Archive: 11 posts

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Hey everyone! It's been a super long time since I've played lbp, made anything, or got on the forums! That being said I picked up a project I was working on over two years ago, and have set out to finish it. It's about done.. But what I really need right now is for a couple of people to beta test for me! The level is designed to be played with 1 player. However you can play with 4 until a certain point in the story. About the level: This level is a pre-level. It's a short story-adventure that leads to a tutorial for something bigger planned. Anybody interested in beta testing??

2014-04-29 21:45:00 Author: calvin_and_kyle Posts: 32

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I have some spare time on my hands, I will take a look at your level and post a little review here.

2014-04-30 16:09:00 Author: Djibees Posts: 189

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I have some spare time on my hands, I will take a look at your level and post a little review here. Awesome, just gimme your psn name and I'll send you a level key tonight!

2014-04-30 18:05:00 Author: calvin_and_kyle Posts: 32

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My PSN name ismy LBPC user name: Djibees

2014-04-30 20:40:00 Author: Djibees Posts: 189

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Okay, I sent out some friend requests, once accepted I'll send the level key via the share option in game.

2014-05-01 00:25:00 Author: calvin_and_kyle Posts: 32

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Hi. I'd be happy to play test for you and give feedback psn:- sean88

2014-05-01 01:19:00 Author: Sean88 Posts: 662

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Hi. I'd be happy to play test for you and give feedback psn:- sean88 Request sent!

2014-05-01 01:40:00 Author: calvin_and_kyle Posts: 32

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As promised, here is my review. Do not be afraid by that big chunk of text, your level is pretty good and I have very few complaints about it. First, I liked it. That must be stressed enough because I don't want to give you the impression I found only bad things. You worked a lot and that shows, however there also are a lot of points that can be improved: 1. The small things: - You should start your level with the global lightning settings already dark, because there is a full second of plain light at the beginning of the cinematics. - Getting out the well can be difficult. I suggest giving more time before the bucket goes down again. - Sometimes when the camera spans away from the character who is talking, the bubble speech do not show anymore (too far). It would work with a dialogue box instead. - In the dialogue "On their way to ****..." that word is censored. - A secret counter would be a great idea (personal opinion). - The scenery is good, but not "wow that's good" good. There's a lot of straight lines and square things, even in the caves. Also, adding some lights (torchs, lanterns, fireflies...) would give a lot more personality to your level (but I keep in mind this is still a beta and that you may have kept that for later). - Is it really necessary to have as much recoil when throwing darts? - The music is nice but doesn't really fit your universe. There's a lot of good composers on LBPC that would certainly have some original music for your level, just get in touch with them! - Having all your abilities on the same button (triangle) seems odd when playing. It is unintuitive, but that's not a game breaker. 2. The big things: - The counterweight-thing to go on the roof is clunky: this remind me of the joke about the guy who is lifted by a pile of bricks, then his head hits the outgoing bricks, falls, and get crushed by the bricks after. It happened to me: my sackbot hit the counterweight, ungrab the rope, falls and both the rope and the counterweight got stuck on the roof. A small logic with a tag to reset their position could be useful there. However, this is not a game-breaker because you have multiple ways to get on the roofs. - Once you get on the zip-line to go outside the city, you can land far away the spot you expected: the first time I played it did not trigger the "dramatic night fall" cinematic at all, and I went directly to the encounter with the ninja. - My author senses are tingling: as a storyteller, I would say "Show don't tell", especially when the ninja adopts you by telling you your village is no more. Even for a child I would find it hard to accept a new family before being sure the previous is really gone. A scene with the destroyed village would help the story at this point. Unless you are planning a big twist here... - Also related, every action you make in the village has no use, because you help characters that you'll never see again. Very related: the secrets counter (1/10, 2/10, etc) could give the player the impression he accomplished something. Better: give a bonus in the second part if quests are achieved in the first part (more points, HP, abilities...). - I don't see the point of the timer on the teleport ability, because the time you teleport, the timer is already full again. You may make it last longer. - I like the way you can not stay hidden forever, but adding a sound effect (like a breathing or a heart-beating) just before being visible again would be really helpful. - It's not obvious that the hearts dropped by ennemies can be looted. Maybe adding more glow and a little sound effect would help. 3. The game-breaker bugs: - There's a severe lack of checkpoints in the cave: any bug that kills the character send you at the whole beginning of the tutorial. - Dashing too close to a wall may (or may not) kill you. - You shouldn't give all the abilities at the beginning of the tutorial: when I figured out what the D-pad was for, I tried everything I could before even reaching the parts that explained them. I suggest that a tag would activate the abilites one by one when needed (with an AND gate and a tag detector on the character), for a smoother progression. - Related to this: using poison darts on moving ennemies: the bubbles stay on the ground while the ennemy walks out of it. The bubbles should follow the poisoned character. If you don't want to change the logic, exchange "poisoned darts" with "poisoned vials" or "holy grenades" and suddenly it becomes a logical feature! - Jumping that high can make the camouflage ability useless, especially when combined with the dash power: just jump above the ennemies (when the roof is high enough). Also, the jump button is too sensitive: it's either "normal jump" or "ridiculously uncontrollable high jump" which often ends in getting you spotted. I would suggest a double jump instead: it would be more precise and most of the players are used to it now. - And the major point, the one that made me cringe: Ennemies that can spot you while looking the opposite direction. It's really hard to figure what the characters can see or not. Sometimes, approaching silently by behind will get you spotted, and sometimes landing just in front of them will not. As this is a tutorial, an hologram with their field of vision would really help. If you have difficulties with this part, I suggest you get a look at Khodex's tutorial on How to make a better AI (https://lbpcentral.lbp-hub.com/index.php?t=79708-Patrol-sackbot-how-to-make-a-better-AI). It would relieve a lot of frustration for the stealth parts. I went through it because I proposed for the beta, but as an ordinary player on an ordinary day, I would just have given up there. Conclusion: this is good, but with some of these improvements this could become better good! tl;dr: Pros: - Lots of secrets - A great RPG feeling - Ninjabilities! - Skippable dialogues Cons: - Scenery is average - Lack of atmosphere (ambient light, torchs, smoke effects...) - The stealth parts are a pain in the sack - Some bugs here and there

