Archive: 20 posts

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Hello everyone! I'm new here and I've recently finished adding the second part to my planned Trilogy: "Quest for the Talisman". If anyone would be willing to give my levels a try and give me some feedback so I can change some things and prepare for my third level, I'd appreciate it! PSN: CowTip Levels: Quest for the Talisman, Part One: Fury of the Dragon Quest for the Talisman, Part Two: Heaven and Earth **edit** I've unlocked the levels so that you can play in any order - but still, for the story to make sense, I recommend starting with part one.** In Quest for the Talisman you play as a destitute villager who, after one too many times attacked by the evil dragon, decides to set off on a journey to get the assistance of the other sack-people tribes, and collect the mystical pieces of the Talisman of Moo (which is rumored to hold the power of the Legendary warrior: Moo). You must travel the globe visiting the towns of Mole, Tree, Cloud and Flower sacks to collect the pieces in preparation for the final confrontation against the evil dragon that controls and destroys anything it wants, whenever it pleases. Coming soon: Quest for the Talisman, Part Three: Destruction and Retribution (Hoping to finish this part much faster than part two, I'm about half done now - thermometer's already 1/2 full!) Please let me know what you think!

2009-02-07 11:56:00 Author: CowTip Posts: 22

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I threw it on my playlist for review later today. I don't need feedback right now, but if you're so inclined and want a little fun you can check out my "Splat Invaders Saga" (PSN 'CuzFeeshe&apos just for fun. At least it'll give you some insight as to the person that's reviewing your levels.

2009-02-07 14:11:00 Author: CCubbage Posts: 4430

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Thanks! I appreciate it! I'll check out your level right now.

2009-02-07 14:28:00 Author: CowTip Posts: 22

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OK, I played through the first level of this series. I'll get to the rest a little later, but wanted to post my remarks for the first one to begin with. WOW!!!! As the level started out, I was thinking "Ok, another run of the mill platformer..." but MAN I HAD FUN! You are definately an author who truly understands what is fun to play. There are so many great ideas in here and varied gameplay, as well as some great surprises. I can tell you had fun making it. PROS + Near the beginning when the dragon popped out breathing smoke and you fall down into the cavern below - this was a great surprise! + The big rocks falling on the platforms popping up and down. The rocks created a real feeling of dread, but getting past it was great. + I thought the little puzzle where you pull the bridge back and step on the button to secure it with dark matter was really creative. + The entire ascent near the end was one of the few places in LBP that truly gave me a sense of height. The feeling that you had climbed SO FAR and were afraid to fall while platforming on the different sections... nice! (loved the bird that flapped it's wings and threw you up in the air when you were already so high... yikes!) CONS: - Some general aesthetics. There were a lot of places in the caverns where I felt the rock was a little too generic and areas could use some lighting effects to bring it alive. (definately don't underestimate the power of using some spotlights as sun peaking through or fairy lights brightening up some areas, like where there are crystals. - There are a number of places where emitters and switches are visible. Now, I'm not necessarily against leaving them visible when it serves a purpose (like a grab switch), but a number of them like the emitters just detracted. - The coaster cart - I had me and my 6-year-old in it and it couldn't make it up the incline after being dropped off. Maybe put a little rocket on it that get's ignited right at the top for a second to give it a little thrust. We ended up sitting in it until it disappeared. All-in-all it was a pleasure reviewing this level. Not the prettiest level, but an absolute BLAST to play.

2009-02-07 15:31:00 Author: CCubbage Posts: 4430

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Wow! Thank you for the overall positive review! I have indeed been trying to work on aesthetics since I've had one or two people say the same thing, but I'm having a terribly difficult time doing it simply because my thermometer is maxed out making it very hard to change much, but I'll see if there's anything I can do. And yeah, I actually meant to cover up those few emitters I left uncovered. Whoops! I'll change that as soon as I can. I tried out your Splat Invaders Saga, I know you said you didn't care about getting feedback, but I just wanted to let you know that I had a lot of fun, but that I now have a very sore index finger =P

2009-02-07 15:55:00 Author: CowTip Posts: 22

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Definately understand the thermo thing. It's actually one of those critisisms that helps you on the NEXT creation, but not necessarily the current one. One thing, since you're new, that I would suggest is playing ALL of Takelow's levels. There are certainly a lot of great authors on this site, but Takelow is one of those authors who will absolutely inspire you to use material, stickers, and light in a completely different way. There are some materials he will use that would originally have thought "I have no idea what to do with this", but when you see it combined with something else you will think "WOW, that's stunning!" (by the way, you'll notice many of them are rated 3 stars - don't let it fool you. Every single one of his levels is an absolute 5-star masterpiece which takes thought to get through, and therefore may be beyond the general public who won't take a little extra effort) Also, try "The Legion" and "218" from OCK for visual inspiration.

