Down Underground ***SPOTLIGHTE*******

**metsfan1025** · 09-09-2010

Down Underground by metsfan1025
Sackboy is trapped in an old sewer system; can he find his way back to the surface? There are various setbacks along the way, and this will cause sackboy to encounter a variety of places. This is my first level; it is mostly platforming and has decent length.

Hello psp community! I've been playing LBP psp quite a bit recently (got bored with modnation racer's lack of creativity in create modes), and I decided to make and public my first level. I have played numerous levels by other creators and have fooled around in create mode before, but this is my first actual level. And yes, I know I am new here, but I read the information stuff and do understand what F4F means, so if you want feedback, please post the level name and your psn and I'll try to get back to you.

The levels name is "Down Underground" and my psn is metsfan1025 (idk if that shows up anywhere else). I don't have any pictures or anything (I know how to upload but I have no way of taking them), but this level is about a journey through an underground sewer system that leads to many unfortunate happenings and mysterious places. It's mostly platforming, but there is a little dialogue. I encountered tons of problems making this level with wobble bolts, glueing problems, pistons, red screen shut-downs, and other stuff, so I kind of rushed the end out of frustration. So please go easy on me, its my first level, and feel free to post any advice or constructive criticism as it will be appreciated. I hope you enjoy the level; please rate and comment accordingly, thanks!

Edit: Forgot to mention, this level is supposed to be moderately difficult (not overwhelming, but your not really supposed to ace it right away). Also, it doesn't really have tons of point bubbles or anything, but there are quite a few hidden in sets of 2-5. Good luck!
Edit again: Also forgot to mention that I don't have any DLC packs at all, so it was hard to give it an original feel, but I tried to with the gameplay at least.

Edit one last time: To all those hesitant to play due to others having to restart, the problem has been fixed and it should run smoothly now

.

**Struanmcd** · 09-09-2010

Sounds great, I'll give it a try!
And by the way, Welcome to LittleBigPlanetCentral!

**metsfan1025** · 09-09-2010

Originally Posted by Struanmcd

Sounds great, I'll give it a try!
And by the way, Welcome to LittleBigPlanetCentral!

Alright thanks man

**Struanmcd** · 09-09-2010

[COLOR="rgb(0, 191, 255)"]Feedback[/COLOR]

Alright, I've played it, Here's my feedback;

Gameplay: Quite tricky at places, those sewer discharge pipes posed quite a problem though. I'm not sure whether a new player would manage it. Also, when the pipe fell, I found that I could not jump up and grab the sponge on the roof, I just got jammed. Restarting the game fixed it. I loved the maze though! I also thought the glass on glass approach in the dark area was good! 8.1/10
Originality: I've seen quite a few underground levels before, this quite resembled Ted and Robi, and also one of SkecthNZ's levels. Great puzzles and drawbacks. 7.1/10
Scenery: Lovely scenery, brilliant. I would suggest that there were a tad less stickers used... 8.1/10
Story: Nice little joke at the end. I believe Taffey made a similar statement in armeggedor.
Difficulty: Very hard to begin with. Gets easier later. I'd suggest you fix the piping area. 6.9/10
Scoring: Not many score bubbles Unfortuantly.... 6.5/10
Overall: 8.5/10. Great level, original aspects. I hope to see more from you!
I gave it

and a

. I think I may replay this level for the Ace...

F4F: My level is called The Sceptre of Egypt

**metsfan1025** · 09-09-2010

Originally Posted by Struanmcd

[COLOR="rgb(0, 191, 255)"]Feedback[/COLOR]

Alright, I've played it, Here's my feedback;

Gameplay: Quite tricky at places, those sewer discharge pipes posed quite a problem though. I'm not sure whether a new player would manage it. Also, when the pipe fell, I found that I could not jump up and grab the sponge on the roof, I just got jammed. Restarting the game fixed it. I loved the maze though! I also thought the glass on glass approach in the dark area was good! 8.1/10
Originality: I've seen quite a few underground levels before, this quite resembled Ted and Robi, and also one of SkecthNZ's levels. Great puzzles and drawbacks. 7.1/10
Scenery: Lovely scenery, brilliant. I would suggest that there were a tad less stickers used... 8.1/10
Story: Nice little joke at the end. I believe Taffey made a similar statement in armeggedor.
Difficulty: Very hard to begin with. Gets easier later. I'd suggest you fix the piping area. 6.9/10
Scoring: Not many score bubbles Unfortuantly.... 6.5/10
Overall: 8.5/10. Great level, original aspects. I hope to see more from you!
I gave it

and a

. I think I may replay this level for the Ace...

