Out of Africa (pics inside!)

[OCK]

Lvl name: Out of Africa
Creator: OCK
Location: East African coast (Kenya to be exact)


Here it is, pride and joy. 40＋ hours of work and a lot of headaches . After playing a ton of user-made levels I feel very confident saying this is one of the best out there ( I know it’s a bold statement but I really do believe it and I hope that does not come off as sounding arrogant ). I also had invaluable input from a few forum members who were generous enough to playtest the level before I published (more on that later). Below are extensive notes and pics on every aspect of my creation and I hope you take a few minutes to read through it all:

Pics:

Please note most of these pics were taken in Create mode and I apologize if the quality is less then perfect.



Singleplayer and Gameplay: This level was designed for single player play due to the fact that my multiplayer experiences so far have shown a lot of lag, network disconnects and other problems that have made things less then perfect. There are also sections of the level that may cause framerate drops if played by more then one person. I wanted to keep the gameplay focused on action and light platforming which ultimately reflect the story I have created. The structure/layout is old-school left to right with only minor changes in elevation. All these decisions are deliberate and once you play the level I think you will agree that I made the best possible choice in this respect. I wanted to make the level accessible to all skill levels while making it rather difficult to ace (the prize is worth acing for) and I never wanted the player to feel frustrated (all checkpoints are double-life) or bored which I think I have achieved.

Story, Theme and Real World Inspiration: The theme is a safari in Africa that quickly takes turns for the worse and once it does, the action never lets up. I used the Savannah background and tweaked the fog and daytime levels to achieve the look I wanted. I believe I am also the first to incorporate an element of the background into the story/design of my level. Near the beginning of the Savannah there are village huts with fires burning in the background. I used this in the placement of my tribe warriors so that you are literally passing through their territory. I think it is a nice touch that most people will not even notice but it will be great for those that do. The tribesman themselves were inspired by the Maasai tribe of Kenya, Africa. This tribe often uses red face paint for decoration. This greatly influenced the design of my warriors. The Chief (boss character) is wearing a dashiki which is a traditional African shirt consisting of a patchwork of multiple patterns and all the animals are identical to there real life counterparts (in other words, no fire spitting giraffes .

Custom Content: Everything in my level is custom! From the trees to the wildlife to the letters to all the structures you will be seeing. I also had to create custom stickers using the already available materials to disguise certain objects (making a block of stone look like wood for example) but mostly for aesthetic reasons. I wanted every single thing, no matter how minor, to “look” African. I place a strong emphasis on cohesion and picking the right materials so that nothing looks out of place. I promise that this is one level you will play and not once think: “that does not look like it belongs here” lol.

Writing: I put just as much work into what the characters in the level say as everything else. This has resulted in high quality writing that has humor and drives the story forward. There are certain parts (especially during the safari) that should genuinely have you laughing out loud so I hope everyone appreciates the writing as much as everything else.

Music, Sound FX and Camera Zones: I use two tracks throughout the level and they have been modified to best reflect whatever is happening on screen. From the safari up until the chief the track you are hearing only has percussion and drums and this really serves well in setting up the atmosphere for the level. The battle with the chief has his own track and once you get to the river the saxophone and drums dominate everything and you know you’re in for something special before you even see what is waiting for you up ahead. I have used A TON of sfx and made full use of the modifier here as well. So when you pass by the baby zebra it has a high pitched whine versus the adults that have deeper ones. Both chimp sfx were used on the monkeys and all are modified so the sound is very dynamic. There is too much more to name but rest assured I paid just as much attention to this aspect as everything else. I use a lot of camera zones, all designed to give you the best view of the action.

Photo Booths: I have not seen a level that has photo booths that make sense within the context of the story but I have that too . The bonus is that the pictures you get are really great so once again I hope everyone appreciates this minor detail.