2009-02-07 16:11:00 Author: CCubbage Posts: 4430

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Welcome to LBPCentral CowTip! There are many very talented designers on this website. Be sure to check on the Spotlight levels. I played both the first and second Talisman levels. I liked the first level better. To me it looked fairly well put together, though I agree that some areas were a little bland. If you're having trouble with the thermometer you can often sometimes reduce it by reducing the complexity of certain shapes. For example, start off with a square of background and use the corner tool to stretch it to cover the area you need (as opposed to a circle or triangle, since those place many more "points"), then add corners if you need to cover or back off of some particular area. The fewer the corners an object has the lower the impact to the temperature. Part One: I thought the opening was pretty good. I can't remember which you did, but since the dialog is not vital to play, I would recommend using non-cut-scene speech bubbles (I have a text-heavy level, people don't like to read). In the cave I liked the water running down the curves, and the sounds worked perfectly, but you left the emitter visible. I found jumping across the hexagons to be rather frustrating. With the bridge, it's a neat idea but I accidentally pushed the button first, which left me stuck and wondering what to do. Eventually is disappeared, but here are a few ideas on how to improve it: don't use plain dark matter, dark matter is ugly and should be hidden or at the very least stickered over. You could emit a large stone (you're in a cave) or you could put a large stone on a stiff piston that would come down (this avoids the problem of curiosity getting you stuck) or you could have a piece of floor that comes up on a piston. When I got to the mine cart part, it wasn't entirely clear what to do... why not have the elevator and cart already on the ground floor. Also, there is a switch visible on the elevator. The cart worked well with just me playing and was a nice short break. I found some of the swinging above the mole people difficult if you didn't keep going one after the other. String rather than elastic might help there. I really liked the detail on the bugs going up the tree. I also appreciated the different "personalities" the different sack people had. The tree top was a little confusing because you're not entirely sure where to go. The score board was floating on unstickered dark at the end. Part Two: This level I feel has some significant problems. First, the aesthetics of the sky area isn't that great. I'm not sure what you can do to improve it, but start with stickering all dark matter white and shine some big white lights around the area. The lost cloud kid also didn't match up with the story about collecting stones to fight the dragon. The cloud mother wasn't too impressive, and I really hate being forced to collect objects. If it didn't take you 45 minutes to build it I don't want a copy of it, and I don't want it if I can't avoid it. The pink clouds need to be more adequately covered with stickers. The "park" swinging was difficult sometimes because of the elastic. The dragon chase was pretty good, but if you died you had a good possibility of getting stuck. I also couldn't tell where I was or what I needed to do at the end near the fire-proof house. The seed pods section seemed to long and not really needed. I got bored with hanging on so I let go and sure enough I fell down to the part of the level I wanted to be on. Not sure if I skipped anything important (I think I was in an ant next). Next there were some green planks that were not attached to the ground (thinking about them being next to an ant hill, perhaps they were supposed to be blades of grass?) I started by jumping from one to the next, but that seemed to hard. Next I tried knocking them over, but the one I was on was too steep to climb, and I died. Going back, the other blades fell the other way and I was stuck... level was broken. At this point I quit so I cannot comment on the rest of the level. I think you can definitely improve the level and make it enjoyable, but it will take a lot of work. F4F: Please take a look at my tutorial level Bi-directional Control (https://lbpcentral.lbp-hub.com/index.php?t=t=8236) and maybe Monochrome (https://lbpcentral.lbp-hub.com/index.php?t=t=7732) for fun. For Monochrome I'm not looking for any serious review, just more plays and more names on the score board :-)

