Little Big Planet 1

[Digital-Nitrate]

Thanks for the update FK... and that last bit really has me intrigued:

On a different note, we are teaming up with our friends from IFC (Independent Film Channel) for a “Play. Create. Share. Short film challenge”!

Visit the LittleBigWorkshop for more details!

This sounds fantastic... but when I went to to LitleBigWorkshop I couldn't find anything about this at all. I even looked through all the LittleBigChallenges and still couldn't find anything.


However, I did find a lot of other great news, as well as some answers many people including myself have been asking:

“SACK IT TO ME”…Weekly Answers to the LBP Community’s Questions (12/9)
Posted on 12/9/08 by Mark Valledor // Marketing Manager, SCEA

Another crazy week in the world of LBP filled with tons of new questions for us to answer. But before we get to the questions, we wanted to introduce “efong”, one of our US producers for LittleBigPlanet. You may have noticed him jumping in to answer a few of your questions in the comments section last week, and we’re glad he’s able to help you guys out. Now, onto the latest!

Moderation
We haven’t forgotten about those of you who have been affected by level moderation either. Changes are coming very soon, and we believe the way we check levels for inappropriate content will soon start to be received more favorably. We know it’s a big deal, and we’re very much working on it.

Rankings
We hope you noticed but within the data for each user created level, there appears the “Star rankings” associated with fellow players ranking levels.

Failed to load level
Several of you have gotten this message when playing online. This is one of the things on our list, wanted to provide some insight on the message.

The “Failed to Load Level” message happens in two basic situations - firstly, if latency or server conditions result in a time out before the level completes loading, and secondly, if you’re trying to access a level that has been moderated. Assuming that you haven’t received a moderation notice, it might well be worth trying again as it could have been a temporary issue causing the inability to load.

Lag
Wanted to explain a bit about our servers to address the issue of Lag. Online multiplayer gameplay on LBP works on a P2P principle, so the connection is as stable as the weakest link in your party. And if someone is trying to play through WLAN or has a lower connection, lag occurs. This is not to be confused with lag you may experience when accessing the servers. The servers for LittleBigPlanet act only as a gateway or matchmaking service for multiplayer games; once you’re in a level, the server is no longer part of it — it’s purely down to your connection speed and that of the people you’re playing with. We’re aware that quite a few players experience excessive amounts of laggy play and Media Molecule is working on optimizing the multiplayer netcode further in order to minimize this, however when talking about the servers, they are now for the most part stable, which should considerably reduce those occasions where the online side of the game is not available at all. We’re still working to improve things further, but we’ve already come a long way since the game launched.

Full Profiles
Some have started seeing a Full Profiles message. Essentially, there are too many items stored in your Popit menu — especially in “Community Objects” category. To make your profile “less full”, go into your Popit and delete some of the unwanted objects (pictures, objects, etc). On our end, we’re aware that there is interest in seeing profile space increasing and we’re looking into it further.

Sackbook.com
An impressive community fansite popped up last week and we were all impressed, but we’ve been in discussions with the site owner and requested the site be suspended. Chris, the site owner, was happy to work with us on this. Our intent is to be able to offer everyone the choice of whether their shared data is visible or not in order to protect everyone’s privacy, and while Sackbook was doing nothing wrong in the way it presented information and had no access to any personal data, we believe this additional option is important.

Merchandise
Lots of inquiries on this one. And yes, there are major plans for Sackboy merchandise. Expect to see a handful of announcements in the New Year. Why is it taking so long you ask? Few reasons. It’s a new IP (intellectual property) and many companies are unwilling to take a risk manufacturing a whole new line on something new and untested, which is why you always see tons of merchandise around major ‘sequel’ releases. Also, once we get companies on board, the production lead times are insanely long. Another reason is quality — we absolutely love Sackboy and want to make sure that our merchandise is the highest quality. You should see some of the samples we’ve received (not so good). Don’t worry, you’ll start seeing things soon enough.

