Archive: 16 posts

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Hello guys. I finally finished my first level. I wanted to do a good first impression so it took me more than a month since getting the game to finish this level. I tried having playtesters last week when it was still unfinished but no one responded. So I kept playing it on my own. If you have time please try it. The story of this level takes place immediately after defeating The Collector.:arg: BTW, my friend said this level excels in detail. And, this is a "full thermometer" level. http://lh3.ggpht.com/_pRLWNKllZqI/SaZt4lVal7I/AAAAAAAAAEE/SH1Oh2O1ZzU/s640/DSC00268.JPG http://lh5.ggpht.com/_pRLWNKllZqI/SaZuMn7EqjI/AAAAAAAAAEI/SdvFT8xfQ6U/s640/DSC00269.JPG http://lh5.ggpht.com/_pRLWNKllZqI/SaZuWAUKE-I/AAAAAAAAAEo/p7vsEhLPi14/s640/DSC00270.JPG YouTube - Escape the Factory EDIT - added prize and score bubbles and dialogues. fixed wheel respawn fixed last checkpoint respawn

2009-03-07 09:45:00 Author: uzman Posts: 209

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Hey Uzman, the pictures looked promising so i gave it a go Here's some feedback: Pros: - Nice little intro you got there But maybe make the Magic Mouth a bit bigger, "One more level sackboy" just doesn't feel right to me. You know? - The moving electrified pillars were nice. Simple, but nice. I don't recall seeing such a gameplay element before.. - The self-locking door was nice. Right before you're last screenshot. At first i was like, why is there a little hole there. But then i saw the lock Good job. - You're re-make of the Wheel in THe Bunker was really nice. I liked how you had to complete the cycle at least 3 times in order to get all 3 brains. Cons: - MM-made content. I really don't like it when people use MM-made content, because it gets an instant feel of laziness. Remaking the object yourself looks a whole lot better, and people will see the effort you've put into that object. (I'm referring to the sliding platform now, right after the second checkpoint) - There's a visible emitter at the checkpoint that's visible on your last screenshot. Yet... it doesn't emit anything? - When you're wheel was destroyed, it just fell apart. And i fell on electricity. I thought it was quite a lame unnescesary death. Don't really know how to fix it though. - Wow.. big con. At the end of the chasing sequence with The Collector. There was a sensor switch and a electric pole. I missed the sensor switch, and my checkpoint got stuck behind the electric pole. Killing me everytime i spawned. Had to restart, just to found out i missed 0.001% of the level Overall: A good level! I liked it, had some fun gameplay parts, and looked good But.. it had 4 hearts, and 27 plays, yet i'm the only one that finished it? o.O

2009-03-07 13:03:00 Author: ThommyTheThird Posts: 440

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Hey Uzman, the pictures looked promising so i gave it a go Here's some feedback: Pros: - Nice little intro you got there But maybe make the Magic Mouth a bit bigger, "One more level sackboy" just doesn't feel right to me. You know? - The moving electrified pillars were nice. Simple, but nice. I don't recall seeing such a gameplay element before.. - The self-locking door was nice. Right before you're last screenshot. At first i was like, why is there a little hole there. But then i saw the lock Good job. - You're re-make of the Wheel in THe Bunker was really nice. I liked how you had to complete the cycle at least 3 times in order to get all 3 brains. Cons: - MM-made content. I really don't like it when people use MM-made content, because it gets an instant feel of laziness. Remaking the object yourself looks a whole lot better, and people will see the effort you've put into that object. (I'm referring to the sliding platform now, right after the second checkpoint) - There's a visible emitter at the checkpoint that's visible on your last screenshot. Yet... it doesn't emit anything? - When you're wheel was destroyed, it just fell apart. And i fell on electricity. I thought it was quite a lame unnescesary death. Don't really know how to fix it though. - Wow.. big con. At the end of the chasing sequence with The Collector. There was a sensor switch and a electric pole. I missed the sensor switch, and my checkpoint got stuck behind the electric pole. Killing me everytime i spawned. Had to restart, just to found out i missed 0.001% of the level Overall: A good level! I liked it, had some fun gameplay parts, and looked good But.. it had 4 hearts, and 27 plays, yet i'm the only one that finished it? o.O Wow, thanks for reminding me... The last checkpoint, i saw that but i have a tendency of forgetting short-term things. This is my first level so i used some MM objects. I agree with you with that laziness factor but i thought since it's the Collector's place, why not use his items to give it homage for him. I brought 3 sackfriends there with me and we tried over a dozen times and couldn't finish it. But i can finish it alone.:blush: In the wheel, i put that black bouncing platform there so you could bounce back to wheel after spawning behind something on the first plane (otherwise, spawning behind an obstruction would drop you to the area below). I'm probably going to put electrified dissolve there that will disappear after you grab. I'm impressed that you were able to find that grab without instruction. Thank you very much. What level do you want ME to review?:hero:

2009-03-07 17:27:00 Author: uzman Posts: 209

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You don't need to give me F4F mate, these levels kind of died out slowly, and i'm just taking my time to make a new level, that's a lot better and more impressive. (Hopefully)

2009-03-07 20:56:00 Author: ThommyTheThird Posts: 440

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Just playing your level now, here are my thoughts + Nice intro! + The level is packed with cool little details everywhere, you've obviously spent a great deal of time on this and it shows. It looks fantastic + Good platforming sections, challenging but not overly difficult. + Awesome wheel section, I liked how you kept the player locked up so you could see all the hazards as it went round, great idea + Good use of sound effects + Liked all the falling debris + You use a lot of materials, generally this makes a level look cluttered, not so here. It actually makes it look really good, and slightly mad. - Emitters visible on the enemys - Emitter and mag switches and keys visible on the wheel section - I grabbed the ball that appears in the wheel and stopped the wheel, problem was, an electrified section was right over the checkpoint, I had to kill myself to get out of the whole I was in, and then re-appeared on the electric, losing all my last 4 lives. - Also, in the wheel, its easier just to stand in the checkpoint area and wait until the swing and the brains come back around, you need to emit a hazard to get players to move out of the checkpoint area. - There are loads of switches visible I enjoyed this level, it was great to look and fun to play. Definetly recommended And I got the highscore, only two people on the board so far though Hearted

2009-03-07 21:53:00 Author: GruntosUK Posts: 1754

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Just playing your level now, here are my thoughts + Nice intro! + The level is packed with cool little details everywhere, you've obviously spent a great deal of time on this and it shows. It looks fantastic + Good platforming sections, challenging but not overly difficult. + Awesome wheel section, I liked how you kept the player locked up so you could see all the hazards as it went round, great idea + Good use of sound effects + Liked all the falling debris + You use a lot of materials, generally this makes a level look cluttered, not so here. It actually makes it look really good, and slightly mad. - Emitters visible on the enemys - Emitter and mag switches and keys visible on the wheel section - I grabbed the ball that appears in the wheel and stopped the wheel, problem was, an electrified section was right over the checkpoint, I had to kill myself to get out of the whole I was in, and then re-appeared on the electric, losing all my last 4 lives. - Also, in the wheel, its easier just to stand in the checkpoint area and wait until the swing and the brains come back around, you need to emit a hazard to get players to move out of the checkpoint area. - There are loads of switches visible I enjoyed this level, it was great to look and fun to play. Definetly recommended And I got the highscore, only two people on the board so far though Hearted Thank you for the good review. I'll make sure the switches are unseen. It was like 0500 when i was editing the wheel last night so i forgot to playtest the checkpoint area. It will be a little area that will open only when your at the first section of the wheel. I'm very glad people are finishing this level. Thanks for taking time to do this. Would like me to give a review of your levels?

2009-03-08 03:19:00 Author: uzman Posts: 209

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Sounds good! I'll try it soon, and post with feedback.

2009-03-08 04:20:00 Author: dkjestrup Posts: 672

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I already did A LOT of editing in this level after being published. If you find another glitch, please feel free to tell me. Thanks again for the helpful Sackfriends that took time to review my level.

2009-03-08 05:04:00 Author: uzman Posts: 209

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The details for F4F are in my sig

2009-03-08 09:43:00 Author: GruntosUK Posts: 1754

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added video courtesy of Vanemiera! :hero:

2009-03-11 09:06:00 Author: uzman Posts: 209

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I don't know what happened to your ratings... but I saw only 12 plays and no hearts and only 2 stars. That's a kick in teeth right there, given the visual quality of the level is pretty good. Here are my thoughts. Regarding the visibility of switches, these days you're better off hiding everything because for some reason people hate this. I don't mind them myself as long as they are disguised as part of the background. Visually, this level has a lot to offer. It's well designed, and very chaotic. You've captured that organic feel that a mess of machinery can make. It sort of reminds me of HR Giger's style, minus the blood sucking aliens. The gameplay elements are pretty good too. I liked how you did the wheel over, although I got a bit frustrated and almost lost all my lives here because twice I swung towards the brains and missed them and/or died in the process. I had to do 6 full laps to pass this section. I also liked the firey/electric wheels, they were fun and challenging. There are a few hiccups in the level that I think are causing you some grief though. I'll try to note them in point form for your reference, in order by which they appear in the level - critter at the bottom of the elevator. this guy follows you into the elevator shaft and gets stuck. by nature when you jump out of the elevator you switch to the back plane and are often killed instantly by this guy. he should be set to "ignore" and his boundaries defined by two critter boundary lights... i think this will make it better. - checkpoint at the bottom of your angled platform extender (taken from story objects). this area where the checkpoint sits is confusing. get rid of the "stuff" in the foreground, it looks like its supposed to do something but does not, and therefore it adds confusion. also, to the left of the checkpoint is some hidden gas or electricity. you're suckered in to trying to go left for a score bubble if I recall, but you die. one golden rule is don't hide death. if it can kill you, the player should be able to see and identify that it can kill you beforehand. if not, its a cheap kill and thats just annoying. - the downhill conveyor sequence. camera angle needs to be improved - its difficult to tell whether you're going to be electrocuted or not. for things like these, camera should be aimed straight, not angled. secondly, after the last electrocuter, your "safe zone" platform is too small. when you jump to get away from the last electrocuter, you will tend to overshoot and jump into the gas below the back-and-forth floating platforms. - I already mentioned that the brains are easily missed during the wheel sequence. a full double checkpoint may not be enough for a lot of players, especially on their first time through (which is usually their only time through). - the collector's robot chase sequence. two things here... first, the robot's brains are visible, which confuses players into thinking that they should be trying to pop them. i didn't know i was supposed to run away and died several times before suddenly i fell though the floor and the robot was crushed. don't lure the player into doing something they aren't supposed to, especially when it will kill them. the second thing is your checkpoints frequently spawn you directly into the spiked pits. if you're unlucky you die from the bot, then immediately die again when you spawn into the pits. this REALLY needs to be fixed. it's unfair, and that will severely hurt your ratings. These are all easy fixes, and for the most point minor issues, but they are significant enough to warrant frustrating your average player. This could easily be a 4-star level with a bit more improvement. I would highly recommend getting rid of the story objects as well. These are hurting your ratings, trust me. For many people story objects lead to an instant 3 star maximum.

2009-03-12 15:47:00 Author: Thegide Posts: 1465

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I don't know what happened to your ratings... but I saw only 12 plays and no hearts and only 2 stars. That's a kick in teeth right there, given the visual quality of the level is pretty good. Here are my thoughts. Regarding the visibility of switches, these days you're better off hiding everything because for some reason people hate this. I don't mind them myself as long as they are disguised as part of the background. Visually, this level has a lot to offer. It's well designed, and very chaotic. You've captured that organic feel that a mess of machinery can make. It sort of reminds me of HR Giger's style, minus the blood sucking aliens. The gameplay elements are pretty good too. I liked how you did the wheel over, although I got a bit frustrated and almost lost all my lives here because twice I swung towards the brains and missed them and/or died in the process. I had to do 6 full laps to pass this section. I also liked the firey/electric wheels, they were fun and challenging. There are a few hiccups in the level that I think are causing you some grief though. I'll try to note them in point form for your reference, in order by which they appear in the level - critter at the bottom of the elevator. this guy follows you into the elevator shaft and gets stuck. by nature when you jump out of the elevator you switch to the back plane and are often killed instantly by this guy. he should be set to "ignore" and his boundaries defined by two critter boundary lights... i think this will make it better. - checkpoint at the bottom of your angled platform extender (taken from story objects). this area where the checkpoint sits is confusing. get rid of the "stuff" in the foreground, it looks like its supposed to do something but does not, and therefore it adds confusion. also, to the left of the checkpoint is some hidden gas or electricity. you're suckered in to trying to go left for a score bubble if I recall, but you die. one golden rule is don't hide death. if it can kill you, the player should be able to see and identify that it can kill you beforehand. if not, its a cheap kill and thats just annoying. - the downhill conveyor sequence. camera angle needs to be improved - its difficult to tell whether you're going to be electrocuted or not. for things like these, camera should be aimed straight, not angled. secondly, after the last electrocuter, your "safe zone" platform is too small. when you jump to get away from the last electrocuter, you will tend to overshoot and jump into the gas below the back-and-forth floating platforms. - I already mentioned that the brains are easily missed during the wheel sequence. a full double checkpoint may not be enough for a lot of players, especially on their first time through (which is usually their only time through). - the collector's robot chase sequence. two things here... first, the robot's brains are visible, which confuses players into thinking that they should be trying to pop them. i didn't know i was supposed to run away and died several times before suddenly i fell though the floor and the robot was crushed. don't lure the player into doing something they aren't supposed to, especially when it will kill them. the second thing is your checkpoints frequently spawn you directly into the spiked pits. if you're unlucky you die from the bot, then immediately die again when you spawn into the pits. this REALLY needs to be fixed. it's unfair, and that will severely hurt your ratings. These are all easy fixes, and for the most point minor issues, but they are significant enough to warrant frustrating your average player. This could easily be a 4-star level with a bit more improvement. I would highly recommend getting rid of the story objects as well. These are hurting your ratings, trust me. For many people story objects lead to an instant 3 star maximum. I don't hide death. I, too, think it's cheap. I guess 'll remove that. I will just wait for the infinite life checkpoint. Or I'll try some to put 2 checkpoints there in the wheel. At the collector's robot chase, I'll put a dialogue saying, "RUN!!!" And I don't know how to not make it fall into spikes. I think it's just a matter of luck... Thanks! These things i never saw.

