LittleBigPlanet Unofficial Create Guide

The Unofficial LittleBigPlanet Create Guide

Welcome to the Unofficial create Guide to LittleBigPlanet! With this guide I have had some help

from the community at LittleBigWorkshop, LittleBigPlanetCentral and members of Team Creator Curators. This guide is aimed towards new LittleBigPlanet players, players that need help on doing certain things and people that just need to take a look at that “quick thing” that they missed the first time round. Inside you’ll find everything you need to know to master creating on LittleBigPlanet.

This is THE guide to getting the best out of creating on LittleBigPlanet. Have fun!!

The Unofficial LittleBigPlanet Guide by Team Creator Curators

The Unofficial LittleBigPlanet Create Guide

Table of Contents

Planning your level -• 01.001 – Planning your level• 01.002 – Sketching the intro• 01.003 – Writing your story• 01.004 – Going back

Basic Tutorials -• 02.001 - How to make a basic car• 02.002 - How to make a 2 way switch lift• 02.003 - How to make a 3 way switch lift

Helpful Glitches -• 03.001 - Invisible wall/floor• 03.002 - Grabable connectors• 03.003 – Sun Effect

Whatis/How to List -• 04.001 - What is H4H?• 04.002 - What is Mm?• 04.003 – Who is Sackboy/Girl?• 04.004 – What is Game Sharing?• 04.005 – How to get your levels noticed?• 04.006 – How to keep the thermometer down?• 04.007 – How can I find inspiration?

Creating a good level -• 05.001 – Planning your level (2)• 05.002 – Starting to create your level

Basics on Switches -• 06.001 - Magnetic Key Switch• 06.002 – Button• 06.003 – Sticker Switch• 06.004 – 2-Way Switch• 06.005 – 3-Way Switch• 06.006 – Grab Switch• 06.007 – Sensor Switch• 06.008 – Paintinator Switch (MGS DLC)• 06.009 – Water Switch (POTC DLC)


01.001 – Planning your levelHello world!

On this page I will introduce you to planning and starting to create a good looking level. If you are not happy with your level you can always customise it afterwards but if you think your creative skills are good. Then skip this page with confidence. You can always come back after.

The first thing I do when making a level I plan out the level using a spider diagram. For this I usually use Microsoft Paint. Do not worry if you don't have Paint just use your drawing software or even a bit of paper!

The picture above is a quick level plan that took me a few minutes (not even that to be honest) and you should do a picture like this too to plan all (well) most of your levels. This helps if you forget the slightest bit it could make your level less... interesting. So put as much detail as you can this was just a quick one to show you how to set it out.

In the diagram it should contain:• Whether its futuristic, old fashioned, unreal, present day or just randomness! (don't worry

there are more I'm just not listing them all)• What the player does in this level, jumps to survive (survival) or has to go through level and

beat the boss or whatever your level does.• Does it contain any secrets/Easter eggs?• What happens at the end?• When should it happen?

You should put every little detail you can into this table, this will help you as I said before because if you forget, it could make you want to give up or make your level boring! :O Once you have planned your level on the spider diagram you should move onto the second part!


01.002 – Sketching the introThis part Is one of my main priorities! This Is the part that everyone sees at the start so if you loose their interest now you have probably lost it throughout the level, or they may not go thorough the rest and they may not even play any of the squeals or any of your levels at all!

So you can see this is important now I will not be putting much detail into my intro (start of level) because I'm just showing you but I will take longer than I did with the other diagram. The best way to sketch out your intro is on paper but you could use a drawing software on your computer. (Paper is the best but I don't have a scanner)

This took me only like 10 minutes but this is what you should come up with (well make it look good as possible) and tell yourself what materials you are going to use. This image helps some people more than others but you will find it helps you in one way or another. The way this helps people the most is because when they see the image it sets off a spark in their imaginations and you will find some people can just look at the image then make the whole level. But if your not that type of person you can make multiple pictures like this at the main events of the level.

Like the Start, Where the story gets tense, mini boss, boss and finish.

Basically the bits you need to focus on, the rest of it will just follow round the corner!


01.003 – Writing your storyThis is one of the main things when it comes to making a level. You need to write out your story so you can remember it! I will be showing a quick example for this one you don't have to read it its just to show you how to set it out!

“Intro of level -Sackboy – Hello! Welcome fellow sackboy to my beach! You can relax here or take the boat to the city or just take the boat for a nice relaxing ride on the sea!

