"Journey to the Center of the Earth (PART 1)" by: CRIFFER

What mysteries lurk in the shadows of caverns never touched by the sun's rays? What secrets lie in wait to be discovered? Only Sackboy can answer these questions and he boldly embarks on a journey to the center of the earth.

Hey guys!

So this is the second level I've made. Well technically it's the first. I made "Leaps of Faith" as kind of a side note while I was making this level, and I finished this one first. So I guess this is my second published level.

ANYWAY, I'd love to get any feedback, good or bad. The level is a little short because I wanted to add as much detail as I could get away with. Here are some pics:

http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h1...1998/JCE_1.jpg
http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h1...1998/JCE_2.jpg
http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h1...1998/JCE_3.jpg
http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h1...1998/JCE_4.jpg

Just search for @CRIFFER and you'll find it.

I plan to make two more parts. In fact I'm almost done with the second one.

Thanks for any feedback!

It looks lovely. :)
Will play it as soon as I get a chance

Awesome. Much appreciated!

I'm playing your level now, commenting as I go

+ The camera angle, detail and scenery look good at the start, nice way to begin. Also like the design on the lift.
+ The cave looks nice, your rocks look good and you've used the planes well for details. Good job
+ Liked the lava, and the rock floating around in it.
+ The platforming elements so far have been well done. Taxing but not overly difficulty.
+ The design is good and the level is solid, i encountered no glitches or game breaking situations

- Using MM scientist, always better to create your own
- The black gas in the flower sections is hard to see, and the last checkpoint is quite a distance away
- I thought the conveyor with the crushing fire blocks was more down to luck, when I got to the top on my last life I hit more gas I couldnt see and died having to restart, I had to restart down at this point a further twice :( Maybe a double life checkpoint?
- After getting to the end of the emitted platforms, something appeared in my way on the last jump, knocking me into the gas below. I had to restart, and then could'nt get past the section I mentioned above

The level starts off great, I really enjoyed it, it then gets very very difficult, you need to tweak some sections and add more checkpoints. I retried the level 5 times in total which I think is a fair enough go.

Hey GrantosUK, thanks for giving it such a go.

I like your suggestions. I'll change the color of the black gas. Maybe red, so that people can see it better.

That block that appears at the end of the emitted platforms part is there for you to grab. It will then spin around and drop you on the final platform. I guess this isn't really clear. I figured most people would die the first time and then see that they're supposed to grab it. I'll change the material to something more obviously grabbable.

If it's not too much and you have time I'd love it if you would try to finish it. You almost made it to the boss and I'd love some feedback on that part. Either way I really appreciate your honest critique!

Yeah, I'll definetly try it again, I've got some more levels to play to get some comments on my own first, but I'll get to it tomorrow (day off work) :D

Okay, just finished my Journey to the Center of the Earth. Here are my thoughts:

Highlights:
-Visuals: I love the look of this level! I find that it's hard to make lava stages like this look all that great, but you succeeded, especially in the section with the lava and the floating platforms! Oh and your boss and the area that he occupies is also very well done. He was awesome by the way!
- Platforming: Some very nice bits of platforming. The rock falling as you jump, the swinging to moving rocks, and the the vertical tread portions are all very well done. The part with the trend was particularly cool!
- Quirky dialogue: It was weird, but it made me chuckle.

Criticisms:
- As nice as the visuals looked, I would like to see some of your own original creations, rather than the Mm characters, but this isn't that big of a deal.
- Some platforming areas were pretty tough and I agree with GrantosUK that the gas is hard to see in a lot of areas. I also recommend adding a double life checkpoint during the crushing block segments, both the horizontal and vertical parts.
- There was a bit of slow down during the Boss battle, which did affect my jumping ability a couple times. It wasn't horrible, but I think you might be able to improve it by removing some of the flower decorations. I think you could remove some and still maintain the awesome look of the boss.

A very nice underground level! I really enjoyed it. Nice job. Now bring on Part 2.

Thanks for the honest review, supercomputer.

I'll definitely change the color of that gas and throw in a double life checkpoint where you mentioned. As for the Mm characters, yeah I just slapped them in there. I'll think about designing my own. That would be pretty cool.

I'm glad you liked it for the most part! And thanks for the critique!

Out of curiosity, what did you rate it? And feel free to be as honest/brutal as you want. :)

And by the way my wife and I played your level the other night. I really enjoyed it. hearted and I think 4 or 5 stars. Part 2 is in the works and will probably be done in the next week or so. I'll keep you posted.

Hey ccapel, here's my review on Journey to the Center of the Earth

Pros:
- The falling stalagtites are cool. You might want to add a sort of snap sound, before it drops, to make it feel like it falls off of the ceiling, instead of just dropping down.
- The donkey kong arcade kind of thing is always good, but you might want to make the emitter in a little tunnel.. if you know what i mean. Now you can see the fireballs being emitted, which is kind of ugly. If you make it spawn in a little tunnel, you only see it roll out of the tunnnel.. making it much more realistic.
- Secrets :D I love secrets. You've got some nice hidden secrets, not too hidden, but not too obvious either.
- The floating pieces of rock right after the first secret, really nice :D It definately looks like they float in the water, and don't just move left and right. Good job. The jumps are a little hard, but that's not too much of a problem.
- NIce little snake-like thing that drags you up, right after Peep and Poop.
- Wow.. the temple place is really beautiful. I love how you made those white flowers arranged from big to small :D Also a nice touch that the music changes. Also.. when you gather the flower, the new sections opens :D Nice.
- The boss fight is nice and simple, good looking :D And a bit hectic.

