Xbox One's Project Spark Will Let You Make Games

Karloff

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Xbox One's Project Spark Will Let You Make Games



Is that a rock I see before me? Will it be my friend?

Project Spark, the handy dandy game creation engine coming to Xbox One, will let you do pretty much everything, from putting brains in rocks - so they'll be your bestest ever friend - to sculpting the game world from the ground up, setting the geographic zone, or time of day. "This [development] team came together with one purpose," says Microsoft's Dave McCarthy, "to give the gift of games to everybody", by putting game creation in the user's hands.

You'll be able to share the game with anyone, "on any screen," according to McCarthy, who made much use of SmartGlass during the presentation, and Windows 8 integration is also a feature. The demonstration took development from pretty much nothing to a colorful jungle setting. "In just one minute we were able to make something that looks great," McCarthy said, and then they started putting brains in things - adding personality through subroutines - before summoning up some goblins for the player to deal with. This will be a creator-driven experience, and - judging by the demo - you'll be able to adjust anything, including terrain, on the fly even while the action's rumbling away. "There are an infinite number of ways to play, build and share," says McCarthy. "Think blank canvases, or story creation, or taking someone else's creation and building out your own."

One to watch! If it delivers on its promise, Project Spark could really spark the imagination of players everywhere.


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Gorrath

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Feb 22, 2013
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Neat, too bad it couldn't come out on a console that isn't trying to own the rights to half my living room.
 

Ickabod

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Gorrath said:
Neat, too bad it couldn't come out on a console that isn't trying to own the rights to half my living room.
Isn't this the truth. Looks like an actual innovation
 

Stavros Dimou

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All I saw was over-glorified and simplified modding tool. You know,one of those that have been handed out for free from the early 90s for pc owners ???

I'm confused. Is it the whole game just a tool to make your stuff ? Doesn't it have its own ready to play levels,story and characters ? Is it just mod tools ? Without a game its own ?
 

Gorrath

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Stavros Dimou said:
All I saw was over-glorified and simplified modding tool. You know,one of those that have been handed out for free from the early 90s for pc owners ???

I'm confused. Is it the whole game just a tool to make your stuff ? Doesn't it have its own ready to play levels,story and characters ? Is it just mod tools ? Without a game its own ?
Well, even if it is just a modding tool, it's certainly something nice to have. Sure this sort of thing has been on PC forever, but one of the big criticisms of these consoles was that there were becoming more PC-like without the PC benefits. Like you I'm not 100% on what you can actually do with this thing, but it's at least fascinating as far as the possibilities go. I still wouldn't touch this console even with someone else's money though.
 

Entitled

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As that ridiculously little player input created whole worlds, seeemed to be either scripted as hell, or just Molyneux-ishly pseudo-limitless.

"Haha, anything can happen in this game, even flying goblins!"

>Flying goblins take up 10% of all the features.
 

an annoyed writer

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Jun 21, 2012
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Pfft. I already have the Unreal devkit, Source SDK, Cryengine Devkit, and some others that fit that role better than this. And I can actually put MY models, MY animations, and MY textures and shit in there. I already can drive around in my real-life car in fucking garry's mod for fuck's sake, and that came out nearly a decade ago. Try again, Microsoft.

Give me full, unlimited access to the latest Halo devkit and then we'll talk.
 

el_kabong

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Mar 18, 2010
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This is the first thing about the XBone that didn't make me eye-roll so hard I could see my thoughts. It could be a cool little tool or just a lackluster gimmick. Time will tell.
 

busterkeatonrules

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Entitled said:
As that ridiculously little player input created whole worlds, seeemed to be either scripted as hell, or just Molyneux-ishly pseudo-limitless.

"Haha, anything can happen in this game, even flying goblins!"

>Flying goblins take up 10% of all the features.
Yup. Molyneux. That name was the first thing that popped into my head. This article does sound very much like a pre-release promotional blurb about the first Fable - game, doesn't it?
 

Stavros Dimou

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Gorrath said:
Stavros Dimou said:
All I saw was over-glorified and simplified modding tool. You know,one of those that have been handed out for free from the early 90s for pc owners ???

