Lightbringer

[arklon]

I was also privliged enough to play this before it was released and I really liked it. There is not much that I can say that has not already been said, its very original and solving the little puzzles is very satisfying and the boss fight is innovative and fun. I have not played Icco (I know about this time every one is pulling out nooses hehe) but I still liked this level a lot.

[Trindall]

Thanks to all of you that have played the level so far, it has been fun working with the players and seeing the different takes on the level and its premise.

In regards to EnochRoot's wish to see some innocents to save from the gas I have some comments.

Yes the thermometer is full but even before that it wasn't my intention to have other characters than the Hero and Nemesis. I wanted this level to be a bit more introspective and quiet, about exploration and a redemption of the land.

The premise of the level is that those who lived there were destroyed by Nemesis in a age that has long past. I use age in its epoch'al sense and really mean a long, long time ago. (500 - 1000 years or so, maybe longer?)

The mist of Nemesis, while deadly to life is only as the touch of a fog to the stone and metal of the buildings yet Nemesis has been entrenched in the land so long that even the stone and structure is crumbling and faded from its presence.

To have innocents to save, I think, would run counter to the story and feel a bit disingenuous. Part of the psychology of the level that I explored in my mind was how would a force react when it's reason for existence is removed.

Nemesis is a force of destruction of life and once it had destroyed the life of the land it had no reason, no meaning as it defines itself by its inner drive.

It has grown weary and yearns for a release yet it is compelled by its nature to continually attempt to destroy those who come to the land even though the prophecy states that only one who comes to this land from afar will have the power to destroy the darkness.

I want this level to be about the relationship of Nemesis and the Hero, Nemesis and the land, and the players attempt to discover the meaning and solution to a prophecy they have found themselves in quite by accident.

Nearly none of this is explicit in the level though there are hints and clues.

Long story short, to stay true to the story and characters I've created I didn't want to put hapless, helpless innocents that the players can rescue on their way.

[EnochRoot]

Can you say that again using little words Trindall?....Just kidding! Can understand the vibe you were going and I must say It does work in the way you intended, very introspective and understated, subtle and satisfying.
I guess you learned a lot from making this, hopefully enough to consider a sequel or prequel.....go on, you Know you want to!
If anyone hasnt played this yet youre really missing something special.

[Dubster]

I played this level yesterday with EM-5 and LittleBigLion, and I thought I might aswell make a minor review about it:

Lightbringer, "as made famous" by Trindall

When we first entered this level, we were presented with this magnificent ocean to the right of us. It ought to be the best ocean I've ever seen in LBP. An old, ancient tomb lied to the left, where we entered and encountered a dark minion. This minion wasn't afraid to be challenged, seeing as he still existed from all this time. The only thing that could possibly beat this minion would be the Light, and that was why we were there, us three, known together as The Lightbringer...

Story:

This level is about you, the Lightbringer, that has to cleanse this cave from eternal darkness and horrors that lurk within. To do so, you need to guide the Light to the Darkness by using prisms and mirrors. It is a really good story, aswell as original, so I have to give this a pretty high score since it is pretty much flawless. It also has this RPGish feeling, which is something I simply love.

Score: 10/10

Visuals:

This level had great visuals that really did fit the theme. It gives the feeling of actually being inside an ancient tomb. The minions were mostly made out of Darkness, but then again, they don't need much more.

What mostly caught my eye was the earthquake in the end, even though I'm pretty sure I know how you did and how easy it is. The falling blocks of stone just gave it a better feeling.

I enjoyed the level from when I entered it to the end. I would have a really hard time thinking of how to do better on this theme.

Score: 10/10

Difficulty:

This was a pretty easy level, not difficult at all if you can stay on alert and wait for your chance. It was a good balance and you never had to do the same thing twice. My friends didn't really understand how to move the prisms at first, though, but it became alot easier after. Since most checkpoints were infinite, you can almost never fail on this level.

I'd rate this level to be Easy

Bug reports/Errors:

As I played through this level, I rarely found anything that went wrong until we got to the shadow minion. Here where you shall jump on the block that is connected to two winches sideways, they never managed to make it until the very end. This block won't move unless all players that aren't dead are on it. This makes it hard because the checkpoint is right below you and will release them if they have failed earlier. There are two ways to solve this problem. First one is to have the platform move whenever there is one player standing on it (Though I can imagine that player is going to move out of screen this way), or add a checkpoint just before it so they can start from there.



