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Well it out now lol

Article by Matthew Compher, aka comphermc for LBPC

As many of you are aware, Media Molecule recently played host to a number of talented LittleBigPlanet creators from around the world. This event was held in order to allow the group to experience the new features LittleBigPlanet 2 brings to the table, while drumming up content to be used in press events and the like. The event, held in Mm's new Guildford studio the weekend of June 4th, was aptly dubbed the Community Game Jam 2010. I've done my best to fill this article to the veritable brim with summaries and impressions of the whole ordeal, all taken from attendees, and all put together in an attempt to accurately describe what went down. It is written from my perspective, but we have included the viewpoints of many others in the article (by way of quotes and recollections) as well. Enjoy!

Who where there?

Wexfordian, StevenI, jump_button, jackofcourse, Poms, Julesyjules, Steve_big_guns, Anpostteller, rtm223, Jaeyden, FULLGORR, comphermc, and GruntosUK

The first weekend in June, creators from around the world began to descend upon Media Molecule Studios. What chaos awesomeness would ensue! That Thursday afternoon, Fullgorr, Wexfordian, and I were the first to arrive at our hotel just outside of Guildford; we were later to be joined by Jaeyden, GruntosUK, Poms, and steve_big_guns.


Meeting up with people you have had online friendships with for the last 2 years is bizarre. On one hand you feel like you know loads about the person as you judge them purely on their words. On the other, you realise you don't even know their real name let alone what they look like! Still, we all gravitated to the bar and slowly but surely we formed a group. The last people to arrive had it easy as all they had to do is look for a group of guys having a heated debate about logic setups.
...recalls Wexfordian


As I arrived back at the hotel after a morning of shopping, my hands full of various British goodies (Hey, I knew I wasn’t going to be going outside for the better part of the weekend), I spotted someone sitting at the bar; he had a shaved head and a pint in his hand... at that moment, I knew that this weekend wasn’t just some elaborate murder plot-- it was the real deal. That man was Wexfordian, and he was talking with Comphermc! I awkwardly walked by and introduced myself-- it wasn’t your typical introduction, as the first thing I said was “LittleBigPlanet????” in a schoolgirl-like tone. After the strange introductions (who woulda thought Wex and Comph had REAL names!?) we talked about the weekend ahead of us... who knew three dudes could talk so much about a video game? Well, we made it happen!
...recalls FULLGORR


Usually when you meet someone new it's always small talk and uncomfortable chit chat, but this was like a school reunion. We just dove right into it like old friends. The only thing that felt out of place was introducing myself by my screen name. Haha, I'm just not used to it! Lots of talk of LBP, speculation of LBP2, a touch of prying at Mark [Valledor] for more info, and a great little buffet was the setting for our dinner.
...recalls Jaeyden

The evening was spent discussing the things that most excited us about LittleBigPlanet 2 with Mark Valledor, Marketing Manager at Sony Computer Entertainment America. The night continued in Guildford at one of the local pubs, where we carried on making guesses and predictions about the events of the following day.


We capped the night in the lounge of the hotel. I took the liberty of bribing the desk clerk to let us use one of the big screens in the bar, and we set up Wex's PS3 and finished the night in style.
...recalls Jaeyden

FULLGORR, bless his heart, fell asleep in his chair.


The next morning began bright and early. A nice breakfast buffet, lots of coffee and the continual joke of asking Comphy "What time is it now?" every thirty seconds as we got closer to leaving. Excitement built as we arrived at Wey House. Walking up the stairs and into the studio was surreal. We enter into the heart of MM and there behind these desks are the faces we've all seen in interviews over the years... Mark, Kareem, Victor... Alex. Little time is spent lingering in the work area as were whisked upstairs to a room full of people.
...recalls Jaeyden

Soon after breakfast, we were gathered on the top floor of MM's new building where the event was set to begin. We wound through the main level, where everyone was hard at work on LittleBigPlanet 2. From the pink carpet, to the lively decorations, to the smiling Molecules, hard at work on LittleBigPlanet 2, it was a very surreal experience indeed! The creators who had not arrived the night before now met up with us, introducing ourselves as steadily as our nerves would allow. The biggest question on everyone's mind at this point was... what the heck do I call that guy...? Do I use his PSN ID? His name!? Ah! Eventually we got acquainted, and moved on to salivating at the row of TVs and Playstations set up for us, knowing that LBP2 was just a few yards away. Patiently we waited, exchanging small-talk, (not so) secretly hoping that we'd begin sooner rather than later.


First impressions of the place left me blown away. These were some seriously cool people here and left me wondering what I was doing here!
...recalls Wexfordian


Seeing everyone and trying to then work out who was who, and trying to put the PSN to faces... I'm really bad at remembering names!
...recalls Jump_button


As it turned out, everyone was really cool and once we got over the initial matching of PSN / real name / face worked out (saying, “Hi, my name’s rtm223” out loud is pretty cringeworthy) we kind of bonded in mutual excitement and remembered that we actually knew each other really well already.
...recalls rtm223

We began in the early afternoon with a thorough presentation by Alex Evans and Mark Healey of all of the new tools within LBP2. You could tell how proud they were of what they had accomplished; the enthusiasm they had for their game was infectious and only served to excite us more. We were growing tired of picking our jaws up off of the floor, but at the same time we couldn't help but giggle at the thought of how much fun the next 24 hours would be. With our heads buzzing with all we just learned, we scarfed down some food before finally being unleashed upon the game.


