Proto:LittleBigPlanet Karting/Public Beta

This is a sub-page of Proto:LittleBigPlanet Karting.

The message that appears upon booting the game.

In 2012, Sony held a Public Beta for LittleBigPlanet Karting from July 10th to the 31st, in order to test for bugs and gather feedback. Initially opened to those who had registered to participate, it was later made available to PS Plus subscribers. Only a small selection of story levels and Create Mode items are accessible by default, however, all of the content made up to this point of development (including the full story mode!) is present in the data and can be accessed through modifications.

The public beta was rendered unplayable on official hardware after August 1st, 2012, due to an expiration date built into the executable. Furthermore, while a package file for the US version had been floating around online for many years, no accompanying license had been successfully dumped. On December 25, 2023, as part of the Imagisphere 2023 Mega Release, a working license was released to the public, alongside a patched EBOOT.BIN which bypasses the aforementioned expiration date, allowing it to played on real hardware for the first time in over 11 years.

This article is a work in progress. ...Well, all the articles here are, in a way. But this one moreso, and the article may contain incomplete information and editor's notes.

To do: Some FMVs were changed for the final game. Document level design changes. The Settings menu features an option to turn on Stereoscopic 3D. Does this actually work on TVs that support it?

General Differences

• A "Public Beta" watermark is visible in the bottom right corner of the screen at all times.
• The Settings menu has option to enable Stereoscopic 3D, as well as a slider to adjust the intensity of the effect, though both of these appear to be disabled. The feature was removed completely from the final game.
• Oddly enough, the Community section in the Pod can be accessed when playing offline. However, none of the options inside can be selected until the player connects online.

Gameplay Differences

• The inputs for performing a 321 Boost are different.
  • L1 and either R2 or X (depending on the user's preferred control scheme) must be held for the duration of the countdown, with L1 being released as soon as the race starts.
  • In the final game, the accelerate and drift buttons must be held, with drift being released once the race starts. For the "X Button Gas" control scheme, this means holding X + R1, releasing the latter on Go, and for "R2 Button Gas", this means holding R2 + X, again releasing the latter on Go.
• While drifting, if a driver touches the side of a wall or obstacle with any drift boost tier, their boost will activate immediately. In the final game, the boost is lost when this happens.
• The Hit Info Flasher doesn't show when the player gets hit by another driver's weapon.

• In the Settings menu, under Video, there is an option to toggle Stereoscopic 3D on or off, as well as a slider to adjust the strength of the effect. Both of these options were removed from the final game.

Create Mode Differences

• The only backgrounds available by default are the Progress Emporium, the Gardens, Monster Islands and Avalonia.
  • The Pano Styles for each background are present in the data, but the option to switch between them has not been implemented yet.
• Sackboy's default spawn point when loading into an empty level is much closer to the ground.
• The player's kart lingers in the scene when entering hover mode, however, it disappears when using Popit tools.
• Whenever the main Popit menu is opened, all animation is paused and Sackboy snaps to the kart's last position, regardless of whether or not it's visible.

• After creating a track, the initial spawn points are in a different arrangement, and there is no start line sticker at the start line.

• When browsing a section of the Popit, the menu remains fixed in the centre of the screen, rather than shifting to the right like in the final.
• Many objects use placeholder names for the headers of their tweak menus.
• It is possible to tweak gadgets and other objects before stamping them into a level. In the final game, an object must be placed and then tweaked with the Popit Cursor.
• Objects can be quickly deleted by highlighting them with the Popit Cursor and pressing Triangle. In the final game, the object must actually be selected with the cursor before it can be deleted.
• On the Lighting page of Global Settings, all of the lighting colour settings use the same colour pickers found on standard objects. These were replaced with RGB sliders in the final game.
  • The sliders for Sun Altitude and Sun Azimuth have not been implemented yet, so it is impossible to change the sun's position in the sky.
• Prize Bubbles are not present in the Tools Bag by default, but they can still be accessed via modifications.
• Materials and objects that allow the user to tweak their colour can be set to copy the player's colour, indicated by a Sackboy icon in the top left of the colour selector. As alternate Popit colours were never implemented, however, selecting this option results in the object's colour turning black.
• The red start line marker that appears after creating a track cannot be selected, making it impossible to move the start line.
• The Live Preview feature is accessed by holding Up on the D-Pad, instantly resetting once released. In the final game, pressing Up instead toggles Live Preview on or off.
• When entering Test Drive mode, the player is always shot out of an entrance. This doesn't happen in the final game, though the respawn sound effect still plays.
• The Karts option in Global Settings (which allows the player to select a specific kart that all drivers will use) allows the player to select any kart that's saved in their Popit. In the final game, only karts that are unlocked in Story Mode can be selected.

Object-Specific Changes

• The ability to specify a label is not present on Transmitters or Receivers.
• The Magnet is categorized as an Object Tweaker instead of a Mover.
• The "Detect Blast Type" tweak is not present in the Weapon Blast Sensor. In its place is an "Include Rigid Connections" tweak.
• Checkpoints and Goals
  • An "Input Action" tweak is present in the tweak menu, and has two settings to choose from.
    • "Toggle" is the default mode in this build, which changes the Goal or Checkpoint's state each time it receives a signal through its input. This works as intended on the Checkpoint gates, but is bugged on Goals.
    • "Remains Active" means that once it receives a signal, the Goal or Checkpoint will remain active until a player drives into it. This became the default functionality after this tweak was removed for the final game.
    • The "Final Checkpoint" tweak has not been implemented yet.
• Scoreboard
  • Multiple Scoreboards can be placed in a single scene. In the final game, only one Scoreboard can be placed in a single level, with an error popping up if the user attempts to place another.
  • A visibility tweak is present in the Scoreboard's tweak menu. When enabled, the Scoreboard will be visible at all times, rather than only at the end of an event. Additionally, if the Scoreboard was placed by the user rather than being auto-generated after creating a track or arena, then it will also have collision. This tweak was removed from the final game, being replaced with an option to skip the pre-race countdown.

Popit Menu

• In the root of the Popit menu in Create Mode, Track & Arena Edit is in the bottom left of the menu, with Terrain being in the top left. In the final game, these icons swapped places.
• In the Goodies Bag, the UV Tool is only present on the Materials page, while the Capture Object Tool can only be found in My Objects, UFG Objects and Community Objects. In the final game, both tools can be found at the top of every page in the Goodies Bag.
  • Similarly, in Stickers & Decorations, the Sticker & Decoration Edit Tool is only found on the Stickers page, and the Take A Photo Tool is missing entirely; in-game photos can only be taken from the pause menu.
• In the My Karts section of the Popit, a Bodies page exists that allows the kart's body to be changed without affecting the other components. This was removed from the final game, where kart bodies must be chosen from the first page of My Karts.
  • Kart Horns and Engine Sounds are on separate pages, but were merged into one Kart Sounds page in the final game.
• It is possible to heart Backgrounds, as well as all of the options on the first page of Global Controls, however, they will not appear in the Hearted Items section of the Popit.

Text Differences

• Descriptions for the Terrain Road, Erase Road and No Respawn road types have not been written yet.

Graphical Differences

Costumes

• The Hoard's right eye is not reflective like it is in the final game.

Karts

• On the "A Mean Pinball" kart, the text on the pinball sign changes depending on which suspension type is being used. In the final version, the text is always the same no matter what suspension is being used.

Objects

• Launch Ramps appear to be made from rusted metal in this build, changed to red cardboard in the final game.
• The Grapple Sponge is missing the blinking lights on each end.

