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[Cudder]

For the new page. My level Silent Hill 2.

http://www.soundshapesgame.com/level/8X4MqwcQ

 

[Skyzard]

Downloading it now - any chance I have it on my PS3 too now? Seem to remember something about that, not the end of the world if it isn't though.

edit: it's on my download list for both ps3 and vita, so all good.

 

[Man-is-Obsolete]

The results from our first level creation contest are up.


Add yours in the comments if you would like to join for week two.



http://fyfyi.com/2012/08/15/sound-shapes-level-design-contest-week-1-results-week-2-submissions/

For the new page. Check out the winners and post your levels to win week 2.

 

[jbartee]

New page. And I to Fire

Hello gaf. Just finished a level that I'm really excited to share. I'd be much obliged if you'd give it a play:
http://soundshapesgame.com/level/r68ztG5x

There's not much platforming challenge, but it does contain some light puzzle solving. I really tried my best to push the boundaries of the editor -it contains a new way of hiding rooms, a "cut scene" engine of sorts, and a neat exploit involving game overs that I don't wanna give away as it ruins the surprise.

I don't think there will be a problem getting through it but I'm happy to help out if people get stuck.

Thanks for considering playing!

 

[Zia]

Edge reviewed it: http://www.edge-online.com/reviews/sound-shapes-review

Nice.

 

[Fine Ham Abounds]

I think it was Purgatory where the game finally clicked for me. Trying to wait until I have time to complete the campaign before I fool with the level editor.

 

[Man-is-Obsolete]

I think it was Purgatory where the game finally clicked for me. Trying to wait until I have time to complete the campaign before I fool with the level editor.

That's the best plan. The beck album has a ton of stuff to unlock. The beyonder album has the best drum kick for an electronic sound.

 

[whalleywhat]

I assumed Death Mode would be playing through the levels without checkpoints. I think I prefer this.

 

[KalBalboa]

I assumed Death Mode would be playing through the levels without checkpoints. I think I prefer this.

Yeah, you basically are given double the levels (but obviously it becomes a completely different beast altogether).

 

[Oni Jazar]

Thanks for the feedback! What holes are you talking about?

Umm.. there were a couple spots where I jumped out of the level area and saw no content or color and at one point I fell through a corner and out of the level area completely. Can't remember where exactly but just make sure your boundaries are protected from gaps.

 

[The_Darkest_Red]

I just played through Cocoa Puff, and yeah it's pretty much the polar opposite of And I to Fire from a design standpoint. It's also ridiculously good. The tune is great but the level design is just fantastic. The first time I played it it was fiendishly difficult, I think I got a time of 7 minutes or so. The deaths never felt cheap though, and on my second playthrough I got 3:39. This is the mark of good design I think -that I was compelled to play it again and that I improved; the level "taught" me how to play it.

The hardest part for me was the shaft on the final screen filled with alternating deadmau5 boulders. It looks so simple but your timing has to be just perfect to get through. I wanted more stuff like this out of the campaign levels, which on the whole seemed a little too breezy.

Also I don't think I could ever dethrone your time of 1:33. That's just insane man.

Thanks man, your kind words really made my day. I put a lot of work into that level.

Pro-tip on that bit at the end: if you do a small jump right before the boulder disappears you'll have a little more time in the air to adjust your trajectory. I basically discovered that on accident and realized it made that part a lot easier, but it isn't very intuitive. I actually considered scrapping that part entirely at one point because I saw it as an area that might be pretty annoying for some folks.

I'm not even sure I could beat my 1:33 at this point... I just had one really good run on the level. I'm sure there are plenty of people around who could destroy it if they set their mind to it, though.

The beyonder album has the best drum kick for an electronic sound.

Yes. I love that kick sound so much.

