Virtually Impossible - Challenging Sci-Fi Platformer

http://id.lbp.me/img/bl/31d53a40833a...ae4a318ac5.png
Virtually Impossible

Would you risk you sack in a brutal digitised world? In Virtually Impossible you must guide your sack through challenging obstacles in order to avoid vapourisation. Who is Vaste and why are they trying to turn your Sack against you? Fans of obstacle levels will love this Sci Fi chase through the pixels of a demented mainframe.

This is an idea I've been playing around with for a while, rather than moving quickly through obstacles this level requires accurate and methodical movement. The obstacles get steadily tougher as the level goes on and require a reasonable level of skill by the end.

The story, told through the voice synthesizer of 'Vaste' an overworked sack-testing unit, focusses on the relationship between Vaste, Sackboy and his creator - you. The fourth wall is not just broken, but kicked down by the end.

There are three decently interesting level completion prizes, each an obstacle that didn't quite make it, along with a sequencer explaining why each was removed. There is a single 'ace' prize as well, I haven't managed to ace the level yet, so you have my respect if you can do it.

http://i8.lbp.me/img/ft/e08c2e57b346...4f4e7b3455.jpg
The Door Flip

http://i9.lbp.me/img/ft/4a948a376b04...6da92bcb9c.jpg
The Bounce Descent

http://i5.lbp.me/img/ft/77566462dde1...6c6abd215a.jpg
The Pendulum Swing

http://lbp.me/v/kd-1m6

Very cool. Ill check it out :)

wow, looks really cool. I'll give it a go.

ill give it a go im down for a challenge

Cool level!
We had fun playing it.

Very good job :)

Thanks to everyone that has played so far, it's getting a decent yay ratio which is really pleasing.

I have fixed a couple of bits where people were having unfair difficulty - usually because a trapeze bar was too small and went berserk if you hit it at speed. I've also made a few graphical improvements to the 'corrupted' obstacles and to the checkpoints around the last five obstacles. I've also added a new logo.

I note that a lot of people are falling foul of the orange obstacles, although I dont know if it's always the same one. It's a shame there's no tool to measure how far people get in the level, especially since the difficulty of each obstacle can be a bit subjective.

I'm not sure the difficulty is high enough to warrant a change. I got through green just fine excepting the trampolines at the end. I kept popping myself after I lost momentum until I realized you had limited lives. I died on the Double Pixel, although it's because I'm quite hasty and not precision oriented. I'd ask for an alternate version with infinite checkpoints so I'm free to screw up as many times as I like, but that may ruin the intent of your level. I still had a lot of fun with the challenges because A. they didn't rush you and B. they were manageable. I still despise ALL ceiling grabs, but I'm over-looking them because the level is SUPPOSED to be hard.

For what it's worth, if I were a member of the Spotlight crew, this would get my vote.

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Originally Posted by Kato

I'm not sure the difficulty is high enough to warrant a change. I got through green just fine excepting the trampolines at the end. I kept popping myself after I lost momentum until I realized you had limited lives. I died on the Double Pixel, although it's because I'm quite hasty and not precision oriented. I'd ask for an alternate version with infinite checkpoints so I'm free to screw up as many times as I like, but that may ruin the intent of your level. I still had a lot of fun with the challenges because A. they didn't rush you and B. they were manageable. I still despise ALL ceiling grabs, but I'm over-looking them because the level is SUPPOSED to be hard.

For what it's worth, if I were a member of the Spotlight crew, this would get my vote.

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Many thanks for the feedback Kato, some of the ceiling grabs are pretty brutal, the third to last obstacle is particularly tough - I've altered it to be, if not easier then at least fairer, a few times now. I've been toying with the idea of more lives, or even infinite ones and just relying on the score penalties to rank the scoreboard. Although I think it would get pretty frustrating to tackle the same obstacle six or seven times without success.

It is possible to get over the trampolines from a static start on any one, by gradually bouncing higher, possible yes, easy no. On the other hand if you use the drop on the first jump to your advantage it's beatable in just 6 jumps.

