Little Big Planet

[epmode]

I'm still unsure about this game. The making levels bit is awesome, the graphics and all are very charming, but the actual gameplay... meh. The character is really loose and floaty and I don't feel like I'm totally in control a lot of the time, as there's lots of bouncing around just from moving and imprecise grappling and rebounding that's like the physics engine overrides the player input a little too much. It's basically My First Platformer got bundled with Trackmania's level editor with way too much Havok.

Judging from the videos I've seen, this sounds accurate.

Edge's feature does mention that there's some first-class platforming to be found in the single player campaign at least. If that's the case, then others should be able to do the same, seeing as how we'll be using the same level editor as the developers.

[MechDeus]

Judging from the videos I've seen, this sounds accurate.

Yeah, I kinda figured it was going to be like that too from videos but was hoping that once I actually sat down and played it it would be better. Instead, any time I'm actually playing a level all I can do is think about how I just played Braid a couple weeks ago and how much better it controlled.

It's definitely not an issue with the levels, the ones I've played so far in story mode have been good, varied, and nicely thought out. But too many times I'm missing stupid jumps, getting knocked back or off stuff, having difficulty climbing on things, slipping off platform edges, and just in general feeling like more like a bouncy ball than anything else because of the overdone physics. It's not a deal-breaker, but it's annoying the crap out of me.

[Seik]

It's definitely not an issue with the levels, the ones I've played so far in story mode have been good, varied, and nicely thought out. But too many times I'm missing stupid jumps, getting knocked back or off stuff, having difficulty climbing on things, slipping off platform edges, and just in general feeling like more like a bouncy ball than anything else because of the overdone physics. It's not a deal-breaker, but it's annoying the crap out of me.

I agree with this. I feel that there is a certain imprecise-ness about a lot of things. That being said, there really aren't too many penalities in the game, so that eliminates a lot of the frustration I would have otherwise. Like you said, certainly not a deal breaker.

Have any of you guys tried out the user created levels? I've tried out a whole bunch and, as expected, they run the gamut from clever to irritating. Couple good ones I've found "Houston we have a problem", "Dinoland" and "The Heist 1 and 2". The best levels are ones that have a consistent theme. Too many feel like a jumble of junk.

That being said, I gotta really hand it to the folks who make good levels. Have any of you messed around with the level creator? I played around with it and ended up sinking about 2.5 hours into it, and virtually achieved nothing. I think it's really overwhelming. But they have tutorials for everything that you have to go though, which is sort of irritating, but neccesary. Anyway, the level editor is pretty amazing and just playing around with it a little you can get an idea of some of the cool stuff that will be done with it. I've already got a few ideas, but I doubt any will amount to anything decent.

[MechDeus]

Have any of you guys tried out the user created levels? I've tried out a whole bunch and, as expected, they run the gamut from clever to irritating. Couple good ones I've found "Houston we have a problem", "Dinoland" and "The Heist 1 and 2". The best levels are ones that have a consistent theme. Too many feel like a jumble of junk.

Yeah, most of the levels I've tried have been pretty bad so far, either just plain terrible or poorly designed (Heist was pretty nifty, and the DO NOT PRESS button made me laugh). One of them was blah but not terrible until I got to the boss and apparently the designer thought it would be a good idea to have a bunch of crap in front of the screen so that you can't see any of the obstacles you're dodging. Play test your shit, people.

It is pretty cool earning items people have made by beating their levels, but I think we need a website or ranking system implemented fast for judging these (or if there is one I need to find it). I can already tell part of this game's style is going to grate heavily on me after a while thanks to people abusing the piecemeal look of the game by making a lot of trash.

I've got one level started that I'd like to finish, though I'm partially discouraged by the way they want you to unlock all the crap. Just give me the shit and stop forcing the same tutorial down my throat 15 million times.

[Seik]

As far as a ranking system goes, I would like a numerical list. As it stands right now, I believe, the number of hearts a stage has is how much people like it (or how good it is).

Also, this beta only allows you to play the first four levels of the single player game right? Or am I missing somethign?

[MechDeus]

That's all I've seen, but I also haven't gotten 100% on the second and third level yet (I'm like 66% on both, I think) so I wasn't sure if that had something to do with it or not.

[Seik]

I gotta say though, I was playing this game last night, and really having a good time. I know that sounds stupid. But I feel like there's some sort of intangible quality to the game that just makes it a pleasant experience to play.

Also, I dig, and I mean DIG, the music in this game. Good stuff. Can't wait to see what other tracks the real release has.

[Port]

Anyone have any extra beta codes?

[epmode]

It's not even a beta. It's a demo with the most horrible distribution scheme of all time. I've given up.

[MechDeus]

Also, I dig, and I mean DIG, the music in this game. Good stuff. Can't wait to see what other tracks the real release has.

Are you talking the ones in the premade levels or the stuff you can add? I've only got two tracks that I can add to my levels and neither one fits my current wants, was kinda hoping there's more to unlock somewhere but haven't found any yet.