Mysterious Planet: Black Ore

"I discovered their plans and destroyed their creation. But I fear they are still out there, creating new weapons. I have returned to the planet in search of answers. I plan to explore."

This is an open world exploration level in the style of Metroid. It also features some platforming, paintinating, and a boss. It's also a sequel to my other level, The Mysterious Planet, so if you want to fully understand the story, I recommend playing that one first. I'll do F4F for anyone who gives me feedback so feel free to post your levels here. Here are some pictures of my level:
http://i775.photobucket.com/albums/y.../APhoto_13.jpg

http://i775.photobucket.com/albums/y.../APhoto_12.jpg

http://i775.photobucket.com/albums/y.../APhoto_10.jpg

http://i775.photobucket.com/albums/y...e/APhoto_9.jpg

http://i775.photobucket.com/albums/y...APhoto_8-1.jpg

http://i775.photobucket.com/albums/y...APhoto_5-1.jpg

http://i775.photobucket.com/albums/y...e/APhoto_7.jpg

http://i775.photobucket.com/albums/y...e/APhoto_6.jpg

http://i775.photobucket.com/albums/y.../APhoto_11.jpg

http://i775.photobucket.com/albums/y...APhoto_4-1.jpg

http://i775.photobucket.com/albums/y...APhoto_2-1.jpg

http://i775.photobucket.com/albums/y...e/APhoto-1.jpg

Hope everybody enjoys it!
Mysterious Planet: Black Ore on LBP.me

Hi Camden, I will give it a shot this evening!

Thanks, good luck and I hope you like it!

I played your level, and it was definetly really good, much better than I expected and probably one of the best open world levels I have ever played.
However, I did find it a little bit confusing where to go, and found myself stuck hunting for the grappling hook, and ended up not finding it.
Either way, the level was great, if I had been a tad bit more dedicated I'm sure I would've finished it.

Thanks for the feedback! If your interested in trying to finish it,you get the grappling hook by going through the lab, which is behind the blue door near where you push the giant snowball.

Tried this level today, and overall I think it's really good. It really feels like metroid to me. I think you did a nice job of pulling that off. I think this is a great level for people who like exploration, but the general community will probably never finish it, as it takes some persistence. Don't let that stop you though. Lbp needs these kind of levels. Now down to the nitty gritty. Overall I think you did a fin job on the visuals, but there were magic mouths, and some mag key switches visible. Judging by the rest of the level most of your logic is invisible, so why not make it all invisible. Next there's a part that can force you to restart. It's that snowball that you need the power gloves to move. I just walked up to it and started yanking, and back it came. It fell right in the part where you climb up. I figure maybe I can jump the pit where it's suppose to go but I didn't make it, so had to kill myself. Once you do this you can never get back up there. It should be an easy fix to put something in place, so you can't pull it backwards. The rest of the level I really enjoyed. Your boss was well done, and pretty cool. Great work!!

Thanks for the feedback! I've been trying to get everything invisible but with a level with so many magic mouths and magnetic keys its pretty tricky if you happen to forget one. I'll play through again though and see what I missed. As for the snowball, no one else has mentioned that so I'm really glad you did. I'll make sure to fix that right away. Anyway, thanks again and I'm glad you enjoyed it!

Hi Camden1,

Really enjoyed your level. It was a little tough to get into at first: it was so foggy I had a hard time seeing where to go. I was trying to jump onto the giant bridge, and I kept getting stuck behind the snowball right next to it. It's nice to have the fog for the blizzard effect, but I think it would be better to be a little less foggy.

I can tell you put a lot of thought into how to lay out and plan the level. I also thought your use of the antigravity platforms was really neat. Also liked the visuals, with a consistent use of the same materials for all parts of the level. The elevators were very impressive as well.

A couple nit-picky items: saw a moving mouth at west mine entrance, and a green switch near log entry 9.

A couple points I think it would be good to make a tad easier. The glass platforms in the waterfall section; maybe if they were a tad longer so it is easier to get across. Also, might make the pause longer on the rotating platforms by the second ship part.

Lastly, I could not figure out how to finish the level. I had both ship parts, and went over to the ship, but I did not know what to do next at that point.

I gave it 5 stars and a heart. This is really an awesome level. Very challenging and well thought out. Good work.

Hi Camden1,
just played black ore and I loved it.

It is the kind of level I prefer and you really know your stuff when it comes to unlock new parts of the level while exploring.

The visuals are pleasant and detailed enough, though, I can argue that there are some 'spickings' in the general quality (the lab and the caves don't live up to the outside, i.e)

I hated the black swingings segment, it was really a pain, I died I don't know how many times!

Imho the level won't lose anything if you reconsider that little segment and build it in a different way (no interesting suggestions to provide)

Some minor issues:
- Some of the magswitches and mouths are still visible, check them.
- I played alone but in some spots I was still able to see the mechanics, like the big switch controlling the (middle?) elevator.
- When you take off with the fixed stone ship you see the huge snowball on the right just under the gas layers...
- Maybe the pirates music you inserted don't fit very well
- The moving platform from the boss really vexed me, since I was forced to stay in the middle platform due to the tentacles
- Maybe it's just me, or maybe my attention was abducted by the platform but I didn't realized immediately I have to shoot the boss directly
- And, again, imho the blue/red doors don't fit at all with the level, think at something more effective!

