Ashton Chronicles 1: Hidden Water Temple

[damaz10]

http://lbp.me/v/trw19x

Finally after about a year of not publishing anything new, my level is done! I started on this in February this year and took a while to get done with it mainly because during that time I was pushing myself to be a better creator and learn all the techniques and logic what-not. This particlular level went through 7 different versions before I settled on this one, trust me, all the others were small in comparison to what is the end result. Hope you guys enjoy my newest creation and please, don't hold back on feedback, I really want to know how the level plays and what you think of the design and such. Much love went into this level so enjoy it! This is my first level thread on LBPC so hope all goes well!
The level features an awesome boss battle(trust me, it's epic) and some hidden artifacts which will give you a nice prize at the end if you find them all! So get out there and play this man! It's freaking awesome!

And for those of you visually inclined, here are a few screenshots, I'll put more up when I can EDIT: Done

Oops, almost forgot to say my thanks to some fellow sacks:

• Rtm223: for his waterfall tech demo that really added a whole new atmosphere to my level
• TheAdipose: for his 3d background/foreground tool which helped add to the scenery
• Sehven/Rtm223: for their hamster wheel tech that made a cool addition to
• Incinerator22 and LBPCLogicPack: for their awesome copyable levels which helped get my logic skills up to par and really is responsible for how this level plays, seriously, because of the editable logic, I really got my prowness in logic up and running.
• My online friends for beta testing and also jumping in and giving me some nice company during my long creating hours, 'specially YEAH-NAH, dude is fun to have in create mode, and kudos to Shhabbazz for beta'ing too

To read a review made by John82wa click here.
EDIT: Seeing as this is my first time posting a level thread, I will F4F 10 people so my plate is not full, thanks for playing my level in advance guys!

EDIT: This level has theck gas used so anyone affected by TheckX will not be able to finish it. I will try to find a solution to this as quickly as possible so it's playable to everyone
EDIT: Done Removed theck gas so now worries anymore

[shotgun_69]

Great use of everyone's favourite layer glitch, the environment is lush at the start and the lights set the mood very nicely. The puzzles inside the temple are really good and I always love a good maze in a level and have a secret layer one is genius but it's hard to tell where the exit is so you sometimes get crushed. The wall climb is really fun, once you get the hang of it lol. Loved the conveyor belt bit, really well designed. The boss is suitable hard and loved the firing mechanism, makes a change from using the paintanator. Overall a long and colourful, well varied level with great puzzles and end boss. I can't wait to see more of Ashton and his adventures. 9/10.

[damaz10]

Wow, thanks dude, I wasn't sure how the level would be recieved by the community, its a new funny feeling having a level out for the first time in like forever Yeah some beta testers said the hidden layer wheel was kinda hard, I'll probably end up just editing the exit so it's easier to see, it's hard to make it more visible when it's underwater, thanks for the postive feedback dude I appreciate it

[X-FROGBOY-X]

Wow, this looks like a very cool level! I gotta play this tomorrow.

[Shhabbazz]

I will definitely be playing this tomorrow! Looks amazing dude!!!

[shotgun_69]

No probs man. If your interested I'm looking for BETA testers for my new level and if you (or anyone you know) would be interested in helping me that would be awesome.

[damaz10]

No probs man. If your interested I'm looking for BETA testers for my new level and if you (or anyone you know) would be interested in helping me that would be awesome.

Cool man, I can beta if you need it, just friend me and send a key whenever, as for my level I changed the water wheel a little, changed the material to laticed stone I think? Made it easier to see where you are when you are in the second layer of it. Also added some magic mouths so you see a preview of where you are going on that part. Work now started on level 2 of the series!!!

[EvilWuun]

