#littlebite-sizedplanet

[risu5waffles]

[LBP - LBsP 03/22/24] 296 - Box o' Clocks

This was fun to put together, right up until i actually tried recording it; then it was a giant mess. We didn't even get to all the stuff i'd wanted to talk about, but i figured we were already pushing 15 just going over the two clocks.

The reversible clock really isn't all that, tho' it is fun. i like having logic & bits that can serve multiple purposes in different settings. Not sure how often you'd need a clock that can do both in just one level, but you set it up to go both ways, and now you have a timer for a race-type level, and a countdown for an escape room. Versatile!

For my own purposes, i like chronos' clock more. It's very elegant and easy to work wiv when you've got to set it to different times every episode. Wish it had a broader font set, but the fine-line looks nice in green. Looks nice for text too, but i feel like the line-weight isn't heavy enough to sustain longer passages.

i'll try getting around to the simple animations and kitbashed sequencer tutorials eventually. i do want to make them, but i don't really feel a lot of motivation for it right this minute.

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Things are well enough here. Wiv @soupum 's help i got the ps3 set up and on Beacon, and that's exciting. Honestly, Soup did a fantastic job guiding a very tech-skittish me through the steps. The soul of patience, that boy.

It's weird seeing new levels published in LBP1 & 2, even if a lot of the ones i've run into have been from the LBArchive, or costume tutorials/give-aways. So. So. So many costume levels. It's been a good weird, tho'. It's nice that there are still folx actively giving time and love to this strange little thing we've got going.

There are just four more episodes left in the LittleBig-Archives, and then that's that until the servers come back on line. That's weird feeling in the less good way. i'm sure the servers will come back. No telling how long; but it feels like Sony's giving it an honest shot. Which frankly surprises the heck out of me, but lots of things do, so that's alright.

[risu5waffles]

[LBP - LBsP 01/26/24] 293 - A Totally Reasonable Response

So here we are. If this level is to be the last thing i publish for the community, at least it was something i could be really proud of (i realize, typing this, that it wasn't the last thing i published. That was the New Year's level, but that one hardly feels like it counts, since it was only up for five days).

Looking through the drawing board and making-of videos, and it's shocking how much it changed from the initial build. i'm happy wiv the work i did, and most all the gross ideas (that is to say, things like layout, presentation, and obstacles) were mine; but this wouldn't have been nearly the success it was if it hadn't been for the extra eyes and fine tuning suggestions from the community. Particularly chronos453 and @soupum who were invaluable sounding boards and support. It feels nice that this is my level, but it is also very much the Empty Room's level too.

One thing i wanted was for the level to be joyful, wivout being toothless or anodyne? Something to stand up against the common (and unfortunately often, at times at least, true) narrative of "oh woe, queer life is so hard and tragic." i think i managed it, but it's hard to say. It feels joyful to me, but i recognize it is also very much my brand of bullshite.

It seemed to resonate well wiv the queer/ally players who left comments, tho'. Those were all honestly very heartwarming.

It resonated quite differently, but apparently strongly, wiv a couple of bigots too. Those were... weird.

Now, i know that i'm old, and that's honestly ok. i'm not really current wiv how kids talk these days, and that's also ok. But there was something weirdly adult about some of the comments, that felt very different from the way queermisia would have been framed by kids when i was young-young (that framing, mind you, wasn't really better, but it was usually just the slur and an accusation). Which means, either the rhetoric adults are using now has trickled down into schoolyard discourse, or these were actual adults telling an open room of potentially children that, for example, queer folx were like that because they'd been sexually assaulted and decided they'd liked it. Which... you know... that's a real kind of problem. Both options are real problems mind you, but the second worries me a lot more.

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i still wonder if i shouldn't have done Distress in Ocean for this week's LBsP, and this one for next. We've not had any real word on the servers yet, which is unsurprising, but also disheartening. If LBsP as a review-focused thing is ending, it would have been nice to have ended it wiv this level. Ah well. You work wiv what's to hand, and i'd already done most of the recording for this by the time it popped into mind that i had Distress in Ocean to work wiv too.

i've spent the last few days up to my nipples in DLC to archive those, and if i never have to see anything Pirates of the Caribbean again it'll be too soon. i'll probably put up reviews here when all the episodes for the levels from a pack have gone live, but i have feelings.

