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Nuclear Rocket Into Unknown

Archive: 22 posts

Here's my latest input to the increasing pool of levels in LBP2, just out of time to see the possible light of Spotlight 131. Goodie. Let's start this Spotlight season off with something that I hope won't leave anyone cold, I say.

My latest level is pretty much a mash-up between the "DC-Premium Level Kit" and "Tim Burton's Nightmare Before Christmas Level Kit" in design. It may be a tad bit overlong, given that I don't know how long it takes for someone with no experience in the level to beat it, but it's a level I made during last holiday week with no real knowledge of where I wanted to take the level before about the middle-point of creation and it then turned out that the "ending" took the longest time to create in comparison to rest of the level (you'll understand once you see it), so...

What I basically mean is, I have no idea whether the gamble was worth or not and whether the level ends up being as wonderful as I vision it or as tedious as I fear, but that's a thing I must live with for now.

http://ie.lbp.me/img/ft/e5ef44f851922d30f4fd9f7380192ed381ed28ea.jpg

http://i2.lbp.me/img/ft/062e32c871ed7d3065e417fb2b443cee2e47fd86.jpg


1 Player recommended. The premise is simple: Rumours and urban legends tell that inside his castle that also functions as a nuclear waste deposit the insane yet brilliant doctor Kernkraft is building a space-rocket. Might there perhaps be some truth to these rumours?

http://lbp.me/v/qqxzps8
http://lbp.me/v/qqxzps8		2014-03-03 06:28:00

Author:
FreeAim
Posts: 2462

looks cool. I had already queued this just a few minutes ago. I saw it on LBP.me and was like, "I'm queuing the heck out of this!"2014-03-03 14:55:00

Author:
biorogue
Posts: 8424

Same what bio says, looks awesome. Queued!

-hyper		2014-03-03 17:00:00

Author:
hyperdude95
Posts: 1793

I play it tmr. Queued2014-03-03 21:26:00

Author:
Sandro8708
Posts: 625

Hey free, I just finished playing it. I really like it Both the castle and space areas look awesome, the castle in particular I love (felt very much like Slippery Climb from crash bandicoot, which is a good thing!) and it works great with the red wall jumping stuff. I liked that little bit of attract-o-gel gameplay too, I haven't seen that mixed with the cape before and it would have been nice to see some more of it. But the cape + wall jump stuff was really great. A lot of fun and some nice tricky score bubbles that make me want to play it again to beat my score (and yours!).

So yeah, loved all the castle stuff, but when it came to finding the rocket I realised I'd forgotten that's what the level was about! I didn't really get any kind of sciencey techy vibe from the castle so the rocket looked a bit out of of place. But it was a pleasant surprise to find some more gameplay after going into space. This part looked great too and I like the way you played with the camera angle - the space glass background can look pretty static if you don't do that. I especially loved the detail of having no sound in space, very nice. Would have liked to have seen some more cape gameplay here but there was still some fun platforming here too.

So...love the level and my only criticism would be that it doesn't feel like the site of a rocket launch. Not sure how I'd tackle that though. Crashed rocket sticking out of a wall or something? xD You got a heart anyway. Good stuff.		2014-03-04 00:50:00

Author:
ARD
Posts: 4291

Many thanks, Cog! In fact, that entire thing was supposed to come as sort of a surprise, so that's why I didn't lead into it story-wise. SInce I have no idea what else to do with the story, as it can be pretty much summed up with the cutscene and one bubble of dialogue, I thought it was for the best to keep it at its minimum. In honesty, I would've liked to see some cape action in space too, but even if it wasn't so meanly frustrating to use the cape in low gravity, I wouldn't have had too much space (in thermometer and the level, as I never used level link, if you noticed) left anyway. Thank you for playing my level, it's great to hear you liked it.

PS: I tried to not get too many points in the level myself. I try to avoid that.		2014-03-04 07:09:00

Author:
FreeAim
Posts: 2462

Sweet, added to the queue with pride.2014-03-04 09:27:00

Author:
Ironface
Posts: 432

Well if it was supposed to be a surprise then it worked great And yeah I can imagine low gravity with the cape would be annoying to set up so fair enough


Cog

grr... :kz:		2014-03-04 09:54:00

Author:
ARD
Posts: 4291

Did you catch the "LBPC" sign in space, by the way?2014-03-04 13:06:00

Author:
FreeAim
Posts: 2462

I did, reminded me I need to get one down somewhere in the level I'm making 2014-03-04 13:33:00

Author:
ARD
Posts: 4291

Remember that when I say I do F4F, it basically means that if you leave a two sentence review I will leave a... well, normal review (by my standards) on any level you ask. Just saying.2014-03-05 12:04:00