2009-02-07 17:45:00 Author: larryjoe701 Posts: 68

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Some tough criticism in that post Larry, but heck, that's one of the things I was looking for by posting here so it's much appreciated. I've done some tweaks of the first level based on some of both of you guys' responses. -First and foremost, I hid almost all emitters etc. that I hadn't hidden before. There was a lot more than I realized! I did leave a few visible just so people would know that a few were meant to be utilized as workable objects. -Aesthetics I still am having some issues because again, there's just no space even with some attempted reducing to really add many decorations or stickers, so I tried to add a few more lights and stalagmite looking foregrounds. -I really liked Larry's idea of the rocks working for the bridge mechanic rather than the dark matter, so I placed in a lever instead of a button and a boulder comes down from the ceiling to hold the bridge in place. -In the room with all the hexagons, I did agree that it's sometimes sort of frustrating, especially with online lag so I made some adjustments so that the main path would be a little easier. I've already tweaked this part a few times, so hopefully this won't have to be changed again. -I've slowed down the first set of blocks on the block-spike ceiling trap to make it a little less frustrating. -At Larry's request, I've fixed the mine cart so that it no longer goes up until you are in the minecart. I believe originally I had it on the timer because there used to be no option that made it so all party members had to be on the platform in order for it to rise. -Also with the minecart, I made the incline a little steeper so hopefully with multiple players it should keep up it's momentum. -Changed one of the strings at the end from elastic to hard string, but to be honest, I like that the elastic makes you work a little bit so I'm mostly keeping that in. As long as you swing back and forth it's not really a gigantic issue. -The ending platform is now white like a fluffy cloud =P One thing I didn't understand was not knowing where to go on the tree considering I have big red arrows all over the place pointing which direction to go. Also, as far as text bubbles go, I only have one or two that are forced into a cutscene. Overall I don't think it's too overbearing as most are skippable. I'd appreciate it if anyone could see if any of my changes made the level any more appealing aesthetics wise, though again, I'm honestly at a loss for how I could change it any more due to that dulgurn thermometer. Making a second post for my planned changes of the second level.

2009-02-07 20:09:00 Author: CowTip Posts: 22

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As for my second level, I figured I'd need to put in some serious work considering I hadn't had the public play it whereas I'd tweaked the first level a few times in the past. First thing I'll address is the little cloud you meet up with at the start of the level. While he doesn't necessarily have anything to do with gathering of the stones, he does tell you about what happened to the old sky village as well as 'direct' you to where you need to go. It's just random story, even if it's not super important. Some things I am working on changing now: -Some aesthetics work again, though in general, again due to the thermometer, it's giving me some issues, but I'm going to see what I can do. I'm also having some trouble really decorating a ton considering you are running around in the sky and it in general is sort of empty-ish. Perhaps adding more clouds and things. -The park area with the elastic, there's still three places to swing that are hard string, consider the elastic a last chance if you fall from those original three. -I actually agree with you on pointless creation baubles. I had meant to set those more in optional areas so if people wanted them they could have them and if not avoid them. As such, I moved the few baubles around. -I also agree that the part where you ride the seeds down the track after sky village is a tad long. I'll probably take out one or two tracks and make the others a little more steep so it goes a little faster, though part of that is meant for optional point bauble collection if someone were so inclined. -Dragon chasing part I'm keeping the same as it's completely possible to get through the whole section without dying, and let's face it, in those running situations, unless it's completely flat, die once and you're likely to continue dying, but it's impossible to ever fully run out of lives so I don't see it as a biggie. -As to where to go after the fireproof house, just in case, I put a big red arrow to point the direction. -The 'grass' (Which is what I want it to look like, but it's sort of difficult to do) I agree needs some serious work. It's a shame you couldn't get past it as I sort of like how the level ends! Hopefully you give it another chance once I work the kinks out. Anyway, thank you very much for the feedback! Hopefully I can make the level more enjoyable, and if anyone else can give me some feedback I'd very much appreciate it as I'd really like to work out as many trouble spots as I can! Thanks again! Edit: Oh yeah, and Larry I'll play your level later on tonight!

