Little Big Apocalypse: Episode 17 (HQ video/SPOTLIGHTED!)

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[Watch YouTube Video]
Thanks Vanemiera for the great quality video!!!

Website: http://snowspot.net/littlebigapocalypse.html

BACKSTORY
[SPOILER]
Episode 1

After the world ended a Sackboy emerged from the rubble, with no memory and no idea how he came to be, he set off to find others like himself. While searching the wasteland, he discovered the remnants of the "humans" a race of creatures that once dominated earth.

Now there were none.

Being a nomad had begun to wear on the Sackboy's body, his seams were becoming frayed and though he tried his best to clean his fabric, it never seemed truly clean. Sackboy was depressed but never gave up his search, he found old relics of the humans, books, computers, pictures... their bodies were made of meat, how strange.

The Sackboy carried around the pictures he found, sometimes he would imagine them as his family, cheering him on. It was a lonely existence.

That all changed one day when he discovered a building that seemed to have working electricity. He had heard what sounded like the rupturing of metal, creaking and screaming steel, then sparks and the thwap of electricity. Was he really hearing this? A large black building jutted up from the wasteland, it's side's seemed to be a highly reflective metal, it's middle resembled a giant eyeball, it seemed to be staring directly at the Sackboy.

Without hesitation, Sackboy ran to the large black building, the eye's gaze followed him, it's pupil convulsing as it struggled to keep up with the Sackboy's pace. Bounding over torn metal and broken glass, the clangs of hundreds of broken sprockets twinkled under Sackboy's feet. Though Sackboy was falling apart he was incredibly agile and he almost seemed to glide as he approached the building. The eye grimaced as the Sackboy bounded through an open back door.

Episode 2

Upon entering the building Sackboy came face to face with dozens of eyes. The room was almost entirely pitch-blue. The door shut behind him and the sound of a mechanized lock seemed to hint Sackboy was trapped. Sackboy tried the door and his guess was correct. ****it.

The eyes continued to watch him as he made his way down a long cooridor, he stopped suddenly at a large gap in the floor. A putrid smell wafted upward, he looked down into the hole, it was almost entirely black but he was certain he heard something slivering in the darkness, he jumped over the gap and continued down the hall.

"We thought everyone was dead.." suddenly boomed in Sackboy's ear, where were these voices coming from? Sackboy looked behind him and saw two eye's embedded in the black metal wall, they whispered to one and other, then glared at the Sackboy disapprovingly.

The eyes wondered if the sackboy could really help them. As they watched Sackboy work his way through their old security system, the eyes were becoming more and more impressed with the sackboy. Somehow he was able to get past every obstacle put in his path.

Sackboy looked down at the electrified floor below him, holding his breath, he let go of a large hanging cylinder, . He fell to the ground, the large cylinder swung back in the opposite direction, Sackboy laid on the ground and stared at the ceiling. The cylinder swung back over him, then back out of a view again. He struggled to catch his breath as his stood up, he continued down the long corridor.

It was now or never the eyes decided, they looked at Sackboy. "You've passed our little obstacle course Sackboy." As Sackboy bounded down the hallway, he wondered what he was running to, why was he so drawn to this building? What was drawing him to the end of this hallway?

The eyes finally cut to the chase, "We need your help Sackboy, we are dying". Sackboy stopped in his tracks, he looked at the stream of eyes that covered the wall next to him. They looked down at him sadly. He didn't really understand what was going on, or what this place was.. but how could he say "no"?

To continue the story play episode 3.

[/SPOILER]
EPISODE 17

Sackboy limps to the cluster cores, all the while wondering if he should really be trusting the builder. Upon arriving at the cluster cores, the builder tells Sackboy he must pass through multiple "chambers", to activate the emergency override system, 18 chambers in all. As Sackboy stares towards the entrance of chamber 1, he hears the violent sounds of the machinery... could this really be the end?

I incorporated manga-style drawings(not pictures I've taken), all created in-engine. The storyline continues as well with some exciting new stuff taking place... along with some disturbing stuff happening in the chamber's that you have to make your way through.In this level u make a decision that will effect the next level.


