PS3’s LittleBigPlanet Packs Powerful but Simple Level Design
- Scribbled on March 8th, 2007 by S Holmes
- Filed in Action, Adventure, GDC, Platformer, PlayStation Network, Sony PlayStation 3
Ok, if this doesn’t get you excited about LittleBigPlanet, nothing will. Yesterday, we reported on Sony’s unveiling of a new platformer, LittleBigPlanet, that allows you to create your own levels. Although public opinion for this game seemingly couldn’t be higher, questions naturally arose as to how difficult it is to create the types of environments seen in Sony’s demonstration.
A new video has been released online answering this very question. And from what I’ve seen, most users should be able to meet or exceed the quality and creativity in level design we saw yesterday. In fact, creating the levels may end up being just as fun (if not more) than playing them. I can just imagine how much fun it would be to have two or more people working simultaneously to create a level. If Sony allows users to share their creations via the Playstation Network, this game alone may end up driving countless gamers to the PS3.
All in all, Sony appears to have answered its critics who were demanding innovation on the Playstation 3.
[Thanks Kotaku & Gametrailers!]
March 9th, 2007 at 12:22 am
The PS3 needs GAMES. No one is going to pay $600 for some software that is the same game for everyone, with slight differences.
March 9th, 2007 at 11:24 am
This could be the Viva Pinata or Wii Sports game for the PS3. You know, the kind of game that you can easily pick up and play in short spurts. It could also be just like Viva in how you can lose a bunch of hours and not even know it.
I am still curious about a few things. For starters, is the level creation that you noted above. How easy will it truly be for somebody that is a complete n00b?
Next, would be controlling your character. After watching the demo footage, I am still kind of stumped on this. Do you only control one specific character the entire time, or can you switch freely between each of them?
Finally, multiplayer. Will you be able to play with 3 of your friends? Will it be a “drop-in, drop-out” style, or will it have to be set at the start of the game? Will it have online co-op/multiplayer?
After these questions are answered, only then will I be able to really say how much I will be looking forward to this game.
Still… it looks like a lot of fun.
March 9th, 2007 at 1:05 pm
It looks pretty simple for a nOOb assuming you can understand the icons and are capable of using the control without getting frustrated.
Here’s what I think about the rest of your questions: I think you only control one character. I would imagine you can bring in at least 3 other characters and switch between them, but there’s really no point during the level editing because I’m sure they can all do the same things.
The demonstration at GDC showed 4 people each controlling a character. And based on the level editing video above, it looks like the new characters literally do “drop in.” I don’t see any reason why you would be restricted to setting the number of characters beforehand. Online co-op/multiplayer would seem logical, but it wouldn’t surprise me if they limited it to offline play for some reason.
Just my thoughts…
March 9th, 2007 at 2:01 pm
Oops… my bad.
The demo footage that I watched was of the gameplay and was a direct screen capture. I was not able to see how many people were controlling the characters. After watching the embedded video above, it does indeed seem that there will be some sort of multiplayer. Still… when I am playing SP and the AI gets “stupid” on me, will I be able to switch to them to help them out? I am assuming that you can, but I think that still remains to be seen.
Thanks for your thoughts. They did make me go back and find/watch more video of the game so that I could reach some more conclusions for myself.