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The LittleBigPlanet BETA thread of hoo boy it's judgement time.

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C

chubigans

y'all should be ashamed
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The beta keys are being given out as we speak on many websites, and it's time for some down n dirty impressions. Be warned: while this beta is not under any sort of NDA, you should not post any level impressions without some spoiler tags.

The beta will function from September 23rd through October 14th, at which point the game will prevent you from playing. The game releases Oct. 24th.

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Want to be in the LittleBigPlanet Beta? There's still time:

Eurogamer is giving away 5,000+ beta keys for registered members. Go go go!
http://www.eurogamer.net/article.php?article_id=243270
Note: if you managed to get a key, you must register it through a European PSN account.

SOON: IGN will be hosting a contest to see who can come up with the best LBP ideas on paper. Those who have the best will get a key (not sure how many at the moment).

It's not known if the beta will extend properly to Playstation Underground members.

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The following is what's contained within the beta:
-Full tutorial suite, a few single player modes and online multi co-op. You also get a full level creator with around eight different templates.
Click to expand...

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BeeDog said:
First things first, you'll notice everything is fucking slick, and with that I mean every part of the interface and all that is slickly animated, fast, responsive, great transitions, everything. Everything oozes quality, like every part has been fully thought out.

Then the nice intro begins that teaches you basics, but it's mostly running through the level looking at the devs, and learning the basics of the Popit menu.

Then you enter your Pod chamber or whatever it was called, and you start the levels. You can decorate your chamber like you wish (with stickers etc.) but at the beginning you barely have shit.

And then the levels start; the first ones (I've only tried the first two) are practically long tutorial levels, but they're fun in that they present the new stuff in an interesting way, and there are a lot of collectables to find (especially on the second level).

Don't have much more to say other than that the art direction is amazing, and the graphics are beautiful. Really sweet use of motion blur, the animation is great, the physics are awesome and the whole game is colorful with the colors popping out of the screen.

The only remarks I have so far is that the transition between the 3 depth levels is somewhat wonky, but perhaps I need to get used to it first. Also, especially during the dark portions of the intro, aliasing is somewhat noticeable.
Click to expand...

iceatcs said:
Start up intro (title):

It is very cool, I love it. Real life video on each "Real" people sleep with floating pieces out the head like dreaming idea.
All the pieces around the Earth floating to the outer space together to create a planet, then the title "LittleBigPlanet" glowing out.

Game intro and first level:

At the start, you will pop up in dark room with spotlight,
Shame for me that there is no subtitles for tutorial speaker which it is only disappointment about this game for me (if you dunno know cos I'm deaf)
Once the speaking shut up, then the direction arrow pop up and walk to the level with the faces of developers which it is cool thing to introduction of developer team especially not all the games like that.
Then, you got on the pod with the DS3 controller with Earth made of clothe on the screen like you saw some screens on the media.
Selection first group-levels about a king with missing princess - first level is more of tutorial level but some collection point you can enter the leaderboard on this level.
I was in 10th but it is only level I have played about 30 mins ago. (I was cooking food atm)

First level is very nice tutorial even I don't understand the speaker but I managed to get working with my DS3 and some features like PSEye with video intro when press red buttons.

Looking forward for next level after eat.
Click to expand...

teetris said:
Oh man, there's so much I want to say about this game but I don't know quite how to put it in words. I've been wanting to play this game ever since Phil and the gang played co-op at GDC.

I only played the first three levels. First level was a tutorial level showing you how to run and jump. Basic stuff, you can grab little red thingies which I guess are score multipliers. You'll also find more and more stickers and decorations for both your sackboy/girl and the places around you. You even have things that have some sort of function which helps on the gameplay side. Things we basically all know. There's PS Eye support too (will be buying mine tomorrow).

Second level was all about the R1 button which lets you get ahold of all kinds of things. Fans of SotC/Ico will love this. Next set of puzzles was introduced. What impressed me was that I only found about 40 percent of the items. Lots of them are hidden well. The levels are basicically set up in 3 layers, the middle, front and back, which you can change from with the up/down button. This gives the game more depth and certainly makes the creative side more interesting.

