From Dust

[Dudebro]

I just stumbled on this game through a summer arcade games promotion on xbox.com and I'm in love.:love:

‪From Dust - Video#1 TECH DEMO [Europe]‬‏ - YouTube

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/2/26/FromDustTsunami.png/254px-FromDustTsunami.png
Diverting a Tsunami.

From Dust - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


They're calling it a spiritual successor to Populous which makes me even more excited. This looks like one of the best god sims I've ever seen. :tremble: I'll be buying it on day1.

Campaigns in From Dust are structured as a sequence of missions, whereby completing certain objectives expedites the tribe's progress and bestows additional powers, such as the capacity to jellify water.[11] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/From_Dust#cite_note-eurogamerhandson-10) Tribal shamans (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shaman) alert the player to natural disasters, notably tsunamis (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tsunami) and volcanic eruptions (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Types_of_volcanic_eruptions), shortly before they occur. These disasters can be inhibited through creative, physical manipulation of the environment: a tsunami can be jellified, wildfires (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wildfire) extinguished, and lava flows diverted.[6] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/From_Dust#cite_note-ausgamers-5)[14] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/From_Dust#cite_note-kotakuinterview-13)[15] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/From_Dust#cite_note-edgeinterview-14)[16] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/From_Dust#cite_note-joystiqinterview-15)[17] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/From_Dust#cite_note-destructoid-16) Although there is no 'explicit sandbox' mode, Chahi stated that each mission features a distinct map, which the player can return to and manipulate further.[4] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/From_Dust#cite_note-facebookquestions-3)

They also said that they're planning on adding more content like a map editor and multiplayer. Oh god would that be sweet.


Also worth noting is this will be available on 360, ps3, Steam and Ipad though OnLive. It's 1200 MS points but I don't know the prices for any other platforms(although they did say it would cost around 15 euros, whatever that comes to).
So if any of you are interested let me know what platform you'll be getting it for and I might do the same(if it's 360 or Steam) so we can hopefully play multiplayer.

[Kugyince]

As soon as I seen the Ubisoft logo in the beginning it became a "no thanks."

[Dudebro]

Why? That sounds like a pretty ridiculous reason to not give a game a chance. Did you even bother to watch the clip?

[Kugyince]

Yep.

Why is that a ridiculous reason? Ubisoft makes a lot of crap, quick cash grabs, and under QA'd games. I don't trust them at all.

[Dudebro]

It's ridiculous because you're writing off anything made by them without judging the games individually. I find that to be pretty stupid and short sighted but w/e works for you I guess.

Either way I don't care to go back and forth about this irrational negativity. I don't care who develops the game I just think it looks fantastic.

[CrispyChicken]

Looks like a good game, but not exactly my type of tea if I'm understanding what type of game it is correctly.

[Dudebro]

It's a god sim. You control nature basically like you're a higher being. We have some games like it on RU if you wanna try the early concepts. The main difference between this new game and Populous is having a rival society fighting you. In populous you have to constantly mess with the enemies people and terrain, doesn't seem to be in From Dust.

Retro Uprising - Arcade - Populous (http://retrouprising.com/game-menu/game/3067/)

Retro Uprising - Arcade - Populous 2: Trials Of The Olympian Gods (http://retrouprising.com/game-menu/game/3071/)

Retro Uprising - Arcade - Populous 2 - Two Tribes (http://retrouprising.com/game-menu/game/3070/)

Retro Uprising - Arcade - Power Monger (http://retrouprising.com/game-menu/game/3095/)
This one is similar to Populous but with less direct god control. But it still has a lot of the same concepts of god sims so it counts. That being said I still never played it, favorited so I will eventually.

They're ugly by todays standards but the basic concept is the same. These older games are also less user friendly so if anyone has questions I'll gladly explain things for you.
I think there's a few more examples but I'm not familiar with them. If anyone knows of any on RU please link them here.

[CrispyChicken]

Cool. Thanks for the links DB, I'll check out Populous sometime.

[Kugyince]

It's ridiculous because you're writing off anything made by them without judging the games individually. I find that to be pretty stupid and short sighted but w/e works for you I guess.

It's not ridiculous nor am I writing off everything made by them.

I do not trust Ubisoft. The vast majority of their works are garbage in my opinion. Since I do not trust them they would have to come up with something really amazing that was raved over by a few reviewers that I trust.

I like Atlus. I trust their work. Even if they make a game in a genre I do not like I'm still going to at least give that game a second look.