…That’s it for this week. Don’t forget to jump in the comments below and ask some more questions. We’ll try to get to all of them, and if we don’t , no need to get frustrated. We need questions to answer for next week’s installment.

As I expected:

Online multiplayer gameplay on LBP works on a P2P principle, so the connection is as stable as the weakest link in your party. And if someone is trying to play through WLAN or has a lower connection, lag occurs. This is not to be confused with lag you may experience when accessing the servers. The servers for LittleBigPlanet act only as a gateway or matchmaking service for multiplayer games; once you’re in a level, the server is no longer part of it — it’s purely down to your connection speed and that of the people you’re playing with.

So for you slowpokes on the internet... stay out of the left lanes!

Seriously though, if you are experiencing lag while playing and you know for a fact that you have a good connection (5000+ kb/s down, 500+ kb/s up) by running a speedtest on the PS3's web browser, then you'll know the problem isn't with you.

I know I have played several levels of LBP online with a full group without any lag, so assuming everyone has a really good connection then it should be lag free as it is using a P2P network. The trouble comes when you are playing with someone who you don't know and who may have a poor conection... then everyone in that game is going to experience lag, not just the slowpoke.


Nice to see that they are helping to get Sackbook back online. 👍

 

[Casio]

How much lag did you have when I played with you last night D-N? Cause my connection is pretty woeful.

 

[Digital-Nitrate]

How much lag did you have when I played with you last night D-N? Cause my connection is pretty woeful.

It was actually pretty good. It helps that it was just the two of us, and I get a pretty fast connection (typically around 15Mb/s down and 2 Mb/s up on the PS3) so that may help over all. The only trouble we had was you not hearing me well. I didn't get a chance to tell you, but if you do not have a headset of any kind, one thing you can do to make it easier to hear the other people is to turn off the in-game music. I can't recall right now, but I don't think there is an option to individually adjust in increments the volume of the game sounds, music, and chat... as it is with most games. Which if so I hope this is changed in a future update.

However, if you do have a headset, that works wonders, as you can set the audio chat output to the headset, thus making it so much easier to hear the other person... not to mention the fact that you can talk back with it. 👍

 

[Casio]

Yeah, I have a headset but I didn't have a chance to connect it. I didn't have that much lag from my end and I only have a 512/128kb/s (Yes, k) connection.

But yes, I was looking for an option to manual change to voice volume but couldn't find it unfortunately.

 

[FoolKiller]

Thanks for the update FK... and that last bit really has me intrigued:


This sounds fantastic... but when I went to to LitleBigWorkshop I couldn't find anything about this at all. I even looked through all the LittleBigChallenges and still couldn't find anything.

This isn't the first time a PlayStation Blog post has referred back to LittleBigWorkshop, only to have nothing there for two or three days.

However, I did find a lot of other great news, as well as some answers many people including myself have been asking:

“SACK IT TO ME”…Weekly Answers to the LBP Community’s Questions (12/9)
Posted on 12/9/08 by Mark Valledor // Marketing Manager, SCEA

Mark Valledor and I , as well as their other question answering helper in the comments, efong, are about to butt heads.

First, Mark tried explaining off the lag as only P2P stuff, but numerous people have complained about the fact that create mode keeps connecting (giving the spinning world icon in the corner) and even freezing because of it occasionally when you rewind. I have personally experienced this. It isn't all the time, but the create mode should not be connecting at all. I sign off the PSN to create now just to avoid this, and it still works fine.

I am glad that he mentioned the netcode is still being examined.

Then one of the first comments was people asking about the search function and efong responded, saying that he had not heard any issues about the search. I personally suggested he look at the stickied thread on LittleBigWorkshop regarding the search feature. He is either BSing or not informed enough to be doing his job.

So for you slowpokes on the internet... stay out of the left lanes!

