Archive: 39 posts

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Here we go with another let's-figure-out-how-to-work-around-this type of thread. After applying the otherwise excellent "strawberry cheesecake" 2.03 update, pistons seemed to be utterly broken. Now, however, we have a work-around: --------------------------------------------------------------- ** UPDATE - Solution found! ** Thanks to salieri, as well as Cambridge Studio's official statement (https://lbpcentral.lbp-hub.com/index.php?t=22446-Official-Statement-from-Cambridge-Update-2-03-Announcement), we now have a solution to the problem: Always attach your piston to a static object first, and then attach it to a dynamic object. Put another way, the "thick" end of the piston must be attached to a static object and the "thin" end must be attached to a dynamic object. Objects must be set to "dynamic" before attaching a piston; materials cannot be tweaked after a piston is attached. Using pause mode, make sure your static and dynamic objects are set properly before attaching your piston. Put another way, the "thin" end of a piston must never be attached to a static object. This works for all pistons regardless of angle, motion, range, or type of switch attached. From the official statement: Broken Pistons Issue: Pistons breaking after saving in edit mode. (Also affects Springs) Detail: When connecting a piston to a dynamic object first, then a static object and then saving and reloading a level the piston will travel in the wrong direction. Resolution: We are working on a fix for this issue now and will try and make it available as soon as possible. If you have already edited and saved your level since downloading the patch you can fix any broken pistons by remapping them, attaching to the static object first, then the dynamic object. --------------------------------------------------------------- In addition to the solution above, here are some other known facts: If you edit, save, and play or reload a level after applying the update, any pistons in the level may suddenly behave differently. Bugged pistons appear to have their minimum and maximum values swapped and/or scrambled in some way. For example, if you create a piston with minimum length 10 and maximum length 50, following the "bugging process" it will behave as though the minimum length was 90 and the maximum length 50. Yes, I typed that correctly - the piston will generally move the opposite direction and may even operate as though it has a negative value. In other cases, the same minimum 10 / maximum 50 piston will operate as though minimum value is -30 and maximum is 10. A bugged piston appears to retain the same overall "transit" value, meaning if it was originally set to move 40 units it will still move 40 units after being bugged. Of course, it will move 40 units in an incorrect direction and/or in an incorrect manner. Pistons attached to magnetic switches that were created prior to the 2.03 patch do not appear to suffer from becoming bugged. Occasionally, selecting and detaching a bugged piston will leave it "stuck" to your popit cursor. You will not be able to delete or place the piston, and you cannot access the popit menu or select other objects. Update: It has recently been discovered that it is usually possible to place the piston somewhere else in your level. It may take a while to find a spot, but eventually you should be able to find a place where the piston will attach. At this point, either the piston will delete itself, or you will be able to then reselect and delete the piston normally.

2010-02-10 02:04:00 Author: Taffey Posts: 3187

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As posted in the origanal fourm: "I just Updated an hour ago, and while playing LBP I tried to enter Create mode And VOINKS! The entire psp shuts down without waring. I was at one Battery and I was Trying to enter My Rocket Test in create mode when it happend. I was able to boot up right away but I came to the XcrossMediaBar instead of little big planet psp. I wolud like to also state that in previous versions Sometimes when I Went into sleep mode, but came out on the XMB. The only other thing I had done before this was go to community moon to see how many plays my level had gotten." My level had 2 pistons in it It worked the next time I went into it Hope this helps

2010-02-10 02:33:00 Author: starkastor Posts: 61

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Strange, I've just looked at all of the pistons in both Aquabyss and my unfinished level and none seem to display any anomalies. Edit: Here's some possible theories I have on what might cause it. Installed DLC pack other than the Gardens DLC. Save file that was recovered after a corruption/crash.

2010-02-10 03:43:00 Author: Gilgamesh Posts: 2536

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Strange, I've just looked at all of the pistons in both Aquabyss and my unfinished level and none seem to display any anomalies.Editing without saving as well as simply playing does not seem to cause the bugging, but editing and then saving seems to. Make a copy of your levels and do an edit/save - do any pistons misbehave after that?

