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LORD OF THE RINGS: "The Bearer - Part III : The Fellowship" - (PICS) -

Archive: 24 posts

Hi everybody,

It is done!!! The third episode of ?The Bearer? series is published and fully playable!

OVERALL PROJECT DESCRIPTION:
The whole project is called ?The Bearer? and is a series of levels constructed under the theme of The Lord of the Rings by Tolkien. The difficulty and gameplay challenges will be increased progressively level after level, as Sackboy Frodo get closer to the end of his hard journey, in the Mordor?

If you want TO KNOW and SEE MORE about the Part I and II of the series, please take a look to:
The Bearer - Part I : Incipit (https://lbpcentral.lbp-hub.com/index.php?t=t=7585)
The Bearer - Part II : The Ring (https://lbpcentral.lbp-hub.com/index.php?t=p=123463#post123463)

Let?s me now present you the third level of the series:

Level: ?The Bearer ? Part III : The Fellowship?
Creator: Takelow
Location: Near Australia (est coast)
Type: Tribute to ?The Lord of the Rings?
Difficulty: **
(*: not challenging! ?*****: Very hard!)
Multiplayer: No. Designed for ONE PLAYER.

OVERALL LEVEL DESCRIPTION:
At the end of the Part II: The Ring, you entered the Prancing Poney and for the first time met Aragorn. He told you that you need to find Elrond in Fondcomb, arguing that he will know what to do next. The third level start in the Prancing Poney, and Aragorn tell you that Sauron is already searching you. You must leave the Prancing Poney in order to reach Fondcomb, but your travel will not be easy?The King Nazguls are here to find you?.
Will you be brave enough to bear the ring safely and meet the Fellowship of the Ring?

PICTURES:

http://www.lbpcentral.com/forums/picture.php?albumid=275&pictureid=2241

http://www.lbpcentral.com/forums/picture.php?albumid=275&pictureid=2240

http://www.lbpcentral.com/forums/picture.php?albumid=275&pictureid=2239

http://www.lbpcentral.com/forums/picture.php?albumid=275&pictureid=2237

http://www.lbpcentral.com/forums/picture.php?albumid=275&pictureid=2236

http://www.lbpcentral.com/forums/picture.php?albumid=275&pictureid=2234

I would like to gratefully thank OCK, Ccubbage and NinjaMicWZ for playtesting the level and for their critical help and very useful suggestions 		2009-02-11 21:58:00

Author:
Takelow
Posts: 1355

Just finished it. Again, an awesome level.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

+ I see that you are getting better at creating. The level in general feels even more like LOTR than the two first Parts.

+ Again, The start of this one was really amazing. Nice fonts!

+ Aragorn in the dark with his eyes that kinda glows at the the Prancing Poney. Really cool!

+ Nazguls looks really nice.

+ The way you used fog to create beautiful effects in the background.

+ The lightning is good, giving each areas the right mood.

+ The fact that you have to drag the ring for a good part of the level. Very well done.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

- Hide your switches/buttons when you can. It drags me away from the LOTR universe.

- Same thing with the Jetpack...

- Near the end, I think one of the speech bubble says something like "We was waiting for you". I think it should be "We were...".

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Highly recommended to any fans of LOTR!
5 stars, hearted.

Encore une fois, un level tr?s cool. J'attends la prochaine partie avec impatience! Si tu as quelques instants, j'aimerais avoir tes commentaires sur mon nouveau level "Left Behind part 2". Merci Takelow!		2009-02-11 23:29:00

Author:
JackBurton25
Posts: 116

I must begin my feedback by quoting something JackBurton wrote up above


Highly recommended to any fans of LOTR!

Correction, highly recommended to anyone who loves LBP and who loves playing levels of the highest quality, LoTR fan or not! Now that we got that out the way here is some more feedback

As you know I am a big LoTR fan and I loved the first two levels you made but this one is my favorite by far. The logo you made here is the best I have seen in LBP. The intro descending slowly on the hanging book was magical and one of my favorite intro's in LBP. In other words, we are off to a good start lol.

