Sandboxes are more popular than ever, and with the success of games like MineCraft, this trend is likely to continue. This week, the Kickstarter project that grabbed me most was Crea, a 2D RPG sandbox which actively supports and encourages modding. Here’s what creator Jasson McMorris has to say:
Crea is an easily moddable, 2D sandbox game with a lighthearted mood, colorful art and RPG elements. Drawing on the pioneers of the sandbox genre such as Minecraft and Terraria, Crea features combat and crafting in attractive, randomly-generated worlds for you to explore, tear apart and build back up in your own design.
What sets Crea apart from the others is that it’s created with you in mind. Our goal is to develop a game that fully realizes the potential of the community and mods. Every aspect of Crea is designed to be easy to modify and customize. It’s simple to modify characters, weapons, monsters, items, biomes, or to even create new playable races! If you can imagine it, it belongs in the world of Crea!
Moddability
This really seems like a game for people who like to tinker, and there just aren’t enough of those at the moment. Few games designers promise much in the way of mod support; in Crea, it’s one of the core parts of the game. We’ve already seen some of the astounding creations that MineCraft builders have come up with – just take a look at Ziyad’s latest adventures on Mc-Server to see what I’m talking about – just imagine the potential for user creation in a game that focuses on modding. If you’re wondering how this will work, here’s a bit more from the pitch:
To give us this modding flexibility, the game’s content scripts are Python code, which is a scripting language that can handle real game logic. We’ve exposed the entire game engine to Python, which means that new content can make meaningful and unique changes to gameplay. The base game content is also a mod itself, so it is fully accessible to anyone who wants to view and modify it.
To give you an idea of how this works and just how simple it is to do, take a look at this video (best viewed in 1080 HD)
Art style
One thing that really grabs me is the art style, which can be attributed to artist Kelley. It’s simple without being simplistic, and there is something about the robust wholesomeness of the figures and animals that evokes childhood memories of spreading out boxes of tiny figures on the living room carpet and creating my own little world. Somehow it seems just perfect for a project like this, and I wouldn’t be surprised if I’m not the only child of the 80’s who feels a slight sense of nostalgia when looking at the prototype images.
Goals and log term plans
Another thing I like about this campaign (in fact, one of the main things I look for when picking a Kickstarter campaign to support or review) is the amount of information given. Unlike some designers who just don’t tell you enough about the project and what your money will be paying for, Jasson has packed a lot of info into his pitch, leaving me with the distinct impression that he knows what he is doing and is likely to spend my pledge money wisely. Needs, methods and long term goals are clearly outlined.
Rewards
The minimum pledge required to get a copy of the game on release is $10, but if you want to splash out $25 you’ll get a ‘digital copy of the game on all launch platforms, digital copy of the soundtrack, and beta access’. Want to be immortalised in video game? Pledge $150 and Kelley will create a playable character in your image.
This project is attempting to raise $15,000, a relatively modest sum, to commission sound effects, a soundtrack by Robot Science and some hardware, and if he campaign is successful (which I very much hope it will be) the game will be available through Steam, which allows for use of the Steam Workshop, which will make it even easier to share and download mods. Launch is scheduled for November, with betas from September.
