I can't agree with that though. The physics may be complex, but they obey the laws and do not seem to be erratic. Your running downhill example is a good one - it's very much like real life. Its weird if you've played a lot of games, but its anything but erratic.
I disagree. Jumping from moving platforms is very erratic. The effectiveness of jumping from the end of a platform is also rather dodgy. If the edge slopes down slightly when you jump, SB seems to have downwards momentum taking a lot out of his jump height. The running downhill example is erratic, because the inertia is exaggerated so that SB does things you wouldn't expect. Would you or I have trouble stopping if we were jogging down a steep hill? Yes, if we were running fast enough or with rucksacks of heavy weights on our backs. But a fairly shallow hill, where the difference between not being able to stop and stopping almost instantly is applying the brakes a fraction of a second earlier?
Complains aside, I nearly completed the game (got past 'that' wheel certainly, got annoyed a the killing creatures bit though, which I just don't like - I never really enjoyed end-bosses, and you shouldn't have so few of them in so many levels, and then suddenly so many after each other) and I really got my sackboy under control pretty much.
The boss isn't too hard, certainly can be aced without too many attempts and offers the best costume as a reward!
All errors I see in levels so far are level design mistakes that can be fixed. I'd love someone here to prove me wrong though.
Hmmm, I think level designs that are problematic because of the physics, at least in part. eg. The Wheel of Unrelenting Misery wouldn't be a bad level design if the inertia from the wheel, and the change in inertia whether SB is on the metal wheel or the ledges, weren't so painful! In my level I have some bars on a prison, about half a SB width apart, maybe even less, and I found SB would jump up and through the bars
into the prison, but not be able to jump out of the bars. It's not easy predicting how the SB's will behave and interact with the level you build, requiring HIGE amounts of playtesting.
BTW - I see the star ratings are up on user creations now which is a step in the right direction, but it's a shame to see they've taken a YouTube level of significance! Almost everything is 3* with the best levels being 4*. And way too many comments are 'Play my level'. To MM's credit, they have been rolling out patches often enough, and things will improve.
