SDCC Video Game Round-Up: First Impressions Of ‘Project Spark’

Believe me when I say Project Spark is unlike any game that has come before. There’s no easy way of describing it other than in this game, you will have full control to build a world with your own rules, own gameplay mechanics, and own enemies. Developed by an internal studio at Microsoft, this “open world digital canvas” is currently two years in the making and is in the beta process. More on that later.

The first thing shown to me were the basic set of tools used to form the terrain inside ones world. Creators will be able to adjust the scales, intensity, and distortion of hills, mountains, craters, whatever you’re building with. Next, I was shown a Logic Menu. In this menu, you will be able to design the “brain” of an object or creature. It’s a simplified menu in which you can change two columns in order for something to happen. For example, when you enter the brain of a troll, you will see _____ happens when _____. Those two blanks cane be filled win with “defend” and “attacked” respectively. Keep in mind, you can use this tool to make enemies do goofy things or make them much harder to fight.

Gamers will also be able to give their creations meaning. In Project Spark, you can create a hero, a purpose, and the journey complete with quests. And yes, you can customize the dialogue for your journey too. If you’re not that into micromanaging everything, gamers will also have the ability to auto-create worlds so that you don’t have to. While it is auto-generated, the environment pieces will always be random. Once you’re all done, you can upload it for other gamers to download and play though your creation. This in turn will allow anyone who downloads your game to change it to their liking. But don’t worry, you’ll still retain first ownership no matter what they do to it.

While the game appears to be always in 3rd person, gamers will able to create their own games in first person, third person, and even create a sidescroller adventure. When you download a sidescrolling adventure, you’ll be able to change the point of view to first person. Perhaps the most interesting thing I saw running in Project Spark was Geometry Wars made using the tools available in Project Spark.

SmartGlass will be integrated into Project Spark in the form of a second screen. The SmartGlass app will allow gamers to have the ability to render live gameplay and play it off the Xbox One. This eliminates the use of a controller and you’ll be able to terraform your world with your fingers.

Project Spark will be free-to-play on Windows 8 devices, Xbox 360 and Xbox One. Anything created on the Xbox One will be available on the Xbox 360 and Windows 8 devices. However, in order to play online, gamers will need Xbox Live Gold. DLC wasn’t talked about, but the inclusion of purchasable items such as clothing, enemies, and pieces of the environment were hinted at.

As for the beta, you can find more information here!