Creature Pieces

The Creature Pieces are a set of gameplay objects that allow creators to give otherwise inanimate objects the ability to navigate a scene.

Creature Brain

Creature Brain
Dummy link
Games:	LittleBigPlanet, LittleBigPlanet PSP, LittleBigPlanet 2, LittleBigPlanet PS Vita, LittleBigPlanet 3
Type:	Gadgets
Category:	Creature Pieces
Inputs:	1
Obtained from:	Start

A Creature Brain can be snapped onto an object to give it simple AI, and also allows it to be "killed" by players and other hazards.

Usage and behaviour

When placing a Creature Brain from the Tools Bag, it will snap onto the edges of nearby objects on the same layer as it. The properties of a Creature Brain are set through its base, with the oldest one placed onto an object dictating its behaviour. For example, if there are two brains on a creature - one telling the creature to jump every 0.1 seconds and the other telling it to chase the player with 200% movement speed - whichever one was placed first will take priority. In LittleBigPlanet 2, LittleBigPlanet PS Vita and LittleBigPlanet 3, it is possible to dynamically change the creature's properties depending on which brains are collected by using Tag Sensors and Destroyers to destroy the bases.

Variants and death

Creature Brains come in protected and unprotected varieties, indicated by the type of dome on top of the cardboard base. The key difference between the two is that players can kill unprotected brains by jumping on it, shooting it with the Paintinator or throwing a grabbable object at it with the Grabinators, awarding 50 points per-brain. Conversely, protected brains cannot be killed through direct player interaction, and must be dealt with through other means. If a creature has more than one brain attached to it, all of them must be collected or otherwise destroyed in order to kill the creature.

In the original LittleBigPlanet and LittleBigPlanet PSP, Creature Brains can only be killed in Play Mode. Starting with LittleBigPlanet 2 Creature Brains can be killed in Create Mode, making it easier to test logic that relies on killing them. In LittleBigPlanet 3 most characters will bounce off of unprotected Creature Brains, the sole exception being Big Toggle, who will not bounce upward when killing one.

In addition to direct player action, creatures can also be killed by lethal materials and objects, regardless of which brain type is used. If the creature's active brain is tweaked to be vulnerable to hazards, and if one of its attached legs or wheels gets too close to a hazardous object, the creature instantly dies. However, lethalised creatures are immune to their own hazards, e.g. a vulnerable creature lethalised with fire will be impervious to all fire-based hazards, but can still die to other lethalised objects. A creature can even be immune to multiple hazards if there are multiple different lethal objects attached to it.

In the original LittleBigPlanet, the six colours of Horrible Gas are treated as separate hazards, e.g. a vulnerable creature made of green gas can pass through green gas unharmed, but other colours will kill it. Starting in LittleBigPlanet 2, Horrible Gas could take on any colour but would always behave like the first game's "green" gas; the other five variants would still function as separate hazards if imported through a level backup, however. In LittleBigPlanet 3, hazardous objects must be solid in order to kill vulnerable creatures, meaning that Horrible Gas and the non-solid Plasma projectiles no longer affect vulnerable creatures, but a Sackbot with a Horrible Gas Danger Tweaker in its circuit board is able to kill them.

Navigation

Simply stamping a Creature Brain onto an object is not enough to get it moving; it also requires at least one leg or wheel. With that condition satisfied, the creature continually run foward, only changing direction when it encounters a wall or a Creature Navigator. Depending on the settings in their tweak menu, Creature Brains will either ignore players, chase them or flee from them. If the Jump Interval is greater than 0.0s and at least two of its legs/wheels are touching the ground, the creature can also jump.

Tweaks

Behaviour

Behaviour: (see below) Determines how the creature reacts to nearby players. Ignore - The creature will wander back and forth, not paying any attention to the player. Follow - The creature will stand in place until the player gets close, then it will move towards them. Flee - The creature will stand in place until the player gets close, then it will run away from them.

Input Action: (see below) Determines how the Creature Brain responds to logic signals. On/Off: the creature's navigation will kick in when it receives an ON signal, turning off again when it loses power. Kill!: the creature will instantly die when it receives power, awarding 50 points to whoever activated it.

Awareness Radius: (0.0 - 5000.0) Sets how close the player needs to be for the creature to start chasing or fleeing from them. This tweak will not appear while Behaviour is set to Ignore.

Vulnerable?

Vulnerable to Lethal Materials: ( No; Yes) If set to yes, the creature will die if it comes into contact with a lethalised object. Note that creatures are immune to their own hazards, e.g. a creature lethalised with fire is impervious to other fire-based hazards.

Destroy Effect: (Disappear; Dissolve; Shrink; Explode; Fade; Splat; Fall Apart; Vaporise; Confetti) Sets the effect to use when the creature dies. The default is "Fall Apart".

Movement

Movement Speed: (0% - 400%) Sets how quickly the creature trundles across the landscape.

Jumping Strength: (0% - 300%) Sets how high the creature jumps, with 100% being slightly higher than Sackboy's default jump height.

Jump Interval: (0.0s - 86,400.0s) Sets how frequently the creature jumps. It this value is left at 0.0s, it will not jump at all.

Jump Phase: (0.0s - 86,400.0s) Sets when the creature jumps in relation to other creatures.

Creature Leg and Wheel

Creature Legs and Creature Wheels are used to help a creature navigate a scene. They are attached in a very similar manner to Creature Brains, snapping onto the nearest object on the same layer while being held with the Popit Cursor. They have no tweaks of their own; instead they inherit the properties of the oldest Creature Brain attached to the object.

When attached to an object with a brain, the object gains a level of stabilization similar to that of a Gyroscope; even if it only has a single leg, an unbalanced object will be able to stand upright as long as it can hold its own weight. If the creature has at least one leg or wheel touching the ground, it can move on its own. If two or more of its legs or wheels are touching the ground and the Jump Interval is greater than 0.0s, the creature can also jump.

In addition to allowing a creature to move on its own, legs and wheels also serve as weak points for vulnerable creatures, as they detect lethalised objects and kill the creature if one of its appendages collides with a hazard it is not immune to. If a vulnerable creature does not have any legs or wheels, it cannot be killed by hazards.

While it may appear that the differences between legs and wheels are purely cosmetic, the differently shaped collision means that wheels generally have an easier time navigating bumpy terrain than legs. Despite not being tweakable through normal means, the colour of a Creature Wheel can actually be changed by placing a Wall Jump Material Tweaker on it and changing the Visual Effects colour.

Creature Navigator

The Creature Navigator is a non-physical object that can be placed like any other logic gadget. It has no tweaks or ports, and only serves to redirect creatures that get near it. They can be placed onto circuit boards and will continue to redirect creatures even if its host Microchip loses power. Due to the lack of a tweak menu the Creature Navigator's visibility is entirely dependant on the game being played. In the original LittleBigPlanet they are always visible, but from LittleBigPlanet 2 onward they are always invisible in Play Mode.