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***SPECIAL THANKS TO DOBI6 FOR THE PICS***


Time to create: 40+ hours
Difficulty: Medium
Players:1-4
Gameplay: Platforming/Paintinator
- 100% custom content

Tips:
+ In the boss battle remember to switch between layers.

There are a few issues I'm aware but if anyone can point something out it'd be really helpful. Hopefully, this level will meet people's expectations after I was spotlighted, I sure hope so... I really think I've created something unique here...


To check out levels 1-15, go here:

http://www.lbpcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=6514

For level 16 go here:

http://www.lbpcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=8632

I have to start by saying this is probably your best work yet. You have taken the visulas to a whole new level and I was very impressed. The scenes with the man in the office and on the telephone rank amongst the most artistic and well designed things I have ever seen in LBP. I also liked the cubes you had in the forground and your omnipresent painted glass.

The idea to have these different rooms was a great one and helps keep things fresh. I like how you keep mixing up paintinator action with traditional platforming. All these things are well and good now for the bad news.

I had to restart the level twice. The first time I lost all my lives on the boss. On the second playthorugh I did not have as much problems but it still required some quick reflexes. The next room is what really ****** me off though (The Scrombler?) I had no problem defeating it but exiting the room was impossible. There seems to be one of those problems with plane detection and I kept trying to jump on the box near the exit only to keep falling into the fire below. I lost all my lives here and was rather irritated. Exiting the room should not be a challenge at all and I have to question how this problem did not get noticed while playtesting (I am guessing you playtested).

In any event I gave the lvl a heart because I loved it up until that point. I will come back to play it again in the next couple of days and I hope you look into the problem I mentioned.

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Originally Posted by OCK

In any event I gave the lvl a heart because I loved it up until that point. I will come back to play it again in the next couple of days and I hope you look into the problem I mentioned.

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Thanks OCK for the fast feedback, I'm gunna go fix that problem immediately! :D

EDIT: fixed that problem.

Played it this morning..... WOW!!!!!!! I can honestly say, I have NEVER seen a level that looks like this one. This is absolutely 100% original. Yes, the paintinator is there... and yes, the platforming is there... but every section of this level is so original and fresh - with the comic artwork of a pro I might add.

I'm absolutely stunned and excited. I'm actually going to go back home after work today and play it again - maybe twice!

You just keep getting better with every level and I'm absolutely DYING to see how this thing ends.

Any negatives I have would only hurt my enjoyment of the game. Let me explain: I KNOW the mechanics and difficulty go against the grain of the LBP community, but it's what I like best about it. Even though it's difficult, it is well designed and completely fair. If you watch whats going on around you, it can be done - and you get a much greater sense of accomplishment. It's actually what I like about the entire series - I'll jump to my death 30 times and in the end say to myself "I deserved that!", but I realize there are many that don't enjoy this frenetic approach.

But great work - masterpiece! (although probably a 3 star masterpiece in LBP terms, which I've come to terms with lately)

I didn't earlier, but you will definately get a heart from me today!

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Originally Posted by CCubbage

Played it this morning..... WOW!!!!!!! I can honestly say, I have NEVER seen a level that looks like this one. This is absolutely 100% original. Yes, the paintinator is there... and yes, the platforming is there... but every section of this level is so original and fresh - with the comic artwork of a pro I might add.

I'm absolutely stunned and excited. I'm actually going to go back home after work today and play it again - maybe twice!

You just keep getting better with every level and I'm absolutely DYING to see how this thing ends.

But great work - masterpiece! (although probably a 3 star masterpiece in LBP terms, which I've come to terms with lately)

I didn't earlier, but you will definately get a heart from me today!

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I'm so happy you liked it :D

Yeah someone gave it 2 stars and said it was boring lol.. I don't really care about that stuff though, I care much more about what people on this board say. Splat invaders 2 hasn't been rated as high as it should for sure...who cares though? As long as you are happy with your work and there isn't any glaring mistakes.. what else can you really do?

Level updated:

I forgot to put this a the other day but I went and fixed a few problems.

- updated the level
- balanced the difficulty a bit
- added more obstacles to certain chambers.
- general bug fixes.
- fixed two spelling errors

So glad this series is coming to a close, I'm glad there are only 2 more levels, so I can put LBP away for a bit.