I know you don't care about developers but to me that seems odd. I take who developed a game into consideration before I play it just as I take who wrote a book into consideration before I decide to read it.

You pick and choose your games your way and I'll pick and choose my games my way. There's really no reason for you to label my tastes as stupid.

Back on topic: Not a genre I enjoy. Hope it turns out as cool as you're wishing it to be.

[Dudebro]

I'm not saying your tastes are stupid I'm saying holding a grudge against a company is. I don't totally ignore who makes games and I do have my own bias, like I trust Bethesda/Bioware but I'm wary of EA. I just don't think it's good to go into a new game with a chip on your shoulder just because of the company who happens to make it. It's unfairly putting negativity on it before you even see it. I dunno, don't wanna fight about it I just think you're cheating yourself out of potentially good stuff by saying no thanks as soon as you see the logo.

The guy who designed this is actually the creator of Out of this World and he's been around the industry for years
Eric Chahi - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Admittedly he only really has that game as his critical acclaim but I think it's safe to say he's not just some Ubisoft shill out for a buck. I hope this game is as good as Out of this World.

Bolded that so Kong might notice it, I thought it was interesting to see that connection.

[Demon-Mask]

That looks really awesome, even to me.

[Dudebro]

Are you saying you don't like god sims? I'm kinda surprised how many gamers seem to avoid this genre. It seems like something that would appeal to everyone since it's like building a sandcastle on the beach, like the analogy the video makes.

[Demon-Mask]

I like god sims, I'm just saying that most recent games haven't appealed to me, so this one appealing to me is a bit unusual.

[Dudebro]

I'm in the same boat. Besides a couple sequels coming out soon I haven't been excited about anything really. This game caught me off guard and I think it'll end up being really fun. It probably won't be endless hours of fun but it'll be worth the money I bet.

[Demon-Mask]

You know, that's what a lot of people said about Minecraft...

But yeah, there is one upcoming game I have any desire to play, aside from this, and it's a remake/port.
It's sad, honestly.

[Dudebro]

I wish it had the ambitious scale of Minecraft but from what little I've seen you can't build whatever you can imagine. That's a hard act to follow.

What game? The ones I'm looking forward to are Tropico 4, Gears of War 3 and Skyrim.

[Demon-Mask]

To be honest, Minecraft is a tough act to follow.

Persona 2: Innocent Sin, is the one I am looking forward to. It's getting an official translation and is getting an enhanced PSP port. I played it the first time around, with a fan translation, it was a good game. I just thought it might be nice to play it translated by someone who's job it is to translate games. They often turn out better that way.

[Dudebro]

Good thing From Dust isn't in competition with games like Minecraft since they're vastly different games. In fact I can't think of any games like this one besides older god sims like Populous and Black and White.

[Demon-Mask]

Populous was awesome. Come to think of it, god sims are generally awesome.

[Dudebro]

If you like Populous you should go try for a score. I'm the only one on the board and the scores are weak.

[Kugyince]

I'm not saying your tastes are stupid I'm saying holding a grudge against a company is. I don't totally ignore who makes games and I do have my own bias, like I trust Bethesda/Bioware but I'm wary of EA. I just don't think it's good to go into a new game with a chip on your shoulder just because of the company who happens to make it. It's unfairly putting negativity on it before you even see it. I dunno, don't wanna fight about it I just think you're cheating yourself out of potentially good stuff by saying no thanks as soon as you see the logo.

The guy who designed this is actually the creator of Out of this World and he's been around the industry for years
Eric Chahi - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eric_Chahi)
Admittedly he only really has that game as his critical acclaim but I think it's safe to say he's not just some Ubisoft shill out for a buck. I hope this game is as good as Out of this World.

Bolded that so Kong might notice it, I thought it was interesting to see that connection.

We're not fighting about it. You're very excited over a new game and posted it here hoping to find others to share in your enthusiasm with. As soon as someone said the slightest negative thing about it you got all defensive and aggro with words like ridiculous, stupid, and short sighted. Well, technically I never even said anything negative about the game, just the developer but no matter. Ir's cool, I understand where you are coming from.

Back on topic: I can't speak for others but the reason I don't like the genre is because it involves creation or as you put it, building sandcastles. I'd much rather explore someone else's creations than make my own, i.e. adventure games.