2010-02-10 03:47:00 Author: Taffey Posts: 3187

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Editing without saving as well as simply playing does not seem to cause the bugging, but editing and then saving seems to. Make a copy of your levels and do an edit/save - do any pistons misbehave after that? I had done so with my unfinished level, but not with Aquabyss. Having just performed the same operations on it, still none of the pistons are misbehaving. Aquabyss is a particularly good test subject because I have a variety of different piston setups on it, all of which are fine-tuned and sensitive to the slightest alteration.

2010-02-10 04:03:00 Author: Gilgamesh Posts: 2536

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Very interesting. Surprising but also somewhat encouraging. There are several pistons in my existing project that are doing just fine, but then again there are some that absolutely will not cooperate. I am also completely unable to create new pistons that behave normally, which means I need to finish the last 10% of my level without using any pistons at all. Fortunately, I think this is totally doable, but had this bug occurred even a day ago I would be totally screwed.

2010-02-10 04:24:00 Author: Taffey Posts: 3187

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All pistons in my levels are working just fine no glitching at all.

2010-02-10 04:35:00 Author: tominater12 Posts: 87

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It seems to me that there is only a problem with pistons that attach a dynamic object to a static object if the 'thick' end of the piston is attached to the dynamic object, I imagine because this is the 'base' of the piston. Every time I've changed the piston round to work the other way it's worked for me, but sometimes, for whatever reason, I just can't get the piston to attach that way around.

2010-02-10 08:34:00 Author: SalieriAAX Posts: 421

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I posted about this in the original 2.03 thread, but it was a good idea to make a separate thread like this since this seems to be the major issue that is affecting ongoing level building (the other things seem to be odd things going wrong with already published levels from what I can tell). As I said in the other thread, I have been working with Arrestor to make a system for a pinball level where you can use "x" for one flipper and "R" for the other, instead of having to run left and right. Well, we exchanged the first model, and I was working on adding a few things and I saved and published the new version, and then realized that I had published a buggy mess with all the pistons doing the Negative thing that you mentioned Taffey. Anyway, at the time, I was so worried about my other published levels that I deleted the level off of the community moon and abandoned the idea. Today (the next day) I decided to mess around with the level a bit more to see what I can figure out. I tried messing with one of the screwed up pistons, and there just wasn't much I could do with it. I unwired it, and then tried to delete the piston, but the piston ended up getting stuck to the popit cursor like you mentioned. I messed around with it for a while and tried sticking it to other objects, and that seemed to get rid of the messed up piston (so I didn't have to back out of the level or anything, it seems that when I tried to stick it to something else the game decided that maybe there wasn't supposed to be a piston there after all and deleted it). The odd thing is that after the piston was gone, all the other pistons worked fine! This was not the only piston that I added after the update, so I'm not sure why the level worked ok then. I put a new piston in its place and got the level working smoothly again (which didn't take much work since the other pistons worked correctly after the one was deleted), and presto, the level was a happy place to be once again. I anticipated that saving the level would throw it into crazy land again, and I was right. I saved the level, backed out, and re-entered to find that all the pistons were back in their messed up state. I'm not sure if this post helps you with much, but I figured I would give you my experience since it does seem to have a few facts about it that were different from what you had listed here (i.e.: all pistons are fixed after one is deleted, once the piston is stuck to the popit cursor you can get rid of it without backing out of the level...).

2010-02-10 08:42:00 Author: amazingflyingpoo Posts: 1515

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Is there any official statement to all these problems already?

