Sci-Fi Level Series with Good & Evil Plotlines

Very ambitious, a great concept. Being story-driven, it sounds like it could be quite dynamic and cinematic. Lots of opportunities for exciting sequences. I'd make each of these "choice" moments particularly detailed and either chaotic or beautiful or whatever. I'm someone who prefers a shorter level with a higher level of sheen to a longer level that doesn't look as nice. Particularly with a series like this, you might not want to make your levels too big and ambitious or you might run into not only thermo problems, but problems of people finishing the level. It sounds like you have a pretty solid pace in mind, some mellow moments to contrast with the intense exciting ones.

I'm very interested to see how this comes out. Be sure to keep us in the loop!

This concept is looking more and more like it'll have to be put on the shelf for a while, at least until I've made a few more levels. After I get my PS3 problems sorted out, I'll be back to working on my Collector Boss Dissection revamp (as well as my first level series project about the deep sea).

It's also come to my attention that my concept is VERY similar to Mass Effect, where the player is given moral choices in a sci-fi setting. This was unintentional (my idea actually came about from playing games like The Force Unleashed and inFamous :p), but I may be able to turn to Mass Effect for "further" inspiration. Ideas are still coming, so I'll have plenty to work with once I finally get around to starting this project. If/when that happens, I'll probably post what I've worked on so far in a new thread or perhaps in Object Showcase.

Anybody else who wants to give their two cents on this idea, do so before this thread is locked, k? :)

[EDIT] Or before it's doomed to stagnation again... :(

This is very ambitious! One trick is that you do need to make the player's choice very hard to make. You basically have a story...that's a great start already. It would seem a bit overwhelming though since it seems you may need to publish all the levels at the same time. Just a suggestion here but wouldn't this work better as a team effort? Perhaps have someone work with the set design, another with logic, another with decoration?

It will be interesting to see how this comes together. :)

You should keep working hard at this,

((Sorry it's 5 in the morning))

What you could/should do is 5 levels the first being a selector, the next two being a mission for good/evil and then a boss for the two factions :)

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Originally Posted by KernelM

What you could/should do is 5 levels the first being a selector, the next two being a mission for good/evil and then a boss for the two factions :)

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Well, that setup would put the player as "neutral" from the beginning. Not a bad idea, but not what I'm shooting for. Still, thank you for giving me something to consider :)

I think the final boss should be exactly the same for both storylines, but with crucial differences. Maybe you fight it from different sides, or it attacks you in different ways. Either way, you still end up fighting the same bloke or whatever.

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Originally Posted by Holguin86

I think the final boss should be exactly the same for both storylines, but with crucial differences.

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That just narrows the multiplicity of what I'm going for :( I already have the final bosses in mind for each plotline, and each of them are intended to have as much impact on the player as possible (both the battle and the emotions).

It's nice to see you working on something Clapton, as for the level idea. How would you try to make people go evil instead of good, if that is the case? :x

One thing to really keep in mind like morgana said is varying the two sides using color and different materials. Here are some ideas to really differ the different sides:

USE CONTRAST
Make the good guys lighter colors, closer to white while the bad guys use darker colors, colors that are closer to black
Different shapes, if you examine any disney movie you will notice the heroes are always made up of round lines where the bad guys are very sharp angles and straight lines.
The other thing you can also use is lines, having the good ships feature more horizontal but have the evil ships feature more vertical features

USE AFFINITY (similiarity)
This corresponds to Contrast, when you choose what materials and colors define each side, make sure everything that happens with them are similiar.

By doing this you will really allow the users to feel the difference between the two sides. Think about Star Wars, you know who is on the light side and the dark side right away. This is done through contrast and affinity. If you want the player to really feel like they made a choice use them.

I'm a filmmaker but I love creating in little big planet, I'm working right now on building up my creating skills first, none of my levels are that cinematic. Once I feel like I can get gameplay down though I hope to do a more story driven level like what you are trying to accomplish.

Good luck and I can't wait to see the final product.

This sounds really cool, and I would certainly play it twice, but why does the evil side have only one mission/level left after the choice? Nevertheless, keep working on it, looks like you get loads of tips from good players. XD
Bye

P.S.: I would love to help with this!

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Originally Posted by Sack Saprono

It's nice to see you working on something Clapton, as for the level idea. How would you try to make people go evil instead of good, if that is the case? :x

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Unfortunately, for now, everything can only be done outside of LBP online. My Blu-ray laser is dead, and I need to get back in the game (literally) as soon as possible. I miss it so much :C As for the level idea, the player is on the evil side to start with, and has the choice to switch (or not) in the second level. I will try to make people choose a side by highlighting the pros and cons of joining/staying on either side. When the time comes, the player will see where their loyalties really lie.

