First of all, thanks a lot for granting us with the opportunity to interview you about MyDream. Could you, please, introduce yourself to our readers?
We are developers, designers and friends who got tired of working at Microsoft, Amazon and EA and wanted to work on our hobby project, to create a beautiful expansive virtual game world where it would be fun to play and we could remake the world how we wanted it to me in real life. Two of us grew up in Alaska, so the big open world had to have amazing sunrises, sunsets, beautiful sky lights, cragged mountainside and epic ravines and cliffs.
Which terms would you use to present MyDream to somebody who hasn’t heard of the game yet?
Inspired by our Alaskan childhood, the big open sandbox has to have amazing sunrises, sunsets, beautiful sky lights, cragged mountainside and epic ravines and cliffs. You can dig, build and explore 100km in the x, y and z axis. Imagine how easy it is to craft and build in Minecraft and how beautiful and Zen-like the environment and gameplay is in Journey. Now put that in an adventure RPG and you have MyDream. People ask what is different and our unique twist? We have an alpha/beta where you can log in and see our vast library of decorating and building materials, whether its terracotta tiles, pre-Columbian artifacts or Hellenistic columns. We have created a construction game beyond blocks-- with a realistic environmental system. After the creative mode, we are planning to have a very dynamic game play system. Who you think is your enemy may be your closest ally. The crux of the gameplay is the discovery and knowhow of turning the destructive rock creatures into resourceful and helpful friends.
Which platforms will MyDream be available on?
Currently we are on PC and Mac. We would love to have this available for Occulus Rift and Linux.
Will players be able to explore and jointly shape a MMO open world mode or will there only be instanced game sessions with objectives?
It is architected as an MMO open world mode but we have not fully implemented that quite yet. Right now in the alpha/beta, they are multi-user instanced game sessions with creative mode and the beginning of adventure mode with objectives. The 100K from kickstarter will help us finish the adventure work, treasure hunt from point A to point B. We are reaching for some of the stretch goals, to allow us to work on the rock creatures in the survival and farming mode.
What about the character progression? Will there be levels, skills, classes...?
Initially, our plans for a light RPG character progression are: a builder, explorer and cooperator. Given the attributes of creativity, resourcefulness and helpfulness, we would like to work developing richer character progression and having classes such as miner, farmer, herbalist, explorer, builder, amabassador, knight and mayor.
Can players expect any sort of battles?
In survival mode, at night, the rock creatures will attack and there are different tools the players can use to defend and harvest these critters. These tools are the same as weapons in our world—the shovel, chisel, pickaxe and the terraformer (which is actually a really cool laser.)
Will MyDream feature a crafting system? If so, what will players be able to craft?
Our alpha/beta is for CREATIVE mode but we are planning to add in crafting. For example, you currently have access to this awesome laser called the terraformer that carves mountains. To achieve that in the Challenge modes, you will need to make things along the tech tree. For example, glass requires sand. Steel requires iron, forge and fire. And so on...
When checking out the videos, we noted a striking contrast between the style of the natural environment and the buildings, the latter being extremely "blocky", with big Minecraft styled cubes, while the landscapes’ shapes are a lot smoother and more detailed. Was this a considered choice of design? And will players be able to create buildings with smaller details or even round walls?
Some of it is driven by the terrain engine as well. Right now, the natural organic terrain is that size for performance issues. For organic edits, the player uses the terraformer, which is also designed for sculpting hillside and mountains. For rounded corners and walls, we have different types of items. For example, we have cornices and hellenistic columns existing in our inventory library. This allows for a different type of construction game beyond blocks. The dollhouses, castles and historical temples are more realistic. In combination with our sunrise, sunset, starry skies and ambient lighting, the decorative library allows the players to better visualize themselves in our world.
Will players find any sort of in-game market/ trading system to purchase and sell items and perhaps their creations?
That is awesome and we do see that as a long-term plan after we implement the crafting system. Our system definitely supports this.
How huge in size can player-created worlds become? And what type of game modes will we be able to create?
The player created worlds are very big. In creative mode, a player can travel 100 km in any direction, including down and up! We will constrain this a bit in the challenge modes. Our first plan is the adventure mode, which is like an in-game treasure hunt …questing from point A to point B to collect goodies. We were successful in reaching the minimum on kickstarter to achieve this. Our next mode is the survival mode, which is about interacting with the rock monsters. We are hoping to reach this stretch goal in the next 3 days. These guys are very cute during the day and become quite destructive at night. Players will need to defend against these enemies or learn how to train them to become noncombatant.
Could you please tell us a bit more about the creation tools that we will be able to use in creative mode?
We are stoked about the terraformer, which allows players to really shape their entire environment in-game. We also love the different fenceposts, pre-columbian cladding to the roman-greco architeural pieces that is designed for players who love to customize and decorate their construction to the nines!
Could you provide us with some more details on the creation sharing system? Will other players be able to explore and rate our world?
We have plans for a yelp like system that encourages player generated content and rating. Each structures, environments and adventures can be enjoyed, rated, and actually used by others in their own worlds. We keep track of how many players use each contribution and players earn points when that happens.
Why did you choose Kickstarter as crowd funding platform? And how is the campaign going?
As an indie, we have limited resources and wanted to harness the wisdom of the crowd, in lieu of a big studio producer or publisher. Especially since our world is player generated, we loved the concept of actually getting the players and crowd to help generate the games and supporting and building the community.
What sort of business model are you considering for MyDream? Will your game be free to play?
There are only a few business models in the gaming industry. Since we host the worlds, we have hard, fixed costs of basically $1/user per month (if they are power players.) We really don’t like ads or the constant pings of upgrades for a free to play model. There are pros and cons to each model and right now, we are happy to have our backers pledge and help with development. We, in turn, pledge to our backers that we will choose a business model that is less obnoxious above all else, while paying the bills.
Thanks a lot for your detailed replying. Would you like to mention anything else?
Thank you to all our backers on kickstarter. We only have 3 days left to go for our first stretch goal after meeting our minimum. Help us go beyond Creative mode and let’s make a unique survival mode that is fun and exciting.
The new twist from Minecraft survival is that these monsters can be "trained". You can turn your enemies into friends. When they are "friended," they keep on giving... mydream.com/kickstarter to find out more.
Deja tu comentario
You must be logged in to post a comment.