I will again repeat what I have said many times before: You are the Master of Lighting! You use light in ways that are truly astounding. You have a way of blending light and positioning shafts of spotlights in just the right places to create a perfect atmosphere that always fits what is happening on screen. I am still trying to decide which part has my favorite lighting. The lightig during the intro is heavenly. The lighting in the Prancing Pony is mysterious. The lighting in the area with Arwen is transcendant. You are able to creat such powerful moods creating light and your use of this technique continues to inspire me.

As always we are treated to some of the most beautiful custom content ever seen. I could talk abou this aspect alone for hours so I will focus instead on the things I liked most. The Prancing Pony looks magnificent. The lighting, detail and Aragorn all look really great. The trees are some of the best I have seen in LBP. Usually I don't like the leaf decoration you used because it looks "cartoony" but since the light is so dark here it works perfectly and the silhouette is jaw-dropping. Your Nazguls left me speechless, especially the group that appears on the rock. That moment ranks among the top 5 I have had in LBP (along with the ET moment in Space Opera).

You have used gas in this level in ways I have never seen before. You have given th gas shape and form and turned it into this wonderful and ghostly decoration. Just as with your lighting, this really serves to create the perfect atmosphere and when it combines with all your other elements it creates a visual feast!

I admire that you are staying very true to the LoTR story while still infusing everything with your very distinct style. The Nazguls appearing on he rock, Frodo getting stabbed by the Nazgul, the "dream" sequence, waking up beside Gandalf, the fellowship at the end, all of these things are very faithful to the LoTR story and I was happy to be able to experience them in the world you created.

I do not have any suggestions because I already gave them to you before you published but there may be things that pop up on successive playthroughs. I am tempted to suggest more action but I know that comes later in the story and it must be very difficult for you to faithfully tell he LoTR story while considering gameplay/structure for the levels. Taking on this project was very ambitious of you and so far you have more them impressed me.

Needless to say, 5 stars and heart, tagged as Beautiful. I can hardly wait for the next level in the series but I know it might take some time Keep up the great work my friend.		2009-02-12 00:47:00

Author:
OCK
Posts: 1536

Ditto OCK!!!!

I played this twice today, and I think it's absolutely astounding. It's more subtle on the complex platforming than your other levels, which is a good thing - the LOTR series is more of an experience, and I think having difficulty would only take away from it.

That being said, there are still a few english issues:

"This place don't seems safe..." should be "This place doesn't seem safe..."

"Frodo, I am Aragorn. We was waiting for you" should be "Frodo, I am Aragorn. We were waiting for you"

"You must bear the Ring until the Mordor's mountains." should be "You must bear the Ring until you reach Mordor's mountains."


5 stars and hearted!!!!		2009-02-12 00:53:00

Author:
CCubbage
Posts: 4430

Brilliant as always, 5 stars and hearted.

One gameplay element to possibly tweak: on the long jump over the swinging sword, if you jump at the wrong depth, you just bounce off the rock that the checkpoint is embedded in. It's an easy one that you could solve a couple of different ways.

Hope that makes sense, and magnificent work.		2009-02-12 02:05:00

Author:
frizby
Posts: 89

First of all, thank you a lot for playing and commenting my level, i really appreciate it


Highly recommended to any fans of LOTR!
5 stars, hearted.
Thank you!


Encore une fois, un level tr?s cool. J'attends la prochaine partie avec impatience! Si tu as quelques instants, j'aimerais avoir tes commentaires sur mon nouveau level "Left Behind part 2". Merci Takelow!

Ne t'inqui?tes pas, ton niveau est en haut de ma playlist. D?s que je trouve du temps pour jouer, je m'y colle
--------------------------------------------------------------------------


Correction, highly recommended to anyone who loves LBP and who loves playing levels of the highest quality, LoTR fan or not!

Thank you for these kind words OCK.