2009-02-07 20:58:00 Author: CowTip Posts: 22

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Tweaked the second level a lot and I think overall it's a lot better now~ I'm pretty happy with it now, so unless someone around here points out something glaring, I think I'll move on to working on the final part now. Hopefully the aesthetics for the second level are a little more pleasing now~

2009-02-10 05:05:00 Author: CowTip Posts: 22

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Hey CowTip: Here's two reviews, on both Part 1 and 2. -- Part 1 -- Pros: - The dragon looked really good. - The water drups were cool, mostly because of the sound - Really cool bug climbing section. Haven't seen that before, and the bugs look well-polished Cons: - It looks a tad plain, and your floor isn't really connected. You see chunks of grass, instead of a nice continuous piece of grass. - There's a visible grab switch. Above the part where you get your first stone, and the talisman. It's the left-most sponge on a winch. - At the final flight, on the white bird, there's a piece of dark matter there. You might want to place it further away, and have the minimum length longer than 1 orso, so you don't see the darkmatter. -- Part 2 -- Pros: - Aww, cute cloud baby - Decent chase sequence - Nice digging part, instead of R1-ing your way trough, you use a shovel. Cool. - Once again, nice dragon. Cons: - Once again, lots of dark matter. It wouldn't hurt to polish it a bit more, to make it more visually appealing. - You can see dark matter at the end of the "Park" section. Right before the swingy bit to get across. The white sticker isn't big enough. - When you're in the ant cave, the diggable rocks are badly stickered aswell. You can see disolvable material all over the place. - The flowers you have to allign into those holes, get jammed REAL easy. - Oh.. you can use the jetpack. My bad Overall, two decent, fun levels that really need some visual tweaking though.

2009-02-16 18:27:00 Author: ThommyTheThird Posts: 440

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Playing Part 1 now, will comment as I play: The atmosphere is set really well with your burnt houses etc. The facial expressions on the characters are great. There is a visible muic box and bolts which you may want to remove for extra polish. These birds on the house look charming. Horse requires stickers I don't have I guess... Wow, your dragon looks amazing and I like what you used for the fireballs. Another visible music box when you drop down. Very clever bridge "puzzle", I have not seen anything like that before. Very interesting water effect, the sound effetcts make it convincing. This mine cart sequence is a bit... unnecessary. It almsot seems as if it was put in as a filler. However I did like the way the elevator mechanism tipped it onto the track, that was cool. Another visible music box before the tree. I love all these creatures you created on your tree, very cute. I am a firm believer in custom content so I am pleased when I see so much of it Another visible music box at the top of the tree. Visibぇ dark matter when getting on the bird and at the scorboard, surprised lvl is over, I wanted to fight the dragon! Most of my suggestion are in my above comments and really have to do with overall polish. I might also suggest coloring your checkpoints in this regards. Overall a fun lvl with a good story and some charming custom content. I look forward to playing the sequels

2009-02-26 12:55:00 Author: OCK Posts: 1536

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I've been out of town so I've fallen behind on finishing the third level, but thank you guys for the feedback! Every time people give me some info it really helps me tweak my level in a positive way. The first level especially has really evolved! And don't worry OCK, the third level is where the actual dragon fight and end to the series takes place Now if only I could find the time between work and everything

2009-02-26 17:20:00 Author: CowTip Posts: 22

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Hi Cowtip, thanks for your feedback on my level, here is my feedback in return... I have only played part 2 as you said you wanted feedback on this one, but I was impressed enough to put part 1 and 3 on my list of level to play when i have the time.... PROS - Starts well with the ride on the bird, and I loved the little cloud kid, very cute. The bit where you get across the clouds which are swinging about all over the place is a lot of fun, and tricky. I actually lost all my lives the first play and had to start again, but then got past on my first life the next time. I dont think it needs any tweaking though the challenge is just right. Then the bit with the springy clouds just after that was great too, I really like the effect of walking on a cloud there, well done. The caves were good fun, I love the way you have used the different layers. The digging part was cool too.. The rain effect towards the end was really well done too. I like the grab wheel with the prize bubbles inside. Spent ages trying to get inside to collect them, but couldn't manage it. Maybe a bit to difficult to get inside? could slow it down a bit, but it's a great Idea which is why its in the PROS section. Cool dragon. I loved the bit at the end where the people see u floating in the river. made me lol! CONS - When taking the lift with the shovel, it jerked around a lot at the top, I think because I kept getting bounced when it stopped suddenly at the top. You could either increase the radius of the prox switch or slow the lift down to fix this i think. The first time I got past the dragon I somehow managed to fall down through the floor and ended up trapped on the wrong side of the darkmatter away from the end level platform. I had to pop myself and start from the previous checkpoint. Overall, I though it was an awesome level, gave it 4 stars and hearted. looking forward to playing parts 1 and 3.

