[Environmental/Challenge][Small][Normal] A Taste of LIMBO

hi everyone,

this is my first knytt story. and it's my first try in level design, ever. i could have worked on this for a much longer while. but it's time to put this to an end, since it's only an experiment. originally intended as a clear tribute to LIMBO, this story now is a collection of ideas, roughly inspired by the spirit of playdead's LIMBO.

you can download the .bin file here: A Taste of Limbo

give it a try and share your thoughts. any input will be of great help developing my skills.

thank you

holopunk

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Hum.  I got through the level, and there are quite a few issues and things that could be improved.

I'll start with the first set of screens, up to the first screen where you're really doing anything.  There are ways to make it so we can't see Juni in this "intro" sequence, and I think it would benefit from not having her repeatedly fall over the title.  Since you used KS+ for this, I would recommend either using a timed shift and covering up Juni, or doing something similar to what Egomassive does in his level "Shipwrecked."  If you prefer to have Juni falling, I'd recommend starting her between two columns of invisible blocks, so she can't move around and distractingly fall past the title.  This could also prevent the player from falling to the left side of the screen and immediately getting themselves into a bottomless void (although this needs to be fixed in general because the player can later do this just by jumping past the ghosts after they loop through the game once).
Some other issues...

• I'm not a big fan of the way you've set up the return to x1002y1000 after receiving the climb.  It very easy to not see that coming.  My personal recommendation would be something like this: http://i.imgur.com/5brbzy3.png - with this design, the player has enough time to react to the flyer coming at them.
• I'm really not sure what the deal with screen x1004y996 and x1005y996 is.  You can easily get past the top of the screen and drop yourself into the void for a fair bit of time.
• Some of your aesthetic choices, like the ground block arrangement in x1007y1000, are rather ugly.

They were a few things I did rather like, though.  It was good how you denoted climbable blocks in an otherwise unclimbable area, the atmosphere was alright, and the moon background looked pretty.  The level had some issues, but never really became unenjoyable to play.

Nice little level. Aside from some technical matters, I think the design was fairly good. Uneven walls, where you have to jump while climbing to make it to the top, are annoying. In the future, if you make a serious level, I suggest having it beta tested, preferably by people from this forum since many of us are well versed at KS.

@ Everyone: Although this may have been made with KS+, it doesn't use any KS+ features. It is a normal KS level.

@ Ultigonio: I think it was Holopunk's intention for you to feel like you're falling into Limbo at the beginning. At least that's what I took away from it.

@ Everyone: Although this may have been made with KS+, it doesn't use any KS+ features. It is a normal KS level.

I thought it was (though I wasn't certain of it) but I've got quite a few levels already listed that are equally standard. I really ought to cut them out but, since I'm not sure exactly on which side of the line some of them fall, I've been putting it off. Not to mention the fact that it feels a little mean spirited to cut people's levels, even if I had no business adding them in the first place

@ Ultigonio: I think it was Holopunk's intention for you to feel like you're falling into Limbo at the beginning. At least that's what I took away from it.

This was what I figured as well, but I thought I'd add suggestions for either situation.  I just think that having Juni repeatedly fall past the title doesn't look particularly great.

thanks for your feedback, much appreciated! especially ultigonio for being so detailed.

i guess i started up the whole design process in a rather chaotic and overambitious way. too many different ideas, some of which just weren't thought through. finally, i got sloppy, so i decided to take a break.

anyway, your comments will be of great help! i hope i can find more time soon for getting deeper into the craft.

ps.: the falling effect during the title sequence was intended. it might not be that elegant, though.
as for the ks/ks+ question, it only uses a minor visual feature from ks+: i changed juni's skin to white

ps.: the falling effect during the title sequence was intended. it might not be that elegant, though.
as for the ks/ks+ question, it only uses a minor visual feature from ks+: i changed juni's skin to white

That's a standard KS feature as well. At least it is in version 1.2.1.

Eh, I liked it. It was a bit unpolished but with a little work it could be a solid piece.

The Good:
-Nice artsy feel. Dark but not brooding or depressing. Loved the "flame of addiction"
-The almost unused area with the Medusas on lone platforms was really well done. A fresh mechanic! At one point I was falling down between them and no matter where I looked they glowed danger, no safe haven. It was too bad you didn't really use it except as a "wall."
-The level design near the end with the too-dark-to-see bits was neat.

The bad:
-Voids everywhere man! I hit Voids when I tried! I hit Voids when I didn't try!
-A bit easy
-Did the player actually _need_ the eye to complete the level? Not sure we did.

Anyways I hope to see more from you!

hey, thank you!

yeah, i was quite unhappy not having enough time to polish the whole thing properly. thus the voids, amongst some other annoying issues.

as for the eye ... i tried sort of a twist. actually, the player increases the difficulty by obtaining the eye. without it, there would be no need to bother with the slimes and such. however, i suppose this twist is not really clear.

just one of a bunch of ideas i should have worked on with more focus. anyways i learned a lot of this first try and all the feedback here! i hope to get back to polishing soon ...