A curious Sack

[rOckalOvEer x73]

A curious Sack by indie_r3cords
A curious Sack by indie_r3crods

Hello world!!!
This is my third level, but is the first time that I post in LBPC, so nice to meet everybody out there!!
First of all, I´m from México and I´m doing my best to write in english, so I apologize if I make mistakes .
Explore a colorful house, discover a mystical binary world, beat the LittleBigTrivia and all with the power of your curiosity.
I think that I made a really great job in the visuals, I put a lot of effort on it.
I really like my level, the big one problem is that the Trivia it´s too short, because my thermometer was full (in fact, this is my first full thermometer).
I hope you can give me some feedback (specially of my favorite LBP superstars!!!).
Enjoy the level and thanks for playing.
Ohhh!!!, sorry for not show you pictures, my camera is broken.

[Arrestor]

I do not have the time for a full review now (and will have to play your level again) but i think its great and everyone should play it.

One thing: There are some really hard jumps in it. And i dont like to be killed without being able to do something agains that (I speak of the first giant skull).

Just try it out everybody!

[memorex]

Hi rockandlover haha
Great level, I like what you did with the decoration, the level is original i liked. you are going in the right direction, I like to see that more you are able to do, see you later buddy.

[jeffcu28•]

Hey rOckalOvEer x73,

Wow. LBPC Newbies never fail to impress me .

You have a knack for creating beautifully cluttered environments. I'm referring to the intro office space scene, as well as the living room scene towards the middle of the level: your "real life" scenarios. You have so many visual elements going on, but I felt they worked really well together. I loved the pile of books and various computer equipment in the intro, and also all the furniture and other features of the living room. I like how you committed to the idea, and the environments were really convincing.

Overall, I liked the concept of being sucked inside a computer and a TV screen--A curious sack...brilliant title! I thought the dramatic shift from the cluttered computer desktop to the abstract binary world was really cool. Likewise, the transition from watching TV to being part of the TV show was just as impressive. I like what you did with the camera angles to give the illusion of title screens popping up. Good job!

Now for some constructive criticism. While I did like the minimal design of the binary computer world, I thought it got visually boring after a while. Maybe you could have cluttered it more with various sizes of "1's" and "0's" or add circuitboards or wires running in the background. I also felt the skull was out of place. When we first meet it, the white chandelier sticker is in the background and it just pops up to scare you. While this gives a spooky effect, I'm not entirely sure what this has to do with the digital theme. I got more of a haunted house vibe from this area more than anything else. Maybe you could have used a "worm-like" creature or some other pixelated creature to give the illusion of a virus taking over. Other than aesthetics, I agree with Arrestor that the size of the skull is way too big. While a skilled player may avoid contacting it, the average player will most likely die repeatedly. Difficulty isn't a bad thing, but in this case, it was just easy kills without any sense of reward for accomplishing the task.

My favorite gameplay element would have to be the LBP PSP who's who trivia TV show! That was absolutely entertaining, and this game is worth playing just for that! I'm not going to ruin anything, but Lleonard, if you're reading this, better check that out! You get an A+ for this section !

Beautifully organized clutter and interesting concept merge to give you 5s, a level, and author heart. Fantastic work here, and I look forward to more from ya!


D) All of the above,
jeffcu28

[rOckalOvEer x73]

Hello Arrestor!!!

Thanks for playing my level and beeing the first one who posted here, I´m glad to see you´ve enjoyed the level

One thing: There are some really hard jumps in it. And i dont like to be killed without being able to do something agains that (I speak of the first giant skull).

I know that its hard, but the goal in that section was thinked for a kind of "fast running" evading the corrupted data () and the skull. But now I see that that was not my best choise. But thanks for the comment creator, you´re awesome!

[rOckalOvEer x73]

OMG!!!
Jeffcu has posted on my level, thats really wonderful!!!
First of all, thanks for playing jeffcu, that means too much for me.

You have a knack for creating beautifully cluttered environments. I'm referring to the intro office space scene, as well as the living room scene towards the middle of the level: your "real life" scenarios. You have so many visual elements going on, but I felt they worked really well together. I loved the pile of books and various computer equipment in the intro, and also all the furniture and other features of the living room. I like how you committed to the idea, and the environments were really convincing.