Author:
FreeAim
Posts: 2462

queueing this up, reviews look stellar2014-03-06 18:49:00

Author:
L-I-M-I
Posts: 611

hey free aim, just got done playing your level and wow I must play it again, this level was super fun and very adventurous, one minute I am in a castle gliding thru tubes with my trusty cape and the next minute I am blasted off into space on a crazy adventure. I see you are doing a F4F so here I go

Some good, some bad, some ok, some AWESOME, and some just me being a nit picker and pointing out the minor details that might not matter any way.

ok

This pic represents 2 things, during this section it is a long area without a save gate, place a "safety zone" around this area (gameplay related), also the checkpoints looked rather out of place as if you need a deco on them or just a thin layer behind as shown in the pic (aesthetic). I felt like this area was really fun to play and you had the perfect up speed on the wall jump material!!

http://i3.lbp.me/img/ft/a437620b740deea9f8c3d174c2e6e4a80ef6f21a.jpg

Supplemental to the above pic showing a save gate that seems out of place, kinda where do I put this, simply place a thin layer piece behind it and it would look smoother.

http://ib.lbp.me/img/ft/5abf2886d35aa46dfd14c9aacc9ddffb3194e220.jpg

The saw blades felt out of place just kinda floating there, if possible have it where there is a thin layer thing in front acting like it is holding it up as demonstrated in the pic, this is purely aesthetic

http://i1.lbp.me/img/ft/4416cf3a494e11325466750f255d2532610c8d7c.jpg


The next two go hand in hand, the bubbles could be more then just sitting there add some flair here is an example of something small that can make a huge difference, just place 3 bubbles on a chain and have it move up and down about a length difference of 2.5 over 4 seconds. (Aesthetic)

http://i5.lbp.me/img/ft/c05eee652c8076ecc7b54c57fab80b682d7d410d.jpg

supplemental to the above picture

http://i0.lbp.me/img/ft/ec08585040fc7e52ded56e8fdb1cabcef0ef86c7.jpg

I was never too keen on this red stuff being a hazard, seemed out of place, maybe just go with those spike that came with the DC pack IDK I wish I could help more here (Aesthetic) notice how most things are aesthetic so far o.O that's a good thing cause I really like the gameplay

http://i1.lbp.me/img/ft/21170051b5168448d8a48252e53e221f5d61d34e.jpg


More aesthetic stuff, I feel like I am nit picking now

For curved sections of levels, I prefer a nice clean material making that curve that is separate from the other material that surrounds it. in this instance you have stone that is curving, typically stone doesn't curve like that so you would just make a wood piece to wrap the curve.

Also, those arrows bothered me, seemed out of place, one suggestion would to just take a material in the shape of an arrow make it in the thin layer and place it on a wobble bolt as shown in the pic (Aesthetic)

http://i3.lbp.me/img/ft/2635d055b3be728ef62ba0283b0bd04e8210391a.jpg

Supplemental showing the red arrows, they just don't seem to fit in with the materials.

http://i5.lbp.me/img/ft/8a5dcca848c5881872f7ef5d29d8f75b67ed6130.jpg

You had a lot of really nifty flying areas in this level I found very cool and fun, you really stretched the limits of the cape flying, GREAT JOB. The deco selection with the pipes, and wood, and stone, and the curly things was a fantastic choice and you did a great job of placing em in a uber great way, for instance those little wooden things holding the wall jump material in place as well as the thin layer of wood in the front of the stone was well placed and really brought the level out really well

http://ib.lbp.me/img/ft/97b273491f76956f24cc8f3f0e1664a509626b80.jpg

To reduce long walks it is not wrong to place an easy jump area to keep the action going, I would suggest just placing a hazard here like so. maybe lengthen it to where we have to use the cape to make the gap (gameplay addition)

http://i7.lbp.me/img/ft/6d7abbe485dfc4ad6d7f243b31122ffde1d2fd4c.jpg

This I am not sure, but the red wall jump being the same color as the red hazard below it is something to avoid. typically you would have hazards be a separate color then safe areas. If that red hazard material was say spikes or a different color it would clear things up, I think green goo like hazard would fit great in this environment


http://i9.lbp.me/img/ft/679e394cca0a717ced66decbd00c4eaf156d5ff0.jpg


Onto the space part, well all I got negative about that is the not much, I found the music selection and the atmosphere/gravity to be splendid and relaxing after being in a castle designed to harm me now I am in an space wreckage. I like the music selection you chose all great songs that worked really well.

I can tell you spent a great deal on this level and the least I can do is hope to get a review from you as well.

Great Level, I really enjoyed it a lot. I think the aesthetics are holding it back slightly and some gameplay things, but all in all fun level.		2014-03-14 06:35:00

Author:
L-I-M-I
Posts: 611

Awesome review! Many

http://www.algemeiner.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/IDF-Tanks-On-the-Move.jpg

(EHEHEHE)

I will be doing some changes based on this, but not necessarily everything you suggested, mainly because I like the red stuff as a hazard myself. Originally it was supposed to be green, in fact, but for some reason it felt less and less original when I kept thinking about it. Then, I coloured it blue, but it was terrible. Then I tried orange but it looked like poorly made, cheap lava, so I just made it red because it was certainly not the obvious choice, it made for something that was iconic for this level and it made the space more colourful.

