Manufactured Madness

[mrsupercomputer]

Manufactured Madness by mrsupercomputer
Robots at a nerby foundry have started to malfunction and are becoming increasingly hostile. Make your way across the hazardous wasteland, enter the foundry and aid the other robots in their escape!


Man, was this level was a chore to build! I had so many ideas going into this, but as I began to build, I found that many of them wouldn't work how I envisioned. In fact, I actually built this entire level twice. I was very unhappy with my original design, so I scrapped it and rebuilt it. The theme is basically the same, as are a lot of the ideas, I just rearranged them a bit. But even with the redesign, I still had to cut a lot of ideas, but I think it turned out okay.

Anyway, I would love to get some feedback on it. I've ran into a few oddities, but I've tried to iron out all the bugs as much as possible. I tried a few ideas that were a bit risky, so I apologize if something breaks on you while you're in the level. Hopefully there won't be too much left to fix, as I'm pretty tired of working on this thing!

As for F4F, I'll try and give as much as I can!

Screenshots:

[Trap_T]

I played it literally a few seconds after you published, and I have to saw it looks amazing (as with all your levels)!

Lots of detail, and an interesting story, but sadly I didn't get to finish...

I kept getting stuck at the part where the bridge/walkway is broken in two, and I fall into the valley/pit with the broken cars... I can't get passed that...

P.S. The fire ball that one robot shot at me looked awesome, and I'll be stealing that idea.

***EDIT***

Alright! After pulling on everything and finally noticing the grab switch on the top car, I got past that part.

The level is amazing, great eerie atmosphere, and the boss/final battle was entertaining since I didn't feel like losing my new found robo-buddies.

What I loved the most was how you used the candle flames for the molten metals and the fireballs, never seen that before and I have to say it looked incredible!

I felt it was pretty short, but time flies when you're having fun.

x 2 and a heart.

[NinjaMicWZ]

Yes! What a way to start off the week :D be back when I'm done.

[mrsupercomputer]

I kept getting stuck at the part where the bridge/walkway is broken in two, and I fall into the valley/pit with the broken cars... I can't get passed that...

Yeah, I was a worried some people might get stuck here. I didn't really give a whole lot of clues and since that area is a bit foggy, it's kind of hard to see. You need to push the wrecked car in the back to the right, so that you can jump up into the crane.

[Kog]

Great level! Another masterpiece from a great creator! The only thing that bugged me is the title, you didn't stick with your normal routine by having [Object] [Place] D:

Want me to film this? If so I can get it done by tomorrow!

[mrsupercomputer]

Great level! Another masterpiece from a great creator! The only thing that bugged me is the title, you didn't stick with your normal routine by having [Object] [Place] D:

Haha! You don't even know how I much I struggled with that! I just couldn't think of anything that I liked. I'm still not 100% satisfied with Manufactured Madness, but I'll probably stick with it.

Want me to film this? If so I can get it done by tomorrow!

Sure, that'd be great!

[NinjaMicWZ]

Cool. I think you, geosautus, and jackofcourse are very similar. Comparable in that you both have only a few levels, but what is there is pound for pound great, memorable, and each experience is totally unique from the last with new ideas, eye popping effects and a world that feels totally it's own. They're also straight, good old fashioned fun.

Anyway... I loved the world of this level, I love the design, the balance of platforming and bits of puzzle solving (I didn't realize I had superhuman strength until I tried :P), the effects, the robot design - very cartoony, but sticker to have life and complexity - I love all the industrial stylings, machines, and mood - great use of what is normally a terribly ugly cardboard material, to make things feel desolate and wasted. Great use of rocket smoke in the right places. Crashing through the window was great (wish there was a wee bit more of a ride right there, but still great), the bus ride was probably the best action sequence I've seen and a good challenge. I also like your rescue reward system. This reminds me alot of the 3000 A.D. era of Chrono Trigger and the Robo side missions - I like sci-fi alot when it's done right in LBP, and your few bits of dialogue perfectly set the stage for a quick story.

Little details, like what you had in Zephyr Valley to create depth and perspective in the background like telephone poles, window views of buildings - things like that don't get noticed much, but they should.

I like the way the robot seige on the bus was in the backplane, but you used an invisible hit box in the front plane for them to receive damage. Good use of the technique, and gave that section proper depth - probably the only way they could roll by on a higher platform that was actually open to fire too.

Although the quietness of the level seemed to add to the lifelessness of the world, I would have liked alot more sound on things... a whole bunch from the mechanical sound set, like squeaky metal, metal clank, mechanism engage, steam engine etc on elevators, robots, and conveyor belts... the presses - some sensor switches set to speed so that when you're approaching heavy machine areas you hear the noise progressively build towards the most active part of it. Slight squeaks when the molten tubs tip, and when the one you swing from sways side to side (switch dead center, and a key on either side, set to speed should give those the perfect sound). Some more present vehicle sounds etc It's hard to find a balance where sounds are ambient and help with immersion, but not deafening and annoying... so it's entirely up to you, as it's just my style to slather things with sounds. It's absolutely 5 stars, and I'm happy with it either way. Another good one for industrial stuff is chainsaw from monster pack, and the windmill and mechanism stop from SotC pack.

I also like how you did your cinematic intro with two small billboards that were in context with the level, and used the thermometer for what counts.

