[Official] LittleBigPlanet: Play, Create, Share!

[Sethos]

Actually, I'm going to create an ego-level.

I play as Sethos, trying to defeat the vicious and evil Sethos and save the entire Sethos race from destruction.

Through this level, I want pictures of myself and the name "Sethos" written all over. Every time you hit a checkpoint, I want to record my own voice saying "Sethos is great".

Too much you reckon?

[Piggy]

Not enough if you ask me! :p

[Coldgunner]

Actually, I'm going to create an ego-level.

I play as Sethos, trying to defeat the vicious and evil Sethos and save the entire Sethos race from destruction.

Through this level, I want pictures of myself and the name "Sethos" written all over. Every time you hit a checkpoint, I want to record my own voice saying "Sethos is great".

Too much you reckon?

you should paste random neowin posts in the background, various fail pics etc.

This brings another point, we could do the subscriber only level, with nothing but pr0n and crap jokes :p

[DirtyLarry Veteran]

Awesome!

Cameos from the staff in the level :D

I'm sure Neobond and everyone who owns Neowin will be okay giving the all clear to publish the NW level. If not we can share it privately.

I say that as I will want to use the Neowin logo/board art - Not modify it anyway, just use it. However it is copyright.

We could have a wee competition on the go as well for the best Neowin level ;)

If it does get published and does well in the LBP world, could get us more hits!

I get awfully excited about this title. I probably should calm down a little on the hype side till it comes out and make sure it delivers, but I'm just confident it will.

I already have some ideas for the level, like you have to get through the "Flame Forest" and then the "Trolls" area.

And lets just say I hope somehow they incorporate fans into the level creation. :rofl:

But are you really more evil than skeletor?

Id like it think No, but I guess that depends on who you talk to!

I like to think I am more like Bruce Banner/The Hulk, meaning "you wont like me when Im angry." ;)

[+Audioboxer Subscriber²]

Guys! :o

I was watching the level here with the boss fight - http://www.gametrailers.com/player/36540.html

And I realised DL is already in the game!! :o

He's one of the henchmen, check the resemblance!

That's a sign.

[Sethos]

What, the guy on the left or right :laugh: ?

[Coldgunner]

I already have some ideas for the level, like you have to get through the "Flame Forest" and then the "Trolls" area.

And lets just say I hope somehow they incorporate fans into the level creation. :rofl:

Id like it think No, but I guess that depends on who you talk to!

I like to think I am more like Bruce Banner/The Hulk, meaning "you wont like me when Im angry." ;)

well, we could give you *another* virtual banhammer?

we could have it sectioned so that you have to collect enough logic to pass over the BS bridge?

I even have a title:

Neowin and the masters of the universe: Escape from Gamers Hangout!

We could do a whole series...

The Phantom Spammer

Attack of the trolls

Revenge of the Mods

A New Topic

The Trolls Strike Back

Return of the Banhammer

...I'm taking things too far again :(

Edited July 17, 2008 by Coldgunner

[Sethos]

Recreation of the Gamer's Hangout;

You play as DirtyLarry, the mighty moderator trying to escape from the Gamer's Hangout.

Then to represent us, you can add the seagulls from Find Nemo and their Audio "Mine, mine mine mine, mine mine!"

There you go, feel free to use it :p

[DirtyLarry Veteran]

Guys! :o

I was watching the level here with the boss fight - http://www.gametrailers.com/player/36540.html

And I realised DL is already in the game!! :o

He's one of the henchmen, check the resemblance!

That's a sign.

:rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

I have to admit, thats why I like my look, it is super easy to recreate in video games!

[+Audioboxer Subscriber²]

Guys, guys, guys....

Shouldn't we be focusing on those uh... positives? ... of the gamers hangout? Not trolls, mods in a crisis, ect...

I mean staying positive, we could do...

*blank*

:rofl:

[Coldgunner]

we could be forced to collect the triforce of wisdom, only being fully compliant in the MS, Sony and Nintendo section do we attain the power of all 3, and access Gmod mode?

[+Audioboxer Subscriber²]

Nice read from the guy behind LBP, from starting off from scratch till where we are now :)

We are now getting close to finishing LittleBigPlanet – it’s due for release in October so that doesn’t leave us much time. At the moment we’re basically making proper seat of the pants last minute changes and panicking about everything. There’s a lot of pressure to live up to but the game’s looking really good and it’s shaping into something that I know we’re going to be proud of here at Media Molecule, which is great because when we first pitched it we weren’t even quite sure of what we were going to create...

