craftworld-rs

An independent, experimental asset explorer and runtime for LittleBigPlanet 2, written in Rust with Bevy. It reads your own game copy, browses its resources, previews them, loads levels, and can run a playable Sackboy and the game's scripts on a reimplemented runtime.

This is an unofficial fan project, unaffiliated with Media Molecule or Sony. Despite the similar name, it is also not part of or affiliated with Craftworld Toolkit / cwlib, the community's long-standing LittleBigPlanet modding toolkit, whose format work this project gratefully builds on as prior art. It was prepared with AI assistance.

Status: experimental research software. Many formats are only partly understood, rendering and physics are approximations, and nothing here is a complete or compatible replacement for the game. Expect gaps and breaking changes.

Just want to try it? Go to Play it.

What it does today

• Asset scanner (lbp-cli): indexes a game directory (disc plus an optional installed update) into deterministic JSON: archives, MAP rows, resource headers and dependencies.
• Asset explorer (lbp-bevy-viewer, plus a legacy lbp-viewer): browse and search resources by path, GUID or hash, follow references, view hex, and preview textures (DDS/GTF BC1/BC3/BGRA8) and meshes with their materials and animations.
• Level viewing: loads level plans and draws their things, shapes, decorations, backdrops and lighting.
• Playable Sackboy: --play-sackboy puts a controllable Sackboy with his own animations, moods and a Popit overlay into a loaded level. Movement is measured against the original running under an emulator, and is close but not exact.
• RScript VM (lbp-script-vm, lbp-runtime, lbp-sim): an interpreter for the game's compiled scripts, with a native-function host and a small physics simulation.

Not done: complete material and shader evaluation, full level scripting, audio, online features, save games, and a standalone distribution. See STATUS-CURRENT.md for the exact current state and open blockers.

Play it (no programming needed)

No game files come with this app. It reads your own copy of LittleBigPlanet 2, the one you already play in the RPCS3 emulator. Nothing is downloaded, decrypted or changed; your ISO and RPCS3 folders are only read.

What you need

1. A Windows 10 or 11 PC (64-bit) with a graphics card that RPCS3 runs on, and about 2 GB of free space on the drive that holds your user folder.
2. RPCS3 with LittleBigPlanet 2 that already plays. It must be the USA disc, serial BCUS98245. Other regions (BCES, BCJS, BCAS...) don't work yet.
3. The game fully updated in RPCS3, to version 01.33. In RPCS3's game list, the Version column for LittleBigPlanet 2 should say 01.33. If it doesn't, install the update packages with RPCS3's File > Install Packages/Raps/Edats first.

Steps

1. Get the app. Download the craftworld-rs-preview zip (from the Releases page once one is posted, or from whoever shared it with you).
2. Unzip it. Right-click the zip, Extract All, and open the extracted folder. Don't run the app from inside the zip.
3. Start lbp-bevy-viewer.exe (double-click). If Windows says it protected your PC, click More info, then Run anyway: the app is new and not code-signed.
4. First box, the disc: click Browse... and pick your LittleBigPlanet 2 .iso file, the same one RPCS3 boots. If your game is a folder instead of an .iso, type or paste the path of the folder that has PS3_GAME inside it.
5. Second box, the update: pick RPCS3's dev_hdd0\game\BCUS98245 folder. It's inside the folder where rpcs3.exe is: open dev_hdd0, then game, then BCUS98245. The app often fills this box in for you. Picking RPCS3's own folder works too.
6. Press Set up. The first time, it copies about 1.2 GB out of your ISO and builds an index; that takes a minute or two. Wait for "Ready".
7. Pick something to play: the Pod, Popit, Rookie Test, Sackboy on the Moon, the Story screen, or the asset explorer.

If something goes wrong

The app says what went wrong in red under the Set up button. Find the message here:

The app says	What it means	What to do
Pick your LittleBigPlanet 2 disc	The first box is empty.	Browse to your .iso file.
Can't find ...	The path in the box doesn't exist (a typo, or the file moved).	Use Browse... instead of typing.
That's a compressed archive	You picked a .zip, .7z or .rar.	Extract it first, then pick the .iso inside.
That's an update package	You picked a .pkg in the first box.	Install the .pkg in RPCS3, then pick the .iso.
That's a single .rap/.edat/... file	You picked a key or game file, not the disc.	Pick the .iso (it's about 10 GB or more).
That's RPCS3's installed game/update folder	The update folder is in the disc box.	Move it to the second box; the first box needs the .iso.
There's no PS3_GAME folder in ...	That folder isn't a game disc.	Pick the .iso, or the folder that has PS3_GAME inside.
That file isn't an ISO 9660 disc image	The file isn't a PS3 disc image (or it's damaged or renamed).	Pick the .iso RPCS3 boots.
That ISO is BCES... (or another code), not the USA LittleBigPlanet 2	It's another region or another game.	Only the USA disc, BCUS98245, works for now.
... game archives can't be read: their contents are scrambled, or ... has no readable PARAM.SFO	The ISO is an encrypted disc dump; the files inside can't be read.	Use the ISO (or game folder) that RPCS3 actually plays.
The disc has no game archives	The disc copy is incomplete or it's another game.	Use a complete LittleBigPlanet 2 USA disc image.
Pick the update folder / No installed game at ...	The second box is empty or points at the wrong folder.	Pick dev_hdd0\game\BCUS98245 in RPCS3's folder. Install the updates in RPCS3 first.
The second box needs a folder, not a file	A file is in the update box.	Pick the BCUS98245 folder, not a file in it.
That update is for ...	That folder is another game or region.	Pick the BCUS98245 folder.
The installed update is 01.xx	The game isn't fully updated.	Install every LittleBigPlanet 2 update in RPCS3 until it says 01.33.
Write ... / Can't create ...	The app couldn't save its copy (usually a full drive).	Free up about 2 GB on your C: drive and press Set up again.
Your game files changed	The ISO or update changed since the last Set up.	Press Set up again.
A window saying The game files didn't load	A mode started but couldn't read the files.	Close it, press Set up again, and retry. If it keeps happening, start over (below).
... stopped: exited with ...	The mode closed itself.	Update your graphics driver, then try again.

Starting over: close the app, delete the folder %LOCALAPPDATA%\craftworld-rs (paste that into the File Explorer address bar to open it), and run Set up again. It only holds the app's own copy, index and settings; your game and RPCS3 aren't touched.

If none of this helps, open an issue with the exact red message. Please don't attach game files or screenshots of them.

Game data rules

No game assets are included or ever committed: no textures, meshes, audio, levels, archives, executables, keys, saves or emulator captures. .gitignore is default-deny. The app needs only your own USA LittleBigPlanet 2 (BCUS98245) ISO plus the 01.33 update as RPCS3 installs it (dev_hdd0/game/BCUS98245); it never needs a decrypted copy of anything, and protected or encrypted resources are not decrypted by this project.

Build from source (developers)

Requires a recent stable Rust toolchain (CI pins the version in .github/workflows/ci.yml). Windows is the primary development platform.

cargo build --release -p lbp-cli -p lbp-bevy-viewer

# 1. Scan your game directory into an inventory (output must be a new file
#    outside the game directory; add the update directory after a ';' to overlay it)
cargo run --release -p lbp-cli -- --game-dir path/to/disc-root --json inventory.json

# 2. Explore it
cargo run --release -p lbp-bevy-viewer -- --snapshot inventory.json --game-dir path/to/disc-root

Useful viewer options: --select-guid HEX to open a resource, --level-guid HEX to load a level, --play-sackboy to play in it, --help for the full list. Controls: left-drag orbit, right/middle-drag pan, wheel zoom, R reset, F frame. More detail: viewer usage, Bevy preview, update overlay.

Checks used by CI: cargo fmt --all --check, cargo test --workspace, cargo clippy --workspace --all-targets -- -D warnings. To contribute, see CONTRIBUTING.md.

Layout

Path	Contents
crates/lbp-core, lbp-io, lbp-archive, lbp-resource	readers: containers, archives, resource headers
crates/lbp-texture, lbp-mesh, lbp-preview, lbp-level	texture, mesh, material, animation and level parsing and preparation
crates/lbp-script-vm, lbp-runtime, lbp-sim, lbp-ui-script, lbp-gooey	script VM, gameplay runtime, simulation, UI scripts
crates/lbp-cli, lbp-catalog, lbp-viewer, lbp-bevy-viewer	scanner, catalog, and the two viewers
docs/	format evidence and per-milestone notes (architecture, formats, roadmap)

Parsing crates are independent of any UI or renderer. Earlier research milestones are logged in docs/readme-history.md.

Legal

• The authored source in this repository is licensed under either of MIT or Apache-2.0, at your option. That license does not cover any game data.
• The implementation is written from independent analysis and published community format documentation. Third-party tools are used only as external references (see THIRD-PARTY-NOTICES.md and community projects); no recovered or third-party game code is copied into the product.
• LittleBigPlanet is a trademark of Sony Interactive Entertainment. This project is not endorsed by or affiliated with Sony or Media Molecule.
• Contributions follow CONTRIBUTING.md and AGENTS.md; never submit game assets or decompiled code.