The editor is too top, this sandbox UGC game looks good!

Recent articles

[GameLook special manuscript, please indicate the source for reprinting]

GameLook report/In recent years, when the sandbox took advantage of the “Metaverse metaverse”, as one of the representative categories of functional games, sandbox games have attracted much attention in the current game market. Players have a high degree of freedom and creativity. The game category is becoming more and more enthusiastic, so many big manufacturers have also begun to lay out this track.

As a leader in the game industry, Tencent not only took the lead in investing in “Roblox” and “Mini World”; the mobile game “Lego Infinity” cooperating with “the originator of the cube” Lego; also self-developed sandbox MMO “My Origin”. Unknowingly, a product matrix has been formed in the category of sandbox games.

Recently, the mobile game “Island Island”, which was developed by the well-known manufacturer Bohemia and represented by Tencent, is now officially open for unlimited number download, and the mobile game version will also start its first test on April 29. Since this is a limited test, the official did not make any publicity about it. Currently, the number of appointments on TapTap is not high, with a score of 7.9.

It is reported that this time in the “Island” mobile game version, there will be no deletions or changes to the game content. The mobile game is also optimized for different mobile devices to ensure that players can have the best gaming experience. At the same time, it will support the synchronization between the mobile terminal and the PC terminal, making it easier for players to land on the island.

In Bohemia Studio’s previous work “Armed Assault 3”, the existence of the editor enabled players to create maps and gameplay. The effects of players’ ideas gathered and realized were quite amazing. What kind of experience will the player bring to the “Island Island” with its own editor in the sandbox game?

Say goodbye to cubes and face value sandboxes

At a time when sandbox online games have sprung up in the domestic game market, “Island” has chosen to attract more players’ attention with “face value” first. Compared with the mainstream design of other sandbox games in the form of blocks as the basic material, “Island Island” adopts another new design method: the entire game removes the block factor and changes it to a low-polygon design. The design concept of the main body. Although in the sandbox building game, the screen is not an important criterion, but this kind of icing on the cake design will undoubtedly be welcomed by more players.

Under the Low Ploy screen style, players are no longer limited to the pixel squares of traditional sandbox games when playing games, making the entire screen more refined and simple. Its angular and radical structure can produce a strong visual impact. Although it does not have too complicated details, it can express the most important features of objects. The created hillsides become more natural, and the caves are more realistic. Make the game experience more comfortable.

Unlike most sandbox games that target hardcore players, in terms of art and design, Island Island aims at a wider group of teenagers. It chooses a cute cartoon style and a large warm color scheme. The favorite of Gen Z players.

In addition, the production team is also very careful in the scene design. The game has a wealth of map elements. Whether it is the basic trees, grass and other points scenes in the map, or various animals and plants, they are all very delicately displayed in the game. The alternation of day and night and changing weather conditions also make the surrounding environment more realistic.

A new sandbox adventure

As a sandbox game, the gameplay of “Island Island” has not changed much. Its main purpose is to collect materials, manufacture, and build. In the game, this world consists of multiple islands. Under normal circumstances, players need to shuttle back and forth between multiple islands to collect some necessary materials.

Like most sandbox games, the pace of this game depends entirely on the player’s exploration progress. But this also leads to novice players often trapped in a confused situation. For this reason, a guide system is carefully designed in the game. So that even players who have no experience in survival sandbox games can familiarize themselves with the basic gameplay of the exploration mode according to the tutorials in the guide system.

In the exploration mode, although the character still has common HP attributes, it also has settings for hot, cold and hunger values. However, it seems that this system is relatively simple, not a complicated numerical instruction, and the survival factor is weakened, so the focus of the game is obviously on manufacturing and synthesis.

The game has a very rich set of items that can be made. On the initial first island alone, there are as many as hundreds of items available for players to synthesize. Through continuous picking, the player’s manufacturing menu will gradually enrich. When the technology tree is unlocked to a certain stage, the player can Build ships to go to the next island to seek more advanced resources.

Whether it’s tree houses, beach mansions, bat caves or even castles, or ships, cars and sophisticated energy equipment. Players can use various resources to create various magical items according to their own ideas. From the primitive “Stone Age” at the very beginning, it will eventually evolve to cool future technology. The real sense of growth will make every step of the player’s exploration become meaningful.

