TUG – A Kickstarter Project Better Than Minecraft

TUG is a multiplayer open-world sandbox RPG with a gameplay similar to that of Minecraft being developed by gaming studio Nerd Kingdom.  TUG however goes further in-depth than Minecraft ever has.  The world isn’t full of blocks; there are actual curves, 3d designed characters and items, and a very unique storytelling system developed by the player.

 

TUG’s Immersion

TUG goes as deep as it can in game development here.  For instance, you can look at a player in the game, and determine their attributes simply by glancing at their appearance.  Unlike similar games, TUG uses a dual contouring system to achieve better graphics quality.  Dual contouring gives you terrain similar to other games, where each block can be deleted and replaced, except with dual contouring your blocks can take on shapes that look more realistic and much less blocky in design.  The physics in game, the lighting in game, the design of the world, and everything else within this game was developed to create a world that feels realistic.

In addition to the world being realistic the characters are as well.  Your character will actually start out as a child.  As you progress through the game you will then develop into a teenager, then later an adult.  As you grow you’ll be able to create new items, complete new missions, and find or achieve companions, or even create you’re only personal Golems.

The game is primarily focused around the crafting system.  Everything within the game can be crafted, that even includes the ability to use the 3rd person camera.  Yes, you may have to actually create game mechanics through the crafting menu.  They really wanted to put more content into the crating system, rather than more time into the resource gathering system.  While resource gathering will still exist here, there will be various paths to go down to achieve the items you want, or than mindless activities.

Modding

TUG will support complete community modding.  While there isn’t much information released about it yet, this is definitely a plus.  Much of the gaming market has forgotten what player generated content can do to improve the game and improve the profits of the game studio.  Additionally, the entire engine TUG is ran off of is completely modular, meaning that additional features or systems can be added as the game progresses.

Additional Details

TUG seems to be a very exciting addition to the open world sandbox games we see today.  At the moment they’ve reached $140,068 of their $215,000 goal, and have only 8 days to go.  If you’re into games like TUG, I suggest supporting the indie gaming community and help by pledging a few dollars to get this game launched.  All you need to do is head over to their kickstarter page and click “back this project”.

 

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