If each game release is a kind of hill, then the time in between must be a sort of valley. What monsters lurk in that valley? Is it a fire swamp with R.O.U.S.? Is it a labyrinth you run daily? Or is it a dark and swampy path containing only what you take with you? Whatever you think it is, it is the place I make games. It’s been my home for these last 6 months. My only way out is to make a game. A new game. A game no one has played before.
When I first got here, I was attacked immediately. The beasts here don’t care if you come from a hill. They prefer it. Bleeding, hungry, sick and confused I made a shelter. And from there I started to plan. The plans turned into action and I started to see the day I would escape this place and make it back to the top of that shining hill I see in the distance.
How long will I be in this place? When will the beasts find a weakness and attack again? I don’t know. All I do know is when they come again, they will meet the tip of my spear. My Creeper covered spear.
DROOL…!
This. Looks. Awesome!
Good job Virgil! That’s a massive leap! I’ll need to buy a new computer for this one!
Me To.
Me to!
But I thought that PF is CW4… 🙂
Oh god yes! Can’t wait!
Oh my god….
Please tell me that is real
I had to pinch myself and check the calendar. Nothing out of the ordinary!
Those screen shots are from the “toy” phase of the game design process I usually follow. I spend anywhere from a few weeks to many months working on tech, ideas, etc. that I think I can make a game from. In this case I worked on creeper physics, graphics, multi-threading, and a few other big things I’m keeping secret for now. From this, I take the ideas that seem to work and set about making an actual game to ship.
I’m so excited to watch you built this from the beginning. I never saw the full process 😀
I’m an old timer, been following since before the start of CW2. It’s a beautiful process.
will there be a particulate portion as well?
Wait… What… I need more warning than that! I gotta warm up to these new games….!!
Fret not… this is your warning. There are a LOT of things to do. Adding much more advanced physics to the creeper and adding true height to the game opens a large array of possibilities I will be exploring.
When can we expect a game play video or gif? 😀 (Yes, I’m a very greedy hungry hippo)
I can’t wait to see what you’ll do with this!
I’ll be starting on the “actual game” very shortly. It will of course be seeded by months of work I’ve already done in this toy. I might do a video showing how the creeper looks (currently) flowing and I might do that in the next day or so. If I don’t do that now, it will be a while (like a couple months) before I have the actual game in condition to even think about any kind of video.
All that said, think of this as a “CW4 launch announcement”. I’m much closer to the beginning than the end of this dev cycle.
Rock on, Virgil. Looking forward to many months of updates 🙂
Hell, Yeah!
When i first saw this, i was screaming internally. THIS IS GONNA BE GREAT@
YES, Awesome !!!
But i’m not ready with Mapmaking for PF.
This is probably like a year+ away from release, and I am already excited.
will this be played in roughly the same way as 1 and 3? or are you thinking of adding more 3D like features. like tunnels and such?
It’s kind of in between. It will be played in a fashion similar to 1 and 3 (no overlapping geometry in 3d). That helps keep the interface simpler (for the player) and also allows the simulation to scale better. However, weapons and enemies now operate in a more 3d fashion. So height matters… and opens the door to new types of enemies and weapons.
The creeper itself also has a kind of internal fluid momentum. That means it can get shoved around, flow over hills, get shoved out of the way, etc.
Is the packet distribution gonna be like CW2? Or is it gonna be like the other creeper world games where it travels via collectors?
I have not settled on that yet. Some of these screen shots show a particle fleet like packet system (straight to the unit). That was one experiment. I don’t think I will be keeping that.
The model where packets move across a graph of connected nodes is a really good model that solves a whole heap of problems for the game and the player. It’s just plain good. Beating that model might not be possible, but I’m still having a go at it.
You could do a fountain method 😀 One where the packets are shot upwards in a ballistic trajectory to its destination 🙂 It would be pretty 😉
It might not scale though, as you can have tens of packets flowing at once.
All right! I’m so looking forward to this!
YEeeessss! I’m so happy to see the Creeper World games continue! Thank you!
Judging by the end of the story campaign of PF, I’d assume you’d make a PF2. Is that still an option for the future?
Yeah… PF2 will happen. Just not next.
Last question for now, are there going to be more than 1 liquid/fluid in this game? In the first screenshot, i see some purple-violet fluid coming from the north. Also, in the first and second screenshot i see lava. Are those gonna be new liquids? Or are they just re-textured terrain that i am going crazy over?
Yes… how many is yet to be determined. That purple area you see is “fortified” creeper. It is much harder to destroy. In that screen shot the creeper was fortified when it came into contact with that purple tower looking thing.