As you know I am a big LoTR fan and I loved the first two levels you made but this one is my favorite by far. The logo you made here is the best I have seen in LBP. The intro descending slowly on the hanging book was magical and one of my favorite intro's in LBP. In other words, we are off to a good start lol.

I am happy you sais that OCK. I must admit that the start of the level took me a lot of time and work. I had the idea in my mind but i initially couldn't express them in the game...
Finally, i found a way for this and i am happy with the result.



I will again repeat what I have said many times before: You are the Master of Lighting! You use light in ways that are truly astounding. You have a way of blending light and positioning shafts of spotlights in just the right places to create a perfect atmosphere that always fits what is happening on screen. I am still trying to decide which part has my favorite lighting. The lightig during the intro is heavenly. The lighting in the Prancing Pony is mysterious. The lighting in the area with Arwen is transcendant. You are able to creat such powerful moods creating light and your use of this technique continues to inspire me.

Thank you again. In fact, when i create a level, my main concern is about general ambiance and atmosphere. I didn't want my levels to be "aseptic".
And the light is, for me, one of the best way in LBP to do such a thing. Each time i start to create a sequence, i do it with the (near) final result in mind in term of atmosphere. And i search the best lights to fit with it.
But actually, my lights are not so complex. It is mainly colored spotlights with orientation or movements. And one of my tips is to use three spotlight for one beam of light : the three individual beans are very close eachothers and i add a different color for the two external spotlights. (For exemple at the start of the level, on the "takelow presents" screen there is a big blue spotlight and two smal pink spotlights on each side of it).


The trees are some of the best I have seen in LBP. Usually I don't like the leaf decoration you used because it looks "cartoony" but since the light is so dark here it works perfectly and the silhouette is jaw-dropping.

I am happy with that!
Actually, these three are the same that in the Part II, just before and after the electrified bridge you cross with gandalf. But since the atmosphere is different, it seems that it work and don't show redondancies with previous levels... But....Shhhhhhh


Your Nazguls left me speechless, especially the group that appears on the rock. That moment ranks among the top 5 I have had in LBP (along with the ET moment in Space Opera).

Wow, thank you OCK!
This sequence was the FIRST one i had in mind when i created the level!
In fact it very close to the movie sequence.


I admire that you are staying very true to the LoTR story while still infusing everything with your very distinct style. The Nazguls appearing on he rock, Frodo getting stabbed by the Nazgul, the "dream" sequence, waking up beside Gandalf, the fellowship at the end, all of these things are very faithful to the LoTR story and I was happy to be able to experience them in the world you created.

You can't know how i am happy with this comment OCK!
I was afraid for that. I think that create an imaginary world in LBP is different than re-create an existing world. People have references in mind in the last case and are forced to compare the LBP world with the original world. I mean that the whole level could be completely bad if the atmosphere and visual references are lost...
So i am happy when i read your comment


I do not have any suggestions because I already gave them to you before you published but there may be things that pop up on successive playthroughs.

Yes, and i can tell you that your comments was very important for me. Thank you again for your help


I am tempted to suggest more action but I know that comes later in the story and it must be very difficult for you to faithfully tell he LoTR story while considering gameplay/structure for the levels.

Yeah, you touched an important point here. I had some hard decision to take concerning this point. I finally decided to progressively increase the global action all along the levels of the series. But i also decided to not implement action where it didn't fit with the reference, which was the level.
I think that you can wait a lot of action for the next part of the series (The Depths....you know what i mean? )


Needless to say, 5 stars and heart, tagged as Beautiful.
Thank you OCK!


I can hardly wait for the next level in the series but I know it might take some time

Exactly. I didn't really started the Part IV for now and i have actually a parallel priority project to developp. Moreover, i am very busy these last time.
So, it could take a long time before i publish it (however, i can promise: It will be published!!!).


--------------------------------------------------------------------------


I played this twice today, and I think it's absolutely astounding. It's more subtle on the complex platforming than your other levels, which is a good thing - the LOTR series is more of an experience, and I think having difficulty would only take away from it.

