Little LOST and Pancake Panic

Please go here for new Little LOST thread with photos.

Thanks to the editors/mods for an almost spotlight here!


Pancake Panic - A Survival Challenge is obviously a survival challenge. It's based on an idea I had where sackboy would ride a flipping pancake in a frying pan. I also posted an easy version in which the pancake flips more reliably, but I personally think the reliability makes it too easy.

It may not show, but I put a lot of work into these. I hope you enjoy them. :eek:

My PSN name is frizby and my name is chess.

THANK YOU!!!!

Welcome to the group :) I'm relativly new here myself. I'll check out your levels at a later date, (as I'm currently watching Lost right now :)) anyways. later man!!!

Ok I'm giving a run through now of Little LOST.



Pros:

- I didn't encounter any glitches as far as I could tell. everything worked as expected. the level was challenging but not too tough. checkpoints were well placed.

- fans of the TV show might enjoy the satirical nature of the story. I don't know the show, but I do like cynicism, and this level delivers.

- plane wreckage was pretty cool to look at, probably my favorite aspect of the level

Cons:

- the level suffers from major theme conflict. the level starts off tropical/jungle style and makes an abrupt transition to industrial when out of nowhere there are MGS turrets and electrified machina. similarly, the story is only moderately cohesive. some of the dialogue felt completely random and disconnected from the overall story.

- i didn't like the reliance on so many story mode objects. i would have liked to see more innovative custom creations to help the level stand out from every other level. it felt as if i was playing all the story levels mashed into one.

- dark matter bolts were blatantly obvious everywhere and there was very little use of depth fields. much could be done to spice up the construction and visuals for an overall more enjoyable experience

Overall:

I think the level needs some work. I was disappointed overall having seen such a high heart to play ratio before I started. It needs some personal touches to replace a series of story mode objects connected by a confusing story and theme. Some parts highlight the creator's potential, but I ultimately feel that the effort was minimal. With some more time spent to improve the level overall, I think this could be a lot of fun to match the funny.

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Originally Posted by Thegide

...the story is only moderately cohesive.

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Heh...you really don't know the show do you. ;)

Seriously, I really appreciate the thoughtful response, and if nothing else, I'll try to hide the dark matter bolts better. I assume the majority were in the trees, which I admit was a fairly lazy solution.

The rating/heart level is likely fans of the show, who might appreciate the content more...and really, it's not meant to have much of a narrative...more just a collection of iconic images from the show...and much of the stuff they do in the show is pretty random anyway.

The changes in visual tone reflects the show as well, but I couldn't begin to explain. Crazy sci-fi on a tropical island kind of stuff.

Anyway, thanks again for giving it a go.

Well, I'm a true Lost fan and I should be playing this level by the end of this weekend, so expect a review from me :)

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Originally Posted by Maraz_Matari

Well, I'm a true Lost fan and I should be playing this level by the end of this weekend, so expect a review from me :)

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I can't wait to hear what you think!

Okay, so I just played this level. I'll break it down into two sections:

Pros:
-I liked how you basically sped through Seasons 1-3
-The Smoke Monster chase was absolutely awesome!!!
-Some of the obsticals you had were nicley paced and not frustratingly challenging.
-It was MUCH easier to blow open the hatch in this level than in the show :)
-Some of the humor was good

Cons:
-Sawyer... yeah, he's a con :) (joke)
-Some of the same jokes were repeated in different ways... the two that come to mind are the Seasons jokes/references, and the "no reason" things were mentioned at least twice.
-no flashbacks :)

All in all a good spoof of Lost, I'd recommend this level to any fan of the show.

Thanks! I'm glad you liked most of it...and yeah, some jokes are funnier than others.

I'd actually thought about putting the Black Rock before the hatch with some proximity sensitive explosives that you drag to the hatch, but I ultimately abandoned that idea because folks couldn't figure out what they were supposed to do. The van used to be hidden in dissolve as well, but again, folks couldn't figure it out...likely because I haven't fully figured out how to communicate my intent visually, and I don't want to get in the business of having text boxes tell people what to do.

