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The June 29, 2009 "Alpha" build of LittleBigPlanet PSP was released on July 26, 2020 by MysteriousCube. The .iso containing the build was found on a backup disc created by a former SCE Cambridge Studio employee, alongside builds for MediEvil: Resurrection and WipEout Pure.
NOTE: This build should be played on real hardware (either PSP or PS Vita via Adrenaline), as it will not boot on any version of PPSSPP past version 0.9.8.
On the XMB, the game is referred to as "Little Big Planet PSP", rather than simply "LittleBigPlanet™".
Alpha
Final
Game Data
Save Data
N/A
The XMB icon is missing the vignette and stickers behind the logo, which itself is slightly bigger and has a harsher dropshadow.
The alpha's XMB background has Sackboy standing in front of a sheet of grid paper, while the final has him poking through a hole in the paper. The alpha's version is also missing the coloured paint splatters, instead having company logos and copyright text along the edges.
The save data's metadata is unique from the final (which opts to reuse the game's icon and background), featuring an animated icon clearly marked as placeholder, a darkened grid paper background, and a short instrumental loop that plays when highlighting it in the XMB.
The text displayed when highlighting the save data in the XMB uses placeholder strings with no indication about what each save is for.
Game Title Here (128 bytes max)
Save Data Title Here (128 bytes max)
Save Data Detail Here (1024 bytes max)
During installation, the game creates three directories in ms0:/PSP/SAVEDATA/:
LBPPSP012345INSTALL, which contains icons and metadata for various Popit items.
LBPPSP012345PROFILE, which contains the player's save data, including story progress and any user-generated content.
LBPPSP012345PATCHES, a seemingly unused folder that may have been used for an early implementation of game updates. For the retail game, the patched executable and its associated archives are stored in ms0:/PSP/GAME/%TITLE_ID%/, where %TITLE_ID% is the game's Title ID.
This needs some investigation. Discuss ideas and findings on the talk page. Specifically: Is LBPPSP012345PATCHES actually unutilised, or does it check for something in here?
General Differences
The bulk of the game's data is packed inside of lbp_archive.psarc which, unlike the final game's lbp_archive.arc, is not encrypted.
Score multipliers work differently than in the final game; they last longer and immediately multiply the value of Score Bubbles while active, as opposed to multiplying the number of points accumulated during a combo after it expires.
Sackboy's animations are overall less refined in this build.
Facial expressions are implemented, but do not have their unique idle animations. Furthermore, none of the emotes (performed in the final game by pressing L + any D-Pad direction) are present.
There are no animations for switching layers, or jumping while running (the standing jump animation is used instead).
When standing still on a moving platform, Sackboy will turn to face the direction the platform is moving in, rather than continually face the player like in the final game.
When all of a creature's brains have been popped, it falls apart rather than disappearing immediately like in the final game. This can sometimes lead to Sackboy being unfairly killed by a "dead" creature, since the creature parts don't get unlethalised like the PS3 game.
Graphical Differences
Materials lethalised with Horrible Gas have a noticeable bevel around their edges, which was removed form the final.
Create Mode Differences
Create Mode is present and unlockable by finishing Down Under, though it is in a VERY rough, borderline unusable state. Many tools haven't been implemented or don't work properly, and the game is extremely prone to crashing.
The Thermometer, displayed on the left side of the screen in the final game, is not present here.
The main Popit menu is comprised of a 3x3 grid, though only seven options are present. The final game removed the Hearted Items icon, and chopped off a column.
Sackboy himself can be picked up and moved by the Popit Cursor like any other object. Attempting to delete him by pressing Triangle will crash the game.
User Interface Differences
General
Prototype
Final
All of the loading screens use an early loading image comprised of various art assets from the PS3 game, and a piece of paper with "Milestone Alpha!" written on it. This was replaced with an animated loading screen inspired by the PS3 game's startup sequence.
Prototype
Final
The language select is rather bare bones; all of the options are in an unlabelled tall list, rather than a full-screen grid like in the final.
Popit
A non-functional Hearted Items list is present in the main Popit menu, in both Play and Create Mode, though it is impossible to actually Heart items in this game. The button was removed from the final game, although the icon for it still exists in the files.
Scaling and rotating stickers works differently compared to the final.
Rather than holding R and moving the analogue stick, scaling is mapped to Up/Down on the D-Pad, rotation being done by pressing Left/Right.
Scaling and rotation occurs in noticeable, rigid increments, rather than smoothly scaling and rotating.
Main Menu
On the main menu, controls are disabled while Stephen Fry is talking; it is possible to skip his dialogue by pressing Circle, however.
The "Go Online" option under Community Moon is broken, crashing the game shortly after pressing it.
A LittleBIGLink option can be found under My Pod, which would have been used to link the PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Portable games to unlock bonus content. It provides the choice of either a USB or Wireless Connection, but aside from the latter dimming the screen, neither seems to do anything when the "Connecting to PS3..." message appears.
Video Differences
Placeholders
Bink video files in this game are used both to show full-screen videos (e.g. the tutorials in Create Mode), and to play Stephen Fry's narration over gameplay (e.g. in the Introduction level); videos that fall into the latter category usually display a generic title card in lieu of any backing footage, since they are only meant to be heard, not seen. However, this build contains numerous videos that are intended to be seen but show a placeholder title card, likely due to the corresponding animation not being finished at this point of development. Below is a list of these videos, along with the text on their title cards for context.