[Kong]

I think there's a few more examples but I'm not familiar with them. If anyone knows of any on RU please link them here.
http://retrouprising.com/video-games/ru-games/game-series/god-games/t12081/

It looks like this is the first game Eric Chahi has worked on since Out of This World in 1991 and Heart of Darkness in 1998. Seems strange that he made OoTW entirely by himself 20 years ago but only made a single game since.

[joz]

Sweet looking game. I'm very interested in these type of games. Thanks for sharing DB.

[Dudebro]

@Kong -
Following the completion of Heart of Darkness (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heart_of_Darkness_%28video_game%29) in 1998, Chahi exited the video games industry (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Video_games_industry) to explore other interests, and subsequently developed a passion for volcanology (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Volcanology).[20] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/From_Dust#cite_note-gamasutratalk-19)[26] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/From_Dust#cite_note-facebookchahi-25) During an interview, he recalled the inspirational trip to an active volcano: "I decided to create Project Dust during a trip in Vanuatu (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vanuatu) in 1999, I was near the Yasur (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Yasur) crater and it was strongly active.[26] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/From_Dust#cite_note-facebookchahi-25) I could see its explosion; the sound was incredibly loud, like an air plane breaking the soundwall (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sound_barrier). Bombs were falling everywhere and sometimes really close to us. I was at the same time fascinated by this breathtaking beauty and really scared. I remember I had two thoughts at this very moment: 'I want to create another game before I die' and 'in the game I want to convey this ambivalence of Nature, beautiful and potentially violent at the same time'.[26]" (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/From_Dust#cite_note-facebookchahi-25)
—Eric Chahi (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eric_Chahi), 15 June 2010
Because of his love of volcanoes they added those real sounds to the volcanoes in the game, from what I heard.


@Joz- No problem. I'm 99% sure I'm getting this on Steam so if they get multiplayer I can most likely play with more people.

[Seahawk]

That looks really cool.
Although I hope that they do include some options for a strict sandbox mode with no humans, I really don't like to manage and worry about human peons in my sim games. That's why I like Minecraft, I am free to build up and tear down things with no consequences. This game looks like a more realistic and awesome version of that.

[Dudebro]

Well they said there's no sandbox mode upon release but they did say they're still hoping to add more content like sandbox and multiplayer. I guess it depends on how well it sells initially. In the meantime they are saying that you can continue levels once you beat them and do whatever you want. I believe that includes letting your people be washed away by a tsunami so they don't bother you.;)

---------- Post added 07-22-2011 at 01:05 AM ---------- Previous post was 07-21-2011 at 04:18 PM ----------

Someone rated my topic stars down?:lol: Did you not like the game or was that personal? For the record I only rate my new topics so people notice the feature and use it. If I'm gonna rate my own stuff I like enough to post it's gonna be 5 stars, obviously. Oh well I guess it's kinda working as I hoped.

So is anyone definitely getting this? I decided I'm getting it on Steam for sure in case they skimp on the console versions like most companies do.

[Wolf]

one word awesome

[CatalystiCam]

I guess I miss these threads when I don't recognize the name of the game at hand. I am almost certain I will end up buying this. I am downloading the trial on xbox right now which is taking forever! This is definitely my type of game as DB knows lol.

Unfortunately, I heard you have to wait until you beat the game to get any sort of sandbox mode :(

[Dudebro]

Unless something changed recently there is no true sandbox mode. You have to beat a campaign level and then continue it to have a sandbox like experience. I never heard anything about needed to beat the entire game.

[CatalystiCam]

‪From Dust Sandbox Level‬‏ - YouTube

mute your sound for this video, but read the description. It says you have to beat the game to unlock the sandbox level, whether it's true or not, idk.

[Dudebro]

Well either way I hope it's fun.

[CatalystiCam]

Yeah, I'm excited, this is like my dream game for this genre. If it does have sandbox, then it will be for sure. I'm trying it out finally. Hoping for the best.

[Dudebro]

Just remember that it's not being priced as a full retail game so it might not be a huge experience.

[CatalystiCam]

I think I could keep myself entertained with a game like this for some time, so it doesn't bother me. I bought it, the trial was that amazing. I'm sure the major "Wow" factor will wear off eventually like any game. It should still be fun to come back to.

Also, I see what you mean, you can stay on any level as long as you want which is really nice, so pretty much every level can be a sandbox if you want it to be a sandbox.

[Dudebro]

I expect them to release a real sandbox mode eventually because that was the main issue I kept hearing about this game. If they don't then they don't listen to their customers, which would be a shame.

