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Four Brothers - Generative Exercise - The Sandbox

One of the elements of a sandbox game, such as Minecraft, that might find its way into RPGMaker VX Ace is a random start area, random event placement, etc.

The community is tingling with resources to achieve this.
 
Random event locations often add additional replay value, as you are going to have to find a new path through the game on each additional playthrough.

How does that compare to random item drops?

In a game such as Knights of the Old Republic 2: The Sith Lords, I was not so much a fan of pure item randomization, as it often led to balance issues throughout the game (or hours of crummy drops.)

It also led to a lack of immersion, where players would save the game, get the drop, and reset if it was a less than desirable drop.

In an Alpha game, such as Damned, you might find required items completely unobtainable (a combination required to open a locked safe spawns inside the safe it is intended to open.)

How does this translate to Four Brothers?
I think we keep we strive for a healthy mix and randomize certain elements:
Starting character.
Starting dungeon location.
We set specific regions where the quest specific items can drop, and maybe design a story-relevant "out" should we be in an impossible scenario (like those safes we couldn't open in Damned.)

Next week I am going to be looking at team composition elements in games.

Minecraft Snapshot 1.8

Minecraft has been written about and discussed enough by the gaming community; I don't think that can be argued against.

I only recently, just past the holidays, began playing. I had a knowledge of the game since its launch, and had read about it in many blogs. I had played the 2D clone, Terraria, and I already have an abundant connection of sandbox games.

What intrigued me about Minecraft, is that the theme "How long can you play in a sandbox?" is inherently without narrative. A good friend helped me to introduce narrative by jumping into hardcore mode, where I tragic deaths could be retold as stories.

After a few weeks of managing a Minecraft Server, and about fifty world folders deleted later, we set up a recent snapshot, which introduced a variety of new ores (different colored legos) to play with.

Minecraft is an elegant time-waster. There is nothing wrong with being a time-waster, I have over 450 hours logged in Dota 2. The elegance is in the adaptability of the game to the players play-style.

I watched my friend, an armchair architect craft a massive tower of sandstone and glass... my sibling speed-run to bedrock and hunt for diamonds...or the time my wife and I crafted an elaborate wheat field farming system.

The advent of new ores is akin to mixing different colored sands together, it allows you the freedom to shape your world in your image.

The mechanism most attractive to me is the exploratory aspect; it is why we constantly roll new worlds.

We love the thrill of finding something new.