TSA Debate: Creation

Creation tools, you’ve got to love them, right? Well, apparently this isn’t the case, as I found out when discussing the subject with Dan and Josh from the news team and Colin (we haven’t discovered what he does yet). A reliable source tells me that he sets up community events and things but there’s no way I’m believing that one. You’ll notice a distinct lack of Murdo in this debate, as he’s abandoned us to take a trip to France! Dan and Josh almost make up for it, though. Almost.

Josh: As long as it isn’t horrendously complex, I do love to dabble in a bit of creation (LittleBigPlanet, ModNation Racers, for example) but I don’t have the hours and hours to put in to make something really worth publishing. I think the real benefit of user-generated content, even if the tools are more complicated than an Eastenders storyline, is that there’s likely to be a decent community putting out stuff that manages to keep the game alive long after you’re done with the included content.

Dan: Creation tools – such as those found in LBP – leave me in awe, yet I really dislike using them. What it boils down to is a matter of time – working, writing and family life means that all I want to do is sit down and play a game. Creation is fine as long as there’s something there for people who don’t want to do it.

Blair: I love creating characters (such as the Mods in ModNation) and designs in games like Forza 3, but I don’t enjoy creating levels and tracks as much. ModNation made it easy to create tracks, which made me enjoy it a bit more but I prefer to work on a more two-dimensional plane, with stickers rather than items. I really hope they have a custom Sackboy creator in LBP2, trying to make some characters in the first game was a pain.

Dan: I also like ham.

Blair: I like ham with cheese on a toastie – it’s lovely.

Dan: Good man!

Josh: I think it really is a case of the time people have, with the advent of this generation, everyone expects polished gaming experiences and so putting together a level in LBP for example takes a fair while. Just quickly cobbling together maps in TimeSplitters on PS2 before I jumped in and played with my friends ranks as one of my fondest gaming memories

Blair: Yeah, I really love that feeling you get when you make your own level or map and then play on it with friends.

Colin: I’m personally not a fan of creation in games, the systems are often too time consuming for my liking. The system in MNR was perfect for me, everything was quick and relatively easy to do. I don’t want to spend hours on end creating a character or a level. I understand why people like pouring hours into levels, characters, storylines or whatever and seeing something they made in the game but the rewards don’t justify the time or effort for me.

Dan: OK, let me throw this out there – who thinks 80 percent of the options in LBP are a waste of time? I do.

Blair: Definitely not 80 percent! Nowhere near… have you seen some of the stuff people have created? They have obviously used nearly all of these tools, and it’s always better to be diverse than have things missing.

Josh: I saw that list of things they were adding in LBP2, and I can see potential uses for them but it just makes things even more complicated.

Dan: Yeah but in reality, what percentage of people actually make stuff of that calibre?

Blair: There’s a few people who have used the majority of these tools on one thing but it’s not about using them all at once, it’s about the tools being diverse and expansive enough to cater for any kind of creation. LittleBigPlanet does this well.

Josh: I do jump into LBP from time to time, and some of that stuff people have made really impresses me. It’s really a shame that LBP2 won’t be launching with support for Move in the creator, because it would make things so much quicker and easier.

Dan: I’m not sure how much faster Move would make navigating the menus.

Josh: I’m thinking navigating round your level rather than the menus, really; at the moment you have to use the pad to fly Sackboy around, whereas you could just flick with Move. I don’t know, I think I’m just becoming a Move fanboy – it can do anything!

Blair: Anything… apart from PlayTV!

Josh: Ah yes, the big glowing-balled remote can’t do TV.

Dan: OK… guys… get back on track!

Josh: I think LBP has really carved its niche as a “creators’ game”. As for just sticking creation tools into everything, it really doesn’t always fit. In large part this is due to the complexities of creating with a controller – Far Cry 2 had an impressive map editor but it was so difficult to use.

Dan: So what you’re saying, Josh, is that you stick your tool in to everything, but it doesn’t always fit?

Josh: Yeah, that’s basically it.

Dan: You Stud.

Blair: That brings me to another point – I was talking to a friend and he said he didn’t care for LBP as it was just about creation. I then went on to explain to him about the bazillion levels that are already on there and the story mode; it’s definitely not just a game where you have to create.

Josh: Oh yeah, it has the rest as well but if they’re spending half the game’s development time working on the creation tools, and only <10% of the people that buy the game are actually using them, is it really worth it?

Blair: It’s worth it alone for the levels that other people have created.

Dan: I’ve not been on for a while – how many are proper levels and not just spam ‘get certain trophy’ levels?

Josh: The LittleBigWorkshop and the PS Blog LBP Roundup articles always point out great levels. But half of them, whether recreations of acrade games or whatever, are just something where you see it and think “Hah, nice concept” but you have no real urge to go out and play them.

Dan: Right – we’re focusing a lot on LBP. Are there any other games that scratch your creation itch?

Blair: As I’ve already said, I love creating liveries for cars in Forza, I think that system works really well and it’s a great, simple way of graphic design. I’ve seen some amazing stuff on there. ModNation was good, but I couldn’t see the point in creating tracks when all the top ones were regurgitated from Mario Kart.

Dan: One of my favourite creation experiences was from old wrestling games. The create a wrestler modes had just enough depth without becoming overbearing. Character, moves, attire – it was all brilliant! Things now just seem far more complex.

Colin: The create modes in WWE games are too complicated now for my liking. I liked the system in the old Smackdown series as it was so simple but now the game has become more complicated with a large amount of move choices. Also with the addition of Finisher, entrance, storyline and video creation it is much more complex than it used to be. The features added are great but they are just done in a way that requires more time and effort than I like to put in.

Josh: I said earlier that I had great fun with TimeSplitters’ level creator, and Super Smash Bros Bawl on the Wii has a pretty good one too. I think for me, it’s more fun building something with my friends and then playing that, than just making something for my own enjoyment, or to publish online.

Then, as we brought it to an end, something miraculous happened, I received some of Murdo’s thoughts on why he doesn’t use creation tools and what he’d like to see in the future. In true debate style, I’ve responded to him and made a mini-debate out of it!

Murdo: I never use these features. It’s not because I dislike them though, they are great for creative people but I find it all too complex. ModNation Racers and LittleBigPlanet have some excellent community creations, some better than the developers’ but I can never crack the tools in the same way. When I buy a game, I don’t want to spend my time building levels to play, I want them there for me, ready to explore. Thankfully, these tools are limited to the genres which they suit but I hope we never see these in titles such as Uncharted or InFamous. The entire image of each character would be ruined by this. I do, however, hope we see mod tools appear in FPS shooter games on consoles, like Call of Duty. PC gamers have long enjoyed custom maps and weapons, but consoles have been overlooked. Let’s hope this is the next generation of “Play.Create.Share” to appear.

Blair: Some great points there, Murdo. I agree that it would ruin games like InFamous or Uncharted, but perhaps a ‘create your own power’ type thing would be suitable. As for mods for online games, like Call of Duty, I’ve seen some of these in action on the PC and they work really well. Notably an entire zombie mod and a Star Wars mod for Call of Duty 4, which worked really well but took a lot of time with modelling and coding. I can’t imagine this transferring to consoles unless the next generation was more open.

Anyway, we’ve all shared our opinions on this, so we’d like to hear what you think. What does Creation mean to you?