 

[orioto]

Finally, downloading

 

[Oni Jazar]

For the EU crowd... Welcome to the club and please try my levels.

http://soundshapesgame.com/profile/Jazar/public

 

[Wired All Wrong]

Now that others can buy the game, make sure you check out what GAF has been making this past week. List of everything so far is here.
http://neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=40976880&postcount=1252

I haven't had a chance to comment on all the levels, but I have played the majority of them and I'd like to say that it's a great collection of songs/levels. Very nice work from everyone for just a week with the game. Very interesting seeing how people approach the editor. Lots of different styles of levels that focus on difficulty, atmosphere, music, exploration, etc. Good work everyone.

 

[whalleywhat]

Yeah, you basically are given double the levels (but obviously it becomes a completely different beast altogether).

It certainly would've changed the way you played those levels, I was just convinced it would make some of them borderline impossible (like the Breakout sections in the Deadmaus levels, too random). But yeah, I'm digging what they did with it.

 

[|ync]

Hey guys,

sorry if this was discussed before but is there any way to preview the sounds in creation mode? It's quite annoying having to first select an instrument, then place it in the level, just to hear what it sounds like. I'd rather like to be able to listen to and compare the different instruments in the instrument selection screen.

You can preview a sound without placing just by taping the screen once you have the instrument selected. You can't (I think) preview any sounds on the instrument selection screen though.

 

[Zoibie]

PSN can really suck sometimes. I keep getting "80023102" when trying to add funds. Not sure whether to wait and see if it fixes itself or to get a code from ShopTo.

 

[Oni Jazar]

Hello gaf. Just finished a level that I'm really excited to share. I'd be much obliged if you'd give it a play:
http://soundshapesgame.com/level/r68ztG5x

There's not much platforming challenge, but it does contain some light puzzle solving. I really tried my best to push the boundaries of the editor -it contains a new way of hiding rooms, a "cut scene" engine of sorts, and a neat exploit involving game overs that I don't wanna give away as it ruins the surprise.

I don't think there will be a problem getting through it but I'm happy to help out if people get stuck.

Thanks for considering playing!

Holy Hell. Radical stuff you've got going on there! The possibilities have just been opened up tenfold. Good music too. Awesome job I love it!

 

[Skyzard]

For the EU crowd... Welcome to the club and please try my levels.

http://soundshapesgame.com/profile/Jazar/public

Just gave Space Nuts a go! First time took a while but really enjoyed it! I just downloaded the game and played through the tutorial. Such a good buy - Space Nuts is very fun as well, not so much on the first play through as it took me a while to understand what's going on (and to master some of those tight enemy/platform bits - esp horizontal ones) but great fun playing through again, managed to get second spot behind you.

For all the EU worried about connection issues to download other levels - no issues here, working fine.

Just searched for And I to Fire that jbartee and will play it in a moment. So many possibilities...just awesome. Glad I went through after hesitating for a moment. Level editor will just be too replayable to not own.

 

[Oni Jazar]

Just gave Space Nuts a go! First time took a while but really enjoyed it! I just downloaded the game and played through the tutorial. Such a good buy - Space Nuts is very fun as well, not so much on the first play through as it took me a while to understand what's going on (and to master some of those tight enemy/platform bits - esp horizontal ones) but great fun playing through again, managed to get second spot behind you.

Thanks! It was my first level ever so it's very rough. I like the tune and it's good for a time run though. My second level is very different but I'm quite proud of it. No challenge just atmosphere.

Just searched for And I to Fire that jbartee and will play it in a moment. So many possibilities...just awesome. Glad I went through after hesitating for a moment. Level editor will just be too replayable to not own.

Once you play jbartee's level... oh man...

 

[Skyzard]

Thanks! It was my first level ever so it's very rough. I like the tune and it's good for a time run though. My second level is very different but I'm quite proud of it. No challenge just atmosphere.



Once you play jbartee's level... oh man...

Yes it was greet fun especially as a speed run level, I loaded up jbartee's level with the doors...gave it a quick look but it looks huge! Really well made too, will give it a careful play over right after watching the new asscreed footage.

