Nifflas' Support Forum

Level Editing Support => Knytt Stories Level Previews => Topic started by: Vegetal Gibber on December 21, 2015, 18:40:52

Title: [Environmental/Playground] [KS+] Exploring the Golden Land
Post by: Vegetal Gibber on December 21, 2015, 18:40:52

(http://www.eb-creativos.com/hosted/vegetal/images/wip_goldenland2_infoscreen.jpg)

Hiya, folks. I've been away from the community for a few months, experiencing levels of stress high enough to kill a small mammal. I recently started working on a new KS level as a way to cope with this situation, so I thought it'd be a good idea to come back to the forum and post a preview. Hope you guys like it.

This will be a rather short (small, maybe medium), very relaxing level focused mainly on atmosphere and aesthetics (hence the Environmental tag). It's intended to be a sequel of sorts to Journey to the Golden Land (http://nifflas.lpchip.nl/index.php?topic=6588.0), where you'll have the chance to explore this beautiful place to your heart's content. There will be two special bonus areas that you'll be able to access by collecting all the golden coins and creatures scattered through the land.

This is also my very first try building a level using ego's KS+ exclusive features (mostly the collectables), so you'll need to use his mod to play this.

I'm also working on completing another project called "Next Gen Knytt" that I left unfinished a few months ago. Hopefully I'll be able to release one or both levels before the end of the year :P2


Click on the following spoilers to see a few animated clips showing different parts of the level:

Spoiler: Exterior (click to show/hide)

(https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/47886996/knytt/screenshots/goldenland2_wip_exterior.gif)

Spoiler: Golden Cave (click to show/hide)

(https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/47886996/knytt/screenshots/goldenland2_wip_cave.gif)

Title: Re: [Environmental/Playground] [KS+] Exploring the Golden Land
Post by: sergiocornaga on December 22, 2015, 03:35:52

Looks really good! I was actually hoping you'd make a Golden Land level. Sorry to hear about your real life stress, I hope it eases up or that working on this helps you through it.

Title: Re: [Environmental/Playground] [KS+] Exploring the Golden Land
Post by: pfrangip on December 23, 2015, 05:00:52

I too find both playing and creating KS levels to be quite... cathartic. Hope to see this level soon!

Title: Re: [Environmental/Playground] [KS+] Exploring the Golden Land
Post by: Vegetal Gibber on December 23, 2015, 17:55:42

Thanks guys! Working on this level does indeed help improve my mood. After Curse of the Catacombs, my original plan was to make a challenge-based level next, because it's been a really long time since I did one of those. Unfortunately, I was having a really hard time getting focused and designing proper challenges due to me being so stressed and anxious... so I thought it'd be a much better idea to make something that could help myself feel more relaxed. I've also been wanting to expand on the idea of the "Golden Land" for quite a while, so I figured this would be a good chance :P

Title: Re: [Environmental/Playground] [KS+] Exploring the Golden Land
Post by: Vegetal Gibber on December 27, 2015, 13:28:44

Here are a few animated clips taken from the current build. Click on the spoiler links if you want to see them (they might take some time to fully load):

Spoiler: Exterior (click to show/hide)

(https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/47886996/knytt/screenshots/goldenland2_wip_exterior.gif)

Spoiler: Golden Cave (click to show/hide)

(https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/47886996/knytt/screenshots/goldenland2_wip_cave.gif)

Title: Re: [Environmental/Playground] [KS+] Exploring the Golden Land
Post by: ixMarcel on December 27, 2015, 14:53:40

Fabulous particles and effects!

Title: Re: [Environmental/Playground] [KS+] Exploring the Golden Land
Post by: Vegetal Gibber on December 28, 2015, 15:02:42

Thanks! I have to say, KS+'s object override feature really comes in handy when making custom particle effects.

