Offworld Colony

Offworld Colony by tsr13
Nobody has heard from the colony on LB426, and as a Space Marine it's your job to find out why. This epic sci-fi adventure will have you driving armored vehicles, battling alien baddies, platforming, and even hacking a circuit board to send out a distress call. Fans of the 1986 film "Aliens" will immediately recognize this level as a tribute, although prior knowledge of the movie is not necessary.


Join a group of Space Marines and investigate trouble on offworld planetoid LB426. Can you stop the onslaught of Aliens and rescue the colony? Recommended for one player only.

If you've been looking for a dark and brooding sci-fi/horror/survival type level, then this is for you. If not, then this level is still probably for you. It is dialog-heavy and presented in a series of cut scenes interspersed with action. There's a little something in here for everyone: story, shooting, platforming, mazes, puzzles, etc. Although there's plenty of action for the player to get involved in, I intentionally steered clear of overly-difficult challenges that ultimately lead to the dreaded "frustrating" tag.

This project has been so long in the works that it's hard to remember exactly when I started building it, but it's at least 9 months old. (hm, like a baby!) This level represents a lot of firsts for me. It was my first heavy use of the paintinator, first use of time-scripted dialog, and my first stab at horror/suspense (pun intended). Any and all feedback, suggestions, and criticisms are welcomed and appreciated!

I backed myself into a corner several times due both to the story and level of interaction of the player, and I must have torn apart the level and rebuilt it at least a half a dozen times. In the end, it was a battle to the death with the thermometer. There was a lot of content I was not willing to cut, and inventing thermometer-friendly ways of implementing everything was a major challenge. Now that it's all done, I hope that you all have as much fun playing it as I did creating it. Thanks for playing and enjoy!

http://shawnandtom.com/LBP/oc1.jpg http://shawnandtom.com/LBP/oc2.jpg

http://shawnandtom.com/LBP/oc3.jpg http://shawnandtom.com/LBP/oc4.jpg

http://shawnandtom.com/LBP/oc5.jpg http://shawnandtom.com/LBP/oc6.jpg

http://shawnandtom.com/LBP/oc7.jpg http://shawnandtom.com/LBP/oc8.jpg

http://shawnandtom.com/LBP/oc9.jpg http://shawnandtom.com/LBP/oc10.jpg

Looks pretty nice! I'll hopefully give it a try!

Wow - that first section is as cool as I remember ;)

k - lots of good stuff:

+ drop ship - awesome
+ APC - more awesome
+ facehuggers - unbelievably icky awesome
+ nice battles with aliens
+ good scary moments
+ area just before final battle was a cool way to set up the finale
+ fans of the film will love the movie dialogue references.

Couple of things I noticed:
- drop ship dialoge is long.... way long. I like it but I'm not bothered by heavy text. Your going to burn out the attention span of younger players before they even make it to the ground. Just a heads up that the ratings are gonna take a hit for this.
- APC is great but a tad repepetitive. I know - heavy thermo invested in it so it's got to do more than blow up two or three things... Maybe different challenges then?
- some rough edges and not as much detail as I'm used to seeing from you in a lot of places. Screams thermo problems though so I understand.
- boss battle looks epic but she's sort of a one trick boss and the timing is a little slow. Seemed like a ton of paint to take her out too. Not sure if there's a way to spice it up with such low thermo to play with but if you decide to tweak the level any more I'd try and give this a kick up. Looks great though.

Overall a cool level in a lot of ways. I'm giving it 5 stars :) Thanks for finally releasing it. I was wondering if I'd ever get to see those nasty face huggers again. lol ;)

Thanks Morgana! I appreciate you playing it way back when and then coming back for more now that it's done. :) You rock. As usual, your feedback is extemely helpful and spot-on. Here we go:

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Originally Posted by Morgana25

- drop ship dialoge is long.... way long. I like it but I'm not bothered by heavy text. Your going to burn out the attention span of younger players before they even make it to the ground. Just a heads up that the ratings are gonna take a hit for this.