Will make sure to check out your other one as well - I was so worried it would take ages to jump into games especially since we can't save them, but this is actually pretty slick and quick, the ui is particularly pleasing too. Even without playing campaign, easily 9 or 10 /10 - even though it's another platformer! Smaller devs never had it so good then on vita, especially game suitability..

 

[jbartee]

Thanks man, your kind words really made my day. I put a lot of work into that level.

Pro-tip on that bit at the end: if you do a small jump right before the boulder disappears you'll have a little more time in the air to adjust your trajectory. I basically discovered that on accident and realized it made that part a lot easier, but it isn't very intuitive. I actually considered scrapping that part entirely at one point because I saw it as an area that might be pretty annoying for some folks.

I'm not even sure I could beat my 1:33 at this point... I just had one really good run on the level. I'm sure there are plenty of people around who could destroy it if they set their mind to it, though.

I wouldn't change it... I'm sure there are a lot of people who will appreciate the challenge. I did.

Holy Hell. Radical stuff you've got going on there! The possibilities have just been opened up tenfold. Good music too. Awesome job I love it!

Thanks so much! It took a long time to build but I'm pretty happy with how it turned out. Just played Daydream, loved it. Probably one of the best musically I've heard so far in a user level. Also really dig that one hidden coin...

I loaded up jbartee's level with the doors...gave it a quick look but it looks huge! Really well made too, will give it a careful play over right after watching the new asscreed footage.

Probably not as big as you're imagining! It loops back around a couple times. Lissar's levels are much more spawling / exploratory (and amazing) -mine is actually almost completely linear despite first appearances.

 

[Lissar]

I liked where you were going with it but that damn first box had trouble falling in the right place. Had to restart a few times. Also I missed one coin in one of the last free fall tunnels which was disheartening. Glad I was able to have some cake though!

Actually there is a trick to getting it to fall into place which is part of the puzzle!

And thanks!


http://soundshapesgame.com/profile/Lissar/public

Everyone should play my levels as a birthday present to me.

 

[CorySchmitz]

Actually there is a trick to getting it to fall into place which is part of the puzzle!

And thanks!


http://soundshapesgame.com/profile/Lissar/public

Everyone should play my levels as a birthday present to me.

Happy Birthday! The PS EU blog recommended one of your levels.

http://blog.eu.playstation.com/2012/08/15/sound-shapes-arrives-in-europe/

 

[Lissar]

Happy Birthday! The PS EU blog recommended one of your levels.

http://blog.eu.playstation.com/2012/08/15/sound-shapes-arrives-in-europe/

Wow! What a great birthday present!

 

[lastflowers]

Most up-to-date list of GAF levels as of now thanks to Wired All Wrong. If anyone else has a level add them and repost!

Also, play my levels!!!!!!

Especially Journey through Life


Also, PLAY LISSAR's levels, they are the bestest.

Wired All Wrong
Cave Rave
Relax for a Minute
Got To Start Somewhere

tearsofash
Tall

skynidas
the ADventure

kassatsu
Palm Reading

mauaus
Pj...Black

lastflowers
Messy Flowers
Suicide flowers
Journey through Life

Lissar
Flower Lullaby Night
Madness and Cats
Reach for the Stars
A Winter Evening
Drink Me
Midnight Garden
The Song of my People
Echoes of the Old Gods
Happy Birthday to Me

dsigns1
Mario 1-1 (FULL)
Donkey Kong

ChuckNyce
My Jam

|ync
Jack and the beatstalk

shagg_187
Eden

Mechanized
Patience is a Virtue

famousmortimer
Four Screen Fastling
6am all day

JuxJuxJux
Standard Corporate Level
Factory jelly
Chicken Breakfast

Gibration
No Notes Just Shape

Mattheyrex
Darkest Before Dawn

distrbnce
Fever Dream

Oni Jazar
Space Nuts
Daydream

Man-is-Obsolete
The Fall and Rise

ShockingAlberto
Divinely Comedic
Operator

The_Darkest_Red
Cocoa Puff

Markew001
Organica Mechanica

Foshy
Electrocade (WIP)