Third level was gangbusters, and was where the platforming really came to be. First part had you flying from one running mill to the other. I already died too much so had to start over. Jetpack was introduced and you had a little puzzle where you had to grab objects and put them into a box so the door to the ghosthouse was opened. Inside it was more of the grab and jump stuff but the ghosts are actually enemies which you can't touch. Some optional puzzle required a friend to solve so you could get more stickers and decorations. After that there was the skateboard race which really reminded me how much I want to play this with three other people.

The game's narrator sounds alot like the guy who did Pushing Daisies and whoever made the music, I love you! It was so cool, really gave the game it's own complete unique feeling. Sound effects like birds sound really nice on a DD setup. It all feels kinda magical and I smiled so much when I saw those little things happening. They really put a lot of effort in those small and cute details. You can control sackboy in many ways including his arms, his facial expressions and even his head when tilting the Sixaxis. Didn't try the creating part yet but it seems really big. Community stuff is well set up and if you have a lot of friends playing this you should have a blast.

This beta was all I needed to be convinced, this game is a day 1. If you can buy absolutely one game this year for the PS3, it should be this one. Platforming is back! And with the creating side this game should last us at least a FULL year.

And yeah, beta cannot be played offline. Maybe an idea to have a list of Gaffers playing this? PSN: G-Tris.
Click to expand...

VGChampion said:
Ok, some impressions.

-Took me and my brother a little bit to get the three layer jumps just right. Sometimes they auto do it and sometimes we had to manually change layers.

-Grabbing is the best thing ever. I was having fun just grabbing everything that could be grabbed and running around. Other sackboys, other sackboys in the air, moving blocks before jumps, etc...so much fun

-The music is amazing. Level spoiler?
I was playing some skate level and it had the first LBP trailer music playing and then it switched to some spooky music. After we got through that part of the stage we went immediately into a race with the fun classic music picking up again.

-The camera seems a little too far out to be able to see your expressions clearly but when it zooms in to show the winner at the end it really is awesome.

-Physics were much better than I was fearing. It's perfectly fine for those who are afraid it's to "floaty". It didn't feel that way at all when playing it.

-I've only played it with my brother so far so no single player impressions but when we both had the pop-it window open it did feel a little laggy.

-Expanding the stickers to unimaginable sizes is always fun.

-Planet system works out much better than I thought it would. There is plenty of space for all your levels. If I recall their were three layers deep into the levels but I'm not sure.

-Load times were a little long but it makes up for it watching a fellow player goofing around in the window while your waiting.

I have to head out to class right now but I'll be back around 8 for more impressions and maybe I'll upload some bad quality videos up to youtube later.

If you're having doubts and didn't get in the beta, don't. It's awesome and feels just right. :D
Click to expand...
Katana_Strikes said:
HOLY SHIT!

This game is just completely awesome!

The single player is fantastic with lots of variation and neat touches that will have you smiling and laughing away to yourself. Collecting the stickers and whatnot is very addictive, you want to find and collect everything. The pop-it and decorating is great fun and really easy to do. As is the facial expressions and sackboy moves. So easy and so fun. I don't have a single complaint here. This is platforming at it's very best.

Also getting high scores is a lot of fun and it constantly tells you live of what your friends have scored as well as who's next on the leaderboard for you to take down.

Co-op is a blast and a total riot. I was laughing so hard playing with/against other folk. I've not had this much fun for as long as I can remember. Grabbing and punching other sackboys is hilarious.

Havn't had a go at create yet but played a few peoples levels, which as you'd expect are very basic so far.

In just these few levels you get in the beta, there's quite a nice selection of stickers and decorations to unlock that will keep you satisfied enough, so we're in for a treat in the final game if this is just the start. The PSeye works really well and gives you a choice of frames for your photos and will save all the ones you use for later on.

