MinerShowcase itslef as a “storytelling engine,” is a toolbox that allows players to create and then play through the entire digital world of role-playing games, from landscapes to settlements. Launched on Kickstarter earlier this month, it has already launched blown after its financing objective.
It was developed by NOG, a small game studio that usually specializes in unreal stuff and real-time graphics work, who have worked with companies like EA and Ubisoft. Here, though, it’s all their idea and work, with NOG promising it Miner It will allow players to build worlds of up to 60 square miles. Here is a trailer:
says NOG Miner It works like this: first you build the game world, either through procedural generation, using manual brush tools or a combination of both. Then do the same for castles, dungeons, and towns. Then you can import 3D models and “2D assets” of your characters and other objects (or use some pre-existing templates), group them together, enter or download and go some rules, either online or locally.
It misses out on the tangible enjoyment of board games by making everything digital, of course, but it also hopes that the degree of customization and possibilities that its toolkit offers more than outweighs that.
Interestingly, NOG is advertising Miner As something that will be free to download and use, hopefully their attached marketplace, where players can sell everything from custom bases to character models (which NOG will take a cut from), will generate enough revenue to keep the lights on.
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In this way Kickstarter– which asked for A$67,000 and priced at A$272,000 at press time – doesn’t actually give you MinerBut it’s an escalating series of limited edition items like D20s and deluxe character models. You can check more on Kickstarter pagewhich also contains information about things like closed beta and some finer technical points about how it all works.
