LandFormer Preview Video
April 28th, 2010
Ask, and you shall receive! I put together a preview video of LandFormer in its current state. I finally got the in-game animations working the way I wanted them to yesterday, so I felt comfortable sharing this with you. The game is still a work in progress, so the game may change slightly between now and launch.
The video shows how LandFormer is played and shows me completing two different levels. It should give you a taste of what the game’s like to play.
If you have any questions about the game, ask away in the comments!
Owen
Much like a burger vs a commercial of a burger…it’s far better in real life.
Nifty animations though!
Haha, thanks, Tom! And I agree, it’s much more fun to play the game than to watch a video of it.
Hi Owen, I can’t help but feel a tad bit sad about the game. Not about the game as a product. It looks nice and i think it will be fun to play. clearly you’ve polished this game to a shiny buff. The thing that make me sad though is that the game is about land reclamation for the purpose of agriculture (i see that there’s wheat bushels on the flat land). This brings out issues of environmental conservation. It would seem that your game is unconsciously teaching impressionable children (well, depends on your app target demographics) minds that land reclamation for agriculture is always a good thing, when in fact, our forests and natural resources are in danger due to extensive human activities.
I think you are a reasonable, caring and creative man Owen, so I am appealing to you to come up with a sort of an educational content in your game to both inform and educate people on the dangers of over-agriculturization(if there is such a word).
maybe you could read this article here to get some inspiration; http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/8582353.stm
To anonymous:
Thank you for sharing your concerns with me about LandFormer. I want to say first that I share your thoughts on environmentalism. I’m concerned about rain forests being cut down to make more agricultural land; I’m concerned about global warming. Part of me also feels a certain responsibility as a game creator to create games that aren’t detrimental to society. This is one of the reasons that Streaming Colour has a “no gratuitous violence” policy in making games.
However, all that being said, I think it’s too late in the process to change the theme of the game. I do have plans in the future to release different themes for the game (including one more abstract look). Players will be able to play with those at some point. But I also think it’s important to note that in the context of LandFormer, the theme is used primarily as an reference point for understanding how the game is played. The game is first and foremost about 3D spatial reasoning and puzzle solving. What the theme does is provide the user with a way to quickly understand how to play and what the objective is. Outside the theme, the game is really just about raising and lowering blocks, trying to level them.
Finally, I’ll say this: if you are concerned about your children playing the game and taking away the wrong lessons, I encourage you to play the game with them, together. In that way you can have a discussion with your children about the themes in the game and discuss how you think they apply to the real world. I strongly believe that parents should be playing games with their children so that they can have these discussions with them to help them seeing deeper meaning and layers to the game, much like you would discuss a movie, a book, or a painting in a museum.
Thanks again for your comments.
Owen
I think it would have been easier to just say no.
I’m kidding. The game looks really fun and I can’t wait to give it a go. The graphics kinda remind me of Farmville, if you don’t mind me saying ^_^
Go Owen! This has come a long way since GDC! Can’t wait to play it!!!