Thank you Ccubbage
Yeah and concerning difficulty i agree with you. However, the feeling of danger and difficulty will be increased progressively you reach the Mountains of the Mordor.


That being said, there are still a few english issues:

"This place don't seems safe..." should be "This place doesn't seem safe..."

"Frodo, I am Aragorn. We was waiting for you" should be "Frodo, I am Aragorn. We were waiting for you"

"You must bear the Ring until the Mordor's mountains." should be "You must bear the Ring until you reach Mordor's mountains."


5 stars and hearted!!!!

Thank very much you for your help.
I will correct this for the next update.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

Brilliant as always, 5 stars and hearted.

Wow, thank you!


One gameplay element to possibly tweak: on the long jump over the swinging sword, if you jump at the wrong depth, you just bounce off the rock that the checkpoint is embedded in. It's an easy one that you could solve a couple of different ways.

Yeah... it make perfect sens. You right here and i will tru to correct that.		2009-02-12 09:17:00

Author:
Takelow
Posts: 1355

I pretty much agree with everything OCK said, and don't really have any major critiques. The only things I could point out would have to be shown in game and are really minor points to the overall level. This is easily the most gorgeous level I've seen... 90% of the time it's just plain magnificent, and you have a much better rate of consistency in this work than you do in the first two where some environments would look better than others. The platforming elements are much better implemented into the environment as well, and I think it's just plain fun.



That being said, there are still a few english issues:

"This place don't seems safe..." should be "This place doesn't seem safe..."

"Frodo, I am Aragorn. We was waiting for you" should be "Frodo, I am Aragorn. We were waiting for you"

"You must bear the Ring until the Mordor's mountains." should be "You must bear the Ring until you reach Mordor's mountains."

I was going to point those out in beta, but I kinda like it that way... it makes it sound gangsta in a humorous way, with a little bit of olde English mixed in. "yo... it don't look safe up in here, son"

Like in part II, I originally thought "let it here" was actually more fitting in context of the period than "leave it here" - some phrases are obvious oversights, but that one in particular I think was not technically incorrect. My Irish Grannie would routinely use "let" in that way ex: "Ah, sure just let it til tomorrow" - she could qualify as a middle earth consultant IMO lol		2009-02-12 10:26:00

Author:
Unknown User

Nothin' says "Lord of the Rings" more than speaking "gangsta".

Maybe.... "Lord o' da Rings".....?		2009-02-12 14:15:00

Author:
CCubbage
Posts: 4430

Why speak Olde English when you can speak -

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/a/af/OE_800.JPG/400px-OE_800.JPG		2009-02-12 15:37:00

Author:
Unknown User

Wow, Takelow. Great job. I really believe you are improving with every level you put out. They seem to get better and better. As others have said, this is no doubt the best in "The Bearer" series and really represents the LOTR universe well. The puzzles and gameplay all fit with the theme and nothing seems too out of place.

Some of the highlights for me were the Nazgul. Simply amazing use of the gas in the portion. I agree with Ock about the 5 Nazgul appearing on the rock as one of the coolest moments I've seen in a LBP level. Well done!

One little thing that I noticed concerns the Fellowship at the end. I believe you have the characters, Merry and Pippin, spelled incorrectly as Meril and Pepin. I noticed as I shut the dialogue box and was unable to read that specific one again, so I could be mistaken.

Anyway, wonderful level in a wonderful series. I look forward to part 4!		2009-02-12 15:51:00

Author:
mrsupercomputer
Posts: 1335

I pretty much agree with everything OCK said, and don't really have any major critiques. The only things I could point out would have to be shown in game and are really minor points to the overall level. This is easily the most gorgeous level I've seen... 90% of the time it's just plain magnificent, and you have a much better rate of consistency in this work than you do in the first two where some environments would look better than others. The platforming elements are much better implemented into the environment as well, and I think it's just plain fun.

Thank you a lot NinjaMicWZ for your kind words. I am very happy that you loved my level.