Great! The "real world" scenarios were not suposed to be an important part of the level. At the beggining of my concept, the whole level was suposed to be part of the binary world, but when I saw the final aspect of my intro scene I get surprised. So I decided to changed the whole idea for the level. And now I see that this was a good idea!..

Overall, I liked the concept of being sucked inside a computer and a TV screen--A curious sack...brilliant title! I thought the dramatic shift from the cluttered computer desktop to the abstract binary world was really cool. Likewise, the transition from watching TV to being part of the TV show was just as impressive. I like what you did with the camera angles to give the illusion of title screens popping up. Good job!

That´s something curious, I wasn´t completely sure of the title, but I´m happy that you liked it. The TV "title screens" is a sequence which I´m very satisfied, I´m glad too se that i got that effect.

When we first meet it, the white chandelier sticker is in the background and it just pops up to scare you. While this gives a spooky effect, I'm not entirely sure what this has to do with the digital theme. I got more of a haunted house vibe from this area more than anything else. Maybe you could have used a "worm-like" creature or some other pixelated creature to give the illusion of a virus taking over.

Ummm, that chandelier is a reference to...you know that movie ahhh...or that song uhhhh..., ok, you caught me. I was working on that section when I saw that sticker and loved it, and I said "I must put it here, I MUST!!!". Sorry I could not resist. About the creature, that was the part with which I stay less satisfied, I think that it´ could better with the creatures that you suggest.

My favorite gameplay element would have to be the LBP PSP who's who trivia TV show! That was absolutely entertaining, and this game is worth playing just for that! I'm not going to ruin anything, but Lleonard, if you're reading this, better check that out! You get an A+ for this section !

.

Yes! The Trivia is definitely my favourite part and its great too read good things about it.. And it would be great if Lleonard was reading this, but it looks like just a few people wants to play my level .

Beautifully organized clutter and interesting concept merge to give you 5s, a level, and author heart. Fantastic work here, and I look forward to more from ya!

Thanks Jeffcu for taking time to play it and give me some really nice feedback, Nice comments from you motivate me to continue creating.

[SalieriAAX]

Hi rOckalOvEer x73,

Wow, what an original level! Really one of the most imaginative concepts I've played for a while.

Your household environments were really impressive, the detail and colour was quite glorious. We're always getting advised to just pick a few materials and stick with them, but you've done a great job with working with tons of different materials to create a fun, vibrant level.

I liked the way you get sucked in to both the computer and the TV, that was some very slick teleportation, and I liked the binary landscape. Although I have to agree about the difficulty of the skull. I didn't do too badly on the chase section, but the part where you have to kill it was insanely difficult. I died pretty much every time I went for one of the brains - this was a bit frustrating.

The popcorn/dvd tray section was brilliant, really well thought through, and the quiz was also very nicely done. I agree with jeff about the titles, they really added to the feeling that you were actually in a tv show. One thing, though, I was a bit confused with the first question because of the slightly seafaring element of 'Captain Skull'. Because of this I took a wild guess and was wrong, but to see the proper ending I wanted to play the level again to get it right, which meant killing the skull again, which took me forever because I'm not really very good at platformers.

ANYWAY, despite that, this was a superb level, and welcome to LBPC!

S

[Domik12]

Hi, rOckalOvEer x73! I just finish your level and must way, that you did great level. All this different areas with its own specific gameplay looked great. Your humour is great. All things that you did with materials are perfect and looked very cool and create good atmosphere. And of course level's main idea is absolutely genius. I loved you level and your way to create environments. So here are my 5 stars and heart for level and heart of creator for you. And I will look for some your new level.

[PaddyJ]

Great level. Loved the graphics and it's actually suprisingly long.

Improve(all to do with the computer section):

1. On the skull that moves side to side, shrink it a bit, it's too hard to avoid

2. On the skull boss, unlethalise the bit where the brains are attached to(it's really frustrating cuz you can die when you kill a brain). Instead, give it a different attack(fireballs, gas etc.).

