C.U.B.E. for Dummies

JamesGoblin

A quick (timelapse) look at player-made building - builder is Necromaniak. First, the foundation:



...the first column:



...the first bridge:



Couple hours later, look from below:



...and look from above:



...Many, many...many hours later:





Necromaniak is one of the players alpha testing game's building tool, C.U.B.E. I used one of his YouTube videos, you can see it below.

Building is 100% free form and it is still early i.e. rough and Minecrafty - lots of features, such as round or cylindric shapes, wide choice of textures or heraldry, are yet to be implemented.

cameltosis

CUBE is something I'm really excited for but I'm still not entirely sure how its all going to hook up in game. 

From reading through the official info on CUBE, it sounds like it is separate from the main game (info says you can currently test CUBE 24/7) so I'm not really clear how building something in CUBE translates to the game itself. 

It sort of sounds like building something in CUBE is essentially creating a blueprint. You build something completely freeform and save it as a blueprint, then in game you can use that blueprint to actually build the building. Also sounded like you could sell blueprints in game. 


So, in my mind I imagine designing small outposts, larger keeps as well as just really small things (like walls), then having the blueprints on me whilst I'm out fighting. If my realm is making decent advances, I imagine quickly erecting small defensive structures (like walls) to give us an immediate-but-small advantage on the battlefield. If it looks like we're holding steady somewhere, then we'd throw up a bigger outpost, like just a square series of walls with a few towers and a couple of gates. 


What I'm unclear on is our ability to tailor buildings to the terrain. Do you know if we'll be able to design buildings with a specific location in mind and then only be able to build it there? For example, if there is a ravine in game, it'd be cool to design a bridge to span the ravine, or if there is a large river, be able to design the equivalent of The Twins from Game of Thrones. 


Regardless, I'm excited for the system and the game in general. 

JamesGoblin

Selling blueprints is supposed to be important source of income for crafter class (builders being one sub-spec of it).

Speaking of blueprints "spam" building - actual building will take time + manpower + resources + blueprints will be expendable (?) and will take place in inventory i.e even the smallest one will have some kind of volume / weight and so on. Also, I am not sure whether building in combat will be possible - even if we assume that it might be even remotely efficient, with all these limitations I mentioned.

Buildings (but not finished blueprints, I'd say!?) will be adjustable to the terrain, up to smallest "bricks" - which are actually bigger than a pixel, but much smaller than a Minecraft cube.

Bridges (and all kinds of buildings) across the abysses in the Depths are confirmed, bridges between islands are strongly hinted at, "when two of these are close enough" (if I recall correctly?) and so on, I believe that the only possible limitation is emergent gameplay (aka Meta aka possible player abuse) - since CSE seems to already have tech to make all this happen.

cameltosis

Hi James,

Thanks for the response. I remember reading somewhere that actually building stuff in game will be time consuming and require a lot of resources which is why I started thinking of smaller buildings like single walls / towers / outposts. Most of the CUBE videos I've seen seem to focus on really impressive, large buildings - great to look at and it shows off the possibilities, but think MJ said such buildings would take a large guild a long time (i.e. 1 month + ) to actually build due to insane resource requirements for something so big. 

But yeh, editing / adjusting in game is still a big question for me. For example, you design a bridge in CUBE, generate the blueprint then head in game. However, once in game you realise it's 10m too short. Now, either we can edit in game like you say (via cut-down cube or manually moving bricks?) or the blueprint is rubbish and I'll have to quit game, boot up cube, load schematic, edit, export, quit, reload CU, then build......sounds like a faff!

JamesGoblin

@cameltosis It's really a technical detail, one of solutions would be to simply build the missing 10 meter part in advance (or missing two 5-meter parts on each side) or maybe blueprints will have limit in size, thus bridges will be built piece by piece.

Or anything like that, anyway - nobody will ever build a bridge that fits all sizes, so engineers working on the terrain will likely be common. Same as in reality.

Knytta

So the building itself are done outside the game itself and then imported into CU? Or do you build in Building zones? It looks a lot like the Landmark building system.

Sovrath

Knytta said:

So the building itself are done outside the game itself and then imported into CU? Or do you build in Building zones? It looks a lot like the Landmark building system.

Additionally can this be done anywhere? And are they destructible?

waynejr2

JamesGoblin said:

A quick (timelapse) look at player-made building - builder is Necromaniak. First, the foundation:



...the first column:



...the first bridge:



Couple hours later, look from below:



...and look from above:



...Many, many...many hours later:





Necromaniak is one of the players alpha testing game's building tool, C.U.B.E. I used one of his YouTube videos, you can see it below.

Building is 100% free form and it is still early i.e. rough and Minecrafty - lots of features, such as round or cylindric shapes, wide choice of textures or heraldry, are yet to be implemented.

Can I summon an earth elemental to help with some of that?

JamesGoblin

Knytta said:

So the building itself are done outside the game itself and then imported into CU? Or do you build in Building zones? It looks a lot like the Landmark building system.

Buildings can be done both in game and "outside" in player's own instances, independent of the game. So far,only building "outside"-offline is available to players (backers, up to beta 1 i.e. $60 package), and one can "save" a building or it's part into a blueprint, and then use that blueprint to recreate that piece ingame.

Saving buildings to blueprints for later re-creation (or just for selling blueprints to others) will, also, be possible ingame, but re-creation (and building in general) will take lots of resources, manpower and time, it won't be just copy-paste.

Sovrath said:

Knytta said:

So the building itself are done outside the game itself and then imported into CU? Or do you build in Building zones? It looks a lot like the Landmark building system.

