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gillburt 4 Jul, 2014 @ 1:59am
Something Jack said....
... which is changing my attitude towards stickers.

Jack mentioned recently that he saw Godus as a "table-top" game being played by "Gods".
This caused me to undergo a huge mental paradigm shift.
In other words, we are playing the role of an "entity" in another reality who is playing a game in which they are a "god".

In that scenario, stickers and cards makes sense, as "godus" to the "god" is just a game. However, it only makes sense in that scenario. So... this got me thinking.

1. you could add more emphasis to this analogy (i.e. at the edges of the "world", we can literally see off the table)
2. you could accept that whilst the analogy works within this "world within a world within a world" concept,this concept is too much of a mental leap (i.e. some people won't "get it" or some people simply won't buy into it), and needs to be changed. (and I note it has been said this will be looked at)
3. (most likley scenario) I've over analysed it and need to cut back on the caffeine.


Sometimes, designers and intellectuals are too clever for their own good ;-)
Last edited by gillburt; 4 Jul, 2014 @ 2:00am
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Showing 1-15 of 56 comments
76561198135081759 4 Jul, 2014 @ 2:05am 
This is such a good post that I'm sharing it with the team.

And yes, a bit like Populous, Godus is supposed to be like a game of/for the gods (hence that game's whole book design metaphor).
#1
MuirDragonne 4 Jul, 2014 @ 2:11am 
Gillburt, you nailed it in one.

It brings to mind the end of Men In Black when we're shown that our universe is simply a marble in a game being played by aliens. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EF6aEFFMxjU
#2
76561198135081759 4 Jul, 2014 @ 2:58am 
Just received this back from Russell Shaw:

Excellent analogy.

We had Jason and the Argonauts in mind, where the Gods help Jason to achieve the Golden Fleece...


At one point in the movie, Hera plays {LINK REMOVED} (or, in this case, game piece)

Last edited by G.K. @ 22Cans; 4 Jul, 2014 @ 3:00am
#3
Potato Cake 4 Jul, 2014 @ 3:11am 
Wow. 22Cans has snatched up this idea like it's the holy grail.

Why was this not explained sooner? This idea doesn't come across at all in the KS pitch or the store page.

Edit: Also, Russell Shaw's mention of the gods in Jason and the Argonauts is kind of cool. Which ancient and all-powerful god was X AmY X supposed to be channelling?
Last edited by Potato Cake; 4 Jul, 2014 @ 3:14am
#4
earl_parvisjam 4 Jul, 2014 @ 3:21am 
Originally posted by Crumpy Six:
Wow. 22Cans has snatched up this idea like it's the holy grail.

Why was this not explained sooner? This idea doesn't come across at all in the KS pitch or the store page.

I'm still trying to wrap my head around how to get from a turn-based chesslike game to Godus where there are no pieces to move and it's real time strategy. I guess , if you were playing by mail, tossing the envelope in the mailbox would compare to telling your followers to start constructing/reconsstructing the beacon. Using this line of analogy, LA Noir is just like Clue.

A closer game to this analogy would be Skyward Collapse. It's okay, but really drags and becomes repetitive quickly. That said, Godus isn't anything like it on just about any level.
#5
76561198135081759 4 Jul, 2014 @ 3:37am 
Originally posted by Crumpy Six:
Wow. 22Cans has snatched up this idea like it's the holy grail.

Why was this not explained sooner? This idea doesn't come across at all in the KS pitch or the store page.
Well, on our Kickstarter page we say that "GODUS is an innovative reinvention of Populous, the original god game..."

And the original Populous has a game board that looked like this and {LINK REMOVED}, so perhaps at the time the team thought it was implied (if not explained as explicitly as it ought to have been).

Originally posted by earl_parvisjam:
I'm still trying to wrap my head around how to get from a turn-based chesslike game to Godus where there are no pieces to move and it's real time strategy.
Again, it's not so much of a great leap when you consider the original Populous series having screens like {LINK REMOVED} and {LINK REMOVED}.

Last edited by G.K. @ 22Cans; 4 Jul, 2014 @ 3:40am
#6
gillburt 4 Jul, 2014 @ 3:42am 
I'm delighted to read through implication that I can maintain my caffeine intake.