[Fastbro]

I don't have the time or the patience to write a full review. But I'll say it was brilliant. The computer section had some fun platforming but could've used a little more scenery like jeffcu28 mentioned. The part in the living room was fun. I loved the way you used the remote and the DVD player. Lastly the T.V Quiz was great. I can see your a fan Lleonard! I got a bit confused on the question though, when it said about him visiting the sea I though about "The Shipwreak of Captain Skull" My final suggestion is the skull boss. I'm afraid to say it was way to hard. It seemed almost impossible to kill it without dying yourself. All in all I rated 5 star and hearted it! Can't wait to see what you come up with next!

[tominater12]

This is was an amazing level with tons of fun little segments and quizzes. Now I loved the way you used every day objects like a dvd player and computer to get into your levels. I also loved the way everything looked and just how cluttered it was. Now there were some issues I had with the computer section. First off the 1 spring was a little to underpowered and took me a while for me to finally bounce up. Then there was the flaming skull chase scene. I felt it was just cheap how 1 in every 3 tries the numbers would be right so you could jump through. I really did love the rest of the level and these are just minor flaws in your great level. 5 stars and a heart.

[Taffey]

Hey rOckalOvEer-

Great level you have here. The visuals are fantastic, and I love how varied and interesting the different areas are. The real world areas, computer world, and game show all have their own unique look and feel, and the transitions from one area to the next are very cool. My favorite things about the level are all the little details you included everywhere. The computer has little icons and windows, the bookshelf is cluttered with books and other stuff, the living room has all the comforts of home (including a remote - I love that), and the game show environment is appropriately bright and colorful. Your dialog is funny and it's obvious you have a good sense of humor. I know some people thought the computer world was a little plain, but I thought it was perfect. The zeroes and ones are perfectly proportioned, and I laughed when I saw the "virus" stickers start showing up. This level is a visual treat from start to finish.

You do have some problems here, mostly related to gameplay. I spent quite a bit of time wandering around the desk at the very beginning - it just isn't clear what you're supposed to do. I wasn't even sure what to do on my second play through... Are you supposed to grab the mouse or something or does the gas just kill you automatically? The next issue I had was already mentioned: the springy "1" isn't bouncy enough and it's difficult to make the jump to the right. And that skull boss..... Way too lethal. I woudn't say it's a difficult fight, but it's annoying to die over and over. That outside layer shouldn't be gas - maybe flaming material instead. I had the most problems in the living room though. I got completely stuck there and had no idea what to do until I read this thread. Of course the answer is obvious now, but it just wasn't intuitive. A quick speech bubble or arrow that says you need to grab the popcorn is all you need. The rest of this area is fine and well constructed - love the DVD player! I didn't have many other problems, but I noticed that you spelled "Sack Riders" wrong - it should be "Sack Raiders".

This is a great concept and very well executed overall. I'm glad to have you here on the boards and I can't wait to play your next creation. 5 stars, a heart, and a creator heart as well. Thanks for a really fun level!

[amazingflyingpoo]

Hidy Ho r0ckAll0vEer! I told you that I would get to your level, and I am sorry that it took me this long, but I am finally here

I just gave the level a play through, and I was impressed with a lot of your awesome ideas. The beginning section of the level looks remarkable. I actually booted the level up, and then just stood still staring and said "wow!". You did an awesome job building the room. Also, the teleportation works great

Then I got to the part with the numbers. I got a huge kick out of the binary (1's and 0's) since I assume that I was inside the computer. Soon after I got in there, though, I got very very very annoyed. The skull was annoying to me at first, but that alone wasn't bad enough to get me all bothered. My biggest problem was that not only was some skull chasing me around, but there was also some platforming I had to do (between the 1 and 0 that move up and down), and there must have been some black smoke there that was killing me, but the smoke was impossible to see because it was up against a black background! Man, I must have died here 20 times! To be completely honest with you, I would have quit the level at this point if it wasn't made by someone that I know on the forums. I finally passed this part, and the next thing I run into is another skull with bubbles on the side, but the skull moves so fast that it is hard to hit the bubbles, and even if you hit them, you are basically guaranteed to die from the red smoke behind the skull I just wasn't a big fan of these skulls altogether.

After I finally got away from the computer, the level went back to the amazing scenery from before and I climbed my way into the TV (using the ingenious idea of opening a DVD player and climbing the tray ).

