Multi-floor elevator with controls

Let me start by giving a huge thanks to DEFCON01 who’s Youtube video showed me how to build the original elevator in LBP1.  Without that start, this would not be possible.

Really, all I did was translate that design into something using the LBP2 tools.  With the new tools I was able to create a design that only involved one moving part, the piston that raises and lowers the elevator car.  Everything needed to make this elevator control fits neatly on a single microchip.

You might recognize some of this design from my previous post about elevator logic.  I just added 2 AND gates, 2 timers, a directional combiner, and a sound object.

Starting on the left edge are the tag sensors.  The blue one activates if the elevator is at the top floor, the purple one activates if the elevator is at the bottom floor, and the green one for all floors in between.  In this picture, the purple one is activated.  You can see that the NOT gate’s output is off, therefore the first AND switch cannot close and complete the circuit to move the elevator down.  The blue one is not activated, so it’s NOT gate output is on and the first AND gate is awaiting input from the elevator’s “up” grabswitch to close the circuit and move the elevator up.

In the center is an OR switch with input from all of the tag sensors.  When one of the three sensors activates, it sends a signal to the reset switch of both timers.  This sets the current value of both to 0, and starts a 2-second interval where the output from both timers is turned off.  This turns off the input to the second set of AND gates which cuts off the signal to the elevator’s piston.  This stops the car long enough for the player to let go of the switch and exit the elevator car.  This time can be adjusted by tweaking the settings of the timers.  The other function of the OR gate is to trigger the sound object which makes a nice elevator “ding” tone.

The last element here is the directional combiner.  The up grabswitch is connected to the positive input, and the down grabswitch is connected to the negative input.  The “Input Action” on the piston is set to Forwards/Backwards, which gives the up and down movement based on which grabswitch is used.

Elevator logic

 

I worked a little on my elevator logic this morning and came up with the following microchip. 

Starting at the top, I have a blue tag sensor attached to a NOT logic gate, which connects to the AND logic gate.  The other thing connected to the AND logic gate is the grab switch for the “up button” in the elevator.  The purple tag sensor is attached to a similar NOT, then AND switch for the “down button” in the elevator.  The green tag sensor is used to stop at all floors in between.

To create the stopping location for the elevator, I placed a blue tag at the top floor, a purple tag at the bottom floor, and green tags at all floors in between.

Basically, the NOT gate is used to make sure that grabbing the up or down button will always work, unless the elevator is at the top or bottom floor, respectively.

The OR logic gate is connected to all three tag sensors so that no matter which sensor is activated, the elevator will stop.

All this work got me thinking of something another player asked in one of the forums, how do you make an elevator call button?  Give me something to think about for improving on the design.

Taking a Little Break

 

Well, since I seem to have a case of trigger finger in my thumb, and it is encased in a brace for the next 1-2 weeks, I won’t be doing any actual building on my levels.  It’s a shame because I just picked up LBP2 and the design tool are incredible.  In addition to the new tools, I can also access the add-on packs that came with the Game of the Year Edition of LPB1.

With all of that, and a punch list of things to fix in my first level, I decided to update that level and republish it in LBP2.

I am already making good use of the circuit boards as a way to clean up the design and take advantage of the updated logic gates.  Other new features that I like are the material movers and sackbots.  With these features I can create doors that slide between the three layers, to add a little depth, and replace the cardboard and sticker characters I currently have.

The elevators are getting a major upgrade to ones that have up and down controls that the player has to trigger, instead of proximity sensors that sometimes make the elevators take off without the player.

This will most likely push the work on my second level to the side for a while, but I think that updating my first one, will be worth the effort.

The Next Big Thing

My first published level is doing well.  I have 24 people who have played it now, a couple of hearts, and a couple of thumbs up.  Some of those folks gave me some great feedback on how to make it better, but at this time I am unable to make any changes.  I downloaded LBP so I could trade in my disk towards buying LBP2.  Turns out that the content I got with the disk version (Game of the Year edition) is not available to me anymore unless I purchase it.  Oops!  Until I get around to buying those packs, I decided to begin work on my new level.

As with the last one, I am working out all of the technical parts first.  The first big one I am working on is a puzzle akin to the old “pipes” games.  The player needs to create an electrical path to two locations by rotating either a row or column of “path pieces”.  The first step was to find a way to rotate the pieces. 

My design is a 5x5 grid of wheels that will rotate in 1/4 turn increments.  Since each wheel has a single motor bolt, and that means I can only have one trigger per wheel.  I finally came up with a matching 5x5 grid of pistons and magnetic keys that activate either one row or one column of motors.

This grid is controlled by a 2-way switch and 5 buttons.  The buttons allow the player to select row/column 1-5 based on how the 2-way switch is set.