This level is a work of art... the first time I realized how immensely important the work people are doing on this game is. My favorite aspect is the story sequencing with the sticker and material-made sketches of the average joe, depressed in his daily rat race - the way the use of thin layers and planes there makes it look like you're in a pop up book, and looking at it with 3D glasses is amazing. There is nothing else like it.

I like the escape sequence at the end, where you "curl up into a ball" and roll out lol very surreal, and iconic. Your PSN name, Jon Martin is quite a legacy, and I'm sad to see the series end soon, but it just adds to the great series feel. Nothing lasts forever, and all the best independent comics are mini-series or have a true end that they eventually meet... even if it takes over a 100 issues.

I'm kind of excited to see what you do with another PSN account, if you come back to LBP... with a different premise, or more freedom in a new story... or what you do with one-shot level ideas.

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Originally Posted by NinjaMicWZ

Your PSN name, Jon Martin is quite a legacy, and I'm sad to see the series end soon, but it just adds to the great series feel. Nothing lasts forever.

I'm kind of excited to see what you do with another PSN account, if you come back to LBP... with a different premise, or more freedom in a new story... or what you do with one-shot level ideas.

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Ahh "nothing lasts forever" is the theme of the series. I'm happy you said it that way.

I've done animation series' and other stuff before and I never have done anything with a finite ending. I'm kind of excited to finally end something cause I started my animation series on newgrounds.com and it's years away from being finished.

I'm confident people playing the series will like the ending. The last few minutes of the series might make u cry. The story in LBA is the story of everyone who wants to create I think, I think a lot of people who make levels would really identify with the narrative. I also think it might effect a lot of people, cause it's made me feel weird creating it at points cause it's kinda personal.

Anyway, thanks for the comments man. The best part of creating something is hearing about someone else's experiences with it... and if they like it, that's even better :P

EDIT: Is it really pathetic I constantly check this thread lol?

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Originally Posted by Snowspot

EDIT: Is it really pathetic I constantly check this thread lol?

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No, it isn't:p

So, what can i say... At first i really like the colors. I never saw a "silhouette level" colored in this fantastic way.

The best part about is the brief comic. Quite awesome what can be done with colored glas(at least i think that it is colored glas). Nevertheless the adaptation of your "Reboot"-series style to LBP is really original. It's a step away from the conventional Sack person style.

But there is a minor point of complaint from my side:
The increase of difficulty. It's not an extreme flaw but chamber 1 is one of the hardest rooms in this level. The following are much easier. But that is really nothing to worry about. Just something i wanted to mention.;)

Well... and all that is left to say is... i want to get my hands on episode 18!:p

i played through the level twice to see what would happen when if i didn't keep on moving and i really don't what the difference was except for some extra text. still i liked the level and you did a lot better with the visuals from last time though i wish you kept the same eyes that you used in 16. like the one thats in your picture under your name

also i wanted to say i never knew you or this series existed until 16 was spotlighted and i really don't like starting a story halfway through so i played 1 though 16 all day and i got ****** off when it turned out that wasn't the end and i wanted to know what happened next so badly. but i think the whole series is really good and i can't wait to see how it ends.

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Originally Posted by superBlast

i played through the level twice to see what would happen when if i didn't keep on moving and i really don't what the difference was except for some extra text. still i liked the level and you did a lot better with the visuals from last time though i wish you kept the same eyes that you used in 16. like the one thats in your picture under your name

also i wanted to say i never knew you or this series existed until 16 was spotlighted and i really don't like starting a story halfway through so i played 1 though 16 all day and i got ****** off when it turned out that wasn't the end and i wanted to know what happened next so badly. but i think the whole series is really good and i can't wait to see how it ends.

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Wow, thanks for going through all of them!

Well, if at the end of the level you don't let the virus out, you get a key. If you didn't get a key... uh oh.. cause I'm away from my PS3 for 2 more days :(

I still have to finish 2 more levels... shouldn't be much longer though, happy you liked the story up until now :)

i didn't get anything. i even went through again to see if i missed it somehow but i still didn't get it. so you might want to fix that.

hmm, weird, unfortunately I'm away from my PS3 until tomorrow but I'll check it then.. it's weird tho cause I checked it a bunch of times... I'll fix it very soon.