Oh, I would've liked to do more in space as well. In fact, I tried hard to add hero cape action there, but it isn't made to function well in low gravity. Also, I kind of feel like I didn't want to make the space too long, since the castle was a bit on the longish side itself, so I felt that was the correct place to end it.

However, your ideas for the saw blades was a very good one and something I was hoping for. I was struggling with coming up with something to make them less visually bland, so this improvement was very welcome. I did originally do the chain thing with single bubbles, but it looked, well, stupid. But as I said, I did it with single bubbles. Maybe triple-bubble-chain thing would work better, I don't know. I need to test it out myself.

Them pink arrows are my favourite stickers in the game. I think using them brings out a genuine personality that connects

http://i7.lbp.me/img/ft/a776bc1fba11341ba4dec1249e47ed5953a11da2.jpg
http://i2.lbp.me/img/ft/e5226dab0dc6ed2ab83dbb96e192a26fbb3bfd20.jpg
http://i2.lbp.me/img/ft/062e32c871ed7d3065e417fb2b443cee2e47fd86.jpg
(I know, I have two more levels besides those, but they don't have respective pictures of the type for them.)
in a way. At least I like to think so. Hey, everybody needs to draw their creative energy somewhere. So, in short, they are staying because I like them, but the curved wall additions are something I will try, but I won't necessarily add, since I have already decided the materials I use, and I'm not sure a new material would fit into the level's thermometer. If I can do some from the current materials, then I will add them. If I can't, well, it probably won't kill the level.

Other stuff, other stuff...

I think I can try to do something for the longer walk there. If nothing else, then at least I will add a bounce pad which gets you up there after you've already been there, so you won't have to kill yourself to get back up fast. Background for checkpoints in the castle isn't a bad idea. I will do this.

Uhh, that's it I guess. As I said, many thanks for the feedback and I will check out a level of yours and give it feedback.		2014-03-14 15:01:00

Author:
FreeAim
Posts: 2462

Thanks for being so open, I really hope I wasn't too harsh. I respect your stance on the arrows, now that I know their your favorite sticker it makes me appreciate and like them. I love learning sometimes why people choose what, and this reasoning is stellar!!!


For the curved section, no new material is needed or suggested, the materials you have chosen work in teandem with each other and make the level "pop" very well i would try the wood that is already in the level and see how it looks.

the red did work really well in space, also i see you mentioned space being short. The length was perfect, IMO!!

just went back and read my original post about space, i used bad language/sentence structure. When I said "not much" I meant, not much to say in regards to issues/fixes/suggestions. I can see how this could possibly come off as me saying its "not much" of a level or something in that line of thought. haha		2014-03-14 15:10:00

Author:
L-I-M-I
Posts: 611

I can take criticism, as long as it doesn't get personal. If you wanted to eviscerate the level as an outright disaster, sure, I wouldn't necessarily be happily thanking you, but since it's constructive like this, then I have no issue with anything you said.2014-03-14 15:14:00

Author:
FreeAim
Posts: 2462

Thank you for being awesome!!!!2014-03-14 15:29:00

Author:
L-I-M-I
Posts: 611

I won't be able to match your excellent standard with writing reviews, but here it goes. Very well done! I enjoyed the use of the hero's cape with the wall jumping and attract-o-jel. For most of the level, it was really fast paced, which I liked. There was only one section I had trouble with, but that probably had to do with my crappy playing skills The section where I had to jump from wall to wall while avoiding the blades on either side.

The second half with the space platforming was definitely my favorite part. That was awesome. Loved the design and gameplay in that section. Very cool level!		2014-03-19 04:06:00

Author:
Greensmurfy
Posts: 300

Can't remember if I saw this on LBPNetwork, or if I came across it randomly, but I was going to suggest you post it here Was a very good level, and the atmosphere was great!

Keep up the good work 		2014-03-19 22:34:00

Author:
LittleBigSnooth
Posts: 454

Thank you both! I am always happy to hear what people think of something I've put a lot of dedication into.

Do either of you two do F4F?		2014-03-19 23:07:00

Author:
FreeAim
Posts: 2462

There's my Green Ash level if you want to try it out I think you already queued it.

http://lbp.me/v/qqz2k0h		2014-03-20 03:25:00

Author:
Greensmurfy
Posts: 300

There's my Green Ash level if you want to try it out I think you already queued it.

http://lbp.me/v/qqz2k0h

I did. I just failed to find the time to review it. I will do it as soon as I play LBP2 again.		2014-03-20 14:06:00

Author:
FreeAim
Posts: 2462


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