21 replies to this topic

[dustin321]

There are so many voxel games now (Minecraft, FortressCraft, CastleMiner, etc.), and I am wondering if people are starting to get tired of them. I was working on one myself, but I think by the time I finished it people would be tired of these sorts of games.

[Orymus3]

no

Besides: Minecraft isn't Voxel.

Edited by Orymus3, 13 October 2012 - 01:35 PM.

[MrDaaark]

voxel is not a genre.

[dustin321]

voxel is not a genre.

By voxel games, I mean the cube-based games you see all over the place now. I'm not saying that building such a game is not worth it anymore, I was just wondering if players are getting tired of them

[TheChubu]

I think ppl are bored of Minecraft clones, not voxel rendering.

Why someone would play a Minecraft clone when Minecraft itself its right there? Either some devs make a "Minecraft" undeniably bigger and better (which I gladly play), or they should do something else altogether, with voxels or without them.

I've yet to see a good game with higher resolution voxels for example, or a game with voxels that isn't based around Minecraft's mechanics.

[aattss]

A lot of people in this thread don't get the point. The problem is the same as with mobas:no one is deviating much with few exceptions (i.e. terraria)

[Krohm]

I think by the time I finished it people would be tired of these sorts of games.

None of my friends (myself included) jumped on this "cubes are fun" bandwagon. But if that's your fear, don't worry: you, as a lone developer will always be late. At best, you'll be lucky and hit a nice spot that somehow makes you a successful developer. In general: find your idea, an idea in which you believe, and stick to it.

[Acharis]

you, as a lone developer will always be late.

Minecraft was done by a lone dev. Generally, I think it is the opposite, a lone dev works faster than a big team. Why it is that is a mystery of the universe but that's how it works to my observations

As for people being tired of cubes, it's the same question about people being bored of pixels. It's an elemental block of which you make a game, it's too small to really get bored about since it alone does not decide if a game will be fun or not.
If this is about "cubes that work like Minecraft" then it is another thing of course

Edited by Acharis, 15 October 2012 - 02:57 AM.

[Olof Hedman]

Yep. Even though the most obvious idea for a voxel system is "Lets let the user move the voxels around and build stuff!", doesn't mean there isn't an infinite number of other ideas you could build on top of them.

You just have to make more of an effort then trying to copy the gameplay of big hits.

I even think there still might be room in the market for a building-game, but you really have to bring at least something new to the table.

Edited by Olof Hedman, 15 October 2012 - 04:08 AM.

[Yrjö P.]

Yep. Even though the most obvious idea for a voxel system is "Lets let the user move the voxels around and build stuff!", doesn't mean there isn't an infinite number of other ideas you could build on top of them.

I think Minecraft's idea is not even the most obvious one, it only seems so post-Minecraft. Freeform destruction is the most obvious.

The uniformity of a large-grained voxel world should make it possible to run much more optimized physics. An engine that lets you take out walls and whole buildings organically would be good for a lot of stuff. Reimagining of Rampage, for one.

[Waterlimon]

Yeah, i dont like any voxel games ive seen this far because theyre just voxels. Its not fun to paint a 3d picture using static voxels (at least not for me). Minecraft has cool mechanics like water, pistons and redstone which allow creating "machines", but even that is not enough. You also need restrictions and needs so you actually need to be creative and work to get that awesome fort of doom built. Minecraft has some needs like hunger and surviving but those dont require much to deal with. Theres no point in building any complex systems because the amount of work required far outweights the benefits.

In my ideal voxel game:
-There are some basic needs like hunger or enemies (preferably other players) which are not easily dealth with. (minecraft has mutiplayer, but people cant allow attacking other peoples buildings because players can dig anything in seconds so it doesnt work )

-There are cool mechanics to create factories/machines/defenses to make your life easier and building these is actually worth it (other players cant build ladders in a second to get over your walls, you dont need to gather materials for months to build some useless train track etc.)

