So the non-disclosure agreement has finally lifted for us on the LittleBigPlanet 2 beta. We can talk about it. But what to say? First things first, it’s very much like LittleBigPlanet. It hasn’t changed too much that you won’t recognise it. In fact, without the bounce plates (like Sonic’s springs) in the first level, you could be forgiven for thinking that you were still playing the first game. It’s got the same adorable aesthetic, the same floppy controls and the same quiet madness that permeated Sackboy’s first outing.
There are a very limited selection of three levels to play from once the game has finished importing your stuff from your LBP save (it even keeps your pod looking like… well, your pod) but they do serve to show off some of the new features and award you with plenty of materials with which to start your own creations.
Creation is where the beta really sets its stall. The first LBP had a comprehensive and complicated set of create tools which were, for the vast majority of players, too much. For every person that got comfortable with the creation tools there were ten or twenty (or a hundred) that just couldn’t find the time and commitment required to learn how to build decent contraptions and put them together into a good level. For every decent level there were a hundred with the sole purpose of grabbing trophies and a thousand which were unfinished, broken messes.
I had assumed that Media Molecule would try to simplify that in the sequel. I was eager to see how they had managed to include more options and give creators more tools whilst also making it accessible to a wider audience. I had assumed that they would take some cues (in return) from ModNation Racers and include some kind of idiot proof quick build components. They haven’t.
If the beta is anything to go by, Media Molecule has just added more tools, more options, more everything. It’s not less complicated, it’s more so. This is not, in itself, a bad thing. The mind boggles at what some of the master creators will do with all of these tools but for the vast majority of people who purchase this game it will probably be a case of playing the best of the levels that others create, if you can find them.
Let’s take a look at some of the tools. The first level introduces those bounce plates or “jump pads” as well as the grappling hook which is picked up like a jetpack and can be used to grab the sponge materials that Sackboy could always grab. The difference is that the grappling hook grabs from a distance and can be used to swing in that floaty Sackboy way we’re all used to. Jump pads can be used (and are) to thump your Sackboy around the level like he was in a pinball machine.
There’s a factory level which introduces Sackbots which follow you when you rescue them. You have to guide your new acolytes through hazards to safety, it’s like Flicky on the Mega Drive. The AI isn’t the most complex you will ever encounter but these cursory introductions do serve to hint at what some creators will be doing with the tools in the months after the game’s release.
Finally, there is a level set on a spaceship which serves to show how the gravity in the game can be altered. There are puzzle aspects to this and the controls change so that Sackboy’s floppy hopping becomes sweeping leaps which a certain Italian plumber would be proud of.
The tool set is larger and more complex. Those who make themselves familiar with it will, no doubt, be capable of great things. This has always been the case with LittleBigPlanet. Whether that means that the create mode will remain prohibitively difficult to crack the surface of is the burning question. If nothing else, those of you without the time to create masterful levels of your own should be able to enjoy the more complex tools via the fruits of other’s hard labour.
icuyesido
Just learnt how to use the last one efficiently, I had a little play with it and this one will definitely take me longer, you ought to see some of the things that are in there =O
bunimomike
Unlike gay space marines, you can’t have it both ways. There’s a reason why the likes of Photoshop, AutoCAD, Ideas, Coreldraw, etc, are all genuinely quite complex. They simply have to hold the breadth and depth for people to create masterpieces. There’s only a certain degree of fine-tuning to be done. After that, it’s about adding new features sensitively and intuitively to the correct facets of any given bit of software.
Seeing the original LBP2 trailer made me very aware that this was going to be the guess. I don’t doubt they’ve smartened the creation aspect up a bit but from there on in, it’s about more depth… more breadth.
MNR’s accessibility is great because it’s only a racer. It isn’t a platform for god knows what else. LBP is a puzzler, a platformer, a racer, a story teller, an action adventurer and more.
I sound like I’m on the attack. I’m calm, honest! :-)
TSBonyman
I’m inclined to agree with you there. I think one thing they learned from LBP was that lot’s of different tools are needed to create a wide variety of experiences, especially when they saw how the community was exploiting glitches to achieve new features. It’s probably quite difficult to make such a complex creation system fit a simplified template.