A Word on Crocodiles, Hippos and Monkey’s: I put 10 hours into this level during the beta and once the beta ended I continued to work on the level in my head ( I am sure many of you have similar stories). One idea I came up with was having a river crossing where you are swinging from monkey’s arms over the snapping jaws of crocs. So I eventually get the game and what do you know, MM has something very similar to this in the Savannah levels (although there is no river). On one hand I thought “well now I know it was a great idea since MM used it” and on the other hand I thought “well I can’t really do that anymore because people are bound to say hey, we have seen that already”. But I did not want to give up on a great idea so I changed it around a bit and I think it is very different from what MM did and -dare I say it- maybe even better. I made hippos which actually makes more sense because they are the most dangerous animal in Africa, responsible for more human deaths then any other. And when do they kill humans? That’s right, river crossings by tipping over the boat. So not only is this section fun to play thorough (it is my favorite part of the level) but it is also based on real world fact (if Sackpeople existed in the real world that is)!

Playtesting and Community Support: I playtested this level over 100 times. No I am not crazy it’s just that I would constantly playtest while making the level in order to take care of potential bugs/glitches/problems (and there were a lot). I am also very fortunate to have had the support of the following forum members: Docpac, ConfusedCartman, Aer0blue and Flakmagnet (flak graciously offered to playtest but did not get a chance before I published) who playtested my level during its development and upon completion before I published. They provided me with invaluable feedback that in some cases actually made me change around entire sections of my level. I cannot thank you guys enough and I appreciate all the input. It is further proof of just how great this community really is. Also a thank you to Donkeyshow who told me how to change the color of the gas


If you actually took the time to read through all of this then I really can’t thank you enough. The success of this level now depends on you. If you play it and genuinely like it then heart it and tell your friends about it. I have personally made it a point to try every level made by forum members so I do hope everyone checks this out. Last but not least a big thank you to my wife who lost her patience with me more then once during the making of this level (I was playing WAAAAY more then I usually do, it became an obsession). She’s the best!!!

[Code1337]

I'll look it up and play it, sounds exciting.

...

Yes, I read the whole thing. >_<

[OCK]

Thanks let me know what you think.

[Cloud]

It was fun, especially the river crossing part. I can tell you put a lot of time into this level. Well done.

[OCK]

It was fun, especially the river crossing part. I can tell you put a lot of time into this level. Well done.

Thanks a lot, that whole section is my favorite part! I hope you hearted

[Sack-Andreas]

you sure did put a lot of work & thought into this . I'll have a go on it when my copy of LBP comes.

[Sack-Jake]

It sounds amazing! I'll have to check it out as soon as I get my PS3 tomorrow.

[OCK]

Let me know what you guys think after you have tried it out

[docpac]

Wow. The texture use, monkeys, hippos... man, you went all out. I really liked the chief and the river crossing. Five star and hearted.

Btw, when I started the level there were zero plays. By the time I was done you already had 40 something. That's insane.

[OCK]

Thanks doc, I really appreicate it!

[docpac]

How did you create the floating platform? I didn't see any winches or pistons.

[OCK]

The pistons are set to 0 as minimum length. I actually think it looks cooler this way

Link to pics added to first post

[cBar08]

Very nicely done Can't wait to see your next project.

[OCK]

Very nicely done Can't wait to see your next project.

Thanks a lot man. I have a couple of ideas and all of them are VERY different both in style and gameplay then this one so we will see

Level has been republished. Added some more eye candy to the Chief ( I did not think that would be possible lol) and changed the way you scale the platform to activate the switch. It is a lot more user friendly now

[ConfusedCartman]

Sorry I didn't leave feedback earlier!

Love the level. Very fun, but challenging. I don't want to ruin too much for those who haven't played it, but it's pretty innovative. The only thing I would suggest is this: find a way to a)lengthen the river area a tad and b)add a checkpoint halfway across. That way you don't sacrifice too much difficulty, but at the same time, people don't get put off by failure. That portion's a good chunk into the level, and it's a pain to do everything all over again just to beat one area. Other than that, I love the level. Good work.