The Seaside

To do:

Source the developer quotes - I don't remember what interview I read that they removed it over quality concerns, I just know that it's true.

This article covers cut content.

The contents of this article are sourced from development information and may be inaccurate or incomplete.

The Seaside

Game:

LittleBigPlanet

Creator:

Captain Victor

Levels:

6

Prizes:

93 (Final)
119 (Total)

Theme Chronology
	The Gardens	The Savannah

The Seaside (referred to internally as English Seaside) was a cut theme intended for the original LittleBigPlanet's story mode, designed around coastal piers, seafaring, and pirates. Despite being featured prominently in pre-release media, it was cut late in development due to quality concerns and time constraints.^{[citation needed]}

Overview

A player aboard a pirate ship in the Seaside.

Development

The Seaside was developed as one of multiple English-centric themes that would be found at the beginning of the game's story mode, alongside the Garden. Like its sister England theme, the Seaside received significant development that spanned a significant portion of LittleBigPlanet's later development. By the time it was cut, the Seaside had amassed a considerable amount of assets, and had also been featured in promotional footage.

Ultimately, the Seaside was cut late in development, with developer accounts claiming it was due to quality concerns compared to other themes at the time.^{[citation needed]} Most of the Seaside's existing assets (barring those that lacked general polish by the time it was cut) were redistributed across the entirety of LittleBigPlanet's story mode. The Seaside's linear music track My Patch appears in multiple levels from the Savannah theme.

Many assets for the Seaside - including its background - are present in the 24 June 2008 recovery, implying the Seaside's existence a mere four months before the game was shipped. Alongside content for themes cut long before it, the Seaside is also largely intact in the TGS 2009 Move demo build, with the notable addition of story levels absent from the June recovery.

Legacy

As mentioned before, some aspects of The Seaside ended up being used for DLC later down the line - with the developers even mentioning plans on re-releasing the theme as a DLC^{[citation needed]}. Though this never directly happened - The Pirates of the Caribbean Level Kit would later be released late into the original LittleBigPlanet's lifespan, featuring similar aspects of revolving around traditional pirates and the sea.

During the development of the cancelled LittleBigPlanet HUB, the idea of a seaside pier theme was reused for the game's unique Introduction level, featuring completely new assets and an overhauled version of the original Seaside background. Ultimately, the updated Seaside, along with the rest of LittleBigPlanet HUB, would be scrapped upon the game's silent cancellation.

In August 2016, the Seaside Surprise Level Kit released for LittleBigPlanet 3, which would reuse and further polish the updated Seaside from LittleBigPlanet HUB's original introduction level in a unique level kit.