2009-03-04 00:34:00 Author: chillum007 Posts: 228

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I played these the first two levels last week, but forgot to come and leave feedback! So here it is! Highlights: - Visuals: Loved your water dripping in the cave in part one. Loved the design of your creatures. My favorites were the little birds at the beginning of part one. Even though they were just scenery, I loved 'em. Your dragon was also very cool and I liked how the cloud kid would pop out to talk to you. - Puzzles and Platforming: - Part 1: The bridge puzzle was very unique. The bug climb was also well done. - Part 2: The dragon chase was awesome! Also loved the transport at the metro and the use of a shovel to dig. The flower puzzle at the end was creative. Suggestions: - A lot of my criticisms have been addressed by other users. Basically, the levels just need a bit more polish to hide some of the dark matter or visible buttons/switches. Fun levels! I look forward to part 3 and the battle with the dragon.

2009-03-04 03:31:00 Author: mrsupercomputer Posts: 1335

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Hey Cowtip, I had a blast playing through your levels! They have a real flow to the play, and the objectives are enjoyable to complete. I thought the animals - particularly the birds at the start of 1 - were all very nicely done, they had great character and the use of them to climb on and be carried by was great fun. I loved the bit with the insects. And the dragon absolutely rocks. The bridge at the start was a nice idea, well implemented and very original. There is a lot of antimatter visible in the second part - particularly in the cloud bits. Antimatter is the most useful stuff on earth, but it doesn't look great. Try using invisible (tiny, tiny strips that you cant see) antimatter to hold up another material instead. I had a bit of trouble with the chase the first time, the clouds kept upending when I was dropped onto them from the checkpoint. It's fine if you're expecting it and don't die, but if you die halfway through it's tough to get started again because the clouds are so prone to moving. I loved the little cloud and the sequence where it's delivered to it's mother - nice and original, and also the flowery platform section and puzzle at the end, particularly the spinning flower with the score bubbles inside. The reappearance of the dragon on the wooden bridge is excellent, but the first time I went past it I landed outside of the housing for the scoreboard (too far to the left), and couldn't get to it - I had to suicide. The bed on the scoreboard was nicely built, and it's a nice idea for the finish. I look forward to the third part!