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Yep, it is too long. I knew it already, but for whatever reason I guess I just needed to hear it from someone else. That was the very first dialog sequence I made, and I never changed it. Until now that is. ;) I shortened it up considerably, which had the happy side-effect of freeing up a teeeeny tiny sliver of thermometer. Yay, now I can add some stickers around the level! Ooh, and decorations!!

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Originally Posted by Morgana25

- APC is great but a tad repepetitive. I know - heavy thermo invested in it so it's got to do more than blow up two or three things... Maybe different challenges then?

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Yep, you're right again. It is a smidge repetitive and I'm just not sure what to do about it. The problem with the APC is that it simply can't do very much... Stupid movie prop designers anyway. :) I am relying heavily on the "oh cool" factor in the whole APC section and not much on gameplay, but I will see what I can come up with as far as different challenges go. It can't be anything too complex, but perhaps a multi-switch gate or something like that.

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Originally Posted by Morgana25

- some rough edges and not as much detail as I'm used to seeing from you in a lot of places. Screams thermo problems though so I understand.

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I really had to sacrifice detail for overall content - the transport ship interior seems especially plain to me. It hurts when you have to choose between a boss fight or pretty walls. *heavy sigh* Fine, boring walls it is. However, I might use my newly acquired pinch of free thermo to bring some of the areas up to spec.

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Originally Posted by Morgana25

- boss battle looks epic but she's sort of a one trick boss and the timing is a little slow. Seemed like a ton of paint to take her out too. Not sure if there's a way to spice it up with such low thermo to play with but if you decide to tweak the level any more I'd try and give this a kick up. Looks great though.

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I've been trying to think of ways to add "layers" to this boss fight for quite some time now but I'm drawing blanks. If you (or anybody else) have any suggestions I'm all ears. Regardless, I adjusted the main paint switch from 40 down to 25 and sped up the overall timing - it seems to play a bit better now.

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Originally Posted by Morgana25

Overall a cool level in a lot of ways. I'm giving it 5 stars :) Thanks for finally releasing it. I was wondering if I'd ever get to see those nasty face huggers again. lol ;)

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Again, thanks. Wow, 5 stars! I'm flattered... But now I know the key to highly rated levels. If in doubt, just add some face huggers! :cool:

Morgana pretty much summed up everything so I'll just throw out a few random thoughts I had on this level. Anticipation around every corner. (There were however a few slow moments.) Definitely liked the look of your aliens, and the boss was totally gnarly. Towards the end though, we fell through a small opening and got a glimpse of some dark matter. Had to pop/kill to get to scoreboard. Overall, good fun even with multiplayers.

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Originally Posted by SHENOA77

Morgana pretty much summed up everything so I'll just throw out a few random thoughts I had on this level. Anticipation around every corner. (There were however a few slow moments.) Definitely liked the look of your aliens, and the boss was totally gnarly. Towards the end though, we fell through a small opening and got a glimpse of some dark matter. Had to pop/kill to get to scoreboard. Overall, good fun even with multiplayers.

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Thanks, glad you liked it! I'm concerned about the part where you fell through the level... I thought I had that pretty well nailed down. Where exactly did it happen? Was it just before the final boss fight, in front of the green MGS material?

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Originally Posted by Morgana25

- boss battle looks epic but she's sort of a one trick boss and the timing is a little slow. Seemed like a ton of paint to take her out too. Not sure if there's a way to spice it up with such low thermo to play with but if you decide to tweak the level any more I'd try and give this a kick up.

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I reworked the boss fight and added in a "layer" before the paintinator section. If you get a chance to play it again, I'd like to know what you think. :)

I also edited down some of the slower dialog sequences elsewhere in the level to keep the action moving a bit more.