And that's all, great sequel!

5 and <3, ;)

Thanks for the feedback!

Camden, this level was AMAZING! I have never played a level like this, and I think that I have been missing out. The "Metroid" feel that you described in this tread was dead on.

I really liked the exploration aspect used here. As a fan of games such as Metroid and Zelda, I have a sick appreciation for levels that actually require some thought to complete. The item collection and backtracking, trying to remember where the doors were....I can't explain how much I dig this level.

As stated in previous posts, there were a few places you could see your logic, and in a level as polished as this it stands out like a sore thumb!

The only difficult part was when it was required to collect the ship parts, which was difficult in itself, only that I thought activating the red buttons was what was needed. At this point I had invested about 20 mins and was NOT gonna give up.

Overall, great gameplay, great puzzles....GREAT GREAT GREAT!

Thanks shawnboi! I'm glad you liked it. Do you remember where the logic you saw was? I've been trying for a while to make all of it invisible but I somehow seem to miss a few things every time. Also, if you liked this level, be sure to check out the original:).

good job, man, i left comment on ur lvl. few hiccups but pretty good. dunno how u made the jump pad lol.

Yeah, I saw your comment. Thanks for playing and for the feedback! The gravity platforms are based on the ones of the level Odd Gravity and if you want to make some of your own you can find a tutorial by searching "odd gravity tutorial" or something along those lines.

I'll try it tommarow

Being a huge Metroid fan, I loved this level as well as the first Mysterious Planet. I think I enjoyed these levels more than any other levels I've played in LBP. I'll have to play the rest of your levels soon, and I'll definitely be keeping an eye out for anything you create in the future.

Thanks for playing! Be warned though, the rest of my levels are straightforward and linear but I will be making more Mysterious Planets in the future.

apologize for the delay! But better late than never jeje

make an open world includes a very specific work to develop the basic structure of the world. And in that sense, your offer unique and pleasant experience. Of course there are some small points against, but the positive points are the ones that give authenticity to your level.
The design of the forms are very basic and look good in relation to the world and the level, form a whole. Maybe they could look better, but guess that your world was conceived.

I believe unequivocally that someone could spend up to an hour at your level. And taking that into account you might consider adjusting some sections really difficult to pass. When in an open world must face several times a very difficult stage, can result in frustration. I'm pretty hard to defeat, so I wanted to finish the level, but what makes some sections difficult is not a bad level design, but a poor fit in the logic, or tools. And I refer particularly to the section of ice. Since passing this section has more to do with luck than with the physics of the jump. Especially because the platform is so random.
http://i267.photobucket.com/albums/i...nafoto_106.jpg

Something I loved your level is how we'll present the history and scientific journals and so on. Not only that, your description of the world really takes us back to this planet. I enjoyed your story and how we are leading to new areas. :idea:I was very surprised by your platform "altering" of gravity. I could not figure out how you did it, and I felt an element of gameplay rather peculiar, interesting and very striking. It was a great success in terms of gameplay. I would have liked to see this concept at all level, but in short it was fun.

http://i267.photobucket.com/albums/i...nafoto_107.jpg
Something that caught my attention, was the "feeling" on several occasions of Zelda. Not in a bad way but in the way progress is being made by new territories. Great. Very well done this. The names of certain items, like the glove, or grappling, might be a little more personal but it was good.

Another point that is worth mentioning is the lack of direction in the final battle, as it could be confused about what to do to defeat the enemy. Very good finish, but again ... not all players are able to continue until the end when they begin to feel frustrated.

general recommendations: You can try to work forms that are not so straight, and lighting depending on the area map, either the laboratory, caves, or the surface. Try a little more separate sections in visual terms.

Your level is very good, but remember that sometimes a small section extremely difficult results that players do not finish the level. I hope this feedback will be useful. And how I always say, at no point trying to say how to do things, it is not my place. They are only a few comments that I offer for the sole purpose of that between us we improve as creators. Sorry if this is badly written, I hope you understand jeje hasta luego amigo!!!!

Really great job! By far the best free roam lvl out there. The story line is really great and u got some realistic blizzard effects in the beginning. 5 stars

Duckywolf: Thanks for the feedback! I agree that some parts are a little tricky, and I'll try to make them easier. Unfortunately the thermometer is completely maxed out so making changed to the level are difficulty. I'm glad you liked the level. Also, if you're interested in the low gravity platforms, I recommend playing the level "Odd Gravity" by Crisofilax. If you want to use them in your levels you can find a tutorial by searching for "odd gravity tutorial".

Reldude: Thanks for playing! I'm glad you liked it. If you have a level you want me to play feel free to post it here!

To whoever rated 1/5: If you actually played the level, I'd appreciate if you told me why you didn't like it.