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It's all a scam, really:
i696.photobucket.com/albums/vv…
They either didn't white balance the image properly, or edited the image to make it ambiguous. People just see it one way or another because their eyes are trying to properly "white balance" the image, but don't have a good reference to do so. So I made this image (at the link above) with color references to make it really easy to see what actual colors are in the image itself.
You can also see a lot of examples online where if you look at it on a darker screen, the brown turns more black, and the blue looks darker, whereas on a lighter screen, the brown looks brighter (gold, even), and the blue gets washed out to look almost white.
Don't believe me? Open up a screenshot of the original image and do what I did, try color-picking some colors from it and see what you find - you will probably find what I did, assuming you find the same "original" image that I did.
i696.photobucket.com/albums/vv…
They either didn't white balance the image properly, or edited the image to make it ambiguous. People just see it one way or another because their eyes are trying to properly "white balance" the image, but don't have a good reference to do so. So I made this image (at the link above) with color references to make it really easy to see what actual colors are in the image itself.
You can also see a lot of examples online where if you look at it on a darker screen, the brown turns more black, and the blue looks darker, whereas on a lighter screen, the brown looks brighter (gold, even), and the blue gets washed out to look almost white.
Don't believe me? Open up a screenshot of the original image and do what I did, try color-picking some colors from it and see what you find - you will probably find what I did, assuming you find the same "original" image that I did.
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Support better internet in USA!
1 min read
Fellow Americans, please help support improved internet access in the United States of America by signing this petition on WhiteHouse.gov:
petitions.whitehouse.gov/petit…
petitions.whitehouse.gov/petit…
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Is Space Engineers the next 'Minecraft'?
6 min read
If you aren't familiar with Space Engineers, it's a game in alpha (AKA "Early Access") where you can build and fly spaceships, build space stations, and more. There is a survival mode with mining, refining, and assembling of components and parts, and a manual-build mode where you can weld blocks together and salvage blocks with a grinder. To sum it up, basically "Legos in space".
So my question is, since fantasy-type RPGs tend to have more fans, will it be able to compete with Minecraft? Let's look at some similarities and differences between these games, with a focus on Space Engineers:
Similarities:
Lets you build objects with cubes typically called "blocks".
Has a "creative" and "survival" mode.
Lets you play online and offline.
Sandbox-style gameplay.
Accepts early funding (pre-purchasing + pre-launch playing) before actual game launch.
Allows digging of tunnels and similar destruction of blocks/terrain.
Differences:
Set in space. SPACE!!!!
Still in initial development phase (it's not really done yet, still has lots of bugs and lacking important features).
Basic server browser is available (no requirement to type IP addresses to join public games).
Better graphics. (including more types of "blocks" like slopes and corners, with plans for curved blocks).
No dedicated server software (yet).
Does not have lots of mods or a large modding community like Minecraft (yet).
No terrain/planting/farming/tree-chopping.
Can mine asteroids for resources, but can't mine on planets (there are no planets yet).
Out-of-the-box vehicle support. Can build spaceships and move them without scripting or modding.
Vehicle collision physics: Probably one of the best features, you can crash spaceships and the "metal" blocks bend and break very realistically, along with realistic debris.
Voxel "terrain": You can drill asteroids and they break into natural-looking tunnels, instead of blocky cube-filled tunnels.
Block "edges": Blocks placed certain places will either have or lack different types of "trim" depending on where it is placed relevant to other blocks.
Lacks a day/night cycle (again, no planets, at least not yet).
Smaller game world (so far, the only asteroids are around spawn, they do not continue nearly infinitely).
I've surely missed a lot, but there's some basic things to consider. Overall, I would say Space Engineers is shaping up to be a better game, as far as gameplay, graphics, and user-friendliness. Why? First of all, having a server browser is a huge feature for any multiplayer game. I am of the opinion that in 2014, even an indie game should have a server browser (or at least matchmaking, but as a PC gamer I prefer actual server browsers to matchmaking that sets you up with someone with a 500ms or worse connection).
