Fear and the Phantom Town (Winner: Halloween "Spooktacular" Level Design Contest)

[Teebonesy]

Fear and the Phantom Town
by PSN: Teebonesy
Available in the Pacific Ocean


Background:
The seed of this level began as my entry in the Halloween edition of the "Leonardo da Stickerist" competition, in which you create a piece of art using only stickers on cardboard. I came up with the story of a Dr. Seuss-esque town that dumped its pollution into a valley - for some reason this pollution drew the attention of nightly visitors: Things That Live in the Moon!



I really liked the idea and how the town looked, so I went into Create Mode and basically built a working diorama of part of the town. It was fun, but not playable. when Morgana announced a Halloween Level contest, I decided to just dive in and suck it up, creating a full level out of the concept, changing it around to make it more appropriate for a playable level, and of course to make it a bit more creepy, a bit more epic, and a lot more fun.

The story:
It's Halloween evening, and strange things are happening. Eerie, black-cloaked figures have been spotted around town. The news is reporting spooky sightings on the moon. And to top it off, there are rumors in town of an unusual, phantom village appearing in the distance.

What is the purpose of this mysterious phantom town? And are there really things that live in the moon? More importantly, as this night of trick-or-treating gets more and more dangerous, will Zwollie, xKappax, Teebonesy, and Morgana survive the night?

Yes, I've included short cameos from some of the more familiar sack-people around these parts. Don't blink or you might miss them!

Disclaimers:

This level has become a ROYAL PAIN to make any tweaks or adjustments to. It literally overheats the second I enter Edit Mode.

I've been struggling with checkpoint-spawning to force players around a bit at the end, but it's required me to eschew checkpoints through the rest of the level, or else the spawned ones don't work. That said, this is an exploration-based level - there really aren't many hazards at all, but this is LBP after all - the accidental "death-by-squishing" is ever-present. If it happens to you, I apologize profusely - you'll have to restart the whole level.

I also highly recommend playing solo only, at least the first time through. If you play online, you're likely going to miss a lot of good stuff, and you may not even be able to complete the level. There's a lot of scripted stuff here, and the timing needs to be just right.

Finally, while this level begins very cute and fun and full of Halloween spirit, my goal is definitely to give you a bit of a scare by the end. Hopefully everyone gets at least a little bit creeped out by the time they finish this bad boy.

Without further ado, screenshots:

[PaddyJ]

Will play this. Dont like the sackboy cutout NPCs tho. It kinda goes against the whole unique look the level has

[iGotFancyPants]

No i disagree with you PaddyJ, the cutouts were great. They complemented the level quite a lot!

Teebonesy, you have created a great level. I did notice the way the level was based off that picture, too so good job with that. I especially loved the fear part, it was epic.

5 star'd, hearted and tagged Brilliant

[Teebonesy]

I'd love to populate my levels entirely with uniquely-drawn characters, but it becomes unreasonable after a while (I tried this on a level in the beta) - and there's also the question of the universe of LBP - everyone playing the level is guaranteed to be a sack-person. So the question is, does your world take place in that universe, or will it be sack-people running around in some strange alien land with cartoon humans?

I have a photo studio level that I keep strictly for creating "sacktors" (yes!). I don't use any of the game's pre-built sack-people stickers, they're all posed and dressed specifically for the part. Occasionally when I want to have a crowd I'll recycle some of the extras, as you see here.

If I didn't go sack-people, I also wouldn't have been able to do the cameos from LBPC members, which is probably my favorite part of this level! I also have many of these NPCs moving around, and the easiest way to do that is with a solid cut-out piece.

[piggabling]

Wonderful! Finally another level from the great Teebonesy! I'll be sure to play this today! I can't wait!

[Jagrevi]

I CANNOT WAIT TO PLAY THIS.


Not only does it look great - anything that makes the creator wail in pain afterwards is definitely something that will go straight to the top of my "to play" list.

Nothing makes a level better than the sweat and blood of it's creator ... figuratively, of course.

With this today, and both Perpetual Distance 2 and Ghost of Sparta 2 supposedly coming either today or tomorrow, this is looking to shape up to be a very good weekend.

[Teebonesy]

Not only does it look great - anything that makes the creator wail in pain afterwards is definitely something that will go straight to the top of my "to play" list.

I definitely did a lot of wailing in pain with this level.

