[Hard/Challenge/Epic Length] I Dreamed of the Sky

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Offline Talps

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[Hard/Challenge/Epic Length] I Dreamed of the Sky
« on: June 22, 2012, 19:07:51 »
Wow! This level began development sometime around August 2010. And now, at last, it's here! My second epic-length level:


When I was a Child
I Dreamed of the Sky


Download me!
Mirror!
Mirror!

Juni has lived all her life in a tiny, underground village, told stories of monsters that dwell in the tunnels above, and yet her dreams are full of bright lights, open spaces and myriad other wonders that her reality lacks, and perhaps it's better to die seeking a mythical light than to dwell your whole life in shadow. On her journey towards the unknown world above, she will begin to uncover the mystery of why her people live in hiding, squalor and fear, as her actions disturb a long-sleeping danger.

I Dreamed of the Sky features a complex plot, bucket-loads of custom graphics, flags, cutscenes and my first attempt at a large puzzle. It's many screens long with over an hour's worth of gameplay.

Turn down the lights and turn up the volume. Explore, discover, awaken and dream...

(For anyone who plays and likes this and fancies a bit more of a challenge, you can check out the original, harder versions of the upper levels.)
« Last Edit: February 20, 2013, 00:27:04 by Talps »

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Offline lamarblake

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Re: [Hard/Challenge/Epic Length] I Dreamed of the Sky
« Reply #1 on: June 22, 2012, 21:53:26 »
one word.     awesome

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Offline Fubaka

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Re: [Hard/Challenge/Epic Length] I Dreamed of the Sky
« Reply #2 on: June 22, 2012, 22:20:36 »
Just played this, finished my official review of it on this page: http://nifflas.lpchip.nl/index.php?topic=5404.msg57857#msg57857
Things to remember when writing figures of speech and sound:
The power of poetry comes from the ability to defy logic. Defy logic often.

Use a metaphor and tell us that your lover is the sky. Tell us that your lover is the sky. When you do that, we won't believe you. We won't believe you because saying so makes no sense, but we'll see a meaning. We'll see a meaning.

The other thing is the ability to be remembered. Love anything.

Love anything

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Offline ortoslon

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Re: [Hard/Challenge/Epic Length] I Dreamed of the Sky
« Reply #3 on: June 22, 2012, 22:21:48 »
i tried to like this level but gave up at the pipe/water puzzle, not being sure if putting the mental effort to solve it would be worthwhile

besides things that are more down to taste (ugh, lotsa text), i don't like how the level starts with ~20 screens of static lasers, a couple of minutes of good old tedious timed waiting

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Offline Raicuparta

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Re: [Hard/Challenge/Epic Length] I Dreamed of the Sky
« Reply #4 on: June 22, 2012, 22:29:55 »
i tried to like this level but gave up at the pipe/water puzzle, not being sure if putting the mental effort to solve it would be worthwhile
besides things that are more down to taste (ugh, lotsa text), i don't like how the level starts with ~20 screens of static lasers, a couple of minutes of good old tedious timed waiting
I actually also stopped playing at that area, but I was really almost done with the puzzle, but I'm going back to it as soon as possible. But I admit I took a break because I became a bit annoyed with it.
I just generally hate laser challenges for some reason, seem to be way overused in many levels, but I didn't really see it as a negative point, because as soon as I see a laser challenge in a level I already hate that particular challenge.
Apart from that I am really enjoying the level, despite the difficulty being just a bit above my skill level, but I feel like it's gonna be worth it.

Re: [Hard/Challenge/Epic Length] I Dreamed of the Sky
« Reply #5 on: June 22, 2012, 23:44:37 »
so long since ive played such a great level,
Thanks !

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Offline LPChip

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Re: [Hard/Challenge/Epic Length] I Dreamed of the Sky
« Reply #6 on: June 22, 2012, 23:46:37 »
I was one of the playtesters, and I didn't find the water puzzle that hard. Sure it took me quite a while to understand its mechanism, but its very logical.

My tip would be: if this is real, how would it be? Use this knowledge to solve it. :)
on the left, above my avatar.

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Offline Raicuparta

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Re: [Hard/Challenge/Epic Length] I Dreamed of the Sky
« Reply #7 on: June 23, 2012, 00:00:30 »
I was one of the playtesters, and I didn't find the water puzzle that hard. Sure it took me quite a while to understand its mechanism, but its very logical.

My tip would be: if this is real, how would it be? Use this knowledge to solve it. :)
I don't know about ortolson, but my problem wasn't with difficulty, I figured it out almost immediately, the only problem for me was that the exit wasn't clear at first so I screwed up at the end, which meant I had to repeat a bit of platforming and I wasn't feeling like it at the time. But I actually thought it was a nice puzzle, much like other puzzles in Talps levels.

