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Interview: Media Molecule And The Evolution of LittleBigPlanet

This week, Media Molecule is releasing the Move Pack DLC for LittleBigPlanet 2, and Gamasutra speaks to producer Martin Lynagh and lead level designer Kengo Kurimoto about the studio's process and inspiration.

Christian Nutt, Contributor

September 13, 2011

7 Min Read
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This week, Media Molecule is releasing the Move Pack DLC for LittleBigPlanet 2, which adds motion control functionality to the PlayStation 3 game, along with a new story mode, new gameplay elements, and new user creation tools, such as a paint brush and a 2D sticker system which allows users to create sprites. The word "game" can be a bit simplistic, perhaps, when applied to LBP; the product has evolved into a creative suite, with both free patches and DLC adding functionality for paying and non-paying players alike on a regular basis. In fact, argues producer Martin Lynagh, like many these days, the game is becoming a service. Gamasutra recently spoke to Lynagh and Kengo Kurimoto, lead level designer, both at Guildford, England-based developer Media Molecule, about the pack designed around the PlayStation Move motion controller. "I think the Move Pack's just one in a series of expansions and enhancements that we've added. What I would say is, it's the biggest one. It's the biggest DLC pack we've done," says Lynagh. "Even people who don't buy the Move Pack will be able to play with the Move. I mean, that's an update that just gets rolled out to everyone when patch 1.06 comes out," he notes. The pack not only adds new levels, but "also a massive suite of create tools, which allow you to create not only different game types, but really different looks." "So for us, it's about the game renewing itself all the time. So, the more you refresh the palette that creators can use, then, you know, you get a different look, different ideas, different kinds of levels, different trends in the kind of things people create. You know, keeping it fresh and keeping it changing... We basically just put in the tools into other people's hands. Our story mode is our example. As I say, the community constantly amaze us with what they can pull off and come up with," says Lynagh. Why the focus on creativity in LittleBigPlanet? "I think it's the kind of thing that we enjoy doing ourselves. Creativity and powering people's creativity is really the core of the company -- I mean the soul of it. Everybody that works at Media Molecule has a passion for the things that we do," says Lynagh. It's built into the company's production processes, he says. "We make the tools while we make the game, while we use the tools to make the game. So, it's this kind of circle that goes on." And when the tools hit the community, he says, "They always surprise and amaze us with how they apply the tools to their own projects," says Lynagh. "It's a wonderful job, because we get to make what we want -- but the best bit for me is just seeing what they come back with," agrees Kurimoto. That makes his job as lead level designer somewhat unique. The team has to worry about "making the levels to try and demonstrate what you can do" with the tools. "We've always got that in mind. It's not just something that's our way of expressing it. It's always a demo, an example as well," says Kurimoto. "We call it the 'level hook' ... 'What is this level trying to demonstrate?' Once we get that, it's almost like the one line to describe the level in terms of what gadgets you're using, as well as the gameplay of it as well. Once you've got the level hook very clear, then everything feeds that." "You try and think, 'How can we best inspire the community with what we're doing?' And then when they come back and just do something that you've completely never though about before -- that just blows my mind really when that happens," says Kurimoto. When it comes to the community, says Lynagh, "I think people's use of the tools is maturing. They're really mastering them. We're just seeing such great applications." What's the atmosphere at Media Molecule like? Working on LBP is "very much a team effort, actually," Kurimoto says. "At the beginning of the whole production cycle, we all just get together, and everyone's very free. You're free to do what you want." For the Move Pack, he says, "Obviously, you've got to focus on the motion controller and what that can do. So, everyone goes off and comes up with ideas. The good thing about LBP in general is we can prototype ideas very quickly and see if ideas work, and then we also get the code. It's very close-knit, and it's very free to do what you like." That kind of free creative atmosphere lets the team reject ideas that weren't working -- as the first experiments with the Move controller were not, says Kurimoto. The team didn't want to use Move as a "gimmick", he says. "It has to be something where the Move is actually integral to what we're going to do." The community tools have lead the developer to hire designers from its community, notably level designer John Beech, who contributed to both the second main release and the Move Pack. "He applied for the job; he just sent an email and said, 'This is my level,'" says Lynagh. "We arranged a meeting, and we hired him as a result. Christophe Villedieu, as well, created levels before he joined. That's like half the [level] design team, really." "The Brain Crane power-up, which is the main power-up in the Move Pack, that was a collaboration between Chris Cummings, the lead coder, and also John Beech, who's the level designer," notes Kurimoto. "They went off and they had their collaboration, and they came up with this idea of this thing, you can pick up things with the power of your mind. They just went and prototyped it very quickly, and they showed it to everybody. It was like, 'That's fantastic.'" Though the studio has done some recruiting as the series has scaled up, there are no plans to massively expand. In fact, Media Molecule would rather work with partners such as Supermassive Games and Tarsier Studios when it runs out of capacity to pump out DLC and portable LittleBigPlanet games rather than grow too large. "It's pretty small, yes. It's a tight team. I don't think it will ever grow into a mega-studio," says Lynagh, who's been with the developer since the first game. "We are still around 40 people. We're very careful, because we don't want to become too big. I think everybody that works there enjoys that atmosphere. You know, just being able to walk up to anybody's desk, and you know them, and you can talk to them." Lynagh has oversight into the studios collaborating with Media Molecule on expansion content. "It's a case of you building up your relationship with the developer. As that relationship matures, they just become part of the team, as it were," he says. "It's a process... you work very closely with somebody in the beginning, and you share the vision, then you can step away a bit more, which is what's happening just now." The way that the team looks at LittleBigPlanet 2 shows how the market is shifting. "We are a service, and in a sense we've become a service as well, just because the disc is just the start. You have 5 million levels that you can play online, and more are being created all the time," says Lynagh. Kurimoto's philosophy is to create gameplay that's simple but deep. "There's a competitive level in the Move Pack as well. You throw bombs at each other. When you begin, it's fun to sort of grab it and plant it on your friend. But after a while when you master it, you can really just grab it like that, and flick it with your wrist, and it just flies across. The skill you can get from it is great. That's the kind of gameplay that I like, which is very simple for the entry-level, but at the same time you've got the capacity to really master it." The team goes through "thousands, thousands" of iterations of its levels when working on them, says Kurimoto. "So, iteration is the word. It's how we develop. It's the best way... So, if someone came up with this idea, someone else has come up with another idea, we can then bring them together and put them into a level like that as well. I think it's fundamental, really." "And then just keep polishing it, polishing it, polishing it, and keep playing it, playing it, and playing it until we've got something we're really happy with. And I think the Move Pack, as a story mode, is a standalone game which is I think one of the best on the market."

About the Author

Christian Nutt

Contributor

Christian Nutt is the former Blog Director of Gamasutra. Prior to joining the Gamasutra team in 2007, he contributed to numerous video game publications such as GamesRadar, Electronic Gaming Monthly, The Official Xbox Magazine, GameSpy and more.

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