Wow, they made Contra in LBP. Check out this vid
LittleBig Contra is live! WATCH THE TRAILER NOW!!! (Thank you Teknoman!!)
LittleBig Contra is a collaborative project aimed at delivering the definitive Contra experience to LittleBigPlanet. Our goal is to recreate each of the 8 stages of Contra from the NES using the tools available to us in the LittleBigPlanet level editor.
STAGES & TEAMThere are 8 stages in total and 7 authors on the LBC team (click for level layouts - thanks SaitoH):
Jungle:
MisterAnderson - PSN: Leonidas2123Base 1:
Orz- PSN: SaitoHalifaxWaterfall:
PSN - RyanardoDavinciBase 2:
Orz- PSN: SaitoHalifaxSnowfield:
PSN: NinjaMicWZEnergy Zone:
El_Beefo - PSN: El_BeefoHangar:
Jaeyden - PSN: Jaeyden Alien's Lair:
Donkey Show - PSN: gevurah22
Sprites and videos for reference (Thanks WingM@n)
JungleBase 1WaterfallBase 2SnowfieldEnergy zoneHangarAlien's lairGUIDELINES-
Paintgun required at spawn If you decide to include a section or two that includes grabbing something, make sure you put another paintgun nearby the area so you can resume shooting once finished. It isn't difficult to place the paintgun in such a way that the player spawns on top of it, so make sure you go ahead and do that for your "extra lives trolley." Which brings me to my next point...
-
No checkpoints for extra lives. The starting 4 lives from the entrance are the only source of lives. Naturally, this is going to make things very difficult. To make it easier on players having trouble, if you're able to put a sticker switch on the title screen and have the Konami Code sticker I made unlock an "easy mode." Basically rig the switch to replace the spawn point with a double checkpoint. The spawn point must follow the player through the level from above thus simulating the respawn system of Contra. When you die you will spawn from the sky above the last place you were at.
-
Don't neglect the backgrounds from the game. Try your best to recreate the backgrounds.
-
Scale must be consistent between each level. UPDATE: Scale references -
I examined each map layout and came up with ways of identifying 1 unit of measurement for each level in Contra. The reason I did this is I already have almost completed the layout for Jungle and I just want to make sure our way of measuring the sprites are consistent. 1 unit of Contra sprite is equal to going into LBP, putting big grid on, and with smallest possible box putting two boxes side by side. So just to be clear, 2 "big grid" units side by side is equal to 1 unit of measurement. Here is a rundown of a way to identify 1 unit of measurement in each map that might help:
Waterfall: If you look closely at the grass you can see tiny notches underneath the grass platforms. Every 2 notches would translate to 1 unit of measurement.
Snowfield: Every giant slab of ice platform in the foreground counts as 1 unit of measurement.
Energy Zone: Every 4 notches in the floor design counts as 1 unit of measurement. Keep in mind that a platform in Energy Zone might look longer than it actually is since they tend to pour over into the next wall for the sake of perspective. For example, the first series of "steps" needed to jump up after starting the level have 2 extra notches but the platform itself has only 4 notches of surface area to walk on.
Hangar: The same as Energy Zone; every 4 notches in the floor design is 1 unit of measurement.
Alien's Lair: The alien floor has a vein design every so often. Every vein is 1 unit of measurement.
If you guys have issues with these just let me know, I'm pretty sure if we stick to this all of our levels will be pretty consistent. As far as vertical scale is concerned, try to stay accurate if you can but take into account that sackboys can't jump as high as Bill and Lance. For jumps that should be reachable by the player but are just too high when they are to scale, try putting a little bump on the terrain to help the player make the jump or simply lower/raise the ledge if you feel like it. And to compensate for the longer horizontal jumping ability of sackboys, try to space out some of the platforms a little more than they are in the actual game just to get the difficult Contra jumps to translate properly to LBP.
-
Fixed camera views to try to simulate the proper view from Contra. Keep the tracking all the way up but set a camera network throughout the map to make sure the orientation of the level from Contra is as accurate as possible. At key points feel free to use the camera as you feel would be most effective, for example during the bridge sequence in Jungle I have the camera pull back and center a bit on each bridge. Let's refrain from freezing up the gameplay with a camera event/dialogue bubbles though, and keep the gameplay fast-paced.
-
Make the bullet colors accurate to what they are in Contra. Standard shots - white. Some red bullets here and there. Basically just make sure the colors are the same from the original game, not rocket science heh.
-
Use your discretion with altering the level. I know I have been saying that you need to be true to Contra first and foremost, and that still holds true to a degree. But if you
REALLY feel like you have a good idea that makes the level better and it isn't too outrageous feel free to take your idea and go with it. I would hate to limit creativity and let good ideas go to waste!
PICS OF WIP (Post pics and I'll put them up here)
Stage 1: Jungle (MisterAnderson)
Stage 2: Base 1 (Orz)
Stage 3: Waterfall (RyanardoDavinci)
Stage 6: Snowfield (NinjaMicWZ)
For some reason the in-game pic kept distorting the hell out of the spike dozer miniboss. This doesn't do it justice since you can't see the wheels/treads and the rest of the gun mount. For some reason the picture kept glitching and making them transparent.
Stage 6: Energy Zone (El_Beefo)
Stage 7: Hangar (Jaeyden)
Stage 8: Alien's Lair (Donkey Show)