Editor’s Note: Quick interruption. If you’re a developer reading Mark's Edge Keynote, and you’d liked to tell your own story on the front page of Edge-Online, contact the editor or hassle your PR. Keynotes is an open platform for game industry professionals. Okay, back to Mark...

...We were working in a very ghetto office, just a handful of us in a fairly awful building that had no air conditioning and was about to be demolished. When we originally pitched LittleBigPlanet we just had this vague idea that we wanted to create something console-friendly that used a lot of user created content. We had a small demo of a 2D physics platforming type thing using very simple box graphics but it was already quite fun to play.

To be honest we didn’t know exactly what we were going to do with it or how it was going to turn out. It’s still difficult to describe. We’ve definitely had trouble coming up with a clean elevator pitch if you like but I think maybe that’s because it doesn’t neatly fit into an existing genre.

I’m sure the press will come up with something that describes it perfectly in one sentence and then we can just use that. A few different directors at Media Molecule would probably describe it in a different way but for me it’s definitely a creative tool. That’s the shortest description I can think of.

It’s a creative tool that lets users make very cute, very fun experiences for other people to play with. You can add optional gameplay if you like. There were a number of occasions when we wondered if anyone was ever going to really get it or like it, but things changed once the game was revealed at GDC 2007.

Leading up to GDC we were aware that Sony expected us to show the game, but it wasn’t until quite near the actual date that we knew it was going to be revealed as part of Phil Harrison’s keynote. It was only when we actually turned up in San Francisco and saw the stage that had been made with all the props and things, that it really hit us that Sony were very, very much behind the game, much more then we had previously thought.

That moment was a real milestone. I think it really confirmed to the whole team that we were working on something very cool and the reaction the game received really gave us a big boost. It also turned the pressure on us right up because we realized that we had a major task on our hands.

Almost a year and a half later and we’re approaching that October release date. Some people have wondered how we’ve gotten as far as we have with such a small team (there’s 28 of us). Well, an element of luck can't be denied, and Sony has been incredibly supportive and tried not to be too demanding of us, but to be honest we’ve just worked really hard and we have some incredibly clever people here.

I really think that a team of about 30 people is a sweet spot in games development, at least for the way that we work anyway, which could be described as a little organic. By this I mean that we didn't have a concrete plan from the beginning and the experience would have been a nightmare with a larger team. I think we picked our battles well - we would have been silly to try and make a content heavy game like GTA for example. In fact, one of the reasons we chose to do a game that’s kind of reliant on user created content was that we had a small team and were limited on how much content we could make ourselves, so in that respect it was perfect.

Some people have asked me how LBP should be judged, whether it is a game that can only accurately be assessed months (or perhaps years) after release, rather than by reviewers who’ve had a week with a copy prior to launch. Well, I know it has the potential to mature like a fine wine and I can't wait to see what people make with the tools over time, but I think it will stand the test of being judged straight out of the box. A message that definitely needs to be put across to consumers to make the game seem less intimidating is that, even if you don’t want to create anything at all in LBP, there are still many hours of entertainment there to be had playing the levels that we’ve supplied in the story mode just as you’d expect from any game. Through these levels we hope to channel players that are more wary into the creation process.

I hope LBP will bridge the gap between casual and hardcore gamers and appeal to as wide an audience as possible. I’ve spoken to lots of people about this, ranging from my girlfriend, who doesn’t play games, to friends of mine that are the most hardcore gamers you could ever imagine, and across the spectrum they’ve had really positive experiences with the game, so there’s definitely something there that appeals to a wide range of people.

Ultimately though, with something like LittleBigPlanet fostering an online community around the game will be the lifeblood that makes or breaks it, so we will be putting huge amounts of effort into keeping people excited. We have a whole pile of cool little add on bits and bobs planned to release after the game launches, none of which I am allowed to announce right now unfortunately.

We’ve iterated, chopped and changed things all over the show too. For example, just recently we pulled a few things (including a whole set of levels we made) out of the game due to the time pressure of getting something in the hands of the community this year, knowing full well that we would put them back in later.

In the end some degree of commercial success would be nice because that would enable us to carry on doing cool and ambitious things, and critical acclaim is nice for the ego, but what I think is most important for the team is that we’re making a game that we’re really passionate about and that we really enjoy playing. If nobody else likes it then at least we’ll have created something that we like, and if other people do like it it’s a bonus. I think that’s probably the wrong way to think about it but I’ve never ever made a game in the past that has tried to please a certain demographic or something like that. Based on the above criteria I feel we’ve already succeeded - and I'm sure the rest of the team at Media Molecule feel the same way.