After an awkward few minutes of talking to random strangers I'd met on the internet (who, to my great disappointment, look nothing like I expected), and strange people with cameras taking pictures of us, we finally got our first look at LBP2. About 10 minutes into the presentation I was already amazed and couldn't really take in any more new details.
...recalls Syroc


We all scampered over to the TV as if children on Christmas morning. Mark ran through a seemingly limitless number of new features and tools; as each new feature was shown, my brain was stuck trying to comprehend what we had been shown 5 minutes earlier.
...recalls FULLGORR


When asked if we were ready to have a take at it, the resounding shouts of "Ohh Hell Yeah!!" and "You betcha" was like asking a group of school kids if they wanted the keys to the candy store.
...recalls Jaeyden



We were all so mesmerized... even Alex!


FULLGORR couldn't even keep his mouth closed!

The first hour or so was simple chaos! We literally didn't know where to begin. The vast selection of new tools, features, and options left us all flying off in different directions. Some of us messed with the circuit boards; others of of us made little contraptions using the Sackbots, switches, and gravity controls; while others still explored the incredible selection of new materials, objects, stickers, and decorations in LBP2. Meanwhile, the Mm staff buzzed around behind us, sometimes offering tips and advice, while explaining the inner workings of some of the more mysterious tools. It was simply astounding to be surrounded by people who shared the same passion for exploration, tinkering, and creation as ourselves.


At first I was just shaking my head, trying to come to terms with what we've got to work with now and how to apply the new tools and changes. But rest assured, the greatest creators on the planet were there to guide us through a crash course of LBP2. Johnee, Mark, Victor and Christophe. These guys are pure awesome. Genius incarnate and absolutely the nicest people you may ever meet. They spent all that time answering questions and guiding us through the build as it is right now. My hat is off to these guys. Thanks for spending all that time with us.
...recalls Jaeyden


Whilst there have been numerous requests for new content, features, and level packs for LittleBigPlanet, we can see that LittleBigPlanet 2 will add more to the game than anyone could have possibly imagined.
...recalls StevenI



Mark shows off the amazing new holographic-like material, called vacuum.

Because we had access to the entirety of the (rather incomplete) story mode from the start, we were able to use those levels as a source of inspiration - a "foundation" from which to expand our creative minds. The new tools completely changed the way we approached building. While we're not allowed to talk too much about story specifics, let me tell you: there's a reason that the Mm level designers do what they do for a living! Over the past two years, the community has been constantly pushing LBP to the limit, constantly raising the bar... so one of the biggest questions for me was whether or not Media Molecule would be able to wow us again. Here I am, after seeing the game, and let me tell you, Media Molecule has responded in kind! It should be noted that many of these levels were still being revised, or had not yet been passed to the art department, but the core was there, and it was fantastic!


Remember the idiotic grin you got from playing LittleBigPlanet for the first time? - It's back!

There's more new gizmos and gadgets than you can shake a sponge at, with camera tools that can make mini-Spielbergs out of all of us. There are even movie levels in story mode! Oh yes.
...recalls Julesyjules

In order to help explaine some of the possibilities of the more complex create tools, Johnee took us into Create mode for a few of the story levels. There were some impressive mechanics at work for the complicated bits and the others actually teased Johnee for his all-over-the-place style of logic construction in some of those bits. It was a nice peek into the sorts of things that go into making a LittleBigPlanet 2 story level, and even made the designers seem somewhat human!


My mind was literally blown by Mark and Alex's presentation on the new features, the sheer amount of things they have added into the game is not nothing short of magnificent. My head was swimming with ideas afterward, as I stood on the balcony in the beating Guildford sun, thinking about the possibilities of what we could create. Actually putting those ideas in to practice once I finally got my eager hands on the joypad was another thing; assualted by screens upon screens of new stuff to play with, I erratically moved from thing to thing, mouth agape in amazement at what was in front of me.
...recalls GruntosUK


All the new features were a lot to take in, and I was eager to try them out. After a short break for lunch we finally got what we were waiting for. With so little time, I wanted to try as many of the tools as possible. I created very erratically, going from one thing to another, all the time in amazement of the possibilities and how well everything was implemented. Looking around I could see what everyone else was doing and all the things I still had not tried.
...recalls steve_big_guns



Alex gives us a glimpse of an early version of the new online community system. It is sure to impress!

Meanwhile, professional camera crews were brought in to document the event. We had lights, booms, and cameras shuffling all over the room, and we did our best to ignore them while we tinkered away. It didn't take long to have your attention grabbed by the number and scope of positive changes and new tools in LBP2.


While everyone else was becoming square-eyed by not moving from their little stations for hours on end, I was wandering around seeing what everyone was up to, and I helped out where I could. I have been helping Media Molecule with LBP2 for the past month or so, so I already knew the new tools and features quite well... and after creating day-in, day-out for weeks, I didn't fancy pulling an all-nighter like the rest of them - Ha!

