Ossu! This week's episode landing here


We're taking a look at:

Space Vortex 1.07 - XxVisioN6sic6xX
Pneumatic - StrawberryHeat
Crazy Castle! - Leo2309
Molecules platformer - Torterra02
Moon Palace - LevelExpert61

All interesting, fun levels worth a little time spent with; and none of them as long as Layered Blue (though Molecules platformer is definitely on the longish side). Hope you find something that catches your eye.

Behind the curtain:
This week...i dunno, i might just be riding myself a bit too hard (this is not fishing for complements, by the way)...it feels a little on the disjointed side. i suppose it's a consequence of only having one take with the levels. If anything feels off to you, let me know, yeah? i'd wanted to toss in a little extra footage during the wrap-up like Ostler5000 suggested, but it just slipped my mind. Am going to have to make a point of it in the future (maybe i could put a sticky note on the tv when i'm recording).
Ended up having to scrap the intro (after who knows how many retakes), on account of one of the levels turning out to be a pure gallery (which i should've noticed from the level select page), and one of the levels being...well...it wasn't a complete hot mess, but it was grindingly uninteresting, and the commentary reflected that in the worst way. Hopefully those were the right choices.

We're kicking around the idea of doing a side-project in the same vein as R15F. When i started this, my idea was (among other things), to always look at new (for me) levels and creators. i think this has served well...but it does lend its own constraints. There are creators i'd like to look back in on, f'rex. And there are some old gems i wouldn't mind showing off (though some of them were played so far back, it may as well be first impressions to do them again). i've also tried to avoid levels with significant numbers of plays (since people would probably be familiar with them), and levels from LBP1 and 2 (since they can be breaky).
So...the current possible idea, a quick one level per-episode show; keeping the same 3or so minute per-level plus a few minutes of commentary at the end. This would be pretty simple and stripped down, no banter in the hub in the beginning, just straight into the level. Also, no set publishing schedule, just putting out something when it takes my fancy (though i'd like to keep once a week as a minimum). This is all a little early stages, but if anyone has any thoughts, let me know, yeah?

Thanks everyone! i hope you're having a great day; and we'll rap at y'laters!

Thanks for sharing. I'll play the levels very soon.

Hope you find something you enjoy! If you do try Molecules platformer, i'd suggest giving yourself some extra time, it's a bit of a long one.

Have a great day!

Beedie beedie boop...It's the Tuesday Takeaway!

Space Vortex 1.07 - XxVisioN6sic6xX
So, i got a message from VisioN (i'm not typing that full name out again) that'd made the monkeybars section a little easier. i'm...not really sure how one would go about that, there're not very many moving pieces to tweak; but having said that, when i played through again this morning, i was able to get through them without falling once, and i doubt it was my skill that improved. It was nice to have a nice leisurely stroll through this one and not have to worry about the clock (either recording or going-to-work version). The level is just gorgeous. The amount of detail and deco work that have gone into this is pretty nuts right on the face. To back that up with some actual engaging gameplay that tries a few things that i've not seen used much (which, mind you, does not mean they're not actually common). i really can't say too much bad about this one...i guess the warp animation could aggravate someone?

Pneumatic - StrawberryHeat
i found myself appreciating this one a little more on the third go around. i really like the workout they give the pumpinator, it is so the red-headed stepchild of the Story Mode. i mean,really, how often do you even get forced to use it? i suppose that could say something about balance in power-up design, because the Boost Boots are about the only one that's consistently useful throughout. The different, i don't really want to say puzzles, but obstacles can require a little noodling to figure out, while still not slowing the level to a crawl. Which is why i'm still a little confused why they felt the need to shoehorn the Oddsock segment in. It's not quite as bad the third time around, but it's still kind of jarring and clunky. It doesn't help that the race gate (which i only this time realized is completely optional) is set on a layer behind the area you'll be running through, in kinda an open box. The first time through i kept thinking i needed to wall jump in that area to move on, because why else would they put it where it was (or so my brain said).

Crazy Castle - Leo2309
i still enjoyed this level well enough, but something came up that made me wonder if i should change my second run style. See, there's this bit of sponge that's attached to a sliding block, yeah? You're supposed to grab it, slide across a gap, and grab onto a rotating sponge bit. It's real easy-peasy...and so, of course, this time i screwed it up. And the sliding block doesn't reset position, so you're left sitting there, looking at a progress point you can't possibly reach. So...i'm wondering if i should try doing my second runs playing like a complete idiot, just miss every jump, fall down every hole, bring key pieces to the wrong places. Basically go out of my way to try to break the level, to see if spots like this come up. 'cause it'll never happen to happen to 99% of the people who play this stage, but for that 1%...it's going to feel pretty darn salty, and i can't imagine they'll restart the stage to get past it (this comes up pretty far in...after the monkeybars, at least).

Molecules platformer - Torterra02
This is another one my feelings slid a bit south on. i still like the sparseness of the level, the way that it focuses you in on play. But i ran into a number of places that seemed to be bugged out. Like invisible walls that were intended to block progress until something had been done not actually going away when that thing had been done. Basically, just a once or twice go through all the logic to make sure things are triggering like they ought to be. It's still a really good stage, but taking my time with it made mistakes stand out more clearly.

Moon Palace - LevelExpert61
This one...you know, it's like KG said, it serves really well as a compact Adventure stage, and i could see pretty easily how it could be folded into a full adventure. The setting's got a lot of charm, and it's been very well crafted to put that charm on display. The more cartoony Adventure Time decos were a real good fit as well. The Sack-wizards were cool (though i didn't entirely appreciate how their homing stars would stick around even when they'd been killed, 'cause sometimes they would pop off just when they died, and you'd get kacked unexpectedly). The only gross complaint i could levy would be that the sequencers are longer than they really need to be, and the Magic Mouths are skippable, so you can end up sitting unmoving for a bit waiting for the sequencer to catch up.
All of that is great, and then...there are something like 50or 60 Community Objects here. Many, if not most, are forced on you (because they'll be right in a layer launcher's flight arc, f'rex). To add insult to injury, and i don't like to be too harsh on people, but they are all functionally trash. Just metal discs with a sticker on them. i mean *shrug* i'm sure some time was spent making them, and maybe LE61's proud of them and wants to show them off...but i don't need all this crammed in my poppit. Look, a couple of prizes in a level, even if they're unavoidable, i mean it's forgivable, but this is just far too much. Even on later playthroughs, with community objects turned off, just the fact of them grated on me, even more than monkeybars. i don't know why that should be, but it's there.

So...that's the that for this week. Next episode is all wrapped up, and i woke up at 4.30 this morning, so i got to put some time into the one following (of course, bleary half-asleep-brain time is half effective...which means here that i spent something like 2hours trying to dekink something completely stupid, and probably simple, and ended up with a big cludgy mess of logic...but hey, at least it functions).

i'm going to hold off on recording the special episode as long as i can, but that probably means Thursday of next week (and i'd like to do it a little sooner). If you've got something you want to know, let me know pretty soon.

Hope you're doing well out there, yeah? Thanks for all the feedback and support, as always.

Pneumatic is a Spotlight in Episode 58. And I played Space Vortex yesterday. Great level! I really love it. Thanks for sharing! Going to play the others today.