An Original and Unique Idea.. I Think..

Hey everyone!

My friend and I came up with this idea a little while ago. It's something that has never been done before on LBP2 (As far as we know, that is).

This idea is a Multiplayer Fast Platformer.

Now, for those of you that don't know what a Fast Platformer is, it's a level that launches sackboy around, making him make quick reactions to grab on to things to navigate the level. An example of this type of level is Kaleida's Maze by RikiRiki-Ita (MM Picked).

Recently, I've been messing around with this type of gameplay and I would say I'm getting very good at it. My friend noticed how well I can just piece together a level like this so he challenged me to make a multiplayer version. Now, you may be thinking, "Shouldn't that be easy?" No. No it would not be.

The problem with Fast Platformers is that they are strickly 1 player only. This is because of many reasons.
1. The level has soo many moving parts that revolve around the players position, the extra players would be left behind to die.
2. The level resets these moving parts every time you die. So, all the players would have to die at once for the parts to reset. The chances of this happening are extremely low.
3. To increase the speed and accuracy of the level, everything you grab onto eventually forces you to let go so you fly somewhere else. It does this using material tweakers that make the grabbable material ungrabbable when sackboy is at a precise position. Having multiple players would screw this up because all the players can't grab at the exact same time in the exact same spot.

For more reasons, go grab a friend and play Kaleida's Maze ;)

Now. How could you make this multiplayer, you may ask.. Well, the answer is easier than it seems. Give each player their own "track". Each track would be identicle to the other players' tracks, and the players can race to the finish. How this would be done is by having 4 identicle tracks, and 4 sackbots, 1 on each track. All the players would start at the same time, and they will have their own finish lines per track that would stop reducing their score once they pass it. The only problem with this idea is that you can't play it locally. You would have to play with online friends.

Do you think I should follow through with the idea? Please share any comments or concerns :)

I Think this is a Brilliant idea, Im Just Asking, do you need any help with Logic, For Example a Start Menu Showing the Different Types Of track and Difficulty. Or All the Players Automatically Getting in a Sackbot??

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Originally Posted by Awesome_Guy

I Think this is a Brilliant idea, Im Just Asking, do you need any help with Logic, For Example a Start Menu Showing the Different Types Of track and Difficulty. Or All the Players Automatically Getting in a Sackbot??

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Noo I'm good with logic. I already know how I'm going to plan all the logic out and stuff. Thanks though.

I'm keeping track of this. I've never seen a multiplayer fast platformer. That's enough to keep me interested.

One thing you can do to fix your grabbable material issue is change the way you are making it entirely. Instead of doing what I assume you are with a grab sensor, timer, and material tweaker, you can use a player sensor that is static at the point where you want the player to be released from the grabbable wheel and then attach this to the material tweaker. To prevent this from affecting two or more players at once, use the slice-and-dice tool to separate the wheel into different parts. Heck, you could use the timer way if you split the material like this.

True.. But how do you solve the problem of players grabbing onto eachother? It doesn't matter anyways. I have already started the level gameplay and I have all of the logic for the different players finished. It really shouldn't take me that long to do. If the level becomes popular I may add different tracks and stuff onto it.

Hmm, so that was what you showed me the other day. And I thought it was a room full of self-centered egotistical sackbots that looked like you on display to show off, lol. Great idea and new concept bro. I hope it "follows" through. Glad to test it out for you whenever it's complete

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Originally Posted by Wolffy123

True.. But how do you solve the problem of players grabbing onto eachother? It doesn't matter anyways. I have already started the level gameplay and I have all of the logic for the different players finished. It really shouldn't take me that long to do. If the level becomes popular I may add different tracks and stuff onto it.

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If you don't have any water in the level, you can use sackbots and attach a material tweaker to each one set to "Not Grabbable." If you find yourself in a pickle, you can always change the logic later anyways.

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Originally Posted by WoodburyRaider

If you don't have any water in the level, you can use sackbots and attach a material tweaker to each one set to "Not Grabbable." If you find yourself in a pickle, you can always change the logic later anyways.

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I think I'm just going to stick with what I have already.. I'm already 60% done the level and it has only been 3 days.. :P

UPDATE:

So far I already have a multiplayer track made, that works well. The only thing about it that doesn't work is the logic at the end that tells you what place you got in. For some reason 3rd and 4th place end up being told they were in 2nd place :\ ..