It was great watching what everyone else was doing and getting to see lots of different perspectives on the new tools. It was also awesome seeing so many people have exactly the same response as I did when I first got into create mode... "So.many.new.tools... don't.know.which.to.try.out.first! OVERLOAD!! OVERLOAD!!"
...recalls jackofcourse


Luckily, MM staff were on hand, mingling and all eager to show off what they’ve created and what was possible with the new tools. I think they were more excited than us; they’ve been keeping this stuff secret for months! As I was still too giddy to actually think for myself, I started by reproducing some of the features of their levels, working out how to achieve that goal from scratch using the with the new tools. I ended up with a direct control chair controlling a cursor/target bound to the edges of the screen, with an aim-able turret that fired seeking energy weapons. I found myself amazed at how simple it was to put together!
...recalls rtm223

And just like that, our free-for-all with the game came to a close. We creators reluctantly gathered into a little corner of the room where a whiteboard had been situated. We were then informed that we would be participating in a little challenge for the duration of our time in the studio. I think some of us may have been initially apprehensive, but it would turn out to be a blast. We were presented with...



To, in teams, create either:-


•A cutscene
•A mini game
•A boss fight


We quickly divided into teams (or decided to act solo) and began brainstorming ideas. Wexfordian, rtm223, and I started whispering like little schoolgirls in the back, and others scrambled to come up with level ideas in their own secret ways. We all settled on early concepts and scribbled out a plan on the whiteboard (for some reason many of them involved crabs...?) and we were off! The deadline? 4pm the next day!


I can't speak so much for the other groups, but this is where the night got serious. We had less than 24 hours to make a level... and we were going to get it done, dangit! We decided to go with a top-down helicopter shooter, and it seemed a tall order for the time constraints (but we're pros, right?). Wexfordian began working on the level for the mini-game, rtm223 set out to make some weapons and logic stuffs for it, and I was tasked with making a little helicopter with functioning HUD and direct control seat.
...recalls comphermc



Syroc focuses, knowing that we are on the clock!

We all started going through the early steps of creating a level. Those of you experienced creators in LBP1 will be right at home with the old create tools, but you'll quickly come to love the tiny tweaks and additions that accompany them. I will admit that it was a bit daunting to look at that blank screen for the first time and realize that we needed a fully functional level in fewer than 24 hours, but it was crunch time, so we went to work. After a few hours, we noticed Mm staff from the office below start to accumulate on the deck outside, and we could hear the rumblings of a mini-party forming.


Alex's attempt to pry us away from the screen by wafting in the smell of delicious barbecue failed miserably. With a quick snatch of a chicken wing and the polite spoonful of salad most people disappeared in again to be with what will surely be their new love for the next few years. I resisted long enough to listen to Kareem regale us with stories of Egypt, including one or two he might not want repeated here! After the barbecue was over, it was straight into a marathon of LBP2. I was in love. A certain line from The Godfather kept running through my head.... "Just when I thought I was out..."
...recalls Wexfordian


Amazing creations began to boil up from all over the room. What a rush it was watching everyone come together and build stuff that makes some of the best LBP1 levels pale in comparison. Somewhere in between we were given a tour of the studio, an awesome BBQ, and tons of buzzings from Johnee's model helicopters.
...recalls Jaeyden

Before we knew it, it was 1am... 3am... we quickly lost track. Creators and staff alike began to slowly trickle back to the hotel to catch some brief sleep. A few Creators managed to fight the desire to sleep and instead push on with their creations.


Hours pass... it was past midnight when the Molecules started to torture us by watching Top Gun nearby; that's when I really started to feel tired. So about 5am, some of us popped to the hotels and I checked in, unpacked, and had a little nap before going back.
...recalls Jump_button


Spaff had joked before hand about sleep being optional, but I don’t think he actually believed that any of us would take him seriously. I don’t think we believed we’d stay up all night, although I must admit I’d come prepared (energy drinks, ibuprofen and eye drops at the ready). But I found that as others dropped off, I just didn’t feel the need to stop; sleep simply wasn't that appealing.
...recalls rtm223


I knew weeks before that I wasn't going to sleep.
...recalls comphermc

At the cost of some quality hotel sleep, Creators who stuck around managed to get a lot more done than their sleeping counterparts...


I decided to create a mini-game, with controls based around games such as Smash TV or Geometry Wars; left analogue stick to move, the right to fire guns in whatever direction you pointed. I didn't have a setting, or anything else other than the basic gameplay element and the fact it was to be a top-down shooter. From here, with a lot of help from MM's level designers I began to create the basic controls using the direct control seat, and let me tell you, the new tools, as powerful and as seemingly limitless as they are, are a complete breeze to use and extremely intuitive. After the basic controls were sorted, I had a basic craft that looked like a UFO, and then the setting came to me. A herd of cows, tired of being abducted by the aliens set up a Spitfire squadron called B.A.D.A.S.S (Bovine Anti-Air Defense And Support Squadron) in an attempt to try and stop the aliens once for all. The cows flying spitfires came at you from all angles in a kamikaze style in order to take you down. And that was it, I was off in a 27 hour create frenzy (interrupted only by 3 hours or so sleep and travel to and from the studios). With a few hours to spare I had a fully working, playable mini-game. With a little time left I decided to use the motorway I added as scenery as a little gameplay feature, adding a few cows on the ground, and setting them to flee the player it was possible to herd them into the traffic for a few extra bonus points. I was done, and spent the rest of my time checking out the brilliant story levels, sort of regretting I hadn't used the grapple hook in anyway, because that thing is simply fantastic.
...recalls GruntosUK


At first I couldn't really decide what to build with the new tools. Each idea was immediately replaced by another. Eventually I started rebuilding Peggle, which is something I tried to build in LBP1 before, but quickly realised that, thanks to the new tools, this wouldn't take half as long as it did in LBP1, and was actually a bit too easy. So, I wasn't too disappointed to find that all my progress was lost after a crash (it was a very early build of the game, you see) and started on something new. I settled for a very basic 2D retro-space shooter in the end. That, too, was much easier to make than it would be now, but it was the only idea I could focus on long enough to actually complete.
...recalls Syroc




Day broke and we still went strong. This here was our home for 27 hours!


Poor Tom was sleeeeeepy...

Brought on by sleep deprivation, time becomes a blur at this point. The Creators that had returned to their hotels for rest the previous night began wandering back to their PS3's early on Saturday. Many had started wrapping up their levels and had moved on to playing with other ideas or the story levels.


The concept for our top-down heli level was simple, as were the basic mechanics of making the idea work, but we were not just going for simplicity. We wanted to push what was possible with the new tools. Thusly, rtm223 was working on making bullets that tracked towards their target as well as some awesome explosion effects, I was working on a functional HUD attached directly to the helicopter, and Wexfordian was working on making detailed scenery for the top down view. With the new tools, it was amazing how well each of these goals was accomplished. It took many, many hours, but we started to see a level forming before our eyes.
...recalls comphermc


It was difficult to decide what to create. I was playing around with the mechanics to a few side-viewed flying ship ideas while anpostteller set up a brief destruction scene. Seeing how amazing the fire looked made us want to use it somehow as a visual feature. We decided to create an alien invasion level, where you took the role the an alien ship causing mayhem and destruction to a city. The direct control and movers made creating a flying ship that worked perfectly a breeze. Unknown to myself or others until at the very end, the online create was not stable. After some freezing issues we decided to use to same PS3. By then it was the early hours of Saturday morning. Some stayed and some went back to the hotel to sleep. I didn't want to miss anything, so I stayed up creating while anpostteller fell asleep on the couch beside me. I only wish we all could have had longer to play with tools, as there is so much new stuff there to learn and experiment with. I can only imagine the things the community will create in LBP2.
...recalls steve_big_guns


I had no idea what to build. There were quite literally hundreds of new features at my disposal! I ended up making a top down mech that shot rockets, which turned into Rambo, which turned into a level about Rambo killing dudes with real knifing action. It was terribly amazing!!

The process of making it was absolutely ridiculous. I would easily liken Media Molecule to Willy Wonka’s chocolate factory. As I built, remote controlled helicopters buzzed above my head, scooters and bicycles whizzed by, drunk Molecules discussed the science behind SNL’s “**** in my pants” skit while they drank “Devil’s ****”... it was absolutely magical.
...recalls FULLGORR

 

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Sometime on Saturday, the camera crews started pulling [reluctant] creators away from their TVs for brief interviews with Alex Evans. We were all pretty nervous about these, mostly because we looked terrible and sleep-deprived (totally worth it).



FULLGORR kicks back, being one of the first finished with his level. Not everyone managed to be so awake!


I have to say, getting interviewed was a strange and new experience for me, all the lights and cameras pointing at me, people expecting an interview. Fortunatly Alex was interviewing, and asked some great questions and I soon relaxed, and animatedly starting regaling all the things I'd done over the weekend and in my time on LBP.
...recalls GruntosUK

Around 4pm, the creating started to wind down. Our level was finished at about 3:45! Meanwhile, creators were exploring the story levels, sneaking in brief naps, and scouring the place for any food scraps remaining from the night before.


A lot of testing and tweaking later I was happy with my Sumo Fight Ring mini-game, so I started to play with the tools some more. I made a Yorda sackbot, and Alex came by wanting to grab the Yorda sackbot by the hand; I found out he is an Ico and Studio Ghibli fan as well!
...recalls Jump_button


The entire create-athon ended with a round table of everyone's creations. Alex and Mark played and laughed and everyone was thoroughly impressed with the levels generated in such a short period of time. We were gifted with some seriously cool swag and then treated to a night of food, fun and conversations with Alex, Dave, Spaff and Tom!!

I'd like to say we went back to the hotel and crashed, but we didn't. We stayed up all night chatting and plotting until the wee hours of the morn. Spaff is a trooper, and I can't wait to get another chance to party with him. Next time, I'll bring the beef. LOL. The sun came up, the planes took off, and I finally got some sleep.
...recalls Jaeyden

The last night at the pub was a chance for everyone to kick back and unwind. We were joined by Aya042, who actually lives in the area (some may have referred to it as gate-crashing!), and our time was spent eating, drinking, being loud, and getting to better know one another. Some of the Molecules who were hard at work in the office beneath us during the event joined us to chat about the game, the industry, and life in general. Everyone had a fantastic time, and it was a fitting end to a wonderful weekend.



...we had a blast! Simple as.

We'd like to thank Media Molecule and all of the staff for being such wonderful hosts. Also a special thanks goes out to Mark Valledor from Sony and Sarah Easton for organizing this event at the last minute. You guys are awesome!



Heeeyyyy!