I'll check it out again :)

Holy sh.... I go away for the weekend, come back two days later and I'm pushing 3000 plays already! That's almost as many plays as all of my other levels combined. Wow, just.. wow. Never expected that but I'm happy!!

Apologies Taffey firstly, I played this level last week when you first released it, then hot heavily involved in my own creations and forgot to leave you feedback.

Secondly congrats on the plays. ;)

I enjoyed the level loads, the APC section at the start was very well done, which is not suprising seeing as you created the massive amounts of transport avalible in the Hunt For Little Big October level (which is still one my favourite levels). The atmosphere was good, and there were some nice set pieces and mechanics as always. I loved the way hangar door opened in particular, and the motion sensor was a well used and implemented idea. The circuit puzzle was fantastic, really well designed and great to play and work out

I had two problems, one of which was the boss, but you've fixed that since, and there was a lack of detail in places, which I can also understand from a thermo point of view.

I also had the top score, but I hav'nt check to see whether I still hold that accolade for a couple of days.

Great level, 5* and hearted, and good to see a good creator back creating after a lengthly period of time away :)

This level is absolutely amazing, I loved it. The story was great, the scenery was awesome...and I loved how creepy it was once you get inside the building.

Great job with the enemies and the gameplay, it kept me interested the whole time. I really like the circuit puzzle and the little self-destruct countdown...it felt like a game in itself.

The only thing I didn't like so much was the boss battle. It was really amazing and everything but I had difficulty shooting her, one of the arms kept getting in my way...but then again I'm a giant spaz with the paint gun it might have just been me, haha. At any rate, the boss battle looked great, it just took a lot from me to defeat her.

Five stars.

hmm i remember playing this a few days ago with Morgana. anyway.. the level is awesome i love how you desing the aliens pweeetyy cool so yeah i had fun playing this lvl :) i give it 5 stars and hearted. :D

A ton of great things in this! And worth replaying just for the sackboy chestburster, had me laughing hard. : )

Enjoyed every second of it, the vibe and look was spot-on, the aliens looked great, the gameplay was varied and fun. I'll echo some of the comments on the boss, it could be a bit more dynamic.

My thoughts would be to play around with reducing the amount of hits she needs and keep the eggs going as an occasional hazard - you hit her head, the tail goes up, the eggs stop and you have a small window to zip in and shoot the chest. That might be one way of maintaining some danger. I ended up being able to stand in a single spot and just fire away till i'd worn her down. It's always a tough one getting the dynamics right on these fights though, especially as you're trying to keep it as accessible as possible.

Loved it regardless!

My son and I played this yesterday, and we absolutely loved it. Being a big fan of the movies (Aliens is one of the best true sequels ever made), I really enjoyed your faithfulness to the source material. Great mechanics and dialog and excellent visual make this a real treat.

I had the same issues with both the intro/APC sequence (looked cool, but kinda long and repetitive), and the boss fight (same). I too was able to find a sweet spot underneath her and just fire away. But these points were not enough to keep us from...

:star::star::star::star::star: / hearted / tagged: Brilliant

Thanks everyone for the plays and the feedback. I'm absolutely thrilled at the positive response this has received.

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Originally Posted by GrantosUK

I had two problems, one of which was the boss, but you've fixed that since, and there was a lack of detail in places, which I can also understand from a thermo point of view.

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Despite the ready-to-blow thermo I was able to go through the level today and add a surprising amount of stickers and decorations throughout. I still need to do something visually with the scoreboard(s) but I haven't decided yet what exactly I want to do.

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Originally Posted by Pixietails

The only thing I didn't like so much was the boss battle. It was really amazing and everything but I had difficulty shooting her, one of the arms kept getting in my way...

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Yes, that arm tends to do that. I decided to use it to my advantage and incorporate it as an aspect of the fight, but there isn't much else I can do to get it out of the way unfortunately. With regards to the boss, I'm hearing a pretty even mix of too hard / not hard enough, so I may not do too much more adjusting. It might be a good idea however for me to slightly lower the number of paint hits required.

