Well, it has been a week since my last post. Oh the exciting life I have lead in these past 7 days, the soaring highs and crashing lows, the fears, and pain, and the unbridled, half mad joys!
But that is for another time and place.
This week I have been putting a lot of time into the PS3 game 'Little Big Planet', by Media Molecule. If you have a PS3 and haven't got a copy it is well worth checking out, and you can generally pick it up for quite a low price- I think it was £12 on amazon last time I checked.
The basic game is quite a solid platformer, with some interesting and generally well designed levels, which the players work through. Notice the plural, you can play the levels with up to four players simultaneously, either online of off. The main story mode is all well and good but I have really been working hard on the more unique aspect of the game which is the ability to create levels and then share them on PSN for anyone to play and rate.
With quite a simple interface and a few tutorials voiced by Stephen Fry the create mode is very easy to get into, and I have really enjoyed letting my budding game developer side have a go at creating a few levels. Nothing too exciting so far to be fair, but I think with a bit of practice this could get very addictive!
As part of this, I have been spending some time looking at various articles on the wonderful Gamasutra, including some about game design and pacing. Very interesting stuff! Definitely worth a look for anyone with an interest in computer games and design, inluding articles on sound, design the industry and so on, and a very decent news section focusing on the gaming industry.
So, hoping to get inspired over the next week and really start looking into the various aspects of the Little Big Planet create mode and get designing!
Have a great week!
Thanks for reading! Andrew
