Publishing 101

17/12/2008

publish #01

So, you’ve just finished your uber level, the one you’ve been slaving over for weeks. Background in? CHECK! Music in? CHECK!! Scoreboard? DOUBLE CHECK!!!

It’s finally done. Now what do you do? You publish it, that’s what!

But, before you do, here’s some advice which will increase the chances of your level being played and (hopefully) hearted.


 

#1. The Title

This is the first thing your potential Player will see, so you have to make it exciting. If the Player thinks that no effort has been made on the Title then they will think the same about the level.

Here are some bad examples of titles that Players will probably avoid:

  • Unnamed Level
  • My First Level
  • A Random Mess v1.3
  • Blah Blah Not finished yet
...and here are some good examples:
  • Temple of the Enchanted Stone (Of Doom)
  • Wibbly Wobbly World
  • Adventures in Pirate Bay
  • Sackboy goes to Electric Funky Land

If you’re lucky, the Player will dive straight in, but for more picky Players you’re going to have to do a bit more persuading.

Now it’s time for the next hook, The Badge.


 

#2. The Badge

This is also one of the first things your potential Player will see, maybe even the first, if it’s done well enough.

Badges look good when they use bold colours and fit nicely onto a round badge. Badges don’t look good with lots of detail on them, say, a zoomed out PhotoBooth/PlayStation Eye image.
Here are some steps on how to make your Badge.

  1. Go to your Moon and create a new level.
  2. First choose a material and then make a round shape.
  3. Now use stickers (the bigger and bolder the better) to make a nice design.
  4. After you’ve finsihed your design, press Start and go into Front View, this will give you a nice flat view of your Badge.
  5. Use the ‘Take a Photo’ tool of your design, now get the edge of the design right to the edge of the photo frame and take the photo.

You should now have a nice picture to put on your Badge.


 

#3. The Description

It’s so sad sometimes when a great level has no Description. For the more wary Players (who haven’t been swayed by your witty Title and funky Badge) a Description can make them want to play it.

Here are some basic rules on how to write a Level Description:

  1. Write 2 or 3 small paragraphs, nothing too long though, keep it short.
  2. Make up a story and put that in the first paragraph.
  3. Second, tell the Player what the goals are in the level something like ‘race the cheetah’ or ‘find the hidden gold’.
  4. Optionally, if you want some feedback from Players, tell them to leave you a comment.

A Description can seal the deal and also, its something to read whilst the level loads, so that’s nice.


 

#4. The Location

publish #02

Now, this can be tricky. The position you publish your Badge to will be the position everybody else sees. For example, if you publish it in Australia, Players will access it by rotating the LittleBigPlanet to
Australia.

So, here’s the tricky choice, do you publish where everybody else is (usually the top part of the LittleBigPlanet) or, do you go where nobody else is and stand out from the crowd? Hmmm, I’ll leave that decision to you.


 

#5. Uploading Pictures

Have you ever wondered why some levels have pictures and some don’t?

The secret is the Upload option in Popit. How?? Where?? I hear you ask, OK, I’ll explain: When you take a Photo (including PhotoBooth photos) they are saved into ‘My Pictures’ in Popit. Find the Photo you want to Upload and press the Square Button and a menu will appear with lots of options, Upload being one of them.

Any Uploaded pictures will appear in the Level Information when Players select your Badge. Don’t panic if they don’t pop up straight away, it can take maybe 10-20 minutes for your Photos to appear.


 

#6. Advertise

After you’ve Published your level, you can also go onto the Internet to spread the word. Here’s a couple of official places places you can have a look at.

LittleBigWorkshop
Official PlayStation Community : LittleBigPlanet

Or you could try fansites like:
LittleBigMadness
LittleBigLand

Have a search round the internet, there are plenty of places to share your work! Add them to your Facebook page, or just email your friends.

Don’t forget to post some nice pictures as well, so that Players can see what your level is like before they go searching for it. Also, why not grab a camera, try making a movie of your level and put it on YouTube. We loves us some Youtube.




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