Also, thanks again to Thegide...I spent a good bit of last night cleaning up little details and dark matter. I think it's a much cleaner level as a result of your constructive criticism. I'd actually like for you to play it again for comparison if you have time.

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Originally Posted by frizby

I don't want to get in the business of having text boxes tell people what to do.

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Well, considering it's based on Lost, one of the most story driven series that I've ever seen.... You may want to reconsider your approach. Text bubbles work miricals for presenting puzzles, and/or solutions to problems.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by frizby

Also, thanks again to Thegide...I spent a good bit of last night cleaning up little details and dark matter. I think it's a much cleaner level as a result of your constructive criticism. I'd actually like for you to play it again for comparison if you have time.

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I'll give it another run through when I can. I'm fairly busy with exams right now, so my apologies if I forget to get back to you.

You're right on one thing - I've never seen the show, as I pretty much never watch TV. Just something to keep in mind that you might be alienating non-fans of the show, not that it's a problem, just be aware that some of your potential audience might not understand what's going on, like me :)

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Originally Posted by Thegide

I'll give it another run through when I can. I'm fairly busy with exams right now, so my apologies if I forget to get back to you.

You're right on one thing - I've never seen the show, as I pretty much never watch TV. Just something to keep in mind that you might be alienating non-fans of the show, not that it's a problem, just be aware that some of your potential audience might not understand what's going on, like me :)

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No worries. I also added a new fully custom section as a result of your comments. It's at the point now where it overheats with every other tweak I make. :)

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Originally Posted by Maraz_Matari

Well, considering it's based on Lost, one of the most story driven series that I've ever seen.... You may want to reconsider your approach. Text bubbles work miricals for presenting puzzles, and/or solutions to problems.

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Advice taken. I reworked the entire Black Rock and Hatch sections so you take explosives from the Black Rock to blow up the Hatch. It's not really even much of a puzzle, so I'm not sure what I was so hung up about. The tricky part for me was figuring out how to get the explosives to work without killing the player.

I also took out a couple of the story mode obstacles and built some of my own stuff, including a water level, so thanks again to Thegide for some gentle prodding in that direction.

Overall, I think my level is MUCH improved for having come to the forum! It's still holding at 4 stars, but something tells me I'm going to get more fives and hearts going forward. :D

Cool, glad to hear. I may replay the level sometime, but I actually came here to talk about your pancake level.

I forgot to say anything about it before, and I even played it before the Lost level :)

But anyways, I thought it was inventive, and you really showed some artistic value on this level, even with it being so short. I really loved the pans hanging near the score board. The level can get a little boring at times, least when it's predictable... but after a long while it started flipping and flopping around a bit more unpredictably. Over all a great level and you really show some inventiveness about you with this one.Good job.

Thanks! I'm glad somebody appreciated that one. It's not terribly difficult as far as survival challenges go, and it's mostly intended as a diversion.

I polished up the opening just a bit this weekend and added some invisible matter to keep the pancake off of the hand.

Hey! Thanks a lot for your feedback on my level!

I played both of your levels.

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I watch Lost, so I wanted to see how you could bring the show into the lbp universe.

+ Well done! I liked the reference to the key scenes like the plane crash, the suspended plane, the hatch and the submarine. One of the best humoristic levels I played.

- I don't like to see stuff from MM's story levels. Custom content is always the best way to give a unique look to your level. I would prefer more references to the show than plateforming in this kind of level, especially if it's not custom-made.

4 stars / hearted.

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For your Pancake Panic level, I got the 4th highest score.

+ Nice and simple concept taht works well. It took me 2 or 3 replays to get the hang of it. :)

+ I will probably return to try to beat my score!

- Like Maraz_Matari said, it's a bit long before it becomes unpredictable.

