Ossu! This week's episode is ready to go!

This time around we're looking at:

Zafari: Mountain Crusade - MarcusBishop
Layered Blue - LemonPeach
A Place to Dream - williamcido
Grapple Madness - Kronos__NL
The Footslog of Fallen Machines - ninpy

An eclectic set this time. to be honest, i hadn't intended to get a Survival Challenge mixed up in the set. Or to be more precise, i'd been kicking around the idea of an episode that was all survival challenges. Somehow, despite looking at the lbp.me page any number of times, it only clicked that's what Grapple Madness was when i was actually recording the title page. *sigh* Got to get my head in the game, i guess. Still a fun set, in the end. Hope you find something there that piques your interest.

As for behind the curtain-y stuff. Was a bit weird being back in the regular hub after the last 3episodes being at different locations. i don't think i could do a new place for every episode, but i think there may be some changes in the works coming up. Also, i think i may need to do a complete reworking of my logic systems. They're functional, but have gotten pretty crufted over with additions over the past few weeks. i think i can tidy them up to make things a little easier to work with. Also, i know the cameras bug out a little this go around. Don't know what the issue there was; i'd tested them enough before the recording started...maybe i've got imps.

Like i mentioned in last Tuesday's takeaway, i'm planning on having an extra episode paired with #26. The current idea is just to walk through the stages of putting an episode together, taking a look at finding levels, and the logic of the hub. That may or may not be interesting on its own. If there's anything y'all would like to know, serious or funny questions, either/or, let me know in thread or by PM. i'll credit questions in the episode, so if you don't want your name mentioned tell me. Also, since my usual method of finding levels starts with my hearted creators/recent activities pages, if you'd rather not have yours pop up, that'd be something to let me know too (i don't know where i'll be starting my search, it's going to be a play it by ear, but i know some folks might not appreciate seeing their lbp.me info on the screen).

Thanks everyone for all the support, feedback, advice and everything. This series has, and continues to be a lot of fun putting together, and i'm glad people are getting something out of it as well. Recently has been the first time i've been juggling multiple games at once, but hopefully the weirdness that does to my recording schedule isn't coming through in the episodes themselves.

Thanks again, and have a great day!

I appreciate your work, waffleking!

Thanks to you, as well, mdkd!

Beedie beedie beedie, Tuesday Takeaway, Buck.

Zafari: Mountain Crusade - MarcusBishop

My feelings didn't really change too much here. i know Ostler5000 (over on Sackinima) said it seemed a bit too cluttered, but i still found myself liking the depth of design. The cutscenes and falling bit were a little much at times, but that's more on me wanting to move a bit faster, as the level sells itself early on as a story-platformer. It does end on a cliffhanger that has not been resolved as yet. i don't have the time to check the publish date right now, so i can't say if we should expect a part 2 to come or not. Also, everytime i read the creator's name, it makes me think of a Lasombra bishop from VtES, but i can't remember which one, and can't be bothered to look it up.

Layered Blue - LemonPeach

This one, too, kind of sits in the same place for me. i still love the design, and the variety of gameplay. i've yet to see another creator do quite so much with layers as gameplay, as opposed to layers as environmental design. i didn't get to bring it up in the video, but there're a ton of little 4th Wall breaking animations your sackthing will do, and lots of little interactions with the environment that are just charming (splatting into the windows was a nice touch). i ended up getting hung up in the same place i did when i made the episode. There's a longish bit where you're bouncing foreground to background on these moving platforms. You've got to keep up with the one in the background while navigating obstacles. i could get about 3/4s of the way through before i'd fall behind, which requires the sequence to be restarted from scratch. After a couple of times of that, my frustration level was just a bit too high to want to continue. That's on me, though, and you may not have nearly as much trouble with it. This is one of the few times i've said this, but this one probably would've been a Green Circle if there was a little bit less here.

A Place to Dream - williamcido

i continued to want to really like this one, and i continued to be disappointed. i'm going to stand by my red triangle. While the paper town at the beginning is charmingly presented, and is a style i do particularly enjoy, touch up and playtesting really need to be done. The attract-o-gel bit after what we saw in the video managed to be frustrating even when done with a fresh brain, and it was still easier to kill myself after triggering the switch than to go back through in reverse. Unless death is intended to be a progress mechanic (like with Swooper, many episodes back), that's probably not a feeling you want to engender in your player. i did finally manage to get the block puzzle to work, so that's on me, but the switches were still acting funny, which could lead to a player thinking they're broken (i'd grab them, and maybe the mechanism would decide to move). Then, well...i don't know how or why, but i'd managed to lose my hookhat. Except there was no way to get a new one, and no way to progress without one, so i just had to quit out. Maybe i'll go back and try to beat this one, but...i kind of doubt it.

Grapple Madness - Kronos__NL

This one is pretty much what it is. Like our Chronos453 (over on LittleBigNetwork) pointed out, a few other methods to score points might be nice for flavour. i think it would have immensely benefited from the new-style restart the challenge without having to trigger the scoreboard; but then i think you could say that about any survival challenge. i've found myself far more willing to jump back in and try to beat my score since those have been introduced.

The Footslog of Fallen Machines - ninpy

Playing through again just allowed me to wallow in all the charm of this level. i am such a sucker for well-presented mechanical bits. As i mentioned in the video, i can appreciate (intellectually) the effort that goes into solid, in-microchip logic; but in-game, you just kind of see the effect; i don't think the brain (or maybe my brain, granted), quite processes it. Seeing all the moving parts, and it really sinks in how impressive the machine is. Then again, we've long established my clockwork fetish, so this might be a corollary of that. Anyway, ninpy has become one of my most consistently enjoyed creators, and that deserves props. If i had to make any quibbles here (and i suppose i'm kind of contractually obliged) it would be that sometimes the material choice and lighting can make it look like some metal bits are electrified when they actually aren't. i don't think there's much of a way around that and still keep the theme, though, so *shrug*. Oh! i managed to escape the tank this time! Woot!

So that's it for this week. We're getting close to doing recordings again. i'm trying out a slightly different prompting and camera system, so the set-up's taking a bit longer, but all of this stuff is modular, so it should pay dividends in future episodes. Plus, i do have that extra day off this week.

Thanks as always, folks! Remember, we're still accepting questions. Y'all have a great day!