Filename
Title Card Text
Notes
04_tut_mov.bik
TUT_MOV_Acting_and_Emoting
05_tut_vo.bik
TUT_VO_Little_Big_Planet_Intro
Treated as a voice-over in this build (meaning it plays over gameplay), but was upgraded to pre-rendered video panning around the cosmos. Plays upon reaching the main menu for the first time.
08_tut_mov.bik
TUT_MOV_Retry
11_tut_vo.bik
TUT_VO_Community_Moon_Unlocked
Treated as a voice-over in this build, but was upgraded to pre-rendered video showing the Community Moon and My Pod dropping down from the ceiling. Plays upon completing Walkabout.
16_tut_vo.bik
TUT_VO_My_Moon_Unlocked
Treated as a voice-over in this build, but was upgraded to pre-rendered video showing My Moon dropping down from the ceiling. Plays upon completing Dreamtime.
24_tut_mov.bik
TUT_MOV_Moving_Objects
26_tut_mov.bik
TUT_MOV_Placing_Objects
31_tut_mov.bik
TUT_MOV_Keys
Unused in the final game.
34_tut_mov.bik
TUT_MOV_Shapes_and_Thickness
35_tut_mov.bik
TUT_MOV_Paint
36_tut_mov.bik
TUT_MOV_Material_Types
37_tut_mov.bik
TUT_MOV_Floaty_Material
38_tut_mov.bik
TUT_MOV_Material_Changer
44_tut_mov.bik
TUT_MOV_Scoreboard
45_tut_mov.bik
TUT_MOV_Camera_Zone
47_tut_mov.bik
TUT_MOV_Magic_Mouth
50_tut_mov.bik
TUT_MOV_Bolt
51_tut_mov.bik
TUT_MOV_Checkpoints
53_tut_mov.bik
TUT_MOV_Start_Finish_Gate
54_tut_mov.bik
TUT_MOV_Photo_Booth
56_tut_mov.bik
TUT_MOV_Creature_Kit
57_tut_mov.bik
TUT_MOV_Sprung_Bolt
58_tut_mov.bik
TUT_MOV_Motor_Bolt
59_tut_mov.bik
TUT_MOV_Wobble_Bolt
60_tut_mov.bik
TUT_MOV_String
60_tut_mov.bik
TUT_MOV_String
61_tut_mov.bik
TUT_MOV_Rod
62_tut_mov.bik
TUT_MOV_Spring
63_tut_mov.bik
TUT_MOV_Elastic
64_tut_mov.bik
TUT_MOV_Winch
65_tut_mov.bik
TUT_MOV_Button
Title card is mislabelled; the dialogue actually corresponds to the Piston tutorial.
66_tut_mov.bik
TUT_MOV_Button
67_tut_mov.bik
TUT_MOV_Two_Way_Switch
68_tut_mov.bik
TUT_MOV_Three_Way_Switch
69_tut_mov.bik
TUT_MOV_Sensor_Switch
70_tut_mov.bik
TUT_MOV_Magnetic_Keys
71_tut_mov.bik
TUT_MOV_Sticker_Switch
72_tut_mov.bik
TUT_MOV_Grab_Switch
74_tut_mov.bik
TUT_MOV_Dissolvable_Material
75_tut_mov.bik
TUT_MOV_Shock_Bombs
76_tut_mov.bik
76_TUT_MOV_Rockets
79_tut_mov.bik
79_TUT_MOV_My_Camera
Upgraded to an animation in the final game, but ultimately goes unused.
Opening Sequence
The video with the Sony Computer Entertainment and Cambridge Studio logos are missing, and the live action intro seemingly hasn't been finished at this stage, so the PlayStation 3 game's intro is used as a placeholder.
Oddly enough, this version of the intro has a copyright year of 2007 despite the first game launching in 2008.
Credits
The credits are very incomplete, both in terms of their contents and implementation. A credits option is present in the Start Menu, but selecting this causes the game to get stuck trying to load a nonexistant 90_credits_mov_eu.tc file, forcing a reset and effectively rendering the credits unused.
The credits video file was renamed from 90_credits_mov_eu.bik in this build, to 90_credits_long.bik in the final game.
The text crawl is aligned to the centre of the screen and uses a different font.
Many sections are incomplete, or missing entirely.
Blue "Placeholder" text gets typed out on the left and right sides of the frame.
A single music track plays during this version's credits: 'Peace Pipe' by Nickodemus. In the final game, 'The Planet Plan' by United Future Organization plays during the first half of the credits, while a remix of 'Hoy Tenemos' by Sidestepper plays during the second half.
Unused Videos
01_tut_vo.bik
01_tut_vo.bik is a PS3 quality copy of the first game's intro, but with all the audio replaced with placeholder dialogue. While most of the audio tracks contain the usual language placeholders, the English channel features an early intro script read by Microsoft Sam, the subtitles for which can be read below.
You, my most cuddlesome chum,
hold in your hands a portable portal to an ethereal dreamscape powered by imagination which they,
quite rightly,
call Little Big Planet.
This most ergonomically pleasing device is a conduit…
connecting your mind’s cerebrum-bilical cord to that world,
enabling you to meld with the myriad seekers of creativity who are forever building,
exploring…. and sharing their ideas.
Keep this portable portal with you on the bus,
in the park,
under your duvet,
indeed anywhere the sack muse finds you.
Space and time are now merely colours on your brush
and Little Big Planet is your canvas.
LittleBigPlanet™, where the welcome mat is woven from dreams. Come in and make yourself at home.
This prototype is documented on Hidden Palace.
