Archive: 13 posts

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DVLC2: "Food For Thought" Creator Interview: bonner123 1. Just to start off, I'd like to say congratulations on winning the contest, bonner! Are there any other contests or events for LBP that you've entered, and if so, how did those turn out? Thanks! And I entered the early LBPC contests with some absolute dreg to waste the judges' collective time because I thought it would be funny. I used to enter some random LBW contests back in the day (with unintentionally terrible dreg) and I won my crown through the LBPV1 contest. 2. It definitely seems like you made your mark across several fansites, even if you thought some of your work at the time was, well, dreg. So then, how did you manage to go from "dreg" (your words, not mine) to "not dreg?" Was there a magic set of tutorials, lots of help from friends, or did you follow a more "do-it-yourself" approach in improving over time? Probably the latter two. I owe a lot of what I know now to the gracious help of SLS10. A lot of other people provided lots of helpful criticism along the way, such as squid2723, actio1_618, and Mnniska. This is somewhat contradictory, but I learned to stop caring so much about what other people thought of my levels and focused on making things I enjoyed with my friends making sure nothing I made was too BS or whatnot. I owe a hell of a lot to actio1_618 for his massive logic skills, SLS10's acting, Mnniska's feedback, and squid2723's cat puns. If not for them then my levels would probably be much less enjoyable. http://ia.lbp.me/img/ft/c8a1f060084e32f65428adf160c516a3fbeaefb3.jpg [DVLC2] Esmerelda's Snack Shack: Prepare to Dine (http://lbp.me/v/qrqs5p9) 3. Listening to friends but not getting too focused on what everyone thinks sounds like a great approach. You're already a pretty popular creator, but has the team pick you've recently earned for Snack Shack affected that creation mentality at all by itself? I haven't actually seen any truly negative comments for the level, but hey, there's always that one person or two. Not really. For the Snack Shack I was perfectly fine with knowing a fair amount of people wouldn't like it or find it frustrating as hell, and I was surprised when people actually sort of liked that BS factor. 4. One thing I find interesting about your levels is that you've divided them up into one of five categories: The Good, the Bad, the Frustrating, the Weird, and the Pretty (even though I thought Snack Shack was equally good, weird, pretty, and frustrating). Before creating much of your levels, do you already have an idea as to which of these lists they'll end up landing in? Truthfully no. I decided one day that it might be useful to categorise my levels because they are pretty different, but there is a lot of overlap. A lot of my levels are on the very difficult side, and quite a few are focused on visuals so the goal was to make it easier for people to play the levels that suit their tastes. I guess the 'good' category is for my levels that manage to reach a good balance between visuals and gameplay without being too frustrating, but that's entirely subjective. Also squid2723 wants to contribute, so here is his response: You call that a Meowstion? (He's a bit of an ***) 5. I see. Since you seem to have a good idea about your own levels, what did you think about the other two entries for the contest? (Especially with the great diversity between the three levels submitted.) I don't think there's much to say really. Rocket Twinkie was a simple but elegantly designed minigame. It looked good and played well, which is more than can be said about the original Flappy Bird. A green problem was a very cute level with a great deal of charm. I haven't gotten around to beating it yet, but what I played was just dandy. If I did have any complaints, it's that the former could use a bit more variety and the latter could use a bit more polish, but they are still very good levels. http://ib.lbp.me/img/ft/04b036341fdafea52a57a5e5de419c0a4ae4939b.jpg The Island of Aether (http://lbp.me/v/g0yzby) 6. Are there any tips, tricks, and pointers you can mention for any aspiring creators out there that you've picked up on after creating a lot? (It can be as broad or specific as you'd like) Do lots of LSD. Oh wait. Fundamentally, just be yourself and don't worry (too much) about the preferences of other people. When you create in order to get a MM pick or whatnot, you stifle your own creativity and put the emphasis on accolades instead of the level itself (e.g. I'm going to make a generic Spooky Easter Farm of Christmas because it will totally get me picked! Who likes sponges on bolts?). Also, enough with the darn invisible walls, unnecessary cutscenes, pointless characters, and miscellaneous collectables. Don't just do things because other people do them. 7. Being reliant on getting picked is only the start of some of the LBP community's issues. I've seen you express some dissatisfaction with the messages some levels send, the hateful comments some levels receive, and the treatment of more mature levels in-game. So what's your overall analysis of the LBP community? (What you like about it, how it can improve, etc.) The thing I like most about the LBP community is that there are plenty of genuinely talented people who keep the game worth playing. Everytime it seems as if the game is dying, you'll find several more creative levels (if you know where to look). A lot of problems with the LBP community come from how the game is designed, rather than the community itself. When the game is marketed towards a younger audience but the creating audience is older, you'll run into a situation where the kids playing the game, bless their hearts, don't have a good eye for quality. Hence the popularity of RPG levels and whatnot. An improved promotion system may help, but I'm not sure how much. I really think the creative element needs to be emphasised more than the family game angle. http://i5.lbp.me/img/ft/3a5b276c99d2b7911545ed3bc6d48409cf191930.jpg HAUS (http://lbp.me/v/k0j4we) 8. Those are all fair points, hopefully LBP3 manages to achieve that emphasis on creativity, and can boost the community in great ways. There's certainly been a lot of creative uses of Esmerelda, a popular LBP figure whose name has marked your planet, as well as the planets of Mnniska, SLS10, ApeCheese, coasterfreak1235, and other weird creators. Care to give us a bit of backstory on this perplexing force of nature, in the most Esmerelda-ish way possible? Esmerelda is the consuming force that has always been. Chained up in the depths of a forgotten dimension after consuming half of the world, Esmerelda was summoned once again by the forces of the Underrealm and BSI. Her / his imprisonment has left her / him erratic, with dozens of conflicting motivations at any given time. Does she want to teach typing, or does she want to eat more Sacksnacks? …was that cryptic enough? 9. Yes, very cryptic. Almost as nightmare-inducing as Esmerelda and Mr. Key going on a blind date together. So then, after kindly stalking your lbp.me profile, I saw a couple of locked levels listed, one of them looking like it'll add further fuel to the fire of Esmerelda's campaign for world domination. Care to give us any hints or sneak peaks as to what lies ahead for Esmerelda, or any other, non-Esmerelda projects you've got cooking? Well, I'll put it this way: Have you ever wanted to learn how to type? Aside from that, I have a few ideas floating around in my head, but I might just use the recent announcement of LBP3 to take a break once my current project is done. Jones Soda is really good by the way, can you keep this sentence in the interview? 10. Er.. uhm.. sure? Well, I can see Esmerelda's starting to move towards me, possibly angered by my confusion, so this is probably a good time to end the interview. Finally, is there anyone else that you'd like to throw a shoutout to that you haven't yet, or have but you feel like repeating their name because why the heck not? Also, any last words that you'd like to give to those reading the interview is also encouraged. Just because something is stupid doesn't mean it isn't fun. Don't be afraid of trying new things just because they are unfamiliar or silly. It doesn't matter if other people think it's stupid. Try making dumb levels, you'll be surprised what you can come up with when you take this game less seriously. Thanks for putting up with my inanity! http://i0.lbp.me/img/ft/210519952f27b81b309d1cd051decf9c70c3e9a6.jpg (http://lbp.me/v/57y1bw)

