Anyone played Cobalt yet?

[Shengji]

Looks like I'll be the first to ask! I'm really interested in hearing the opinions of anyone who's played it what it's like. I really don't like the trailers I've seen for it, but as it's in Alpha, there may be a lot of potential I can't see.

[Magmarashi]

There is a learning curve, but once you get a few rounds of survival under your belt things learned in the tuts start to make sense and become easier to apply.

It isn't completely what I was expecting from the teasers and talks, you can fight and shoot without having to do those slow-mo rolls, but the slow-mo rolling shots are really fun anyway and useful for getting out of tight spots.

[FlowerChild]

I haven't been following Cobalt at all, as from what little I've seen in just looks like a 2D platformer/shooter, which isn't really my thing.

But just out of curiosity, did they retain any of the creative elements that made Minecraft so special? Is there any building, or circuitry, or what have you in the game?

[Katalliaan]

Pretty sure they didn't - it's a different style of game made by a different studio. Mojang only published it, whereas Oxeye developed it.

[Shengji]

I haven't been following Cobalt at all, as from what little I've seen in just looks like a 2D platformer/shooter, which isn't really my thing.

I do like a good platformer myself, but, in a month where Trine 2 has just been released for £12 I don't see how they can justify charging £8 for this - bearing in mind, they plan to charge £16 on release! It looks a lot like a free flash game, but I'm not going to judge it based solely on what I've seen.

I doubt I'll buy it but I am very interested to see if I am going to consider Mojang products overpriced or if there's more to this game than meets the eye - perhaps there's hidden potential not apparent in their publicity.

[FlowerChild]

Yeah, I've got to say that I find Mojang's decisions with regards to future titles rather questionable. They've built up a huge name and potential audience for themselves with Minecraft, but seem opposed to doing anything that takes advantage of that. I get the impression that Notch really is sick of working on Minecraft and doesn't want to do anything even vaguely resembling it anymore.

If Scrolls and Cobalt are any indication, I think they risk becoming "just another game development studio". I think it's rather disappointing that they aren't leveraging their success by making creative elements a common theme to their games, even while they branch into other genres. I'm sure the rest of the industry has taken note of Minecraft's success and we're going to see a flood of games come out over the next few years that focus more on player creativity. Mojang really had the opportunity to be the leader in that genre if they played this right.

So yeah, I can't say that I'll be following their future titles with particular interest.

EDIT: Oh, and I don't have anything in particular against 2D platformers/shooters in general. I just haven't seen anything come out of Mojang that would indicate they are specialists in that field and that Cobalt is worth particular note. To my mind, their reputation is strictly limited to the kind of game that Minecraft is. If they were to come out with something with similar design aspects, I'd be very interested.

[Horizon]

Well, they already made minecraft, so if they wanted to do anything else with creative aspects, they'd either just update minecraft to include such a feature, or decide that terraria should do it. Keep in mind, if they wanted to do a 2d version of minecraft for the purpose of things that wouldn't work too well in 3d, people would complain that they're "ripping off terraria". That's what I think the reason is for why they don't make Minecraft 2 or something, and instead are doing stuff like this.

[FlowerChild]

Well, they already made minecraft, so if they wanted to do anything else with creative aspects, they'd either just update minecraft to include such a feature, or decide that terraria should do it. Keep in mind, if they wanted to do a 2d version of minecraft for the purpose of things that wouldn't work too well in 3d, people would complain that they're "ripping off terraria". That's what I think the reason is for why they don't make Minecraft 2 or something, and instead are doing stuff like this.

"Creative aspects" doesn't imply doing what has already been done with MC. That's like saying there's only one way to be creative.

What I'm saying is that they have an established fan-base that is obviously interested in being creative and have an established reputation for providing that kind of gameplay. If I were in their shoes then, I would be asking myself "what other game types and mechanics can we come up with that will satisfy that desire"?

As for ripping off Terraria or whatever, given that Terraria is such a blatant MC clone to begin with, I don't think such arguments would carry much weight.

[MoRmEnGiL]

Man, at least give them a chance!

Cobalt seems a lot of fun to me, and scrolls could be right up my alley.

I've always been a huge fan of card games, and games like MtG for eg, are not that far from minecraft actually if you think about some aspects of them. Creative deck construction, clever interaction of cards, complex combos etc.

Building a complex and creative autofarm in BtW is not that far from building a good creative deck. If you break it down to the most basic level, it is all about interaction of various different components into a single big mechanism.

[FlowerChild]

Man, at least give them a chance!

I'm not saying they'll be bad games. What I am saying is that there is nothing drawing me to those particular games over similar ones being produced by a number of other studios out there.

To me, Mojang just has no track record with regards to those genres. It's like if Id software decided to put out an RTS with their reputation being for building FPS games. Why would I care about or await that game with expectation? It could be anyone doing it at that point.

I just think it's a really poor business decision man. Again, that has nothing to do with whether the games will be good or not.

[diegokilla]

Man, at least give them a chance!

I'm not saying they'll be bad games. What I am saying is that there is nothing drawing me to those particular games over similar ones being produced by a number of other studios out there.

To me, Mojang just has no track record with regards to those genres. It's like if Id software decided to put out an RTS with their reputation being for building FPS games. Why would I care about or await that game with expectation? It could be anyone doing it at that point.

I just think it's a really poor business decision man. Again, that has nothing to do with whether the games will be good or not.

Cobalt does have a creative base for it though within its level editor (or so I imagine)... I doubt you will be able to reach MC levels of creativity, but it is still a canvas for the players imho. I think the biggest thing that cobalt will have against it is its learning curve, it does not seem like its going to be a casual game. Seems like it will be for the hardcore only. It will prolly be a decent distraction. I doubt I would ever sink as much time into it as something like minecraft though.