[Demon-Mask]

I believe that includes letting your people be washed away by a tsunami so they don't bother you.;)
-
That would only be fun if you could build some kind of nuclear reactor so it could get hit by the tsunami.

[CatalystiCam]

nah, this game seems just like sim city in that sense that you could make a lush paradise full of villages and then just drown everyone in water using the jello water function which basically makes water freeze exactly where you put it until 60 seconds are up. So, you could really play either roll in this game as well. Only problem with that is that if everyone dies, then it is game over. At least 1 person would need to survive to resettle, or maybe it's a group of people need to live or at least 2. Causing disasters would probably best suit when attacking one village while several others still exist.

I'm on about the fifth or sixth level now. It's not making much sense, I made a pool of water in a desert so plants could grow and now that pool of water has somehow caused a million water sources to pop up and now there is really heavy flowing rivers everywhere. It's pretty frigging amazing still though.

[Dudebro]

That makes sense cam. They want to show that adding water to an arid landscape causes it to change climate. It evaporates and then rains down.

[CatalystiCam]

Nah, it never rained in that whole level once. I know there was a level or two where it was always raining or cloudy, but I think the climate is pretty much constant. It would make sense though what you said.

I think how it worked was that this desert was full of underground water or something, because more and more water sources kept popping up... I don't know why but it's like the rivers that already existed washed away sand and made more water sources popped up.

Eventually this level was just brutal. I had an awful time trying to get to the third totem poll to settle. Thank god the little villagers have that little song to keep the water from invading in once the area is settled on. The real funny part was trying to get to the exit of the level since like 25 of the 30 water sources that wound up popping up ended up all flowing over the exit point and it was probably 30 feet underwater lol. So, I had to use the Evaporation power to get all the water to go away then use the jelly function at the end of that to keep the water gone. This was the only way I could win lol. Seems like the way you're not supposed to win, but hey, they give you the powers.

TLDR for above: The Desert level is hard, lots of hidden water sources under shallow sand...

It's not to say I didn't have fun on that level, but it was keeping me on edge for sure.

end of TLDR

-------------

I don't know though, this game is cool with all these realistic elements taking place that you have to control with what is essentially magic. This new level however introduced fire trees that start fires to forest nearby and prevent water and water trees that put out nearby fires. These are "Natural" plants as well too, so the realistic environments factor kind of diminished there lol. I guess they had to add some more elements for extra challenge though, and I'm fine with that.

---------- Post added at 07:40 PM ---------- Previous post was at 07:34 PM ----------

Just looked it up, and turns out I did that level all wrong. I was supposed to just get through it quick and not dig too far or pour any water because it causes a mass chain reaction of those water sources. Lol, it all makes sense now.

[ZedIsDead]

Valve Offering Refund For Ever Sold Copy of From Dust Lo-Ping (http://lo-ping.org/2011/08/18/steam-offering-refund-for-ever-sold-copy-of-from-dust/)

According to this article, Steam is offering a refund to players who purchased From Dust. Ubisoft claimed that there would be no DRM aside from the initial purchase, but that turned out not to be the case, as players must always be connected to the internet in order to play the game.

Cool move from Steam, sticking it to those Ubisoft scumbags.

[Blue Shoe 2]

fun fact; the tablet version of From Dust will be exclusive to the OnLive version. I mean with the tablet controls and all (this is the type of game to translate well to the tablet)

[Dudebro]

So I guess Steam offering this means not all their games share that DRM nonsense?

[Blue Shoe 2]

even on steam you're required to be online; if you try running the game offline on steam it won't work. I'm surprised Ubisoft would blatantly lie like that.

[Dudebro]

So I don't get the big deal if that's already a part of playing games on Steam? The Xbox version is the same way I believe(at least for indie/arcade games). Anyone know if the PS3 version will be the same?

[Blue Shoe 2]

some people have unreliable internet connections that make this sort of thing a hassle; no internet, no access to your games. plus Ubi specifically stated that it wouldn't have this, and yet it did. I'm starting to side with Tenser.(Doesn't mean i'm not going to get it when it hits OnLive.)

[Dudebro]

I totally understand the unreliable internet thing and honestly I'm not in favor of this practice. I'm just kinda confused why people expected anything different if the services they buy the game on already do it? Sure Ubisoft is moronic for making a promise it didn't intend to keep but I think the customers are just as stupid for expecting anything different.