Backgrounds

• Pod Background
  • All of the sketches on the wall use art from LittleBigPlanet 2. In the final game, some of them were updated with concept art from LittleBigPlanet Karting.
    • Similarly, there is a blank sheet of paper on the floor that would later become a painting of Monster Islands in the final.
  • The texture used for the skydome outside of the house is more simplistic, lacking the detailed clouds from the final version.
• The Gardens
  • There are visible power lines between the two wooden poles, and a pair of shoes can be seen hanging off of them. Both the wires and shoes were removed from the final version, though the wooden poles can still be seen. These can still be seen in certain tutorial videos in the final game, likely due to them being recorded with an earlier build of the game.

Early	Final

• The Progress Emporium background's icon depicts a version that is brighter and is missing a worktop on the left hand side, among other minor differences. These changes are not reflected in the actual background, however.

General UI

• All of the icons related to defending projectiles are green in this build, recoloured to blue in the final game.
• When the player has more than one ammo for a weapon, the number of remaining shots remaining is displayed inside one stamp in the weapon well. In the final game, this number is highlighted in a blue bubble next to the stamp, and multiple stamps are overlayed on top of each other based on how much ammo the player has left.
• When a homing weapon - be it a leader seeker, multi-shot or red seeker - is about to hit the player, the icon that appears on the weapon warning is always the same. In the final game, there are multiple icons to represent different missile types.
• When one of the player's weapons hits another driver, the Hit Info Flasher shows a sad icon of the driver they hit layered on top of a red cross. This was later replaced with a green target, with the red cross being repurposed for being hit by another driver's weapon.
• The notification for being hit by another player has not been implemented yet.

Create Mode UI

• The grid that appears when moving objects with Grid Snap enabled is dark red and abruptly cuts off at the edges. In the final game, the grid fades out towards the edges and its colour was changed to match the colour used when highlighting something with the Popit Cursor.
• When tweaking gadgets that have a trigger radius, the model that appears to represent said radius takes on a more primative appearance compared to the final game.
• The Speed Sensor uses a rabbit for its icon, which was changed to match the gadget's appearance in the other games.
• There are no notifications to confirm when objects have been successfully glued, grouped or captured.

• The tutorials menu is incomplete. Lesson names use a different font, and the number of completed tutorials is bugged, permanently set to 0 out of 2.
  • The preview images are bugged; they only appear correctly in the Pod and are misaligned with the frame.
  • All of the tutorials are presented in fullscreen and stretched to fit the widescreen resolution. In the final version, they are presented in a small window that is overlayed on top of the game.
  • The tutorial dialogue has not been translated into other languages yet, so all of the audio for each tutorial video is packed into a single channel. In the final game, the game audio and dialogue are on separate audio channels, with each supported language being on its own channel.

Music Icons

A handful of music icons were altered for the final release.

Intended Song	Early Icon	Final Icon
Airbrushed (RAC Remix)
The Riviear Affair
Shooby Shooby Do Yah!

Controllers

Graphics intended for the Controls menu were changed between this build and the final release. While the early DualShock 3 graphic simply has different shading, the early PlayStation Move Racing Wheel graphic appears to be based on a prototype unit, as there are notable differences to the final version.

Early	Final

Audio Differences

Pod Music

The percussion track for the early Pod music has a few ambient sounds that were later removed. The track used when browsing Story Mode has some notable differences as well.

Early	Final

Left Bank Two

In the beta the remix of 'Left Bank Two' has two of the sliders separate, with the third slider having both of them combined.

Early	Final

Removed Content

Removed Graphics

Some music icons exist for songs that are not present in the beta.

Music Icons

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Removed Music Tracks

At least five licensed music tracks can be found in SONYKARTDEFAULT.PCK that were removed from the final version of the game.

Audio	Name
	Floor Basics by Mint Royale
	Aqui Para Voces - Mastiksoul Remix by Deize Tigrona and Buraka Som Sistema
	Touniquet by Knife Party
	Zumm Zumm by Django Django
	Relentless by Yngwie Malmsteen