2009-03-13 09:20:00 Author: uzman Posts: 209

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You can make an infinite life checkpoint with a switch and an emitter. Takes a bit of tweeking, but it is totally workable.

2009-03-13 14:37:00 Author: dobi6 Posts: 359

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You can make an infinite life checkpoint with a switch and an emitter. Takes a bit of tweeking, but it is totally workable. Have you tried it?

2009-03-14 12:23:00 Author: uzman Posts: 209

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Yep... The level I am working on now has them, and they work I learned it from Matt82... (he does the Pirates of Tortuga level) At least I think it was him... I might be mixing 2 people together. You have to capture a spawn point, or an object with one on it.... Then place an emitter to kick out the spawn point. (note, I discovered that it must kick it out with enough space above it to spawn... it won't spawn over itself. Then set a switch - button or proxi - to one shot, and then trigger it. to make sure it works. I did discover using a proxi switch, that if the radius is too big, you till make the gate not work, when you go to spawn it will create a new one and kill your gate before you can get out, so make sure there is room to fall out of the spawn point before you trigger the emitter. Works like a charm. No more having people get mad at you for making your level too hard....

2009-03-14 21:30:00 Author: dobi6 Posts: 359

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Okay, I just played this. It looks like I was only 1 of 3 to finish (you, me, and Thegide - I got the high score!) Before I begin I'd like to say I enjoyed it. I had no problem making it through the level, and I think the visuals were done well. Keep something in mind before reading this - I don't write this much text on levels that I don't think have a lot of potential. Now..... where to begin.... This is one of those cases where you have a fairly talented creator who can create a sophisticated work, but needs to learn a few lessons on what makes a level fun (there's actually a really good thread on this: "What Makes a Level Good". The area where you have a conveyor rolling you into eletric stompers: Gamers hate touchy areas. When you're trying to stop from rolling and at the same time getting hit by eletricity it gives people a knot in their stomach. Even though it can be accomplished (I did it in the 2nd try), the knot in the stomach isn't a good thing - this area is frustrating instead of being challenging. Personally, I would lose the conveyor. It's your call, though. The wheel - I really liked this part of the level, but there are a few small areas that are going to cause players immense frustration. As the wheel is turning, it's simply too easy to slip, touch eletricity, and die. I would balance it out by adjusting a few things slightly. For instance, when you have the small area you jump to and then grab onto some spunge right above the eletricity - The eletricity is so close to the sponge I grabbed the sponge and STILL touched the electricity. You probably want to move the eletricity far enough away from the sponge (move it down a little) so it isn't so touchy. Also, it would probably help if you made the material slightly thicker that you jump on right before grapping. Keep in mind - while designing you play it a LOT. Many times we as creators can't properly judge difficulty because we're too close to it, so making it less difficult is almost a must. The garbage area below the wheel - there is a LOT of touchy jumping here. Once again, totally doable but leaves a knot in your stomach. Final boss chase - It's too bad a lot of people never got this far - the boss chase was brilliant. Absolutely loved it.

2009-03-15 12:29:00 Author: CCubbage Posts: 4430

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