2010-02-10 11:40:00 Author: Arrestor Posts: 363

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What a nightmare. I had fixed the scoreboard of my "Shipwreck" level (after the 2.03 patch, it didn't activate and you couldn't complete the level). I was happy because it had been easier than I feared. But when I was testing the level before republishing it, I discovered that now all the pistons have gone completely crazy. They have their values swapped. Some of them aren't straight anymore. Some of them even fly in the air, as if they weren't attached to anything. Now all the puzzles in my level are completely broken. I had to fight for half an hour to make one of the pistons work again as it was supposed to. Now there are "only" like 20 pistons more to fix. I think it may be related as the way you put/configure the piston in the first place (remember when you configure it, that white line with green edges depicting the maximum/minimum size: now the pistons follow that guide line, even if that means flying in the air). This is discouraging. It's just not worth it spending my time to fix things that were working before the patch.

2010-02-10 15:40:00 Author: Lleonard Pler Posts: 277

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I think that even if you got it all fixed, once you saved it would just be messed up again. As I stated earlier in this post, I had a level that was just a junk level, and after the update it went haywire. I only have about 5 pistons in it, so it is easy enough to fix (and the second time I tried fixing it, I only had to fix one and the rest started working fine), but once I saved the level and backed out it was all messed up again. Except for messing around with my junk level just to see if I can figure the piston issue out, I have completely stopped creating. I figure that the real level that I was building will be better off if I just don't mess with it for now. It seems like things that were added before the patch will keep working fine for the most part (obviously not everything, my "Lost at Sea" level has some minor problems like you have experienced in your other levels), but once something new is added, you are at a major risk of things going haywire. I assume that Sony will soon have a solution, but I think it is best just to leave it for now. I understand that it is a much worse situation for you. You have a level up that is unfinnishable, so when newcomers play it and can't finish, they might think less of you, but I think that if they have played all the way through that INCREDIBLE level of yours, they should have gotten the idea that you are an amazing creator. Sure, they might not all understand this bug issue we are experiencing, but they should still see that there is a special magic to your levels. Plus, everyone on PSP loves Lleonard_Pler

2010-02-10 17:37:00 Author: amazingflyingpoo Posts: 1515

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I worked on fixing "Dream or Reality?" and already published a fixed version of it (Its called "Dream or Reality? 2.03"). I repaired only one piston by removing it and placing a new one. Most of the Pistons could be easily repaired by attaching a new switch to them. It also seemed like the settings (pistons and switches) were messed up. In the process of fixing and testing one pair of pistons changed direction every 2nd test. A new switch was a solution to that everytime. (You may remember the two beds in the dream area. First the bed in the back layer should move towards the player and then meet the bed in the front layer which moves to the right. It was the other way round. So the Pistons were much longer as they were supposed to be.)

2010-02-10 17:43:00 Author: Arrestor Posts: 363

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I tried messing with one of the screwed up pistons, and there just wasn't much I could do with it. I unwired it, and then tried to delete the piston, but the piston ended up getting stuck to the popit cursor like you mentioned. I messed around with it for a while and tried sticking it to other objects, and that seemed to get rid of the messed up piston (so I didn't have to back out of the level or anything, it seems that when I tried to stick it to something else the game decided that maybe there wasn't supposed to be a piston there after all and deleted it).Another interesting find. I messed around with this a bit on a new blank level. I created a bugged piston and managed to get it stuck to my popit as before. This time I tried sticking it anywhere and everywhere, and eventually I got it to attach. The piston was still there, but this time I was able to select and delete it normally. So, it appears the "sticky popit piston" issue is generally solveable without crashing your PSP. I'll update my thread. The odd thing is that after the piston was gone, all the other pistons worked fine! This was not the only piston that I added after the update, so I'm not sure why the level worked ok then. I put a new piston in its place and got the level working smoothly again (which didn't take much work since the other pistons worked correctly after the one was deleted), and presto, the level was a happy place to be once again. I anticipated that saving the level would throw it into crazy land again, and I was right. I saved the level, backed out, and re-entered to find that all the pistons were back in their messed up state.I have found something similar. Pistons in create mode may begin behaving normally again after deleting another bugged piston, but they revert to their bugged state following a save/reload. What a nightmare. I had fixed the scoreboard of my "Shipwreck" level (after the 2.03 patch, it didn't activate and you couldn't complete the level). I was happy because it had been easier than I feared. But when I was testing the level before republishing it, I discovered that now all the pistons have gone completely crazy. They have their values swapped. Some of them aren't straight anymore. Some of them even fly in the air, as if they weren't attached to anything. Now all the puzzles in my level are completely broken. I had to fight for half an hour to make one of the pistons work again as it was supposed to. Now there are "only" like 20 pistons more to fix. I think it may be related as the way you put/configure the piston in the first place (remember when you configure it, that white line with green edges depicting the maximum/minimum size: now the pistons follow that guide line, even if that means flying in the air). This is discouraging. It's just not worth it spending my time to fix things that were working before the patch.That is hugely disappointing. I agree that the game should be patched, but existing bugs should be grandfathered. In other words, things that used to work should never suddenly become broken like we're seeing here. We're collectively doing everything we can to get this sorted out, so sit tight and hopefully we'll have a solution for you.

