Archive: 18 posts

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**New Features Have Been Added** (March 31) YouTube - Little Big Planet - The Demon Lord's House of Doom Part One The Rescue Ok this is really the first level I put a lot of effort into (Including a custom eery piano sountrack)...It's supposed to be very dark and creepy, yet funny at the same time. I think I captured that feeling pretty well. As far as gameplay goes, it's a little hard at certain points, but nothing too frustrating IMO. If it is, please let me know and I'll adjust it. I DO F4F!

2009-03-17 00:25:00 Author: ApellesJr Posts: 282

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Okay, just got done with this. First of all, gotta say I really liked it. Great graphics and intriguing. PROS: Some flat out amazing character models. Cool platforming Really nice overall polish CONS: There are several areas in here where you are asking for trouble from the general LBP audience. Near the beginning when you have the platform throw you up past the knives - since you can't see the knives before you hit them (you're traveling pretty fast) many people will lose several lives here and get frustrated. Since they haven't really seen any of your good stuff yet, you may lose them here. I would personally either lose the swords or do a camera pan-out here so the player can see whats happening before they suddenly die. Right after this, you have the shaft where you have to jump up the floors without getting hit by the moving spikes. The combination of dodging the moving spikes and jumping up to each floor (which seem JUST far enough to jump to if you jump as high as you can) could definately be frustrating to a player. It took me 4 times to get the timing correctly AND not be a tiny off getting to each floor. You MAY want to slightly lessen how far the player needs to jump and possibly make the spikes move slightly slower. I pretty much flew through the rest of the level, but I could see why you're initially getting poor ratings on this level - if people get frustrated by a few difficult platforming areas before they've even seen the quality of your work, you're probably going to frustrate them and get a low rating. All-in-all, though, I loved it. Great job!

2009-03-17 03:41:00 Author: CCubbage Posts: 4430

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I played through this level a few times and overall I really like it. I think the text treatment is beautiful in the beginning. The door is a nice touch too. I know the spiky jump part always gave me trouble too. The knives falling I can never get past without having a 2nd player helping. Pulling the camera out could help but I'd loose them. The lighting in that area is nicely spooky though. Where this level shines for me is the character design. The 1st demon guy is nicely done and the slug thingie is so cool. Even the organ left over is neat looking and unique. The final demon lord guy is dark and sinister and well done. The grabbing skeleton arms are really creepy and give a nice sense of depth in that area too. The timing on the final section where you get flung with the child is very cool. I don't think I've played a level that flings you to the finish so smoothly and with a NPC character along for the ride. I gave it 4 stars and a heart and would play it again.... if I can just get past those darn knives. Nice work AppelesJr.

2009-03-17 03:52:00 Author: Morgana25 Posts: 5983

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I'm taking your suggestions and removing the knives. Now that I look at the level as a whole I wish I had gotten to the first scene with the demon and the snail thing sooner. The first 1/4 of the level is lacking IMO.

2009-03-18 00:31:00 Author: ApellesJr Posts: 282

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Do you have them set up so you can cut them apart and move them or are they stuck?

2009-03-18 07:54:00 Author: Morgana25 Posts: 5983

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You mean move that scene to an earlier section? That's not possible the way I constructed it. Right now I'm wondering if it'd even be worth it to make part 2. It isn't getting good reviews and I don't think it'd be worth the time. :/

2009-03-18 16:13:00 Author: ApellesJr Posts: 282

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Well - if it's something you want to play, go for it make it. Take what you learned on this one and make the 2nd one better. Might get better reviews on the second. But then again - I'm an optimist The strength on this level is your creature design (imo). Maybe start a new level and design your characters first. When you put them in try to keep them mobile so you can rearrange the level a few times to get the right flow. Think of it like a rough sketch. Easier to make changes to big things when it's sort of raw and unfinished. Make sense?

2009-03-18 17:39:00 Author: Morgana25 Posts: 5983

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Personally, I think this level just needs a few changes and it could get much better reviews. Maybe after you make some enhancemenets and corrections you could re-publish. I would be perfectly happy to put a heart on it and give it a high rating to get the ball rolling. Also, please read my thread "Good Publishing Practices" - for a more difficult level it could help you get a better rating. I'll check out the changes you made already and see if I have any further ideas. If you have a good level going with a few kinks to work out, it would be a shame to drop it. My Splat Invaders II started out as a 2-3 star level with horrible tags and after tweaks and careful publishing it ended up being a 4-star level with good ratings, on cool levels page 2 with 2400 plays... I've noticed a lot of creators with decent levels give up far too soon. Remember this: virtually ANY professionally designed video game released without alpha or beta testing and without the benefit of good producers would end up getting bad ratings. Success has less to do with initial design, and more to do with being dilligent.