The switch allows the player to select either rows (lever to the left) or columns (lever to the right).  The switch moves a line of magnetic keys left and right to move them under the magnetic switches that are activated by the 5 buttons.

When the players activates the button, one of the two magnetic keys will activate a piston in the controller unit for the row or column selected.

The piston will push a magnetic switch towards the matching magnetic key until it activates.  The magnetic switch is connected to the pistons for all 5 row or column pistons in the “OR” switches that control each motor bolt in the 5x5 grid.  This will activate all 5 magnetic switches for a row or column, which start the matching motor bolts.  Since I am in the development stage, I just have them connected to a 5x5 grid of LED lights.

In this example the 2-way switch is set for row and I am standing on the 2nd button.  You can see that all lights in the 2nd row are lit.

In this example the 2-way switch is set for column and I am standing on the 2nd button. You can see that all lights in the 2nd column are lit.

Eventually, when I add the wheels, I will add the connections that briefly break the connection in the row/column control unit that will turn off the “OR” switch and stop the wheel rotation each 1/4 turn.

The controller units for each row/column are part of a multi-level elevator, with controls, designed by DEFCON01.  I just adapted it for this use.  If you want to see his elevator design, which will be used in this level and my first one when I can edit it again, just search for “DEFCON01 elevator” on YouTube.

Are We There Yeti?...version 2

After much delay, and much video gaming, I finally republished my level.  Taking into account suggestions from fellow game developer Ben, I fixed the problems he encountered, and made some modifications to enhance the level.  One cool thing I was able to do was to make the snowball emitters better. 

He told me that having them just pop out of nowhere was very frustrating and didn't look good.  They needed to look like thery were coming from somewhere.  I found some great looking pipe pieces in my tool set and used those for a location where the snowballs come from.  To make it so it didn't look like they were random pieces of scenery, I added a matching number of pieces and a stone wall at the top of the mountain.  I added a steam enging sound effect and a vent on the stone wall, and VOILA! A snowball machine.  I wanted to use stickers to make an "ACME Snowball Machine" sign, but the letters offered are not in the style I wanted so I just let it go.

There are a few other additions, changes, fixes, and so on.  If Ben wasn't reading this I might mention them, but I don't want to spoil the surprise.

Published, now on to version 2!

I did some final tweaking, added background music and sound effects.  Tested, tested, and re-tested, and decided it was time to publish my level.  I put it out and sent a message to friends, and folk I have met playing LPB online.  No sooner had I published it than I remembered I forgot to add one final element.  It was the yeti’s house, which doubled as the façade that covered up one of my more complicated mechanisms.

I jumped back into edit mode, added the yeti’s house and republished.  As I watched the count of people who played the level climb to 7, but nobody finished, I wondered what was going on.  I played the published version only to find out that my yeti destroyed itself as it snagged on something.  I went back to my workshop and found out it was doing the same thing there.  Who would have thought that adding an object would cause that to happen.  My friend Ben called that the “Butterfly Effect”.  Guess I should have tested after adding that object.

He also sent me an e-mail with some feedback, and much to my surprise, he had a problem before that.  Now, with his notes in hand I am working on version 2 of my level.  Making some changes here and there, hopefully for the better.  My only fear is that some of my shapes are too complicated to modify anymore so I might need to redo large pieces to make this work. 

It is what it is…

Sometime you gotta play a little to get ahead

I’ve been working on the section of my level that takes place in an ice cave.  I was having a difficult time giving it that snowy/icy look.  Part of what I did was use the glass material on the third layer, and stone on the other two layers.  I put a sticker over the stone that was actually the hair for the X-Men character “Storm”.  It had a nice fade from white to a frosty blue and did a decent job of looking cold.

Next, I was having problems with my shapes.  I kept getting a message that my shapes were too complicated, and I couldn’t add anything else.  I looked them over closely, but couldn’t see what was so complicated.  I tried deleting portions of the shapes, but it didn’t make much of a difference.  What finally made the difference was using the corner editor.  I discovered that when I was drawing the shapes, or erasing portions, that the process was creating 3-4 corners for what I thought was a single corner.  By going around the edge of the shapes, I deleted about 75% of the extra corners.  This allowed me to continue adding to the shapes and make my design a little more solid looking.

Finally, when I was playing this weekend, I managed to get to the final section of the game.  Trying to track down the “Collector”.  Apparently he is the big bad villain that is causing all the trouble.  One of the prizes I won was the “Snow Paper” texture.  This texture is a grabbable material covered with sparkling snowflakes.  The perfect thing for my ice cavern.  Using the material changer, I did a quick update on the pieces I had made so far and VIOLA, ice cave.  Glad I took some time out play.

Time to get back to work!!

