![]() Despite this lack of direct control, the system is highly flexible and can handle a myriad of different scenarios that players can come up with, resulting in a variety of fun, interesting and aesthetically varied settlements.Īnd it’s this simplicity in gameplay combined with the game’s bright, abstract yet detailed aesthetic, that has led to Townscaper transcending boundaries: developing a huge following across social media that has captured the imaginations of many who don’t typically play videogames. This creates what we would typically consider to be a mixed-initiative AI system: meaning that the player gives input to where the game needs to expand the structure, and the system assesses the current shape, identifies what prebuilt chunks of architecture are valid for that space and then injects them into the game world. Everything else that you see, is achieved courtesy of the game’s procedural generation system. Players have a very limited number of interactions: you can decide where a block is added or removed, and you can customise the colour of the blocks you place. It does not have any explicitly defined objectives and instead, you are left to craft towns based on your own design principles. Townscaper Explainedįirst released on PC and Mac in June of 2020, Townscaper is, by Stalberg’s own admission, more of a toy than a game. ![]() Because the secrets to the game’s success are hiding in plain sight, in everything else that he has built to date. In order to truly understand Townscaper, we’ll be taking a journey through Stalberg’s career and his previous work. Plus I sat down with the game’s creator Oskar Stalberg to gain a stronger understanding of how it all works and his aspirations in designing the game. ![]() But how is it capable of expanding, and rebuilding the world with such consistency? While also introducing fun and novel ideas for players to discover on their own.įor this case study we’re going to explain the different level generation systems that power Townscaper and the AI principles they derive from. A procedural generation engine running under the hood caters to the unique topographies players establish and refines the world with each new action taken. With this limited toolset, you can craft everything from idyllic seaside towns to a horizon spanning metropolis. A city builder in which players can simply add or remove a block from the game world. Townscaper is a small game, with big ambitions. You can support this work by visiting my Patreon page. However, Microsoft's service is not currently a separate offering - it is a no-cost addition to its existing Xbox Game Pass Ultimate membership scheme.' AI and Games' is a crowdfunded YouTube series that explores research and applications of artificial intelligence in video games. It is not a new idea there are others on the market, such as Nvidia's GeForce Now. In return, controller codes are sent in the other direction so, for all intents and purposes, it feels like you are playing a game loaded on the device itself. Live gameplay video is sent to a compatible device over the internet. It is a streaming service, in that all games are hosted on custom Xbox Series X hardware located at remote servers around the world. It runs as a complementary service to its Xbox One and Xbox Series X / Series S games consoles and is available in 28 countries as part of Xbox Game Pass Ultimate membership. What is Xbox Cloud Gaming with Xbox Game Pass Ultimate?Ĭalled "Project xCloud" during its earlier days, Xbox Cloud Gaming is Microsoft's game streaming platform. So, here's everything you need to know about the Xbox cloud games service, including what devices are compatible and the available games. Microsoft even hopes to introduce its own streaming stick - codenamed "Keystone" - in the future.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |