The LittleBigPlanet pre-release Saga

[bRoNx]

I really wish I knew where that vid was in which the Media Molecule guy says categorically that for those who just want to play the game, they'll have a disc full of premade levels...

On the developer walk-through below, the guy clearly says that there will be levels provided. He mentions a 'swag-bag', which are items collected by the player as he progresses through "the levels that come with the game".

But there have been numerous occasions where they've confirmed the game to have standard levels offered with the game.

 

[patsu]

http://www.gamedaily.com/games/litt...res/little-big-planet-update/5881/71318/?biz=

...

Sackboys can now move from front to back in the environment, and no longer just from side to side. Easter eggs with new items can be placed around the game – pick them up to add a leaf shape or new texture, etc. to build your sackboys' inventory and ultimately enjoy more flexibility when creating or adding something to different levels.

Little Big Planet's currency – formerly called Sponge – is now called Fluff, which in the level we played last night looked like tiny pastel colored Marshmallows.

...

The control and restricted front-back movement was one of my major concerns. Glad they took care of it.

 

[Shifty Geezer]

As long as the simplicity of motion isn't affected, that's cool. If the players have to control front and back position, they'll have pushed the game a little further away from accessible to the pure casuals.

 

[patsu]

Yeah, previously I think you can only move side by side. The system offers a separate control sequence to move to back, middle and front (only 3 depths). I was a little shocked when I read that, but understood that they were still working on it.

The new approach seems to imply more free form control (I hope).

 

[patsu]

New LBP video from CES 2008 on the official PS3 blog: http://blog.us.playstation.com/2008/01/07/ces-day-1-littlebigconvention/

EDIT: Kotaku has much more details: http://kotaku.com/341837/littlebigplanet-updated-impressions-from-ces

...
One of the other features that was seemingly new was the ability to dedicate an area, by way of a unique glowing material, as editable by those who play your level. That means, if you've built a level and shared it, you can limit what portions of the map a user can build upon. If they need to build a vehicle or a ramp to traverse an obstacle, editors can define where these lie.

Another change from previous versions was the "ring out" timer. If your Sackboy stays off camera for too long, you can be kicked off the level, even in the editor. This prevents those wide pan-outs from previous version, which showed the entire level if one player remained at the start while the other ran to the end. The ring out timer seemed pretty brief, so players will have to stay on their toes and cooperate.
...

 

[patsu]

http://www.shacknews.com/onearticle.x/50650

It was also announced that players will now be able to die in the game, perhaps in response to concerns that LittleBigPlanet's open nature and player-driven levels would otherwise have a lack of tension.

It's also delayed to fall 2008 (which many of us knew already). Not alpha yet.

And one more charming mexican style trailer:
crackle.com/c/Video_Games/LittleBigPlanet_CES_2008/2141762#ml=fi%3D%26fu%3D2262162

 

[Shifty Geezer]

Interesting it shows 'nasty fire stuff'. They don't hit it, so we don't know the reaction, but that implies a 'damaging' material to me, which is enough to create simple 'baddies' by fixing harmful materials to them. eg. Those big boxers made in another vid could have fiery boxing gloves.

Seems to me they are taking care to make sure this is the best game it can be, rather than releasing a 'simplified' version 1 just to get it out the door.

 

[Arwin]

Yeah, previously I think you can only move side by side. The system offers a separate control sequence to move to back, middle and front (only 3 depths). I was a little shocked when I read that, but understood that they were still working on it.

The new approach seems to imply more free form control (I hope).

The only difference I think is that you now actively control to which depth level you go? It was in place previously, I am 100% sure of that, but I think that at that point it still worked automatically - if you jumped into a certain direction, you could automatically end up in one of the other depth levels. They made it user controllable for a good reason, I'm sure.

 

[deepbrown]

Interesting it shows 'nasty fire stuff'. They don't hit it, so we don't know the reaction, but that implies a 'damaging' material to me, which is enough to create simple 'baddies' by fixing harmful materials to them. eg. Those big boxers made in another vid could have fiery boxing gloves.

Seems to me they are taking care to make sure this is the best game it can be, rather than releasing a 'simplified' version 1 just to get it out the door.

The death materials are called "terribles"

 

[archangelmorph]

They have a three part vid walkthrough up at GT & I must say it's coming along amazingly well..

Definitely one of the most exciting games for me to come along in a loooong time..

 

[pipo]

Fall 08?

Damn.

 

[scooby_dooby]

They have a three part vid walkthrough up at GT & I must say it's coming along amazingly well..

Definitely one of the most exciting games for me to come along in a loooong time..

I dunno, as someone who just wants to play (not create) I've yet to see the fun factor in the gameplay.

Sure it's cute, but there doesn't seem to be any challenge, and the platforming is very low-key and relaxed. After playing the NES version of Ninja Gaiden yesterday, this platforming just looks lame!

I'm not passing judgement at this stage, these all look like early/demo levels, but so far it just doesn't look all that enjoyable to play.

[ Flame Suit On ]

 

[Titanio]

I think the new level is more 'classic platformer' than the GDC demo last year, as far as challenge and challenge type goes.

With the addition of 'terribles' materials, I think all the tools are there for making very challenging levels if you want. I would also doubt that those levels represent the later, presumably more difficult levels, in 'littlebigstory', but it did seem more difficult in terms of jump timing/execution and things like that than the others we'd seen before, simply due to the addition of death! Some had complained that in the GDC level, for the most part, you could just push your way through to the end (except for the bits with physics puzzles and so forth). But adding deadly materials means you suddenly have to stop and think about your jumps, which is evident in this one.

