ZAM asks developer Peter Salinas about the new sandbox MMO Kickstarter project

Crafting is obviously a big part of the game. Will it follow naturally along with adventuring – such as materials from dungeons for better gear – or will it be more focused on world building through systems such as player housing, cosmetic items etc?

A little bit of both. Dungeons are not in the immediate timeline, but over time we would probably introduce that kind of content. A lot of it is us knowing what we are good at, and what is efficient... calculating level design is another animal that we will address when the rest of the world is perfect. For now, the world is designed to handle enough variety that changes will be a big deal to everything players do. Since players can pick up any bit of land in the world, it certainly will give players a chance to build and craft a wide variety of structures and items.

You mention using in-game signifiers, such as a tuned notch in a blade to highlight its sharpness, rather than displaying statistics in the UI. How will the specific meaning of each visual indicator be explained to the players?

It won’t be, not up front. We have an opportunity to show what real discovery is... it’s a new world; it has logical rules and cues for the people to see. In time, people who experiment and play will see what those rules are. People who are not aware of them won’t really be far below the curve; but for people who really take the time to notice, they can gain some serious advantage, and even make them more prepared to take on others they may see coming. Figuring stuff out is what gamers do best; we solve problems, we don’t HAVE to be spoon fed content... people just do it because when you really want to make money, you serve as many “customers” as possible, and risks are scary... many developers simply are scared that players will get mad and leave if they can’t figure something out immediately. Well, the bottom line is, if we cannot make something as simple as running or jumping rewarding enough in its infancy, we did something wrong and we don't deserve to make the rest of the game amazing.

Will there be quality levels to gear? If so, how will players be able to tell the difference between the different levels of quality in the items they are making?

Some yes, some no. This is what also will eventually make items so much more fun for an economy. How do we dictate quality in an existing weapon? Sure, someone can CALL it an Awesome PewPewLazaR Sword of Jumunga... but what does that mean? Do we care? We rely on the word of those that create it, then the player rips it to shreds and judges it... entire communities rise up online to critique and test things. We do it with food, clothes, and movies -- why not with in-game items? Part of the fun will be watching rating systems like Yelp evolve within our own community: “Don’t be fooled by that guy who gives his swords epic names... they’re poorly crafted and not powerful!” etc. it’s a layer of interaction that exists in the real world, but doesn’t in games... yet!

In the introductory video, when placing a block the texture melded with the texture of the adjacent block. So when placing a dirt block, the block would incorporate textures from the stone/gravel block it was placed on. To avoid wooden blocks taking on a stone appearance, for example, is setting up an Oil/Water system to determine which textures should and should not meld?

For that, we use an object/material selection system within our technology. Some things should naturally blend, like dirt and rocks, or clay and sand. Some things will not, as that really would not be logical, and honestly could get a bit ugly. :) What you guys saw was just a prototype, or very pre-alpha. Pretty soon we will have another tech reveal to share with the community that will get more tech and game-time to show things off.

The inventory system of TUG sounds fascinating. Finally there will be a game where giant greatswords won’t disappear into small backpacks. Can you explain why you made this design choice and what you think it brings to the game?

It should bring a lot to the game. We will say this a lot (it’s a fundamental system of design for us, after all): trade-off is a huge thing in this game. This helps us dictate what another game would call classes, or even proficiencies. Being able to carry anything you want makes those items really meaningless, even in games where you can swap classes.  We also want players to naturally refrain from focusing their Seed 100% on one thing, since the trade-offs you would incur from this play style would likely be nearly unbearable for most players. If you build a home, or belong to a group/clan of friends, you are only as valuable on that adventure as what you carry along with you. Think of all those amazing stories, like Lord of the Rings, where half the peril was not having the proper items in your pack to deal with the environment. We want players to really think about what they want to do when they go off on that adventure. But what is more, we want players to be able to look at you, and figure out what you are trying to do. Are you a big guy carrying a big weapon? Well... if I’m a small guy with a pick and I don’t know you, I may want to stay away. But if I’m that big guy with the sword and I see you with a giant pack and a pick, I may just think you have something valuable for me to take from you. These systems seem subtle, but have a profound psychological impact on play. It’s a different area of presence and immersion many publishers are afraid to go into, and many of them may not even realize it’s even a possibility, much less realize its potential.