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Sorry, not much comment on this one since it' a short level. It's also 1:41AM here. I need some sleep...zZzZz

:)

Four stars and a heart from somebody making levels of the quality you're making is a great compliment, and I appreciate it. I only wish I had the vision and time to do the sort of things you're doing!

I do still use some of the story mode stuff...at least partly because I really like some of the stuff MM built, and maybe partly out of laziness. I just do my best to use their parts in ways that I find interesting.

I also appreciate you giving Pancake Panic a go. It's just a little something I built on whim, but it really took some work to fine-tune the mechanics.

I did a bit more work on Little LOST today...tried to give it more depth and to take advantage of some lighting effects.

Between this update and the two additions to the level I've made based on feedback from you guys, I think it's getting pretty good...certainly not aesthetically on par with some of the stuff you guys are making, but it's fun, which is my priority.

If anybody has time to give the update a runthrough, I'd appreciate it.

:)

Okay, I just went in and played both of these.

LITTLE LOST:

This level has obviously been tweaked to perfection. I absolutely LOVED the content, your custom objects really stood out.

Highlights for me: The exploding airplane wing at the beginning with the scream - brilliant. The waterfall was done better than I've ever seen it done in any level. It looked so real, and I loved the way the gas at the foot of it looked like the water was foaming when it hit. The "tree swinging" part was definately my favorite

Suggestions: Man it would be funny if you took actual pictures of the characters faces and put them on the sackboy bodies....


PANCAKE PANIC:

Ok... this one was incredibly fun. Played it once, but the game last nearly HALF AN HOUR. I went into kind of a zen state, beat the high score.... but made a stupid mistake and lost a few points when I died. I'll have to settle for 2nd place for now..... crap.


I gave both of these levels hearts..... great job, and you have a fantastic clean visual style!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by CCubbage

Okay, I just went in and played both of these.

LITTLE LOST:

This level has obviously been tweaked to perfection. I absolutely LOVED the content, your custom objects really stood out.

Highlights for me: The exploding airplane wing at the beginning with the scream - brilliant. The waterfall was done better than I've ever seen it done in any level. It looked so real, and I loved the way the gas at the foot of it looked like the water was foaming when it hit. The "tree swinging" part was definately my favorite

Suggestions: Man it would be funny if you took actual pictures of the characters faces and put them on the sackboy bodies....

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Thanks for the kind review, and I'm glad you had fun with it.

The waterfall is inspired by one a saw in a level called "lost in time", and that one is better than mine IMO.

I've thought about getting out the PS eye and getting some photos, but I'm torn. I sort of liked the idea of leaving the characters sort of nondescript. Maybe I'll give it a go just to see how it turns out.

If you want to see a variation of your Dante's ship in action, play this one again. I couldn't use yours because I couldn't use the sails, but I basically traced the body of the ship for the new Black Rock. I hope you don't mind, and I LOVE the new look.

Quote:

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PANCAKE PANIC:

Ok... this one was incredibly fun. Played it once, but the game last nearly HALF AN HOUR. I went into kind of a zen state, beat the high score.... but made a stupid mistake and lost a few points when I died. I'll have to settle for 2nd place for now..... crap.


I gave both of these levels hearts..... great job, and you have a fantastic clean visual style!

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I do the same thing when I play it...just sort of zone out. This one was thrown together on a whim...based on an idea I had at work. I'm not fully happy with how easy it is, but I can't even tell you how hard that whole flipping action was to balance out...no cheats there...all physics.

Hope I'm not the only one thinking about LBP at work!

it was ok but as a fan of the show you sure like to rip the p*** outta it lol jokes had me laughing to begin with but then they started to repeat +_+ level was a good attempt though ^_^

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Originally Posted by talmasca

it was ok but as a fan of the show you sure like to rip the p*** outta it lol jokes had me laughing to begin with but then they started to repeat +_+ level was a good attempt though ^_^

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I'm obviously a big fan of the show and don't intend to offend.