Title: Re: [Environmental/Playground] [KS+] Exploring the Golden Land
Post by: Fubaka on December 30, 2015, 08:32:50

Sounds good. I expect this level won't be too over-the-top, unlike that other project you mentioned.  :P

Title: Re: [Environmental/Playground] [KS+] Exploring the Golden Land
Post by: Vegetal Gibber on January 01, 2016, 14:13:47

Yes, this is going to be a relatively simple level, gameplay and story wise. No hot kung-fu fighting action in this one, I'm afraid :P2  Basically, it's a pretty scenario where nervous wrecks like me can walk around and feel carefree for a while. However, I did throw in a few hidden areas as a reward to players who like to explore thoroughly, and some of them will be tricky to access. I'm also trying to include a decent amount of COs and effects to make the experience different from old-school environmental levels.

I've updated the screenshots in the first post to match the current version and added some new pics, showing the golden cave and an underwater area.

P.S: Happy new year!

Title: Re: [Environmental/Playground] [KS+] Exploring the Golden Land
Post by: Vegetal Gibber on January 06, 2016, 22:52:16

Seems like I was too optimistic with the release date. I originally intended this to be a nice looking but relatively simple level... but I just can't stop the urge to go back to the already finished screens to add more and more stuff over them. I think I understand egomassive's internal struggle a bit better now :P2  Still, the level should be completed and released before the end of this month.

In the meantime, here's another animation showing off the enhanced underwater effects:

[ Water effect preview (http://www.eb-creativos.com/hosted/vegetal/images/wip_goldenland2_water.gif) ]

Title: Re: [Environmental/Playground] [KS+] Exploring the Golden Land
Post by: Ultigonio on January 07, 2016, 04:15:57

Quote from: Vegetal Gibber on January 06, 2016, 22:52:16

[ Water effect preview (http://www.eb-creativos.com/hosted/vegetal/images/wip_goldenland2_water.gif) ]

Gorgeous!  Although I think those bubbles should be a bit slower.

Title: Re: [Environmental/Playground] [KS+] Exploring the Golden Land
Post by: Vegetal Gibber on January 07, 2016, 15:16:52

Thanks for the feedback! I think you're right about the bubbles, I'm going to set their speed a tad lower. I didn't notice before, but when they rise too fast, it kinda makes the water look like it's boiling.

Title: Re: [Environmental/Playground] [KS+] Exploring the Golden Land
Post by: Vegetal Gibber on January 10, 2016, 14:00:37

Finished the info screen (which I added to the first post). I can't believe I spent an entire day just on that.

As for the level itself, it's almost complete. Just a few secrets and one last area to go :D

Title: Re: [Environmental/Playground] [KS+] Exploring the Golden Land
Post by: SC on January 11, 2016, 05:33:16

Can't wait to play this! I really enjoyed playing your previous "Land" level, and this one looks really good so far! You're making good use of KS+'s processing power! :D

P.S. Also, uh, in that water test GIF, should the fish at the bottom be poking through the ground or is that a bug?? :P

Title: Re: [Environmental/Playground] [KS+] Exploring the Golden Land
Post by: Vegetal Gibber on January 11, 2016, 17:05:33

Thanks :) If I can continue working on this level at my current pace, it should be ready for release in about a week or two. I'll probably be asking around for some beta-testing help before the final release.

Some of the fish are intended to be foreground objects, that's why they look like they're going through parts of the mid-layer ground. I might change this if it looks too weird, though. Any feedback will be appreciated!

Title: Re: [Environmental/Playground] [KS+] Exploring the Golden Land
Post by: Purple Ink on January 16, 2016, 00:09:30

My god this looks amazing! Can't wait to play it.

Title: Re: [Environmental/Playground] [KS+] Exploring the Golden Land
Post by: Vegetal Gibber on January 17, 2016, 18:07:56

Thanks! :D

The level is about 95% done and completely playable (which means I already placed every collectible item and all areas should be reachable without cheating). The only things that are still missing are the intro cutscene and a bunch of screens for the very last bonus area. I was planning on finishing all these things this weekend, but then I got sick and had to spend two days in bed. So... poop :/ Still, I'm confident I can get this done in the next few days, since I'm feeling a lot better now.

