Archive: 7 posts

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I already knew I was bad at using pistons. When I played around with the beta of this game, I could never get the piston to do what I want. I tried using pistons again today and I just failed miserablely. I don't even know what all the options mean! So I wanted to see if someone could run me through the basics of using a piston and all that can be tweaked. Examples of each outcome would help. I Seriously need help with pistons. I just don't understand them. This has been holding me back so much. It's pathetic how little I can accomplish right now. I can't even do the most basic of things. Any help will be greatly appreciated. So Teach, I'm ready to learn Thank you for teaching me.

2009-08-16 10:56:00 Author: Roanoake Posts: 166

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First off, check out the notes about pistons here: http://www.littlebigplanetguide.com/page/Complete+Materials+List This is vital piston information that will help you in the long run. I'm not going to give you a complete overview on pistons, but just some basics. 1. Read those notes on that page, they might save you some trouble in the long run. 2. Minimum and Maximum control how long the piston is, where it starts, and where it ends before going back or starting over. They tend not to like being set too high (I try to stay under 1,000 max) 3. Strength controls how "rigid" it is. This isn't to be confused with the strangely-named "Is it stiff?" setting. For example, if you attach a piston to a block and a winch on the other side, if you want the winch to pull on it sometimes, set the piston to a strength below 10, which is 100%. 4. The speed is how long it takes the piston to complete an entire cycle, not just one way. For example, if it is set to 5 seconds, it will take 2.5 seconds going all the way out and another 2.5 seconds going all the way in. 5. Pause controls how the piston acts at the poles of its movement. If this is set to a number above 0, the piston will stop for that designated time at each end of its movement. 6. Sync is great if you need a bunch of pistons to work in unison or on a pattern. This is what allows you to make pistons at different times but still have them doing identical motions. If you want a piston to match up with another piston, give them both the same sync value. This is commonly used in Story Mode to make nice, clean effects. 7. The flipper setting controls how the piston moves. Normal pistons with this on the default (X) will travel up and then back down. With flipper movement on, it will either go all the way out and skip back to the start, or go back to start and skip out to the end and do it over. This is best learned by experimentation. Another side note: These flipper pistons cannot be set directionally, but unlike regular pistons, they can be set to one-shot. They are commonly used in logic (at least for me). 8. "Is it stiff?" is really simple. If it's off, the piston doesn't keep its natural angle you set it at, it just flops around. If it is on, it will travel exactly how it was set-up, assuming everything else checks out as well. 9. Visibility shouldn't really need explanation. It is either visible in Play Mode, or it isn't. I just did this off the top of my head, so tell me if I missed any important settings.

2009-08-16 11:29:00 Author: BSprague Posts: 2325

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Thanks! That is a lot of info. I need to work with the flipper setting and apply a switch. I still don't like pistons. This will help a lot though.

2009-08-16 21:37:00 Author: Roanoake Posts: 166

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Granted they are'nt the easiest things to work with, but you'll get it. BSpragues tips up there are spot on. If you need any help, post back in here and we'll all see what we can do Another hint, the stiff setting should almost ALWAYS be set to on. Get it into your head to change this immediatly when access the tweak menu. I don't know how many times I forget to do this, and watch my creation flop around and destory itself and the surrounding area.

2009-08-17 11:00:00 Author: GruntosUK Posts: 1754

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I don't know how many times I forget to do this, and watch my creation flop around and destory itself and the surrounding area. I've done this more times than I can count. I do it frequently when I'm working on logic. I think it looks pretty comical, especially at high speeds.

2009-08-17 15:21:00 Author: BSprague Posts: 2325

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Another hint, the stiff setting should almost ALWAYS be set to on. Get it into your head to change this immediatly when access the tweak menu. I don't know how many times I forget to do this, and watch my creation flop around and destory itself and the surrounding area. Ditto... I wish the default was set to stiff. I usually am really good at getting this, but I get in a hurry and flop flutter snap crunch. Rewind!! Actually, I think it would be cool to have a personal preferences menu in your toolbag to set default settings such as visible on everything to off, pistons to stiff, fav color of led's.. etc.. Much like the personal prefences on pc software applications.

2009-08-17 16:42:00 Author: jwwphotos Posts: 11383

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Actually, I think it would be cool to have a personal preferences menu in your toolbag to set default settings such as visible on everything to off, pistons to stiff, fav color of led's.. etc.. Much like the personal prefences on pc software applications. This words should be in the Bible of LBP

2009-08-17 18:16:00 Author: OmegaSlayer Posts: 5112

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