[Trap_T]

Although the quietness of the level seemed to add to the lifelessness of the world, I would have liked alot more sound on things... a whole bunch from the mechanical sound set, like squeaky metal, metal clank, steam engine etc on elevators, robots, and conveyor belts... the presses - some sensor switches set to speed so that when you're approaching heavy machine areas you hear the noise progressively build towards the most active part of it. Some more present vehicle sounds etc It's hard to find a balance where sounds are ambient and help with immersion, but not deafening and annoying... so it's entirely up to you, as it's just my style to slather things with sounds. It's absolutely 5 stars, and I'm happy with it either way.

I second this.

[comphermc]

Well, Ninja pretty much said everything that my head was too overwhelmed to formulate into words. You, sir, have managed to find yourself in the ranks of the all-time greats of LBP. You never cease to amaze me. Another 5 star level, and an automatic heart. This level is ripe with goodness, from the enemy designs, to the complicated mechanisms at work, to the fire effects, to the overall detail, and the fantastic scripted events. Kudos.

Now get this man a crown.

No need to do F4F, but if you want, check out my latest level, "Brain Chain Mini-Game". I have a contest going...

[RickTheRipper]

After playing this masterpiece, I've come to the conclusion that I hate you. Every level you make is pure awesome wrapped up in a bow of extra coolness, and this one ups the ante. I demand that you stop making the background environment look just as good as the level itself, and I am quite peeved at how well everything else looked (great enemy designs, great level design, and the way you made the fire was brilliant). Then there's these cute and simple stories you put together that fit the levels so well, and it makes us normal creators look bad. These injustices must be stopped!

There's only one thing that actually bothered me and it was the lack of noises. I was expecting more crashes, squeaks, and rumblings, but the thermo has to give at some point, so it's okay.

Overall, a well deserved and a heart.

[brnxblze]

Awesome, a new level from one of my favorite creators! The pics look great, I'm so glad the thing in your sig saying "nothing for now, maybe something small" was a lie and now even better news you will be working on Zephyr Valley 2 . I'll check it out and give feedback as soon as I play it.

[antman]

Dude i just turned off my Ps3...now i have to turn it back on again. I'm a big fan of your levels. Be back with some thoughts...

[Morgana25]

Really top notch work again. Fantastic billboard title. Very subtle. Great ligthting and the molten metal crucibles look great! Thought the robot design was wonderful too. Nifty trick with the paintinator and the robots on the bus ride too. I'm not sure how the paintinator is triggered on the bus but with two people it didn't show up until the bus blew up the first time when I was playing 2x. Still working out how to get to some of your "hidden" in plain sight bubbles too.

Gave it 5 stars & hearted! Thanks for sharing yet another fun level!

[antman]

Wow. Another masterpiece. You always seem to pick unique themes and environments and this was no different. I love the whole junkyard, factory, desolate town environment. The obstacles were unique and very fluid. The amount of care, detail and polish that went into this level really shows.

I was expecting a boss battle, like against a giant robot or something, but the whole level was so awesome it didnt matter.

It seems like you can probably pull off any theme and make it epic. I kinda feel like we have that in common as creators, but you can probably pull off any theme way better than me. Anyway, outstanding job on this one.

I would really, greatly appreciate a quick thought or two on my wrestling level. "LBPC Wrestling Presents: Sack-A-Mania!" (PSN:amblaze) (its on cool pages 1, but just in case you don't check out cool pages)I don't have a level thread on it, but any opinion of yours would be nice.

[Keldur]

YESSSSS..!

Why does your signature say that you weren't working of anything if you actually were? D:

Anyways, who cares. When I saw this post, I immedediately jumped to the ps3.

First of all, lemme say, that I loved how you did such a little tittle sequence. Where everybody goes high n' epic -wich is no bad thing-, you did such a simple yet effective thing. I liked that!

The story, it's as always, effective. I mean, there's no need for you to put big plots in the level, because somehow the story it's just the excuse to free the good robots and kick the ***** of the bad ones. And I'm sure everybody loves that.

It's curious how on every differnt level, you go for a different theme; first mulberry, afterwards basilisk bog and zephyr valley. I have to admit that the aesthetics of this level... well, I didn't like them. But it's not that they were badly done; -in fact, it was polished in such an incredible way- it's just that generally, I don't like industrial looking and dark stuff. But that's nothing I can complain about.

Oh, and as always, amazing character design. Seriously. Just by putting some curves into the robots and not making them square looking, and going for wheels instead of robotics legs... I dunno when I saw that before, but those kind are probably my favorite kind of robots.

All in all, this level, is always top notch, specially coming from my favorite creator, who happens to be you (it made my day when trough zephyr valley I found out all of your stuff). So, I give you and a heart, obviusly.


Ok, now for those little things that you might want to know if you ever decide to edit the level:

-I think that is after the first elevator when you find a robot that fires missiles to you, a robot wich is, I think inmobile, unless the 2nd one, and that you have to beat using the paintinator. What happened to me here is that the robot killed me, and I kept respawning at the checkpoint, with happened to be on the same layer as the missiles, so I kept respawning and instantly dying, without nothing I could do. I had to restart the level.
Ok, this was the serious thing, now for the lil' ones

-There's a part where you have to grab some containers and pass over flamethrowers, that keep stoping/throwingflames/stoping/throwing flames/stoping... (you get the idea; I didn't know how to explain it, unless your levels, my english isn't top notch). Just at the end, there's a flamethrower that's really near to the bottom of the container, onto you're grabbing, so you have high chances of dying. What I didn 't know is that you have to let go BEFORE that, so... if you want the level to prevent fools like me dying o there, maybe some kind of indication may do.

Thanks for making my day once again! I do really look up to you when it comes at making levels!


As for the feedback, I'd love you to leave it on my super very soon soon incoming level, Lafarge's Request. I shall PM you when the time comes. Thanks again!