[risu5waffles]

[LBP - LBsP 01/19/24] 292 - You're Gonna Carry That Weight

Well, heck. Hopefully this won't be the last fresh (to me) level the we look at on the show; but if it is, i guess we get to go out wiv a bang. Or at least a chewy philosophical problem.

The level's an interesting one, and i feel like it ought to be viewed from two different lenses.

On a pure nuts and bolts side, it's a decent platformer wiv an interesting, elevating conceit. You've got this checkpoint, it's on wheels and you can drag it. You can choose to leave it behind at any time, and gamble on your skills. The earlier you leave it, but more ground you're going to have to go back over if you die. The tension there, if you're being a showoff like me and trying to ace the level wivout carrying the checkpoint at all, really adds to the trickiness of the platforming sections. There were a few times where i wound up getting myself killed because i was playing too conservatively, because i was thinking of having to do everything all over again if i got myself killed. That was really cool.

The gameplay bits themselves were fun once it got challenging. The ice bit, the gears, and that last monkeybar/lights section i had a lot of fun wiv. The first half, tho' does wear a little bit. i think that adds into the risk calculation i mentioned above, but after going through the level a couple dozen times (yes, like, actually a couple dozen times), i did wish i could hurry along some. Now, that's not really an issue most players will have, but it was there.

The environment felt the weakest to me. There are some definite standout bits. Guts, in particular, is a great setpiece presentation-wise; but mostly it feels very standard "this is an LBP1 cave platformer." i did, however, deeply appreciate the ability to select music up front. Song 2 really is the better track for the level, but @soupum well knows the copyright issues that causes for YouTube videos. i don't know that he was thinking specifically of me when he put that choice in, but i was very glad to see it.

So, like, on the level-qua-level it's neat. Definitely something i enjoyed playing, and i could really dig the gimmick.

But then, it's not just playing at being a level; it's also working a message, and this is where things start to get a bit dicey for me. Not that i don't think the message isn't one worth conveying, or is something that can't be conveyed in this medium; but i'm still not sure the level conveys it well or clearly, and it certainly feels like the form is (while honest, at least if i've read it right) ultimately more cynical than perhaps necessary? i don't know. i've got a lot of feelings about it still, and i'm still not sure if i well conveyed the message i was getting at in the video. At the very least i can say this is the most noodling i've ever had to do about an LBP community level, and more noodling than i do over most actually-published-by-studios games i play; and you can't say that's not some form of success.

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i have so much b-roll of this level, it's honestly made a bit of a dent in my PS4's storage space, so i'm glad the video's finally live and i can cull it.

Still no word on the servers, or much anything aside from StevenI's announcement of his departure as community manager. i'm going to record the DLC levels to fill in space in the Archive, and i'll be looking at my flags level on the 26th, and Distress in Ocean on February 2nd since both of those are on my moon (Distress was a copyable level, and i don't know why i copied it, but i'm awful glad i did). But eventually we're going to hit a spot where the rubber meets the road, and there's just nothing left for me to Archive.

i can still do LBsP things, behind the scenes looks at sets and things like Create Mode goofing around, but if the servers don't come back relatively soon, i think the DLC will only last... i'm not sure. Not super long. i didn't get every pack, even tho' i did get a bunch. i'm feeling some kinds of ways about this, and none of them are very good.

[risu5waffles]

Addendum

Tacking on the LittleBite-sizedPlanet for Demo (except it wouldn't let me add another video to the post even in a reblog. i thought we could do that? i feel like i've done that before). i don't know how good the episode is, i try to watch my old stuff as little as humanly possible. i also try to watch my new stuff as little as humanly possible. Basically, once it's done it's done for me unless i really need to dig something up for a reference.

Oh my gods... i listened to the first 4seconds and i literally almost started screaming. Just ick. 1000 pounds of ick.

[risu5waffles]

[LBP - LBsP 01/12/24] 291 - Librarian's Mansion 2: Basement of Death

i really like this version of the LBsP title card. Understated, leaves a lot of room to show off a still from the actual level wivout getting in the way. The borders on the rings are thick enough colour changes to indicate different episode types are clear. Yeah, this works. The level also works, which i was honestly expecting, seeing as it's a follow-up and all. It would have been weird if it were significantly worse than part one. But it's not, and that's pretty nice.