2009-03-18 18:10:00 Author: CCubbage Posts: 4430

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Thanks guys. I've read your good publishing habits thread and there's alot of good stuff in there. I haven't had time to play in the past few days because I've had baseball games every night, but I'll edit out some kinks tonight. I think the biggest problem I have is the fact that every level I've made so far had absolutely no plan. I literally just made them as I went. When I finished a section I just started making the next, like writing a book as it comes to you. I don't think it's as effective with this though haha. (BTW are you sure there isn't anywhere that the lighting needs adjusting? My roommates keep complaining about it and I just tell them it's supposed to feel scary.)

2009-03-18 18:42:00 Author: ApellesJr Posts: 282

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I didn't notice anything about the lighting. I would like to make a suggestion for you that may help with level creation, however - go play my Splat Invaders II level (play the one right next to Splat Invaders Saga. You owe me one on F4F anyway.. heh). I designed the entire level in a completely different order than it ended up. I designed it in the following segmented order: Pod flying sequence End UFO boss E.T. Section Spinning enemies section Donkey kong section The flying section with the monster Returning home at the end Spider splat section at the beginning Hallway with dropping rocks in the middle I did this because I wanted to design in order of importance rather than sequentially to make sure I had enough thermo for everything. THEN I dragged each module into its final place and connected things together. If you design as separate modules you can make the decision as you go along what order it should be in at the end - AND it allows you to manage thermo better because you don't have to suddenly compomise and elimiate areas you like near the end of the creation process.

2009-03-18 19:06:00 Author: CCubbage Posts: 4430

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...If you design as separate modules you can make the decision as you go along what order it should be in at the end - AND it allows you to manage thermo better because you don't have to suddenly compomise and elimiate areas you like near the end of the creation process. That's very good advice. It's the biggest problem I've come up against in my levels, which is why the endings are so sudden, lol.

2009-03-18 19:27:00 Author: Boogaloo Posts: 254

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I too suffer from organic level building. I tried the compartment technique on the second level of Chroma Stone and it's really handy for rearranging stuff. If you can design that way it's much easier to get a level to flow. About the lighting - when we were playing it I said it didn't bother me that some areas were dark and playing it now - it still doesn't bother me. It's a dark level. Would it be better lit in slightly brighter but still dim light? It might be for some players but not for others. It's a choice - as the creator - you get to decide for yourself. Make a copy of the level on your moon and play around with it - doesn't mean you have to publish it that way.

2009-03-18 20:52:00 Author: Morgana25 Posts: 5983

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Yeah, that's true. And I played around with the lighting until I found my favorite combination, so I'll just leave it. Screw my roommates.

2009-03-19 18:35:00 Author: ApellesJr Posts: 282

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OK, I finally got to editing all the kinks out, so give it a go again if you've got some time. (And Ccubbage, I played your splat levels last night...reviews coming soon)

2009-03-20 17:44:00 Author: ApellesJr Posts: 282

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I deleted this level and republished a much improved version yesterday. I made a few important changes that greatly improve the level in my opinion. I still am disappointed with the way it turned out, but I think the effort I put into it should put it into the 3 or 4 star range. Give it a go if you like a unique, challenging platforming level.

2009-03-31 04:41:00 Author: ApellesJr Posts: 282

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I went ahead and played this one again. Personally, I really enjoyed it and liked the improvements you made. The only weak points I see are the jumping past the knives and the tight platforming with the little spikes on pistons. You could probably change these 2 areas fairly easily if you're so inclined at some point - I would personally change the jump past the knives by having a platform slowly raise up and have you dodge some cool looking ghoulies. I gave it 5 stars and a heart. With the beginning it's a little closer to 4 stars for me, but I wanted to balance out the low ratings by the cry babies.

2009-03-31 13:50:00 Author: CCubbage Posts: 4430

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Apelles, I think you are getting better with each level you post. This is definitely my favorite so far and I think weird and crazy creature creation is your strong point. My criticisms are similar to CCubbage concerning the platforming areas at the beginning. The knife section is a good idea, but I didn't have to even try to dodge them. Maybe some kind of raising platform like CCubbage said would work. You could have the knives drop onto the platform and you have to run to the left and right dodging them. Overall, I think your creatures make the level! Your demons are all very well done and you created a very creepy atmosphere for them to reside in. Nice job!

2009-03-31 16:33:00 Author: mrsupercomputer Posts: 1335

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Haha, thanks Ccubbage! I'm seriously considering the platform raising you up there. That would be much more enjoyable and then the player can admire the windows and lighting I made haha. I just might do that later today. Apelles, I think you are getting better with each level you post. This is definitely my favorite so far and I think weird and crazy creature creation is your strong point. Thanks man, I'm really excited about the level I'm finishing up now. Part two is so much better than part one that I think I'm going to title it something different and make it a stand alone level. I don't want people to feel inclined to play the first one when it pales in comparison to the second. If you thought my characters were good in this one, wait til you see my new ones.

2009-04-01 07:42:00 Author: ApellesJr Posts: 282

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