It’s time to show your appreciation for the hard working Mr. James Spafford, community manager!
Spaff is a community manager for the LittleBigPlanet community and September 17th is the day that we’re going to celebrate what he’s done for us as members of that community.
How do we do this?
Well, it’s simple. What better way to honor someone than by photoshopping his face on various things. But Spaff day is not limited to that, oh no! Feel free to express your love and appreciation for the spaff in whatever way you want, whether it be a cake, a song, a poem or even a granite statue carved in his likeness!
You can post stuff right in this thread, and we’ll get it to Mr. Spaff!
Now that that’s out of the way, thumbs up, let’s do this!
Be creative, have fun, and get ready for the biggest Spaff Appreciation Day in LBP history!
Oh, and here’s a link to last year’s thread if you want to see what has been done in the past.
As a few of you may have noticed, the site has been down all week as we have moved server. The server we were on before was based in the US, but this new server upgrade has been built in the UK (London) as the majority of our viewers are based within the United Kingdom.
The site is now much faster than it was before, and we have improved performance as well as faster podcast download speeds! Everything is back to normal and running smoothly, as well as the Sackpad beta.
Stay tuned for more news and a new podcast coming your way soon!
At long last Dan has been able to get the podcast edited and uploaded to the site! He’s been busy pursuing his musical career and of course real life comes before the show. However we’re sorry that this has taken so long to come out but its a gem of a podcast and I hope you gadders will love it
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Also due to its long time in editing some of the news isn’t exactly news but enjoy the sound of our voices if nothing else :p
Could Media Molecule’s next game be going handheld? The developers have recently posted a job description for a Graphics Programmer, mentioning in the job summary that “It’s on a portable platform…”. Though there is no official word on a handheld game from Media Molecule, the clues certainly point that way, including an NGP promotional video which shows LittleBigPlanet 2 being played. When asked about the job, Alex Evans responded with “Well spotted! However, at the moment I’m afraid we’ve got nothing to announce regarding any projects… sorry. We’ll have to leave the world speculating a little longer…”.
What do you think? Are you looking forward to a handheld game, or would you prefer if Media Molecule stuck to Ps3? Please leave your thoughts and opinions in the comments section.
With LBP 2 comes a plethora of new features and gadgets. In this post I’ll be talking about the microchip and how you can use it to easily share your objects with others.
Microchips in LBP 2 allow you to compress all your logic and workings into small tabbed devices. This means logic that used to take up about half a level in size now only takes up a tiny little square. Not only does this make your level tidier but it also means you can save this tiny bit of logic and put it in a prize bubble for others to use. I’ve recently made a device which roughly simulates the FPS level on the MM picks and I’ll show you how I’ve set it up to makes things easy for others.
Now the problem with making a general kit for a FPS level, racing level or a fighting level is that people will want a different setting for their level. You can’t please everyone, but its best to try and give them lots of options especially for the easier stuff; the key is variables. Using my kit as an example I have the time it takes to reload at about 3 seconds, this is controlled by a timer and so if I wanted to extend the reload time I can just edit that timer.
Similarly, rather than linking a fire button from a controllinator to all my logic I instead use a play logic (invert output of a NOT logic) as the input. Then if I want to change my input button I just wire it to the input for the player logic rather than hooking it up to hundreds of individuals logics that it affects.
It’s not just setting up the variables though, its also about displaying them clearly. My device is quite complex so some of the logic is messy but I’ve made the most likely settings to be edited easy to reach.
This chip contains the essentials for my device. In order from top to bottom: The fire input, the reload input, the aim down sights input, the ammo counter, the reload timer, the rate of fire timer and finally the sounds to play when you fire or reload. This is a very clearly laid out chip and the notes labeling which logic does what make it very easy to edit. However by doing this I’ve made my wires a lot messier, so there are downsides.
So instead of making everything on one chip I have other, more complicated functions left on ‘behind the scenes chips’:
They’re still labelled and neatly laid out but they’re just in other locations. In my case the more complex stuff was logics that activate only when a reload has just started or when the player actually fires a shot; these things may not interest someone who just wants a simple shooter but for someone who wants to make an ammo counter these logics need to be clearly labelled.
I’ve also made two versions of my chip, one with audio notes and one without. Audio notes can make things a lot easier to understand rather than endless speech bubbles and notes; however these take up lots of space so that is why I have a version without them.