The environment is, once again, looking good, and more cohesive than last time around. Material choices are really nice; i don't think i've ever given the chiseled wood nearly the respect it deserves, but it's used real well here. The enemies fit in a bit better (even if i'm still not entirely sure if the rats were actually dangerous). The level is pretty fun, in a largely unchallenging way, and that's always a nice thing to be able to say. Goof-Master98 did a real good job here. The downsides are, unfortunately, also a lot of the same that we covered last level. The platforms are just too wide for the gameplay.

You can still just dodge around the enemies wivout needing to engage wiv them at all; and while it does cause fewer complications this go, you can still wind up missing jumps (or in this case, grabs to climb) and dying because you've jumped from a layer you really didn't need access to in the first place. Like, is that an earthshattering problem? Not really, i guess? But it's also a pretty easy one to avoid, so, like, why not?

i do hope we get the chance to see more in this series from Goof-Master, what wiv the whole server thing going on. i'd really like to go and give his stuff more attention. As a bonus, i took a stroll through his hub The Power of Memories (that'll show up in LittleBite-sizedArchive episode 285), and all the levels in there look like they could be a good time for a stream.

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Not much to report in meatspace. It'll probably be an all Create Mode LBP3 stream tonight; i'm feeling a touch tuckered from work, and i don't think i really have the focus for Risk of Rain 2.

[risu5waffles]

[LittleBite-sizedPlanet] 290 - Chapter Zero

We're back in the saddle baby! The saddle of love! Wait... no... that probably means something different.

i'd wanted to start 2024 off wiv a bang, and here we are. chronos' Chapter Zero has had a special place in my heart in my heart for awhile now. i actually looked at it back in 2018 in The Before,

(gads... look how ugly the title cards used to be. we've come a long way)

Tho' i don't think that was the first time i played it. Even back then there was something that caught me about it; and while i hesitate to ascribe trans narratives to every piece of creative work i encounter... the story of someone half-formed who must go through trials and tribulations to make themselves into what they are in order to live life fully... i mean... i wonder why that would have resonated wiv wee eggy me?

Also, chronos being someone i respect as a creator and a friend, and i wanted to do justice to his work.

No pressure or nothing.

On the mechanical level, there are definitely things that can be critiqued here. The inclusion of swimming as an unlockable ability kinda/sorta works wiv the "acquiring basic life skills" conceit, but the difficulties of working that into gameplay means that it never really gets to feed back into the story in a meaningful way. Also, Departure really could use a re-working, thematically it's an uneasy fit, and mechanically... it's really not that much fun.

But, now, the presentation? Oh my stars and garter snakes it is so, so very good. The environments are beautiful, and solid fits for the themes, both wivin the levels themselves, and the overarching space the story exists in. Every music choice is spot on. Sound design is chef's kiss. The animations for things like reality tearing (those glitchy sticker panel bits) and the narrator are just excellent. The checkpoint spawns are deeply cool, and show how little details can really make a level. Everything just has this emotional tone that works, and i love it to pieces. Even the slightly kludgy animations in Revelations, tho' i know chronos has said he'd like to re-work them, feel right for what's going on.

If you haven't given Chapter Zero a play, drop what you're doing and give it a go. Budget about an hour, tho' it'll probably take less than that, just to be on the safe side.

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i am a tired squirrel for real, folx. i didn't really have a New Year's break from work, just the luck of the first falling on my day off, and we have been busy busy at the register. Gonna wrap this up and get a shower and dinner; still got stream tonight, and i want to be vaguely bright-eyed and bushy-tailed. At least we're set for videos up through to the 19th? Wiv a pretty good chunk of that LBsP recorded, even if i think i should probably record it again. It's a second look episode, so i don't have to worry about that at least.

[risu5waffles]

Nothing like listening through a review/breakdown you recorded while strung out on exhaustion and realizing you'd somehow managed to hare off midway through on extended bit as to why Pumpkinhead is amazing and everyone needs to watch it.

Which, you know, that is the honest truth, but i'm supposed to be talking about this LBP level? Wouldn't be much fair to the level creator to leave it in, seems like to me. Which means i had to do a whole new recording, so go me, i guess.

[risu5waffles]

Finally! Finished, uploaded, scheduled (for January 5th)! Let's gooooo~~~~~~ooooo!

But seriously, it's gonna be awhile before i do anything this chonky again.

And since i stumbled over this while i was going through my images folder, have a CHAD.

What a cutie.