It's all meant to be lighthearted, but I've been thinking about dialing it back a bit in a few spots...especially now that you're the second person to mention it being a negative. I think I want to change the "Others" speech and "Boone's" at the beginning.

Will try to think of something clever at work today.

Anyway, thank you for giving it a go, and I'll try to play at least one of your levels tonight.

Hey there, just played through this since I'm a fan of the show. (Well, actually I'm forced to watch it in the hopes that someday it will make sense)........(which is 98% of the viewers)

anywho,

Pros: You stuck to the story well. You covered a TON of the major events. A couple I barely remembered. I thought those were well done for the most part. The special effects were awesome too. The blowing of the hatch, and the smoke monster's chase was the highlight of the level for me. Really excellent job there. I think he could move a little faster though in my opinion.

Cons: I think the attention to small details was lacking, especially for a level that should be relying heavily on them. For instance, the characters are all blank sack bodies. Obviously no one expects to see identical replicas of them, but maybe a few features such as hair or clothes would really make a big difference. Especially since they majority of your players will be fans of the show.

All in all though, great job here. My room mates and I had a great time playing through it cause we are all addicted to the show.

...yeah!

Oh, and my levels are in my sig if you get a chance!

Add me on psn and we can play/test sometime

Quote:

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Originally Posted by frizby

It's all meant to be lighthearted, but I've been thinking about dialing it back a bit in a few spots...especially now that you're the second person to mention it being a negative. I think I want to change the "Others" speech and "Boone's" at the beginning.

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lol the boone joke made me laugh, cant remember what the ''others'' sed :S

Quote:

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Originally Posted by ApellesJr

Hey there, just played through this since I'm a fan of the show. (Well, actually I'm forced to watch it in the hopes that someday it will make sense)........(which is 98% of the viewers)

anywho,

Pros: You stuck to the story well. You covered a TON of the major events. A couple I barely remembered. I thought those were well done for the most part. The special effects were awesome too. The blowing of the hatch, and the smoke monster's chase was the highlight of the level for me. Really excellent job there. I think he could move a little faster though in my opinion.

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Thanks for giving it a run, and I'll play your level before the end of the weekend!

I sacrificed a bit of speed on smokey to give the second player a prayer in multiplayer...but they still usually die! I also wanted folks to have a chance to look at the visuals there since I love the way the smoke moves through the trees.

Quote:

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Cons: I think the attention to small details was lacking, especially for a level that should be relying heavily on them. For instance, the characters are all blank sack bodies. Obviously no one expects to see identical replicas of them, but maybe a few features such as hair or clothes would really make a big difference. Especially since they majority of your players will be fans of the show.

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That was a bit of a design choice...nondescript characters in a lush environment. But I did break out the PS eye the other day to play with it. I just need to find some images that are large enough to scan in and not get fuzzy.

Quote:

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All in all though, great job here. My room mates and I had a great time playing through it cause we are all addicted to the show.

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Thanks again, and will send an invite when I play your level.

WOW, i played the LOST level and was very impressed. So much details and references to the series. All is in good place, and the level is absolutely delicious. My only suggest would be to improve the quality of the characters. Cartoon shape unfit a little with the global quality.

But i really enjoyed it. 5 stars and a heart ;)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Takelow

WOW, i played the LOST level and was very impressed. So much details and references to the series. All is in good place, and the level is absolutely delicious. My only suggest would be to improve the quality of the characters. Cartoon shape unfit a little with the global quality.

But i really enjoyed it. 5 stars and a heart ;)

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Wow. Thank you for playing it and for the nice feedback.

Merci!

Since 2 people mentioned it, and now 3, I scanned headshots of many of the main cast and gave them sticker clothes. I also put them in the thin layer to keep them out of the way. Thanks to all for giving me the nudge in the right direction.

leaving them "blank" was a decision I originally made hoping to leave them open for interpretation and to dodge any copywrite issues, but because it's a parody, I think I'm OK. I'll keep a renamed copy around just in case though.