Source: http://www.edge-online.com/blogs/my-littlebig-game

Hope these guys get huge success out this title, I'm very confident they will (Y)

ps. :laugh:

Edited July 17, 2008 by Audioboxer

[+Audioboxer Subscriber²]

Music beats demo previously cut from the Gamespot stage demo - http://uk.gamespot.com/video/938583/619434...meplay-movie-12

It seems Gamespot have put up direct feeds now :)

[Lauguu]

is it possible to import your own images?? not from your PS-eye, but from your HDD.

@ AB - Btw I have my sig in pretty high res. So if you wanna use it in the NW-level, feel free to ask ;)

[Guest]

Cant wait to start messing with this Neowin level... How exactly does it work?

Do i have complete control of the level, make my changes then send it on the next person?

If thats the case we should create a list of interested people, give them a maximum amount of time to make their changes and if they have not completed it within the time period skip them and pass the level onto the next guy in the queue.

That system would probably work best if we had one fairly enthusiastic and active member to manage all the copies floating around, maintain the queue and schedule....

Audioboxer - interested? :p

[+Audioboxer Subscriber²]

Cant wait to start messing with this Neowin level... How exactly does it work?

Do i have complete control of the level, make my changes then send it on the next person?

If thats the case we should create a list of interested people, give them a maximum amount of time to make their changes and if they have not completed it within the time period skip them and pass the level onto the next guy in the queue.

That system would probably work best if we had one fairly enthusiastic and active member to manage all the copies floating around, maintain the queue and schedule....

Audioboxer - interested? :p

Yeah everyone can edit the level once it's loaded on their systems. So someone just does so much, then lets someone else download the level.

Heck, everyone can edit the official levels shipping with the game.

I do however think Media Molecule will include a "switch" if we can call it that, to make your level un-editable by people who download - However I can't confirm or deny that. I just know they have said the 60 or so levels coming with the game, can all be edited and changed if you want to use them as a template for your own level.

I'm sure though their might be people out there not wanting their creations edited - Even although you can pretty much copy what they do if you mimic their level yourself in the editor (everyone has equal tools). So I do believe this "switch" im talking about might find it's way into the game.

Of course, I'll be wanting this Neowin level done - I think someone like KoL would do well on the creativity side :D

[Coldgunner]

I'd certainly be up for doing a little bit on it, are we thinking a series of levels in which each user can build their own or sections of one big level?

I'll pre-warn, I like being very cruel!

[+Audioboxer Subscriber²]

OMG PUBLIC BETA SEPTEMBER!

*Head explodes*

My birthday is the first week of september, so I'm getting into this, or one of you are giving me your invite. No questions. It's happening that way.

:p

WhatIfGaming E3 08′: LittleBigPlanet Beta Coming This September

That?s right. This September, most likely near the 1st week, LittleBigPlanet will definitely have the beta launch ready for fans eagerly awaiting the wondrous dreaming spectacle of the infinitely large world that makes it up.

Alex Evans, Co-Founder, Media Molecule: We?re ready for it, and this game just has to get out October. Mark (Healey) is having a boy soon and this bad boy has to be done before theWhatIfGaming: So, no delay?nothing? Solid for October 2008 on Blu-ray disc oAEAE: Yes. There will be no delay and it will be ready tWhatIfGamingng: So the beta will take place SeptemAEAE: You got it. AbsolutWhatIfGamingng: So is it for underground members only or will there be a site for selection or somethAEAE: It will be a public beta, but limited at the same time. We will disclose that info when we?re ready.

We would like to thank Alex Evans for taking the time to speak with us about LittleBigPlanet.

Source: http://whatifgaming.com/whatifgaming-e3-08...-this-september

[Scazza]

OMG PUBLIC BETA SEPTEMBER!

*Head explodes*

My birthday is the first week of september, so I'm getting into this, or one of you are giving me your invite. No questions. It's happening that way.

:p

Source: http://whatifgaming.com/whatifgaming-e3-08...-this-september

Fingers crossed I will have this before September :ninja:

[DDStriker]

LittleBigPlanet is THE PS3 release to look out for even over Metal Gear Solid 4. It is probably the only reason I wish I had a PS3; and being a fanboy of no console or company in particular, I have to say I wish I could justify the purchase of a PS3 just for this game.

I thought the use of LBP in the PS3 press conference was ingenious and necessary. It made the random number-crunching meaningful. It was also probably the only other noteworthy mention in the Sony press conference besides MAG. Resistance on both PS3 and PSP failed to wow me like LBP has consistently done.

I'd have to disagree

i seriously can't see the appeal to this game (that and spore) especially over something like Metal Gear Solid 4 i can see it providing maybe a top of 1 hours worth of entertainment but it just seems to have no point and would get boring easily

nothing personal at the game it just doesn't seem very interesting perhaps someone can enlighten me as to all the fuss about it?