A few people have finished it now so I'm happy with the difficulty level, as far as I can tell there's been no aces yet - even I still haven't managed it. One person did manage to get more points on the scoreboard than exist in the whole level, but I imagine it's some kind of a glitch? If someone's cheating I'm not too fussed, they're cheating themselves out of the fun of beating it fairly.

I have a somewhat unrelated question; is the material you are using for most of it Toy Plastic? It looks really nice in its simplicity. It's grid-arrangement coupled with geometric stickers is very fitting of the tone.

I did have one idea for you as well that's REALLY superfluous as well. In the danger/death zones, I see you are most likely using plasmafied hologram at 0% brightness. If this the case, consider coloring the holograms to match the zone. Even though they are and still will be invisible, plasma has its own color options, so it would be neat if your death was color coded. XD Like if you die in a green zone, the plasma that kills you is green. This may have already been implemented, but there was at least 1 place I noticed dying by white plasma.

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Originally Posted by Kato

I have a somewhat unrelated question; is the material you are using for most of it Toy Plastic? It looks really nice in its simplicity. It's grid-arrangement coupled with geometric stickers is very fitting of the tone.

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Actually it's blue wood, It stickers really well and has that slightly odd warping when it's in a geometric pattern. That gives the level a lot of texture.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Kato

I did have one idea for you as well that's REALLY superfluous as well. In the danger/death zones, I see you are most likely using plasmafied hologram at 0% brightness. If this the case, consider coloring the holograms to match the zone. Even though they are and still will be invisible, plasma has its own color options, so it would be neat if your death was color coded. XD Like if you die in a green zone, the plasma that kills you is green. This may have already been implemented, but there was at least 1 place I noticed dying by white plasma.

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It's sticker panel rather than holo but yes, thats exactly how it's done. I did originally use the colour coding but late in the build I changed all the holo to accomodate the negative score givers. I'll go back and set them back to colour coded as that's how it was meant to be.

I thought you had some really cool obstacles in this and I liked the clean design and look of the level. The difficulty seemed fine to me even if I did come unstuck in the Orange zone - that's probably about right tbh as I'm only an average player :P

My one issue with the level was the number of cutscenes. I can see that it's useful for some players to have some of the obstacles "explained" in this way but it does slow things down and makes replaying less tempting. Perhaps you could make it possible for players to skip the cutscenes?

I have republished the level with a fairly hefty update and a slightly frightening looking thermometer. On the other hand I'm really happy with all the feedback, It's great to be able to fine tune a level to this degree, and makes me quite enthusiastic about making a sequel.

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Originally Posted by shropshirelass

My one issue with the level was the number of cutscenes. I can see that it's useful for some players to have some of the obstacles "explained" in this way but it does slow things down and makes replaying less tempting. Perhaps you could make it possible for players to skip the cutscenes?

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There is now a introduction with a choice to select the green route - 'new player' or the red route - 'limited help', the red route reduces the number and duration of cutscenes, and focusses the remaining ones onto the story. Some obstacles stay as they are due to needing to see the platform for a blind jump like the rapid and bounce descents.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Kato

I did have one idea for you as well that's REALLY superfluous as well. In the danger/death zones, I see you are most likely using plasmafied hologram at 0% brightness. If this the case, consider coloring the holograms to match the zone. Even though they are and still will be invisible, plasma has its own color options, so it would be neat if your death was color coded. XD Like if you die in a green zone, the plasma that kills you is green. This may have already been implemented, but there was at least 1 place I noticed dying by white plasma.

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I've checked all the plasma traps and they seem to be killing in the correct colour. Either there's something glitchy going on or I've missed one. I'll play it a few times online today just to be sure but let me know if it keeps happening, I could probably reduce the thermo load with a chance to the vaporisation system.

Full List of Changes:

• Introduced variable number of cutscenes
• Altered elasticity of Shock Cord in green zone; now more difficult.
• Introduced six alternate cutscenes for 'red route'.
• Introduced new, abridged, introduction for 'red route'.
• Added new decorations and lighting to final cutscene.
• Added new special effects to final cutscene.
• All checkpoints are now double-life.
• Sorted out the one checkpoint that was the wrong colour.

Cool - that all sounds great! I'll certainly give it another go.

Congratulations on your honourable mention in the Spotlight! XD