If I wasn't won over before, and I was, this has made the wait even more unbearable for the final game. If this isn't one of the best games ever when it's released, it'll be the best game ever!
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chubigans said:
Alrighty, I just put in a good six hours with the game.

Upon starting, you get the total-darkness followed by the run through a simple level while the credits roll. Simple, funny, and unexpected.

My initial impressions were not as good as I expected. The game lacks a certain sharpness that I thought it would have; it looks a bit too soft. The first few levels do a nice job of explaining the game mechanics, and the second level introduces you more to the three-level depth and pulling objects.

At this point I was starting to dislike the gameplay mechanics. It was a bit difficult to pull objects from the front while running towards is, since Sackboy wants to sidestep around it. Going into each different 3-D space is somewhat tricky, and the jump button (at first) did feel too floaty...I felt like I was not jumping high enough, and too slowly.

Then I got to the third level, and the game started to pick up steam. I was able to grab onto some windmills and be tossed upwards to the next one, and it was a blast. The LBP theme kicked in and it finally started to click with me. Jumps became easier, moving in the 3D space was not as difficult (though still a bit tricky) and overall I was really enjoying the game.

I think had I played LBP at PAX or somewhere for just thirty minutes, my impressions would be mixed...definitely not 100% positive. Six hours later, it's one of the best platformers I've played this generation, easily.

But let me back up a bit. I dug into the creation mode, and it took me about two hours to run through all the tutorials. The cool thing is that each tutorial takes about five minutes, and you unlock a ton of stickers and a few new objects, so you never feel like you want to just get to the level making. The BETA flaws showed up a bit; one tutorial was spoken in Japanese (if it's intentional, it's hilarious, but I dunno if it was, hah) and I don't like that once you complete the requirements of the tutorial (bolt this item here) you don't get to mess around in the level anymore...you're booted back to the level you were at.

The videos in the game are heavily compressed, though that's easily attributed to the downloadable nature of the game right now; it'll be much better to watch once it's on BD. There's tons and tons and tons of voice over, which makes the game much more enjoyable to play during the tutorials.

So, I was off to create my own level. I had something in mind: create a monster that was in a skateboard-like tube ramp that would be skating around. It didn't work as well as I hoped. So, I stared to mess around...and created a glass crescent moon with a piston and rope. I accidentally created a Sackboy launcher that was automatically powered...so I saved it as it's own object and placed three or four in the level. The result was a REALLY cool launcher that was it's own happy accident...and now I'm making my level around it.

The amount of options are staggering. While I wish there were more lighting options in the beta (only a star is available for lights, phooey) you pretty much have all the fundamental mechanics ready to go. You have switches that activate with a pull from Sackboy, or activated when Sackboy gets close. You can also create a color-key card button that won't activate until a card of a matching color is brought close to it; you could escort an object somewhere, for example, and gain access to a secret room if you make it all the way through. There are buttons that go off when a certain sticker is applied to it, buttons that are two and three way switches, and more. It's huge.

So, what if you don't want to create anything, and just want to play? It's still a lot of fun, but you'd be missing out on a vital component of the game. I'm positive that you wouldn't enjoy the game as much as people fooling around with the creation program.

The game deserves the hype, but it's shifted my perspective a bit. It's not exactly the kind of game I think casual players will be able to grasp within minutes of playing like I thought it would be, but it's so much deeper for hardcore players than I ever thought would be possible. Unbelievably amazin'.
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chubigans said:
Ok, online impressions.

So I made my level, it was ready to go, and I invited a few GAFfers. While I'm not really an online gamer person...I wasn't expecting how truely awesome this was going to be. It's remarkable to see three people playtest your level right in front of you...it's just crazy. And it's a hell of a lot of fun.

Races, something that looked a bit lame in the videos I've seen, is actually a ton of fun. Most of the online levels up right now cater to the LBP 4-player parties, and some of them are pretty brilliant (none of them are quite on the scale of a full-fledged level just yet; it's mostly fun runs and experiments).

