Blockland goes Retail Feb. 11th

[Hyu]

What is Blockland?  Basically online multiplayer Legos, with NWN-style persistence.  Highly moddable, too - people have put in everything from team-based FPS to Super Mario 64 style 3D platforming, and that's just modding the 0.1 release beta that has about 10% of what the retail release does.  You can actually walk around online building stuff with Legos, and give it persistence and rules and structure.  It's pretty damn cool.  All sorts of stuff is ingame, from working, usable tanks and airplanes to HL2's gravity gun.  This is the closest anything in the near future will come to full-on, player-directed, accessible worldbuilding.  Few of us can handle an SQL database, but we can all plop down a Lego brick.

Here's a basic video of what the retail release looks like.  Keep in mind you can build very, very impressive stuff.

Sorry if this seems really condensed -- I just wrote up a longer post and the board ate it.

[tazelbain]

I grabbed the old demo.  I lasted 20 minutes before I left in disgust.  Hard to use would be an understatement. I hope the release is much better because it looks neat.  This looks like it could be a good platform to try out some of my game ideas.

EDIT: Awesome

[Hyu]

People have been making such incredible stuff with the beta version of the game, I can't wait to see what they do with the retail.

Check these out.

That's just the surface.  I saw one guy who's most of the way with a full-scale replica of the Titanic, which given how the engine works you could conceivably sail around with passengers inside.  I forget where, but on some Blockland site I saw a really well-done Man O'War.

To give you an idea of what'll be possible soon - you can stick about 2,000 blocks at a time with the beta version, and most people won't dip below 45-50FPS.  The way the Blockland engine works, that's been more than enough for people to make full replicas of Vice City complete with 60 or so enter-able buildings, etc.  According to the devs, the retail release pushes that 'comfort zone' up to 70,000 blocks.

[damijin]

Looks like a way more entertaining user generated experience than that Second Life mess.

[schild]

Curmudgeon, you were the first person to mention Blockland on this board. I knew I remembered the name somewhere. Or rather, maybe you weren't - but tell me RIGHT NOW - if you are Hyu. And don't play dumb. You're not acting like a newbie poster.

[ahoythematey]

The suspense is killing me...

[Hyu]

Well, yeah, I am Hyu.

C'mon, I make a new username and the first thing I post about is how EQ-style DIKUs are awful and an update on the new stuff they've put into AC.  You asked me if I was Daeven based on our shared IP's, and I replied, "That just means we use the same IP anonymizer".  When I make a new username here, I don't make it hard. ;)

If it makes you feel any better, playing Blockland will probably give you more far enjoyment than the anti-enjoyment I apparently create for you. <3 <3 <3

[Rasix]

You didn't even make it to a Farnsworth Bently reference.  Bai bai.

[Hyu]

Fonzworth Bentley, my good sir.  He changed his name for copyright reasons.  Tut tut!

Edit:  Though he does have a new song out.  Incredibly catchy chorus, but TBH his flow is sub-par.  The man should stick to what he knows; I knew he was starting to stray from the light when he said in an interview he's thinking of getting a grill.  (Side note: After a semester in Japan practicing judiciously, I can now pull off most of the dance at the beginning of that video!  I'm going places in life.)

Can we get back to what is quite possibly one of the coolest user-built sandboxes ever, now?

[Endie]

Is Hyu actually Telemediocrity?

[Falconeer]

EDIT: Awesome

Awesome? Is that Open Source Hard Drivin'?

[Trippy]

Is Hyu actually Telemediocrity?

Yes.

[Stephen Zepp]

[mole]
Wow, what a really neat idea--must be a really powerful engine they are using!
Anyone know what it is???
[/mole]

Btw, I'll go poke the developer tomorrow if anyone has any last minute suggestions/comments, since he's currently interning with us.

[schild]

 Theoretically, it could be a neat idea. In execution, from all the videos I've seen, it's just wasted potential. I mean, every single kid who's played with legos wants to create worlds. Well, if you give the ability to people to host their own server and make the surface of the planet for that server using green, blue and brown shaded lego bases, we'd have that ability. This doesn't seem to let you do that. I don't really want to dick around with legos in a faux bedroom or backyard.

[ahoythematey]

Doesn't the sim/theme series generally handle the world-creation genre, soon to be joined by Spore?  Not saying the intent of blockland isn't cool, but it looks far from polished.

[koboshi]

EDIT: Awesome

First lego starwars now lego jackass! ROCK!

[koboshi]

  I agree that this has potential.  In my opinion it looks like it could be more Secondlife than Secondlife. I've always looked for it but no mmo has ever really made me think of the world in Snowcrash, and esthetics aside this really feels like it. Yea, it’s not pretty but it skips past that problem by using the familiar Lego forms.  If someone comes up with a planetoid version, as opposed to the small room versions, I might actually play it... for fun!

[Sunbury]

EDIT: Awesome

First lego starwars now lego jackass! ROCK!

That driving model sample appears superior to the Auto Assault one!

[CmdrSlack]

This is the closest anything in the near future will come to full-on, player-directed, accessible worldbuilding.

Uh, Second Life.

Also, I bet the time to cock in this is rather low.

[koboshi]

Also, I bet the time to cock in this is rather low.

E-Peen in record time. There's also teh ghey!

[tazelbain]

I grabbed the old demo.  I lasted 20 minutes before I left in disgust.  Hard to use would be an understatement. I hope the release is much better because it looks neat.  This looks like it could be a good platform to try out some of my game ideas.

I finally figured it out. After you install Blockland-0002, you have install the latest Return to Blockland mod into it.  After that its quite a neat sandbox.