F4F: My level is called The Sceptre of Egypt

Thanks for the quick feedback. Yes, I know the level is quite difficult. If that jump in the second room is too difficult I should be able to fix that. As for the pipe part, I'm assuming you died the first time and went back in and got stuck in the connector part. I've never had to restart in a test run because of this, but it did often take a good 10-20 seconds of fiddling around. If you do have to restart though, its pretty early on and you shouldn't really die the second time. I've tried to fix the pivot area, but to no avail. I may end up just making the proximity switch have a wider radius so you just don't die the first time even if your reflexes weren't that great.

Anyways, I played all of those levels that you mentioned, so I probably was a little inspired by most of them. Since it was my first level, I kind of threw together a couple styles that I saw while I played, figuring it would help me stay in my comfort zone for my first level. Expect more original content in the future

.

By the way, there actually are quite a few sets of score bubbles throughout the level, they are just hidden. It's not a bubble frenzy, but I'm pretty sure there are at least 10-15 sets of bubbles throughout the level; you just have to check behind things and in things. For example, after you first slide down the pipe in the beginning, you can climb to your left and up to the right part of the broken pipe and theres 5 bubbles in there. Did you get those?

I'm downloading your level right now too, will post shortly.

**VelcroJonze** · 09-09-2010

Hello metsfan1025 and welcome to lbpcentral!! This is the best place on earth for lbp psp.

Great level, I was thoroughly impressed with everything you made. The platforming was challenging just the way I like it. The designs you used flowed very nice. I noticed you had some bubbles hidden in some out of the way places and that is something I always enjoy. I am a high score chaser so those were fun to go after. You have a nice eye for the details, the one rat and the two bats seemed a bit out of place, with the realism and gritty atmosphere you created they seemed very cartoony. That is just my opinion, there are people who might actually like them.

I did get stuck in the duct just like Struanmcd, when it collapsed I was at the end, and I fell in the gas when it collapsed. When I respawned I tried to get through the opening and I couldn't make it. Restart. I avoided the end piece of the duct my next go, and it was smooth sailing to the end.

I thought the level was over, then the elevator breaks, and what is this? All kinds of crazy things going on downstairs. I loved the platforming in the dark, with the lights swinging and letting me see behind it. I have never seen that done before like that. You get major cool points for that!! The puzzle was great, it reminded me of the original Bioshock hacking game, and getting the fuse into place to make the thing work was very well done.

The ending was top notch and funny, I loved the stab at Justin Bieber!! Great job!!

I have a feeling you might republish this so I won't heart it......yet. PM me if you do.

You get a creator heart for now!!

-VJ

Oh, when you get a chance, play one of my levels, just look in my signature, pick one, and leave me a little feedback. No rush.

**metsfan1025** · 09-09-2010

Originally Posted by VelcroJonze

Hello metsfan1025 and welcome to lbpcentral!! This is the best place on earth for lbp psp.

Great level, I was thoroughly impressed with everything you made. The platforming was challenging just the way I like it. The designs you used flowed very nice. I noticed you had some bubbles hidden in some out of the way places and that is something I always enjoy. I am a high score chaser so those were fun to go after. You have a nice eye for the details, the one rat and the two bats seemed a bit out of place, with the realism and gritty atmosphere you created they seemed very cartoony. That is just my opinion, there are people who might actually like them.

I did get stuck in the duct just like Struanmcd, when it collapsed I was at the end, and I fell in the gas when it collapsed. When I respawned I tried to get through the opening and I couldn't make it. Restart. I avoided the end piece of the duct my next go, and it was smooth sailing to the end.

I thought the level was over, then the elevator breaks, and what is this? All kinds of crazy things going on downstairs. I loved the platforming in the dark, with the lights swinging and letting me see behind it. I have never seen that done before like that. You get major cool points for that!! The puzzle was great, it reminded me of the original Bioshock hacking game, and getting the fuse into place to make the thing work was very well done.

The ending was top notch and funny, I loved the stab at Justin Bieber!! Great job!!

I have a feeling you might republish this so I won't heart it......yet. PM me if you do.

You get a creator heart for now!!

-VJ

Oh, when you get a chance, play one of my levels, just look in my signature, pick one, and leave me a little feedback. No rush.

Thanks for all the compliments, seeing as its 2 for 2 with the pipe, looks like I'll have to republish. Back to the psp!