Don't worry, my cable company (also ISP and electric company) and I are about to have it out. Their service is bare bones, and support is minimal. They are about to raise rates, and if that happens my wife has agreed to switching to an AT&T bundle package because it will cost about the same but all our services would almost double, as well as getting a couple of extra things we don't have now.

The trouble comes when you are playing with someone who you don't know and who may have a poor conection... then everyone in that game is going to experience lag, not just the slowpoke.

I think the fact that other games can run P2P with many more people without these issues is a sign that LBP still has some work to do. But I do constantly see LBP getting better, so I cannot blame them for anything more than a bumpy start.

Nice to see that they are helping to get Sackbook back online. 👍

Yes, and no. Their reasoning is pure BS. Privacy concerns? By sharing data people willingly posted online? On a service with a EULA that explicitly says Sony can do what they want with the stuff you upload to it? The way I read their EULA it seems to me like all Sony has to do is give Sackbook the OK.

Something regarding this is fishy and I think this is not the whole truth, especially since this is not the reasoning Sackbook itself gives for going down. It would be nice if the site's creator would update his blog with info, but I am betting an NDA is part of the deal.

Yeah, I have a headset but I didn't have a chance to connect it.

If you hit Start and go into your audio settings you can go into the headset configuration and actually set it up in-game. I've done this a couple of times. You can also hit the PS button and do it from the in-game XMB.

I know at least one or two people have invited me to play and then gotten the message that I needed a second to hook up my headset.

So, that's all you have to do if you get invited into a game without your headset hooked up. Most people will wait in order to have the opportunity to voice chat.

 

[FoolKiller]

OK, so while the rest of the world has been busy with Home I have been hard at work creating more levels for you guys to play once you remember that you can actually play a game that is more complex than point-and-click while chatting (This is all in jest, as I find it funny that people are drawn to games that are basically flash-based minimal gameplay games.).


Anyway, this weekend I launched PLINKO! It is a one-player mini-game, although I guess you could mess with each other in a multiplayer game. If you have ever watched The Price is Right (old or new) you will know what Plinko is. You have a game piece and a vertical board with pegs and prize zones at the bottom. You drop your game piece and it bounces around until it comes to rest in a prize zone. In LBP Plinko you can get 0, 10, 50, 100, or 500 bubbles.

It is simple and quick. My only issue is that LBP's physics engine is missing a touch of chaos theory. So, I had to add wobble motors to some pegs so that they may on occasion push your game piece in an unexpected direction. Even then I feel it is too predictable. But I published it anyway. It is random enough to require multiple attempts to get a desired result.

Upcoming:

Santa's Helper (mini game): Santa is sick. Drive his sleigh and presents will magically appear on board. You have five seconds to get it into the chimney that matches the color or everything will be destroyed. For every present you deliver correctly you will get a prize bubble.

Charity Drive (timed mini-game race): Drive a truck full of gift bags through the poor neighborhood and deliver them to the houses. How fast can you deliver them all?

PAIN! (mini-game): Aim your launcher, adjust the strength, and launch yourself at the city. Yep, it will be an LBP envisioned game of PAIN!. Points are given for every rooftop object that hits the ground.

If I can make this one work I will love myself.

Sleigh Race (two-player race): This is purely a conceptual thing, but if it gets to be too much like the others out there I will ditch it.

I am also thinking of a mine cart version of this. Or maybe a soap box derby car. With mine carts I am thinking of adding a handbrake and deadly threats, Temple of Doom style.

 

[CodeRedR51]

Anyone know a good website for level building? I'm trying to create a level, but having trouble figuring out how to start a level from a blank canvas. Like, how you change the floor material. (if you can)

 

[FoolKiller]

Anyone know a good website for level building? I'm trying to create a level, but having trouble figuring out how to start a level from a blank canvas. Like, how you change the floor material. (if you can)

What do you mean? There is littlebigworkshop.com.

But if you have questions, ask here. The only way to change walls and floor is to select one of the themes.

