Cube World: Voxel Based Indie ARPG

[Jasede]

The problem is that programming and making graphics is incredibly difficult work. If you try to make a game on your own time with only 1-2 people working on it it will either take decades to complete (Hello AoD, Grimoire!) or it will end up with very simple graphics and short levels to cut down the sheer amount of time needed.

The problem with programming, especially while you are just starting out, is that it takes forever to do even the most simple things we take for granted in a game.

 

[Damned Registrations]

LOL. Score = meaningful but achievement = totally pointless. Riiiiiight.

If Super Meat Boy gave you 3 lives, you'd cry about how unfair it is and give up halfway through the game. If you get even that far. The fact is, so many of the later levels are obscenely difficult that trying to play through them all on limited lives is nigh impossible, let alone trying to collect the bandages and get A ranks in the process. Fuck, I didn't even try for the real ending on SMB, just getting the light world finished took forever.

Games themselves are self imposed challenges. Getting to the third stage of Dodonpachi isn't magically more impressive than speedrunning SMB3 without powerups just because there was an easier way to beat the game. If you can't help but slither by on the easiest possible difficulty on every game you play like a fucking worm that's your problem.

 

[Jasede]

You don't even know what games I play, how well I play them or at which difficulty; you're just being an asshole for no reason. But you made one good point: games are self-imposed challenges themselves; that's a good insight.

 

[Damned Registrations]

Well apparently you haven't played castlevania games recently, or you'd recall that aside from the first (which had infinite continues anyways) they had password systems. Or are you going to argue that all the other games in the series are shit? Protip: Telling people the games they've played aren't actually challenging is also being an asshole for no reason. You'd probably rage pretty hard if I told you Dodonpachi was shit and I 1CCed it because of slowdown, while Halo was way harder because the fagbox never slows it down for me.

I honestly don't see why you think there's a significant difference between replaying a 5 minute stage 3 times and 3 1 minute stages 5 times each. Difficulty is just the barrier to progress. It doesn't matter what size the chunks are or what order they come in. In the end it's just time spent practicing until you're good enough to win. I remember playing old platformers that made you restart the entire game when you died enough, but I didn't get any more satisfaction out of beating them than I did out of beating something like Iji, where you can save between each level. The only real difference is that when I go back to playing something like Iji after a long while, the whole game feels fresh, instead of the last 25% whereas the first couple stages of Sonic 2 are burned into my mind so much I remember most of the secrets years later.

 

[Metro]

Jasede, you might enjoy:

 

[MisterStone]

So does this Cube World game have destructable environments? Some kind of sophisticated physics model? If not, then the whole voxel business just a bunch of hipster 8-bit fetishism wankery and the game will probably suck.

 

[Forgotten Friend]

Just got a little butthurt.
What voxel usage meant 15 years ago:

What it means now:

I know it's an indie, but it looks like something between graphical roguelike and Minecraft. And they aren't even trying.
I'm still waiting for innovative indie or small studio game with highly interactive voxel environment. Am i naive?

Not all hope is lost.

Look at that water and terrain and trees with impostors. That's programmer art, too. A good texturer and modeler could make that look better than Rage.

 

[Roguey]

Looks pretty hipster. I can dig it.

I also wouldn't play any old platformer without the use of save states because fuck hour long muscle-memory tests, I only put up with that shit because I was bored.

 

[Jasede]

Well apparently you haven't played castlevania games recently, or you'd recall that aside from the first (which had infinite continues anyways) they had password systems. Or are you going to argue that all the other games in the series are shit? Protip: Telling people the games they've played aren't actually challenging is also being an asshole for no reason. You'd probably rage pretty hard if I told you Dodonpachi was shit and I 1CCed it because of slowdown, while Halo was way harder because the fagbox never slows it down for me.

I honestly don't see why you think there's a significant difference between replaying a 5 minute stage 3 times and 3 1 minute stages 5 times each. Difficulty is just the barrier to progress. It doesn't matter what size the chunks are or what order they come in. In the end it's just time spent practicing until you're good enough to win. I remember playing old platformers that made you restart the entire game when you died enough, but I didn't get any more satisfaction out of beating them than I did out of beating something like Iji, where you can save between each level. The only real difference is that when I go back to playing something like Iji after a long while, the whole game feels fresh, instead of the last 25% whereas the first couple stages of Sonic 2 are burned into my mind so much I remember most of the secrets years later.

I guess you raise good points there. You're probably right, sorry. I just often think I am right about everything. Stupid, I know.

 

[Gragt]

Also, having replayed the first Castlevania this week, it is awfully short, and that's probably because of the difficulty — you do get infinite continues though, and must restart from stage 1 only if you reset the game — because if you know your way around, you can deal with it rather fast. The other episodes are longer but have a password/save system, as DR said, probably to compensate for the increased lenght. That's pretty much a good trade-off to conserve the challenge — when it comes to Castlevania 3, 4 and RoB anyway, because 2 is damn easy. Same thing with Super Meat Boy: you may have infinite lives but there are many levels and secret zones, many that will take a long time to complete. Clearing 100% of the game isn't a week-end relaxing affair, and you do not have to if that's not your thing, but for those who like the challenge, it's there. And for the masochist, there are the iron man (boy?) achievements, which are no small feats. The challenge may be of a different kind from older games, but it's still a challenge nonetheless, and parts of it are optional. Just like for older games, you do it because you want to, and get a higher score, an achievement, extra ending, or just nothing. On that note, just because most achievements in games are trite doesn't mean it's a bad idea.