It is worth mentioning that compared to picking up corresponding tools to obtain materials, “Island Island” has more diverse ways to obtain materials. For example, the act of taking tree resources and collecting trees directly by hand can only be used. Obtain branches and wood chips, and use an axe to turn into logs and resin. When replaced with a knife, you can obtain resin that is usually difficult to obtain from the trees. This expands the depth of the game while collecting resources.

Compared with the innovation of resource collection gameplay, the various interactive elements of “Island” also make players shine. As large as a whole mountain, as small as a tree and grass, players can interact with it in the game, or even tame a horse, basically “you can play what you see.” The items are linked together. The more complex the props, the richer the interaction can be generated. This greatly strengthens the game’s exploration method.

If you feel that the exploration mode is not free enough, players can also play a bigger brain in the creative mode. In addition to making different players can design their own style maps, through the props provided in the material library, change the terrain, build their favorite scenes and games. You will also get the ultimate game item: Creator’s Cube. According to the producer, players can use this item to generate any element in the game.

In general, through the perfect combination of survival exploration and creative mode, not only the gameplay is enriched, but the player’s freedom has also been further enhanced, making the game more fun. For this kind of innovation, players are also very satisfied.

The built-in editor is powerful,You can create games with zero foundation

With the popularity of games such as “Minecraft” and “Roblox”, UGC content production has become the standard for sandbox games. “Island” has a built-in game editor, allowing players to design more colorful worlds, gameplay, and even create a “new game” directly. Compared to calling it a game, it is actually more like a platform for game creators.

Player-made mini games

One of the great advantages of the in-game editor is its ease of use. “Island” integrates programming script modules, UI design modules, and copywriting and art modules into the “editor”, using the two major features of infinite freedom of scene creation and a visual drag-and-drop editor to make “Island” 》It greatly reduces the threshold of game creation, so that users who do not know programming or art can also realize the production of various games such as horse racing, racing, RPG, puzzle solving, FPS, etc. through simple operations.

In addition, in response to the difficulty of the player’s previous editor operations, the official continues to launch editor tutorials, trying to give every player a chance to become an in-game creator. At the same time, after the content is created in the editor, it can be run directly without other operations. This is undoubtedly a great boon for players who like to play small games.

In order to encourage players to make and upload maps, the game has introduced a series of incentive measures, such as map creation competitions. The game will provide creative incentives to map authors based on popularity. Some authors can become contract developers of the game and launch a game profit sharing plan to make excellent The creators of the game get a certain percentage of the game share, which stimulates the player’s desire to create, so as to form a good cycle and promote the output of more excellent new content.

Not only that, the game is also committed to the protection of intellectual property rights. The game has added activities such as “creator plan” and “co-creation plan”, and every creator’s item will have a digital watermark. At the same time, a supervisory committee has been established to effectively protect Each player’s “producer” rights in “Island”.

Educate through fun, help innovative education

The editor attribute of the sandbox game makes the player’s logical ability, imagination and creativity have been greatly exercised during the game, so it is more educational than entertainment.

“Island” uses its built-in high-efficiency editor system to continuously integrate into the teaching of professional creation courses in colleges and universities. It has successively landed in nine institutions including the Central Academy of Fine Arts, Guangzhou Academy of Fine Arts, Communication University of China, and Shanghai Jiaotong University to help students Turn theory and creativity into reality. In the “Big Beauty China” competition, the construction design work “Baitajian” created by the students of the Guangzhou Academy of Fine Arts and the game design “Xia Ke Island” created by the students of the Fujian Institute of Technology successfully broke through. Played a major role in cultivating excellent game producers.

Not only does it cooperate with domestic colleges and universities, “Island Island” has also entered the classroom of young students. Connecting the ancient poems in the textbook with the exploreable and interactive polygonal world in the game, and allowing students to experience the programming behind it, coincides with the programming education currently advocated in China, and also allows “Island Island” to be in There is more room for imagination in the education field.

From GameLook’s point of view, “Island” not only provides a platform for cultivating game producers, but also provides a better environment for domestic youth innovation education. As the next generation of innovative sandbox products, “Island” is undoubtedly a step forward in realizing a true platform.

This Article is curated from Source and we only provide the English version of the Story.

Leave a Reply