Home » Previews » Preview: Project Spark
Previews

Preview: Project Spark

I’m going to be the first to admit that I don’t understand how Project Spark works. I mean, I do get it at its very basic level, but past that, I’m clueless.

And, more importantly, oh so lacking in creativity.

I took part in a hands-off demo at E3, where a developer took us through Project Spark‘s various creative modes. If you’re into games like LittleBigPlanet and Minecraft for their development tools, then Spark will have you foaming at the mouth. You can start with an open landscape, and can choose to put down sand, ice, stars… you name it. As shown in the Microsoft E3 Media Briefing, you can create a world from scratch or from standard templates, all the while using your mouse, controller or fingers — since you’ll be able to play this on Xbox and Windows 8 PCS or tablets — to further terraform your world.

spark2

The more creatively inclined can then drop objects — seemingly inanimate rocks, or very apparent aggressive trolls — into the newly created world, delving into each item to program it as he or she wishes. Yep, that rock can become a sentient being, capable of jumping whenever it sees your hero character approach it. Enemy trolls can become friends, and the like. Again, Microsoft will have preset brains for creatively devoid people like myself, or those more adept can program from scratch.

The same applies for actual gameplay in the world you create; once it’s looking the way it should, and is filled with the characters and object you like, you can actually start to program gameplay mechanics.

This is where I got lost.

Thankfully, there’s an engine that basically fills in gameplay for you, if you’re having trouble. You can have it start an epic quest mission to collect an ancient weapon, and so on. But really, this area is where artists will be made. The developers used the ol’ “here’s some stuff we prepared earlier” technique to show off a variety of works. My two favorites were an RPG-type game that almost looked as if I could program it myself… until a battle sequence started and went into an amazingly Final Fantasy-esque turn-based battle mode.

spark1

Then, just for fun, they then showed us a keyboard that could play music. Before I could think, “well, I’m sure I’ve seen something like that before in Minecraft,” the developers hit a switch on the in-game keyboard, then hit some keys to play notes… and then hit another switch that played back the previous little jingle. I opened my mouth in shock as the developer delivering the presentation admitted that he didn’t even know how the record function was programmed using the game’s tools.

I can say without a doubt that we’ll be seeing some amazing things coming out of Project Spark when the game goes live. Hell, I can also say that about what’ll come out of the game’s current beta phase. I can also say that I won’t be the one making any of those things… just the guy trying them all out.

Project Spark is still accepting beta registrations now.

Tags

This article may contain affiliate links, meaning we could earn a small commission if you click-through and make a purchase. Stevivor is an independent outlet and our journalism is in no way influenced by any advertiser or commercial initiative.

About the author

Steve Wright

Steve's the owner of this very site and an active games journalist nearing twenty (TWENTY!?!) years. He's a Canadian-Australian gay gaming geek, ice hockey player and fan. Husband to Matt and cat dad to Wally and Quinn.