[FlowerChild]

Cobalt does have a creative base for it though within its level editor (or so I imagine)... I doubt you will be able to reach MC levels of creativity, but it is still a canvas for the players imho. I think the biggest thing that cobalt will have against it is its learning curve, it does not seem like its going to be a casual game. Seems like it will be for the hardcore only. It will prolly be a decent distraction. I doubt I would ever sink as much time into it as something like minecraft though.

Come on man, that hardly differentiates it. Tons of games come out with level editors.

One of the cool things about MC is that it basically turns level editing into the gameplay.

[MoRmEnGiL]

But on the other hand, there is a fine line between focusing on what made you famous and being branded as a one trick pony. Cobalt is not even a mojang game, and Scrolls is only the second game mojang does, and I wouldn't want minecraft and mojang being the new CoD or sims, endlessly replicating itself.

In fact I rather like it that they are branching off and doing different things. I guess we have polar opposite opinions on the matter. I find the idea of an id software RTS game much more interesting than yet another FPS.

And as I said, we know next to nothing about scrolls. It has the potential as I said to be very minecrafty in it's own way.

[FlowerChild]

And as I said, we know next to nothing about scrolls. It has the potential as I said to be very minecrafty in it's own way.

You could also argue that doing a city-builder would be "Minecrafty". But it's also an existing genre and bringing nothing new in terms of player creativity, just like collectible card-games (which I do like myself btw).

Just having *some form* of creative aspect doesn't necessarily play on the brand of creative gameplay, or at least the idea of presenting novel concepts of creative gameplay, that has been established with Minecraft, no more so that including a level editor in Cobalt does. Whether it is developed internally or not also doesn't matter with regards to exploiting that "brand".

I have no interest (at least no more interest than I'd have in random titles produced by other studios) in games produced by Mojang simply because they are from Mojang, unless they play on the strengths the studio has already exhibited. I do not believe either of their upcoming titles do.

Anyways, fuck it. I made a very simple statement that I think is very valid and which time will prove to be true when the newer titles coming out fail to sell even a fraction of what Minecraft has. Not going to argue in circles about it.

[Horizon]

Maybe one of the features in a future cobalt update will allow for destructible environs, and/or placeable barriers/blockades. Who knows?

[FlowerChild]

Maybe one of the features in a future cobalt update will allow for destructible environs, and/or placeable barriers/blockades. Who knows?

I do. You can't just tack that kind of functionality onto an existing code-base man. It has to be planned for from the start.

[MoRmEnGiL]

Yeah I think we are not even talking about the same thing. I don't care what other people think as long as I like the game, so even if Mojang's future games sell only a fraction of what minecraft did, that doesn't say anything for me.

It's just my mentality. It goes way beyond games. For e.g. if a new director made a very fresh feeling horror movie, I would love it if his next film has nothing to do with that and branch off to a totally different direction. In fact I'd rather he tried something totally different and fail, than stick to what he knows and have a modicum of success.

To put it in another perspective, if you, Fc, stated tomorrow that you are making a point and click adventure, I would be very interested, despite it having nothing to do with what we know you for.

EDIT: I'm not arguing that you are wrong, what I'm saying is that my perspective is different, and you are arguing from a professional point of view, while I'm arguing from a very personal and selfish one.

[FlowerChild]

EDIT: I'm not arguing that you are wrong, what I'm saying is that my perspective is different, and you are arguing from a professional point of view, while I'm arguing from a very personal and selfish one.

Yup, I can hear that man. However, I want more creative games to come out as MC has caused me to grow board of pretty much everything else, so my personal and professional evaluation of this is kinda the same in this case ;)

[MoRmEnGiL]

Heh, minecraft is one of the few games that I've ever been playing consistently for a year straight. :P

I too get bored easily with most games now, and to be honest, I rarely get the urge to even try most games.

Funny case: I was giving fallout 3 a spin some months ago, and while I was enjoying it, I realized that what I really wanted to do is demolish parts of megaton and modify them, and build defences and underground farms. Oh god.

[Kwilt]

To be honest, I'm with the minority who doesn't want Mojang to focus even remotely on something Minecrafty. I don't love a developer because they make a certain type of game, I love a developer because they make good games.

I could care less about build environments in games, really. I got tired of the building in Minecraft long ago. Now, I'm into actually building a world, rather than just a fortress or a city or a town or a mob trap. If Mojang made building their 'thing', I really wouldn't have much respect because I've already built what I've wanted to build in a year. I've done everything from a small dirt hut, to a 1:1 scale replication explosion of the Tsar Bomba.

Either way, I haven't actually looked into Cobalt, but I might poke around with it if I know that some of my friends are getting it. I see the MP feature being a large hinge for it.

[FlowerChild]

Funny case: I was giving fallout 3 a spin some months ago, and while I was enjoying it, I realized that what I really wanted to do is demolish parts of megaton and modify them, and build defences and underground farms. Oh god.

Hehe...I had the same reaction playing New Vegas. I was having a good time overall, but I kept having the urge to build up outposts and stuff out in the wasteland. Seems to happen to me with pretty much every game I'm playing these days.

BF3 becomes "fuck! why can't I just move this shit over to make myself some cover!" :)

[FlowerChild]

Speaking of which, I'm actually having quite a bit of fun with the Nuclear Dawn free weekend on Steam right now. I've really missed a base-building aspect in an FPS like this. The last time I played something similar was Tribes 2 (especially with some of the mods), and a Quake 2 mod called Gloom I used to be addicted to.

[Katalliaan]

Seems like you might also like the "Savage" series - it's a game where one player per team plays it like a RTS and all the rest play it as a first/third-person shooter (first for the ranged weapons, third for the melee weapons), and the goal is to take out the opposing team's command building.