Skand
join:2001-06-01
Corpus Christi, TX
clubs:
 ·RoadRunner Cable
| Little Big Planet
Anyone as excited about this as I am?
Anyone with beta want to share opinions about the game play and level creator? I've spent the better part of today being quite lazy and watching video after video of user made levels and game play.
When I was a kid, I would use my free time to sketch out game levels or obstacles on a sheet of paper. Now, I find myself skipping lunch and doing it at work! Wow, I'm excited about this game.
I'll have to pick up a third controller, as my kids are just excited as I am and I don't want to leave anyone out in the multiplayer aspect of it.
»gamevideos.1up.com/
search for little big planet videos here, they have videos that last anywhere from 5-20 minutes long!
October 21 doesn't seem like it'll come fast enough. |
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justin
Australian
join:1999-05-28
Brooklyn, NY
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| I have the beta and have lost sleep to it for a couple of days.
There are dozens of little tutorials, they introduce all the building concepts very gradually because it is very complex.
The story mode levels in the game start out very easy but I think there are only 3 of them so it is difficult to get an idea of how many will be in the actual game, and how difficult they will be
People are publishing levels like crazy but all are either very short or very amateurish or both. A good number are funny though, or give you your own ideas. The rating and tagging and commenting system is working well and is clever, think youtube. You can view and load other peoples levels very quickly. Multiplayer online is laggy and glitchy though. Multiplayer on the same couch works the best.
Level create mode is a riot. Remember the first Pixar demonstration video with the lamp? that is what it feels like when you start with a blank level. The physics are amazing.
some of the things I've built for fun: a rocket powered sled with glass runners, a working catapult on wheels with its own ammunition pile, a monster truck with suspension, a little launch pad that you jump on and it launches you. A sprung ball you can sit in covered in little feet that randomly kick out..
The problem for vehicles is the side-scrolling limitation: they can only travel in the plane they start in. The camera also is pretty much fixed on the player (so my catapult couldn't be aimed because it threw stuff off camera). But there are more than enough engineering parts for the most complicated traps etc.
I could write a bunch more but I've gotta run.
Amazing tinkering.. |
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UltimateTech
join:2002-03-19
Newberry Springs, CA | reply to Skand
I can't wait for this one. When it comes out we should make a thread for DSLR levels. |
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justin
Australian
join:1999-05-28
Brooklyn, NY
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IPv6
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| Yeah or useful items.
eg: I just spent about an hour making a dirt bike. it has a working sprung rear suspension arm, foam seat, headlight, engine and exhaust.. sackboy clings to the front foamy to go forward. it works well enough that I could construct a level with obstacles and jumps, water, and so on for a scored race -- or just "send" it to a friend and they can use it. Or I can offer it on my own level as a prize.
Making such a thing is pretty challenging. You have to work within the restrictions of the springs, bolts, motors and operate in several planes. And if you don't want your machine to take up the entire depth of the level it is even more challenging.
To take an example: I bolted the front fork to the chassis and set the bolt strength to max, and that worked ok until I hit something head on at speed, and the front fork twisted back under, ruining the bike! Max strength isn't infinite, you see.. for infinite, you have to weld.
The level design has an undo function that operates like a VCR but it is still quite easy to make a critical mistake and have part of your brilliant machine go up in smoke due to some impossible physics it gets into. |
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Skand
join:2001-06-01
Corpus Christi, TX
clubs:
·RoadRunner Cable
| Thanks Justin!
Wow, you can make items like dirt bikes?! I didn't think it was possible, but my interest went up a few more degrees. I wouldn't mind sharing items I created with the folk here at DSLR.com,
I had trouble sleeping last night because I was thinking up levels. Uhhh. I've never even seen the tool set for level creating. I hope I'm not building myself up and hyping this game more than I should, but I don't think I am.  |
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justin
Australian
join:1999-05-28
Brooklyn, NY
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| I warn you: it is a lot of work. (but still addictive)
I decided I wanted to make a vertical garage to store all the different vehicles I was mucking around with, with an elevator to bring the vehicle to the ground so you can drive your choice out to run the same course of hillocks and jumps that go from left to right.
It took maybe 2 hours to get the mechanics right. Like: make an elevator with a single winch and then watch it get imbalanced if you aren't dead center. So make it with two winches, and watch the winches get out of sync. So make it with a cage and back to a single winch, and work out how to make the cage enclosed but still allow drive-on drive-off.. then to stop it swinging out too far and leaving a gap to fall into, put up glass glide rails. It works now, but I never expected it to take 2 hours. If I had to do something similar I could now do it in maybe 20 minutes.
