Little Big Planet Level Recommendations

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Pat
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Little Big Planet Level Recommendations

Post by Pat »

Figured as much that if we come across any good levels it might be an idea to keep them listed in a single spot for easy reference. Or if you make your own then post them here for play testing.

So far Ive only tried two good ones (out of 2):

The Azure Palace (ICO aesthetic, underwater sections)
Escape from Alcatraz (a bit dark but the layout is pretty nice. No needles to jab into hearts though - this is old skool Alcatraz)
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Post by GreyWizzard »

:up: cool thread Pat. I can't wait to play the game this arvo :D

Is it just a keyword search for LBP, or is it category searches?
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Pat
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Post by Pat »

Ive only had a look under the section "Cool Levels" of which those two are both highly ranked. I found them by looking at levels pasted on the planet and picked them as they looked interesting.

I think there is a keyword search though.
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Post by Dj Flextacy »

with regards to level creation is their limitations in what you can use? and how much space to levels take up roughly?
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Post by Corey »

God of War.

Yes there is a limit when you play some user created levels any concerns you have about that will go out the window.
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Post by mech »

And the levels are tiny because you have all the data locally, it's just rearranging it.
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Post by Twit »

I played the Alcatraz one that Pat mentioned yesterday and while it wasn't much to look at it was a very inventive and enjoyable level. The end was pretty funny too. Edit - Oops, I'm talking about Jail Break - not the one Pat was talking about.

Also played one that I think was just called Garden v1.1 or something - it wasn't the best playing but it was very cute looking and has a nice style about it. Edit 2 - the guy who did this level (geosautus) also did one called World of Colour, which is also pretty funky.
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Post by mech »

I love some of the rollercoaster ones.
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Post by Gamma »

Check out "911" by phunkypiglet. Yeah, sure, there's the requisite plane crash, but a lot of heart's gone into the anti-US propaganda and the character at the end is fucking hilarious. Won't spoil the killer line.

Also, if you're enjoying the silly levels take a look at "slightly offensive, extremely hilarious" (I think that's what it was called).
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Post by Twit »

Does anyone know what the go is with sharing objects and stuff you've created? If any of us start making levels or even just playing around in the editor it would be nice if we could build up a library amongst ourselves of useful objects. If there's currently no way to do that (without publishing it to everyone) then I guess the co-op level editing will fix that in the future.

Anyone started fiddling with it yet? Maybe we should have a LBP Building Tips and Help thread. I've only played around a little bit so far just to try and get the hang of it (building little parts) and I've probably already got some basic tips, such as:
  • Build stuff in the air if you don't want to accidentally stick it to the ground (wheels!).
  • The grid is very useful in getting objects in the right proportions, but when it comes to adding a bolt or something then switch the grid off so the editor can snap the bolt to the exact centre of your object.
  • Speaking of bolts...remember that the sequence is to add a bolt to what you want, then attach that object to the thing you want it bolted to. Sounds brainless, but it can be slightly counter-intuitive when building something like an axle with wheels attached.
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Post by Gamma »

I haven't personally done it, but there is at least one way to share stuff. You can create something, turn it into an asset the same as any other in the game (and thus we reach the end of my experience), then put it in a custom level as a "powerup"- one of those floating bubble thingies. I suppose if we wanted to have a Ranch Tool Shed on the go someone could maintain a private level that has everyones objects.

I'm working on my first serious attempt at the moment, it's slow going but I'm hoping to have it online by the end of the week. It could take a while to pretty it up though, I'm leaving that to last of course. Going for a bit of a puzzle-platform thing. There are no moving parts save for some blocks you can drag around, I've only scraped the surface of the tutorials. Only tips I have so far:
  • Decide early on how much control you want over the way the level is played. The looser your grip the easier it'll be to make.
  • Be careful when using a lot of grabbable surfaces in your level. Never underestimate a Sack persons climbing ability.
  • Which leads to the next point: Always get other people to test your level. Sometimes you get so into it that you overlook something obvious, or your editing solution to one problem creates another earlier in the level.
  • Can't confirm this is the case 100% of the time as I haven't tried every combination, but immediately adjacent materials seem to be stuck together. Eg If you draw a wooden block, then draw a polystyrene block at the same depth in the centre that extends out of the wooden block on one side, your Sackboy won't be able to slide the polystyrene block out. You need to manually cut away a hole for the inner block that's slightly bigger than the block itself.
  • Checkpoints do not "remember" the state of the level, so ensure that your level's possible after dying. Every second level online that's big enough to warrant checkpoints suffers from this.
  • If you've built thin walls on one or both sides of your level, be aware of the possibility of a player grabbing on from the top and bringing one crashing down into the stage.
Ah list, it doesn't get used enough.

Also, see the level "cok block". There's a sort of fishtank full of cocks made of that pink floaty material that you've got to clamber through. It actually works pretty well, cocks aside I've played worse.

Alcatraz is pretty rad. I had a go of Azure Palace but couldn't figure out where to go or what to do once I spotted the key. Tried to find God of War but there were tons of hits. I played three of them and they were all shit, though arguably they've succeeded in capturing the feel of the source material. ;)
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Post by Pat »

Ive started fiddling around with the level editor, but my going is slow and Im not all that creative. I think Ill have to go with a standard platforming style level to begin with, with some of the usual hazards.