And yeah, I know the rat and bats are a bit cartoony, but I really wanted to include some kind of creatures in the level and they seemed most fitting. After multiple tries, I've just accepted that I'm horrible at character/creature design. I would like them to look gritty as you said, but I just wasn't able to do it and didn't have the patience. So many aspects of this level frustrated me enough as it is; the wobble bolt in the swinging light that you mentioned literally transforms into a motor bolt every time I enter edit mode, for example.

**Balgarino** · 09-10-2010

Sounds cool

l'll give it a go when you republish.Yeah,l'm horrible at character desings too,but you'll get the hang of it...if you practice

**anoken** · 09-10-2010

Welcome to lbpc! If you have any questions on F4F or how stuff works (I didn't know at first too), just ask! I'll check out your level this weekend if I have time

**metsfan1025** · 09-10-2010

Thanks guys- and I already republished and the level should run smoothly now

.

**anoken** · 09-11-2010

Down Underground
Score: 8.6/10
Rating:

By: metsfan1025

Spoiler - Down Underground

Wow. If this is your very first, I'm very impressed.

Story: N/A/10
No story. It's all good.

Music/SFX Choice: 6/10
This was the main thing that bugged me in the level. There were a lot of parts when there should of been some sort of SFX, and the music just didn't seem to go with the environment. I mean, it's totally my opinion, but I would of done some eerie song for the sewer and spacey/labratory song for the "lab." I did like the bieber make fun of though

Appearance: 9/10
Corner editing is great! Even I don't like to corner edit that much, but it looked very good. Materials flowed okay, however, the transition to the outhouse at the end could of been a little better. Stickers were repetitive in some aspects, but looked good.

Creatures/Objects: 8.2/10
Not very many creatures, just those bats and whatever you call the other one. They looked good enough I guess. Not anything amazing. All the sewer objects add a lot to the sewer appearance though, I liked those!

Gameplay: 9.2/10
Very fun and original. I like how you kept it interactive with the sewer tube breaking and such. There were no issues I could really think of except the lag, but that's not really your fault. Maybe use a little less gas. And the part with the moving gears and electric moving platforms was kinda frustrating... Other than that it was fun! Oh but one more thing, some more bubbles would be nice. That was a little lacking.

Overall: 8.6/10 (not an average)
Very very good for your first. I'll tell you my first level published here was not even close to how good yours was. I gave you and cannot wait till your next level. I'm sure this will be spotlighted of some sort.

---

I posted this in my review thread, remember, if you want any reviews in the future be sure to check it out.

F4F: I'm not sure if you understand this yet (just helpin' you out here, i didn't get it at first) you put this level under F4F (feedback for feedback) which means since I gave you feedback, you owe me some. It'd be great if you'd check out my level: A Bubbly Garden. Thanks!

**metsfan1025** · 09-11-2010

Thanks for the feedback! And yes, I do know how F4F works (I guess you didn't read my entire really long OP but thats ok) and I should be able to get back to you some time this weekend.

Since I don't have any DLC, I had trouble finding music to fit the level; the starting selection of songs isn't great. As for SFX, I thought I had a lot in, but I guess I didn't looking back. And I know the animals look bad, character design and bubble placement are the two main things I really struggled with.

**unXpectiD** · 09-11-2010

I will play this level and having read the feedback its going to be quite somthing.
Ps. When I make somthing quickly make what could be a scene from it and then change materials until looks good.
PPs. I dont have any dlc either

**Struanmcd** · 09-11-2010

If you are struggling with characters, try dropping a message with Ali's Muffin. I'm sure if you ask nicely she'll (I think they're a she) may create one for you. I reckon I can match their abilities in character design as well. I just haven't shown anyone any of my characters yet!

AND YES! MY CHARACTERS CAN BE A LOT BETTER THAN GLITCH LAND AND TUTORIAL!
I admit, those characters were awful.

**Balgarino** · 09-11-2010

Wow!!! this level is really good! l can´t belive it´s your first! the visuals were cool,l really liked the sewer pipes.Materials blend great and sticker work is cool.The creatures felt out of place,but l didn´t mind,they look cool.

l really loved the gameplay! it´s very fun! l loved the puzzle it´s really well done and the dark part was really cool,that was very original.The whole level was fun and easy...l mean challenging...yeah.l don´t think if a begginer player would make it through this level,some might get frustated and give it a low rating,because that´s how people are.

Anyways,this level´s great!!! you´re lying this isn´t your first!TELL THE TRUTH!!! nah,l´m kidding.This level has a high chance of getting spotlighted or at least a nod.l can´t wait for your next level,l can see great levels in your future.5 stars and a heart.

Can you F4F my level Apocalypse:Rising?

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