I was able to go back and finish this yesterday, thanks for fixing the problem I encountered.

That room with the hanging man and blood splatters was very menacing and it made me think that you should try doing a horror level after finishing this series. I was expecting all 18 rooms (unrealistic, I know lol) so I was a bit surprised that it ended half-way. That last room with the virus was pretty cool but it would be great if the players choice to release it or not had some concrete effect (other then speech bubbles).

Amazing work once again. I gave the level 5 stars and it actually brought your star rating up when I did it :) Hearted (obviously).

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Originally Posted by OCK

I was able to go back and finish this yesterday, thanks for fixing the problem I encountered.

That room with the hanging man and blood splatters was very menacing and it made me think that you should try doing a horror level after finishing this series. I was expecting all 18 rooms (unrealistic, I know lol) so I was a bit surprised that it ended half-way. That last room with the virus was pretty cool but it would be great if the players choice to release it or not had some concrete effect (other then speech bubbles).

Amazing work once again. I gave the level 5 stars and it actually brought your star rating up when I did it :) Hearted (obviously).

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I wanted to do 18 rooms but of course the temp became a problem. I probably could have scaled back the art and stuff but I didn't want to :P

This gives me a chance to make the second half entirely different though so it's not too bad.

I'm probably going to change the chamber with the virus a bit. Thanks for the great feedback. I'll shoot you some feedback very soon.


Oh and if people get a chance, check out the website, I just added it. It's just an intro right now but it'll be a real site soon.

http://www.snowspot.net/littlebigapocalypse.html

Ok, working on your pics now.

A few things - Other than the fact that I gave it 5 stars and a heart....

In pod 2, it is initially extremely unclear how you get your gun if you die. What would cause someone to think to grab the round object in the center? This could cause a lot of lives lost.

And when I beat it, the camera made it really hard to see that the floor opened up.

Also, You may just want to make all of your spawn points double, or even infinite... If people go a long way in your level and die on something you thought was obvious, but wasn't to them, they are going to give you a bad rating, and not replay the level.

I only made it as far as the defragmentor... And I wasn't in the mood to try to go all the way through it to try to get to it.

I found that when I would die on the steps to get the bottom paintenator switches, it was mostly because when I would jump to avoid the plasma, it wouldn't change platforms for me like I hoped, but would keep me on the section I was at. Also, since the moving platforms would stop when you spawned, the one on the left liked to block the way to the gun.

I enjoyed the level a lot though, and will definitely go back to it...

Hey dobi, thanks for the feedback. I've gone ahead and addressed everything you've said, hopefully it works better for you now. Also thanks for the high quality pics!

I posted them to the first page :D

Cool...

I look forward to playing it again!

If people check out the website at:

http://www.snowspot.net/littlebigapocalypse.html

I updated the intro.

Hey man, first of all thanks for the feedback on my copter level, much apreciated! Played your level a few times (due to dying) but have now completed it, hoorah!

PROS
-Massive ambition!
-Fun challenges and original challenges (think you could have done more of the grabby things on the third section, they were fun!)
-The comic strip-esque part was amazing, never seen anything of that calibre on LBP, well done!

CONS
- If you drop down to the right on the first challenge and get the checkpoint it becomes very messy trying to get back up (swinging on bottom of platforms then onto those spinning thingh, try putting the checkpoint on the platforms so that if you do fall down and die at least you dont have to swing around trying to get back up.
-In the second challenge you can cheat by staying at the top and not jumping down untill all of the thingies are dead, maybe put in some walls to stop this. It took me ages to realise i had to grab the middle circle to get the paintinator too.
-in the third challenge with the electricity on the part where you have to swing over i got stuck frequently, try making the floor a bit lower so that you dont hit it when you reach the end of the grabable material.
-on the fourth challenge when you get past the slidey grabby balls you have to shoot upwards, tool me ages to realise this and i dont think it serves any purpose. may be better to just delete that. The platforms you shoot from the ceiling are easy to shoot while they are coming down which causes problems, can they be made out of a heavier material?

Overall though a very good level, well done!