-Cade
Simple Ambience

scion_barzahd
ratonmuerto5

Cudder
Silent Hill
Silent Hill 2

jbartee
And I to Fire

the_korben
Wicked Crickeds

 

[the_korben]

Alright, here's my first level "Wicked Crickeds"

http://soundshapesgame.com/level/r3clU0F8

It's not very big and not very detailed, but if some of you are running out of levels to play, please give it a go

 

[Oni Jazar]

Actually there is a trick to getting it to fall into place which is part of the puzzle!

Ohhh pretty sneaky sis.

 

[jbartee]

Everyone should play my levels as a birthday present to me.

Your levels were hugely inspiring to me; they show that puzzle / adventure style design is possible with the editor. Happy Birthday to Me is great. I love the dead end with the flute playing guthrie-imp -there's no way out of that chamber other than to restart, right?

Happy Birthday! The PS EU blog recommended one of your levels.

Cory, play my level and then promise you won't ever "fix" the exploit it uses! I'm nervous about future updates because I use a lot of borderline hacks.

 

[patsu]

Played the game for the first time this morning with my kid. My, his eyes lit up with laser beams after I completed the creation tutorial.

Wahahaha~ now I can force him to do housework and behave at dinner table, before I let him play the game some more. ^_^

 

[Lissar]

Your levels were hugely inspiring to me; they show that puzzle / adventure style design is possible with the editor. Happy Birthday to Me is great. I love the dead end with the flute playing guthrie-imp -there's no way out of that chamber other than to restart, right?

Yep! I'm kind of nervous about adding rooms like that because it might make people frustrated if they are expecting to complete it in one playthrough. If I were making a full fledged adventure game I would never put in that sort of unfair dead end, but it only takes a few minutes to run through this level and even if you get to a part where you can't go further it means you've learned something and can play through better the next time.

 

[orioto]

I'm just discovering the game, great precise control and great ui for the editor.
I've tried the first level from Wired All Wrong, Cave Rave, and i'm impressed at how it's great. All about it is great, music and level design.

 

[CorySchmitz]

my level[/URL] and then promise you won't ever "fix" the exploit it uses! I'm nervous about future updates because I use a lot of borderline hacks.

Programmer David asked me to ask you how you did it! The one thing that we're concerned about is how the game always says that zero notes have been collected.

Could you PM me the method of how you made it? So we can look into the zero notes issue? Pretty please? Thanks!

Also the level is super great!

 

[jbartee]

Programmer David asked me to ask you how you did it! The one thing that we're concerned about is how the game always says that zero notes have been collected.

Could you PM me the method of how you made it? So we can look into the zero notes issue? Pretty please? Thanks!

Also the level is super great!

Thanks! I pm'd you the deets.

 

[Wired All Wrong]

I'm just discovering the game, great precise control and great ui for the editor.
I've tried the first level from Wired All Wrong, Cave Rave, and i'm impressed at how it's great. All about it is great, music and level design.

Thanks Orioto for trying my level and the nice words Happy to hear you really liked it.

I hope you really get into the editor, since I'm sure you would make some pretty awesome looking levels. I would play through all the albums first though before diving in so you can unlock everything for the editor.

 

[orioto]

Thanks Orioto for trying my level and the nice words Happy to hear you really liked it.

I hope you really get into the editor, since I'm sure you would make some pretty awesome looking levels. I would play through all the albums first though before diving in so you can unlock everything for the editor.

Yes i'm going to do exactly that
Your Relax for a minute level is pretty insane! The main screen is great platforming, really. It shows there is a lot to do with the game.

 

[The_Darkest_Red]

Alright, here's my first level "Wicked Crickeds"

http://soundshapesgame.com/level/r3clU0F8

It's not very big and not very detailed, but if some of you are running out of levels to play, please give it a go

The screenshot for this looks so cool, I'm excited to try it out tonight.