Secondly, out-of-the-box graphics are significantly better than Minecraft's simple blocks and simple textures. Blocks are more detailed, not just the textures, but the actual objects too. Some blocks have a lot of mesh geometry. On the other hand, people with outdated hardware will have trouble running the game, and should make sure they meet at least the minimum system requirements. While I see this as a good feature, this may significantly hamper the ability of Space Engineers to get a large following (assuming no future option to dumb-down the graphics to a lower level), just because so many people have outdated computers.
Thirdly, the gameplay, I feel like it offers a lot more than Minecraft's. In survival mode, there are meteor storms that can damage your creations, your suit can run out of energy leaving you at the mercy of space, and failing to see which way gravity is pulling you can leave you smashed on the side of an asteroid. In either creative or survival, there are a lot of awesome physics-type blocks to "engineer" with. For example, gravity generators, artificial mass blocks, rotors, landing gear, and more. Using gravity generators and artificial mass blocks, you can make warheads, gravity drives to act as the engine of your ship, and more. Rotors can be used to make rotating doors, or set up with other blocks to act like "pistons". (One example is this very nice sliding hangar gate prototype I found on Steam Workshop.) Landing gear sticks to things and you can use it to latch onto other ships/stations, as well as use it to hold and release warheads. I have to be honest, in Minecraft I didn't do much with redstone, it seemed unbelievably unintuitive, I think the most I managed was a cobblestone generator, but in Space Engineers it seems so much easier to comprehend. To keep things simple, electricity is automatically wired from your power generators through any neighboring "metal" blocks (armor blocks), so as long as other objects are connected in this way, they can be powered.
Overall, I don't think Space Engineers is going to become quite as large as Minecraft for two main reasons:
1. Higher system requirements (but in my personal opinion it's a good thing).
2. Futuristic space setting (fantasy seems to be more popular... if World of Warcraft is any indication).
Of course, it's still too hard to really predict how things will go because Space Engineers is just not "finished" yet. There are plenty of amazing features planned and updates have been happening on a weekly basis (on Thursdays). So far I am very impressed with how fast Keen Software House updates their game, so I recommend it to anyone who likes space games in general, Legos, sandbox games, or Minecraft.
Have you played Space Engineers? Do you think the space setting is less popular overall? Do you think system requirements are going to reduce potential total sales? Do you think higher system requirements are better because it will have better graphics, even if less people may end up playing? I'm interested in hearing your comments.
PS - If you don't like bugs in alpha and early access games, or don't have friends to play with, I suggest you do not play Space Engineers right now. I do, however, suggest that you buy it sometime soon (next sale, perhaps), and you can play it after the legitimate release when all the major problems will undoubtedly be fixed, since I have a lot of faith in Keen Software House with how they have been keeping up with the community and with their updates.
So my question is, since fantasy-type RPGs tend to have more fans, will it be able to compete with Minecraft? Let's look at some similarities and differences between these games, with a focus on Space Engineers:
Similarities:
Lets you build objects with cubes typically called "blocks".
Has a "creative" and "survival" mode.
Lets you play online and offline.
Sandbox-style gameplay.
Accepts early funding (pre-purchasing + pre-launch playing) before actual game launch.
Allows digging of tunnels and similar destruction of blocks/terrain.
Differences:
Set in space. SPACE!!!!
Still in initial development phase (it's not really done yet, still has lots of bugs and lacking important features).
Basic server browser is available (no requirement to type IP addresses to join public games).
Better graphics. (including more types of "blocks" like slopes and corners, with plans for curved blocks).
No dedicated server software (yet).
Does not have lots of mods or a large modding community like Minecraft (yet).
No terrain/planting/farming/tree-chopping.
Can mine asteroids for resources, but can't mine on planets (there are no planets yet).
Out-of-the-box vehicle support. Can build spaceships and move them without scripting or modding.
Vehicle collision physics: Probably one of the best features, you can crash spaceships and the "metal" blocks bend and break very realistically, along with realistic debris.
Voxel "terrain": You can drill asteroids and they break into natural-looking tunnels, instead of blocky cube-filled tunnels.
Block "edges": Blocks placed certain places will either have or lack different types of "trim" depending on where it is placed relevant to other blocks.