And cursing. Cursing through my TEETH! GRRRRRRR....

Oh, the things my neighbors must overhear through the walls.

At one point in my extended frustrations, I ANGRILY ate ginger snaps.
I mean, I ate them in a rage.
Little heart-shaped ginger snaps.

I didn't even think that was POSSIBLE!

[Jagrevi]

I love how it's originally based off when of your "Stickerist painting".

People have created great stuff in that contest, and I'd really like to see more people take up your lead and base levels off of alot of them.

[xkappax•]

I was planning on playing later, and now I know what level I'm going to start with. And thanks for including me. Unless I die or something. Then curse you for including me. (shakes fist).

Besides. BoxGhost can't die. She's already dead. Died in a bizarre flamingo racing accident years ago.

[dajdaj03]

Wow that looks very cool! I'll try that for sure!

EDIT:

Just played it!
Really great level and amazing visual design!
You used the extra layers glitch perfectly.!
The cut-scenes were very cool!

Great work!

[Incinerator22•]

Ever since your "The Movies", I realised your creation skills were great. You're a very talented person, not just in lbp but in tons of stuff!

[julesyjules]

Yeh, about time! ; )

I'll come back and edit this post when the threads a bit longer, i want to talk about *this* and *that* but half the fun of this level are the details and surprises that pop up along the way and its better going in not knowing.

So in broad strokes - amazing use of the level glitch, some truly great and bizarre cut-scenes and overall, one of those off-kilter experiences you only get with this game. Loved it.

'K, some finer points! - Those cinematics. The treetop vista was beautifully done, it really had the depth of a stop-motion cartoon, superb. Talking of depth, there were scenes using the layer glitch that really made me stop and gape. The crossroads in the middle of town was a definite visual highlight. I also loved when the madness kicked off in town, i was grinning like a loon. Its hard to get across that feeling of mayhem that you managed with this section, kudos! The nightmare cut-sequence was so random, a real Twilight Zone moment. The level definitely showcases your cinema-centric way of approaching things.

[MrsSpookyBuz•]

Hi Teebonesy - played this earlier, and I really enjoyed it. Lots of secrets, great characters and chock-full of fun.

However, in the woods segment, I jumped up to the top of the trees, couldn't see which way to go, and then jumped right. Unfortunately, I jumped out of the level and landed on the floor. Shame, because I thought it was brilliant up to then.

I'll give it another go shortly.

[xkappax•]

I have no idea what I just played. :P
I know I laughed a lot, though. lol.

[KoRnDawwg]

Oh em geez! Must play!

...It will have to be tomorrow though 'cause, well, can't access my PS3 -__-'

[comphermc]

I jumped off the edge of the level just like Spooky, but I ran through it again to catch the ending. Absolutely fantastic. Through and through. Loved it, hearted it, 5 star'ded it.

It just had so much character! I loved the cameos by some LBP folk - expecially the kappa and morgana references. LBP is just the perfect game for Halloween related stuff. The most ingenious part of the level, for me, was the use of prize bubbles for TVs. Oh wow - they worked so well. Your attention to detail is unrivaled.

Cheers.

(I added you on PSN)

[warlord_evil]

WARNING: Spoiler may ruin level ending.
[SPOILER]Are you supposed to die at the end of this level?[/SPOILER]

[piggabling]

Wow, great level TB! Just a pleasure to play and explore, although it was a little strange at some times, it was very fun. Always love the characters and the dialog in your levels! Not many creators can match your creativity! Not only creative, but it was beautiful. The three dimensional layers were used near flawlessly, except for the occaisonal spot you could see the bottom of them, but I forgive you for that they are soooo very hard to work with.

Overall great level! I meant to give it five stars but I accidently picked four stars, my bad.

Let us all hope you bring out some more levels over time!

[Morgana25]

I'd like to comment but since I died horribly I am currently unable to type.... no body and all. btw, is it possible to den mother your own cameo..... i suggest that it is. Silly Morgana wouldn't listen.

Seriously - after contest judging I'll post more.

[Zwollie•]

Loved it!! It's very you!!
Unstable yet brilliant with great use of the layer glitch and lots of hidden bubbles.
There were some glitches but you had a deadline so I'm sure you'll fix them in the days to come.

Full comments to come but I just wanted to pop in to thank you for the cameo, laughed my little bum* off

*I have to say bum cause I get censored if I say *** for some reason