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The Unnamed Game or TUG for short is an early access Steam game from Nerd Kingdom and is described as "sitting at a crossroad where survival sandbox and multiplayer RPG's meet." You have different aspects of gameplay such as PvP in the Proving Ground mode, the freedom to build and manipulate terrain, craft and control all aspects of the world in Creative mode. Lastly the traditional Survival mode where you can gather resources, build shelters and explore the world around you.
Keeping in mind the game is still in the Alpha phase I began my adventures in TUG by jumping into the Survival mode. Feeling lost without a map to guide me I wandered the environment for a bit farming mats for crafting. I really like the craft wherever you are feature it's a refreshing change from the usual farm then run to town. Another aspect of crafting that I liked which surprised me was tossing several items on the ground and seeing what I could make! You are also able to build structures from the environment around you.
I had a chance to catch up with the guys at Nerd Kingdom:
What do you think will set TUG apart from similar games like Minecraft or Trove?
TUG's goals are to provide a game experience similar to what other games like Minecraft or Trove as well as survival games like Rust but what we have that sets us apart is our research goals and the ideals that games can be more than just forms of entertainment but tools to help us learn. TUG will always remain a community driven game development but we also want to gather from our users experience and share that data via our research arm of development as well as the modders of our community to grow and expand on the game.
What prompted building your own game engine vs. utilizing an existing one?
Flexibility for future game expansion. TUG is at its core a research tool as much as it is a game. By creating our own engine we give ourselves the ability to grow and expand into new areas of development in the future that we might not be able to within the confines of working in an existing game engine.
Will tutorial modes be released at a later date or have they been omitted to encourage exploration not only in the game world but in the control of your character?
What sets TUG apart from other games is its ideal of exploration and discovery. This type of environment encourages its community members to rise up in the ranks and assume roles of leadership. This is most exemplified at this point in our development with community members taking on the role of educators, sharing what they have discovered in the game with each other and learning from each others experiences in the game.
Are there plans for a story mode?Is there an ETA for the addition of animals or NPC's? Don't get me wrong I like running around fearless of the environment however after awhile I was craving that kind of interaction.
We're currently in the process of bringing our early AI into the game. This include getting our prey and predator models into game currently and soon we will begin testing more complex systems like our companions and mounts. Our story mode is the final product, we're still developing a lot of systems such as the AI that eventually feeds the story mode but if you look into our bits of information that have been presented to the community thus far you'll find that there is a lot of hidden lore waiting for players to discover!
Check out the video below & grab TUG from Steam for #9.99.
