LittleBigPlanet [PS3]

[Darwock]

I started mucking around with the creator this evening.. I know the beta ends very soon but I want to get familiar with how to put stuff together for the full thing. I guess we can still experiment with stuff offline even after the 12th. I have to say, my ideal vision of a platformer is pretty hard to do using the structure of LBP's environments (the three layers and no free floating platforms etc), but there does seem to be ways of working around it. I reckon I'll try to make at least one decent quality level - not going to be in any rush to publish it though!

[Eight Rooks]

You can have free-floating platforms. Just use the dark matter material to glue them in mid-air. Apparently (Edge interview) Media Molecule rarely use it, but hey, it's certainly there.

[Number45]

I guess we can still experiment with stuff offline even after the 12th.

I'm not sure, the installed application expires on the 12th so don't be surprised if you can't launch it after that date.

[huxley]

not sure if anyone has pointed it out yet but look for the god of war level, it lags a bit with more than two players - but fantastic all the same.
Be carefull with the lifts at the end.

[Ouenben]

how many levels are there in story mode to play in the beta i can only count the 3 + tie skipping game.

[Malc]

It's only those levels.

[kernow]

not sure if anyone has pointed it out yet but look for the god of war level, it lags a bit with more than two players - but fantastic all the same.
Be carefull with the lifts at the end.

yeah, it says that on the description even, that it'll lag with multiple players, I tried it last night, pretty cool

I doubt I'll ever make anything worth playing in this, hah

[mastercom4]

not sure if anyone has pointed it out yet but look for the god of war level, it lags a bit with more than two players - but fantastic all the same.
Be carefull with the lifts at the end.

haha. another one has discovered the brilliance of the God of War level. Its these kind of levels that is edging me towards a purchase

[kernow]

Just preordered my copy from HMV - 39.99, random, I hardly ever preorder.

[smokedog]

Just preordered my copy from HMV - 39.99, random, I hardly ever preorder.

That is random, considering you can get it elsewhere cheaper and HMV delivery times are a joke.

[Tig]

To me it seems that there are no actual gameplay mechanics here, there are amusing little visual gags and it's all very cute and weird, But You really just run from one side of the screen to the other, there is no momentum and little in the way of challenge of threat. Even when you do think you can run through a level nice and quick you are restricted by some clumsy controls.

that does sound a little bit disappointing. As a huge platformer fan, I've always thought it's the handling which distinguishes the classics. The well-rememberd platformers are ususally all ones with a great sense of momentum and inertia (Sonic, SMB3, SM64... as opposed to Mario Sunshine for example?)


anyway, I'm still sure LBP platform game nirvana. Just a shame that those fans of N-style tight control and challenge won't be catered for.

[Matt]

Tig, you've got EVERYBODY else saying how great it plays. Don't worry about Boris, he's mad. The jumping mechanics are tight, in my experiments pixel-perfect jumping is possible, I made a test level based around around that.

It's not a perfect control scheme, but it's very, very good. I think Boris may have played a different game TBH No "challenge"? In the first 4 tutorial levels of a beta? Well there are a few places to die, no doubt it will get much harder later on. No "momentum"? The exact opposite actually. The gameworld is entirely physics based, so there's plenty of momentum and it's all handled perfectly. The ord collection system is more interesting than Mario's "collect a gold coin" as you combo the more you collect, so timing is important.

Sorry Boris mate, you've lost it

[Family Fry]

Right I have avoided this for enough time, this will be my one only post about the actual game.

Tig lets just say if you?re going to spend ?300 on a LBP console bundle?
You had better make sure you get it right seriously, get some testing on it, ask them to whack it on in shop when it comes out if you have to.
You yourself have said..

"I've always thought it's the handling which distinguishes the classics. The well-remembered platformers are usually all ones with a great sense of momentum and inertia (Sonic, SMB3, SM64... as opposed to Mario Sunshine for example?)"

I feel LBP offers little of that at all.
In the other hand, if you seriously want to make levels with a very cool creator and publish them, so people can send you used tissues of just how much man juice they have wasted on your level, then go for it and massage your ego.
You want platforming fun, stick with what you know.

I can?t sum up in enough words that I actually wanted to like the game after I started it, the
Presentation is flawless, it looks fantastic, user tools are well done and easy to use but for me that was ALL the plus points I could find and they were all aesthetic, where was my core gameplay plus points?
When I played it the game made me bored rigid and I asked myself
'Would I pay ?35 for this?' my answer was a clear No. I felt like it offered no challenge at all, even some of the user created levels that were said as being challenging were boring yeah they looked great and you can give someone a pat on the back for doing that and taking time to do it, doesn?t make it any less boring to play though does it.

As for those user creation tools, every single game I have owned that has had a "create a whatever" mode, seriously cannot be arsed to spend time with it to get the most from the mode its just not for me so that?s a good 50% of my game gone from the start.
I struggle finding time to play games nowadays let alone creating levels for them.
It's POSSIBLY a rentage from blockbuster/library to see what the 50+ levels have offer and that?s about it, 50+ levels then done. People say wait to see what challenge the 50 levels offer, but will they offer me more that maybe what I could get if I download 50+ of the best levels from the beta? Who knows?

For me posting in this thread is like running into a Feminist group meeting and screaming
"ALL WOMEN SHOULD ALL BE AT HOME AND TIED TO THE KITCHEN!" It?s not going to change their opinion of me being wrong at all or what they believe in.
I love my platformers and I gave this game the benefit of the doubt, I didn?t like it at all, **** happens.

And with that off my chest I will now bail out of this thread....enjoy LBP

[EvilBoris]

Tig, you've got EVERYBODY else saying how great it plays. Don't worry about Boris, he's mad. The jumping mechanics are tight, in my experiments pixel-perfect jumping is possible, I made a test level based around around that.

It's not a perfect control scheme, but it's very, very good. I think Boris may have played a different game TBH No "challenge"? In the first 4 tutorial levels of a beta? Well there are a few places to die, no doubt it will get much harder later on. No "momentum"? The exact opposite actually. The gameworld is entirely physics based, so there's plenty of momentum and it's all handled perfectly. The ord collection system is more interesting than Mario's "collect a gold coin" as you combo the more you collect, so timing is important.

Sorry Boris mate, you've lost it

Sackboy dawdled like an old lady! He has all the momentum of a half inflated helium balloon.

[Matt]

If you jump off a ledge onto a slope, he'll slide down it. It's not the Mario model where you run then every time you stop he slides a little. It's different, it's got it's own feel.

Altering Sackboy's mass and friction would change that, but obviously the devs are happy with it how it is.

Or by momentum, do you mean speed? He certainly doesn't zip around at the same pace as Mario, but then that would likely be a real problem with 4 players on screen at the same time.

As I've said, the control scheme isn't perfect; I'd like to see a wall jump and slide move, and the devs have said they need to work on the 2.5d in/out of plane movement a bit more. Yet the platform mechanics themselves are solid, it's just not the same as Mario so maybe that's a problem for some?