2014-05-01 18:30:00 Author: Djibees Posts: 189

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As promised, here is my review. Do not be afraid by that big chunk of text, your level is pretty good and I have very few complaints about it. First, I liked it. That must be stressed enough because I don't want to give you the impression I found only bad things. You worked a lot and that shows, however there also are a lot of points that can be improved: 1. The small things: - You should start your level with the global lightning settings already dark, because there is a full second of plain light at the beginning of the cinematics. - Getting out the well can be difficult. I suggest giving more time before the bucket goes down again. - Sometimes when the camera spans away from the character who is talking, the bubble speech do not show anymore (too far). It would work with a dialogue box instead. - In the dialogue "On their way to ****..." that word is censored. - A secret counter would be a great idea (personal opinion). - The scenery is good, but not "wow that's good" good. There's a lot of straight lines and square things, even in the caves. Also, adding some lights (torchs, lanterns, fireflies...) would give a lot more personality to your level (but I keep in mind this is still a beta and that you may have kept that for later). - Is it really necessary to have as much recoil when throwing darts? - The music is nice but doesn't really fit your universe. There's a lot of good composers on LBPC that would certainly have some original music for your level, just get in touch with them! - Having all your abilities on the same button (triangle) seems odd when playing. It is unintuitive, but that's not a game breaker. 2. The big things: - The counterweight-thing to go on the roof is clunky: this remind me of the joke about the guy who is lifted by a pile of bricks, then his head hits the outgoing bricks, falls, and get crushed by the bricks after. It happened to me: my sackbot hit the counterweight, ungrab the rope, falls and both the rope and the counterweight got stuck on the roof. A small logic with a tag to reset their position could be useful there. However, this is not a game-breaker because you have multiple ways to get on the roofs. - Once you get on the zip-line to go outside the city, you can land far away the spot you expected: the first time I played it did not trigger the "dramatic night fall" cinematic at all, and I went directly to the encounter with the ninja. - My author senses are tingling: as a storyteller, I would say "Show don't tell", especially when the ninja adopts you by telling you your village is no more. Even for a child I would find it hard to accept a new family before being sure the previous is really gone. A scene with the destroyed village would help the story at this point. Unless you are planning a big twist here... - Also related, every action you make in the village has no use, because you help characters that you'll never see again. Very related: the secrets counter (1/10, 2/10, etc) could give the player the impression he accomplished something. Better: give a bonus in the second part if quests are achieved in the first part (more points, HP, abilities...). - I don't see the point of the timer on the teleport ability, because the time you teleport, the timer is already full again. You may make it last longer. - I like the way you can not stay hidden forever, but adding a sound effect (like a breathing or a heart-beating) just before being visible again would be really helpful. - It's not obvious that the hearts dropped by ennemies can be looted. Maybe adding more glow and a little sound effect would help. 3. The game-breaker bugs: - There's a severe lack of checkpoints in the cave: any bug that kills the character send you at the whole beginning of the tutorial. - Dashing too close to a wall may (or may not) kill you. - You shouldn't give all the abilities at the beginning of the tutorial: when I figured out what the D-pad was for, I tried everything I could before even reaching the parts that explained them. I suggest that a tag would activate the abilites one by one when needed (with an AND gate and a tag detector on the character), for a smoother progression. - Related to this: using poison darts on moving ennemies: the bubbles stay on the ground while the ennemy walks out of it. The bubbles should follow the poisoned