Here are a few pictures of what the track looks like:

http://i6.lbp.me/img/ft/456a9f9e4564...6127f5b253.jpg

http://ic.lbp.me/img/ft/84cb26e9d15a...adc498da36.jpg

The 2 pictures above don't show the whole entire level, just the design theme.
It takes around 45 seconds to complete one track (If you ace it). The track is somewhat difficult, so first time players may take up to a minute or 2 to finish it. I had to make the tracks short so that the thermo won't overload when 4 tracks are used at once. The thermo with the 4 tracks in it is about 7/8ths full.

Also, I have come up with a way to reduce lag while playing the game. What I did is have the level destroy all unused tracks. For example, if there are only 2 people playing, the level will destroy the 3rd and 4th player tracks. When there is only 1 person playing, it destroys the other 3 tracks (and reduces the thermo by half).

This is all the progress I have at the moment. I'm away from my PS3 at home, so I won't be able to work on the project until I get back.

I plan to have a few tracks in the complete version, all with different themes and difficulties. I also want to have a huge main menu where you can choose which track to play, and other options as well.

Comments/concerns/questions? :)

This sounds like an awesome idea. I think that you should make the level a versus level so that each player gets his/her screen.

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Originally Posted by amoney1999

This sounds like an awesome idea. I think that you should make the level a versus level so that each player gets his/her screen.

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Ya, that's how I have it set up. It works perfectly. :)

How are you implementing the race statistics at the end of the level?

I would think that you'd place a unique tag on each of the four sackbots, which would activate tag sensors or impact sensors at the finish line. These would be fed into counters that are fed into AND Gates.

First player tag ----> AND NOT second/third/fourth tag ---> first place condition set

Second player tag ---> and so on...

Perhaps one of the problems that could arise as a result of using this system is making sure that it works when two or more players finish the face at the same time.

In any case, would you please describe how you created your system? I'm very curious about it.

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Originally Posted by synchronizer

How are you implementing the race statistics at the end of the level?

I would think that you'd place a unique tag on each of the four sackbots, which would activate tag sensors or impact sensors at the finish line. These would be fed into counters that are fed into AND Gates.

First player tag ----> AND NOT second/third/fourth tag ---> first place condition set

Second player tag ---> and so on...

Perhaps one of the problems that could arise as a result of using this system is making sure that it works when two or more players finish the face at the same time.

In any case, would you please describe how you created your system? I'm very curious about it.

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Here is what I have:

http://i0.lbp.me/img/ft/b70dd885ada2...06e9070fd3.jpg

The 4 tag sensors on the left are the sensors that sense when you have passed the finish line. The tag sensor in the middle senses when the player that used the track the logic is on passed the finish line. (Stops the logic from switching when other players pass the finish line after you do). The microchips on the right deal with SFX and when the position you came in is displayed.

For when 2 players finish at the same time: they would have to finish in the exact same frame for them to receive the same position. At that point, they deserve the tie. Ties aren't a big deal for me. If 2 people DO tie, they would probably want to go at it again :P

That sounds awsome and very interesting.
I wouldnt mind helping test, if you need it. I do have one question... it seems like the theme is alot similar if not the same as your other levels. are you planning to try different themes in the future? Its not a bad thing, of course.
Cant wait untill you finish this!

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Originally Posted by bikerider12

That sounds awsome and very interesting.
I wouldnt mind helping test, if you need it. I do have one question... it seems like the theme is alot similar if not the same as your other levels. are you planning to try different themes in the future? Its not a bad thing, of course.
Cant wait untill you finish this!

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I would love to have you as a beta tester!

And, I want to try and get different themes and stuff, but I'm not too good at scenery. I will play around and see what I can come up with though :)

from the looks of it you get a lot of inspiration from rikiriki-ita :)

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Originally Posted by gareth

from the looks of it you get a lot of inspiration from rikiriki-ita :)

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Yaa. I constantly play Kaleida's Maze and Culture Meeting to inspire me with new ideas for gameplay elements..

I'm gonna play this the second it comes out. No, wait! Even before that!

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Originally Posted by amoney1999

I'm gonna play this the second it comes out. No, wait! Even before that!

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Ahhahaa.. I can give you a key and you can play it as soon as possible if you want!