I LOVED the quiz idea for the trivia! I must admit that I don't think that people outside of LBPC will appreciate it much, and most will probably actually like the level less because of it, but I personally loved it! It really made the level feel like it was made for LBPC, which was a fun touch.

So the gist of all of this is that the level was excellent, but there were just some major irritating elements inside the computer that sort of ruined the experience for me. Normally I would try to sugar coat the way I feel about something that irritates me, but that bit threw me overboard. In my opinion it just plain needs fixing, but it is your call completely Either way, awesome idea for a level, and I LOVED about 75% of it

[rOckalOvEer x73]

Really, really thanks for the good feedback and for take a time to play my level. And sorry for posting late my thanks, it´s just that I´ve been very busy at the school (I´m making a RC amphibious vehicle ). Also, I´ve working in the concepts and ideas for my next level, and I think that I have the main story and some gameplay concepts (my next level will be very, very artistic, well, I hope so). Thanks to Salieri, Dominik12, PaddyJ, Fastbro, tominater12, Taffey (OMG! ), and the always great amazingflyingpoo.

@Salieri Thanks man, it´s nice to read good comments from an excellent creator on LBPC. I´m glad to see that you have enjoyed my level.

Although I have to agree about the difficulty of the skull. I didn't do too badly on the chase section, but the part where you have to kill it was insanely difficult. I died pretty much every time I went for one of the brains - this was a bit frustrating.

I know now. Thanks to all the constructive feedback on LBPC I can say that I´ve learned a lot from your comments and I´m working to make of my next level, a better one.

@Dominik12.

Hi, rOckalOvEer x73! I just finish your level and must way, that you did great level. All this different areas with its own specific gameplay looked great. Your humour is great. All things that you did with materials are perfect and looked very cool and create good atmosphere. And of course level's main idea is absolutely genius. I loved you level and your way to create environments. So here are my 5 stars and heart for level and heart of creator for you. And I will look for some your new level.

Thank you Dominik12, I can see that you have enjoyed very much of my level, thats nice!! . Thanks for the comments about the "good athmosphere", because that was my principal goal at the "real world" scenarios.

@PaddyJ.

Great level. Loved the graphics and it's actually suprisingly long. Improve(all to do with the computer section): 1. On the skull that moves side to side, shrink it a bit, it's too hard to avoid 2. On the skull boss, unlethalise the bit where the brains are attached to(it's really frustrating cuz you can die when you kill a brain). Instead, give it a different attack(fireballs, gas etc.)

Than you for the good advice about my level, you can be assured that I´m going to take this into account in my future projects..

@Fastbro.
Hey fastbro!! First of all I must say that you personal image its crazzy and funny . Soory, but I must say that. Ok, now lets check your comments.

I don't have the time or the patience to write a full review. But I'll say it was brilliant. The computer section had some fun platforming but could've used a little more scenery like jeffcu28 mentioned. The part in the living room was fun. I loved the way you used the remote and the DVD player. Lastly the T.V Quiz was great. I can see your a fan Lleonard! I got a bit confused on the question though, when it said about him visiting the sea I though about "The Shipwreak of Captain Skull" My final suggestion is the skull boss. I'm afraid to say it was way to hard. It seemed almost impossible to kill it without dying yourself. All in all I rated 5 star and hearted it! Can't wait to see what you come up with next!

Uhhhmmmm, thanks for the forced comments about my level!!!. Its a joke.
And yes, I must admit that I really like the Lleonard levels. But unfortunately, I haven´t seen him for a while in LBPC.
Thanks Fastbro, I´m also waiting for your next level.

@Tominater12. (Nice nick man ).

This is was an amazing level with tons of fun little segments and quizzes. Now I loved the way you used every day objects like a dvd player and computer to get into your levels. I also loved the way everything looked and just how cluttered it was. Now there were some issues I had with the computer section. First off the 1 spring was a little to underpowered and took me a while for me to finally bounce up. Then there was the flaming skull chase scene. I felt it was just cheap how 1 in every 3 tries the numbers would be right so you could jump through. I really did love the rest of the level and these are just minor flaws in your great level. 5 stars and a heart.