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Originally Posted by julesyjules

A ton of great things in this! And worth replaying just for the sackboy chestburster, had me laughing hard. : )

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Awesome - I was hoping someone else liked that part as much as me. :) That part always makes me chuckle in a sick, twisted kind of way.

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Originally Posted by julesyjules

My thoughts would be to play around with reducing the amount of hits she needs and keep the eggs going as an occasional hazard - you hit her head, the tail goes up, the eggs stop and you have a small window to zip in and shoot the chest. That might be one way of maintaining some danger. I ended up being able to stand in a single spot and just fire away till i'd worn her down. It's always a tough one getting the dynamics right on these fights though, especially as you're trying to keep it as accessible as possible.

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All excellent suggestions. I'll play around with some of those options and see how it goes. I've heard from a few people that they found the sweet spot, which is actually ok. If you're good enough to find the spot and stay in it, I figure you've earned it. Besides, I have messed with trying to get rid of it and it screws up the dynamics of the rest of the fight. *heavy sigh* And yes, you're absolutely right about boss fights: I am discovering that they are very tough to get exactly right, way tougher than I imagined.

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Originally Posted by v0rtex

My son and I played this yesterday, and we absolutely loved it. Being a big fan of the movies (Aliens is one of the best true sequels ever made), I really enjoyed your faithfulness to the source material. Great mechanics and dialog and excellent visual make this a real treat.

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My original-original-original version of the level (even before the one Morgana played) had a huge amount of dialog, all lifted straight from the movie. It just dragged on for too long though, even for fans of the film. It hurt cutting out things like "Want me to fetch your slippers for you?" and "Knock it off Hudson!", but it had to be done. :(

Well, you've already read my awesome comment on the level, but it's time for, *shudders*, feedback! *scary music plays*.

My main concern out of everything is something you probably wouldn't be able to do because of the thermo, but I'll throw it out there. It really annoys me that you mixed cutouts and army figures... If you could, I really think you should at least try and see where it gets you. Copied objects use less thermo, and no army men would definitely reduce thermo. Worth a shot?

The queen's head really annoys me. lol. It's not that smooth...

Like many people have said, I agree that the boss is very time-consuming and frustrating. I'm not even sure if I did it right... I gave up on standing on the tail because I kept dying, so I just stood on the ground. After I got enough shots on the stomach part, she exploded. Do you even need to shoot the head to kill it?

I liked the one chestburster scene, in fact I LOVED it, but why is there only one cocoon? I think it would really add to the atmoshpere if you added more cocooned sackboys. Maybe with blood on their chests?

The APC and Dropship are green in the movie...

I'll think of more things soon. I take feedback very seriously lol. Now for good things...

APC and dropship were wonderful, and the total realsim to the movie blew me away.

You also managed to make a spectacular lbp environment while still retaining a great lbp feel, like the commando barks on the dropship.

Scorpions for headsuckers was utter, unadulterated genius. lol.

The fuse puzzle was unbelievably perfect and innovative. Loved it.

Even the level name and badge are awesome lol.

5 Stars and a heart.


Being the movie nut I am, I again say you're awesome for getting every detail in the movie right. The scene from the part where there were aliens in the cieling especially, and the queen's second appearance too.

Not too long ago there was another alien level on cool pages. Maybe you remember it? You should have read my comment, how disgusted I was, lol. Unlike your level, whoever made that level had no idea what the movie alien was about, and he obviously seeemed to mix up alien and aliens. Your level is much better...

That's the kind of feedback I love to see! I love your attention to detail - sounds like you're as picky as I am. :) I appreciate your time and suggestions. I saw your comment on my level and was going to send you a PSN message, but then I saw LBPC signs in your levels and remembered you're from here. Doh, I forgot!