When on boat -Player – I should go to the museum and see what's there

City – starts on beach builds up then finds museumPlayer – Ahh the museum, seems empty I wonder why

Player goes down into museum lower floor and gets attacked by zombies

after player kills zombies that's the end of the level”

This was a very short example just to show you how to set it out. You could copy my idea but that would lead to lots of people with the same level. Here you should come up with the story by using the information you used for the Spider Diagram (01.001) and the picture (01.002).

Once you have wrote your story out you should move on to the next part (01.004).


01.004 – Going backOK you have now, Wrote out what you want in your level, you have given a sketch for the intro of your level and you have written your level out. Now its time to go back. This means you should go to the first thing we did (spider diagram 01.001) and add more things to it that you think you need to add. The reason you need to do this is because you wrote the story out and may have thought of new ideas that are not in your diagram.

So I should on my diagram now add beach, boat, sun, aqua blue sky and things like that.And on my story I should try add more detail and on my picture. Now this may not help much but its worth doing in the long run.

Below is my edited spider diagram.

I know the quality is not that good but you can still read it. In some I have linked together like “Beach” and “Sackpersons House” and “Buildings” I did this because its on the beach and its a building. If you do not understand turn off your computer and go and do something else because that is the most simple thing we have done.

(I was joking you don't have to go)

This is the end of planning a level, you can either get creating or just move on to the basic tutorials or anything you want! It's up to you!


02.001 – How to make a basic carOK to start off your car you are going to need to know what materials to use. The ones I use the most for making cars are:

• Basic Cardboard• Basic Rubber

Images shown below.

Here is how to do it (using small grid) press the Square button to open the popit then go onto the Basic Cardboard Square. Place it (THIN) and then drag across and count to 8 (so it should be 12 small squares long and 4 small squares high.

Then choose the “Circle” Basic Cardboard shape. Make sure the circle is aligned with the rectangle we made and move down 2 times so it looks like wheels but make sure you put them attached to the cardboard on the same lane. It should look like the image below.

Next get out the cardboard square and make a floor for your car. Like the image below.

Then get out the basic rubber and get the circle shape to make rubber wheels. Look at the image below for an idea. Align them with the bumps of cardboard but then move them down once more so the cardboard is not touching the floor but the rubber is. Then go into the tools bag and select the motor bolt place one on each tire in the middle. Your car will now move! (If not make sure you didn't glue the tires to the cardboard many make this mistake)


Place a grabable material on the car and glue it on.

Go into the tools bag and select the grab switch. Then place the grab switch onto the material you used.

Then attach the switch to the wheel motors using the green wire coming from the switch.

Then that's it basically it! Now all you need to do is edit the speed of the car and decorate it.

As I said at the start of this it is a BASIC car tutorial there will be an advanced one too.


02.002 – How to make a 2 way liftThis is really simple I don't think it will even take a full page!

All you really need is cardboard!

First of make the basic shape of your lift it does not have to look all complicated just needs to be big enough to put in a 2 way switch and a sackperson.

In your tools bag place a 2 way switch into your lift and glue it in place you can put it on the floor, side or even the roof!

Once you have done this attach the lift where you want it to move to using a piston found in the tools bag, for this I'm just going to place a bit of dark matter in the middle of nowhere. You would usually attach it to the next floor or something. Try make it as straight as possible.

Then go into the settings and make the piston “Minimum Length” 0.0 or 1.0 or 2.0, something small not big (unless you don't want it to move much) and the time it takes to get to its destination. Then choose to make the piston stiff or not. Haha I know your laughing.

After this attach the switch to the piston using the green wire sticking out of the 2 way switch. Then make that switch's behaviour “Direction”. Now when you pull the switch one way it will go up and the other down. (unless you make it go left and right)

And we are done! See, simple!


02.003 – How to make a 3 way liftThis tutorial is also simple. All you need is 1 material and the three way switch oh and the piston.

To start off make a basic lift shape, thing.

Then go to the tools bag and select the 3 way switch. Glue it in place where you want it.

Once you have done this attach the lift where you want it to move to using a piston found in the tools bag, for this I'm just going to place a bit of dark matter in the middle of nowhere. You would usually attach it to the next floor or something. Try make it as straight as possible.