Additionally can this be done anywhere? And are they destructible?

Sure, they will be FULLY destructible, furthermore pillageable for resouurces they are made of. The whole idea of territory control & sieges revolves around building and destruction. Also, economy and crafting might require some specific buildings, it's not all about building defensive walls.

Building will be allowed almost everywhere (except likely for some specific griefing and similar controversial situations that come with free form building), as long as gravity and building stability allows it I guess.


PS those images are both dated and they represent the style of only one player, so here's couple more recent screenshots of player made stuff. While you judge them, have in mind that these structures are dynamic, connected to physics, built 100% free form, fully destructible...unlike typical buildings we are seeing in games, that are basically a huge, static 3D wallpapers. Also, this is still alpha testing and yadda...you know it all:



...and couple interiors:

Knytta

So at the moment can another player visit another players building instance? The reason I am asking is that the Landmark Community started to look for a new game yesterday. I am GL of the 2nd biggest LM guild and someone told me do lake a look at this and it probably fills many of the thing a LM player looks for, robust building system, being able to sell blueprints and so on, material harvesting? (maybe even selling mats something that was never possible in LM) the downside is probably that many will be uncomfortable with the PvP/RvR aspects of the game. But on the other hand many missed something more exiting to do in LM.

We will probably take a look at this more. 

Slapshot1188

Looks good.  I played a round with it when it first was available but I kind of sucked at it...

maybe I'll look at it again now that it's more refined.

Sovrath

JamesGoblin said:

Sovrath said:

Knytta said:

So the building itself are done outside the game itself and then imported into CU? Or do you build in Building zones? It looks a lot like the Landmark building system.

Additionally can this be done anywhere? And are they destructible?

Sure, they will be FULLY destructible, furthermore pillageable for resouurces they are made of. The whole idea of territory control & sieges revolves around building and destruction. Also, economy and crafting might require some specific buildings, it's not all about building defensive walls.

Building will be allowed almost everywhere (except likely for some specific griefing and similar controversial situations that come with free form building), as long as gravity and building stability allows it I guess.

Huh ... , well, I'm glad I backed the game. Can't wait to see if I can try this.

cse_tyler

I was just gonna point out I added a bunch of updated screenshots from several C.U.B.E. creations with the new lighting and rendering. C.U.B.E. is still in it's infancy as part of our building system. We've got lots planned. That said we're focused on getting into Beta, but will have more tools and goodies for building moving forward. Here's the quick link to the updated shots: http://camelotunchained.com/v3/media/screenshots/

JamesGoblin

Knytta said:

So at the moment can another player visit another players building instance? The reason I am asking is that the Landmark Community started to look for a new game yesterday. I am GL of the 2nd biggest LM guild and someone told me do lake a look at this and it probably fills many of the thing a LM player looks for, robust building system, being able to sell blueprints and so on, material harvesting? (maybe even selling mats something that was never possible in LM) the downside is probably that many will be uncomfortable with the PvP/RvR aspects of the game. But on the other hand many missed something more exiting to do in LM.

We will probably take a look at this more. 

Visiting another player's instance (say, to build together) will be possible, tho I don't think it's available now (?) 

Harvesting resources (or salvaging them from your/enemy buildings, or getting them by killing NPCs...) will very much be a thing. Also, mining will be much deeper (virtually, check the link) than in other games, and you can check this wiki page for general overview of the economy.

Speaking of RvR, that's big minus for many of course. For what it's worth, you can find a short list of planned PvE features here, also CU Wiki - http://camelot.gamepedia.com/PvE_in_Camelot_Unchained

Slapshot1188 said:

Looks good.  I played a round with it when it first was available but I kind of sucked at it...

maybe I'll look at it again now that it's more refined.

Necro (player whose footage I used) is very experienced and quick builder, he's been practicing it for years and it really looks easy when he works. I mean, don't expect it to suddenly become much easier than it was.

Sovrath said:
Huh ... , well, I'm glad I backed the game. Can't wait to see if I can try this.

If you have any package with alpha or beta 1 access, you have access to C.U.B.E.

cse_tyler said:

I was just gonna point out I added a bunch of updated screenshots from several C.U.B.E. creations with the new lighting and rendering. C.U.B.E. is still in it's infancy as part of our building system. We've got lots planned. That said we're focused on getting into Beta, but will have more tools and goodies for building moving forward. Here's the quick link to the updated shots: http://camelotunchained.com/v3/media/screenshots/

Hey Tyler, welcome to MMORPG.com. Let's hope we'll see you here more often!

Lokero

JamesGoblin said:

cse_tyler said:

I was just gonna point out I added a bunch of updated screenshots from several C.U.B.E. creations with the new lighting and rendering. C.U.B.E. is still in it's infancy as part of our building system. We've got lots planned. That said we're focused on getting into Beta, but will have more tools and goodies for building moving forward. Here's the quick link to the updated shots: http://camelotunchained.com/v3/media/screenshots/

Hey Tyler, welcome to MMORPG.com. Let's hope we'll see you here more often!

Part of the site, one with the site... Part of the site, one with the site...

MMOExposed

CUBE seem exciting, but just like Guild Housing in GW2, it will be something very few will get to experience. 

JamesGoblin

MMOExposed said:

CUBE seem exciting, but just like Guild Housing in GW2, it will be something very few will get to experience. 

This is nothing like GW2 (hmm...except for keyboard & mouse). If you have a system that is connected to economy, even traveling, not to mention PvP... the only way to avoid C.U.B.E. would be to never play the game.