2009-03-07 16:17:00 Author: Boogaloo Posts: 254

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Quest for the Talisman, Part Two: Heaven and Earth Psn: Cowtip Gameplay (8/10): Ok this level is part 2 of a trilogy. Lot's of good stuff through out. There are user created bad guys, not many - not hard to defeat, but one really sweet looking dragon that promises to be hard in the last level of the trilogy. This is a lot of story telling, and a lot of platforming. The platforming is very solid, and typical little big planet fun. There is a chase scene, that starts off way too soon, before you really have a chance to react you're being spawned out in front of this dragon, and falling repeatedly to your death until you finally figure out what's going on. Maybe I'm just slow though. There is a puzzle segment, and a drag object around segment. All in all, it keeps it interesting from begining to end. The story itself is ODD, but very entertaining. Nothing ground breaking, but still can't complain here. 8/10 Looks (6.5/10): This part is hit and miss through out. I mean there are moments, where all though be it cartoon-ish in fashion, the level is just beautiful. This flower hopping segment looks great, the dragon isn't the scariest looking thing, but looks like a really professionally made cartoon dragon. There is a town that has beautiful broken glass - I really liked the look of that. But when it comes to comparing this to the elite levels out there, it falls well short. You see dark matter all over the place, the ground is flat mostly throughout, the edge tool could be used to close gaps here and there between shapes... and deadly gas seems to randomly appear to keep you in check. This has one of my faorite score cards though, I must admit. Also some layering is really hard to judge where you are going. Nothing to kill the level's looks overall, just enough to keep it on the user made level and not professional in looks. 6.5/10 Other Stuff (9/10): Level length is very long, this is a huge plus. The gameplay changes through out, and I have never seen a sky city plagued with a cartoon-ish dragon problem, so definately highest marks on creativity. I will be playing the third level becuase I want to fight this dragon, so not really much REPLAY value perhaps, but a strong story line that will make you CONTINUE playing the other levels. I'll give high replay in a sense becuase of this. So for the intanglibles (9/10) I had fun with this level even though it was a little unpolished. Overall (7.6/10): (weighted average) Feedback: -Extend the gas under the spawn more to the right, since you can jump off and land on the level floor -A couple diologue sections I couldn't finish the sentence before the character dissolved. You can make time delays with pistons and magnetic switches set to a set time to make sure the whole conversation can be read, or have a proximity switch past the conversation for them to dissolve -The underground section is very confusing as to where to go, and which layer you are on... maybe change materials between layers... arrows did help here. -Maybe think about another checkpoint on the flower jumping segment - got really far and died and went back quite a ways, I like multiple 4x checkpoints instead of spread out 8x check points - this is strictly opinion though -My biggest gripe is it's not as polished as other top tier levels, aka azure palace - It takes a million hours of work to get the looks up there, but the story and fun factor is there... just give the player time to read the text bubbles!!! Also as a side note took the time to read through this thread, and I see you REALLY listened to feedback thus far - great job on that. If you want to kill time my newest level is (or should be soon) in my sig.

2009-03-08 23:13:00 Author: LuckyShot Posts: 713

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Hi again! Thanks chillum, mrsupercomputer, Boogaloo, and LuckyShot for your reviews! Sorry it's taken me a little while to reply, works been working me overtime lately :o At chillum's suggestion I slowed the elevator in the ant hill slightly, I've seen that problem a bit sometimes as well. I can't tell if it's made a noticeable difference yet or not, it works a bit differently with online lag I expect. I also attempted to fix the ending where you said you fell out of bounds, it's kinda tricky because the dragon has to be behind the river/waterfall that you fall down to, but if you bump into his tail or legs and get bumped into the rear dimensions then you can't land in the water properly. I had some kill-gas there initially, so I'm not sure where it went, but I've put it back in there again so that if that does happen you'll die and reappear to drop into the waterfall again, that's the best solution I can come up with so far. Though it sounds like Boogaloo has also landed outside the platform since then, so I'll have to fine tune it a little more. I adjusted the spinning rose with the points bubbles so that it's easier to climb into now. I opened the hole a little more so that you can actually get inside to jump into the forward most dimension a little more easily. I have yet to make a couple more adjustments from LuckyShot's comments but I'll work on it tonight and then make and update. Overall thank you everyone for your time reviewing my levels and ever so helpful feedback! Much appreciated

2009-03-11 04:09:00 Author: CowTip Posts: 22

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I just played your first part. I loved that fact that you made your own sack people, and didn't resort to using the template shape. I would like to suggest that you change the music in the caves to something a bit more interesting. It was funny, my mom asked what was with the "doom and gloom" music while I was playing. Love the dragon too, btw.

2009-03-11 07:05:00 Author: DarkDedede Posts: 672

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I like to think of the music in the first level as more mystifying since you've entered an unknown place, plus it's my hubby's favorite , but I'm glad you seemed to like the level! I'm actually really glad that so many people like my dragon. I hope the third part where you fight him lives up to everyone's expectations! I have to admit that I'm working on it twice as hard because of everyone's posts here and the excitement you've all shown, especially for the dragon So thank you It'll probably be another week or two still until the final release, depending how much time I get to put into it this weekend. I decided for this level that it's best to start at the end and work my way to the start in order to make sure that the dragon battle itself has my full attention and resources (I didn't want to run out of materials and space right as I was getting to the good part!) The dragon scene(s) are pretty much blocked out now, I have to build the starting story and the end and then work through the whole level with some of the finer details, final assembly (it's still broken into a couple pieces right now), and final testing. Thanks again!

2009-03-11 07:38:00 Author: CowTip Posts: 22

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