If you want a blank theme then the only way to change the floor is to pick a material and make it thick enough to make the original floor off screen and run it all the way across your level. For an example see my Wrath of the Volcano God level. There are videos somewhere in this thread.

 

[CodeRedR51]

But if you have questions, ask here. The only way to change walls and floor is to select one of the themes.

That's what I was afraid of. Thanks for the link. I figured that I would have to make my own floor, but wanted to make sure I wasn't missing something.

 

[boiltheocean]

I know this may sound stupid but am I the only one here who doesn't quite understand LBP. Looks good but I don't have a clue what your meant to do, so thats why I haven't got it yet.

 

[FoolKiller]

I know this may sound stupid but am I the only one here who doesn't quite understand LBP. Looks good but I don't have a clue what your meant to do, so thats why I haven't got it yet.

Um, it's a platformer. What do you not get? You go from point A to point B to reach something, find someone, or stop someone evil.

Then there is the level creator which allows you to create levels, objects, machines, whatever and share them online, giving you an infinite amount of levels to play.


Give it a play and you will realize your lack of understanding seems very confusing to me. It is simple to understand. Now, whether you like it or not is purely your own thing.

And just so you know, because this actually seems to be a stumping point for some, there are no:

• zombies
• guns
• chainsaw
• babes
• blood
• aliens

Although you could make them yourself if you wanted.

There is plenty of:

• charm
• personality
• endearing cuteness
• fun
• community
• creativity
• replayability

 

[FoolKiller]

Woohoo!!! Themed "Level Packs" - yes, they know it is confusing and are looking into a name change, see the comments around post 60.
http://blog.us.playstation.com/2008/12/16/littlebigplanet-introduces-“level-packs”-ps-store-121808/

LittleBigPlanet introduces “Level Packs” @ PS Store: 12/18/08
Posted by Mark Valledor // Marketing Manager, SCEA

First we introduced an array of costumes for Sackboy, now the PS Store is pleased to introduce exciting new LBP ‘Level Packs’ to fill your Pop-it with more themed creative items. Our level packs are filled with several new items including new costumes, cool objects, decorative items and numerous stickers all for you to enjoy creating new levels – all for just $2.99.

Check the store this Thursday and get your hands on our first one: Festive Level Pack (includes):

Two new Costumes – Christmas Tree headpiece and a Wrapped Sackboy.

One new Create Material = Wrapping Paper (cardboard w/ giftwrap texture).
Two new Objects = A Festive Sleigh and holiday themed light.
Six new Decorations = A Festive Bauble, Bell, Wrapping Bow, Candy Cane, Card and Stocking.
A ton of new Stickers = holiday themed of course, including a Red Nose Reindeer, Elves, Turkey images and many more.
…and a partridge in a pear tree (j/k)

This is just the first Level Pack — but with the holidays only around for a few more weeks, the Festive Level Pack is only available for a limited time and will be removed from the store after January 8, 2009. Remember, there will be more to come, so continue to check back here again to see what is “in-store” for you.

I'm sold.
Looks like my level ideas just got easier, and I suspect they are reading my ideas.

For those not reading: There are not included levels. These are packs of items to create themed levels. It has been suggested that they change the name as they have said they will have packs of levels coming and they responded saying they will look into that.

 

[Digital-Nitrate]

Great news!

In the mean time, some folks in the LBP community have already published several amazing Christmas themed levels. I posted a some of the level names and creatots in the Community Level thread, but there are many many others as well. Just do a search in LBP for "Christmas", or "Holiday". 👍

 

[FoolKiller]

Great news!

In the mean time, some folks in the LBP community have already published several amazing Christmas themed levels. I posted a some of the level names and creatots in the Community Level thread, but there are many many others as well. Just do a search in LBP for "Christmas", or "Holiday". 👍

I did, but my ego got in the way and I determined that I can do better.

