So last night old darkwhite linked me this, and I don't pay attention to video game things, so for all I know this is MEGABIG or maybe no one at all knows or cares about it yet, but it is very, very cool, and probably the only interesting game thing I have read about in a long time.  Read this brief article real quick, as it kind of touches on a lot of what makes this game sounds like it is probably the most worthwhile serious effort in the genre probably ever.

http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2008/02/20/for-the-love/


Here is a video: http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2008/10/15/love-video/

And here is a link to the game's site: http://www.quelsolaar.com/love/

This is the part I like the best:

...he intends to build the world into a kind of communal adventure, where gamers work together to furnish a central village, defend it from enemy attack, and explore the surround world and its many dungeons. Players will be able to do things like deform elements of terrain, allowing them to build tunnel networks or walls to defend their property.

I have had this exact conversation about basically this exact premise many many times, and basically every time I did, it ended with my saying YEAH WELL TOO BAD NO ONE WILL EVER MAKE THIS.  Like it is absolutely not about the same stupid shit other MMOs are about, because as near as I can tell he is making it completely by himself and hates GRIND FOR XP//EPIC ARMOR just as much as I do.  The idea of a small MMO being COMMUNAL though and more about sustaining your area or whatever is cool to me, and just the description makes it sound like it is more based around exploration/interaction than any real stupid false sense of progress like almost all other MMOs.

The visuals are also very nice, as you can see by this shot right here that captures the overall style pretty well.


According to the website, the environments are procedurally generated and so as a result a) I guess shit changes around quite a bit, or it potentially can, anyway, and b) player interaction with the world would be immense.  Like ability to TAKE AREA, TURN IT INTO HOUSES//CAVES//TUNNELS//WHATEVER.  That is great.

So yeah go to the website and read about the gameplay and CONCEPT/design principles I guess, and check out the screenshots.  It is really interesting and like I said before, probably the only game I have been actually legitimately interested in in a long time in more than a YEAH THAT MIGHT BE FUN MAYBE I'LL PICK IT UP way.  I don't know if he'll ever finish it, but even knowing someone out there is trying to make something like this is reassuring.

typical capitalist propaganda.  also what other communal mmos have there even been???  that shit went right by me

it would seem appealing were the screenshots not just a bunch of elaborate paintings

http://www.quelsolaar.com/love/screens/love_city1.jpg

this is what a painting looks like to you Shaun_Of_Shadow???  that looks like a video game to me



also i'm going to bed but when i wake up there had better be some nongay replies to this......

are there any videos of this? the screenshots are fucking beautiful. hella impressionistic. i love em. i want to play this game just because of that article man. but really i think screenshots dont even do this justice. i want to see this world move, i bet its fantastic.

also what is this game called? love?

This looks really good, and sounds really good too. The art style is absolutely fantastic, loving that painted look.

also i'm going to bed but when i wake up there had better be some nongay replies to this......

i am sure your painting game will inspire a myriad of insightful discussions sir

btw it is shaunofshadou for a reason jerkwad

EDIT: you are an admin i see, touche and well played

dragon_x would know what i am talking about


face of mankind: communal world, economy, missions


oh wait it was a disaster

Man I knew you were going to refer to something like this!  Face of Mankind never sounded especially good to me, and even after reading about all the features it sounded a lot like any other generic MMO with MISSIONS and FETCH QUESTS and SLAYING RATS.  I don't think this is like that at all!  Wait, I'm thinking of another game, not FoM.  FoM was just broken and terrible, sorry!  It didn't even sound like a very good idea.

Also GR it's called FOR THE LOVE OF GAME DESIGN or something but it gets shortened to For The Love or Love I guess, idk.  There aren't videos as far as I know, but that article said it looked similar to Okami, which I can definitely see.  And I mean, I'm not really counting on ever playing this.  Making EVERY ASPECT OF A GAME seems like it would take a while and in general this isn't something I'd expect one guy to finish.  But then I thought about how he mentioned the procedural generation and this paragraph on his site:

Love is being developed by Eskil alone, without funding or support. He is responsible for all code, design, networking, engine, art, pipeline and tools. More than just being an experiment in game design, Love is also an experiment in how games can be developed drastically more efficient using technologies like Verse, procedural generation, new tools and a host of other clever solutions.

And it occurs to me, I don't know a goddamn thing about programming!  So idk maybe things like not having to manually design the environments or NPCs and just building software to do it, and uh other "clever solutions" (they said his toolkits looked like games in and of themselves).  So I don't know, maybe this guy's process is actually INCREDIBLY EFFICIENT, and his idea also seems like it requires much less maintenance and development than a typical commercial MMO.  Like, the servers only contain 200 people each.  Even if he doesn't make it, it's good to know that at least some people who seriously develop games SHARE MY IDEAS and are willing and able to carry them out (at least partially!).

Also Shaved, I think on a fundamental level most things like this sound like they would wear themselves out.  That is what I think about basically all games that are played online.  It tends to be SOCIAL CONTACT//INTERACTION that keeps it from being repetitive to the point that you turn it off.  every adventure is a new one....................

jesus christ i just saw that video.  goddamn that looked amazing.  i really didn't expect it to be so far along in development but that looks like it's progressing pretty well!  what do i know though.  still, it looks incredible, especially the terrain morphing or whatever.  just entire villages generating.  what i like a lot is how it looks fantastic and unique but at the same time does not look demanding at all.  the website says it is playable with a shitty cpu and 512mb of ram.

The only thing I ever heard or saw about TFLO made it look like a generic FFXI-style grindy MMO with gay cel-shaded anime graphics!  I didn't know it was good upon conception (actually I am hesitant to even believe this, because iirc it was being developed by Level 5 right?  Everything they make is terrible).