Kodu

[DarkwingChuck]

Just announced at CES, Kodu is a game creation game set for release on the Xbox LIVE Community Games Channel this Spring.

Kodu is a pick-up-and-create game where anyone can build their own unique world in just minutes using a simple image-based creator menu that makes game creation simple for anyone, from ages seven to 70. Kodu-created playgrounds are expressed in physical action-reaction terms, using basic concepts like vision, hearing and time to control your character's behavior.


Direct feed video on GameTrailers

It's obviously being compared to LBP but it seems to me a lot more like RM in that you're not just building stages but programming the functions of everything you put in it. Hopefully there'll be more videos and info soon focusing on how good of a game you can make instead of just how easy it is to make something.

[marcus]

Re: Kodu

"We're sorry this video is no longer available"



Still, sounds pretty and with Action Game Maker coming out in a few months it makes me even happier. The setup kind of reminds me of INFORM which uses a "logic based" approach to design where you type in actions and the system interprets the actions ("This is My Kitchen and it's a room. There's a table with a plate on it. Inside the cabinet is food. There's a door that goes to Hallway.").

[Denmo]

Re: Kodu

It definately sounds interesting. What I saw from the video looked iffy.

[Red Dragon]

Re: Kodu

Looks a whole lot like RPGM3's map maker system.

[DarkwingChuck]

Re: Kodu

IGN - Kodu Impressions

Kodu doesn't merely enable users to arrange a series of templates, but build worlds from scratch, setting their shapes and sizes, placing objects and inhabitants, devising sets of characteristics, behavioral logics, and more. Casual players will be able to jump into the experience easily using a series of pre-designed configurations. Those with a little more determination, though, will be able to build their experiences ground-up. Microsoft calls it visual programming and having seen it in action Kodu seems to deliver just [that].

There is amazing depth to the logic systems. Using the program editor, you can pick any random model and start assigning it behaviors. For instance -- and off the top of our heads -- if the saucer encounters other moving characters, it can be made to glow red, start firing projectiles, strafe to the left or right, or ride around in circles, glide away after a certain time limit, and so on. The list goes on and on and on because there are literally dozens of options that combine to create very unique logic for player-controlled models and NPCs alike. We could and eventually will write a full-blown feature about this particular element alone. This is programming without the endless lines of code, the bugs and the rewrites.

At any point, you can simply hit the play button and the edit mode gives way to the experience you've created. If you've assembled control attributes for a main character who can run and jump and a series of 3D ledges in the distance, you've got the makings of a platformer. But maybe you like racers so you instead constructed a 3D track and placed motorcyclists on it, multiplying their speed attribute. Perhaps you look to shoot stuff instead. So you've created a 3D maze and strewn so-called enemies all about it. You've given them logic to shoot missile projectiles at you when they've been spotted. Next, you'll pulled in the camera. Closer. A little closer. Now it's popped into the first-person. The beginnings of an FPS. These perimeters are there to be toyed with and the creation process is a necessary function of the Kodu experience.

Joystiq - A Closer Look at Kodu

Matthew MacLaurin, part of the four-member Kodu team, demonstrated by showing us a frog character, which he gave the command to scan for and attack our saucer. Our saucer was instructed to move with the left stick on our controller and to fire in the direction we pushed the right stick. With just that batch of instructions, MacLaurin was able to orchestrate a simple battle scene in a couple of minutes.

Characters can have different sets of commands they switch between called "Pages." MacLaurin illustrates the point conceptually with Pac-Man's ghosts. Their "Page 1" commands would be to chase Pac-Man, their "Page 2" commands, activated by Pac-Man eating a power pellet, would be to avoid him.

We're captivated by the program and its simplicity, but are bummed that level sharing and online play won't be available initially.

Pages, huh? Sounds familiar.

[DarkwingChuck]

Re: Kodu

Now this video definitely answers the question of whether I'll get Kodu when it comes out or not.

Spoiler alert: the answer is yes.

[Jeroak Nelave]

Re: Kodu

Wow, might be my first purchase on Xbox live in like over a year.

[Valkysas]

Re: Kodu

Yeah, aside from Braid, there really isnt much on XBL worth a purchase.

Hope it's not retardedly expensive!

[Jeroak Nelave]

Re: Kodu

I purchased alot of things on XBL early on, like Street fighter, and TMNT and Worms, but nothing recently has interested me very much, and i dont have alot of interest in Braid, but since it is getting such acclaim, i may have to check it out.

[DarkwingChuck]

Re: Kodu

Kodu is now available for $5. Anybody getting it?

[Valkysas]

Re: Kodu

buhwah?

Maybe.

depends on if Wild Arms 2 hits PSN this thursday. if it doesnt, then yes. I get koduthing.

if it does, then **** kodu.

[RPGD]

Re: Kodu

I'm keen on that.

[Denmo]

Re: Kodu

For 5 bucks you could also be running around eating and ****ting stuff.

This sounds awesome.

[Perversion]

Re: Kodu

This seems we'll worth the 400 points. I'll download this sometime this week.

[Gustaff 13]

Re: Kodu

...level sharing and online play won't be available initially.