So I hope this blog post has given you a few ideas on how to set up your microchips for others to use. Everyone has their own style with logics but I hope this will apply in some way to you.
So a final summary:
- Keep as much stuff variable: what buttons need to be pressed to do stuff, how long an effect lasts etc.
-Make the most common stuff easily accessed: the ammo count in an FPS, the healthbar in a fighter game, the acceleration in a racing game.
-Keep the more complex stuff hidden but make it clear for someone who wants to poke around in it
As with LBP 1, LBP 2 contains many co-op challenges nestled into its story mode levels. Yesterday night Alex, SLS (Matt), Cog and I decided to have a playthrough to clear up most of the prize bubbles in these areas and it was very interesting to see what we could do along the way with our co op capabilities.
I normally play solo and in my first run through the story mode I found the levels to be very well done, fun and challenging. For example: Victoria’s level ‘Brainy Cakes’ has you using the grabbinators to use cakes zip-line style to slide across metal sheets or use them as deadly projectiles against creature brains.
In our co-op playthrough we looked around the level, grabbing prize bubbles that people had missed until we reached the first one of these zip-lines. I grabbed a cake to get across and at the same time Alex grabbed me and then SLS grabbed Alex. We now had a 3 high sackboy stack with a cake on top. SLS then moved towards the zip-line with us and the cake in hand and managed to make it across the zip-line. As well as being able to stack up on a zip-line we also used each other as projectiles to kill the monsters and could also activate buttons out of reach by throwing someone at it.
This is just one example of how different a LBP 2 level can be when played with others. There was also the jump pad teamwork (but mostly abuse) on the fireflies level when we could either combine jump pads we created to make steps or block someone in so they couldn’t escape an approaching firefly.
The game is completely different when played in co-op so I heartily recommend at least one playthrough with your fellow gadders and if you have already then do it again and try and find another way to abuse a game mechanic.
Edit: Also the podcast is done we’re just waiting for Dan to log on and press upload.
Media Molecule have just released information on an up and coming community project titled “Hansel & Gretelbot”! The project will follow the story of Hansel and his robotic sister Gretelbot, who are left to fend for themselves deep in the Dark Western Woods when their wicked stepmother convinces their father they are driving the family to poverty. It has been in production for several months by 12 talented creators, with famous names such as Wexfordian, Morgana25, Jaeyden and more! Here is a quick trailer for the project:
You can view the full article here for more information about the project. While you’re waiting for it to be released, why not leave your opinions in the comments below?
LBP2′s a pretty game, folks. The Level 50 Ninja Wizards at Media Molecule broke their backs (wands? kunai?) making the lighting and effects much more versatile and shiny. We, as a community, love shiny things. It’s time to delve into a personal collection of the shiniest of all effects!
#5 - Emitter Effects
Ah, the humble Emitter. It spits out stuff and asks for only a single input to make it do so. Or you can let it run rampant, you ape. To each their own. Anyways, in the tired and inferior LBP1, all objects that were emitted disappeared with a wispy “PHAAFH” sound if they outlasted their lifetimes.
But now, you can change how your emitted stuff appears and disappears. Action level? Make that badboy explode when it’s done. Fade is good for setting up and maintaining a creepy or sci-fi atmosphere if used right. If you’re an LBP1 idealist, though, the classic Dissolve effect remains, as well as a Disappear choice for no effect.
Shrink is kinda bad, though. It makes a sound! It goes “FWOMP” and it’s difficult to tolerate listening to that for many a second when you’re working with it. Still a pretty effect!
#4 - Hazardous Hologram
Hologram in itself is a lovely matieral – it passes through objects and doesn’t afraid of anything – but if you slap on a Danger Tweaker or just plain make it dangerous, it suddenly becomes even more flexible. Need a stream of deadly flames? Light some Hologram on fire and let loose the fires of heck! How about an energy beam? Plasmify it and watch those elite super-soldiers you’ve created flee in terror of its might!
Hazardous holograms don’t have to be directly dangerous, though. Torches can be lit by an ignited chunk of hologram, and sparks spitting out of a malfuctioning machine can be made of the same stuff, but electrified. Heck, if you want some sci-fi energy pulsing throughout your level, plasmified hologram channeled through tubes is the way to go.
Especially if it’s purple.