I've got a lot of great looking levels from you guys queued up. We need to keep this GAF Sound Shapes community going, this is tons of fun.

 

[reminder]

Did beat all the albums today (got the game for free on monday). Beck was my favourite album, everything fits so well together and i love the songs. <3

Already got all the trophies for Beat School, which was AWESOME. I hope that there'll be many more levels as DLC!

Only tried the first death mode level, though. Very challenging already. But that's a good thing.

 

[Wired All Wrong]

Yes i'm going to do exactly that
Your Relax for a minute level is pretty insane! The main screen is great platforming, really. It shows there is a lot to do with the game.

Excellent. Can't wait to see what you come up with.

Thanks again and I totally agree there's lots of cool things to do with this editor. I haven't even scratched the surface of this thing. Really hope they release a bunch of beats/sounds for this as DLC and I hope it covers a wide range of musical genres. Would love to make some ska music, so release some bad ass keyboard and brass instrument sounds!

 

[The_Darkest_Red]

Really hope they release a bunch of beats/sounds for this as DLC and I hope it covers a wide range of musical genres. Would love to make some ska music, so release some bad ass keyboard and brass instrument sounds!

As someone who used to play drums back in the day I'd really like to see some more variety in the percussion. Specifically there aren't nearly enough symbols for my taste. I would love to see the addition of a bunch of rides, crashes, chinas, cowbell, etc. Distorted guitars would be great as well, especially if there was an option to link notes together so they could be sustained for different periods of time. My levels need crunchy metal stack flavored riffs.

The possibilities are really endless. It's very rare for me to actually want DLC for a game but this is one game where it really makes sense.

 

[Erasus]

Not into making music but got this off PSN for PS3 anyway as it got good review all over! Look reminds me of loco roco too!

 

[Wired All Wrong]

As someone who used to play drums back in the day I'd really like to see some more variety in the percussion. Specifically there aren't nearly enough symbols for my taste. I would love to see the addition of a bunch of rides, crashes, chinas, cowbell, etc. Distorted guitars would be great as well, especially if there was an option to link notes together so they could be sustained for different periods of time. My levels need crunchy metal stack flavored riffs.

The possibilities are really endless. It's very rare for me to actually want DLC for a game but this is one game where it really makes sense.

Would definitely love to get all those things. One thing that some might not know is that you can stack the same note on top of one another and it will be played louder if you want to emphasize a certain drum hit or any other beat. At least I'm pretty sure that works, unless my ears were playing tricks on me. That might help give you a little more variety with your drum sounds.

 

[Lissar]

Oh yeah, I'm curious what new objects people would like to see in DLC?

Personally I would like to see:

Trap door - I tried to make it seem like there was a trap door at the end of Happy Birthday to Me, but it didn't quite work. It could add an interesting element to the more adventure style levels.

Destination changing portal - The elevators are nice (if bugged) and can help make areas less linear, but it would be more interesting to have a portal with one stable door and a few destinations that change every 10 seconds (could mark a change with sounds.) It could give an element of randomness to exploration.

 

[Wired All Wrong]

One thing I'd like to be able to do with objects is turn off their sounds or tweak the sound/tempo if it messes with the song. Sometimes I want to functionality of an object, but the sound will clash with what I'm going for. I wouldn't even really know what I'd want for DLC objects though since I still need to experiment more with what's in the game.

 

[The_Darkest_Red]

One thing I'd like to be able to do with objects is turn off their sounds or tweak the sound/tempo if it messes with the song. Sometimes I want to functionality of an object, but the sound will clash with what I'm going for. I wouldn't even really know what I'd want for DLC objects though since I still need to experiment more with what's in the game.

Absolutely. I hate how I often feel like I can't use certain objects because of the sound they make.

