Exclusive: LittleBigPlanet Expert's Guide - Level Design

@Bonker, well people with attention deficit disorders arent in the majority, so yes, it has mass appeal.

"That's why I normally pay professional game designers to design a game for me. That's why, unless it comes bundled with an absolutely unmissable single-player story, I won't be bothering with this one."

It's all about the power of numbers. If enough people get this game (a million doesn't seem like a stretch at this point), say 50% will actually try out the level creation. Of this 50%, 99% will be rubbish but that still leaves you 5,000 average to good level designers and more content (both in numbers and variation) than any studio could ever create on its own.

"Can't expect the great unwashed xbox contingent to love this game. There's no marines, guns or homoeroticism innit. "
Good to see the bigoted fanboy twat brigade is present and correct.

You need to get over the whole 360 = marine & gun fantasy boys, I have a decent sized game collection and less than 5% of them are FPS's (GOW & Halo 3). I could claim that PS3's headline line-up for the next few months apart from LBP is all marine and gun sequels (Resistance 2 and Killzone 2), but I'm not that retarded.

LBP will be a landmark game and a fantastic achievement, and I really hope it does well, because the game industry needs more creativity. I do however think that expecting it to be hugely mass-market for a sustained period is unfortunately a pipe-dream. History tells us that most game buyers are complete morons and totally overlook the creative, innovative games in favour of buying the next FIFA. Look how well SW:TFU is doing despite not being that good, just becuase it has Star Wars and Jedis on the box. Even with a bunch of creative people making great levels for ever, I'll eat my hat if this break out of 'cult' status after xmas. And honestly, I do hope I'm wrong because if a game like this can become a must-have for a very large group rather than just those of us who take a specific interest, that gives hope for the whole industry; but I've been disappointed far too often in the past.

"It's all about the power of numbers. If enough people get this game (a million doesn't seem like a stretch at this point), say 50% will actually try out the level creation. Of this 50%, 99% will be rubbish but that still leaves you 5,000 average to good level designers and more content (both in numbers and variation) than any studio could ever create on its own."

+1

That is the standard model. Less than 10% of YouTube users actually upload videos regularly, but the sheer numbers mean there is still generally something useful out there for the remaining 90% who are just "viewers".

Its also worth mentioning that the mod scene is a clear demonstration that this model works just fine, and has done for years. Loads of mods are shite, but the good ones get publicised by users and float to the top. Occasionally mod creators end up working as professional devs off the back of their work. LBP is not reinventing the wheel in that regard, so there is no reason to believe that the same quality won't eventually float to the top.


Someone mentioned a calculator earlier, but nobody posted a link.
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=ZiRgYBHoAoU

@morriss
Have to agree with IronGiant that your links don't actually hold up your argument that well.

It is an important title, but one of several. Just because Yoshida says he thinks it will be the best selling that doesn't elevate it to the status you have taken it to. Bill Gates thought that Fusion Frenzy would be the biggest launch title for the XBox - though you would expect Yoshida to know a little more given his job. I've got a lot of time for Yoshida - in the interviews he has done he has talked a lot of sense.

@m0thr4

when the matter disolves, the key that was attched to it dissapears and the door stays in open possition, instaed of just opening and closeing.

morriss trolling works once on a place like Eurogamer. After that hes already been banned by 50% of the forum users.

Perfect example of "dont feed the troll". Kudos, EG (y)

IronGiant, you speak as if Halo has loads of spinoffs and is basically whoring itself. So there's been Halo 1 to 3, the upcoming Halo Wars by a respected RTS company and an 'expansion' (which offers more stealthy, tactical gameplay) a year away. I'm looking forward to this game as much as the next guy (who is looking forward to it) but come on... don't be a dick.

Just had a look at the 'calculator' level video. Fuck me that looks complex! Wouldn't it be easier just to open up an editor and let people write some basic code rather than the ball ache of having to do it all with physical objects?