-So, straight out the gate, I'm impressed with the visuals, stickering, and audio of the first area; the waterfall is really well done
-awesome job hiding and using the first wheel-switch, I myself have yet pull those switches apart and see how they tick
-The box puzzles are great, I love when creators make me use the same piece of a puzzle multiple times, it forces you to constantly re-evaluate the puzzle in question..1 complaint: even single player, there's a decent amount of lag here...nothing to get in a twist about, and there's not much you can do about it because of the superb stickering, but lag has always been a pet peeve of mine (if it's bad enough, I won't even play a level, I feel it's part of the overall experience)
-it might be me, but the combination of a ton of stickers, a little lag and general underwater confusion made the spinning wheel slightly disorienting...very creative with the back layer of the puzzle, though it was actually hard to tell that's what I was supposed to do, and harder to tell where I was going once there...perhaps a bit more of an indication to the right?
-the wheels used to transfer from front/back/front underwater were well done, as well as the wheel switches afterwards to turn the tunnels
-I love the 4-part-switches-on-a-wheel, it was a good change of pace, as I was expecting another wheelswitch after the water section
-the vertically shifting wall-climb was AWESOME, I've never seen that done (though I'm new to LBP 3 months, so what do I know)
-is there a visual hint anywhere pertaining to the three switches? If not, I personally think there should be, as this puzzle could result in a lot of incomplete plays...I beat it entirely by accident, running into one of the switches and flipping it into the correct position ;p
-the conveyors were a blast, and I appreciate the explanation for why they're so stretchy...I've tried to make those kind of conveyors before, and always had the same issue (or maybe you wanted them like that?)
-TRULY EPIC boss fight, the swirling mess of stickers is awesome! gotta say though, I had a tough tough time figuring out what to load into the catapult, perhaps a speech bubble hinting (maybe I should check ___________ for something to load in the catapult!"...just me, I fully agree with you in advance that BOSS FIGHTS aren't SUPPOSE to be easy...
-while I understand the use of paint for the boss, seeing the blue paint all over your fantastic stickering and design made me smirk a little, it feels out of place...
-during the escape, the camera is perfect and the falling rocks seem like they're close to squishing you constantly...so close, in fact, that one clipped me and sent me FLYING backwards...nothing to fix, just a cool little sequence I didn't expect (though I couldn't tell if there was something on the mural that I was actually supposed to write down...maybe I've played too many RPGs in my day?)
-although I only gathered 2 of them, I love the concept of hidden collectibles, and the indicator of how many you have at the scoreboard is great...
OVERVIEW: Barring a few areas of minor confusion and some tolerable lag, this level was AWESOME. Great visuals, corner-editing, and stickering combined with some very interesting platforming elements and puzzles continually pushed me forward, and a building sense of danger lent to the overall feel...well, well done, with 5 stars and a heart from this guy! KEEP IT UP!
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[damaz10]

Glad someone resurrected my thread from the 2nd page Thanks for the play man, I really appreciate it

it might be me, but the combination of a ton of stickers, a little lag and general underwater confusion made the spinning wheel slightly disorienting...very creative with the back layer of the puzzle, though it was actually hard to tell that's what I was supposed to do, and harder to tell where I was going once there...perhaps a bit more of an indication to the right?

Yeah I keep hearing about this part, I added some magic mouths that trigger and show you which direction to go right when you get to the water wheel part, maybe you ended up playing my level before I added that update?

is there a visual hint anywhere pertaining to the three switches? If not, I personally think there should be, as this puzzle could result in a lot of incomplete plays...I beat it entirely by accident, running into one of the switches and flipping it into the correct position ;p

I thought I added a magic mouth clue? I says something like "It seems I need to set these switches a certain way to activate the conveyors". Hmm.. I'll check this when I get on my ps3 next time.

TRULY EPIC boss fight, the swirling mess of stickers is awesome! gotta say though, I had a tough tough time figuring out what to load into the catapult, perhaps a speech bubble hinting (maybe I should check ___________ for something to load in the catapult!"...just me, I fully agree with you in advance that BOSS FIGHTS aren't SUPPOSE to be easy...

Yeah, I probably should have added that little hint there, I guessed that people would automatically start searching for ammo, but adding that little bit of info would help others too.

-during the escape, the camera is perfect and the falling rocks seem like they're close to squishing you constantly...so close, in fact, that one clipped me and sent me FLYING backwards...nothing to fix, just a cool little sequence I didn't expect (though I couldn't tell if there was something on the mural that I was actually supposed to write down...maybe I've played too many RPGs in my day?

Haha, yeah the mural is a small indication of where you are headed to in the next level, I plan on doing a "Uncharted Journal Clue" bit somewhere in the 2nd level where you glance at what you jotted down to answer a trap.

OVERVIEW: Barring a few areas of minor confusion and some tolerable lag, this level was AWESOME. Great visuals, corner-editing, and stickering combined with some very interesting platforming elements and puzzles continually pushed me forward, and a building sense of danger lent to the overall feel...well, well done, with 5 stars and a heart from this guy! KEEP IT UP!

Thanks for the dude, I'm now "offically" back in the game of creating, I have 4 awesome levels in store for the rest of the series so be on the look out for them! Thanks a bunch dude

[onisdream]

You made a good level here !
I liked the introduction part, the first steps in the jungle (nice water effects)
Maybe it's a bit strange to have tentacles instead of creepers but it's not a big deal.
I like also the way you managed the lights (giving them a pacing intensity).
The vegetation in the jungle and the temple are well designed.
The underwater maze is a good idea but unfortenately I closed too fast the magic mouth bubble when I reached the center of the maze, so I didn't know how to continue your level.
Anyway, so far it was a pleasant moment, good job !
Give a chance to my F4F level below if you have time, thanks !