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Originally Posted by turnipeater

CONS
- If you drop down to the right on the first challenge and get the checkpoint it becomes very messy trying to get back up (swinging on bottom of platforms then onto those spinning thingh, try putting the checkpoint on the platforms so that if you do fall down and die at least you dont have to swing around trying to get back up.
-In the second challenge you can cheat by staying at the top and not jumping down untill all of the thingies are dead, maybe put in some walls to stop this. It took me ages to realise i had to grab the middle circle to get the paintinator too.
-in the third challenge with the electricity on the part where you have to swing over i got stuck frequently, try making the floor a bit lower so that you dont hit it when you reach the end of the grabable material.
-on the fourth challenge when you get past the slidey grabby balls you have to shoot upwards, tool me ages to realise this and i dont think it serves any purpose. may be better to just delete that. The platforms you shoot from the ceiling are easy to shoot while they are coming down which causes problems, can they be made out of a heavier material?

Overall though a very good level, well done!

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Hey, thanks for the great feedback. I checked out all of your suggestions and I fixed all of them! I actually added some other stuff too, so people can get more points in the level.

Thanks for your help! :D

hey when do you expect to website to be up and running? because i'm curious of whats gonna be in it.

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Originally Posted by superBlast

hey when do you expect to website to be up and running? because i'm curious of whats gonna be in it.

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The site will launch with the final episode of the series (either 19/20). Then on the site, it will have an animated ending to the series done in flash. The animation will end up being around 5-10 min long.

:D

I allowed myself to capture it. I had to test capturing anyway.

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cjsXCGMGObI"]YouTube - Little Big Apocalypse 17[/ame]

Works quite well...xD

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Originally Posted by Vanemiera

I allowed myself to capture it. I had to test capturing anyway.

YouTube - Little Big Apocalypse 17

Works quite well...xD

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OMG thanks dude.. that looks...soo...nice... :D

you guys must have big tv's or something becuase i have guess where the targets are at the boss and the room before it. i can't see most of them.

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Originally Posted by superBlast

you guys must have big tv's or something becuase i have guess where the targets are at the boss and the room before it. i can't see most of them.

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I'll try to fix that as soon as I can

Thanks for the heads up I never thought of that o_O

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Originally Posted by superBlast

you guys must have big tv's or something becuase i have guess where the targets are at the boss and the room before it. i can't see most of them.

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That's more a question of format. We probably have 16:9 video and you have 4:3 ;)

Well done on getting spotlighted! :)

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Originally Posted by wexfordian

Well done on getting spotlighted! :)

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Thanks, I'd love for you to try the level out ;)

i thought guessing where the targets are at was part of the level until i seen your videos. but i don't think you have to fix it because i didn't mind it it just seemed a little strange.

also i forgot to say congrats on getting spotlighted.

Ok finally got around to playing this (Kept searching for @snowspot before realising it wasn't your psn :))

Man This level is so enjoyable. I really like the artwork of the guy at the computer. And I love the feeling of progression as you navigate through each of the rooms. I ran out of lives on the hanging man room but thats only as I was rushing a bit. Will definitely be coming back to finish this :)

5 stars and a big fat heart for you.... by the way all those locked levels you have.... are they unlocked if you fish each level or are these just backup levels?

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Originally Posted by wexfordian

Ok finally got around to playing this (Kept searching for @snowspot before realising it wasn't your psn :))

Man This level is so enjoyable. I really like the artwork of the guy at the computer. And I love the feeling of progression as you navigate through each of the rooms. I ran out of lives on the hanging man room but thats only as I was rushing a bit. Will definitely be coming back to finish this :)

5 stars and a big fat heart for you.... by the way all those locked levels you have.... are they unlocked if you fish each level or are these just backup levels?

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Nope they are the other episodes :) To unlock 2-6 play level 1....then you get more levels as you progress :) There are 18 episodes at this point o_O

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Originally Posted by Snowspot

There are 18 episodes at this point o_O

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Man you've been busy :)

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Originally Posted by wexfordian

Man you've been busy :)

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More like.. I have no life... lol.

Check out episode 18, I just released it.. would love to hear what you think.

EPISODE 18

http://www.lbpcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=9616