Cons:
- MM made content.. I know, you only used a minimum.. but even just the little doctor at the beginning brings up a feel of being lazy. Please make custom content. Same goes for Peep and Poop :P
- The stamping blocks of fire, are too straight. I know it's kind of hard to make them realistic looking rocks, but this feels a bit too artificial. I'm sure you know what i mean.
- The snake thingies, even though i really love em.. you can see the bolts trough the wall :P Which is a bit awkward.
- Big con.. the elevator thingy right after the dissapearing blocks, is only on when you stand on it. If you die, you can't get back up since the elevator will be at the top.
- The monster laggs quite a lot :(
- The emitters that spawn fireballs, that are above the monster, are visible.

Overall a really good level ;) I liked it :D Gave it 5 stars, but no heart :( Srry

EDIT: My sackboy was dressed up like Bugs Bunny :P Maybe i should've picked a more adventure-based guy.. Should've used my Bomberman costume :D

I agree with everything ThommyTheThird mentioned. I would just like to say - I absolutely LOVE this level and it is SOOO close to being amazing. But the few things that are downsides are REALLY downsides.

The MM content, such as the collector character and the professor, are really out of place here because the level is so fantastic.

After the stomping blocks (running to the left) when you exit there is gas that is obscured by flowers. This is the kind of thing players hate - running out of one obstacle and immediately being killed by something they couldn't see. I would suggest making the floor longer coming out of the stomping blocks.

Where the professor is concerned, you could take him and change him up some so that he looks different. This object is used in so many levels....

You are obviously talented at visuals, so I would suggest making your own characters for the father and son.

wow the lava looks amazing in those pics :P

Hey guys thanks for the constructive criticism. I've made most of those changes since reading your posts. Fixed the elevator, hid the emitters and added the cracking sound effects.

The only problem I have with making little caves for the rocks to come out of and cutting up the stomping blocks is that I have basically no thermometer space left. I can pretty much do nothing. I'll go back in and see if I can borrow some space from somewhere cuz I really like the suggestions here.

And thanks for the compliments as well! :)

By the way, PART 2 is officially published. I'd love to get your feedback on it when you guys get a chance.

I played it, and here are my thoughts.

Overall, I liked it. The visuals are fine, and the idea is simple and well executed.

The platforming is fun, but really difficult. I would prefer if you could make it easier, and maybe think of somekind of simple puzzle or similar, to add variation.

I liked the dissappearing blocks, reminded me of Mega Man 9, although the final block closing the exit really annoyed me. Also, sometimes a block failed to appear, I guess when sackboy is placed at its spawn point, which also frustrated me.

I failed to complete the level in my third attempt, but gave it a positive rating. Maybe I will give it another attempt later :)


I would appreciate if you would play my level in return, and comment in my post: http://www.lbpcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=9714. Thanks.

Thanks for the quick comments, carlsen. I'll look into that block not appearing. I've seen it happen a few times before and I think i know how to fix it.

FYI, you have to grab that final block that is in your way when you jump. It will then spin around and drop you on the platform. In case you try it again...

I'll definitey play your level and post in your thread.

I really like this level. Visually it's stunning. I love the lighting, the clean lines of your rocks the small details of the flowers and the overall feel of the level. The climbing sections are challenging but not frustrating in the beginning and I like that it has a clear path to take - no question where to go next. The only problem I had was after navigating the angled pillars with the sponge on them (It took me 3 tries to get through... I must be tired.) I then got zapped in the next area with the flipping electric sponges. It's a minor thing but a checkpoint between the two might cut the frustration factor there.

I really enjoyed the humor of the dialogue between the two little guys but the second I saw them I immediately thought, "hm.... looks like the collector." As many of us have said here - I'm also not a fan of MM content. I am guilty of using it in my early levels but I've since realized that when I see it on a level it brings the shine down for me.

I think this level is great but it could be spectacular with just those few tweaks.

I rated it 4 stars (would have been 5 without the MM for me - I know it's minor but it matters) and it earned a heart from me.

Nice work.

Thanks for the suggestion Morgana. Just wanted to let you know i designed my own Peep and Poop and they're now in the level in place of the collector. thanks for the suggestion.

It definitely adds a lot having your own characters. I think I was just being lazy. I haven't swapped out the scientist yet but I'm going to as soon as i get some free time. If you're bored and want to check out the changes that would be cool.

better yet if you get a chance I'd love to know what you think of Part 2...

Hey man, I played this level and I gotta say it looks fantastic! I can't remember much now though because it was a few days ago when I played. But I remember I gave it 5 stars and a heart. Another thing is that I haven't actually finished it yet because it's so hard. >.<