Home    LittleBigPlanet 1 - PSP - Tearaway -Run Sackboy Run    LittleBigPlanet 1    [LBP1] Ideas and Projects [Archive]
#1

Project "G"

Archive: 17 posts

I've halted all operations with Project-06 due to two Level Data corruptions. Media Molecule (Anton) did fix my file, but I'm a little too uninspired right now to work on that. Instead, I'll work on something new... Project "G". After seeing so many good Boss Battles pop up, I decided I wanted to give one a shot, too. 06 does have two of them, but since it's not published yet, G will (hopefully) by the first to see the light of day.



Concept:

As mentioned before, "G" is essentially a Boss Battle, taking place in all 3 layers. It will be taking advantage of our beloved Paintinator. I doubt there will be any puzzles or platforming segments to be found. Instead, the focus will be mainly on the boss, currently named "Steel Golem Golzor". I plan to make it a fully operational bi-pedal contraption with a few set of weapons, such as:


Spinning Saw-blade (right arm)
Land Mine Launcher (left leg)
Air Mine Launcher (right leg)
Laser Gun (left arm)
Secret Weapon 1, codenamed PC (torso)
Secret Weapon 2, codenamed FoL (head)

...Among a few other things. I can't say all of them will make it in, but if they do, then this baby will be a walking tank. Most of these weapons will be unlocked by Golzor as the battle goes on (perhaps as he takes damage, or maybe by a set period of time) to make sure the fight never grows dull. I might have the "arena" change along with that, as seen on Act 5 of the MGS pack (where the platforms sink into the ground). Each of Golzor's limbs will take a different layer.


Layer 1 - Right Leg, Right Arm
Layer 2 - Torso, Head
Layer 3 - Left Leg, Left Arm

Anyway, I plan to use a set of rockets to allow it to "glide" or "dash" across the ground, making for a quick charge attack (this seems like a far-off idea, however, considering I want to make the arena change). His body will have a very, very thin layer of Horrible Gas, thus killing the players if he is touched. The golem will hold five weak-points: 2 shoulders, 2 knees and the head. The head will be protected by a barrier which is deactivated once his other 4 weakpoints are taken care of

Once defeated, Golzor might (or might not, depending if I do implement this) release his "Core", which is a uni-eyed spider-like creature, Layer 1 and 3 sinking to the (hazardous) ground. I'm still working this idea out. After that's taken care of, the battle ends.

A two-week Contest will be held if all goes according to plan, adding a race flag for players to reach a high score. Not only this, but I'll be implementing a certain "mechanism" that will reward deserving players. The winner earns Experience, mad bragging rights, and the custom title "Steel Golem Slayer" (optional).


Approach:

Unlike my previous levels, I will be revealing most of my work in progress here in this thread with pictures and the occasional video, writing down what I've been doing and anything else related. Sort of like a "Progress Log", if you will. I've seen several other Creators do this, so I wanted to give it a try, too. If little to no feedback is given, I'll just keep the next idea to myself and my friends.


How You can Help:

Feedback, feedback and more feedback! When I feel I've made proper progress, I'll be releasing several Beta versions of the level (depending on the progress made at X or Y point). The level will be password protected, so those that PM me will be given access. I'll let those interested know later on. Even if you decide to not play the Beta, you can provide suggestions on everything, from level aesthetics to gameplay improvements.


That's the idea so far. Now to get started...

For an idea on what I mean by a "glide" or "dash", see this video around 6:50-7:00.


fuWtLtqgNho		2009-01-29 23:31:00

Author:
aer0blue
Posts: 1603

Sounds hard and time consuming...

The outcome would be amazing though!		2009-01-29 23:41:00

Author:
moleynator
Posts: 2914

Sounds hard and time consuming...

The outcome would be amazing though!