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Offline Talps

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Re: [Hard/Challenge/Epic Length] I Dreamed of the Sky
« Reply #8 on: June 23, 2012, 00:11:40 »
and I'm sorry that you guys didn't enjoy them much. I did try and alter their use, so sometimes they're a major thing and other times they're integrated with other puzzles.

I like what LPchip said about Level 4. I was trying to make it a little bit Zelda-ish, and it's fairly straight forward when you know how it's done. You've seen one or two things in the level that you know you want before you turned the console on. Just focus on working out how to reach them.

It is pretty text-heavy. There's a lot of story to tell and sadly that's the easiest way to tell it, especially in the context of the setting. But there aren't many bits of story you actually need to read - mostly they're just telling the story, and I can only think of three that contain particularly important information for the player.
Still, I did say I wanted to use KS as a medium for strong storytelling, and that isn't everyone's cup of tea.

But thanks everyone for your positive comments; it's really great to hear what's being liked. :D Hopefully I can learn from the positive and negative criticism as I go on.

Man, now I want tea.
« Last Edit: June 23, 2012, 00:14:06 by Talps »

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Offline Raicuparta

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Re: [Hard/Challenge/Epic Length] I Dreamed of the Sky
« Reply #9 on: June 23, 2012, 01:18:19 »
Just finished it, and and it was really enjoyable, just a great level. I just got a little confused by something:
Spoiler: (click to show/hide)

By the way,
Spoiler: (click to show/hide)

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Offline Talps

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Re: [Hard/Challenge/Epic Length] I Dreamed of the Sky
« Reply #10 on: June 23, 2012, 02:18:41 »
Spoiler: (click to show/hide)

Spoiler: (click to show/hide)

In other news, I can't fit any more levels in my signature and I'm at a loss as to how to solve this dilemma.
« Last Edit: June 23, 2012, 02:30:18 by Talps »

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Offline B-Man

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Re: [Hard/Challenge/Epic Length] I Dreamed of the Sky
« Reply #11 on: June 23, 2012, 03:32:20 »
Just finished the level. Pretty fun! The challenges were fairly varied and enjoyable for the most part, particularly a few instances involving shifts that suddenly presented Juni with immediate danger with juuusssst enough time to react. That's much more fun than having an impossibly short time to react and passing on the second attempt, so kudos there. :)

A few things that could stand addressing, though...

#1:
Spoiler: (click to show/hide)

#2:
Spoiler: (click to show/hide)

Other than that, the level was pretty fun! Looking forward to future installments to get a bit more closure on the story. :)

In other news, I can't fit any more levels in my signature and I'm at a loss as to how to solve this dilemma.

Just show the newest levels?
« Last Edit: June 23, 2012, 03:36:07 by B-Man »

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Offline egomassive

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Re: [Hard/Challenge/Epic Length] I Dreamed of the Sky
« Reply #12 on: June 23, 2012, 07:12:03 »
Wow!  Played it beginning to end.  Just terrific!  And, I got a special thanks in the credits. :O I wonder what I did?  The story was great, and the way you revealed surprises in the reverse narrative was inspired. *gives star*

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Offline Salmoneous

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Re: [Hard/Challenge/Epic Length] I Dreamed of the Sky
« Reply #13 on: June 23, 2012, 10:34:19 »
In other news, I can't fit any more levels in my signature and I'm at a loss as to how to solve this dilemma.

Mediafire or some free uploading host can store various downloads for you in one page. So just one link to the downloading page with all your levels. Otherwise post your newest in your signature and wait for the new knyttlevels to come out.

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Offline sergiocornaga

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Re: [Hard/Challenge/Epic Length] I Dreamed of the Sky
« Reply #14 on: June 23, 2012, 11:00:04 »
In other news, I can't fit any more levels in my signature and I'm at a loss as to how to solve this dilemma.

I made this substitute signature for you if you want it. Exactly 450 characters! Copy, paste, and be amazed! Feel free to remove the first level, that's mostly there to show that there's room for one further level using the same method.

Code: [Select]
[url=bit.ly/Lp7uXb][img]i.imgur.com/AyKew.png[/img][/url][url=bit.ly/MDPoyD][img]i.imgur.com/Mf46M.png[/img][/url][url=bit.ly/MJMxSG][img]i.imgur.com/ildPb.png[/img][/url][url=bit.ly/gmtIzK][img]i.imgur.com/5K36L.png[/img][/url][url=bit.ly/Nk3Z17][img]i.imgur.com/2jnPH.png[/img][/url][url=bit.ly/Lp7OW7][img]i.imgur.com/WF2xj.png[/img][/url][url=bit.ly/L2v5KE][img]i.imgur.com/ztbdo.png[/img][/url][url=bit.ly/LHMEPA][img]i.imgur.com/VTLS0.png[/img][/url]
P.S. I also gave the level yet another playthrough in honour of it being properly released. It's quite exceptional!
« Last Edit: June 23, 2012, 11:52:44 by sergiocornaga »