Then go into the settings and make the “Minimum Length” 0.0 or 1.0 or 2.0, something small not big (unless you don't want to to move much) and the time it takes to get to its destination. Then choose to make the piston stiff or not.

After this attach the switch to the piston using the green wire sticking out of the 3 way switch. Then make that switch's behaviour “Direction”. Now when you pull the switch one way it will go up and the other down the same as a 2 way, but if you let go of the switch, it will go into the middle and will not move anywhere. This is good for levels that have more than one floor.


03.001 – Invisible wall/floorOK this is very simple, All you need is dark matter, picture shown below.

All you have to do is make the dark matter as small as you can (make sure you use the square) and drag across for a floor or up or down for a wall!

If you did it right you will be able to stand on the invisible dark matter! (or not be able to walk past it if you did it hight ways)


03.002 – Grabable connectorsThis is fairly simple, but effective! Go into your tools bag and select either of the following:

• String• Elastic• Rod• Spring• Winch• Piston

This glitch makes them grabable. In this example I'm just going to connect them between 2 pieces of dark matter but you could do them anywhere!

First of your going to need to place your connector of choice.

Then go into the “Goodies Bag” and select the Dissolve material. Select the Medium Ellipse and keep it the default size. (Make sure you are doing this away from anything in case it sticks to something we don't want!)


Place 2 of them next to eachother then glue them together (I would use the small grid so they don't move about)

Next copy those 2 and put those on the end and keep building it up. As you can see now, mine is about 3-4 times the size of my connector of choice You should do this too. (I know that you cant see the whole thing on the picture but oh well lol)

Now grab all of your dissolve oval shapes and make them as small as you can. then move the invisible dissolve shapes behind your connector of choice and glue them to something near to it or just place a small block of invisible dark matter above or below! (so it doesn't just drop) Now you will be able to grab and swing on your connector of choice!


Whatis List04.001 - What is H4H? -H4H Is a bad thing! H4H stands for Heart for Heart, this means someone hearts someone because they hearted them. I class this as cheating as they have not earned that heart.

04.002 – What is Mm or MM?MM stands for Media Molecule. The amazing team that made the most amazing game of all time! (Also MM could just be for an avatar because of their name like mine: mr-malro = mm) But MM means Media Molecule.

04.003 – Who is Sackboy/Girl?Are you sure you playing the right game?! Sackboy is the person you are on LittleBigPlanet, you know the sack... person.. Yes the one that changes clothes and you can put stickers on him... Yeah well you get the idea!

04.004 – What is Game Sharing?Game sharing, most people that buy games from the PS Store do this. It is where you allow people to go onto your account and download the games that you already have (its free). Sony allows this or they would have removed the option. But they highly advise you not to. They also advise you to not give out your account details. The reason for this is because there has been many cases where people have spent money on others accounts and Sony cannot do anything about this. Want more information? Google it!

04.005 – How to get your levels noticed?The main way to get your levels noticed is by doing the following: Finish editing your level, publish it, add or remove something from the level, wait a few minutes, publish again. This will bring it to the front pages for a while. (depending on how many people play it) Its not the most legit way to do it. But its easy!

04.006 – How to keep the thermometer down?Ahh yes! The dreadful thing! You may think its stupid to have this in the game but its not! It keeps your game from crashing and your level from not working! If you added 1 more thing over the limit the game would blow up!... Well it wouldn't but your level would not work at all. How to keep it down? Well start of by limiting how many materials you use. I would stick to about 8 maximum! The more materials = the more the thermometer fills. You can find more information on forums!

04.007 – How can I find inspiration?There are lots of places you can find it! I also used to have trouble finding it but I never thought of looking on forums, people leave inspiration on them and tell you their level ideas. You could copy but I would take that idea and then make it your own by building on it. With a new story and things.


05.001 – Planning your level (2)Yes I know we have already covered this, this is what you need to do before making a level. Plan it! If you do not plan it, your level may go horribly wrong and you don't know how to fix it. Please go to 01.001 and read all of the planning a level tutorials: 01.001, 01.002, 01.003, 01.004.

So you plan your level then you are going to start making it. Go to 05.002 to start that. =)

“Intro of level -Sackboy – Hello! Welcome fellow sackboy to my beach! You can relax here or take the boat to the city or just take the boat for a nice relaxing ride on the sea!