Lacks a day/night cycle (again, no planets, at least not yet).
Smaller game world (so far, the only asteroids are around spawn, they do not continue nearly infinitely).
I've surely missed a lot, but there's some basic things to consider. Overall, I would say Space Engineers is shaping up to be a better game, as far as gameplay, graphics, and user-friendliness. Why? First of all, having a server browser is a huge feature for any multiplayer game. I am of the opinion that in 2014, even an indie game should have a server browser (or at least matchmaking, but as a PC gamer I prefer actual server browsers to matchmaking that sets you up with someone with a 500ms or worse connection).
Secondly, out-of-the-box graphics are significantly better than Minecraft's simple blocks and simple textures. Blocks are more detailed, not just the textures, but the actual objects too. Some blocks have a lot of mesh geometry. On the other hand, people with outdated hardware will have trouble running the game, and should make sure they meet at least the minimum system requirements. While I see this as a good feature, this may significantly hamper the ability of Space Engineers to get a large following (assuming no future option to dumb-down the graphics to a lower level), just because so many people have outdated computers.
Thirdly, the gameplay, I feel like it offers a lot more than Minecraft's. In survival mode, there are meteor storms that can damage your creations, your suit can run out of energy leaving you at the mercy of space, and failing to see which way gravity is pulling you can leave you smashed on the side of an asteroid. In either creative or survival, there are a lot of awesome physics-type blocks to "engineer" with. For example, gravity generators, artificial mass blocks, rotors, landing gear, and more. Using gravity generators and artificial mass blocks, you can make warheads, gravity drives to act as the engine of your ship, and more. Rotors can be used to make rotating doors, or set up with other blocks to act like "pistons". (One example is this very nice sliding hangar gate prototype I found on Steam Workshop.) Landing gear sticks to things and you can use it to latch onto other ships/stations, as well as use it to hold and release warheads. I have to be honest, in Minecraft I didn't do much with redstone, it seemed unbelievably unintuitive, I think the most I managed was a cobblestone generator, but in Space Engineers it seems so much easier to comprehend. To keep things simple, electricity is automatically wired from your power generators through any neighboring "metal" blocks (armor blocks), so as long as other objects are connected in this way, they can be powered.
Overall, I don't think Space Engineers is going to become quite as large as Minecraft for two main reasons:
1. Higher system requirements (but in my personal opinion it's a good thing).
2. Futuristic space setting (fantasy seems to be more popular... if World of Warcraft is any indication).
Of course, it's still too hard to really predict how things will go because Space Engineers is just not "finished" yet. There are plenty of amazing features planned and updates have been happening on a weekly basis (on Thursdays). So far I am very impressed with how fast Keen Software House updates their game, so I recommend it to anyone who likes space games in general, Legos, sandbox games, or Minecraft.
Have you played Space Engineers? Do you think the space setting is less popular overall? Do you think system requirements are going to reduce potential total sales? Do you think higher system requirements are better because it will have better graphics, even if less people may end up playing? I'm interested in hearing your comments.
PS - If you don't like bugs in alpha and early access games, or don't have friends to play with, I suggest you do not play Space Engineers right now. I do, however, suggest that you buy it sometime soon (next sale, perhaps), and you can play it after the legitimate release when all the major problems will undoubtedly be fixed, since I have a lot of faith in Keen Software House with how they have been keeping up with the community and with their updates.
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I recently launched a Kickstarter campaign for Legend of Kindara, which I will be making with RPG Maker VX Ace, provided I receive the $12k I'm trying to raise. The minimum pledge is $2 USD, which will get you a digital copy of the game if/when released.
Legend of Kindara will be focused on story and character dialogue, with a lot side quests and objects to interact with (and less focused on the boring, repetitive random battles).
I already have a bit of a gameplay demo as part of my promotional Kickstarter video, if you are interested.
Legend of Kindara will be focused on story and character dialogue, with a lot side quests and objects to interact with (and less focused on the boring, repetitive random battles).
I already have a bit of a gameplay demo as part of my promotional Kickstarter video, if you are interested.
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