I am proud to unveil our Level Editor for BattleBlock Theater. This is just a PART of our Level Lobby – which I’ll get into a little later in another post.
Did you know that our Level Editor is the same editor we used to develop all of our own levels in Story mode? And all of our official Arena levels as well!
BUT WAIT, THERE’S MORE (I always wanted to say that!):
It’s super easy to use! Easier than putting on your own two shoes!
Create all kinds of twists and bends!
You can create & edit levels with friends!
Test it while you build it! See if you’ve killed it!
Upload and share! Download and rate! What will you do with the each playlist’s fate?
Make it simple! Make it complex! A click of a button to amaze and perplex!
So you know, this has been so hard to keep quiet. I mean we’ve had the Level Editor this entire time, but I can’t really tell anyone about it until we knew all the details and innerworkings. Then we made it just a little nicer for you than we did for ourselves. Because we think you deserve nice things.
I love you!
-Dan
P.S.
Follow PAX Prime press coverage for more nitty gritty details!
Today, we explore our Gift Shop area of BattleBlock Theater. As we developed our story for Hatty we found his overall presence was lacking throughout the game. You would see him in the cinematics, and occasionally spread out within the game, but we wanted to make sure Hatty’s presence was more immediate so that the player would feel motivated in what they were doing in trying to save him. We expect that the Gift Shop will be the most visited area in the game and since Hatty has an uncontrollable greed with the currency of BattleBlock Theater, this would be the most natural and fitting spot to have him hang out while the game progresses.
When we first tried putting Hatty behind a register on the ground it didn’t seem right. If he’s just sitting there you should be able to just grab him and run out, right? So I ended up moving him up into the balcony of the Gift Shop. This gave him a kind of ‘Doctor Evil’ sort of vibe as he overlooked all the transactions. However, Hatty doesn’t have that kind of natural evil, so I felt it’d be a necessary idea to illustrate his unwanted servitude to the cats, or in other words show the cats intimidating Hatty all day long. I thought this might strengthen players’ bonds to Hatty.
Screen capture of original sketch for gift shop interior
In most games where the hero gets betrayed early on, the immediate reaction is to get some type of revenge, IE. Kick Hatty’s butt. This wasn’t the feeling we wanted the players to have, though. So we had to adjust. The cats in the video that were around Hatty were later removed for a whole variety of reasons even though I still like the base idea of it all. We then found better ways to illustrate important story points to the player, while strengthening the story overall at the same time. But I can’t tell you how just yet or I’d be spoiling stuff!
The ‘prisoner concession devices’ you see in the video were originally negotiation chambers where you exchanged gems for prisoners. Previously, cats would release the prisoners after you paid up, but not being able to pick what you’re unlocking wasn’t being conveyed clearly. It seemed like you could have negotiated which prisoner you’d like to free.
The best way I could think of communicating not being able to pick who became free was to stuff all the prisoners into little gumball style machines. You turn the crank and hope you get the unlock you want. This concept resonated with the players much more, and it was funnier — that is, unless you’re the one trapped in a plastic ball all day.
In our latest BattleBlock Theater video, we show some of the changes described in this post:
We’re pretty lucky that we’re just miles away from the convention center in downtown San Diego, especially since Comic Con will be held there in just a few days. So how much stuff does it take to run a booth you ask? 8 individual palettes that roughly weigh about 7,000 lbs combined. Not bad considering 9 nears ago we had one 6 foot table, and a poster. Be sure to come see our latest updates in gameplay for BattleBlock Theater and meet some of the development crew. The Behemoth can be found in the Exhibit Hall in booth 4219.
This photo is actually from TGS 2010, but you get the idea. Meet people
Meet our Co-Founders
Going to Comic-Con? Dan Paladin, Co-Founder of The Behemoth & Art Director for Alien Hominid and Castle Crashers, will be at The Behemoth booth to do signings on official Behemoth merchandise. He and Co-Founder Tom Fulp (a.k.a. Founder of newgrounds.com), will be doing the autographs between 1-3PM on July 13, 14 and 15 in the San Diego Convention Center. Come say hello to them and to our Behemoth team at booth 4219.
Exclusive Merchandise at Comic-Con
Anyone visiting us at Comic Con can also look forward to our usual merchandise, including figurines, skateboard decks, posters, keychains, long stares into your eyes, and walks on the beach. (Oh man, we said this same thing for PAX East but it seems so much more appropriate now that its going to be near the beaches of San Diego!) Our chonku-chonku dispensing machines will be making their Comic-Con debut this year, as well as scarves (it gets chilly on the west coast, too!), and t-shirt designs that are still currently trade-show only.
Contests and Giveaways
Twitter photo challenge! (July 12-15)
Enter your photo of The Behemoth booth at Comic Con to win some Behemoth gear or codes. Follow us on Twitter, tweet @thebehemoth with a picture of our booth or a Behemoth staff member, and you’ll be automatically entered to win some stuff. One picture per person per day before 4:30PM PST. Five awesome photos will be selected. If you’re selected, you’ll be notified via Direct Message on Twitter. Winner must be able to pick up their prize at the end of the night before the exhibitor hall closes.
Random giveaways
Not on Twitter, but on Facebook or Google+? Follow our pages on those networks and keep updated with the latest Comic Con happenings at our booth. We’ll also be doing random giveaways throughout the Con. There will also be chances for non-attendees to grab some free swag too!