 

[jbartee]

Would definitely love to get all those things. One thing that some might not know is that you can stack the same note on top of one another and it will be played louder if you want to emphasize a certain drum hit or any other beat. At least I'm pretty sure that works, unless my ears were playing tricks on me. That might help give you a little more variety with your drum sounds.

This definitely works. Things can actually get pretty distorted if you layer enough, can make for a nice effect actually.

Oh yeah, I'm curious what new objects people would like to see in DLC?

Personally I would like to see:

Trap door - I tried to make it seem like there was a trap door at the end of Happy Birthday to Me, but it didn't quite work. It could add an interesting element to the more adventure style levels.

Destination changing portal - The elevators are nice (if bugged) and can help make areas less linear, but it would be more interesting to have a portal with one stable door and a few destinations that change every 10 seconds (could mark a change with sounds.) It could give an element of randomness to exploration.

Yes on both of these.

I'd also like independent options for muting objects and making objects invisible. I know this sort of goes against the fundamental sound shapes ethos -that audio and video are tightly coupled- but sometimes I just want to use an object as a background detail without it changing the track, or add a little complexity to the music without impacting the level design. Right now I'm hiding lots of stuff behind non-sticky terrain when I need some sound but the look or behavior of an object doesn't fit the aesthetic I'm shooting for. I dunno know though, maybe this would ruin things if people used it too much? I just feel like right now the campaign levels have an advantage here, since the designers get to decide what objects are going to generate sound, which aren't, and how much textural complexity to bake into loop notes etc.

Also I want a sampler object so bad. This could work with the vita microphone and rhythmically loop whatever you record into it.

Would also be awesome to have an object that instantly mutes all audio. Building to a climax followed by silence is a huge part of music, and right now that's very difficult to achieve in sound shapes. Because of the three screen rule things tend to always build down / taper off gradually. This mostly works, but sometimes you just want a bang.

A lot of people are building text into their levels. This is super duper painstaking using current methods. How about a simple text object? I imagine this was omitted because of the potential for abuse (obscenities etc.) but since people are doing it anyway it would save a lot of work. It could potentially even self-censor and be limited to just a few large words per screen or something.

EDIT: beaten to the punch on object-mute by Wired All Wrong

 

[Man-is-Obsolete]

One thing I'd like to be able to do with objects is turn off their sounds or tweak the sound/tempo if it messes with the song. Sometimes I want to functionality of an object, but the sound will clash with what I'm going for. I wouldn't even really know what I'd want for DLC objects though since I still need to experiment more with what's in the game.

YES YES YES!!!!! Listen to this man. I would love to be able to tweak the sound and tempo of objects. Personally I would love to see a producer like Diplo, rustie, Hudson mohawke, or maybe a moombaton producer to add a set of tools that allows one to make a bass heavy raver. Most of the tools (especially the loops) in the game now lend themselves to fairly mellow songs.

 

[Lissar]

As much as I'd love creating my own sounds like that, I imagine it would make it a bit more difficult to store level data.

If we're talking features (something I imagine would be in Sound Shapes 2 rather than DLC) being able to have text would be great. While there is a possibility for obscenities, those kinds of levels can be reported. Already saw some penis-themed levels, so not having text isn't preventing anything...

Also the ability to control note length and pitch would be nice (since the amount you can change the pitch here is rather limited.) I'd like to see them push it further.

 

[Delusibeta]

Opinions: played through the first two albums (vanilla versions, haven't come across any special editions yet), the platforming is solid although right now I think it's a bit easy. That said, it's clear that the meat of the game is in creating and sharing levels, and on that note here's my first attempt. [/cheap plug]

 

[Gemüsepizza]

Sigh. I really liked the game - until I began with Death Mode. I don't know what they were thinking. It is not just hard, it is unfair. Randomly spawning notes? Why? It would be so much better if they had a fixed position, was there not enough time to balance this? This could be easily fixed by either removing the random spawns or by increasing the time limit slightly. But I doubt this will happen. Really disappointed.