character. If you don't want to change the logic, exchange "poisoned darts" with "poisoned vials" or "holy grenades" and suddenly it becomes a logical feature! - Jumping that high can make the camouflage ability useless, especially when combined with the dash power: just jump above the ennemies (when the roof is high enough). Also, the jump button is too sensitive: it's either "normal jump" or "ridiculously uncontrollable high jump" which often ends in getting you spotted. I would suggest a double jump instead: it would be more precise and most of the players are used to it now. - And the major point, the one that made me cringe: Ennemies that can spot you while looking the opposite direction. It's really hard to figure what the characters can see or not. Sometimes, approaching silently by behind will get you spotted, and sometimes landing just in front of them will not. As this is a tutorial, an hologram with their field of vision would really help. If you have difficulties with this part, I suggest you get a look at Khodex's tutorial on How to make a better AI (https://lbpcentral.lbp-hub.com/index.php?t=79708-Patrol-sackbot-how-to-make-a-better-AI). It would relieve a lot of frustration for the stealth parts. I went through it because I proposed for the beta, but as an ordinary player on an ordinary day, I would just have given up there. Conclusion: this is good, but with some of these improvements this could become better good! tl;dr: Pros: - Lots of secrets - A great RPG feeling - Ninjabilities! - Skippable dialogues Cons: - Scenery is average - Lack of atmosphere (ambient light, torchs, smoke effects...) - The stealth parts are a pain in the sack - Some bugs here and there Thanks for the review I greatly appreciate it. Scenery is pretty much at a stand still till I can knock out any more problems, mainly because the dang meter is almost full. As for the teleport timer, this is a balancing feature. Since teleporting costs no power what so ever and you have the ability to jump high, dash higher, stall anywhere with hiding, and lastly teleport. With no timer or ability costs to the abilities you could go any distance and do anything without ever touching the ground. So I implemented this short timer to keep that from happening and more for the teleport to be used as a function tool in combat. All abilities must be on the same button as all other buttons are used except the L1 button. Also this is an easy way to balance abilities. Stealth scene is gonna be worked over to avoid eyes in the back of their head. Poison does follow enemies. You must have targeted and poisoned someone I accidentally left some of the logic chips on. I'll fix that! Was thinking about reworking the double jump. Do you think it's too much range? And what about the animation? He does a flip, but is it too tacky? Would just a jump be better?

2014-05-01 21:43:00 Author: calvin_and_kyle Posts: 32

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Was thinking about reworking the double jump. Do you think it's too much range? And what about the animation? He does a flip, but is it too tacky? Would just a jump be better? About the jumping ability, yes, I think the player goes much too high. And considering he can dash in any direction, jumping that high is a bit redundant. A double jump would do the trick. For the flip animation I think it goes well with anything ninja-related, that's exactly the kind of show-off attitude I'd expect in such a level. It can be a single jump, then a flip when double-jump.

2014-05-01 22:16:00 Author: Djibees Posts: 189

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About the jumping ability, yes, I think the player goes much too high. And considering he can dash in any direction, jumping that high is a bit redundant. A double jump would do the trick. For the flip animation I think it goes well with anything ninja-related, that's exactly the kind of show-off attitude I'd expect in such a level. It can be a single jump, then a flip when double-jump. Easily fixed! I'll tweak that, and work on the bot AI awareness, then if I can I'll fix the cutscenes around the zipline. Speaking of that I am gonna have more in later levels with "cutscenes" on what really happened to the village that day. It's just all gonna be story related later on.

2014-05-01 23:25:00 Author: calvin_and_kyle Posts: 32

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