I have what I will call Creator's Curse. It is the inability to completely enjoy community levels because you are determined you could have done it better. If it turns out you can't you come to the conclusion that it was a crap idea anyway.

 

[Digital-Nitrate]

I did, but my ego got in the way and I determined that I can do better.

I have what I will call Creator's Curse. It is the inability to completely enjoy community levels because you are determined you could have done it better. If it turns out you can't you come to the conclusion that it was a crap idea anyway.

I wish I had the time and creativity to make levels as big and as imaginative as many of the ones I have been finding... but if anything, whenever I see and play them it only reminds me how little I apparently have of both.

 

[FoolKiller]

I wish I had the time and creativity to make levels as big and as imaginative as many of the ones I have been finding... but if anything, whenever I see and play them it only reminds me how little I apparently have of both.

Trust me, being sleep deprived because you realized that Plinko requires over 20 switches is not as enjoyable as it sounds. But I.....can't....stop.

 

[Joey D]

Looks like Metal Gear Solid DLC will be coming soon. Or at least that's what the internet is reporting.

http://www.ps3fanboy.com/2008/12/17/friends-join-old-snake-in-upcoming-lbp-costume-pack/

 

[FoolKiller]

Looks like Metal Gear Solid DLC will be coming soon. Or at least that's what the internet is reporting.

http://www.ps3fanboy.com/2008/12/17/friends-join-old-snake-in-upcoming-lbp-costume-pack/

Ouch, that is going to be expensive. I am figuring $4.99-$5.99 for the character pack and another $2.99 for the level creation pack.

But Screaming Mantis (That looks friggin' awesome) and a Metal Gear object will all be worth it. What would be really awesome is a Metal Gear Rex, Metal Gear Ray, and Gekkos.

This will be the first IP-based DLC I buy for LBP.

 

[Joey D]

$4.99 for some costumes? That seems awfully high.

 

[Digital-Nitrate]

JK, Mark me down as the second member of the Plinko 500K Club.

I will be getting this from Gamefly in the coming weeks, so brace yourselves

I see you not only quietly got it, but have already begun making levels. I'm trying to remember the name of your level, but all I know is that I somehow managed to top both you and FK's scores... The ball is now back in both of your and his quarts.



BTW: For all our fellow GTP members playing LBP, be sure to heart your fellow members as creators as well as their levels. It's not only a nice thing to do and will help your friends towards getting the Create trophy, but it will also help you towards getting the Play trophy as well as make it easy to find and track that person's new levels. 👍

 

[J-PaP]

After returning the game soon after buying it (when first release). I have since purchased LBP again. Few mates picked it up which I thought should make it more interesting this time.

 

[FoolKiller]

$4.99 for some costumes? That seems awfully high.

The Street Fighter set was $1.99 each or $5.99 for all four. They have to pay the licensing fee or some such nonsense. Basically, non-IP costumes will be free (based on user designs) with some being $0.99. Costumes based on other IPs are considered premium and are $1.99. Then they have the "rare" items which they haven't even bothered with in the US, because they realized that we would stomp off in a huff.

For costumes these prices are ridiculous. The only ones I purchased were the animal packs as those were fairly cheap.

If they changed gameplay I could understand, but they don't. It is just horse armor.

After returning the game soon after buying it (when first release). I have since purchased LBP again. Few mates picked it up which I thought should make it more interesting this time.

I'm at a loss. How will a game you didn't like suddenly be better because your friends have it too?

 

[J-PaP]

Wouldn't say I didn't like the game. It was that I could see myself getting bored of it. However having some people more local with me to play against makes things more fun (especially if either of us go to each others house). I know I could play online with people not on my friends list but when I did try most of the time I was not able to get a game going with other players/when it did work it would lag (southendrage can vouch for that one).

Oh forgot one other detail. Got the game 30% off the normal price.

