There was a really good set of GamesCom coverage links posted by Mr_Berger on LittleBigWorkshop while I was working on this post,some of which I hadn’t found yet,so I wanted to give credit where due. Also beware of my fragmentary and/or run-on sentences below,but I tried to give a quick overview of what was in each piece for easy searching later.
- Gamespot: Spaceship Demo in the “The Cosmos”part of the story,with the level selection on a planet despite your being on a spaceship flying through space,showing off sackbot actors (I counted at least 12 in one level),controllinator minigames,level links (which can be automatic or manual),semi-interactive cutscenes(?),and a little low gravity platforming,. What’s referred to as gravity reversal appears to be just an illusion,unless you can selectively not affect sackboys and sackbots.
- Gamespot: Creatinator Demo in the “Victoria’s Laboratory”part of the story,demos the creatinator emitting cake icing (rather than “cows”or “fiery napalm death”) as the “Cakeinator”,sticky materials (icing),animated flowing chocolate waterfalls and dissolving icing,using sticky emitted material to solve physics puzzles,and cute little cake-based enemies. Alex reiterates that you can record your own voice acting,and that the sackbot actors are following pre-recorded sixaxis control.
- GameSpot: Grapple Hook Demo in the “Da Vinci’s Hideout”part of the story,demos the grapple hook and bounce pads and reveals that the “Tower of Whoop”is doable in one score bubble chain (but not easily).
- GameSpot: Sequencer Demo –LBP2 will have a “great licensed soundtrack”but “20,30 tracks is never going to cut it”. Demos Christophe’s “Caterpillar Climb”level (Christophe having been hired from the community),which switches from horizontal platformer to vertical racer. Beautiful animated waterfalls,sackbots turning to watch Sackboy (even in Create mode),but amazingly:dynamic track being generated during play out of pre-built sections,using the intended-for-music sequencer. Stephen Fry is back narating,as we know. Some of the new awesome backgrounds done by Fireproof Studios. ”Stingers”of short musical themes available (“Love”theme shown),but the musical sequencer is the main attraction. There will be some Mm-provided sequences in final game. It looks like a separate thermometer shows up just to track the space on a sequencer…? Object tweakers (like fire) can be added to sequencer. Twinkle,twinkle,fiery napalm death.
- GameSpot: LBP2 Interview:Alex Evans –talk of the music sequencer,expectation of “more finessed”levels from the community,competitive minigames,stickiness,at the “no sleeping”polish stage of development,“can’t wait to have this baby out”. [Pregnant women of the world sympathize,I'm sure. -Ed]
- GameSpot:GamesCom Tour,Hall 7 –Jealousy fuel for us non-Europeans. Apparently the copy of LBP2 being shown called itself “Beta”,and pics have shown up in the forums claiming the Beta has already begun. Don’t believe everything you read on the internet,as Kevin Butler says.
- IGN:short but beautiful, GC 2010:Gameplay 1 (1:38 of Caterpillar Climb), GC 2010:Gameplay 2 (1:03 of the spaceship arcade), GC 2010:Gameplay 3 (1:22 of rescuing sackbots in low gravity on falling-apart spaceship).
- Fnac Gaming Network: LBP2:Creations and Gameplay (5:06),music sequencer demo,then the sackbot splitscreen puzzle (which indicates that the creator _can_ program a sackbot to mimic the player’s costume),rubber-band-ball basketball minigame (showing power gloves also carrying other sackboys).
- PS3Community.ch:Gamescom 2010:LBP2 Interview (6:44) –designers inspired by community,story has nice sense of humour,racing minigame with level-select (mentioned,not shown),a few seconds of a swampy level(?),LBP.me overview (no PSN account required to browse),developing LBP1 required some cheating but LBP2 levels purely made on PS3 (fixed stuff that drove the designers crazy), first planned DLC is Move support for creators (sample levels will be on disc),LBP1 content available even if you only buy LBP2.
- PS Gaming Blog:LBP2 Footage Part 1 (1:31 a little sackbot escort footage in the Factory of a Better Tomorrow), LBP2 Footage Part 2 (0:39 playing “Science Diner”[pong] and “Parmesan”in the spaceship arcade;looks like Parmesan gives you a level key), LBP2 Footage Part 3 (1:04 “Tower of Whoop”).
- Oyungezer Online: Gamescom 2010:LBP2 Ozel Sunumu (27:36) –Some people just want to play,designers just use PS3,level 4 in Da Vinci’s area with grappling hook and bounce pads,grappling hook grabs soft things but Sackboy is also soft,Victoria the bipolar baker and evil cupcakes,creatinator,d-pad for emotion works when recording sackbot actors,costumes with names like “Berrie”,multiplayer minigame basketball in the Factory of a Better Tomorrow,Higgenbotham (who created the great spaceship) is in Eve’s Asylum?,multiplayer(!) sackboy splitscreen puzzle,sequencer has been added to the game since E3,mentions sequencing sackbot emotions (sequencer in sackbot brain,or external sackbot emotion control?),demo of Caterpillar Climb level,then sequencer twinkle twinkle napalm death demo,soundtrack shaping up to be awesome,complex new stuff makes it easier,first cutscene with the Oz-like Avalon Centrifuge (“Surely,You Will Fall Prostrate When Confronted By My Magnificence”),hopping bunny with health meter and collectable carrots. [Lots of homage to Oz and HHGttG in at least this part of the story,I think. -Ed]
- GamerSyde: LBP Interview Alex Evans (Gamescom) –more integrated story,cutscenes,game variety,being pulled between game and toolset,making creation enjoyable,direct control and sackboys,updated pop-it system,Eve’s Asylum (Eve’s invented a machine to create life,but it’s gone wrong?),demo single-player sackbot splitscreen puzzle (further than other demos,and mentioning there are sixty (!) puzzles),trademark/copyright issues and moderation,offensive material more of a problem than copyright,LBP2 will have new tools for the moderators,you can always edit and republish,cutscenes with recorded voices,ambient occlusion and volumetric lighting,old levels look remastered,new transparency and particle effects,Avalon Centrifuge into cutscene,not-just-music sequencer (cameras,movement,etc),addressing platforming issues [floaty whining -Ed] with power-ups and bounce pads and direct control,wall-jumping rabbit,sixty levels in story (incl. minigames),basketball minigame,PS Eye camera support same as in LBP?,“Split Path”sackbot-leading level.
- Misc shakey-cam: LBP2 Gameplay (3:01 in pod and the Factory of a Better Tomorrow,including sackboy escort and an interesting-looking enemy who spits fire), LBP2 Arcade Background (0:17 in create mode), Animated Material Showoff (0:24 of waterfall and x-ray?), Lift-Off Level Gameplay (0:36 of low-grav multiplayer platforming), Create Mode Materials (2:11 of colour-picked glass,animated,shiny,etc), Tower of Whoop (3:43 complete playthrough with two players).
- GameSpot’s LittleBigPlanet 2 Impressions from GamesCom,including a great cakeinator demonstration video.
- Here’s video of the guy in the big Sackboy costume at GamesCom.