The hardest part will be getting this thing to walk on both legs. >.< So people, start sending me bipedal creatures as objects! If it doesn't work out, I'll have to just cheat and just make it static, or have it move with a piston. Cheating, I know, but oh well. Still, I really wanna make it walk.		2009-01-29 23:45:00

Author:
aer0blue
Posts: 1603

The walking shouldn't be too difficult honestly, I can give you some pointers on how to make the legs work.

Concerning the glide thing, I would advise against using the rockets for this. Rockets are incredibly inaccurate for linear propulsion. It would be best to cheat somehow, perhaps using a set of fast wheels on the soles of the feet to make it roll forward?		2009-01-30 00:42:00

Author:
Gilgamesh
Posts: 2536

The walking shouldn't be too difficult honestly, I can give you some pointers on how to make the legs work.

Concerning the glide thing, I would advise against using the rockets for this. Rockets are incredibly inaccurate for linear propulsion. It would be best to cheat somehow, perhaps using a set of fast wheels on the soles of the feet to make it roll forward?

Pointers are very much welcome! So please, any advice you have, do share them with me. ;D

The way I have it now is: a wobble bolt as a "hip", and a spring bolt as an "ankle". I'm slowly getting there with trial and error. However, I need to have some extra weight "or tail" on the back-most area so the contraption can hold its balance. I'll put up a video later most likely.

Anyway, for the rockets, I'll give them a shot first. If it's too inaccurate, then wheels or something else will have to do.		2009-01-30 00:58:00

Author:
aer0blue
Posts: 1603

Nice video. I liked the armorboys in them.

I haven't seen a bipedal creation that actually worked well so I'm guessing it is not the best route. *shrugs* We'll see.		2009-01-30 01:05:00

Author:
Voltiare
Posts: 646

Nice video. I liked the armorboys in them.

I haven't seen a bipedal creation that actually worked well so I'm guessing it is not the best route. *shrugs* We'll see.

I thought I showed you my mech legs D:		2009-01-30 01:06:00

Author:
Trap_T
Posts: 431

I've seen Trap and Gilgamesh with walking bipedal movement without the use of a cheating system, but they used different design implementations.

Gilgamesh has more of a piston/rod leg movement thing, like a bird walking, while Trap's design is more of a humanoid hip/knee/ankle movment. To summarise the difference simply, one model has the knee going backwards to the human direction (a bird hip) while the other has it going in a "human" direction. I think the technical term is lizard hip. So both hip types are theoretically possible in LBP. Bird hips crouch more and are more menacing, lizard hips are more upright and commanding.

The trickiest thing to do might be weighting. If you put too much mass up the the top it could have the potential to fall over a lot. Maybe if you have heavy legs and then a much lighter upper body, it might help prevent it from falling over.

I also agree that rockets are probably not the best choice. If you could keep it to two layers you could cheat a whole lot with the thin/thick screen cheat to control all the movement, but putting it on three planes could be hard.

Another possibility to improve stability is to make a quadraped (4 legs) instead of a biped (2 legs). More legs means a bigger center of gravity. Heck, it's a mech, you could make it a triped (3 legs) if you want.

Donkeyshow has some mech designs as well with his "armorboy" series, but that's more jetpack controlled flight for the player mechs and piston cheating for enemy mechs, at least I think it's piston cheating...

How I'm making my "Good Ship Prometheus", which isn't technically a mech but is still vehicle type combat, is to use a whole lot of thick/thin screen cheating. You have the visible ship with the player controls, and then a whole lot of extra controls behind a screen which actually control ship movement and other systems. The enemies are on pistons that move behind the screen.

Kratos4 is another person you can reference. Again he isn't technically building mechs, but he's got some great working models of tanks, both player and AI controlled, with various shooting systems.

So there are a few reference points to start with. I look forward to seeing the end result. 		2009-01-30 01:40:00

Author:
Elbee23
Posts: 1280

Awww man, I thought this thread was about Gatorade.


But anyways, really nice project, glad we'll get to see more site contests, even if I didn't win the other one.

I really hope you get everything to work out like you want. Good luck bro!		2009-01-30 01:43:00

Author:
Whalio Cappuccino
Posts: 5250

Awww man, I thought this thread was about Gatorade.


