【Nanda van Bergen】

The Nanda van Bergenconcept of Core— a game that allows you to create your own game modes and play/share them online — is not new. But its execution is really something impressive.

I was able to view a demo of Corevia a video call on Friday with Manticore Games CEO Frederic Descamps and CCO Jordan Maynard, who spent about 45 minutes showing me tons of different ways people can use Coreto create some really unique experiences, easily share them with the community, and hop into multiplayer games surprisingly quickly. The game is available to try for free now in open alpha.

Here's a trailer that gives a bit of an idea as to how it works:

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Let's start from what we see in this trailer, which has that colorful, animated feel of Fortnitebut is also obviously very different.

There are some nods to the creative aspect of Core as the levels fall into place one piece at a time but the bulk of it shows off what gameplay can look like in different custom-made levels. There's third- and first-person shooters, hoverboard racing, and some fantasy and sci-fi adventures. But what about those portals?

Off he goes to a new game. Credit: manticore games

During my demo, I was shown that when you're playing in a multiplayer game with people, you can find a portal somewhere in the level to teleport into a whole new game, and everyone can follow you. So if you're getting a little bored of one game, you all can hop into a new one together and try something else without needing to exit and search for a new one. It's a neat idea to keep the action moving, but it also loads the new levels reallyquickly, which was impressive to see.

The creative part of the games is very different than other games that let you come up with your own levels like Super Mario Maker or Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2. While those games give you pretty set parameters and assets, Core acts more like an actual game development program similar to Unity or Unreal.

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While there are plenty of tools already built into Corethat let you easily create rules for things like a team deathmatch, if you want to go a bit deeper you can actually write some of your own code to make more precise changes using the Lua scripting language.

Here's a look at the creative mode for 'Core.' Credit: manticore games

In my demo, I watched as Maynard created a deathmatch game set in a desert arena using Core's built-in games rules along with 3D assets of buildings and other objects to create a full-on shooter map in just a few minutes. He published it, told a couple colleagues to hop into the game, and they were all playing together in roughly one minute.

The space where people can go to find different games in Coreis reminiscent of platforms like YouTube and Twitch. You can browse some of the most popular creations, follow creators whose games you enjoy, and see what games people are playing and liking.

It's a pretty straight-forward idea that shows off all the kinds of things people can create. Credit: manticore games

As the demo continued, I watched as they jumped around, loaded new games in seconds, and played a wide variety of creations. There was a 2D, top-down pirate ship game where players had to navigate the seas and try to take each other out, a complete battle royale game that three people created over three weeks, and a fantasy game where players fought to take over control points.

In a lot of ways it reminded me of the PS4 game Dreamsbut for PC and with a bit more of an open way to approach things.

I want to ride the raptor. Credit: manticore games

Something that's really cool about all of this is the collaboration that it breeds. Creators who make something cool in Core, like a certain 3D model, can put it up for other people to use and iterate on.

During the game's closed alpha, someone made a fully programmed and visualized portal gun and shared it so now people can make portals and put the gun into any game they want. Maynard showed it off by adding it to his own desert shooter level he made and worked and looked really good.

For now, all assets and things that people can create are free, but when the game goes into beta later this year, there will be monetization options for creators, including selling certain items or scripts or being selected for a partnership program a la Twitch, so they can make some money off of their hard work.

Teamwork makes the dream work. Credit: manticore games

As more people get in there to create games and mess around, it will be really interesting to see what kinds of things people come up with without the need for a whole education in game design.

Topics Gaming