Wow, Takelow. Great job. I really believe you are improving with every level you put out. They seem to get better and better. As others have said, this is no doubt the best in "The Bearer" series and really represents the LOTR universe well. The puzzles and gameplay all fit with the theme and nothing seems too out of place.

Some of the highlights for me were the Nazgul. Simply amazing use of the gas in the portion. I agree with Ock about the 5 Nazgul appearing on the rock as one of the coolest moments I've seen in a LBP level. Well done!

One little thing that I noticed concerns the Fellowship at the end. I believe you have the characters, Merry and Pippin, spelled incorrectly as Meril and Pepin. I noticed as I shut the dialogue box and was unable to read that specific one again, so I could be mistaken.

Anyway, wonderful level in a wonderful serious. I look forward to part 4!

Thank you.
You are right about Merry and Pippin spelling. I will correct this as soon as possible 		2009-02-12 22:43:00

Author:
Takelow
Posts: 1355

Wow, the pics look AMAZING! I will have to try this!

Near the east coast of Aussie you say!! *gasps* traitor....

Could you please let me playtest your next level? I love these levels.
I will play through all three of your bearer levels soon, and give feedback. Mind if I just post the feedback for all three in this topic, rather than bumping all three?

Also, if I catch you on when you're not buisy, mind playing through my level with me. I know it's my fault for making sections of it tricky, but I'm starting to tone it down ATM.		2009-02-13 03:36:00

Author:
dkjestrup
Posts: 672

Of course i will let you playtest the next level

Concerning feedbacks, first of all, thank you for this. I really prefer that you put each comments in the corresponding thread. Actually, it is easier for me because when i want to update a level, i have all the comment about it in one thread

Don't worry, i will replay your level. I was incredibly busy these last two weeks, and things are getting worse, but i will find some time to take another look to your level 		2009-02-13 07:46:00

Author:
Takelow
Posts: 1355

I played Part 1 and 2 before reviewing, to get into the LOTR vibe.

Woot, in part 1 you can get stuck under the very first book you see.

Now let's get serious, here's your review:

Pros:
- Wow, the "The one ring is ours! You won't escape" part, looked amazing.
-

Cons:
- It's a con i guess. There's a jetpack in the level, right after the sign saying: Part III. And.. it leads to nowhere.
- Major con. After the part where Gandalf tells you to find Elrond, you have these spnoge thingies, but then there's a small "You need a ring block" and it's unglued. You can just knock it over and continue without a ring.
- It was sometimes a bit fuzzy where-abouts you have to go.
- The fact you can get IN the ring, and fly practically anywhere might ruin loads of things, and can get you stuck.

Misc:
- One thing i notice, and you have done that in all 3 levels so far.. Is that you use dissolve as your doors, if it'sa thermo issue, then disregard this, but it would look better if it was a door that opened regularly, by a winch or.. something.
- Freaking kamikaze-nazgul killed me (It was nescesary, i know)

Overall: It's a really good looking level, but gameplay-wise i'm afraid i'm not as hyped as everyone else seems to be. It's definately not bad, it's just not Extreme!		2009-02-13 21:14:00

Author:
ThommyTheThird
Posts: 440

Of course i will let you playtest the next level

Concerning feedbacks, first of all, thank you for this. I really prefer that you put each comments in the corresponding thread. Actually, it is easier for me because when i want to update a level, i have all the comment about it in one thread

Don't worry, i will replay your level. I was incredibly busy these last two weeks, and things are getting worse, but i will find some time to take another look to your level

You won't believe this.... MY PS3 ISN'T READING THE DISC!!! I cannot do anything at the moment. It just doesn't register the @^@^%@$$#2 disk! 		2009-02-13 22:07:00

Author:
dkjestrup
Posts: 672

ThommyTheThird, thank you for your review. I appreciate your feedbacks and comments


It's a con i guess. There's a jetpack in the level, right after the sign saying: Part III. And.. it leads to nowhere.

