Archive: 11 posts

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About a week or two ago, I was deeeeeeep into this site and LBP in general. Leaving feedback for levels, jotting down concepts every second I thought of one and working on my level non-stop. But ever since I finished my first, real level, I've lost inspiration. I went in the other day to try and work on my aesthetics for an idea I had, and was pretty crushed by the fact that I had lost my eye for a good looking LBP level. I feel like my drive has been sucked out of me. Has this happened to anybody here? Any tips on what helps get that inspiration back from whatever took it?

2009-03-01 13:12:00 Author: superezekiel Posts: 120

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Just play other levels and see what they have done and then improve on their design.

2009-03-01 13:29:00 Author: moleynator Posts: 2914

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I don't like just improving on someone else's design. That doesn't get me inspired. I'm inspired when I thought of a completely original and fun idea, and while other levels inspire me sometimes, a lot of times they overwhelm me with the idea that I'm way too behind in level creation compared to others.

2009-03-01 15:06:00 Author: superezekiel Posts: 120

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It's happened to me several times. I'll get an idea going for a level and then I'll lose my creative edge in the process. You can't get blood out of a stone, and you certainly can't force yourself to be creative when you're not inspired. Perhaps you are hitting writer's (or designer's) block because your current project is aesthetically different from your last. So, just because you made a good looking temples level doesn't mean its going to be easy to make a good looking factory level. This is also one of the reasons why I think you see so many people making level series, it's easier to create a similar looking sequel than to reinvent everything for your next undertaking. Best advice I can give you, other than to play other levels, is to not rush things. I frequently break and start working on new ideas when I plateau on an existing idea. Usually in a few days or so I have a bunch of new things to try for that first level. I also never try to create my level linearly; in other words, I don't create in the order that you would play through the level. It doesn't work like that. I'll create rooms or areas that I think fit the theme of my level, then later I piece them together in the order and location I want. Sometimes I'll go and play other games altogether, looking for inspiration there. Making a jungle level? Go play Uncharted! Space level? Go play Dead Space. You get the idea. I frequently scratch out ideas on a sketch pad with pencil. I can't stress the importance of this enough. Paper is a great way to plan layout and pathing and it's much faster than tinkering in create mode (since drawing and erasing pencil is 1000x easier than creating something you decide you don't like). It's extremely fast to transfer ideas from paper into create mode too. Anyways, hope these ideas help.

2009-03-01 16:42:00 Author: Thegide Posts: 1465

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Thanks for the kind words, but it's not really a shortage of ideas (i actually have an abundance of them, I'm constantly scribbling down ideas I have) it's just a lack of inspiration in actually completing the level, or coming up with ideas visually. As I get a general idea of what the level should look like, and the layout of my puzzle/platforming sections, but I'm lost on inspiration when it comes to making the idea look pretty and fitting. And in general, my drive is lost at the moment. I took a break for a bit, and I want to get back into it, but I've hit an early road block :/

2009-03-01 17:41:00 Author: superezekiel Posts: 120

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It has happened to me many times. I generally just play a different game for a couple of weeks. I recommend you do the same and soon enough you'll feel that creative urge once again. Killzone 2 maybe? :kz:

2009-03-01 18:16:00 Author: Killian Posts: 2575

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Beat KZ2 the day I got it I've been playing multi and it's great. I dunno, I feel like a week break is already too long lol.

2009-03-01 18:59:00 Author: superezekiel Posts: 120

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Meh, I don't play LBP anymore. All the levels are becoming boring, and therefore it seems like making levels is a pure reflection of that. I probably won't play this game for a while, I'm just kind of bored of it for the moment. Hopefully, in the future, I'll be back into it and there'll be some new and fresh beautiful ideas swarming around the LittleBigPlanet community.

2009-03-01 19:53:00 Author: Bear Posts: 2079

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Ghost... It's easy to over-do it and play so much that you become desensitized to it. I dunno, I get all my joy from creating and spend relatively little time actually playing levels. Not everyone is destined to play this game forever. Superez... everything in my last post can be applied to visuals, not just gameplay. I took a lot of inspiration for the visual effects for my first level right from the story mode. In my recent Shadow Moses level, I took inspiration from MGS1 itself and tried to recreate some of the true shadow moses environment. I also took some visual ideas from the battle with Rex in the LBP MGS pack. Lastly, there's always google image search. What kind of visuals are you trying to create with your current project? Perhaps I can give you some suggestions or direct you to some inspiring visuals that match your theme.

2009-03-01 20:24:00 Author: Thegide Posts: 1465

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Actually, re-reading my previous post I have come to another conclusion. I have almost the whole of 'My Moon' full due to the whirpool of 'fantastic' ideas that are soaring around my mind. LittleBigPlanet requires imagination, which I am near to positive that I have, but it's just tough to control all of them at times. For example, I think of a superb idea and then spend ages decorating all around the beginning of the level and then think of a better idea and do the same thing over and over again. My creating skills are basically just a massive chain reaction, that's why I stopped creating and sharing and turned to play. Now this is where it all triggered, my sudden feeling of not wanting to play anymore. I picked up the controller and searched around a bit till I found a level that looked good, but I'm just becoming pretty bored of it. I'm aware that all the levels are individual and aren't really part of one game but it still feels like that. The controlling, materials, background e.t.c become repetative and in the end I became bored. Afterwards, I carried on searching and playing new levels, but the same feeling swirled around inside me during all of the time I was on my PS3. I switched off the console and rubbed my eyes as if I'd been playing for ages. I do that quite a lot when I plan to not play the game for a while. But I did, I picked the game up again the next day and did the same as the day before. No difference. I gave it a little longer break and gradually my time on this game grew less and less. Eventually, I realised this wasn't working for me, it felt nothing like when I first got the game and was having fun playing through the first few levels. I just don't feel the fun in it nowadays, which is why I made those previous comments in my last post.

2009-03-01 21:06:00 Author: Bear Posts: 2079

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It seems to me you guys are experiencing a heavy case of the burn-outs. Just take her easy for a few days. Put those ideas down on a notepad somewhere and take a break. One day you might get the itch to start playing again and then that notepad, the forums and the game will still be there.

2009-03-02 14:54:00 Author: Morrinn3 Posts: 493

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