Purapril (..This Is An RPG! [Spotlighted?])

Purapril (..This Is An RPG!) by bedroompop
"Minimalist platforming inspired by 16-bit classics like Wonder Boy In Monster World. Make your way to Purapril Village to meet the townsfolk and set off on a grand journey."

It's not that much of a technical level, other than the passing of days and time, limiting what's available until a later point, having tearaway houses that you can go into, and an optional Sticker Inventory system to interact with the village and villagers, but it's relaxing and should be enjoyable to explore through.

As per usual in an RPG, the villagers are in different spots at different times of the day, with new things to say. Using the stickers is meant to enhance the interactivity, so for example, you'd use the Magnifying Glass on villagers and houses that you can't enter. Or maybe, a sunken ship? A map? Et cetera!

(Worth a playthrough if you're into the simple and endearing platforming that 8-bit/16-bit games provided.)

TIPS: Treasure chests and birds are meant to be grabbed, same goes for the ground outside of a house.

DIFFICULTY: Very Easy (I Hope? Maybe a Challenge) / PLAYTIME: 10-20mins (1P ONLY!)

http://i54.tinypic.com/rmik4x.jpg

http://i55.tinypic.com/314sbcn.jpg

The visuals at the start are very striking and set up a good atmosphere and a brilliant claustrophobic feeling. This is only one of three LBP levels that has ever made me jump. The houses are well detailed with very cool mechanic behind them and the transition using the flying birds was fun. The sign post about the widowers husband made me lol. The lighting change to the fire pit is well done but maybe a musical change could enforce it. The platforming in the fire pit could be made more viable and the lift at the end coupled with the music and lighting change was nice. The town has some good camera angles in it and the day to night transition was, again, very cool. The look of the underwater section is awesome, I love the mystical feeling it gives off and the star fish light enforces that feeling. The story segment at the table is well written and matches the mood that the atmosphere is setting. After this scene I got a little lost, maybe include the route to the clouds in the table scene but make it a cryptic clue.on I'll be more than happy to play The tree design was very striking but maybe mention that it's the chiefs house you crash at and not the inn because it's not clear. This is one of the best levels I have played I absolutely love, the atmosphere, story and music all combine to make a very enjoyable well crafted level that should get so many more plays than it has. 5/5

I was fully expecting this to never be played! Very appreciative of your review. Based on your feedback, I put a camera in the dialog showing the attic/clouds so that it's more obvious, turned off the bedroom lights at the Inn when you're no longer supposed to stay there, and added another checkpoint at the fire location. I kept the soft ambience there rather than a song since I wanted a calm feeling all the way until you've reached the village, and no song other than "Ghost Ship" fit the atmosphere.

Besides those changes, I added a couple more villagers to make the place a little more lively. (One when you arrive and another when you awake.) Were there any other frustrating or hard to understand bits? Something to improve upon? I'm willing to make it as perfect as can be! Maybe a few more villagers at nighttime.. or prize bubbles laid out a little more attractively..

Again, thank you :}

It looks very interesting, I'll play it today in the evening (if my girlfriends lets me :D).

I really had a lot of fun with this level! Easily one of the better RPG type levels have played.

The only problem I had was at the start of the fire part. The platforms you jump on were the same material as the background, and it was a bit hard to see what I was doing at times.

Still, a fantastic level, I loved exploring all the nooks and crannies! :)

For the F4F, could you do the level in my sig? Thanks!

:star::star::star::star:

Visually, it was a mixed bag. You obviously have talent with the corner editor, but you used the same material over and over! Levels look very professional if done with 2-5 materials on the screen at a time. The level was also very foggy! I would recommend fixing that. I really don't get these whole RPG levels though, it seems as though they are just an excuse for gameplay that's basically jumping. You need to work on creating more interesting gameplay elements to keep the player involved and having fun.

Could you F4F my level, If Trees Could Speak? It's in my signature.

@booXely / I added a closer camera and changed the skinny platforms to stone, which should help. (Thanks!)

@Jaslow / Did you miss the point of the level? Or platforming RPG's in general? Most have a level/area/village theme and stick with it, which is what I did. An atmospheric, mysterious and foresty-ish village. So everything's grass, dirt, stone and wood. It fits! As for the interesting gameplay, I assume you mean complex-like puzzles, switches, etc. It doesn't have any of those because that's not the focus of the level, whereas mood and exploration is. As the description says, it's very minimalistic, and has a heavy focus on trying to achieve what a few wonderful gems from the 80's/90's did. Not sure how well I achieved that, but I guess it's not your cup of tea?

LittleBigPlanet is very limited afterall. Still nice to hear a different opinion.

I'm going to feedback as I play.

What the heck was that thing!!! It actually startled me...
I like the lantern's lighting all over the place
Birds were pretty cool
The bird ride thing was creatively done
Lol "attempting long jumps from this cliff has been temporarily forbidden due to widower's complaints"
The fog on the rocks give it a nice high up/can't see to far feel
The rocks falling kept me on my toes, quick gameplay action, I like
The cliff ride down has nice... wtf was that!!! As I was saying it had a nice lighting change. These things popping out of nowhere are beginning to make we wonder what's going on here... hmmmm
Lol again "werido! quit grabbing random stuff"
Um its still dark and I don't wanna go play hide and seek with the person I can't see... Nvm its bright again
Interesting beginning of the story
:star::star::star::star:<3
Please feedback my "The Distant Crystal: Part 2"

Replayed the level and it's even better than before, keep up the good work.

@bmoney2310 / I'm liking the commentary. You seemed to be spot on with what I was intending to get across. A bit of suspense and mystery, not knowing where you are or what's going on. And finding such a hidden message..! I'll check out your levels tonight or tomorrow and see if there's much to gush about.