So, after a brief hiatus, while I kicked some corrupted butt in Prince of Persia, it's time for me to get back to work on my level.  When I left off, I had finished making some changes after an impromptu playing of my "level so far" by a random person I met while playing online.  Got those little glitches fixed, and now I am moving forward.  The next section takes place in the ice cavern of the ferocious yeti (screaming in the background as menacing music plays).  I am experimenting with materials in this part by using a glass material to give it a shiny glowy look.  This section is also going to have a few surprises, and even a few ways to die.  One of the surprises involved something popping up in the background.  I used a "thin layer" piece of the glass to obscure the object a little, and added bright red LED lights on the object for evil-looking eyes.  Well, long story short, the LEDs are on the same "thin layer" so the object got stuck.  Thankfully I placed the object on the third level so I just moved the obscuring glass to the 2nd "thin layer" and all is well again. 

I am also experimenting with the thin glass layers to add icicles hanging from the ceiling of passages and such.  It's just one way I am dressing up the level to give it a more finished look.  Hopefully I can finish the rough design of the ice cave this week, and get alot of it built over the next week.  After the ice cave is done, I just need to add the finishing touches to the village and the rock cave and it might be ready for a full-on test run.

No more breaks, unless I decide to go back and find the last 30ish light seeds in Prince of Persia.

Sack in the Saddle…Again

Well, my break from working on my LPB level was a nice one, but now I am working on finding a balance so I can keep playing and working on this at the same time.  But I digress.

I was able to finish roughing out the first third of the level.  I put all the elevators in, a few moving platforms, and even a cannon.  I am having a problem moving forward, something like writers block.  I’m sure if I just keep working on it I will continue to move forward. 

One thing that helped was meeting another player online.  I asked them if they wanted to see my level so far, and they followed along.  One thing this helped me do was a run though with someone who didn’t know the level.  I found a few technical issues, so I need to redesign a couple parts.  Both are elevators.  Anyway, this person started adding objects and slapping up stickers.  They apologized for messing with my level, but I decided to keep the changes. 

When I saved the level, I got a new trophy.  This one is for building a level with another player.  Bonus for me.  I sent them one of the objects I built as a thank you, and I have a new PSN friend.  With that little break, I think I can get back to designing.

Been a productive week

This past week I made good headway on this project.  I learned how to place large blocks of material, one layer at a time, to make it easier to carve out passages and rooms in the level.  I built two mine-shaft-style elevators, a hidden point bubble cache, and figured out how to use water to add a little detail to the level.  The biggest piece I completed was a giant “ferris wheel”, but that’s all I’m going to say about that.  Don’t want to give away too much.

One lesson I am learning, and it is something I read about in a forum, is that scale is an important thing to consider.  I started working on a vertical passageway, trying to add a little platforming element.  I quickly discovered that if I made the player jump their way to the top, they would probably quit playing the level.  I need to figure out how to eliminate some of the vertical climb while maintaining the pieces I already placed.  Shouldn’t be too hard, I hope.

The Game is Afoot

Well, on the heels of a big breakthrough with the combination lock door, I decided it was time to start building the environments the player will run through.  I was a little concerned since the door used about 1/16 of the allowed storage space for the level.  That did not bode well, since I have other relatively complex pieces to add. 

I put some large blocks of materials into the blank level to see how much of the space they would take up in the allowed limits.  The good news was that they didn’t add that much to the used storage space.  It looks like I will be able to put in all of the elements I have, and will design.

Today, I build a door that will give the user access to the first section of the level.  It went pretty well.  I used a wiggle bolt to connect the door to the stone background.  When it is activated, the door swings open, like it is on a hinge of sorts.  Like the other door, I found a sound file called “creaking cog” (or something like that) that plays while the door swings open.

Next on the agenda?  Either working on the decorations in the village, or start working on the cavern portion of the level.  I need to figure out how big to make it to hold the elements I want to have.  That, and design the elements that are going in there.  I have the sketch done, just need to find out if I can actually build the things I want.  If this continues going well, I think this is going to turn out nicely.

And now, the rest of the story. . .

I thought that I would take a moment to talk about the rest of the pieces of the door/combination lock I showed in the previous post.  Other elements I put in the device are a sound emitter, and the door itself.  Both of them are activated when the two-way switches are set correctly and the blocks in the lock are extended fully.  If you take a close look at the top of the door, and the last block in the lock (hey, that rhymes), you can see what I had to do to make sure the door only slid up. 

I added a magnetic key on the door, matched with a magnetic switch at the top of the door pocket.  When the door pulls all the way up, it activates the switch, which triggers…wait for it…wait for it…the last block in the lock which is made out of dissolving material.  When the block, which holds the magnetic key that activates the door and sound emitter, dissolves, the magnetic key is destroyed and the magnetic switch that turned on the door and sound emitter shuts off. 

All that is left to do is to go back and build all of this using grids.  That will ensure that everything lines up nicely, and that I use the minimal amount of materials to build it.  Once that is done I can save it as an object and prepare to place it in the final level.