I would like to use this opportunity for some of the guys to recall their impressions of the Creator Jam:


Breakdown of the weekend:
12 cans of Diet Coke.
6 cans of Red Bull.
5 coffees.
1 tired, but very happy, Wexfordian.
...recalls Wexfordian


It'll be a bit mind boggling for creators at first. Slowly they'll start to realize that many of the old tools are now near obsolete.

With LBP1 the creative process seemed to go like this: "What are the restrictions I have to work with inside the editor? O.K. Now what is my vision for my level? Can I achieve the vision and do it believably based on the restrictions?"

With LBP2 it's like this: "What is the vision for my level? Sounds good. O.K.... Do it!!"

The reins are off. The flood gates are open. The possibilities are endless.
...recalls Jaeyden


I can't say I wasn't a little nervous traveling to Guildford on that Thursday morning. Here I was, about to meet some of the most esteemed and most respected creators gathered from all over the world to congregate at one of the greatest game studios, in order to test one of the most eagerly anticipated games of all time, who wouldn't be? Thankfully, my trepidation was completely unnecessary, my fellow creators were a great bunch, and MM were extremely friendly and welcoming.

The weekend for me:-

Meeting with like-minded creators to witness first hand the full array of fantastical additions in LBP2 will be unforgettable. Probably the highlight of the weekend was the Molecules sitting next to me on Saturday morning and playing what I'd created, laughing out loud with big smiles on their faces. I admire their work immensely, and for them to sit and enjoy what I'd created was a feeling I'll not forgot in a hurry. Plus, we had a fridge full of beer! I had to slip that in somewhere...
...recalls GruntosUK


Mucking around with the tools in the sequel is basically like playing with a wishlist of pipe dreams the LBP community have been dreaming up for the last two years. Sooo many tweaks, upgrades and refinements that create mode has been practically reinvented - after seeing what the guys were able to make in just a day and playing the new MM story levels, it's actually as a player, rather than a creator, that really gets me excited for LBP2. I literally cannot wait to see what crazy stuff people are going to make...
...recalls Julesyjules


So much fun. Community FTW!

Undoubtedly the best part for me was getting to meet so many awesome people. Although if I was seeing LBP2 for the first time like everyone else, I think my highlight would have been different! Haha.
...recalls jackofcourse


Thursday
It was a revelation to check in at the Holiday inn, and walk to the dining room to get to know a bunch of LBP creators. Shame on the language barrier that didn't allow me to express the exciting of the moment, but that was a really big day.

Friday
Meeting Alex, Mark, Dave, Kareem, Johnee, Victor, Kristoff, Mark... and all the MM staff was like meeting people we already knew... but they didn't know us actually!

Saturday
The jam was over, so let's go to the pub!... wait! Alex, Dave, Spaff & Tom are coming? Wow!
...recalls poms


One thing that I am now kicking myself about is when the lead artist for visual style came by and I couldn’t say more then two words to her. I really wish I could go back! I think I was in zombie mode, trying to think of an idea for the challenge.

As the day was coming to an end, we all gathered around the TV to show and play what we made for the challenge. When they announced the winners, I didn’t think for a sec it would be me! I was just shocked.

I was tired and worn out by the end, but enjoyed every second of it; getting to meet not only some of the best of the best on LBP, but Mm too! The only part I didn’t like was the cameras. I always zip right up around any cameras - and they were they trying to fool me by walking away leaving the camera running. I knew it was still on!
...recalls Jump_button


About two weeks before the event, I got an email from this strange dude named Spaff, he asked if I wanted to go to the UK for an “LBP Community Event”. At the time I wasn’t sure if it was just some kind of elaborate murder plot, regardless, I swiftly replied with a “HELLZ YAA”. Two weeks later, I was on my way to Guildford-- the home of LittleBigPlanet!

One of the key details I recall was the symphony of a dozen popits opening and closing, materials being placed and the occasional silly fart sound effect.

At the end of it all, I had heard the LBP2 trailer music more than any human should, a few too many Red Bulls had been drunk, and just enough bromancing had been had (It’s not like you can snuggle with jack everyday). It was quite possibly the best weekend ever!!
...recalls FULLGORR


From the excitement and anticipation of traveling to Guildford, to meeting fellow creators, Media Molecule staff and getting a chance to play LBP2, I only had about 4 hours of sleep the night before, which turned out to be pretty much all the sleep I would have until the train journey home.

It was a great honour to be chosen by Mm to get the opportunity to meet all the amazingly talented community creators, the Mm staff and get the chance to play with the new tools. Everyone I met was friendly and Media Molecule was extremely helpful. I'd like to thank everyone involved for putting together this event that I enjoyed immensely.
...recalls steve_big_guns


Even now I'm at a loss at what else to tell everyone about. There's just so much new content added to this game, that I truly don't know where to begin and end.

Put simply, if you love LittleBigPlanet, then you'll find that LittleBigPlanet 2 is a game that you cannot do without.
...recalls StevenI

Thanks for reading, everyone!

We will have a full list of features tomorrow after the LBP2 presentation.


..................

For their quote-worthy bits, and other contributions to this massive article, I'd like to thank Aya042, ConfusedCartman, FULLGORR, GruntosUK, jackofcourse, Jaeyden, Julesyjules, jump_button, poms, steve_big_guns, StevenI, Syroc, rtm223, and Wexfordian. You guys rock!