And yeah I made something that looks like a dirt or naked bike, but it hasn't got knobbly tires or anything. And you can't use the throttle (variable) switches because you pull and push those, and if you are on a bike you are getting thrown around. So you have to make a grab switch which is on/off. That means you can't have too much power or the bike will flip. Nor can you brake, (instead just release the throttle). There are partial solutions to most problems, but it is pushing it to expect to do exactly what you want.. the toolkit is really designed mainly for the examples you see online: lots of moving platforms, swings, see-saws, little physics puzzles to open a door etc. It isn't really designed for vehicles. But many people submitting public levels seem to concentrate on that rather than creating platformer oriented levels. |
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StyxKee
join:2001-07-05
GTA, Canada
| reply to Skand
LBP is fun and quite addictive. I have not had the chance to spend the time to build a level yet.
I agreed with Justin that the multiplayer connection being laggy and glitchy. I have seen may optimistic posts in the PS forum that the glitchness is due to beta, and we should not expect the same problem in the final release. I certainly hope so.
One thing I am really puzzled about the beta is that the beta is from a previous version of LBP. Many posts indicated that the beta version does not really reflect the gameplay of the upcoming release version of LBP (how the hack do the posters in those forums know about the differences though?). If the differences between the beta and the final version are so different, shouldn't the downloadable version be closer to the release candidate instead? Perhaps I need to spend more time to read up of the LBP list of beta release. (Most likely due to me being spoiled by all the alpha, beta and RC releases of Firefox testing.)
Regardless, the single player game play is fun, I like some of the humour. In terms of the multiplayer, if you managed to get a good connection without too much lag, and good online partners to join LBP, it would really make your day.
Question: Has anyone managed to get a USB chat working on LBP beta?
- Styx |
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justin
Australian
join:1999-05-28
Brooklyn, NY | try my level if you get a chance, it is called "win a bike" and by id "two". |
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pandora
Premium
join:2001-06-01
Outland |  reply to justin
How do you get the beta of LBP? |
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justin
Australian
join:1999-05-28
Brooklyn, NY | A lot of sites were giving away codes in various ways. But judging from the message boards a lot more people wanted them than were available. |
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Stu Pidaso
join:2006-10-12
West Islip, NY | reply to Skand
Have mine pre-ordered. I am thinking of making something like Sonic the Hedgehog level!! |
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justin
Australian
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Brooklyn, NY
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| reply to Skand
oh. my. god.
I'll just delete my levels right now.
»youtube.com/watch?v=ZiRgYBHoAoU&···/?p=3193 |
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Skand
join:2001-06-01
Corpus Christi, TX
clubs:
·RoadRunner Cable
| i have made an "electronic" 8bit calculator (not "mechanical" calculator) with the Beta LBP demo.
it can do Add and Sub.
this calculator use:
- 610 magnetic switches
- 500 Wires
- 430 pistons
- 70 emitters
and others stuff...
That's pretty cool. |
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Silvanos
It's a new Silvanos experience
Premium
join:2002-10-07
Buffalo, NY | reply to Skand
You have got to be kidding me. |
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pandora
Premium
join:2001-06-01
Outland |  reply to justin
THAT was amazing! |
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Koil
Obama - Socialism with a smile
join:2002-09-10
Irmo, SC
clubs:
edit:
October 7th, @08:54PM
| reply to Skand
First off...yeah...thats just frickin amazing. I'm hoping the dudes a developer or something....otherwise, he has waaay too much free time. 
Secondly, reading through all the comments...there is always the guy who just doesn't seem to get it:
kevb3 (17 minutes ago)
like... wtf goes on in this game besides building shit?
Sigh
Looking at this kinda reminds me of the first time I played "Line rider". Spending an hour trying to make it so that I could get the little dude to actually land a jump from one line to the next... and then saw all of the videos that people had made of their drawings....same deal. Wow. |
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BigReds42
Premium
join:2004-07-14
Bellaire, OH
clubs:
| Bottom line... if you are not the creative type... this game is NOT for you.
I played through two levels of the demo... and was ... "meh".
Sure it is a GREAT game building tool... but I am not wasting my time trying to make that lost Mario level. |
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Sithra
join:2008-02-07 | I have pretty much zero creative talent, and not a lot of patience either, this sure isn't the game for me  |
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Silvanos
It's a new Silvanos experience
Premium
join:2002-10-07
Buffalo, NY
| reply to BigReds42
said by BigReds42  :Bottom line... if you are not the creative type... this game is NOT for you. That's not true at all, sure half of the game could be creating levels but it's also a plat former with 60 levels and the endless fun that could be found from others hard work.
--
Any it new they in one. You here for mine you here.
-JV |
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justin
Australian
join:1999-05-28
Brooklyn, NY
Host:
IPv6
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Console Tech
| yeah I agree. The beta is tilted for level designers because they will pre-populate the world for release. But if you look at some of the developer interviews you get glimpses of the kinds of story mode levels there are in the game. They looked interesting and varied. And by the time you're done with them, I think there will be more than a few top rated community levels to try out. |
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