sand painting! we're close to submitting the editor version of the game, entitled 'Topia World Builder'
Sooooo, does this "editor version" integrate the game itself? In other words: will the "editor version" and the "just play" version include the full game, or is the "editor version" just a world builder to build worlds for the "just play" version?
Did the name come from barbies "fairytopia" series? I have the purple doll. Maybe subconsciously.....?
Topia is a world simulation, most of the work on that simulation has gone into modelling the physical world, allowing the user to change it, making the creatures react to those changes and allowing the user to interact with the creatures. I've also spent a lot of time on custom rendering tech to make this all happen at 30 FPS. Topia started with two simple goals, one was to create a tactile world for the user to shape, the other was to cover this world with huge numbers of creatures that eat, breed, breath and generally react to the environment. We feel we have achieved both of these goals and yet, to be honest, we're having a little difficulty turning it into a game. There are endless possibilities but we are very aware that everyone who is following the game has a different idea about what it could or should be. What we have already is, in my opinion, already a fun toy to play with even without any 'goals', you can create a world, build mountain ranges with paths snaking around the peaks. Plant forests, encourage huge herds to form and squish the predators that attack them. Right now the creature AI needs a lot more work before we can even start to put a game on top. We're also unsure just how simple the game should be. We want to keep it simple but we also don't want to disappoint those who might be expecting something deeper. We feel that what we need now is feedback so Topia, as it is, will be released completely free at first. Exactly where it goes from there is undecided and will be driven, at least partially, by player reactions. At some point it will definitely become some sort of game, possibly several games, all built on top of the underlying simulation.
Hi Glenn, thank you for sharing your thoughts. I'm a big fan of some of your previous work, it goes without saying. A little background on my "anticipation": The current simulation does sound very interesting already. Previous games I've looked at that appear (superficially) similar: Populous: Populous was a wonder of a game because of the intuitive up/down terraforming to max. building for your followers, a sort of virtuous cycle. Simple rules but usually emergent patterns with little differences each map, balanced between working on foiling your enemy and keeping your multiplying people all housed and "happy". From Dust: I notice Eric Chahi created an interested engine with "From Dust" but made the mistake of creating linear puzzles to gamify it. With simulation I think it is ideal to allow simple rules to interact to produce chaotic (emergent) interactions which the player tries to shape to the point of perfection (ideally). Considering some of the few things I've seen from Topia: I think the player will enjoy the sensation of navigating a globe that is malleable to their designs and checking how it looks each time they modify it and from different sides. The basic controls of pulling ground up/pushing ground apart to form Mountains, Valleys, Levels and Bodies of water could be very enjoyable by itself. Some Possible Layers To Build on top of the simulation: (1) The Ecosystem I think if the direction is to optimize the biomass on the globe, for example, with viable populations and ecosystems (predator-prey relationships) you may need to create rules between: Mountains -> Rainfall? -> Waterways -> Forests/plants grow -> herbivores -> predators If you having lighting, you could add the amount of sunshine at an optimum "altitude" as well for vegetative growth? You could then add complexity to the above: - Player moulds the landscape, allows waterways to form - Seeding plants is out of player control but player can indirectly influence (think up a mechanic that carries seeds - herbivore dung?) - Too many herbivores eat the plants and population crash - Predator role So player is trying to create an eden, and you can build the food chain/trophic levels into a complex web at the higher levels of gameplay (more complex = more can go wrong/more challenging/but more complicated energy pathways and interactions). It's all about harmony/balance as you watch a sustainable ecosystem self-regulate itself? etc. (2) The Migration You could have an emphasis on the movement of the herbivores (think you've done something like this already) and avoiding predators, influencing their movement by moulding the land. Herd size and how that affects the movement, with the aim to build up as large a herd as possible with least losses and guiding them most efficiently? (3) The Competition You could have your herbivores and predators and building some sort of powerbase, with another AI with same herbivores and predators competing against you. Eg Herbivores provide you power to mod the landscape, predators eat the rivals herds! And vica versa. etc. === Very interested in how it shapes up.
@GlennX For me, a game is a program which keeps me entertained. Topia, as you describe it, sounds as great as I expected it to be when I saw the first video, and a game as I understand it. It would be the same as asking "is The Sandbox" a game? In the end, it sure is a game, albeit not something usual. Topia could go into the same game category as The Sandbox, so you might even find it opens a new category such as Zen Experience or something like that be sure I'll grab it as soon as it becomes available, and count on my feedback
Wow - I just found this thread... kept me up until 6am reading everything here and the blog (well, I was working until 4am so I'm not THAT slow a reader!) This is beautiful indeed! Great work. It's so similar to an idea I have had in my head for a while so I can't wait to see how this ends up Best of luck for the rest of development! I'm extremely keen to get my fingers on this and have a play! (if you need a tester/ideas, hint hint )
Keep up the good work Glenn! Any choice updates, particularly on some game play decisions you're making? I sorta hope to make a mini eden if that's possible at all?
I may be wrong but I've only heard/seen mention for iOS so far eg all of Glenn's tech blogs: http://glenncorpes.blogspot.co.uk/ I'm wondering if Glenn has plans for PC if it is successful (can see it being a top 10'er for iPad if gameplay is fun - visuals and user experience already wonderful)
This is the only thread I am subscribed to on this forum, and every time I get an email update I get all excited thinking "maybe this is the day I get to play with Topia!" (on an iPad 2 in my case) A sandbox to start with sounds great, and like a smart way to get feedback for further development as you said. My hope is that the gameplay ends up being somewhat like the old Sim Earth, where we get a simulation that's complicated and flexible enough that we can define our own goals and try to figure out how to meet them. However, I am sure whatever direction you end up taking the gameplay will be something good (or great) based on your earlier work, so I'm excited regardless.
This^. From Dust has a great fluids sim engine but they failed imo by turning it into pre-set puzzles requiring mostly trial and error gameplay. So I hope Topia finds a way to work with the fundamentals.
It will be released sooner than that. Sorry for not posting much recently, almost all of the system stuff i'd been putting off is now done. A completely new sound system just went in and the irritating intermittent multitouch bug is fixed. More info on my blog soon. It will be out well before Christmas.
There will be an Android version but hard to say when exactly. There might even be other formats too.