I'm confused. Is it the whole game just a tool to make your stuff ? Doesn't it have its own ready to play levels,story and characters ? Is it just mod tools ? Without a game its own ?
Well, even if it is just a modding tool, it's certainly something nice to have. Sure this sort of thing has been on PC forever, but one of the big criticisms of these consoles was that there were becoming more PC-like without the PC benefits. Like you I'm not 100% on what you can actually do with this thing, but it's at least fascinating as far as the possibilities go. I still wouldn't touch this console even with someone else's money though.
Sure,it's something nice to have. And I'm happy for console gamers getting something I consider good that only in pc there was. My criticism is that usually the creation tools come as free extra downloads for games already existing.
No company has sold bare modding tools yet. So I am curious to learn if this is going to have its own 'game',its own content that will be available to play right when you buy it,or if it will be just bare tools to make your own levels and stuff.
 

JarinArenos

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Sooo... RPGmaker2014? Curious to see what the actual potential of it is once it gets into the hands of non-marketers.
 

Nuvo

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Hasn't Sony been doing the whole "make games on your console" thing for ages?
Little Big Planet, ModNation Racers, RPG Maker and Buzz: Quiz TV all allow gamers to create their own levels and even entirely different types of games from the base game (LBP does, anyway).
Most of those also consist of an actual game and mod tools while nobody seems to be sure what Spark is.

I'm likely going to give the Xbox One a miss as there's been very little that interests me, and actually a fair bit that has put me off buying one, which is sad as I owned an Xbox and pre-ordered the 360 Premium (I now have a 250GiB Slim).
I'll likely just upgrade my PC with the money I won't be spending on One, which also allows me to make games with any of the bajillion engines and SDK's available for Windows and Linux.
 

BrotherRool

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Ickabod said:
Gorrath said:
Neat, too bad it couldn't come out on a console that isn't trying to own the rights to half my living room.
Isn't this the truth. Looks like an actual innovation
Well if by innovation you mean 'ripping off one of Sony's successful games from the last gen' then yes.

But it does look pretty good, not enough for me to face the waves of FPS', but that game seems to be really special
 

-Dragmire-

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Mar 29, 2011
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Neat idea, still not getting the X1 though. If this does well, similar engines will be made for other platforms.
 

Gorrath

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Stavros Dimou said:
Gorrath said:
Stavros Dimou said:
All I saw was over-glorified and simplified modding tool. You know,one of those that have been handed out for free from the early 90s for pc owners ???

I'm confused. Is it the whole game just a tool to make your stuff ? Doesn't it have its own ready to play levels,story and characters ? Is it just mod tools ? Without a game its own ?
Well, even if it is just a modding tool, it's certainly something nice to have. Sure this sort of thing has been on PC forever, but one of the big criticisms of these consoles was that there were becoming more PC-like without the PC benefits. Like you I'm not 100% on what you can actually do with this thing, but it's at least fascinating as far as the possibilities go. I still wouldn't touch this console even with someone else's money though.
Sure,it's something nice to have. And I'm happy for console gamers getting something I consider good that only in pc there was. My criticism is that usually the creation tools come as free extra downloads for games already existing.
No company has sold bare modding tools yet. So I am curious to learn if this is going to have its own 'game',its own content that will be available to play right when you buy it,or if it will be just bare tools to make your own levels and stuff.

Indeed, and I share your desire for more details and such about it. I know there's a lot of cynicism going around (and for good reason) and I just wanted to be sure we were acknowledging good when we see it. I don't even know if the first part of your post was intended to be cynical, I just read it that way. I am pretty cynical about the XBone myself, I just don't want to get caught up in dismissing or bashing everything tied to the console no matter what. Sorry if I misinterpreted your post.
 

vallorn

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Nov 18, 2009
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So Microsoft decided to apologize for the lack of anything approaching player involvement in Halo 4? (Butchered Forge and mutilated custom gametypes).

Oh no they just decided to rip off both Little Big Planet and whatever that abomination is that Media Molecule are doing with the Move.

Smart move Microsoft maybe I'll even want ONE of your broken devices in my.... No I couldn't say that with a straight face not even a gift from the fucking gods could make me want an X1.
 
Apr 28, 2008
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This actually looks pretty neat.

Shame it's on a console I won't be able to play because of my internet.