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 Brains
| Creature Brain | |
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| Games: | LittleBigPlanet, LittleBigPlanet PSP, LittleBigPlanet 2, LittleBigPlanet PS Vita, LittleBigPlanet 3 |
| Type: | Gadgets |
| Category: | Creature Pieces |
| Inputs: | 1 |
| Obtained from: | Start |
Creature Brains can be snapped onto objects to give them simple AI, and also allows them to be "killed" by players.
Usage and behaviour
When placing Creature Brains from the Tools Bag, they 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 logic 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. 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.
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
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Behaviour: (see below) Determines how the creature reacts to nearby players.
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Input Action: (see below) Determines how the Creature Brain responds to logic signals.
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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?
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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. creatures lethalised with fire will be immune to other fire-based hazards. |
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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
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Movement Speed: (0% - 400%) Sets how quickly the creature trundles across the landscape. |
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Jumping Strength: (0% - 300%) Sets how high the creature jumps, with 100% being slightly higher than Sackboy's default jump height. |
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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. |
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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.
While it may appear that the differences between legs and wheels is purely cosmetic, the differently shaped collision means that wheels generally have an easier time navigating bumpy terrain than legs.
Despite not being tweakable, 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.
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.