Sunday, 16 June 2013

A spark of interest - E3 2013

After watching this years E3 conferences, the game that sparked my interest the most was the game aptly named "Project Spark".
The thing about this game is that it isn't really a game per se, but actually more of a tool for making games, which makes it similar to the "Unreal Development Kit" or Valve's "Hammer". As opposed to these advanced game engines, however, Spark targets a wider audience, meaning that both seasoned game developers and young players will be able to create games by using, or maybe rather playing Project Spark. Gamers are often highly creative people, which is shown in games like Minecraft and Little Big Planet, and many seem to enjoy building their own worlds, designing their own challenges, customizing weapons, changing appearances, and so on. This spark of creativity is definitely important to both gamers and game developers, and letting gamers alter their games in such ways could be the beginning of many new game genres, or simply add more replayability to games that would otherwise get boring in time.

At this moment, there really isn't much information about project spark, other than what was shown on E3 and the fact that microsoft has been working on it for 2 years, while simultaneously halting the development of their other game-making toolset, XNA, which was used for making games like Terraria and Bastion. Project Spark seems to be focused on making 3D games, but we can tell from the E3 video that it will also be able to make 2D games, and its limitations are not very clear.
It is, however, very clear that the "game" will have its limits. Making something like a third person 3D game usually requires a lot more work than making, lets say, a 2D platformer, but pcworld apparently made an interesting and fun 3D game in only 20 minutes with project spark. This is definitely good news to unexperienced gamers who want quick results, but it could also mean that the tool is too restricted, or too simple to use for making complex or highly innovative games. Considering the fact that the tool will be free to play, there's also a high chance that assets such as 3D models and other content will be restricted, and in a worst case scenario, unlockables which you have to pay for via micro transactions.

Well, it's hard to judge the game at this point, and some parts of the E3 trailer look really fun, so it has the potential to become one of the most interesting games for the Xbox One. Although it will also be playable on PC, and I can't imagine using a gamepad for game development, so I'm pretty sure which version I'll get.

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