The Tool Bag

Little Big Planet Guide - Creation Guide

The Tool Bag

The tool bag is the lower left icon of the popit while in creation mode. It allows for a wide variety of tools to be fooled and tooled around with.

Under Tools, you can find the Dangerous Tools you collected from that same aptly named tutorial, plus the Corner Editor.

The Corner Editor simply does what it says. I like that. Select an object, move your cursor to one of the borders/corners, and stretch it in any way you want. And that is that.

The Dangerous Tools allow you to create hazards. I mean, they do make for a bit of excitement, do they not? Choose from gas, fire, electricity, and remember that fire allows a player to singe themselves before they burn to ashes like .. like a cigarette stick that fills lungs with cancerous smoke burns to ashes as well. Right. From the Gadgets Screen you can select Bolts, Strings, Rods, and such.

• Bolts - and don't think lightning bolts - allow you to attach objects to each other.
• Sprung Bolts, Motor Bolts and Wobble Bolts are all slightly different Bolts which add a little interaction between the objects. Follow the tutorials to learn everything about them. Also, if you forgot a tutorial, select Square and you'll be given the option to review it.
• Strings and Elastics are also useful tools among the gadgets. They are rope like things that you can hang fabric balls on, for example.
• Sping allows you to create jumping platforms, among other things.
• Winch can be seen as a chain which you can use to lift platforms. The Piston is a Rod of some sorts which you can use to move objects into each other.  You'll need this to create large mechanical creatures and areas.

You can tweak any of the previously described gadgets, allowing for a lot of modifications. When doing any of the tutorials where you are required to tweak an object in the same matter as an example object, select the example object and go into tweaking mode. Take note of its properties and apply them to your own object. Experimenting is the way to go.

Some more advanced gadgets are:

• Magic Mouth allows a built creature to say something with a text bubble.
• Magic Eyes are aesthetic, and simply follow the players' movement.
• Creature Brain: Unprotected is used for creating creatures, and this brain can easily be popped.
• Legs are selfexplantory and are used to move creatures around.
• Creature Navigators can be placed - and creatures will move towards these, allowing you to control the creatures.
• Creature Brain: Protected works the same way as any brain, except you can't pop it just like that. You can tweak these around, more about that later.
• Wheels move your creature around .. with wheels instead of legs.

The Gameplay Kits vary from Checkpoints to Scoreboards. Any level should have most of these basic objects, such as an Entrance, a Scoreboard, and often it's best to place a Checkpoint here and there. At this screen, you'll also find spikes, explosives, jetpacks, and race entrances and finish lines. Score Bubbles and Prize Bubbles are also found under the Gameplay Kits.

• Camera Zone is a helpful tool that allows you to direct the camera movement to or from a certain angle.
• Entrance is self-explanatory and mandatory for every level.
• Score Bubbles are points. You should definitely put a bunch in your level.
• Scoreboards are also mandatory. You can select the tweak feature and pick (self-made) prizes from the menu to reward players.
• Checkpoints and Double-Life Checkpoints are not mandatory, but they make the player's life(s) a lot easier! Place these in the background.
• Close-Level Post is the little sign that flips to a sackboy head with a red cross through it. Its use is to prevent any players from joining the level after the Post has been passed.
• Photo Booth captures a moment for all eternity.
• Prize Bubbles can also hold prizes, tweak them to select a prize.
• Jetpacks should be used sparingly, however cool they may be. They give the player a lot of freedom.
• Spikes and Explosives can be used as obstacles.
• Racing gates/finishes can be used to crank up the speed in your level, or you can choose to make the level a race in its entirety.

Audio Objects give a touch of music to your level. A surefire hit is to let the music ‘increase' as the player plays through the level. Don't blast the player away at the start of the level, instead keep it to a minimum and start building up the music quickly. Backgrounds cover the whole background area. Needless to say, this fills up a lot of the screen, so choose a background that fits your level. The Global Controls menu lets you tweak light, fog, and coloring of the level.