2010-02-10 18:02:00 Author: Taffey Posts: 3187

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Plus, everyone on PSP loves Lleonard_Pler ^ This. I'll try to continue experimenting on my end until I'm able to get my pistons to not work, and maybe figure out if there's a surefire way to cause/avoid it.

2010-02-10 18:10:00 Author: Gilgamesh Posts: 2536

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Folks, I'm onto something. salieri got me started on the right path: It seems to me that there is only a problem with pistons that attach a dynamic object to a static object if the 'thick' end of the piston is attached to the dynamic object, I imagine because this is the 'base' of the piston. Every time I've changed the piston round to work the other way it's worked for me, but sometimes, for whatever reason, I just can't get the piston to attach that way around.This suggestion was part of the solution. The other part of the solution is to make sure objects are set to dynamic before attaching pistons. I've updated the main thread to reflect my findings - everybody please try this out and let me know if it works! Edit: After posting my update, I saw Jack's thead containing Cambridge's official statement (https://lbpcentral.lbp-hub.com/index.php?t=22446-Official-Statement-from-Cambridge-Update-2-03-Announcement). So, this method really does work. Yay!

2010-02-10 18:26:00 Author: Taffey Posts: 3187

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Wow I have been doing that the entire time I made pistons that same way so that is why I have no broken ones thanks for the heads up though.

2010-02-10 19:59:00 Author: tominater12 Posts: 87

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Wow I have been doing that the entire time I made pistons that same way so that is why I have no broken ones thanks for the heads up though. Same here, I usually place the base on the static/unmoving piece first and end with the part that moves. The reason is both aesthetic and practical. What happens if you have two dynamic objects connected via pistons though?

2010-02-10 20:04:00 Author: Gilgamesh Posts: 2536

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Same here, I usually place the base on the static/unmoving piece first and end with the part that moves. The reason is both aesthetic and practical. I tend to make it that way too, but for some reason it's not always possible and many times I've seen how the Editor will only let me place the piston the other way around: first attaching it to the dynamic object, then to the static one. (The same happens with ropes, but it's not big deal as they don't move.) It's good to know there's a solution, though. As for me, I won't risk losing time fixing pistons that worked before the patch. Who knows: probably if I fix them now, I would have to fix them again once the next patch comes out.

2010-02-10 20:18:00 Author: Lleonard Pler Posts: 277

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As for me, I won't risk losing time fixing pistons that worked before the patch. Who knows: probably if I fix them now, I would have to fix them again once the next patch comes out. With that logic you cant built anything anymore... Edit: Anything with pistons

2010-02-10 20:26:00 Author: Arrestor Posts: 363

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With that logic you cant built anything anymore... Edit: Anything with pistons If I ever make another PSP level, guess which tool will I try to avoid as much as possible. PS: What I meant before is that my pistons do work if I don't enter Create Mode for now, so what's the point in entering there, just to force pistons to get buggy and then having to fix them? Better wait until the next patch comes out, we already know the pistons issue is being worked into.