At the moment I have a giant wooden flaming stick that is doing about 60RPM. That in itself isnt all that fast, but if it hits Sackboy it belts him about half a dozen screens in any given direction :laugh:

I have some ideas for it though. :up:
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Post by Pat »

Alright, proof of concept is up and running now, but Im not publishing it til its in a playable state.

edit: ok, had to do some serious re-jigging. I now have a working set piece but it works better and makes more sense now.

Now I just have to figure out how to justify it existing :lol:
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Post by lambchop »

running thru the story mode at the mo ..just got to boom town and that level just tottally clicked it for me ..loving this.

online co-op is fun as hell ...1st time i must have accedentally clicked on online play cause all of a sudden i had some dude in my house thingy.

awesome game.. can't wait to see what levels are out there beyond the core game ....unlimited playtime.....i'm so buying this for my sister inlaw for xmas
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Post by Gamma »

I just spent over an hour repairing my level. I must have accidentally resized one of the foundation blocks slightly, causing the whole level to slip to the right gradually. I was zoomed right in building new sections so by the time I noticed it I didn't have enough undo power to fix it.

:oops:
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Post by t0mby »

lambchop wrote:i'm so buying this for my sister inlaw for xmas
You're married? :shock: :lol:
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Post by westical »

Umm...
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Post by Twit »

I spent all of my time with the game last night just playing with the editor but not really achieving anything at all. It's very powerful but it can also be frustrating at times. I've stupidly spent time arranging something in the air, only to accidentally leave the popit and have it all fall to the ground out of whack. Or I'd do something, go to look at it and then accidentally fuck it up whilst fiddling around and not realise and then have to fix it up again.

I found that cutting objects out of other objects can cause some weird graphical glitches, and I would really really love it if this thing went one extra step and provided some proper boolean modelling. It would also be nice if you could tweak multiple objects of the same type at once. You can select multiple with the popit by clicking and dragging a box around them, but you can't seem to tweak them all at the same time. Unless someone knows how? I also found the process of attaching ropes / springs / whatever to surfaces really annoying.

Gamma - can't wait to have a bash on your level! With some of the problems you mentioned it sounds like you haven't stuck your items to the ground? Things surely shouldn't slip or tip if you've done that? Can I also ask what you are doing for the basic drawing of the ground? I'm finding that my programmer brain kicks in and I'm trying to do everything precisely and with the grids enabled, but I'm guessing most people probably don't use the grid and just free-form it a bit more.

What's the go with getting people to test your level? I gather you don't publish it at that stage, which means you have to invite people to your pod and enter the game with you or something? I reckon a Games Ranch object library would be awesome, if it could be done reasonably easily. That way even if I never end up making a decent level I could perhaps just contribute some useful objects or something.
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Post by Corey »

t0mby wrote:
lambchop wrote:i'm so buying this for my sister inlaw for xmas
You're married? :shock: :lol:
Not the only way to have one.
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Post by mech »

Guess this is why they took so long... some huge gamebreaking bugs possible in the game, check this one out, hopefully they'll patch it out soon:
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Post by Gamma »

:laugh: If that's what it takes I don't think I'll have to worry about it.

My basic material is Sponge Grass blocks, 16x16 if you're in small grid view (guess you're not alone with the layout pedantry Twit :D). They're big and heavy enough that a Sackboy can't move them, so I foolishly only glued parts together when I needed a block to stick out into the foreground or whatever. It was only glued to the ground where an individual glued section was top heavy and likely to fall. Then because I kept running out of space in the editor (started in the corner, dumb idea), I had to keep detaching the entire level and moving it, and I don't think every single block was getting glued back down. I briefly flirted with raising the whole level so I could give it a more interesting floor, but smaller sponge blocks don't seem to slide as well on any surface other than the default one. Bit of a shame as it looks quite daggy, even before I've given much thought to the levels appearance.

I'll look into how we test them out, I need to draw a line somewhere or I'll just keep adding to the bastard thing. My primary guinea pig reckons there should be directions built into the level, but also acknowledged he's weaksauce. It'd be good to test the plain version with a few of you guys. Whether or not the next place to go is obvious is probably the hardest thing to get right IMO.

BTW check out how awesome a level looks in darkness with maximum fog. All texture detail is lost but you can still see the different layers of depth quite clearly. I'm not using it this time as it makes some of the more 3D sections of my level confusing, but it's a nice cheap and easy way to stylise a level.
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Post by lambchop »

Corey wrote:
t0mby wrote:
lambchop wrote:i'm so buying this for my sister inlaw for xmas
You're married? :shock: :lol:
Not the only way to have one.

yes, brother is married. i'm single and mingle
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Post by Dj Flextacy »

Finally picked this up today, can't wait to start creating levels with you guys, oh also read this post from gamefaqs i soiled myself when i first read it lol

http://www.gamefaqs.com/boards/genmessa" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; ... c=46530770
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Post by GreyWizzard »

good job monitoring your child father-of-the-year


ahahahahahah :lol:
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mech
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Post by mech »

the ico level is awesome. as it the octopus level for pure weirdness.
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