Not it for cleaning up the place!
[/QUOTE]

 

[jump_button]

ok here we go thanks too rtm223 and all the others

Interface Updates and General Stuff
•Objects can be hidden, to edit things behind them.
•Preview option allows all objects that are invisible in play mode to be made invisible in create.
•Multiple select of objects (equivalent to ctrl-click on a PC) as well as box select.
•Connectors are stiff by default.
•When rotating objects, you can snap to a given angle - any multiple of 5 degrees.
•Popit updates
•Fullscreen mode (optional).
•Categories can be collapsed and also skipped for faster searching.
•There is a section detailing everything used in the level - very useful for your material / sticker palette.
•New create tools
•UV tool (possible placeholder name) - allows you to rotate and shift the texture on a material.
•Advanced glue - allows you to select two objects to directly glue, rather than just objects that are adjacent.
•Keyboard and Mouse support - uses standard keyboard shortcuts and should be possible to enter distances etc. using keyboard (not implemented in the version we played).
•Plasma Hazard, with colour tweaks.
•Visual overhaul is amazing, all of the effects (fire / smoke / lighting etc.) look beautiful. In general everything looks crisper and more detailed / polished.
•Competitive Scoring modes in multiplayer
•Competitive levels be can set to end on a timer, which will transport you deathlessly to the scoreboard.
•Complete thermo overhaul - more intelligent & flexible system. Full details unknown.

Switches and Related Changes

•Wires are pulled from the centre of the switch rather than off to the side.
•You can connect a switch to something that already has a wire connected - the new one replaces the old one.
•You can zoom the camera whilst holding a wire!
•Magnetic keys (and switches that detect them) can take a custom label as well as a colour - both colour and label must match to trigger the switch.
•When tweaking a magnetic key, or devices that respond to magnetic keys, the game shows up ranges / angles etc. for all of the other devices that respond to the same keys.
•Magnetic keys can be turned on / off via switch.
•Magnetic switches and proximity switches can be configured to activate above a threshold - i.e. you can have a switch that activates when three or more sackpeople are in range.
•Magnetic switches (possibly proximity switches too) can be limited to specific layers.
•Signal type is determined at destination, not source. This allows for multiple signal types from a single device. So a magnetic switch could output speed to a wheel and on/off to an LED.
•Wiring is neater and less ugly. It already has improved routing, but in the final game it should be greatly improved, making the construction of complex systems far less messy.

Emitters•Emitters can now emit at 0.0s intervals, which makes them emit as soon as there is a free space.
•An optional tweak stops the emitter from emitting when it reaches its max at once value.
•Emitter can ignore parent's velocity, so the emitted object does not take into account the movement of the object that it is attached to.
•Have effects for emit and destroy, including:
•Explode - Note: the explosion is just aesthetic, does no damage.
•Appear / disappear - vanishes with no sound.
•Dissolve - as in LBP1
•Shrink / Grow
•You can link emitters to an object in the level, rather than something in your popit (although that is still an option).
•Any changes to the object in the level are reflected in all emitters that reference it.
•It works with nested emitters, so emitters inside emitters inside emitters, will update all of them with any changes made.
•When done editing you can delete the object in the level and the emitter remembers the last version.
•It's awesome!

Cameras and Magic Mouths
•The camera can now be pulled out far further.
•The camera can be rotated in the plane of the screen, so the view can be turned on its side or even completely upside down. This can also be controlled by having the camera on a rotating object (i.e. a vehicle or similar).
•You can add activation times to cutscene cameras and magic mouths so that they close after a given time.
•Magic mouths and cutscene cameras have output switches, so you can detect when the player has closed them, to open the next object or trigger timed events.
•The custscene cameras have a whole host of cinematic options.
•Pans
•Changes to angle / zoom
•Fades and other transition effects.
•Camera shake effects.
•The cutscene camera also lets you choose whether the player can interact (or whether they are frozen in place), if they can then you can use the cutscene camera as normal gameplay camera and integrate visual effects into your gameplay.
•There is a tweak for "flatness", to make the level more like front view in create mode.
•It is possible for each player to have their own camera when playing online (no splitscreen was evident).

Sounds
•Loads more sounds available than in the original game.
•Volume control on individual sounds is supported.
•A tweak that allows the sound to be heard no matter where in the level it is.
•Reverb (and possibly other effects as well) can be added to sounds.
•Global sound tool has been added - allows global control of sound volumes (music vs sfx) and also globally apply sound filters to everything in the level.

Lights
•New lighting engine looks great.
•Lights now have far more colour options available.
•Fogginess is a percentage scale now, rather than on / off.

Bounce Pads
These are a massive improvement on the current piston-based bounce pads we have. The distance they fire you is tweakable and very accurate / consistent. In addition, they don't have any kind of reset time, so 2 Sackpeople hitting in rapid succession will both be fired the same distance. It doesn't sound like much on paper, but they really do make a big difference to high-speed bouncy gameplay.

Power ups•Grappling hook - no tweaks, for consistency, but player can grapple anything grabbable and also control the length of the line whilst swinging (between preset min/max)
•Creatinator (Possibly the rumoured "magic bag", we're unsure) - effectively an emitter gun. Has all the options of the new emitters and can be aimed much like the paintenator. Looks like a helmet with a flashlight on it Note that the creator is responsible for choosing the emitted object.
•Power Gloves - allows the player to pick up objects, carry them above their head and throw them. Also allows the player to swap layers whilst holding the object and take it with them.