2010-02-10 20:31:00 Author: Lleonard Pler Posts: 277

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I don't have any particular pattern with regards to which object I attach the piston to first. Sometimes it's the static one, sometimes it's the dynamic one. My real problem, however, has been the fact that I usually leave all of my objects static until I have the joints attached. This is primarily because I work in un-paused create mode and I don't want everything falling everywhere if I accidentally close my popit. Anyway, tweaking my elevator platforms from static to dynamic after attaching pistons is the exact reason why none have mine have worked... until now. So far I am 100% for pistons created the "new" way.

2010-02-10 20:39:00 Author: Taffey Posts: 3187

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You manage to work unpaused? I often do so on the PS3, but on the PSP I have turned to working paused, as mechanisms made in unpaused mode tend to explode. Especially when I turn static objects to moving, like you do.

2010-02-10 21:38:00 Author: Rogar Posts: 2284

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I had to fix my new level after the patch my pistons went crazy I replaced some pistons and yeah...

2010-02-10 21:48:00 Author: Spark151 Posts: 801

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Yes, I had a couple of instances of my PSP crashing when unpausing as everything figured out how and where it would be moving. I still do pause and unpause, but I try to never do it without saving first. And, of course, the first thing I did after the 2.03 update was to turn off the undo/redo function.

2010-02-10 21:49:00 Author: Taffey Posts: 3187

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And, of course, the first thing I did after the 2.03 update was to turn off the undo/redo function. I just though I'd tell you that the Undo and Redo fuctions are safe to use now. (From what experience I've had from them.) Though I only resort to them if I accidently delete something. UPDATE: Ace Creator has added a new level to featured levels called piston fix.

2010-02-11 08:17:00 Author: Fastbro Posts: 1277

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This is horrible. My pistions don't glitch and misbehave but I only have that problem on where the piston gets stuck to my pop-it cursor D:

2010-02-14 08:06:00 Author: TheNerd Posts: 840

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I've done everything in this thread, and I would like to know - even if you're using pistons 'the new way', will it still glitch if you use an item from your goodie bag? I like to have my LBP seal (a Sack head with two blue wings) pop up at the beginning of my levels. However, the pistons still won't work. Maybe I'm cursed for participating in Community Hotels? Either way, I was hoping to have the first Lava Flows level done by this week, but without pistons there's no way I can create rushing lava, which is central to my level. Honestly, I'm scared to even open it now, with the glitch actually occuring on previous pistons And one more thing. Anyone miss invisible blocks? That's a tragity no one seems to notice.

2010-02-19 13:55:00 Author: Voltergeist Posts: 1702

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Losing invisibility is a shame, and it's been mentioned elsewhere. In fact, I'm not updating to 2.03 for now because I have some stuff that relies on invisible parts that I want to finish first.

2010-02-19 15:49:00 Author: Rogar Posts: 2284

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I've done everything in this thread, and I would like to know - even if you're using pistons 'the new way', will it still glitch if you use an item from your goodie bag? I like to have my LBP seal (a Sack head with two blue wings) pop up at the beginning of my levels. However, the pistons still won't work.No, it should still work. Are you sure you're connecting the piston to the static object first? If all else fails, I'd recommend re-making your LBP seal (cool idea btw) and trying that. Maybe I'm cursed for participating in Community Hotels? LOL "community hotels". Back everyone, back! He's diseased! Burn the bedsheets! No, I doubt that's it. Either way, I was hoping to have the first Lava Flows level done by this week, but without pistons there's no way I can create rushing lava, which is central to my level. Honestly, I'm scared to even open it now, with the glitch actually occuring on previous pistonsThe glitch will only mess up existing pistons if you edit a level and re-save it. It's not the worst thing ever to go through and replace pistons, but it is a chore. I just wrote down all the length and timing settings of my old pistons before deleting and replacing them, and it worked pretty well. As long as you leave everything in pause mode you shouldn't have any piston freakout issues. And one more thing. Anyone miss invisible blocks? That's a tragity no one seems to notice.YES, I miss them terribly. Just before I installed the update, I made myself a rudimentary set of invisible walls and captured them. Basically just small, medium, and large - both single thick layer and double layer. They work just fine in new levels, but you can't create anything new. I need to go searching through the Community Moon and see what shareable invisible objects can be had and grab them all. Losing invisibility is a shame, and it's been mentioned elsewhere. In fact, I'm not updating to 2.03 for now because I have some stuff that relies on invisible parts that I want to finish first.Good call. Make as much invisible stuff as you can think of while you still can. In fact, make two of everything but only turn one invisible. That way you can figure out what they all are when you go back to the level later.