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Originally Posted by Incinerator22

It really annoys me that you mixed cutouts and army figures... If you could, I really think you should at least try and see where it gets you. Copied objects use less thermo, and no army men would definitely reduce thermo. Worth a shot?

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I really didn't want to use any cutouts at all, but I couldn't figure out how to do the chest burster scene. I then settled on the compromise that the colonists would be sackpeople and left it at that. I don't think anybody else has really noticed that - good eye.

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Originally Posted by Incinerator22

The queen's head really annoys me. lol. It's not that smooth...

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I'll have to have a closer look at that. I'll see if I can smooth it out with the corner editor, but anytime anytime I touch it now it all the creature brains pop. *heavy sigh*

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Originally Posted by Incinerator22

Like many people have said, I agree that the boss is very time-consuming and frustrating. I'm not even sure if I did it right... I gave up on standing on the tail because I kept dying, so I just stood on the ground. After I got enough shots on the stomach part, she exploded. Do you even need to shoot the head to kill it?

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There are intentionally many ways to kill the boss, so there is no wrong approach. Hitting the head only lowers the tail, which gives you clean shots to the main paint switch. You can either stand on the tail, stand on the ground, or try to find the sweet spot. You can try to shoot the head or just time dodging the plasma balls. Is it really that difficult/frustrating? A lot of the comments and PSN messages say it was too easy... but some say the opposite as well. I'm kind of stuck on what else to adjust, or if I should just make it a much easier fight overall.

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Originally Posted by Incinerator22

I liked the one chestburster scene, in fact I LOVED it, but why is there only one cocoon? I think it would really add to the atmoshpere if you added more cocooned sackboys. Maybe with blood on their chests?

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Originally I was limited to one cocooned colonist because of thermo limits, but I have deleted a dozen or so speech bubbles and switches since then so perhaps I should try again. Great suggestion.

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Originally Posted by Incinerator22

The APC and Dropship are green in the movie...

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lol Well heck, I guess they are, aren't they? You are the resident tank guru afterall, so it definitely doesn't surprise me that you'd pick up on that. ;)

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Originally Posted by Incinerator22

Not too long ago there was another alien level on cool pages. Maybe you remember it? You should have read my comment, how disgusted I was, lol. Unlike your level, whoever made that level had no idea what the movie alien was about, and he obviously seeemed to mix up alien and aliens. Your level is much better...

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I think I remember that level - I recall that the APC looked a little goofy. I'm interested to play it again just for grins. Do you remember who the creator is?


Thanks again for the great, constructive feedback. Thanks to all of you I've made many adjustments to the level and it has had unbelievable success. As I type this reply I see that this level just hit 10,000 plays. Ten. Thousand. *head explodes* I couldn't have done it without you all, and I mean that. I hope everyone that plays it sees the big fat LBPC sign I put in the beginning. :)

lol, thanks. Residential tank guru too, I like that :D

I figured out the queen finally, lol, and now that I know how to do it I beat it in about a minute and amost aced it. I have an idea though... When you first shoot the head and the tail flops down maybe create a text bubble pointing to its stomach saying "She's stunned, now to attack!", and when the tail raises up after your first stun it can say "I need to keep stunning her!". Something like that?

Ah, that's the ticket. Ok, made some more subtle changes to the boss fight and basically re-sequenced the hint cameras. After you set off the explosive and hop on the newly-lowered 2nd platform, you will get a close-up of the head paint switch via hint camera #1; belly is still invulnerable at this point. The eggs stop and you are free to lob paint at the head without danger until the tail flops. Then, belly becomes vulnerable and hint camera #2 shows you that paint switch. A few seconds after the camera shuts off, the plasma balls start coming.

This seems much more logical to me and should help people figure out the fight a bit quicker. It's definitely not that hard of a fight so the difficulty must be with people not understanding what to do. Hopefully this helps!

I'll check yours out if you check mine? Deal? Where Poppies Blow is mine.