 

[patsu]

I always thought they should let the users recreate 1 level from 2-3 classics (MP flavor) and then take it from there. This should allow people to see the value clearer and provide initial inspiration for ideas. Besides the platforming idea...

* Lemmings
- Marching sequence of automated bots (like the boxer example somewhere in this thread): Checked
- Holes in complicated level: Checked
- Tools to cover hole, change orientation, shift weight, open holes, ... to make sure Lemmings are safe: Half-checked
(The latest rev allows players to customize designated areas, but I am not sure if this is available "in-game" or in construction mode only).

How about the following classics ?
* Worm
* Donkey Kong
* Lode Runner (Player vs Player)
* Tetris

They probably need to distill the idea further and apply occam razor to the final concept. I don't think we have seen all yet if it is still in pre-alpha. The creators said they still have quite a bit to go.

This is just my own wish and speculations. No info from and no direct or indirect connection with the devs.

 

[scooby_dooby]

Ya, I can definately see the potential here, and if they can create a good level of difficulty, and then combine that with some interesting puzzle aspects, then this would definately be something I'd enjoy.

With that said, I'm still a little skeptical as to how the final execution will work, as a standalone game.

 

[Titanio]

I always thought they should allow users to recreate 1 level from 2-3 classics (MP flavor) and let the users take it from there.

Well users can pretty much do what they want!

With the new deadly materials, I've been thinking of a lot of the elements in mario games that could be replicated here now. Like those blocks with lines of fire rotating around them would be doable. Ditto, "aerial" levels with rotating platforms hanging in the sky, where any wrong move could lead to a deathly fall could similarly be done now. You could even make something like goombas now if you wanted! Thwomps too.. I'm gonna have to go back and play some mario world on my wii with a more analysing eye

 

[Shifty Geezer]

Exactly. Automatons with motion pathways are in in various ways, like those Mexicans. Add some 'terrible' arms and head to your minion and he becomes a monster to jump over. Provide rocks to chuck at them, and you have the elements of an old 2D platformer. Still, if that's all you want, seems to me LBP is a waste. Arcade titles or virtual console etc. provide that experience. The whole point to LBP is being creative and expressive. If you haven't any interest in using the in-game emotes, or building a thingum to navigate a hazard, then this likely isn't the game for you, even if it ships with top-class levels. Kinda like if you have no interest in levelling characters and collecting items and only want an action game, Final Fantasy XII isn't the best choice for you.

That said, it does seem to me they are expanding the game to provide a full, old-world 2D platform experience. The stuff shown so far seems much like the platformers I remember playing, needing timed jumps to avoid hazards and principally being about collecting items. The only thing clearly missing is some sort of shooting or weaponry. Well, as the sackboys can hold items, you could easily create a baseball bat for them to swing around!

 

[Titanio]

Exactly. Automatons with motion pathways are in in various ways, like those Mexicans. Add some 'terrible' arms and head to your minion and he becomes a monster to jump over. Provide rocks to chuck at them, and you have the elements of an old 2D platformer. Still, if that's all you want, seems to me LBP is a waste. Arcade titles or virtual console etc. provide that experience. The whole point to LBP is being creative and expressive. If you haven't any interest in using the in-game emotes, or building a thingum to navigate a hazard, then this likely isn't the game for you, even if it ships with top-class levels.

Well, yeah, it certainly would be missing the point. Which might make it hard to evaluate as a "standalone experience". It may offer a great one, but supposedly littlebigstory is also being charged with preparing you for creating your own things, and there'll be extra motivation for would-be creators in that those levels will reward you with objects and stuff you can reuse in your own.

 

[scooby_dooby]

Exactly. Automatons with motion pathways are in in various ways, like those Mexicans. Add some 'terrible' arms and head to your minion and he becomes a monster to jump over. Provide rocks to chuck at them, and you have the elements of an old 2D platformer. Still, if that's all you want, seems to me LBP is a waste. Arcade titles or virtual console etc. provide that experience. The whole point to LBP is being creative and expressive. If you haven't any interest in using the in-game emotes, or building a thingum to navigate a hazard, then this likely isn't the game for you, even if it ships with top-class levels. Kinda like if you have no interest in levelling characters and collecting items and only want an action game, Final Fantasy XII isn't the best choice for you.

That said, it does seem to me they are expanding the game to provide a full, old-world 2D platform experience. The stuff shown so far seems much like the platformers I remember playing, needing timed jumps to avoid hazards and principally being about collecting items. The only thing clearly missing is some sort of shooting or weaponry. Well, as the sackboys can hold items, you could easily create a baseball bat for them to swing around!

Well it may be the case that this game simply isn't for me, or people like me, but I think if it misses that mark, it will also have a big problem with mass appeal among gamers in general.

I think the great thing about this game was that it promised to appeal to both sets of people. The creative people would design the levels, while others would be able to simply play and vote on their favourite ones.

or building a thingum to navigate a hazard,

Now this is the potential I see. If they can make really interesting puzzles, which require creativity, and allow for multiple approaches, this is something that will be really fun to play, and add a uniqueness and challange to the platforming that I think it needs.

 

[patsu]

LittleBigTrouble or LittleBigHazard ? Sounds good. I just hope that while being an open platform, they focus more on a few core experiences instead of leaving it totally open ended. It may be hard for many to visualize the value/excitement (Too nebulous for lurkers and "passive" players).


EDIT: Here's another fascinating East Indian-style level repeating the platforming + terribles theme:

[gv]17010[/gv]

I think screams and squeaks are missing.