When on boat -Player – I should go to the museum and see what's there

City – starts on beach builds up then finds museumPlayer – Ahh the museum, seems empty I wonder why

Player goes down into museum lower floor and gets attacked by zombies

after player kills zombies that's the end of the level”


05.002 – Starting to create your levelNow we are going to start creating the level. I am going to base my level on the image I drew up on Microsoft Paint. Just remember in the next few sections that I am only using the things we wrote and drew in the “Planning your level” sections.

OK The thing I'm starting off with is the island. Its not going to be as straight as the image here I want it to have bumps in to look... more believable. Once I have done this I will raise the water using the right analogue stick so I can get it to the perfect hight. Next I'm going to change the colour of the sky/fog to what I want.Then I'm going to get some dark matter and shape them into clouds and add a white sticker to them. After that I'm going to make the trees using Cardboard and Dissolve. The best 2 materials for placing smooth stickers on. The last thing I'm going to do is place the checkpoint and make and place the boat.

Now please remember this is a basic level just for the tutorial. I expect you to come up with something amazingly better! The levels intro I made on LittleBigPlanet can be found below.


06.001 – Magnetic Key SwitchThe Magnetic Key Switch is one of the main switches when creating technical projects in LittleBigPlanet. It comes in 2 pieces, “Magnetic Key Switch” and the “Magnetic Switch”.

How it works?Its simple really, when the magnetic key gets in range of the magnetic key switch, the object its connected to works. Look below for images.

The Switch can be used for easy things like a light as you saw. Or could be something that makes something else work. Below are some examples of how they can be used!


06.002 – ButtonThis is also one of the most simple! Here is how it works: You press the the button, something lights up/operates. Image below!

This is not used as much as the other switches but that does not mean its not used at all. This is mainly used by new players but they can not do as much as the other switches. (In my view)

Also with these switches you can make something heavy sit on them and you wont have to let the player stand on them. Could be useful but I prefer using switches like the magnetic key switch and the 3 way switches.


06.003 – Sticker SwitchAhhh yes the sticker switch! Very useful and used allot of the time by Media Molecule themselves! You may know them in the story levels when you have to place a sticker on the right shape and you get more prizes! Well yup that's them!

Once you place a sticker near the switch, whatever its connected to starts to work! BUT if you want to to activate with only one type of sticker, then press Square on the Sticker Switch and there will be a option to let you pick what sticker you want.

That's the basics of the sticker switch!


06.004 – 2-Way SwitchThe 2-Way Switch is simple stuff but can be useful. I usually make my own using a Magnetic Key switch and make it look good and open doors and stuff. But this is good for lifts and things like that.

How it works? Very simple! One way off, other on. Or you can make it directional but this is just the basics! Images below!


06.005 – 3-Way SwitchAs you might be able to tell by the name. This switch has 3 positions it can be in. Left, Right and centre. On the default setting of this switch its on/off just like the rest. This switch is useful for Lifts, Cars and lots of technical things (you know.. the blue stuff you see hidden!) So I will show you the default settings in images below!


06.006 – Grab SwitchOK the grab switch is one of the most useful. It helps mainly with contraptions players control like cars and jets ect. They are used more by “advanced” creators the reason for this is because when they grab them there is allot that happens in the air (not meant to be seen by the player) I do a lot of this. Its very useful. Anyway the basics are On/Off as you can see by the images below!

This type of switch is placed on a grabable material and when grabbed it goes its thing! Can be any grabable material.


06.007 – Sensor SwitchThe sensor switch. I love them! To make it simple just think of it as the Magnetic key switch but the sackperson as the key. Yup once you get in range of the switch it sets off what ever its hooked up to. Very useful for setting off noises and triggering parts of a level like... A monster pops out of a cave, volcano erupts, monster makes a noise, someone blows up, something blows up. You get the idea.Images of how it works (default setting) can be found below).


06.008 – Paintinator SwitchLovely switch this is! Requires Metal Gear Solid DLC. But well worth it. You get a handy little paint gun with the pack and this switch. What it does is when you shoot it the set amount of times, the switch does what its attached to! So for this example I have it on default (1).See images below for an idea.


06.009 – Water SwitchVery handy piece of work here! Requires Pirates of the Caribbean DLC. It activates what is on the other end once the water reaches the same hight as the switch. This is useful for cars and boats and things because they could activate something that helps them float, or something like that. Or a base could detach itself from the floor and float!Want to know how it works with images? You know where to look!


Documents

LittleBigPlanet Unofficial Create Guide