#3 - Sackbots
While being a great gameplay mechanic, Sackbots can also make for a wonderful effect peppered about your levels due to their cute behavior. Suppose you have a level that’s out of reach of a normal Sack’s jump. The solution is simple – have a Sackbot there to flip the switch for the player! You could program the guys to be little workers in a factory, or to be villagers in a treetop settlement going about their lives like in that eerie Prius level.
Heck, it’s even possible to create your own actors, each with their own routines and personalities. Acting in this game is most certainly an effect, as the role was previously filled by cardboard cutouts of sackpeople. How boring!
#2 - Animated Materials
No longer are our materials stagnant and stoic! Now we have flowing water, gushing jelly, and flowing chocolate to add to our arsenal of tricks. Need some lava to surge from a volcano in your top-down shootin’gaemz level? Take some Chocolate and sticker it red! Icky sticky lethal slime? Use the Lime Jelly and surround the goop with green gas.
Materials decide the mood of a level; greys and browns usually denote a glum level, while bright greens, wooden textures, and yellows typically inspire happiness.
#1 - Improved Lighting
LBP1 lights didn’t cast accurate shadows, but LBP2 lights do, and they’re just the prettiest thing. The new lighting objects we are given can change color when they’re not activated – from red to green to denote a device’s status, for example. Some lights even act like Decorations, placable directly on your material of choice, and can be turned invisible – so your giant LED lights don’t show up in your ancient tomb level, for instance.
It’s worth noting that these aren’t in order of greatness – they’re just all cool in general. :B I shall post once more when it is my time to do so! Farewell, Sackcast friends!
So this is the first of our twice-weekly regular blogs and I’m going to start with something that I’ve been wondering as I’ve been making my first level in the LittleBigPlanet 2 retail.
LittleBigPlanet 2 was described in an early trailer as being ‘a platform for games’ as opposed for a platformer game which LBP 1 was for the most part. A multitude of additions have now given creators the ability to do things that could never be done before: the grapple hook allows players to swing across levels, the controllinator allows creators to create their own control schemes and streamlining gadgets, like the smoke generator, mean we don’t have to use items in unusual ways to create the effects we want in a level.
With all these new tools I decided to make a puzzle level (not released at the time of writing). The level is a unique ‘game’ where you control a sackbot that manipulates its environment through 3 simple actions: shifting objects between layers, grabbing onto objects and turning objects on. Players can use these mechanics to solve puzzles such as turning on a jump pad to fly into the air and then moving a block back a layer to move past it.
The issue arises with the learning a new thing for each level. With LBP 2′s singleplayer you are prepared for platforming and a few simple deviations like a top down view or a side scrolling shooter. However if someone was flicking through cool pages and came across my level, with a different approach to the platforming norm, would they want to learn a new set of game mechanics just for one level?
I am undecided whether we will see true innovation with each level or ‘game’ due to the desire to have popular levels. To the average player flicking through levels on their ps3, whether they will want to play a level where they have to learn a new set of controls is questionable. I imagine that websites like lbpcentral.com and lbp.me will allow creators with unique ideas to get some players who are willing to learn; but the large amount of the playerbase who do not visit these sites will most likely be going for the same platforming levels that were so popular in LBP 1.
LBP 2 is still young so maybe I will be wrong. We may see that players will want to learn a new gameplay mentality for each level and these imaginative levels may equal or even exceed the popularity of the LBP 1-esque platforming levels. I only hope that LBP 2 will be a platform for all games and not a platform for top down or sidescrolling games.
Hello, Sackboys and Sackgirls. This is SLS10 (Who doesn’t have an avatar so he’s using mine – Shermzor), one of the many lowly grunts that contribute to Sackcast. It’s been a long time since we’ve made any real updates, so I’m posting this to fill your empty heads with knowledge.
In our absence we’ve reconsidered our layout and posting patterns, and through minutes of deliberation and rebuttal, here’s what we’ve devised:
-One new Sackcast podcast recorded every three weeks
-A blogpost every Wednesday and Saturday detailing fun and interesting things to try in Create Mode for LBP or LBP2 (most likely LBP2)
-Tons more we don’t dare to devulge! (Oh hey, that was… Uhm, what’s the word… Alliteration! Yeah. Vocabulary. >.<)
So prepare to visit reguarly, old friends, for this is the beginning of a new, reinvigorated Sackcast. One that will make you ponder, chuckle, and weep in joy.
