
*Reborns as 90% board games, 10% everything else, 5% lard, 15% not familiar with percentages.*
Monday, January 31, 2011
LBP2 level finally published!

A musical level creation: before and after LBP2

But what I thought to be a challenging and near-impossible task became one of my most proud achievements in the first game - to create a musical melody to the ending music of Chrono Trigger - To Far Away Times. With only a few edits to the original song and a single different note to accommodate for the higher-octave note, I published my piano-only tribute to the LBP community.
The game's constraints, however, populated my level to such a degree that I could barely fit anything else in it. Decorations were practically non-existent, with the exception of a couple of stars and the earth, and I offered my pixel-rendition of one of the sprites used in the ending sequence as a prize bubble.
As if to answer the struggles of musical composers from the first game, Little Big Planet 2 gave players a midi sequencer, giving players a large group of instruments to use, all fully-scaled. Even better still, the midi-sequencer has its own limit, meaning that you can fully max out your midi sequencer without having to deal with space issues in your main level for creation.
Today, I'm adding the finishing touches to yet another 2 weeks worth of meticulous assembly and scrutinizing detail in my first published level in Little Big Planet 2, again for the same musical tribute. And the difference in construction vastly improved. To give you a sense of this, here's a quick list comparisons between both 2-week projects in LBP1 and LBP2
LBP1 level - (Entire level ETA 2.5 weeks; 2 weeks for song, half week for graphics and decorations)
- Only instrument used was piano, used sheet music and ear as reference.
- Scales were ranged to 2-3 octaves, hard to hit really high or low notes.
- One note per speaker, so chords were 3-4 times the work.
- Most of song made the cut, some parts were cut due to level constraints.
- Entire music components made with physical materials, which filled up the level fast.
- Had barely enough room left to add a pixel creation as a prize at the end.
- Decorations were sparse, and vehicle was a plain box to propel switch that triggered song.
- Composed of 7 different instruments that closely matched the song.
- Full-scale octaves, so every high and low note was covered.
- Song was completed in its entirety - nothing was cut.
- Midi-sequencer had own capacity limit, completely separate from the main level capacity limit.
- Not only were all graphical components able to fit the level, but all necessary camera work and coordination were configured and setup in the sequencer.
- Entire level is a cut scene, requires no user interaction to enjoy.
Friday, January 28, 2011
Little Big Planet 2...story finished!!

Earning more objects and stickers to use in your own imaginative levels are another incentive to replay the story levels again, especially when some of them require more than one player to achieve.
And even if you're the more reclusive type, there's plenty of levels online by other players that will last you quite some time.
Wednesday, January 19, 2011
Little Big Planet 2, multiplayer, and counting numbers
My first attempt at allowing someone to join was cut short promptly with a message saying they left only a minute later. Okay, I thought...fair enough. The person probably wanted to play more of the single player mode first. No biggie.
The second attempt, I became the joinee, trying to join into a game. A loading screen appears, and a loading bar as well. Sure, it's gonna take some time, so I'm willing to wait. And wait. And wait. 30 minutes later, and I just restarted my PS3.
The third try (second attempt as joinee) actually went through...up until right before the level started. Then a message suddenly popped up, telling me the leader kicked me off. For a game built to allow random multiplayer, the majority of online players seem quite persistant to play solo.
The fourth attempt (where someone wanted to join me in my level) was probably the longest and most successful (out of these) attempts...but only because they took forever to get into my level. Possibly I passed one of those markers that didn't allow more sackboys in, but I tried to faithfully wait by one of the spawn points for them to arrive, but they never showed.
I want to play with multiple players so bad, Media Molecule! Why won't you let me??
And one more thing....I enjoy how they tell you how many people are currently playing the story mode levels. Progressing further and further to the later levels, you notice the numbers dropping more and more....as if to suggest that people play single player for only a little bit near the beginning. Take that as you will.
Tuesday, January 18, 2011
Little Big Planet 2 is here!!
Little Big Planet 2 book (or game) ends:
Little Big Planet Sackboy plushie:
[UPDATE]: As quick as I brought this home, my wife kidnapped him and claimed dibs.
Little Big Planet 2 DLC:
And....mutliplayer?
Monday, January 17, 2011
Little Big Planet 2 anticipation!

Can't wait for more Stephen Fry voice overs, new tools and gadgets, and a wealth of new community levels just waiting to be created!
Monday, January 3, 2011
Castlevania: Lords of Shadow...finished!

Castlevania: Lords of Shadow is a great culmination of what a good 3D Castlevania game can be - all the fast-paced whip action you can get, with the right amount of difficulty without making you pull your hair. Even with the collection-like quests to improve your stats and inventory and the extra trials on the side, all of that is still optional and you can finish the game just fine without trying to be a completionist.
For the record, I completed the game once on the Hard difficulty setting. Sure, I died quite a bit, but every death taught me something new, something I could use to my advantage against enemies.
While I'm certain I'm powerful enough to take on some of the earlier levels with ease, it'll probably be some time before I play this game again...at least until the new DLC is released.
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