Great!! Thanks for a nice feedback and I´m glad to see that you´ve enjoyed the most of my level. Also, for posting some problems that you had with the level, thats a good learning for my future levels..

@Taffey.
Great!!!, the amazing creatur of the Spase Corrps siriez haz left me a gud feedvak. (I´m sorry, I could not resist).
Well, aside my bad jokes about grammar I must say that it is a very good motivation for me read good comments and constructive criticism from my favourite creators (guys like you, Jeffcu and poo).

Great level you have here. The visuals are fantastic, and I love how varied and interesting the different areas are. The real world areas, computer world, and game show all have their own unique look and feel, and the transitions from one area to the next are very cool. My favorite things about the level are all the little details you included everywhere. The computer has little icons and windows, the bookshelf is cluttered with books and other stuff, the living room has all the comforts of home (including a remote - I love that), and the game show environment is appropriately bright and colorful. Your dialog is funny and it's obvious you have a good sense of humor. I know some people thought the computer world was a little plain, but I thought it was perfect. The zeroes and ones are perfectly proportioned, and I laughed when I saw the "virus" stickers start showing up. This level is a visual treat from start to finish.

Thats fantastic, the most of the time that I spent on this level was decorating it.
The bookshelf is based in my own one, and the rest of the decoratings were coming to mi mind one to one.

You do have some problems here, mostly related to gameplay. I spent quite a bit of time wandering around the desk at the very beginning - it just isn't clear what you're supposed to do. I wasn't even sure what to do on my second play through... Are you supposed to grab the mouse or something or does the gas just kill you automatically? The next issue I had was already mentioned: the springy "1" isn't bouncy enough and it's difficult to make the jump to the right. And that skull boss..... Way too lethal. I woudn't say it's a difficult fight, but it's annoying to die over and over. That outside layer shouldn't be gas - maybe flaming material instead. I had the most problems in the living room though. I got completely stuck there and had no idea what to do until I read this thread. Of course the answer is obvious now, but it just wasn't intuitive. A quick speech bubble or arrow that says you need to grab the popcorn is all you need. The rest of this area is fine and well constructed - love the DVD player!

Ha! the idea of DVD player suddenly appeared in my mind and I loved it from that point.
The other things you mentioned. The first mechanism was made to transport you to the computer when you grab the mouse. About the skulls, that was my error. It just was not my best idea.

This is a great concept and very well executed overall. I'm glad to have you here on the boards and I can't wait to play your next creation. 5 stars, a heart, and a creator heart as well. Thanks for a really fun level!

Thanks Taffey, it's great to read this from someone like you .

@amazingflyingpoo.

Hello again Poo.
Uhhmmm. I dont know what to say now .
First of all, as I told to Taffey, it´s great to read some feedback from you.

Then I got to the part with the numbers. I got a huge kick out of the binary (1's and 0's) since I assume that I was inside the computer. Soon after I got in there, though, I got very very very annoyed. The skull was annoying to me at first, but that alone wasn't bad enough to get me all bothered. My biggest problem was that not only was some skull chasing me around, but there was also some platforming I had to do (between the 1 and 0 that move up and down), and there must have been some black smoke there that was killing me, but the smoke was impossible to see because it was up against a black background! Man, I must have died here 20 times! To be completely honest with you, I would have quit the level at this point if it wasn't made by someone that I know on the forums. I finally passed this part, and the next thing I run into is another skull with bubbles on the side, but the skull moves so fast that it is hard to hit the bubbles, and even if you hit them, you are basically guaranteed to die from the red smoke behind the skull I just wasn't a big fan of these skulls altogether.

An apology for this section, Im sorry you have not enjoyed it as much as the rest of the level and thanks for be patient and finish my level .
I´ve learned from my mistakes at creating enemies and hope my next level could fix this issue.

In my opinion it just plain needs fixing, but it is your call completely Either way, awesome idea for a level, and I LOVED about 75% of it

The true its that I dont have too much time to republish this level, because I want to put all my effort on my next project. But thanks for the comments, but you can be sure that I´ll have in mind these tips on my next project.
And I'm very happy to see that there were many parts that you really like..

Thanks guys, all of you are awesome..

[himoks]

Really nice level!!!!! 5 stars and heart.

Please make more levels,begouse you made really good level!!!!