-There are no magical infinite resources or built-in-a-minute-forts

[Orymus3]

I think ppl are bored of Minecraft clones

Yet Castlestory's kickstarter went off charts...


And please everyone, stop using "voxel game" as a definition of a minecraft-like gameplay. This is definitely not what the word is meant to describe.

Edited by Orymus3, 15 October 2012 - 08:23 AM.

[TomVD]

Let's call it "voxel style graphics sandbox games"

If you are afraid of making something people will be bored with, you can always try something original

An option might be to replace the graphical style, then you end up with a sandbox game where you have to invent other ways people can be creative. Perhaps you can let them pump up oil that is used to mold plastic objects. Have this little crafting interface which is a very simplified 3D modelling tool.
Make sure people can easely put up screenshots or youtube video's of their creations, because the whole purpose is to show off your creations

Or replace the "sandbox" part and make it a race game (cars with square wheels, must be funny), an fps or a tycoon game perhaps.

Edited by TomVD, 15 October 2012 - 08:26 AM.

[dustin321]

My game will definitely be different, and the "voxel style" part really isn't completely necessary. My game has greatly evolved from my original plan and I think I could move into a top down style game now, rather than destructible 3d world. I think this would also take care of the problem of players believing that it is a "minecraft clone" just because it has cubes in it.

[SimonForsman]

I think ppl are bored of Minecraft clones

Yet Castlestory's kickstarter went off charts...


And please everyone, stop using "voxel game" as a definition of a minecraft-like gameplay. This is definitely not what the word is meant to describe.

Indeed, if i remember correctly Delta Force is also a voxel game (It had very impressive terrain for its time as well)
http://i1-games.soft...lta-Force_2.jpg

Not even close to minecraft

Edited by SimonForsman, 15 October 2012 - 09:34 AM.

[Olof Hedman]

Indeed, if i remember correctly Delta Force is also a voxel game (It had very impressive terrain for its time as well)
http://i1-games.soft...lta-Force_2.jpg

Not even close to minecraft

Or Commanche: Maximum overkill back in 1992 (also by Novalogic)

[Moe]

I think ppl are bored of Minecraft clones

Yet Castlestory's kickstarter went off charts...


And please everyone, stop using "voxel game" as a definition of a minecraft-like gameplay. This is definitely not what the word is meant to describe.

Indeed, if i remember correctly Delta Force is also a voxel game (It had very impressive terrain for its time as well)
http://i1-games.soft...lta-Force_2.jpg

Not even close to minecraft

Outcast 2 was another Voxel based game - also very looking.

I wouldn't worry about people growing old of voxel based free-form shooters (or the like). Heck, people are still more than happy to play 2D side scrollers...

[Ashaman73]

Minecraft was done by a lone dev. Generally, I think it is the opposite, a lone dev works faster than a big team. Why it is that is a mystery of the universe but that's how it works to my observations Posted Image

Almost right, the efficiency of a single developer is much better in smaller teams or even when working alone, still the capacity of a big team outperformces the capacity of smaller teams or single developers. Working alone is incredible efficient, but you will reach your capability limits quite fast, believe me
And most people forget, that minecraft was ~4 years in development until it got famous over night.

To answer the question of the topic starter: minecraft like games are the new roguelike games, so expect a flood of this games in the future

[aattss]

Let's call it "voxel style graphics sandbox games"

If you are afraid of making something people will be bored with, you can always try something original

An option might be to replace the graphical style, then you end up with a sandbox game where you have to invent other ways people can be creative. Perhaps you can let them pump up oil that is used to mold plastic objects. Have this little crafting interface which is a very simplified 3D modelling tool.
Make sure people can easely put up screenshots or youtube video's of their creations, because the whole purpose is to show off your creations

Or replace the "sandbox" part and make it a race game (cars with square wheels, must be funny), an fps or a tycoon game perhaps.

A genre isn't determined by its graphics. How about first-person sandbox/survival?

[Waterlimon]

More like 3d volume modifying game