My First Level - Mulberry Woods (Spotlighted, Pics)

[mrsupercomputer]

Hello everyone, this is my first time discovering this forum. I've just published my very first level and would love to get some feedback on it. It's nothing amazing, but I think it's decent. Here's my info:

PSN ID: mrsupercomputer
Level: Mulberry Woods
Description: Crazed lumberjacks have constructed a sawmill and are cutting down all the trees! Journey to the mill, shut it down, and save Mulberry Woods!

I'm interested to hear what you think and I look forward to playing some of the levels I've seen listed in the forum. Some look outstanding and like a lot of fun.

Update: I decided to add a few pictures of my level to the thread, so people know what to expect. Please forgive the quality as I just used my digital camera for them, but I figured any pictures might be good to help people decide whether to check it out or not.

[QuozL]

Will check this one out tonight and let you know.

Cheers QuozL

[OCK]

I decided to play one more level before going to bed tonight and it was this one. MAN AM I HAPPY I MADE THAT DECISION!!! lol Here are my thoughts:

Pros:

- Custom content left, right and centre! Thank you, thank you, thank you. My lvl also features 100% custom content and it is very rare to find another creator who puts that kind of effort into things so I really do appreciate it.

- The visulas are great and work really well for your theme. The choice of gold leaf sponge on dark wood just makes so much sense and has a great look to it.

- Variety. You have a lot of great gameplay elements here from platforming to action to a chase sequence. The level had my attention from the very first second and never let go.

- All the small details like the trees falling in the chase sequence and the wood chips (that was brilliant btw) and the water really show that you cared about your creation and put a lot of thought into it.

- The eagle. HOW DID YOU DO THAT!? lol ( I mean the realistic falpping effect of the wings and the look of the feathers, simply beautiful). VERY impressive.

Suggestions:

- Make all those magnetic switches invisible, there is no need for the player to see them and I find it to be a visual distraction.

- Colour the yellow sponge on your switch handles. Very minor details but it ultimately adds to the overall polish.

- I had to restart the level once because at the beggining when grabbing onto the green sponge the 2nd one broke and I was unable to make the jump to progress further.


Overall this was a fantastic level that everyone should check out. 5 stars and hearted and I look forward to your next creation Check out my lvl Out of Africa if you get a chance and let me know what you think.

[mrsupercomputer]

Thanks for checking out my level. I did put a lot of effort to it, so I'm glad you enjoyed it. Sadly, I can't take credit for the wings on the hawk as that was an object from the main game. I have no idea what level I found it in, but you should have the ability to use it as well if you found it.

Thanks for your suggestions as well. I haven't had the issue you described with the green sponges. It just snapped, huh? Weird. I know people were getting stuck in the tree roots, but I hadn't heard about the snapping elastic. I'll see if I can do something to prevent that from occurring again.

As for the magnetic switches, I'll probably hide some more of them, but I felt that the engine room kind of needed them, so the player knew what to do and that the switches needed to be activated. I'll play around with it though.

I'll definitely check out your level and once I get some impressions, I'll be sure to post it in your thread. Thanks again for the feedback.

[Whalio Cappuccino]

Thanks for checking out my level. I did put a lot of effort to it, so I'm glad you enjoyed it. Sadly, I can't take credit for the wings on the hawk as that was an object from the main game. I have no idea what level I found it in, but you should have the ability to use it as well if you found it.

Thanks for your suggestions as well. I haven't had the issue you described with the green sponges. It just snapped, huh? Weird. I know people were getting stuck in the tree roots, but I hadn't heard about the snapping elastic. I'll see if I can do something to prevent that from occurring again.

As for the magnetic switches, I'll probably hide some more of them, but I felt that the engine room kind of needed them, so the player knew what to do and that the switches needed to be activated. I'll play around with it though.

I'll definitely check out your level and once I get some impressions, I'll be sure to post it in your thread. Thanks again for the feedback.

This is my opinion on the level, you say it is your first level correct? ... You sir, must be an LBP Prodigy. I mean this level was amazing, the polish was outstanding, every single challenge was in the theme, your chainsaw guys were amazing, your eagle, and EVERYTHING! I mean this is truly a MM level. Seriously, everything was so polished, I loved how you used the emmiters ( I think ) To emit chips of wood, that was really something I've never seen before. Wow man 5/5 From me, truly an inspiration.


Oh, as for the switches being invisible or not, I would keep them visible, just in that one room though, it helps people know that they're going to have to do something with the two keys in order to open the door, as for the sound object, that can go, no need for that purple thing to ruin it.

Really nice level, and if this is your first, I can't wait to see your other levels.
5 Star'd and Hearted!

[mrsupercomputer]

Thanks for your kind words Whaaaale. While this is my first published level, I had spent a little bit of time building various items before attempting an entire level. I learned a lot before creating Mulberry Woods and even more while making it!

If that is your level in your sig, I'll be sure to check it out and get you some feedback as well.

[Grethiwha]

I saw your level on the ign boards as well as here so I decided to play it. It's really great!

The visuals are fantastic, easily on par with the MM levels, and it's a unique, well-done theme.

And the gameplay is quite clevar and polished. I loved the factory and the chase at the end.

My only complaint, and maybe I just suck, but I found it too difficult. The factory/moving wood section was (in addition to being extremely well done) a quite long electric stretch half-way through the level with no checkpoints. I had to start the entire level over a couple of times because of it. A double life checkpoint at least would be nice there. And maybe even a double at the checkpoint before the waterfall and spikes early on (or another single in between the two); I ran out of lives there on my first try because of the finicky little jumps required.
But hey, whatever, maybe you want it to be challenging. To me though, this is the kind of level that everybody should experience, and thus should be able to finish on their first try, but still die a lot and you need to be really good if you wanna get a high score or ace it or anything.
Also, I believe the bulldozer thing was in the correct position when I got to it. What's the fun in that; you should have to pull the switch and see the awesome movements to pass the gap.

Anywho, 5/5, hearted, awesome job, etc...

[mrsupercomputer]

You and I are actually on the same page with my level. I would like it to be one that people can get through on their first try. Perhaps I became so used to the jumps that they didn't seem that hard anymore. I'll definitely think about adding some double life checkpoints.

As for the bulldozer, you were able to make the jump without pulling the switch? Hmm, I didn't think you could unless you got it just right. I'll go back and tweak that, because I do what the player to pull the switch in order to cross. Thanks for pointing that out as well as your other feedback.

[Grethiwha]

I tried it again and yea. Before pulling it its in a position where I can jump to it from on top of the bulldozer and I can jump on top of the shed-whatever-thing.
After pulling the switch it extends and makes a C-shape in front of the roof and I couldn't get past unless I pulled the switch back to it's original position. :/

[w00tus]

Just from the screenshots I can tell this is a must play level, the art design looks great, I will play it tonight.

[mrsupercomputer]

I tried it again and yea. Before pulling it its in a position where I can jump to it from on top of the bulldozer and I can jump on top of the shed-whatever-thing.
After pulling the switch it extends and makes a C-shape in front of the roof and I couldn't get past unless I pulled the switch back to it's original position. :/

Yeah, I went back and was able to do it as well. Bummer, I thought I had fixed that. So, I've modified it a bit so you fall just short if you try to jump. To get past that part, you have to pull the lever and immediately run and jump on to the bucket thing before it makes the c-shape. Maybe I should change that a bit as well.

[SuperPhillip]

I haven't played it yet, but it looks very pleasing to the eye. I love the fall theme you have.

I'll be sure to check it out tomorrow.

[Grethiwha]

Yeah, I went back and was able to do it as well. Bummer, I thought I had fixed that. So, I've modified it a bit so you fall just short if you try to jump. To get past that part, you have to pull the lever and immediately run and jump on to the bucket thing before it makes the c-shape. Maybe I should change that a bit as well.

Ah I see, I didn't realise that was what I was supposed to do.
That's pretty clevar, I wonder how long it would've taken me to figure out.

[Whalio Cappuccino]

Ah I see, I didn't realise that was what I was supposed to do.
That's pretty clevar, I wonder how long it would've taken me to figure out.

For an average mammal, two tries

[Grethiwha]

If whales were fish and not mammals, I'd make a joke about that!

haha, it's just hard to tell because I never considered that as a solution, but then I was never really presented with the problem because I had no issues jumping across. I doubt it would've taken me too long to clue in.