I have started playing a free game on Steam called Robocraft. You basically build robots that you use to fight either against the computer or other players. Today, I want to go over some of the cool game design features that I really like.
1. You build the robots brick by brick. Very much like Minecraft you have cubes of different types that you can use to build the machines. As you progress in the fights you level up and get access to different types of bricks. For instance: You get access to different types of wheels that work differently on different types of terrain. Your weapons are also upgraded and get larger as well as do more damage. So the model you were using before becomes obsolete, because the new weapons are larger and need a large base to sit on.
2. The world you fight in has physics. Once you get access to wings you can start to experiment with flying aircraft. When I first started, I couldn't understand why I kept crashing. I put the wings on about the right place and even had the smaller tail wings. Only after I realized that I forgot a rudder did my aircraft finally fly properly. This type of modeling allowed me to learn from my mistakes and continue to improve on my aircraft's performance.
3. You fight other players who design their own robots. This aspect has really allowed me to see all sorts of robot designs that I would of never of thought of on my own. The act of playing against other players forces everyone to build better robots in a continuous feedback loop. Eventually you start seeing the number one robots follow similar designs.
If you have access to steam and have some free time to kill, I highly recommend playing Robocraft. The combination of combat and creativity makes it a very fun game.
1. You build the robots brick by brick. Very much like Minecraft you have cubes of different types that you can use to build the machines. As you progress in the fights you level up and get access to different types of bricks. For instance: You get access to different types of wheels that work differently on different types of terrain. Your weapons are also upgraded and get larger as well as do more damage. So the model you were using before becomes obsolete, because the new weapons are larger and need a large base to sit on.
2. The world you fight in has physics. Once you get access to wings you can start to experiment with flying aircraft. When I first started, I couldn't understand why I kept crashing. I put the wings on about the right place and even had the smaller tail wings. Only after I realized that I forgot a rudder did my aircraft finally fly properly. This type of modeling allowed me to learn from my mistakes and continue to improve on my aircraft's performance.
3. You fight other players who design their own robots. This aspect has really allowed me to see all sorts of robot designs that I would of never of thought of on my own. The act of playing against other players forces everyone to build better robots in a continuous feedback loop. Eventually you start seeing the number one robots follow similar designs.
If you have access to steam and have some free time to kill, I highly recommend playing Robocraft. The combination of combat and creativity makes it a very fun game.