Logic Tools
These are all non-physical and can be placed inside microchips.
•Basic logic gates: NOT/AND/OR/XOR - ANDs and ORs can take a variable number of inputs.
•Battery - just outputs a constant full signal.
•Toggle - inverts output each time and input is given.
•Timer - can be used to output speed / strength proportional to its current value. Can be reset.
•Selector - cycles through its outputs each time activated. Can also take overrides to jump to specific outputs.
•Counter switch - increments each time it it activated up to a max value. Can be reset as well.
•Randomiser - This is very versatile with a large number of options to vary up the randomisation pattern.
•Splitters (unsure of name) - allows a bi-directional signal (i.e. from a three way switch or analogue stick) to be split into 2 signals.
•Combiners (unsure of name) - allows two signals to be combined into a bi-directional signal.

Other Tools
These are all non-physical and can be placed inside microchips.
•Magic Joystick - hard to explain, but can be used to map an analogue stick to a rotational mover (see movers below) so that if you push up and right, the object points up and right.
•Anti-gravity device - allows objects to be unaffected by gravity (or partially affected by gravity). Also has a variable dampening tweak which will slow the object down as it moves, preventing it from flying off into the distance.
•Movers - see section below
•Collision Switch - Activates on any collision, or can be tweaked to only activate when hitting sackpeople, or when hitting an object which has a specified magnetic key (matches both colour and label).
•Material tweaker - allows you to change the friction and bounciness of the object it is attached to. Also allows the object to be made indestructible (so excessive force will not crush it).
•Lethaliser - allows object to be made lethal / not lethal at will.
•Smoke machine - tweakable colour and intensity - gives far better effect than the current jet.
•Score switch - can give or take away scores. Engine does a good job of detecting which player triggered it (when triggered by logic network) for competitive scoring.
•Score detection - Will activate when the score is above a certain value.
•Global sound object - vary music / sound etc. global controls, and also various global effects to be applied to all sound in the level.
•Global gravity object - allows for altering of gravity.
•End switch - ends the level instantly.
•Notes - Just little text notes to allow for comments.
•Also, not a tool, but there is a light source that is non-physical (note we're unsure exactly how this interacts with decorations / microchips etc.).

Movers
There is a new category of tools called the "movers", which literally move objects about. They come in two broad types - linear and rotational. Both have simple variants that move the object in a specified direction, but can be switch controlled (on/off, speed, strength control), through to more complex versions. If you combine movers with anti-gravity devices, you can gain incredibly precise, complex control over contraptions for top-down dynamics and flying machines, etc. We spent loads of time playing with these and the possibilities are endless, hence why there is so much detail in this section.

The linear movers are controlled by x and y speeds and also have speed, acceleration, and deceleration properties. x and y are normally the x and y directions for the level, but it is possible to tweak them so that x and y are relative to the orientation of the object. The difference between these two modes is how the mover responds to the object being rotated. There are also follow devices, which can be used to follow (or flee from) a player or magnetic key. Maximum range to follow can be set, as can minimum range - so your object will stop if it gets too close. You can even get the follower to be locked into a single axis (so it only follows horizontally for instance). There is also a magic rocket device, which simulates the existing jet object, but as a non-physical tool that can be compacted down into microchips etc.

The rotational movers rotate the object, as with linear movers there are speed, acceleration and deceleration tweaks. Similar to the follow object, there is a "look at player" device, which will point itself at the player, or at a magnetic key. This gives very smooth aiming mechanisms. There is also the gyroscope tool which will attempt to keep an object upright by rotating it back to vertical - again, this can be tweaked to modify how well it corrects and can also be switch controlled.

There is also a special mover, for shifting objects between layers. This is what is used in the trailer to make the wheel move out and what is used to make the little top-down racers work on ramps. Note that all objects are still locked into the existing layers - when you move it back a layer, the movement happens instantly as far as physics is concerned, but visually the object takes a short period to shift. You cannot stop an object between the layers so the game is very much still 2.5D.

Most of the movers can take one or more inputs, and a disable / enable signal which can be used to neatly override them.

Direct Control chairs
•Every button is mapped, bar R3, start, select and the PS button.
•Also the sixaxis is fully mapped.
•Full analogue outputs (optionally).
•Trigger radius can be tweaked (player is prompted to enter seat when within radius).
•You can make the player automatically (force them to) enter the seat when within the trigger radius.
•You can disable the player's popit and their ability to leave the seat.
•Player in the seat is still detected by proximity sensors.
•Can map player popit colour to objects controlled by the DCS (lights / vacuum material etc).

Microchips
In LBP2, the microchip is a single place where you can compress all your logic down into a single device. What we found was that just about anything that you can stick onto the side of an object - including sounds, sensors, all the new logic tools, collision detection, gyroscopes, even emitters - can all be placed in a microchip. Microchips can even be placed inside one another!

For things whose positioning is important (i.e. magnetic switches and emitters), these are considered to exist at the point that the microchip exists, which means you can organize them however you want inside the microchip circuitboard making everything neater. When tweaking them, the engine shows the tweaking as though the object exists at the point of the microchip. For things that affect the object that they are on - material property changers, lethaliser, anti-gravity etc. - it is the object that the microchip is attached to that they affect. This effect works through multiple levels of microchip as well.