Also, I feel it's time for some testing and external feedback. I already have a volunteer, but if someone else wants to be a tester too, that'd be great. It's always useful to have multiple opinions on the same matter. If you're interested, just post here or PM me.

Edit: Got enough testers for now. Thanks for the quick responses!

Title: Re: [Environmental/Playground] [KS+] Exploring the Golden Land
Post by: Fubaka on January 17, 2016, 20:23:54

Quote from: Vegetal Gibber on January 17, 2016, 18:07:56

Also, I feel it's time for some testing and external feedback. I already have a volunteer, but if someone else wants to be a tester too, that'd be great. It's always useful to have multiple opinions on the same matter. If you're interested, just post here or PM me.

Don't forget about me, blubblublubbllublu!

Title: Re: [Environmental/Playground] [KS+] Exploring the Golden Land
Post by: Ultigonio on January 17, 2016, 20:55:59

I'd be happy to do a little playtesting and offer some feedback.

Title: Re: [Environmental/Playground] [KS+] Exploring the Golden Land
Post by: Vegetal Gibber on January 17, 2016, 21:10:23

Well, that was quick... which is awesome :D Thanks! I'll send you guys a PM with the details.

Edit: Got a ton of really useful feedback from the betatesting round. Thanks again to those who participated!

I'm going to use this week to finish up the level design and address as many of the reported issues as I can. Once this is done, the release should follow shortly (unless some malevolent force makes me get sick again just to spite me for having a big mouth)

Title: Re: [Environmental/Playground] [KS+] Exploring the Golden Land
Post by: Purple Ink on January 20, 2016, 04:49:59

Really looking forward to this.

Title: Re: [Environmental/Playground] [KS+] Exploring the Golden Land
Post by: Vegetal Gibber on January 22, 2016, 14:48:15

After some considerations, I made the following changes to the level based on the feedback provided by the testers:

Spoiler: Beta changelog (spoiler free) (click to show/hide)

• Added a subtle visual aid to help prevent excessive backtracking when trying to find secret walls.
• The glowing effect used on some items and collectibles now disappears after you pick them.
• Expanded one of the bonus areas with a few additional screens. The current screen count is a bit over 100, so I think the level can be considered Medium sized now (definitely larger than my other small levels, albeit not by a lot).
• Lowered the volume of some ambience sounds.
• Slowed down some animations a bit (fireflies, water mist)
• Replaced the fully solid gold platforms with a different tile to help the player distinguish them from the 2-way platforms.
• Marked a bunch of empty/filler screens as hidden so they don't show up in the map powerup.
• Added a round border to the title font.
• Added a reminder of KS+'s exclusive features (particularly the "jump down" action, which is required to navigate some parts of the level, and the map tool).
• Edited the background of some screens a bit to make them more distinct from the contiguous rooms.

There are still a few more modifications I want to try out before the final release, if I have enough free time this weekend.

Also, yay me for being 33 as of today. Man, I feel old.

Title: Re: [Environmental/Playground] [KS+] Exploring the Golden Land
Post by: Fubaka on January 22, 2016, 15:06:37

Quote from: Vegetal Gibber on January 22, 2016, 14:48:15

Also, yay me for being 33 as of today. Man, I feel old.

Whoa man! I didn't realize you were a whole ten years older than me.

Happy birthday, Bubs!

Title: Re: [Environmental/Playground] [KS+] Exploring the Golden Land
Post by: Vegetal Gibber on January 22, 2016, 22:16:31

Great, now I feel even older. Guess it's time to make it official and buy the cane and rock chair.

Thanks! :D

Title: Re: [Environmental/Playground] [KS+] Exploring the Golden Land
Post by: Vegetal Gibber on January 27, 2016, 00:40:41

Done and released! (http://nifflas.lpchip.nl/index.php?topic=6691.0) Hope you guys like it.