Wow! That sounds awsome! 🙂 It’s like a whole new game!
What about the lava? Will it act like a sort of anti creeper and cancel the enemy creeper, or is there some other effect it has?
Awesome news! This made my day!
YYYYEEEEESSSSSSSS
So excited for Creeper World 4D! If you need Beta Testers, I’m down.
Me too! I can help if you need it
I’m already fascinated to look at the Creeper-momentum. At the moment, there are parts of me that think “it’s still mostly a re-rendering of CW3”, others that think “Oh no, mortar shockwaves overtopping walls”, more at “How would you handle Creeper waves hit near the bottom? 3D holes?” and a significant portion thinking “I know when to plan for a hardware upgrade”.
And parts of the Creeper are purple, parts blue. Insert strategic design theory of your choice here. Also, I again notice additional speed settings appearing.
Finally, the fact that edges now seem more sensible when taking up build space? And the possibilities for requiring unlevel terrain for structures?
Onward – in a cloud of blue-mist Creeper-destroying glory!
Footnote: Some of us have never climbed the first mountain, and those brave explorers are visible from the plains mainly when they ascend a peak. A few of them, perhaps, will see a distant light, and wonder what it is… A very few may take it into their heads to follow, and go on a journey of their own.
This creeper is can be much more of a problem in some cases that the creeper in CW1/2/3. All it takes is a meteor to land in the middle of a deep pool of Creeper and suddenly that nice lake of Creeper is your worst nightmare.
Aw, heck yeah! I am SO excited to see what becomes of this!
Oh, I have another (set of) question(s). Will we see things like laminar & turbulent flow of creeper? Is cavitation a possibility? Or surface wetting – some materials being creeperphobic while others creeperphoric? Okay, I’ll stop now 🙂
I have to save some stuff for CW5 🙂
How about creeper resistant boats? they could float on top and be moved by the waves 🙂 maybe with a little robot fisherman! 😀
Ohhh myyyyyyyyyyy.
Another coding & design you’ll need to learn 😛
Actually, that could pose a problem, as custom images become custom models… but it’s too early to even be thinking about that. Then again, that’s never stopped me 😛
Sorrontis and I have already begin discussing plans for our respective evil units…
I wonder – will CS become an idea-mine, or something to avoid retreading? Possibly both.
I can’t wait to put a lot of creeper in an enclosed area and then delete some of the terrain and say open the flood gates! XD
Sweet lord yes
Cancel E3, we have a winner.
Creeper… Creeper
IT’S HAPPENING!
Great job V!
It was about time that my CW3 dreams came true.
I would prefer to get NO information about this… Just say “here is the new game”… i hate this waiting period!
The ONE DAY I don’t check V!
Why do you do this to me!
Just remember to let us rate maps after playing them 😉
Yes please
3rded.
The waves of creeper are beautiful.
Somehow I feel like I want little submarines or domed structures to float around under those blue seas, but I’m not really sure how that would practically play into anything. Looking forward to see where you take this new project.
Time to redouble my efforts of checking this blog daily.
Oh my god… yes! 😀
I need floating balls of solidified Creeper that explode when they hit solid ground
Damn, it’s hard to believe that it has really been 3 1/2 years since CW3 was released. That game still holds up so well, but I feel like CW4 might completely blow it out of the water! Please keep us posted, I want to give you my money!
I’m very glad to see a return to the Creeper!
I like Particle Fleet but I’m not really a huge fan of the naval battle simulation style of games. Battling the rising tide of the creeper though has always been a blast. I can’t wait!
I’m hoping for a credit mission like in the previous CW games. Was a little bit disappointed that PF didn’t have one.
Yay for a return to a continuous rather than discrete enemy! It’s a paradigm that’s beautiful in its purity and is what I’ve always felt to be the single biggest thing setting Creeper World apart from all the other RTSs out there.
Just take your time and don’t put a release date!!!!
PF felt a little rushed and was surprised there was only one update patch. Didn’t feel like it had the polish of other games you made.
At the VERY least, you have CW 1-3 to draw from. For example, perhaps shields could be physical domes that slowly crack under pressure? Also, how viscous will the creeper be from “silly putty” to “water”?
Haha, CW in 3D. You’re just plain crazy. The screenshots you posted… Creeper could have a new weapon – tsunami wave..Damn, all the possibilites. Good luck V, good to know you start another climb up!
If CW4 is 3D, does that mean 3d mechanics? Multi-level buildings? Tunnels?
Oh my. I have been playing since CW1 came out and this just makes me want to replay them all again. Granted I never stopped playing them. It looks wonderful.