This level is a great one and I would recommend this to about anyone who loves a bit of puzzling and what I have explained above. Overall, I rated this level a five star and hearted it since it really deserves it.

[Flare Skull]

So am I the only one that thinks this level sucks???

It sucks at being bad! XD This level is f***ing beautiful!!! from gameplay to detailing to story to whatever else! Its all there! Great.....no wonderful job on this level......6 stars......oh wait....it doesn't go that high....well then you are gonna have to settle for a 5.5.....what??? no 5.5 okay then 5 stars and a heart

[Evil_Death_Bee]

This level was awesome. I loved the way the rock walls on the foreground dropped down whenever you entered a new area. It was a subtle difference, but it really made me feel like I was entering into a fresh challenge - another portion of the "game", if you will. In all honesty, it did feel kind of like its own game! Fantastic job! I think it was definitely worth five stars and a heart. You'd better make a sequel!

[Trindall]

Bug reports/Errors:

As I played through this level, I rarely found anything that went wrong until we got to the shadow minion. Here where you shall jump on the block that is connected to two winches sideways, they never managed to make it until the very end. This block won't move unless all players that aren't dead are on it. This makes it hard because the checkpoint is right below you and will release them if they have failed earlier. There are two ways to solve this problem. First one is to have the platform move whenever there is one player standing on it (Though I can imagine that player is going to move out of screen this way), or add a checkpoint just before it so they can start from there.

Wow thank you Dubster! I've never gotten a review of anything more than a paragraph or so on any of my levels yet so this much written up in review capacity is great.

You are right about the problems with that stupid horizontally moving platform and multiplayer modes. Originally the platform never stopped and if players didn't make it then they would time out.

I wanted to have something more accepting of multiple players and put in the XOR so that it would stop if it knew that everyone wasn't on yet still run if empty or full. This only works out well if everyone manages to stay on the rock shelf but people are falling off a lot it seems.

So I've taken out the XOR and just set the piston to have a delay at each end. This gives the player some time to jump on if they are on the ledge and it will also leave behind those that have fallen down.

Anyone who times out from being off screen will spawn at the next check point which is very close to the other end of the platform. I hope this works out better of the two solutions.

This level was awesome. I loved the way the rock walls on the foreground dropped down whenever you entered a new area. It was a subtle difference, but it really made me feel like I was entering into a fresh challenge - another portion of the "game", if you will. In all honesty, it did feel kind of like its own game!

I like this mechanic for creating different internal versus external spaces in the level and to help set the mood when in either part.

This mechanic is simply the one pioneered by amazingflyingpoo in his LBL series but modified to allow for the player to pass through structures rather than to go in and out from the same point.

Props go to amazingflyingpoo for if not coming up with this idea, for teaching others how to do it and making it popular.

Can you say that again using little words Trindall?....Just kidding! Can understand the vibe you were going and I must say It does work in the way you intended, very introspective and understated, subtle and satisfying.
I guess you learned a lot from making this, hopefully enough to consider a sequel or prequel.....go on, you Know you want to!

I'm not even going to speculate on making another level at this point, I just need to get a few nights good rest.

I don't know about any future levels just yet. I want to let the concept formulate and gel with some kind of hook to pull me back in before I start again.

I've been thinking to scrap my current 60% build of the last FlipSide level and start over but no energy just yet to think on that further.

[Dubster]

Glad I could help with the review. Kind of new to it, but I guess I did well And hopefully it'll work better for the next sacks that'll enter it

[Trindall]

Glad I could help with the review. Kind of new to it, but I guess I did well And hopefully it'll work better for the next sacks that'll enter it

Your 'minor' review was very well done with good structure and comments on the level. You should try doing this type of review for some other levels and see you you like it.

You could do well starting up your own review thread in the Review Planet if you like it and show an ability to do a good job.

[Arven7]

I had the privilege of testing this level before the release with Doc Long.
This level was beautifully done. I really like the level atmosphere. It actually does give a feeling of darkness.

I really liked how a monster was created with the poisonous gas. I really liked the light thing where you move the pieces of glass to shine the light to destroy the darkness. The boss battle was also really great.

I think the little fountain in the cave in the beginning of the level was my favorite part becuz Im a person who looks for well detailed objects or things.

Great job Trindall!