What's even more awesome is the online persistent world of LBP. You can see a ton of levels on the main hub, and see how many people are playing each one. It was cool to see a few people in my level as I jumped around with my LBP chums, and it even alerted me when someone beat and rated my level.

Loading/downloading times are super quick...it feels like a regular game load, and I forgot that it was even downloading the new level for the party. When people join the game lags up quite a bit and gets nutty for a few seconds, but once everyone is in it's a fairly smooth ride.

You can choose to play online levels either by yourself or online, where you'll join up with whatever strangers are in the level at the moment. There's a full list of leaderboards and you'll be able to tag the level with lots of keyphrases like "ingenious" "cute" and "Braiiiiiiiins..."

I absolutely cannot wait till tomorrow after work to play more, and to see how my (rough) level is doing. What an amazing game.
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More impressions to follow, hopefully...
 
N

Nemo

Will Eat Your Children
What if you get an error page after registering? Go back and fill everything in again?
 
G

gofreak

GAF's Bob Woodward
45%..

Sometimes my PSN downloads are real fast. Sometimes they're kinda slow. This is one of those times :|
 
E

eznark

Banned
Awesome, hopefully the super enthusiastic will make some cool stuff and make the game amazing upon release.
 
W

Wollan

Member
Downloading with my sloow AU isp. Not sure if I will make it before I go to bed.
But at least I'm downloading.
 
M

Metalmurphy

Member
He's lying about the Eurogamer keys. No need to go there and waste the websites bandwidth, there's nothing there.


ARGH!!
 
R

RoboPlato

I'd be in the dick
Just because I gave someone my code doesn't mean that I don't want to see a bunch of impressions and stuff.
 
F

Fenderputty

Banned
TheExodu5 said:
I hate you all.
Click to expand...

This ... being stuck at work behind a gnarly firewall blows. Lunch is coming a little early though. I think I'll leave at 11:30 ... ten min and go home. Hopefully there's keys left and, hopefully I can get it in time to get back from lunch without pissing people off.
 
P

Pachimari

Member
If anyone have an extra betakey, I would greatly appreciate it, as I can then inform the danish community with a preview/beta article about how the game works with impressions. So if anyone, feel welcome to send me a private message. thanks.
 
I

Iced_Eagle

Member
I WILL GIVE GREAT SEX FOR A SPARE KEY!

Site is fucking owned right now.

*Edit* FUCK! Even EuroGamer is giving me the 500 internal server error! NeoGaf is spreading the virus... :lol
 
F

flipping_heck

Member
man, im not registered with eurogamer and the site is down for me.. bah.. i just have to wait a few more weeks for LBP.. i cant wait..

*give it to me NOW*
 
W

Wollan

Member
LiquidMetal14 said:
The tutorial is so amazing and made me crack up and smile so much. This is GOTY right here!

MY GOD THIS IS FUCKING AMAZING. THE MUSIC, THE COLORS, FUUUUUCCCCKKKK!!!! AMZING!!!!

THIS IS THE REAL DEAL, BELIEVE IT.
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SolidSnakex said:
After the tutorial is over you start running down a path that says "A game by Media Molecule" then a sign pointing to the right that says "Who are" and then there are the faces of the MM members on level and their names pop up as you run by them.
Click to expand...

h3ro said:
Greatest Intro EVER.

<3<3<3<3
Click to expand...
.
 
N

NinjaFridge

Unconfirmed Member
Why do eurogamer get all the damn codes?! They can't handle shit
 
B

BeeDog

Member
So far it's been awesome! :D Finished the intro tutorial and the first two stages. Good stuff, and it's beautiful, responsive and full of style.

One thing I'd wish is that the narrative would be subtitled.
 
I

Iced_Eagle

Member
You guys seriously need to help us get spare keys for us GAFers :lol

I'm dying over here! I've been waiting months for LBP beta!
 
O

overthehill99

Member
Am I the only one who doesn't want to be in the beta? I don't want to have to start playing this game and then stop for a month. I'd rather just wait.
 
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