Not only will players be able to mod TUG, you are actually sharing your tools with modders. What effects do you hope this to have in game and to what extent will players be able to personalize their experience?

We will give the players the ability to do what we can do, naturally. Right now, this Kickstarter we have up is so early in our development because we really wanted to develop those tools alongside development of the game itself, and also get more neat art support to give players a lot of freedom and variety. Eventually, we want to make modding more accessible to much younger generations as well, but this is an animal all in its own. But how rad would that be? A generation whose entire life is about fun and discovery, with the ability to make their own worlds... that would blow the roof off anything we understand as adults. Of course, these things will only really be applied to their own games they create. And who knows, maybe someone will make an amazing map or dungeon with those tools and it will become a unique part of the TUG universe with its own rewards.

Not only will there be no DRM but you will be sharing the game’s servers. What will that mean to the player and why is it an important aspect of your approach?

There are so many great books on theory, but that is all they really are. And there are so many amazing online games now that could even give us some insights to make games all around better. But we just will never see that information. The world is collaborative, whether we acknowledge it or not, and we want to embrace that. We want those modders to be recognized for their work. We want to share our findings about science, fun and game design with both our players, and with other developers and scientists. Many games wind up with so many awesome rogue servers that change the rules and can give us so many more insights into what is fun; but because of a corporate dollar or legal implications, these servers get snuffed. How is that not the saddest thing in the world, that soooo many universes can exist within such a small space, and they just get burned out? Sorry, passionate topic for a lot of us...

You are incorporating social science into the pre- and post-launch development of the game. How does this change your design approach and the long-term experience for players?

For us, information is a huge component of who we are. With what we see happen in the alpha phases, it’s like watching a world at the dawn of time, INCREDIBLY interesting. We can get data feedback on what people are doing, and talk about it with the players more intimately. We really are VERY serious about interaction for this. With linear worlds, you get a single data stream and a lot of bottlenecks... this translates into gameplay as well, since you can only be responsive to so much information. But in a world like this, a sandbox, every resource consumed, item crafted, tool traded or weapon broken helps us understand what is really going on. Many players may not know it off the bat, but some of the biggest MMOs we play don't really use data for play... they are more responsive to hindsight and often wind up being pressured into bad changes to “dumb it down.” We don’t always know how to articulate what is wrong with something, but as in all things, our actions speak louder than our words. It’s something solely unique to who we are and what we do; this information paints us a really amazing picture of the world’s “matrix,” as it were.

One of the biggest problems this entire industry has is really making sense of worlds of information. Most games collect tons of data, but very few are equipped to analyze this data and apply these findings in a meaningful way. But this is something that is in our blood, and it’s relative to the nature of gamers as well. We intend on assisting the community to look at that data themselves, and helping to create more understanding by targeting questions that may matter more to them.

There are just over three weeks to go on the Kickstarter phase of the project, what tiers would you point toward as good value for readers who want to contribute but don’t have deep pockets?

If we were ones to assume what value was best for the community we would already be contradicting everything we just said ;). The cool thing about Kickstarter is that it allows people to define their own value proposition and then lets them make that call themselves. BUT, for me, I’d certainly be just as happy getting into BETA. Not everyone is going to have the patience to deal with ALPHA; after all, we are releasing the game in a state of development most developers would never even consider letting players see! It will be unrefined, but that’s the point.

My thanks to Peter for taking the time to answer our questions. Check out TUG on Kickstarter for more details on this unique MMO.

Scott "Jarimor" Hawkes, Editor in Chief