XD

Anyways, I'll wish you luck, and I'll have you know that my boss for the BR contest is made up of 3 sawing arms. 		2009-01-30 03:16:00

Author:
Astrosimi
Posts: 2046

I'll try to write a thread on how to get a proper bipedal motion working.

In the meantime, if you don't want to spend countless hours figuring out how to keep your creation upright, I wrote an earlier concept that I use myself to great effect : https://lbpcentral.lbp-hub.com/index.php?t=t=4568

I think you'll find it useful.		2009-01-30 13:51:00

Author:
Gilgamesh
Posts: 2536

Wow, sounds like a cool project Yet i have one worry... a rather serious one and i'm not sure if you thought of that.

When you have bi-pedal machinery, there's a front and a back of the "creature". Because you can't flip the entire thing, it will just be walking back and forth instead of left and right.

Therefore, i'm a bit worried that you can cheat by going trough the legs, to the rear of the creature. You either want to prevent the player from doing so, or have a buckload of weapons on the back aswell.

(Or perhaps you're design is like a twin-face kind of thing which is symetrical on both sides, then this wouldn't cause problems)

ANyway, i hope you thought of this, and/or find a solution to it. 		2009-01-30 16:59:00

Author:
ThommyTheThird
Posts: 440

I've written a thread on bipedal motion. Check it out, I'm sure it'll help : https://lbpcentral.lbp-hub.com/index.php?t=p=1370922009-01-30 17:59:00

Author:
Gilgamesh
Posts: 2536

ANyway, i hope you thought of this, and/or find a solution to it.

Thin cloud of Horrible Gas between the legs. ;D

Anyway, I'm gonna have to scrap the biped contraption. I appreciate everyone's input and advice. Actually, I started getting something decent last night...until I started thinking about the weapons. So much stuff is gonna make it lose its balance...so I'm gonna have to: A, cheat with a piston to give the illusion it's walking, or B, make it a triped or quadruped.

On another note, I started working on the prototype Saw Blade. Works good so far. The arm expands, and the further away the saw (a ninja star) is, the faster it spins. Obviously controlled by a Key Switch set to Speed. It just looks cool. :] It's a little bulky, though... I might resize it later on. Depends on how the whole thing looks.

I'll provide pics when possible. I usually don't play much on weekends because I'm busy. >_<		2009-01-30 18:04:00

Author:
aer0blue
Posts: 1603

Project G has come to a pause as my other projects (Boss Rush and Video Reviews) have higher priority. Will get back to this once I get those goin'.2009-02-02 23:23:00

Author:
aer0blue
Posts: 1603

You know as much as bipeds are about the coolest thing you could ever hope to create in this game, they are also the cause of explosive rage outbursts, broken controllers, insomnia, drug addiction, crimes against the elderly, and global warming.

I've been tempted more than once to build a walking biped, but the conclusion I keep coming to is that it's not worth the insane amount of time required to get one working properly. And by properly I mean one that doesn't look like it's having a seizure while trying to walk.

Given that project "G" is a boss fight, I'd suggest gluing the feet to the floor and starting from there. 99% of your balance problems are solved. If you really want mobile motion, quadroped is the way to go IMO - and will be lots more fun and less frustrating to build. I can share tips on quadroped construction if you want.

By the way, Gilgamesh, great guide thanks!		2009-02-03 19:20:00

Author:
Thegide
Posts: 1465

I agree that bipeds are a pain, but I did learn some valuable lessons from it. I had originally wanted to make a quadruped walker (an AT-AT to be exact) but since the leg motion is so alien I had no idea how to make heads or tails of the motion. Now that I know how bipeds walk, I think quadrupeds will be a snap.

I've also written a follow-up on Bipedal Motion to cover the balancing : https://lbpcentral.lbp-hub.com/index.php?t=t=8398		2009-02-03 19:34:00

Author:
Gilgamesh
Posts: 2536


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

Datenschutz
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.