I didn’t have the patience to do much with the LBP creator but while it would be nice to have a simplified set of tools that might also limit the variety, and personally if i wanted to create something unique i would want to build it bit by bit rather than perhaps just choosing from a few pre-selections.
From what i’ve seen LBP2 is going to be awesome and i’ll be relying on all those creative people out there to entertain me :)
Qurx
hehe i found a weird glitch that as soon as you started the level you got to the gameover screen imediatly XP
you never even saw your sackboy or anything…
Cadabena
Then it’s your job to: REPORT!
Qurx
it was still in LBP (one)…
not in this beta….
Daywalker
If it were really easy, then well, it would be rubbish. ITs game you need to invest your time into. Did Leonard Da Vinci have an auto fill when he painted the Mona Lisa? Did Nofi have the code there to copy and paste for him when creating TSA? No is the answer. It shoyld stay complicated. that is how the masterpieces are made.
Amphlett
“Unlike gay space marines, you can’t have it both ways.”
Classic!
UKZ-N3M1515
i cant wait to the release :D, i will hopefully have time in my (not so) busy schedule this time, i can build, its just my creativity that prevents me from making a masterpiece. i dont think its so much the tools stopping people from making great levels
Tuffcub
That has to be the creepiest TSA sub-headline ever.
AG2297
Agreed, what was running through CB’s mind when he thought of that :/
Kovacs
The Wizard of Oz. Obviously.
Apnomis
I liked the concept of Create mode but ultimately I found it too fiddly to use. Something that you would expect to be simple was needless complicated and I always seemed to struggle with sticking and unsticking things and what connected where – sometimes things that were free moving would stick together and then when unstuck the entire level unstuck!
I read in an interview that MM have addressed these irritations, it may not be necessarily easier but it should be less frustrating. I also read that this time they designed all the campaign levels using the actual in-game Create Mode UI so they were able to identify inefficient areas and tweak them during development…
djdustb
I loved the beta, I struggled on the first game to come up with a decent level, in fact you could go as far to say mine are crap. I dived in to the build section hoping it would be easier. I was more confused and lost than on the first game.
Creation is not for me on this new one, however I was excited and amazed byt the user levels on the Beta, some were great and some were great ideas, that given a little polish will be a great GAME, not a level but a actual published game.
I cannot wait for this, It’s a shame that I have not been able to use the Beta as much as I would have liked.
Razpacho
Sounds like everything I already expected. Still waiting for the US beta to start though :\
dude90
I still think it was unfair for me and others who have played the original loads to not get into the beta, Sony screwed us up!
Tuffcub
Did you apply?
djdustb
But for everyone that played it loads and didn’t get in, someone that did play it loads did get in. I have missed out on Betas before, it is hardly an issue of fairness or being screwed over.
bunimomike
How? If they have 100,000 places for a beta and they sold 2,000,000 of LBP it simply doesn’t fit.
Bilbo_bobbins
I must admit, I got into the beta and didn’t apply or antyhing. Maybe because it was because I was in the last one?
Charmed_Fanatic
Even with more tools i dont think i will ever create a good level like some ive seen!
gazzagb
I was never good at creating in LBP1, I hadn’t got the patience to get everything “just right”. I doubt I’ll touch the creation in LBP2 (unless there’s a trophy for publishing a level) and so Ill just stick to the main story and playing the user levels – I know some people will make amazing levels.
Ryan1991
I am terrible at creating. I just wished that not being able to create didn’t hinder you from getting the plat.
SpikeyMikey23
im not great at creating either, i didnt even get all the create tutorial trophies for lbp, just didnt have the head for it. same with modnation racers, didnt spend more than 20 mins creating a mod. I prefer my games to be made for me, rather than having to make them myself. obviously this is just my oppinion.
OneDown
Exactly thre same here. I got in on the beta fir the first game, at least i think it was the beta, and immediately was put off by amount of creation. I just cant be bothered really. i guess its good to know that some others can..