[+Audioboxer Subscriber²]

I'd have to disagree

i seriously can't see the appeal to this game (that and spore) especially over something like Metal Gear Solid 4 i can see it providing maybe a top of 1 hours worth of entertainment but it just seems to have no point and would get boring easily

nothing personal at the game it just doesn't seem very interesting perhaps someone can enlighten me as to all the fuss about it?

Once MGS4 is complete it's complete. There's no sandbox appeal, no creators/editors or anything like that. It's strictly a game play experience. MGO offers a multiplayer experience to continue playability on the online side though.

You can replay it, you can shelf it and play it again days/weeks/months later - So yes, it DOES have replay appeal, quite a lot of it actually.

However something like LBP has far more hours of undisturbed game play involved, coupled with an extremely powerful editor, one which the whole game is made with, included with the game. Media Molecule reiterate that time and time again, and I think some people don't realise that the editor made the whole SP campaign - That effectively means creative people can make another whole new SP campaign for LBP, pushing unlimited hours of replayability into it.

It's like Super Mario on crack, with 4 player co-op, online with stats and a level editor.

1 hours top of entertainment?, we'll see :p

I can truly see this selling more than MGS4, which has infact sold a lot - Lot's of people said it was niche and wouldn't push hardware, looks like they've been proven wrong!

[Jason S. Global Moderator]

what i think i'll like best about LBP is the fact that it seems so mindnumbing. So many games, like MGS4, are involved and take a ton of thought. sometimes i like to just forget about all that and game. also, games like MGS and a lot of fps' get me stressed while playing... am i weird? LBP seems to be not stressful at all.

[PiracyX]

Once MGS4 is complete it's complete. There's no sandbox appeal, no creators/editors or anything like that. It's strictly a game play experience. MGO offers a multiplayer experience to continue playability on the online side though.

You can replay it, you can shelf it and play it again days/weeks/months later - So yes, it DOES have replay appeal, quite a lot of it actually.

However something like LBP has far more hours of undisturbed game play involved, coupled with an extremely powerful editor, one which the whole game is made with, included with the game. Media Molecule reiterate that time and time again, and I think some people don't realise that the editor made the whole SP campaign - That effectively means creative people can make another whole new SP campaign for LBP, pushing unlimited hours of replayability into it.

It's like Super Mario on crack, with 4 player co-op, online with stats and a level editor.

1 hours top of entertainment?, we'll see :p

I can truly see this selling more than MGS4, which has infact sold a lot - Lot's of people said it was niche and wouldn't push hardware, looks like they've been proven wrong!

You are going to look really stupid if you are wrong.

MGS4 was about the biggest game PS3 had when it launched last month and did it sell more consoles? No..

I would class MGS4 bigger than LBP honestly.

So the simple answer really is just to wait and see what happens and how the sales turn out and reviews.

I am tipping it to be a good game but not a true 'system seller' as you so rightly put it. If MGS4 couldn't be a system seller then LBP has got next to no chance.

[DDStriker]

mgs4 is more targetted at fans of the series so for others its somewhat confusing if they havn't played the others (1,2,3) so alot of things wont make much sense until they are played

as long as they keep making them i'll be happy :D

as for LBP im not to keen on online play so yeah one hour tops :)

i have no doubts it will be a good game i like being able to edit/play my levels but i just feel its being overhyped and im going to be let down again like GTA 4 wasn't as great as i hoped it would be

Edited July 18, 2008 by DDStriker

[+Audioboxer Subscriber²]

You are going to look really stupid if you are wrong.

MGS4 was about the biggest game PS3 had when it launched last month and did it sell more consoles? No..

I would class MGS4 bigger than LBP honestly.

So the simple answer really is just to wait and see what happens and how the sales turn out and reviews.

I am tipping it to be a good game but not a true 'system seller' as you so rightly put it. If MGS4 couldn't be a system seller then LBP has got next to no chance.

Bring it on then :p

I seem to recall you saying MGS4 wasn't going to ship hardware? Does that mean you look stupid now? :rolleyes: (check this months NPDs)

Bit harsh to say im going to look really stupid, when you constantly chip in on games to say how you "don't think they'll sell this, or they're not going to do that".

Just offering my predictions, and I can see this selling millions - If I'm wrong, I'm wrong, doesn't mean I look stupid.

The broad appeal, and extremely powerful level editor and community give me enough belief this will become one of the PS3s best selling titles and franchises. Not to mention I can see Sony raping our eyes and ears with marketing for it prior to launch.