I'm off for a latte (extra large)
#7
MuirDragonne 4 Jul, 2014 @ 3:43am 
drink a double for me! :)
#8
Kubik 4 Jul, 2014 @ 3:44am 
So after a long time, you finally have good reason (excuse?) for stickers existence.
But I am sure it was intended like this from the very beginning.
Cool :)
#9
gillburt 4 Jul, 2014 @ 3:48am 
Originally posted by Kubik:
So after a long time, you finally have good reason (excuse?) for stickers existence.
But I am sure it was intended like this from the very beginning.
Cool :)


Well, let's be clear, if it takes a comment from the designer in an interview for customers to start to "get it", then it shows there is much work still to be done. It's the challenge of using us to test/.give feedback without the "game" being presented in "game mode" (as it were). Perhaps this might encourage sharing some "background" or "context" from the designers, as without it, we do not understand their motivations/drivers.

This then leads to a bigger issue which is that some of our feedback is therefore "out of context"....

Now, stop posting, I'm trying to get myself a latte and one for Muir too. D'you take sugar Muir?
#10
MuirDragonne 4 Jul, 2014 @ 4:02am 
This is a perfect example of the dangers of assuming that a group of people know what you mean when you say something fairly cryptic/not very clear.

I mean, how many people, when they saw "GODUS is an innovative reinvention of POPULOUS", remembered that Populous was actually meant to represent a board game being played by gods?

Peter Molyneux and any other devs in 22Cans who worked with him on those games know this (naturally), but how many customers did/do? Obviously not as many as may have been thought.

Hopefully this will encourage the devs to be more clear and concise when describing the game or passing on information to the community.

And Gillburt - no sugar please. :)
#11
76561198135081759 4 Jul, 2014 @ 4:06am 
Originally posted by Muir:
This is a perfect example of the dangers of assuming that a group of people know what you mean when you say something fairly cryptic/not very clear.

I mean, how many people, when they saw "GODUS is an innovative reinvention of POPULOUS", remembered that Populous was actually meant to represent a board game being played by gods?

Peter Molyneux and any other devs in 22Cans who worked with him on those games know this (naturally), but how many customers did/do? Obviously not as many as may have been thought.

Hopefully this will encourage the devs to be more clear and concise when describing the game or passing on information to the community.
Yes, I agree - I'll flag it to the team in our next weekly community review.

EDIT: It's just been agreed that our messaging needs to be more joined up across the team, so I'm adding this to a new, dedicated section on our scrum wall.
Last edited by G.K. @ 22Cans; 4 Jul, 2014 @ 4:11am
#12
gillburt 4 Jul, 2014 @ 5:00am 
Originally posted by Muir:
....I mean, how many people, when they saw "GODUS is an innovative reinvention of POPULOUS", remembered that Populous was actually meant to represent a board game being played by gods?....


Absolutely.. I'd totally forgotten all about that.
At the time of populous I just put it down to a fun "joke" and a cunning way of reeducing the amount of screen real estate the programmers actually had to worry about updating!!

Edited: to make the "quote" tags actually work.
Last edited by gillburt; 4 Jul, 2014 @ 5:04am
#13
jimmydorry 4 Jul, 2014 @ 5:27am 
It just makes me sad when ever Godus is compared to Populous. I only ever think of Populous 3: The Beginning. What a game...

Godus on the other hand plays completely differently.

In Pop3, we had:

  • a fully interactive game without perpetual waiting for resources to accumulate
  • progress was not halted by manual collection of resources
  • there were no arbitrary caps on the amount of interaction you had
  • smart villagers that had some level of autonomy
  • multiplayer
  • a goal in each level (take out the enemy)
  • spells that did something

Godus will probably never match Populous while it remains targeted at mobile devices.
Last edited by jimmydorry; 4 Jul, 2014 @ 5:29am
#14
MuirDragonne 4 Jul, 2014 @ 5:38am 
Godus isn't anywhere near completion though. There are still many features to add to the game. For example, the settlements are getting a huge overhaul/revamp this month which will change not only how they look, but how they work as well.

Also, hubworlds - when they go live - will add in more of what you're looking for (e.g. multiplayer, goals).
#15
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Godus > Godus Discussion > Topic Details
Date Posted: 4 Jul, 2014 @ 1:59am
Posts: 56

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