Lock Success

My idea was to create a combination lock to open a door.  I did a little searching on Youtube to get some ideas for the combination lock, and I was not disappointed.  There were a number of solutions using two-way switches, connected to pistons, which moved blocks of material back and forth.  The last block has a magnetic key on it.  The basic idea is that if you set the switches in the correct combination of off and on, the pistons extend fully and the magnetic key on the last block activates a magnetic switch, which is connected to the piston for the door.  If the switches are not in the correct position then the magnetic key cannot activate the switch.

In order to make it something more that just “flip a switch and open the door”, I discovered I could reverse the pistons that move the blocks.  What this does is to collapse the piston if the switch is in the “on” position and extend it if the switch is in the “off” position.  Since all pistons need to be fully extended, this allow me to create a combination of “on” and “off” needed to open the door.

The best part is that you can reset the combination to anything you want just by modifying the “reverse” setting on the pistons.

To give the player a visual clue, I added small colored LED lights that turn on and off with the switches.  This way you can leave a clue about the switch settings somewhere for the player to find.  Since I couldn’t connect the two-way switches to the lights, I had to build the device just above the wall.

Here’s a picture to give you visual to go with my description.  Any yes, that is the one and only Ironman building my level.

Still Trying

I spent some time trying to get the “object spitter” (see the drawing in the previous post) working better.  One of the tricks I had to use was to add a “loud crash” sound emitter for every object that gets spat out.  I had tried to use a single emitter, with a range that would sense the magnetic key the entire time, but it only played the sound once.  There was no setting that would loop the sound.  It still works since the “comic boing” sound, which is played each time an object is spat out, can still be heard over the crashing.

The next issue is to get the right settings for the object emitters.  I had to find the right combination of the various settings to get a single object to pop out.  I finally decided to go with a 5 second delay between objects, infinite life span, infinite number emitted, and one emitted at a time.  It works a little better, but still not quite what I am looking for. 

The only other thing that would help with this is to find a way to make the piston only push down, without destroying it.  My solution for that was to make the block, that the piston pushes down, out of dissolving material.  When it reaches the bottom it activates a magnetic switch which “activated” the block of dissolving material causing it to dissolve.  This works fine, but I have to reset the level each time I try it.  This gets a little tedious, but if I don’t connect the switch to the block, then it doesn’t dissolve.  There has to be a better way.

Sometime Failure is Funny



Disolving Material Switch

 Today I decided to take a break from my combination lock to design an element that should be much easier.  Basically, the device "spits out" various objects combined with sound effects.  My original idea was to use a stack of blocks made out of the special disolving material (DM).  This stuff is cool in that it vaporizes when you activate it, usually with a magnetic switch (squares on the left in the picture).  I thought I would place an iron block on top of that stack, with a magnetic key attached to it.  The key would activate the magnetic switch which, in turn, would activate the block of disolving material just below it.  This would cause the iron block to drop onto the next block of DM which would trigger a magnetic switch to "spit out" an object (circles on the right in the picture), play a sound effect, and activate the block of DM just below it.  This cycle was supposed to happen 5 times.  Well, to paraphrase Thomas Edison; I didn't have a failure, I just figured out how not to accomplish this.  The DM blocks disolved so fast, my iron block pretty much just dropped straight to the bottom without any hesitation.  I got a good laught out of that and went back to the drawing board.  I ended up attaching a piston to the iron block with the key.  This piston slowly lowers the block, activating each switch with a slight delay in between each one.  Now to fine tune the "spitting" and sound effects and all will be good with this device.  Maybe I can get back to designing that combination lock later in the week.

The Creative Process

I am quickly learning that the creative process behind this is an ongoing thing.  I thought I was clear on what the story behind the level was, but it changes everytime I work on it.  As I get ideas for the various elements within the level it sometimes changes a piece of the "story" as well as other elements in the level.  For example, my original idea had the yeti deciding to go to the village where everyone would discover he wasn't so bad afterall. Now, I have changed it so that he just returns the item he took from the villagers.  I was even able to tie what that item was into the whole store, in a funny way.  Once I did that, I got more ideas on how to end the level, and how to modify the part that leads up to the end.  It will be interesting to see how the final product differs from my original idea. 

Welcome to my diary

I have enjoyed playing video games for more years than I am willing to admit.  I cut my teeth on cutting edge systems like the Atari 2400.  Who can forget the awesomeness that came into our homes way back when.  I got a PS3 recently, and just had to get Little Big Planet.  Perhaps one of the most enjoyable games I have ever played.  Partly because you can develop and publish your own levels.

This blog will follow my trials and tribulations as I learn how to use the level editor, and create what I am sure will be the end-all beat-all of human existance when it comes to video game levels.

Hope you enjoy the journey as much as I do.