decorations all around can in fact be done. I've seen it done before, and it can be great. But in situations like with this, less is more. By reducing the size of the mushrooms at least, it can give off a bigger sense of detail, as shown in the video below.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UYupqEWjaak&feature=player_embedded

I like you've even thrown in some grass stickers, although seeing how you've placed them over a glass surface, the stickers themselves have came out pretty messy, and imo, they'd work much better on a clean and normal texture like cardboard or blue wood. But anyway, even though I'm not really a fan of Owl city, the "firefly" tune was a nice little addition, so nice job to whoever did the music. ^^ The level designs are pretty simple, which is fine, although it might be nice to spruce it up with a little more details maybe. I also noticed how the puzzles are very similar to the story mode level, "Mind Control". Yes, I do know that this is in fact supposed to be a sort of community-made sequel to the level, I just know some people might complain about this.

Reusing lots of gameplay from a story mode level can actually work well, if you provide a twist, like with a fantastic level called "Bunker of Whoop!", which took some of "Tower of Whoop"'s gameplay, but threw in some new stuff as well, and completely changed it's theme to that of the Bunker. With this though, it goes for the same nature theme, and almost if not identical gameplay all around. So yeah, I'm not trying to complain really, I just know some people might be befuzzled by this. Not that remakes aren't alright, but it might be cool, if it is supposed to resemble a remake more, to fit in a nifty twist within the gameplay.

But anyway, I do in fact like the gold trimming on the outside of the levels, and it's interesting how you've kept the same pattern of the caterpillar moving to the next puzzle. Although, I think the reason this form of moving from puzzle to puzzle worked so well in "Mind Control" was that the caterpillar was always right there, over on the side of the puzzles, quickly moving upward. With this though, the caterpillar is above yet out of sight when you do the puzzles, and it continuously switches back and forth between the puzzles and riding the caterpillar. So yes, that can at times be a bit weird, but thankfully it's not all that irritating since the puzzles are right by eachother, even if the ends of other puzzles can be a bit distracting at times when they pop in over on the sides of the camera angle.

There is a little problem I found. It's really not that big of a problem, but I might as well just throw it out there. After the second puzzle, after almost every puzzle, the caterpillar would move back a little, and then move forward. I guess it's just a problem with the wobbly movement. (I do like the wobbly movement, but little things like that can slow it down, making it a tad annoying) Another very tiny nitpick of mine is how the sponge circle moving back and forth on puzzle 2 is visible, right below the caterpillar. I understand as to why puzzles are right below, as it transitions swiftly and with ease, but I thought I'd just throw that out there along with any other little complaint I've left so far in this review.

Moving on though, I do notice that more big decos are thrown in like orange and white flowers, which, just like the other decos, I'd try doing something about them. I also found the trees you used repetitive as they were just about everywhere until the end, and a number of them were placed just too close together, no offence. I know this wasn't the last challenge, but there was this one (not sure what number) that had one running on a circular wheel while another had to constantly jump to avoid the flaming parts of the floor. This challenge was a bit of annoyance I have to say, as one player had to move in a constant, yet always fell off, while the other kept getting burnt. Then again, that could be your attention, but idk.

I'm not sure why, but that green bar took a while for it to go up, despite me continuously running on it, while my top bot kept dying. That's something that's wrong with the challenge, I think. The fact that the bot can keep dying, and it's fine. The fact that he doesn't really need to do anything that requires a challenge, and overall, I didn't care for top bot on that challenge. One final thing I'd like to say about this puzzle was that I did like how you decided to show the caterpillar on this one, but it kept moving back and forth that it was a weird distraction, and if you're going to show the caterpillar, I wouldn't have it move around so awkwardly, but instead, just have it stay still if you can.

Looking back on all the puzzles, I do have to agree with triforce. Not only were most puzzles just like the original, but they were even easier, with the addition of little ledges to keep bots in their place more easily. While this is helpful and whatnot, if you're going to take the same elements from a story mode level, I'd take those elements and put my own spin on it, like LBP_HARD did by redoing the story mode in a more difficult, and much more sinister fashion. Besides that, I'd probably throw in a sound after the final puzzle, when the rock walls come down behind you. I did like how you threw in the same machines that gave prizes depending on your score, and how you even made it look different from the rest. Although, it might be nice to make the top parts a different material than the bottom parts. I'd also give the scoreboard some visual polish, instead of keeping it at its default white look, which doesn't exactly work with the nature theme of the level.

TL;DR....

Pros
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1. Clean-cut level design, and the addition of golden edging was a smart choice
2. The return of the caterpillar's nice, and it moves around like a boss
3. While I'm not a big fan of Owl city, creating and adding in the "firefly" tune was a good idea, and made up for some sounds that could be thrown in, but weren't.
4. Props to the swinging axe challenge. Even though it was similar to one of the puzzles in the official Eve minigame, it still had it's own, unique feel imo
5. The score givers at the end were nice, and I liked how you made them different from the rest, with nice and clean fonts for the points needed.

Cons
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1. The level is all too similar to the story mode level it tries to be a sequel of, offering the same challenges and a similar kind of theme. Besides a few puzzles, it's pretty much identical, besides the fact it's made easier with the addition of ledges. If I were you, I'd try throwing more stuff, so you can keep the same vibe of "Mind Control", but with more of your own stuff.
2. Decorations came off too big and could sometimes detract from the gameplay. The grass stickers should also be on a different surface like cardboard or blue wood, instead of something like glass.
3. Things like bolts and music sequencers should be hidden, and the checkpoint could probably be added in better.
4. The caterpillar, while a nice addition, moves around awkwardly on one of the last puzzles when it's visible, and will sometimes slow you down by moving backwards for a second before moving forward.
5. More sounds can be thrown in for things like the caterpillar moving, or when the rocky wall comes crashing down at the end.

Overall, this was a nice job, and I hope you take my points into consideration. I did not mean to offend you whatsoever, it's just a reviewer's job to focus on the tiny things, as well as the big things. To tell you what, in my own, honest opinion, what can be removed, replaced, tweaked, or should stay as it is. I hope this review was helpful, and if you ever happen to update it, send me a message, I'd be happy to give it another play and tell you what I think.

2012-08-11 14:36:00

Author:
Dragonvarsity

Posts: 5208

2012-08-13 06:04:00

Author:
curtislarkin

Posts: 157

Thanks much for the reviews Dragonvarsity & SilverTriforce7. I have been thinking a lot and i've watched that video from beginning to end and i am more than happy to "take my time" on the decorations. The level was made by myself and dpcash, but we had to rush to finish it. When i have a bit of time i'm going to go through and work on all of the suggestions you both left for me. I'm sure it will look much better and simply feel much better when its truly done. Thanks again guys.

That's great to hear. It's always good to have a creator who can take all kinds of criticism, positive or negative, in an effective manner. If you have a different opinion on one of my critiques though, that's fine too. It's your level after all.

Even though I am repeating myself here, I'd just like to say it again that whenever you might update the level, send a message my way. I'd be happy to see what you will have removed, replaced, tweaked or kept, and if you don't mind it too much, I can rant on some more in an updated review. xD

2012-08-13 12:26:00

Author:
Dragonvarsity

Posts: 5208

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