LittleBigPlanet: Sack it to Me - LittleBigHalloween PS3 Edition

186w ago - SCEA's Marketing Manager Mark Valledor has posted the latest LittleBigPlanet: Sack it to Me - LittleBigHalloween PS3 Edition tonight on the PlayStation Blog.

To quote: Return of the Halloween Head!

Its that time of year again...time to get FREE seasonal Sackboy costumes on the PlayStation Store. This week its the Pumpkin Head Halloween Mask! But you better move fast, this costume is only available a during 1 week out of the year.

"Whats New" in LittleBigPlanet PSP
SCEE Cambridge has been hard at work developing a completely new adventure for Sackboy. We've asked them to give us some insight on the PSP version through a series of articles to explain what's new.

"Diary Entry - Nuts and Bolts...and Motors, Strings and Magnetic Keys - What Makes LittleBigPlanet (PSP) Tick" by Jon Torrens, Designer:

What's unique about LBP is that all the behind-the-scenes machines that make the game work are actually created using the tools available to players in edit mode, and are in the level somewhere (just not where you can see them).

For example, in the mini-games we have things that have to get faster and faster, like the giant wheel you run on in the China mini-game. The best way for us to do this is to have a little vehicle that moves slowly towards a switch that uses the speed setting.

Need something to happen faster? We just speed up the motor bolts on the vehicle. Need something to happen halfway through the game? Stick a magnetic key on the vehicle and a magnetic key switch on its track. The brilliant thing about this is that you have a really simple diagram of what happens in the game.

You don't have to think 'Well, the time for the wheel to reach top speed is 90 seconds, and I want the player to have to deal with bombs at increasing amounts, so I'll put bombs dropping on the player at 40, 70, 85 and 90 seconds, you can just place key switches along the track.

A technique we used for repeating sequences was simply having a big disc with a magnetic key on it that rotated past magnetic key switches on a static block behind it. We could move the magnetic key switches into any sequence without having to calculate the exact values required, and to change the overall speed of the sequence we just changed the speed of the motor bolt that made the disc rotate.

This might sound technical, but if you're making a slightly more sophisticated level - like, for example, one with emitting blocks that Sackboy has to run across, or a series of sound effects that plays a tune - then comfort yourself with the knowledge that you have exactly the same tools that we had, and with which we managed to make all those lovely story levels you've been playing.

Okay, there are quite a few of us, and we had a fair amount of time, but it's all there for you to use. Aren't we generous?

LBP (PS3): Game of the Year Edition - User Spotlight
In this week's spotlight, we learn more about Tommy, PSN ID x-nobody-x, and his level, "The Tails of the LittleBigCrytal", in the LittleBigPlanet: Game of the Year Edition.





New to LBP?
Just joining us? As our community continues to grow with new members, we thought it would be good to steer your way to some LBP goodness:

FREE STUFF

• (again) HURRY and get the Halloween Costume for your Sackboy - available for 1 week only
• Download the LittleBigPlanet (PS3) demo on the PlayStation Store and give the game a spin....BTW, the LBP PSP demo is coming soon too.
• Download the Norse Mythology pack (for LBP PS3) @ SonyWonder.com - scroll to the bottom and click the Sony Partners Page.
• Pre-order LittleBigPlanet (PSP) at our participating retailers and get 6 FREE Sackboy costumes!

FUN STUFF

• Since Halloween is here, check out the Monsters Kit DLC on the PlayStation Store!