You can also wire-control the microchip to disable / enable everything inside it. This means that you can effectively have 2 microchips with different programming and just switch between the two very easily, which is fantastic for control systems and AI.

Sackbots•Tweak whether the sackbot can switch layers.
•Tweak whether they are afraid of hazards and heights.
•Tweak how fast they are.
•Tweak whether they can use Direct Control Seats.
•Recording player movements as we are aware.
•Replay of movements can either happen once, loop from where the sackbot finished, or you can tell the sackbot to return to where it started before looping.
•Various simple behaviours and animation styles allow for quick customisation.
•Setting sackbot to follow does a pretty good job of following over basic platforming.
•If sackbot is following and enters direct control seat, it will attempt to follow, as long as the control system isn't too complex.
•You can use simple action triggers as well as user-recorded / default behaviours - includes run, jump & grab.

New materials
•Loads of new materials, including the hairy / fluffy ones etc.
•Light material - the floor from the disco in the trailer. Has the same extended colour range as normal lights and is switch controllable.
•Vacuum material (see below).
•Animated materials, can have the animation speed tweaked.
•Filter materials - can be placed in front of objects and everything behind them is filtered.
•Retro Neon Green outlines on black background.
•Grayscale.
•Pixelated.
•Possibly more to come.

Vacuum Material
Worth mentioning on its own is the vacuum material, which looks a lot like a holograph. Visually it looks pretty cool - it is lit up without actually casting out any light and has a translucency as well as an animated texture. Colour is tweakable to all of the new colors available for lights, and the brightness can also be tweaked - turning the brightness down to 0 will make it completely invisible and up to full will make it intensely bright and opaque. It's also possible to control its color/intensity by switch - on / off and "fade" are the options - fade allows you to control it in an analogue manner. However, you can tweak the colour and brightness for both on and off states, so you could fade between visible and invisible, or between two different, visible colors, etc.

You can also modify the transparency by using stickers - dark colours will make the area less visible and light colours will be more visible. This also works with gradient stickers and custom stickers, so the customisation possibilities of trasparency fades etc. are fantastic.

The ability to switch it on and off and the brightness of it makes it perfect for retro-style effects and for designing custom HUDs / player interfaces. At this point it is worth noting that there is not a default customisable HUD - it's all created by you. That said, Christophe at MM showed us the RTS level he's made, which is mind blowing - you can place buildings and spawn units, select them, tell them where to go etc. so the scope for HUDs is fantastic, and Johnee has made some levels out of purely vacuum (giving cool retro visuals), which are mindblowing.

Physically it is similar to gas (although it can exist as a thin layer) - it is unaffected by gravity and does not collide with anything. However, you can make it so that when it overlaps with other objects, it triggers collision switches. This is great for weapons etc, but is also very useful as you can create a custom shaped magnetic key detection area using this vaccum material. Both visually and in terms of your logic, vacuum is almost certainly going to become one of the most significant things in the new game.

Community Updates
The entire Community system will be given a complete overhaul. Tags are being redone in an effort to ensure they are meaningful. You will be able to search for individual tags this time around as well. The creator may assign tags themselves with far greater weighting than the players. Players can improve their weighting by writing quality reviews (other people vote upon how useful the review is) either in game or on LBP.me. Simply yea / nay style voting, so no one person can skew the average. On LBP.me you can heart a person and then get a twitter-esque feed of the levels they have hearted and reviewed. Through all of these improvements, it now becomes advantageous to heart players with good taste as well, even if they aren't skilled creators themselves.

There will also be an Mm "seal of approval" for levels that get into Mm picks.

MM are hoping to be involved with the moderation and greatly improve the moderation system.

Conclusions
So, there is a lot to take in, and of course this is just an overview of individual features. I'm sure most of you are aware that it's the interplay between the tools that will really open up the possibilities in LittleBigPlanet 2, as it is with LittleBigPlanet now. Based on our 27 hours with an early build of the game, all of us have been blown away by the scope of what will be possible when we get our hands on the game proper. Indeed, what we achieved in this short period of time is clearly a testament to how powerful the new tools are. Not only has the scope been massively increased, but the ease and swiftness with which it takes to create complex things with the editor has improved in kind. Even creators who tend to stick to art and steer away from contraptions were able to quickly create thoroughly enjoyable gameplay mechanics that would be almost impossible to achieve with the current tools.

But it’s not only the new tools that improve create mode. Just about every existing tool has new features and tweaks that make the mind race with the possibilities that are available. At the same time, the new interface also adds a number of subtle new changes that make the creation experience many times smoother than the original LittleBigPlanet.

There is no doubt in my mind: this game is going to be awesome

 

[mr_nothin]

OMG, So much text. Gonna read it AALL. Hopefully a crap ton of new info.
Cant wait to read!

 

[mr_nothin]

Not much regarding new info but it was a cool read. Cant wait to get my hands on this game!

 

[gofreak]

I haven't read it all, and I'm bookmarking to come back later, but I utterly love this

 

[jump_button]

Not much regarding new info but it was a cool read. Cant wait to get my hands on this game!

I want to get the ok they where alot they did't show

I have a list full of new info

 

[jump_button]

ok all the info we saw been posted so ill post it up on here unjoy reading it all