@shotgun_69 / A perfectionist can never stop working ;}

Hi there!

I played this level 4 or 5 days ago but I couldn't complete it. I reached the part with the inn, where it becomes night and some children want to play hide & seek. Then I didn't know what to do. I walked to the left but there was nothing. Then I walked to the right and some NPCs talked to me but I couldn't see anything because it was still black night. Then I had to quit the level. I'll give it a new try tomorrow.

Hi I'm here for the F4F. Please play the level in my signature.

Purapirl was a level that had a REAL atmosphere. I fell in love with the fog, eerie blue lights and twisted cliffs. Unfortunately that's all I fell in love with. The first problem I had was how dark it was on that volcano like part. I could hardly see the platforms. I don't know if you know but when you take an LED and hide it behind an object, pump up the span, it leaves an increased brightness level but doesn't take away from the theme. That would help to see a bit better.

I also couldn't seem to figure out what the other characters were, maybe you could make higher quality NPC's to match your level. Another thing that took me a while to figure out was how to see inside a building do to the fact that there was no indication as to use R1 to remove the front. The last problem I had was that when I went to bed, then woke up, the light didn't turn back on so I couldn't see anything and had to end there. Despite that I still gave the level :star::star::star::star: because I could see that there was definitely hard work put into it.

Cheers,
Jowife1993

That's exactly the same problem that I had. The light didn't turn back on and you don't know what to do.

Did you HOLD onto the bed until it was morning and the little girl talks to you? It won't work properly unless you keep holding the bed like the innkeeper tells you to*. After that, you get messages about something happening at the well, which you need to go down by hopping in the basket.

As for the houses, there's a message given at the very first house (or the Inn if you don't talk the path with the house) that tells you to briefly grab the ground to see inside a house. Grabbing can only be done with R, so I wonder what was the problem?

The villagers/NPCs are awkward blobs that aren't supposed to resemble anything real, as it's fantasy. I thought the different colours and stickers all over them, as well as slightly different shapes, would help. I like them! Can't wait for Sackbots though.

*EDIT: Managed to make everything work with just a grab ._. !

your probably right i didn't hold the bed. i might suggest a one shot switch and timer switch so that step won't be missed.

I've added obtainable stickers<3 to the level now that you can get from the item shop:star: and use to interact with the village and villagers. They're entirely optional, but you can access different areas and learn more about the story by using them. (See the modified original post for more detail on this "feature".)

One of the first things I made in the level was the night to day switch, and it has maybe 100 connectors to it and various pistons, so that's nearly impossible to go back and make it all work just by grabbing the bed and immediately letting go*.

*EDIT: Managed to make everything work with just a grab ._. !

Yesterday I gave the level a second try but unfortunately I still couldn't complete it. This time I made the part with the inn (you told us to hold the bed until it's daylight). Then I made it through the well into the chief's house. After walking back to the village and checking some of the houses, I jumped into the well again. That was a bad mistake! First thing: The light which is needed to get through the dark water doesn't respawn at the start. I would fix that with an emitter. But somehow I made it through the completely dark water. Second thing: When I made it to the Chief's house I couldn't enter it because the door is locked. There I had to quit the level as there's no way out.

The atmosphere of the level is great but there are still many things to fix. Keep in mind that the players will try any ways they can go in any combination you can imagine. So any way or combination you let them go, has to work. And they will make anything wrong that is possible.
The part with the inn is the first thing that can go badly wrong. There should be no possibility for the player to leave the inn when it's still dark but I think you've already fixed that, don't you?

What is also not working 100% correctly is the cover/discover function for the houses. Sometimes the cover hangs somewhere in the air or near the house when you remove it. But that's only a cosmetical problem, not a real bug.

That must mean you didn't get in the bucket to access the well? It's extremely hard to get in the well without riding down in that. Which is why I overlooked something. A slab of stone that blocks the well from ever being reentered won't emit if the bucket is still up top. I've fixed that by making it fall even if you don't use it.

That really is the only fix to make. As for the starfish and locked door, it's all supposed to be that way, because I made it so you can't ever enter the well again. And the houses are as good as can be with that mechanism. They go up and down eternally as long as you're grabbing the ground, and they do so at a speed of 0.1s with a pause of 1.0s, so it's rare (and easy for the player to adjust) that it'll ever partly cover the house.

I'm sorry that you (and seemingly too many others) have had trouble with this level. It was a huge undertaking with the scope of it all, and there really shouldn't be anything left to prevent finishing it.. ._.

Hey there, i was playing your level today, everything was very good, but i got stuck. After the part where you get the key from the top of the tree, the elder comes and tells you to bid your farewells, i grabbed all the stickers and everything, but im stuck, i dont know how to make the guard move out of the way of the bridge, i tried all the stickers but nothing worked :(

Quote:

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Originally Posted by bedroompop

That must mean you didn't get in the bucket to access the well? It's extremely hard to get in the well without riding down in that. Which is why I overlooked something. A slab of stone that blocks the well from ever being reentered won't emit if the bucket is still up top. I've fixed that by making it fall even if you don't use it.

That really is the only fix to make. As for the starfish and locked door, it's all supposed to be that way, because I made it so you can't ever enter the well again. And the houses are as good as can be with that mechanism. They go up and down eternally as long as you're grabbing the ground, and they do so at a speed of 0.1s with a pause of 1.0s, so it's rare (and easy for the player to adjust) that it'll ever partly cover the house.

I'm sorry that you (and seemingly too many others) have had trouble with this level. It was a huge undertaking with the scope of it all, and there really shouldn't be anything left to prevent finishing it.. ._.

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Ah ok, if you could prevent that people can enter the well a second time, everything would be fine. Can't say whether I used the bucket or not, I just jumped in.