In fact I'd say that games like SMB tap into old challenge design but adapt it to modern sensibilities. It is designed to offer a lot of small chunks that you can tackle in the order you want, and even then just completing one of these chunks doesn't mean you can't come back later to improve your performance. The bad thing is to take an old design as is it and give it modern features, like quick-saves. You can already see the result by playing Castlevania on an emulator and using save states. Doing away with old conventions isn't a bad thing as long as the gap they leave is filled in some way.

 

[deuxhero]

Did Castlevania have save points?

In 3? You get passwords every level, so yes.

 

[Jasede]

Ah come on, I already backed down.
And 3 and 2 are fucking terrible, and 4 is a watered down 1. And you're supposed to throw a quarter into the garbage disposal each time you use a continue in 1.

Harumph.

 

[BLOBERT]

BRO I AM AFRAID THIS IS BECAUSE OF PCTARD INFLUENCE THE PCTARDS TODAY ARE TO USED TO SAVESTATES OR QUICKSAVE SPAM AND MAJOR CRYING WOULD INSUE IF CHALLENGE WAS ADDED

Don't make me come over there I will dive into your distended naval and then explode outward in a shower of blood and entrails. After eating some of your cereal to prove who's the boss.

BRO LOLLOLLOL NO HARD FEELING IT IS JUST THAT PCTARDS REALLY ARE NOT USED TO CHALLENGE

MY CEREAL MIGHT BE TO HIGH TO REACH AND YOU WOULD NEED THE CHEAT CONSOLE AND YOU WOULD CRY IF I ONLY LET YOU HAD ONE TRY AT IT

LOLLOLLOLOL AND IF YOU MISSED MY NAVEL PCTARDS WOULD CRY FOR A DO OVER OLLOLLOLOOL

 

[BLOBERT]

BROS LOLOOLOLOL THINKING MOST PCTARDS WOULD SHIT THEIR PANTS TO FINISH MOST NES GAMES WITHOUT SAVESTATES LOLLOLLOL PCTARDS CONSOLTARDS LAUGH AT YOUR SERIOUS LACK OF BRIANS

 

[Gragt]

2 is terrible, no argument there. But 3? It's pretty much back to the design of the first game, although not as hard but it'll still have you pull your hair at some points, and it adds nifty stuff like several routes to reach the castle and unlockable characters that change even more the way the levels can be played. Suddenly you can scale walls or fly as a bat, talk about changing the gameplay! And the level design support this, so it doesn't break the difficulty. Sypha is kind of overpowered as a boss killer though, but it's somehow balanced by being able to find and keep her lightning spell for a boss fight.

As for the fourth, if you mean that it isn't as hard as the first one by being watered down, sure. Else it's like Castlevania but with multi-direction whip, new traps, rotating levels, etc. It's one of those rare instances where a game served as an exemple to show-off all the new techniques the new hardware brought, but used them in a smart way that improved the gameplay. I haven't played it in years and my memory is a bit hazy, but I have very fond and clear memories of some stages. Anyway I took the opportunity to replay the first (didn't lose my touch, ah!), and then discover the second and third which I missed back when I had a NES. I'll go back to the 4rth in a week or so, then Bloodlines, RoB, etc.

Anyway, what about Megaman 2 and 3? These weren't as hard as Castlevania but they sure were challenging too.

 

[BLOBERT]

BROS I THOUGHT THE CODEX WOULD BOND BEHIND THE UNDERDOG ZELDA 2 WANNABE OF CASTLEVANIA 2

YOU BROS DISSAOPOONT ME WITH YOU REGURGITATION OF MAINSTREAM BULLSHIT

 

[Gragt]

Yes, bro, that game is not appreciated to its true value, so we must gather and circle-hipster-jerk each other. No homo.

 

[deuxhero]

No humans? Isn't that Bioware Social?

 

[funkadelik]

Not gonna lie, I think it looks cool. As long as they can implement some sort of puzzle solving maybe even some Zeldaesque item system where you can't progress without a special item/weapon. But if it is just pure H'n'S I probably wont get it.

 

[Berekän]

It's an art style choice and it's one guy working on it in his free time. That said, apparently (and funny enough given the off topic discussion in the thread) the guys at Team Meat's next project will be voxel-based.

Voxels is the new zombies

 

[TripJack]

that game looks fucking great where do i get it

 

[betamin]

I don't like how he attacks and moves, it becomes a "spam attack and try to bump the enemy" type of game.

 

[Metro]

This guy's been below the radar for awhile but he recently got his stuff together and threw together a homepage with a lot of details on classes, gameplay, etc. Alpha seems like it'll be available in the not-too-distant future: https://picroma.com/cubeworld

In before another page of 'it's shit.'

 

[Turisas]

The alpha went up into sale for a while - 15€/20$, which is pretty jewy - but then the whole s(h)ite promptly crashed and burned. Still down atm.

 

[Metro]

He should have just done a Kickstarter.