As Sumo Digital approached the end of development for LittleBigPlanet 3, they requested assistance from Tarsier Studios with the finishing touches. Due to my experience with LittleBigPlanet PS Vita, I was brought on to ensure that everything in Create Mode was clear, concise, intuitive and polished for launch. This included the tools themselves, along with their presentation (naming, descriptions, iconography), unlock progression and the interfaces, including UI and the touch interactions for the PlayStation 4’s touch pad.
Create Mode / Tools
When I came onto the project, Sumo had massively expanded the potential in create mode; adding many new tools, updates, characters and play styles to support. The challenge at this point was to take this powerful toolset and refine and polish the functionality for end users, so my focus was on streamlining the experience, ensuring consistency and maintaining the quirky charm of the franchise.
Working very closely with the coders and level designers at Sumo that had deep knowledge of the game’s development, I started to build an overview of the features and a priority list of gaps, inconsistencies and redundancies, then worked with production to plan out a route to alpha, beta and finally master. At the same time I was ensuring all of the text, iconography, UI and other presentational elements communicated clearly and were on-brand. Mostly this was from a design perspective, except for UI scripting, which I undertook myself to reduce iteration times.
DualShock 4 Touch Pad
The touch interaction model for PlayStation 4 was an adaption of the touch create features from LittleBigPlanet PS Vita, reworked for a touch pad. I owned the design of these features, but also actively coded some parts, prototyping experimental features and finalising the feel.