The LittleBig game that's on everyone's lips is shaping up to be a hit of planetary proportions. Find out why the world is truly LittleBigPlanet's oyster...
There's an air of excitement when it comes to LittleBigPlanet, a game that's difficult to describe yet has the potential to be everything to all people. It may well be rooted within the platform genre, but it's far from traditional. In fact, it's quite possibly unlike anything you've ever experienced. And the best part is it'll continue to be so - because the only limit to Media Molecule's innovative little gem is your own imagination...
It's a small world after all
Play. Share. Create. These are the concepts that orbit LittleBigPlanet. "Basically it's a game where you can make your own games," explains Alex Evans, Technical Director and co-founder of Media Molecule. "What we do is provide a whole load of levels on the Blu-ray Disc which are a little bit like platform games crossed with exploration games. Some are skill or endurance games, and we've got mini levels where you have to survive the longest and stuff like that. Some of the short ones are really intense, almost like party games.
"But the really fun part of LBP is that you can then take the elements you see in any of our levels and make them yourself, and improve them. You don't really quite know what it's going to be until you start making stuff."
So in essence, you play LittleBigPlanet the way you want to play it - platform exploration and collecting, level creation... or maybe a mixture of these concepts depending on how you feel, which is something rarely tackled by the medium to this extent, especially when you consider the range by which you can alter LBP's universe. With the intuitive yet comprehensive level editor you can design, shape and build objects, surroundings and locations to play in, all with their independent physics and properties. Want to build your own levels or just a playground to mess around in? It's all yours to decide and then, when you're happy, you can share these creations with friends online.
Go! Team Molecule
It may come as a surprise to some, but the humble origins of Media Molecule's game are steeped in music creation, as Evans divulges: "All of the guys who founded MM are really into jamming and originally we were thinking of making a music game. We're really into collaborative creativity, so basically people sitting around on a sofa playing on their console, but doing something a bit constructive rather than just playing stuff.
"We were tossing around that idea and eventually thought that music's a bit narrow, so why not go a bit further and Dave [Smith, co-founder] made this physics engine with this little character, and building shapes and dragging them around felt really good. So from that, crossed with the jamming, we ended up with LBP."
Designing a Planet
Much like its initial idea, the unique look of LittleBigPlanet also went through a steady evolution. "I did a lot of the engine programming so I was interested in something that was super realistic but wasn't what everyone else was doing, which were a lot of grungy corridors," says Evans. "Then we came up with this idea with Kareem [Ettouney, Art Director] where it was as if someone had taken a camcorder and filmed the real world and that ended up working really well because we wanted this collage style - you know where people stick stuff on their school bags or the trendy thing where you mash things up - and if you put a real physical twist on it then the collage doesn't jar, it looks better and becomes easy to make good looking stuff.
"And we were really keen on finding a style that didn't make the user look bad - if you're not an artist you can still make a good looking level, you can just plug in PLAYSTATION Eye and point it at your bedroom wall or draw a sketch and film it, and because you can apply that in a really physical style in the game it looks real, and that's what we're aiming for."
Getting the sack
It's hard to dispute that one of the most memorable elements about LittleBigPlanet is its star - the instantly endearing Sackboy. Sackboy is the character you guide around the levels of the game, giving you the ability to dress and style him - or her - in the way you like, from colours and clothes to accessories... including control over its 12 facial expressions and gestures with a touch of the Wireless Controller's directional buttons and left or right sticks. Even Sackboy's head movement can be adjusted with motion control and Media Molecule aims to add even more expressions and animations to the character.
A clear amount of thought and consideration has gone into Sackboy's design, which may seem a little ironic given it's essentially a blank customisable template for the player to stamp their personality on, but this makes perfect sense when you realise the core look of Sackboy has to be cute and well devised to begin with. "We had all these different styles for him, but we knew that his silhouette had to be strong," says Evans. "So no matter what colour or costume you put on him or whatever material he's made of, there's still this silhouette that you recognise - Sackboy's big square head and little body.
"We've got a really small team of about 25 people, so we've got one artist/character designer/animator called Francis who took the little ideas we had, took the silhouette and the sketches by Kareem and turned it into his baby. Between Francis and our Programmer, Anton, they created this little dude that really pops out. It's cool, I'm really pleased it worked out."
With Sackboy's visual appearance and immediately eye-catching traits there's been an outpouring of demand for Sackboy toys after the mother of one of Media Molecule's staff created a plush version. "It was awesome!" smiles Evans. "We got the photos and put them on the LBP blog before we'd actually seen it, but she sent us the doll so he sits in our office now."
On the question of whether we'll see mass produced versions of Sackboy, Evans is quiet but enthusiastic. "I'd love to see merchandise, that would be awesome... we'll have to wait and see."
Captain Planet
One of the things Evans gets really excited about is the creation part of LittleBigPlanet, which is naturally something artistic players are just as eager to get their hands on. What makes it an even more enticing prospect is the sort of experiences the Media Molecule team itself has had in testing just how robust the game is in creating your own little world.
"One of our coders made a tank but just completely out of bits and joints and I wasn't sure if the physics engine would be up to it, but it totally was and we ended up having these tank battles!" says Evans.
"From there, people have been creating favourite games of their youth - one Level Designer, Victor, he sits there in the evening and remakes these classic titles in LBP. It's all physical, so the way you make a level and give it movement and logic means you can build everything out of cogs, wheels and levers, so he builds virtual backdrops that animate and move. "
Given the strong community element that perfectly compliments LittleBigPlanet's creation tools, Evans is obviously very keen to support the game's players, expressing interest in the likes of collecting the best user generated levels and more. "We'd love to do stuff like that," he says. "We're definitely going to support the community in all kinds of different ways, whatever the community needs. Rewarding people is something really important to the team, so I hope we find good ways to reward the best creators and the best players."
Smile a little
The expectations are massive but this is one LittleBig game that seems more than capable of meeting them, and given the reaction to its inventive and utterly charming style and gameplay Media Molecule would be justified in feeling more than a little confident in the run up to its late 2008 launch. However, Evans remains modest and appreciative.
"The first reaction we often get is people smiling when they see LittleBigPlanet, which is really good... it breaks down all the barriers. I'm really looking forward to seeing what people make with the game and I'm really pleased everyone is so excited about it; it keeps us going. We're getting to the end now and it's the hard climb to the finish.
"Hearing from people about how much they're into the game and the stuff they're planning to do with it is totally motivating to the team - so thanks for your interest."
World of PlayStation: Creation
A week of user-created echochrome levels starts tomorrow
