Molyneux Says Curiosity Coming in a Week

[Greg Tito]

Molyneux Says Curiosity Coming in a Week

Soon you'll be able to find what's in the dang cube.

Only someone with game designer cred like Peter Molyneux would quit an executive level job at a huge publisher making big AAA games to go back to the basics of game theory to create a high-concept iPhone game. Yet, that's what Molyneux has done in the last year. The "game" called Curiosity basically lets you attempt to figure out what's in a box. Yet, for such a simple concept, the software's been delayed by a few months as the team at Molyneux's startup 22 Cans worked on the code for the iOS and Android. Today, Molyneux announced via Facebook and Twitter that Curiosity has received certification from Apple will be available on November 7th.

"Curiosity will be out on 7th November 2012 at 00:22PST 08:22UST," Molyneux Tweeted this morning. "The development has been a fascinating ride,release will be 10x [as] fascinating."

The subtitle for Curiosity is "What's inside the Cube" and as far as anyone can tell that's the entire game. Players all over the world will chip away at a representation of a cube, which through the network communication will be the same cube whether you live in Brighton or Boston. By working together, players will eventually find out the terribly secret amazing thing that's at the center of the cube. Of course, if you're impatient, lazy, rich (preferably all three) you could buy the DLC for a cool £50,000 [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/117778-Molyneuxs-Curiosity-Offers-77-800-DLC] to cut to the front of the line to figure out what's inside the dang box.

"You will be able to take part in what, for us is a unique global experiment ... joining hopefully thousands of people on the journey to the center of the cube is going to be a fascinating experiment that we will share with the world," reads a post on 22 Cans' Facebook page [http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=418366654884372&set=a.339721169415588.89877.309868605734178&type=1]. "Remember you could be the single person to find out what truly amazing thing lies in the center."

Well, if anything, Molyneux has succeeded in piquing my curiosity. I'm curious whether this crazy experiment will be worth all the hullabaloo.

Source: Twitter [https://twitter.com/pmolyneux/status/263635915094781952]

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[Rainboq]

People actually care about this?

 

[MetalMagpie]

Am I curious about what's inside? Yes.

Curious enough to actually take part? Not even close.

 

[Eclectic Dreck]

The thing that most surprises me is how it takes so long to develop an app that does not appear to be significantly more complex than the ancient "kill everyone project". The fundamental mechanic appears the same: lots of people do a trivial task lots of times. In the case of the former, it was clicking a button. In this case, I imagine it is simply going to be tapping at the screen which is effectively the same act.

Even if taken to the extreme of how to represent this idea where the cube is a massive collection of voxels and each tap could could remove some arbitrary number of voxels, it still seems strange that the process could take months for a professional set of developers. Maybe months for an untrained and untested student.

 

[Brutal Peanut]

I wasn't even aware of the cubes existence until this article. Still not entirely sure I care. Eh, I guess I wouldn't mind to see what's inside - but I'm not paying any money for it.

 

[Rainboq]

The thing that most surprises me is how it takes so long to develop an app that does not appear to be significantly more complex than the ancient "kill everyone project". The fundamental mechanic appears the same: lots of people do a trivial task lots of times. In the case of the former, it was clicking a button. In this case, I imagine it is simply going to be tapping at the screen which is effectively the same act.

Even if taken to the extreme of how to represent this idea where the cube is a massive collection of voxels and each tap could could remove some arbitrary number of voxels, it still seems strange that the process could take months for a professional set of developers. Maybe months for an untrained and untested student.

My guess is they wanted to have perfect net code, because if it lags and a bunch of people get the final block, then bam, experiment failed.

 

[Denamic]

I'm really hoping there's a dick in the box.
I know there won't be a dick in the box, but if that were to happen, I'd laugh so hard I'd probably need medical attention.

 

[Tortilla the Hun]

The Lost Ark of the Covenant.

The Holy Grail.

Endless supply of Slim Jims.

The information on Douglas Adams' real whereabouts.

A kazoo autographed by all the original members of Journey and the new ones.

 

[Zombie_Moogle]

Seems I'm the only person here that's actually a little excited to see what Molyneux's big reveal is at the center of the cube...

...It's a pity I use Android

 

[Falterfire]

The thing that most surprises me is how it takes so long to develop an app that does not appear to be significantly more complex than the ancient "kill everyone project". The fundamental mechanic appears the same: lots of people do a trivial task lots of times. In the case of the former, it was clicking a button. In this case, I imagine it is simply going to be tapping at the screen which is effectively the same act.

It's not the core that's the issue. I'm a sophomore in college and I'm pretty sure I could knock out a 'click the button X times to reveal secret' program in under an hour. The trick is making it efficient enough that only one person gets the prize and secure enough that nobody can crack the secret before it's legitimately obtained.

 

[Formica Archonis]

Well, if anything, Molyneux has succeeded in piquing my curiosity. I'm curious whether this crazy experiment will be worth all the hullabaloo.

It won't be. You guys have done like six news articles on it which is less hype than you gave to Kerbal Space Program and Giana Sisters: Twisted Dreams combined. In other words, unless the box contains something better than a pair of fun indie games, the hype has already outstripped it. And I wouldn't lay odds on the contents being that good.

 

[Facing The Plastic]

I bet it's a grand prize of £50,000 inside so who ever gets it doesn't loose anything and doesn't gain anything, just proves they were the most curious!

 

[Eclectic Dreck]

The thing that most surprises me is how it takes so long to develop an app that does not appear to be significantly more complex than the ancient "kill everyone project". The fundamental mechanic appears the same: lots of people do a trivial task lots of times. In the case of the former, it was clicking a button. In this case, I imagine it is simply going to be tapping at the screen which is effectively the same act.

It's not the core that's the issue. I'm a sophomore in college and I'm pretty sure I could knock out a 'click the button X times to reveal secret' program in under an hour. The trick is making it efficient enough that only one person gets the prize and secure enough that nobody can crack the secret before it's legitimately obtained.

There exist well established algorithms to that end that would simply need to be applied in this case. I understand that there is a reason for such delays. It just seems strange that the application described is trivial meaning one of several things:

1) The definition of what was being developed was altered radically during development
2) The app described is not what the application actually is
3) Peter Molyneux spent months deciding what was in the box and actual development time was a few weeks.

 

[frobalt]

I forgot about this until I read this article.


Shows how much I care.

 

[Slash2x]

All of the missing crud he has been claiming Fable, Fable 2, and Fable 3 would be able to do...... This box will contain disappointment.

 

[Ickabod]

Nothing inside of it could live up to the expectations of what is actually inside of it.

Most likely it's the reveal of a new game that he is working on, and this is a way to pay for that announcement.

 

[Jamous]

It'll be interesting to see what this is. Could be fun.

 

[CrazyCapnMorgan]

You know what's gonna be in the box?

A dead cat.

[sub]Sorry, Fappy![/sub]

 

[Shinsei-J]

I still say that all that's inside there is a picture of Peter, bathing in money, eating an apple.