2014-06-18 02:09:00 Author: Dragonvarsity Posts: 5208

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I'm in this interview, so that means it's great!

2014-06-18 17:27:00 Author: SLS10 Posts: 1129

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Great interview! Nice work, both x

2014-06-18 17:54:00 Author: rialrees Posts: 1015

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Great interview

2014-06-18 20:48:00 Author: Sandro8708 Posts: 625

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Great read

2014-06-19 14:59:00 Author: Gentleman Tom Posts: 64

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Great Interview!

2014-06-19 15:44:00 Author: Tikaki-MooMoo Posts: 524

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This is the best. Congrats to all contestants and the winner. Will there be more?

2014-06-19 22:52:00 Author: Mnniska Posts: 531

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This is the best. Congrats to all contestants and the winner. Will there be more? Yes indeed. In fact, DVLC3 will officially begin tomorrow.

2014-06-19 23:48:00 Author: Dragonvarsity Posts: 5208

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Yes indeed. In fact, DVLC3 will officially begin tomorrow. I hope it's a jungle theme contest!

2014-06-19 23:49:00 Author: Tikaki-MooMoo Posts: 524

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This was an awesome interview! Both Bonner's responses and levels always make me laugh. Congrats for winning and for the team Pick! Can't wait to see the next Esmeralda adventure (btw we totally need an Esmeralda level on LBPV).

2014-06-20 00:27:00 Author: yugnar Posts: 1478

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Yes indeed. In fact, DVLC3 will officially begin tomorrow. YES! Hype!!

2014-06-20 01:24:00 Author: Mnniska Posts: 531

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Esmerelda themed contest? Also thanks.

2014-06-20 01:39:00 Author: bonner123 Posts: 1487

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Esmerelda themed contest? Also thanks. Yuuuuusssss this idea is so freaking awesome :arg: !!!! We'd need at least an Esmeralda sticker, though.

2014-06-20 02:07:00 Author: yugnar Posts: 1478

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