I don't think it is a con. And what if a player fall from the "The fellowship" without bearing the Ring? He will have said to me: "Con: i was stuck because it was impossible to take the ring once i was in the Prancing Poney! OMG, I had to suicide, it is a con!"
To be serious, it is a way to fly and keep the Ring if you felt without it


It was sometimes a bit fuzzy where-abouts you have to go.
It is the first time i had this comment for this level. I think the way is pretty simple and there is not really multipath in the level. But i will add some more explaining speech bubble in the elven section tough.


- The fact you can get IN the ring, and fly practically anywhere might ruin loads of things, and can get you stuck.

Oh Thank you!!!
I corrected this for the first Ring (the one on the book at the start of the level), but i forgot for the second one (after Gandalf). I will fix this immediately.


One thing i notice, and you have done that in all 3 levels so far.. Is that you use dissolve as your doors, if it'sa thermo issue, then disregard this, but it would look better if it was a door that opened regularly, by a winch or.. something.

Actually, it is both a consequence of thermometer AND an artistic choic. I was limited and I choose this way to do something that didn't use too much thermo space and was constant troughout the level (the player immediately identify he is blocked without the Ring with these black blocks and it sticker).


Freaking kamikaze-nazgul killed me (It was nescesary, i know)
Actually, he didn't kill you... He just hurted you with it poisonnous dagger... And you woke up in Fondcomb... OUFFF.... 		2009-03-01 16:19:00

Author:
Takelow
Posts: 1355

Hey Takelow!
I discover your level in the Community Spotlight Episode 8.
I have to say that your level is really incredible.
Form the beginning until the end, the esthetic of the gameplay is amazing. The spirits and atmosphere that you successfully managed filled me with wonder all along the level.
The flood of light make it so magical! And I agree with you with the facts that the lights and adjustment of luminosity influence a lot the general environment in LBP.
You spend a lot of time making this level very clean with the contraptions and obstacles. I like the fact to carry the ring most of the time, and the story characters were really well designed (really like Nazguls ).
Overall I don't mind the fact that the bearer part III is not so difficult; if a creator prefer highlighting the esthetic of this level at the expense of some difficult action why not? The result is always pleasant.
Everything put together a you made an awesome level.

OCK and others made a really good job for the feedbacks, so I don't see what more can I say to make it better!
2009-03-04 10:44:00

Author:
mfd17
Posts: 67

Hi mfd17
Thank you for the kind words
I am happy that you loved this level.
And you are right, The Part II is not so difficult. But in my concept, levels will be more and more difficult all along your journey until the Mordor.		2009-03-06 07:35:00

Author:
Takelow
Posts: 1355

Hey Takelow, beautiful level, much better than your 2nd one. I loved the music! 2009-03-13 09:44:00

Author:
dkjestrup
Posts: 672

Hi dkjestrup!

Thank you for this, evfen if i hope the music is not the thing you loved the most in the level...lol 		2009-03-15 08:57:00

Author:
Takelow
Posts: 1355

another job well done takelow :*) stunning visuals and in keeping with the story of lotr

5 stars and heart		2009-03-16 10:35:00

Author:
talmasca
Posts: 196

Thank you talmasca!!2009-03-18 09:24:00

Author:
Takelow
Posts: 1355

Ok, I am going to give this :star::star::star::star::star: because of how detailed the background and other stuff is. Also, the gameplay has come a long way from the first in the series. I also liked the swinging bits near the end.

However, these could use work - Arwen and the Hobbits... need work. Also the block that you need to get the ring to go through in Rivendell is unstuck, I just moved it and walked over.		2009-08-06 03:22:00

Author:
pocoroo
Posts: 14

Hi pocoroo!

Thank you a lot for your comments. Concerning the gameplay, it will be increase progressively all along the levels of the series with an increase in difficulty.

And yes, as you stated, some details could be improved, as always, but the thermo is unfortunatelly so full (and it is the same for the four levels of the series) that i actually can't add even a sticker now.
And, yes, i will stuck the block, thank you 		2009-08-06 09:16:00

Author:
Takelow
Posts: 1355


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