2010-02-19 17:54:00 Author: Taffey Posts: 3187

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Thanks, Taffey. I saw 'in pause mode' in your posts and now I know what I'm doing wrong. Add to first post? And on invisible blocks, could someone make a pack of them then update to publish? Unlike other 'fixes' in the update, it won't go back and change what was already done, so if someone made the blocks then updated, they (and us) would still be able to use them. I'd be willing to give up a few items in my community objects bag to idiot-proof my levels again.

2010-02-19 18:48:00 Author: Voltergeist Posts: 1702

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Thanks, Taffey. I saw 'in pause mode' in your posts and now I know what I'm doing wrong. Add to first post?Good call. Done!

2010-02-19 19:45:00 Author: Taffey Posts: 3187

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I don't think the invisble material glitch stopped working, because I've made more invisible objects (during 2.03 update) or maybe i found another to do the glitch? I dont think so, because I'm doing the same process anyways, my new level is coming well...

2010-02-19 21:23:00 Author: Spark151 Posts: 801

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Can someone confirm the invisibility glitch still works? Otherwise I'll do a pack. I don't know when I'll be able to publish it though, I'm focussing on my PS3 level right now, for a competition that ends this month.

2010-02-20 16:53:00 Author: Rogar Posts: 2284

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Uh, I think basicily, everyone who isn't Spark151 can agree that it stopped. Please make a pack.

2010-02-20 23:19:00 Author: Voltergeist Posts: 1702

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Xd Make a pack? I don't know... Like how? Just invisible blocks? Or invisible objects in many shapes?

2010-02-21 01:39:00 Author: Spark151 Posts: 801

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Speaking of strange piston problems, I was working on my level when something rather strange happened. I had these blocks attached to stiff pistons, and I decided to blow them up with a shock bomb thus making them fly in all different directions. I attached the pistons from static dissolve material to the blocks. The dissolve material dissolved just before the shock bomb exploded so the pieces would be free to fly. Although the pieces did fly, they did not rotate. In fact, one piece landed atop a random spire and was perfectly balanced even though one side was far heavier than the other. I find this "glitch" to be mostly annoying, but maybe it could be somehow helpful... Oh yeah, I have updated to 2.03. Has anyone else encountered this problem?

2010-02-22 05:31:00 Author: Numbhead Posts: 4

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Yes, that's something I have noticed as well. It doesn't appear to be specific to 2.03 as it was happening before the update. So, anytime you attach two objects with a rod or a piston and destroy one of the objects in-game (i.e., dissolve material), the remaining object "remembers" part of the physical characteristics of the object it used to be attached to. More specifically: A dynamic object is attached to a static object, and the static object is destroyed: The dynamic object will have normal mass and a normal center of gravity but will not rotate. Two dynamic objects are connected and one is destroyed: The remaining object will behave as though it was still attached to the destroyed object. For example, if you attach a square to a long rod and destroy the rod, the square will act as though it is much heavier than it really is and will have a center of gravity outside of the bounds of the square itself - as though it were still attached to the rod. The "phantom" attached object is free to move outside the playing field. I have considered using this "feature" as a game element, but I am afraid that it will be patched some day and the level using this feature will no longer work.

2010-02-22 05:51:00 Author: Taffey Posts: 3187

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Thanks. I finally decided to use non-stiff pistons in my level so the objects would rotate. I'll have to find a way to use the phantom object's center of gravity in one of my levels too.

2010-02-23 05:10:00 Author: Numbhead Posts: 4

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