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Originally Posted by shebhnt

One thing to really keep in mind like morgana said is varying the two sides using color and different materials. Here are some ideas to really differ the different sides:

USE CONTRAST
Make the good guys lighter colors, closer to white while the bad guys use darker colors, colors that are closer to black
Different shapes, if you examine any disney movie you will notice the heroes are always made up of round lines where the bad guys are very sharp angles and straight lines.
The other thing you can also use is lines, having the good ships feature more horizontal but have the evil ships feature more vertical features

USE AFFINITY (similiarity)
This corresponds to Contrast, when you choose what materials and colors define each side, make sure everything that happens with them are similiar.

By doing this you will really allow the users to feel the difference between the two sides. Think about Star Wars, you know who is on the light side and the dark side right away. This is done through contrast and affinity. If you want the player to really feel like they made a choice use them.

I'm a filmmaker but I love creating in little big planet, I'm working right now on building up my creating skills first, none of my levels are that cinematic. Once I feel like I can get gameplay down though I hope to do a more story driven level like what you are trying to accomplish.

Good luck and I can't wait to see the final product.

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The black and white thing crossed my mind, and that's usually the color scheme for villains and heroes, respectively. However, I thought it would be interesting to flip that around, and have the evil characters with brighter colors, including white and silver. I didn't know that about Disney characters, but I'm not looking to emulate Disney in my character design :( And I didn't know that whole horizontal/vertical thing. What does that symbolize?

And when you're talking about similarity, you mean like shades of certain colors? For instance, if the evil characters use a darker shade of green, would the good characters use a darker shade of red?

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Originally Posted by Okisaan

This sounds really cool, and I would certainly play it twice, but why does the evil side have only one mission/level left after the choice? Nevertheless, keep working on it, looks like you get loads of tips from good players. XD
Bye

P.S.: I would love to help with this!

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The evil side has one mission after the choice because that balances everything out. The "morality path" for the 5 levels is:

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    #
    |
    #@
  /  \
  #    @
      |
      @

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# = Evil
@ = Good

Three levels for each, basically, with one level devoted to the "moment of truth" :p

I may end up asking some people to help with this project (to improve it :blush: ), so once I'm back online, I'll look you up, Okisaan :)

The black and white thing crossed my mind, and that's usually the color scheme for villains and heroes, respectively. However, I thought it would be interesting to flip that around, and have the evil characters with brighter colors, including white and silver. I didn't know that about Disney characters, but I'm not looking to emulate Disney in my character design :( And I didn't know that whole horizontal/vertical thing. What does that symbolize?

And when you're talking about similarity, you mean like shades of certain colors? For instance, if the evil characters use a darker shade of green, would the good characters use a darker shade of red?

You could do whatever for the colors I'm just suggesting that whatever they are, they are opposites. This will help the player immediatley know who is on what side. Also the disney example was just to give you an idea on how they use subtle contrast in just round lines verses sharp to let their audience know who is good and who is bad. I was just saying you could take that idea and have everything that deals with the evil be be more "boxy" where as everything that deals with the good be more "round". Just an idea

And when I talk about similarity I'm just talking about specific sides, so if one evil thing is a dark color, all evil things are dark colors. Each side should have its own theme and that theme should be different then the other sides.

Like I said before, it sounds interesting and I would love to see it.

And what are you saying about horizontal/vertical lines as far as the ships go?

Well for instance, when the player is on the "evil" ship, the challenges and general flow require them to move up and down more where as on the "good" ships they do more horizontal stuff. Or even if the backgrounds and decorations are more vertical in one and more horizontal on the other.

These are all different suggestions, what I would do is take just one concept (colors, lines, shape) and focus on it.

Will it be relatively similar in the composition of the levels or will they be different IE first Properly good level you get thrown down a garbage chute, You have to make the Evil Side Easier as well because thats always the case in alot of games, Evil is always stronger, better off and made of EPIC WIN.

Indeed, Kernel, being on the good side will be a bit harder as far as gameplay goes (because it's far too easy for someone to be evil in any world, real or fictional). In the first good level, the player will be fighting his/her former comrades, which will be hard enough, anyway :p

Hey Claptonfann, I made a blog about using the principles I was talking about. The link is in my sig. Maybe this will help clerify what I have been talking about.

I noticed XD And I look forward to more from you :D

Alright, Clapton, sorry for the delay. In any case, my main observation is this; if you need to make an extra evil level, do it. Currently, the concept is a bit lopsided, no offense to you or the idea, which is completely awesome. However, if you need to delay the project to make an extra level for the evil side, please do so. I think a player would appreciate getting the same amount of content out of whichever side he picks. If it's a matter of missing a large anough plot for the evil side, then don't hesitate to ask, because I could certainly help out there, if you need my help. However, that's really the only thing wrong I see with this concept; I think otherwise it's magnificent.

UPDATE: Request that this thread be moved to "[LBP2] Projects and Planning."