[damaz10]

You made a good level here !
I liked the introduction part, the first steps in the jungle (nice water effects)
Maybe it's a bit strange to have tentacles instead of creepers but it's not a big deal.
I like also the way you managed the lights (giving them a pacing intensity).
The vegetation in the jungle and the temple are well designed.
The underwater maze is a good idea but unfortenately I closed too fast the magic mouth bubble when I reached the center of the maze, so I didn't know how to continue your level.
Anyway, so far it was a pleasant moment, good job !
Give a chance to my F4F level below if you have time, thanks !

Haha will do dude and I am very proud of my pulsating lights.

[Radishlord]

Amazing visuals and level design but I got very frustrated a few times. First was the part before the conveyer, really annoying because I didn't know what to do. In the end I got it without knowing how. Second was the boss, didn't know here was a rock underwater. Maybe some direction would be good. Other than that there weren't really any faults. I give it 5 stars.

[OneEyedBanshee]

Heya some F4F

Thought the visuals were really nice to start, plenty of bubbles dotted around, not too much though making those fun to get. Some stuffs I jotted down while playing now.

At the start after you hop up to the right (just above the first waterfall, go and stand on the rock at the left edge on top of waterfall, you can see a triangle of dark matter in between the thick Y shaped branch on the doll hair I think.

Later on there's a new type of waterfall(emitted I think), the joint in new pieces is quite visible, you did have ones later on using a more layered technique so this must have been by choice. I just thought edge could be more zig zaggy to break it up.Its almost a line, slightly curved.

Right after that there is a half broken pillar leaning on a wall. using the corner jump trick you can get on top and start swinging across the doll heads. I bumped into some piece of wood and fell down, tried again. Second time the wood fell out of of tree revealing itself to be a branch. No idea if that normally falls down.. but you could glue it to something.

I found the amount of speeches to be slightly distracting but I am cool with that. Half the time though they were permanent so the press triangle to read text thing stayed on screen while doing puzzles for instance, I felt that took away from the look. I'd dissolve the text after so many seconds or emit it with a limited lifespan, that would probably be easier on the thermo and just plain easier to do .

The room after the puzzle where a swingy piece of sponge falls down after pulling a few switches. There's a block type switch you pull down, that worked fine but it lowered another switch on the opposite wall. I went to jump and grab that and it broke, didn't break the level but might be something to look into.

The boss cut scene thing, i missed half the text because it seemed so fast or another bubble was on too long before it. I suggest putting some mag keys down and attaching to the speeches, then run a mag key by them on a piston in sequence. If you flip the mag key switches on their sides 90 degrees and set their radii angle to 180 you can get it some as soon as one ends another begins quite easily with no overlaps.

Putting aside these niggles I still gave it and a

Look forward to seeing part 2 and that boss you mentioned.

[Dragonvarsity]

Wow, that level looks gorgeous! I'll give it a play later today or tomorrow and tell you what I think

[damaz10]

At the start after you hop up to the right (just above the first waterfall, go and stand on the rock at the left edge on top of waterfall, you can see a triangle of dark matter in between the thick Y shaped branch on the doll hair I think.

Easily fixable with a sticker

Later on there's a new type of waterfall(emitted I think), the joint in new pieces is quite visible, you did have ones later on using a more layered technique so this must have been by choice. I just thought edge could be more zig zaggy to break it up.Its almost a line, slightly curved.

Yeah, it was done on purpose, I know the join is clearly visible, but I didn't want to overcomplicate the emmited waterfall too much as it's only one thin layer, it's visible regardless

Right after that there is a half broken pillar leaning on a wall. using the corner jump trick you can get on top and start swinging across the doll heads. I bumped into some piece of wood and fell down, tried again. Second time the wood fell out of of tree revealing itself to be a branch. No idea if that normally falls down.. but you could glue it to something.

I wouldn't be too worried about this, but I guess I'll check it out

I found the amount of speeches to be slightly distracting but I am cool with that. Half the time though they were permanent so the press triangle to read text thing stayed on screen while doing puzzles for instance, I felt that took away from the look. I'd dissolve the text after so many seconds or emit it with a limited lifespan, that would probably be easier on the thermo and just plain easier to do .

Well I have those bubbles there to help fellow lbp players who might not be all expert-like at it, it's just a friendly help for newbies

The boss cut scene thing, i missed half the text because it seemed so fast or another bubble was on too long before it. I suggest putting some mag keys down and attaching to the speeches, then run a mag key by them on a piston in sequence. If you flip the mag key switches on their sides 90 degrees and set their radii angle to 180 you can get it some as soon as one ends another begins quite easily with no overlaps.

Yeah, the text does overlap, but some people read at different speeds so I wouldn't want to have them close just for the sake of it, though you may have missed them by pushing circle when one was activated, they're timed by a paint counter switch, I may look at the timing again

Thanks for the great feedback dude, and look forward to more epic bosses in the rest of the series