 

[Digital-Nitrate]

Wouldn't say I didn't like the game. It was that I could see myself getting bored of it. However having some people more local with me to play against makes things more fun (especially if either of us go to each others house). I know I could play online with people not on my friends list but when I did try most of the time I was not able to get a game going with other players/when it did work it would lag (southendrage can vouch for that one).

That's a great point. Although I enjoy single player challenges (my latest thing is using a stop watch and seeing how fast I can get through really tough levels), as well as online games. The most fun I have had with LBP has been playing with family and friends in the same room. The constant banter, laughter, and oohs and aahs just make it sooo much more engaging. 👍

Nothing beats slapping or pushing your buddy’s sackboy into a pit of flaming lava when he is sitting right next to you!

Or hugging and high-fiving your kid's sackboys when they solve a puzzle or make a great move. 👍

As far as a party game goes, LBP has been a huge hit in our house. At one party there were far more people just watching and laughing then were actually playing it.

In fact just last week I was hosting our regular poker game, and there were too many that accepted the invitation to the game, but instead of starting a side game, they got hooked watching my wife and kids playing LBP... after an hour I went to check on them, and there they were, these macho cigar smoking tough guys goofing off playing LBP.

 

[Appie]

So i popped in my LBP Disc and got a update notification for it. Anyone here knows what the update is about?

 

[FoolKiller]

So i popped in my LBP Disc and got a update notification for it. Anyone here knows what the update is about?

My guess:

You will get some every few weeks in order to update for upcoming DLC. By loading it on to your hard drive in an update any new items someone has that you don't will show up quickly online, instead of you having to wait to download it during gameplay.

 

[Appie]

My guess:

You will get some every few weeks in order to update for upcoming DLC. By loading it on to your hard drive in an update any new items someone has that you don't will show up quickly online, instead of you having to wait to download it during gameplay.

I see, and they also added some new trophies and they involve a lot with MGS. Cool i guess?

 

[FoolKiller]

they also added some new trophies and they involve a lot with MGS.

Great jimminey Christmas. I have to check this out.

Although they did comment on the LBP forums. No mention of trophies though.
http://forums.littlebigworkshop.com/lbp/board/message?board.id=pod&thread.id=16083

The latest update (1.06) brings in some much requested changes to LBP's moderation system. While the rules of what is and is not acceptable content for people to share have not changed, we have listened to your feedback and have made the following changes :



- Moderated levels will now receive more detailed information once action has been taken


- The notification message will remain in place on screen, removing the chance that affected users miss the message


- Any moderated level can now be accessed for editing by the creator, whether online or offline


- Additional information is now displayed on the "Good Grief" screen advising users on how the grief reporting functions, and warns against making spurious reports



These changes, coupled with additional work behind the scenes should alleviate most of the issues that creators have experienced with the moderation system, and there is more to come in the new year. Whilst the number of levels that have been moderated is fewer than 0.1% of the number that have been created and shared overall, we recognise that better communication is essential and we'll continue to improve the system in response to your feedback.



An explanation of what constitutes unacceptable content to be shared can be found in the game's End User License Agreement (EULA) which may be read at any time via the Settings menu in the game, however we recommend you follow these general guidelines :



- Ensure that the content you share with other users is suitable for all ages - everybody has access to your level if you publish it.


- Please respect other people's intellectual property rights. For example, don't use images, brands or logos that you're not entitled to use.


- If you come across any content that you feel the need to report, then please do it responsibly. Hoax reports will be considered inappropriate behaviour.

This update also includes some more server-side changes to the game however these are minor. There are more game updates due in the near future.

And reading further into that thread the trophies appear to be hinting at actual Metal Gear levels. I just got all giddy inside.

 

[Appie]

Well it seems the Trophies are removed form the list. I checked my list again and they weren't there.

 

[WallRunner]

Well, a good bit of my game time over the past two days has been building a level, something which I had not (Seriously ) done yet.

It seems I have a slight problem though, I made the level too hard for myself to beat!

From,
Chris.