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Pardon the dust! This page includes some jargon that hasn't been added to the site's glossary yet. I'll be around to fix this later, but sorry for the inconvenience in the meantime. |
Review: GenerativeCity Freerun
At a Glance
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How to Save and Pause:There isn't one. Of course, there isn't anything to save either, as there's no score or goal beyond finding the red cube. Time needed per session:Each round will only take a few minutes, so this game can easily fit into anybody's schedule.
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Does this game pose issues for Christian players?
 | Maybe This is more of a tech demo than a full fledged game. |
Screenshots
![[view screenshot]](../images/screenshots/generativecity_freerun_0.jpg)
![[view screenshot]](../images/screenshots/generativecity_freerun_1.jpg)
![[view screenshot]](../images/screenshots/generativecity_freerun_2.jpg)
Game Overview
There really isn't much to this game, but it turns out to be a fun little diversion from the more serious games out there. At its heart, it's just a tool to generate a generic city using a number of building designs. This isn't really all that interesting, so to spice things up the developer added a way to play a sort of single player hide and seek.
Every time the city is generated, a red cuboid object is dropped into the city. Your goal, if you want to call it that, is to walk, run or jump around the city in order to find this object. As soon as you come into contact with it, a new city will be generated and the cube will be hidden once again.
While it's sometimes easy to spot the cube's bright red color against the plain white cityscape, there is another cue that will help guide you to it. When you're near the cube, you'll hear what sounds like a choir singing. The closer you are, the louder it gets, and the stereo sound effects let you hear where the cube is in relation to the direction you're facing. Headphones can emphasize this difference, making the game easier.
Also, if you're rather just wander around the city, there's nothing to stop you. Finding the cube is pretty much the only bit of "gaming" here, but it can be fun seeing how far you can climb or just looking around at the buildings that have been created for you.
All in all, this is a neat timewaster; it's not fancy, but it can still be fun. Also, since there's no time limit or dangers of any sort, this might be a good way to introduce someone to first person controls -- just wander about and search for the cubes until you're familiar with using WASD and the mouse.
Every time the city is generated, a red cuboid object is dropped into the city. Your goal, if you want to call it that, is to walk, run or jump around the city in order to find this object. As soon as you come into contact with it, a new city will be generated and the cube will be hidden once again.
While it's sometimes easy to spot the cube's bright red color against the plain white cityscape, there is another cue that will help guide you to it. When you're near the cube, you'll hear what sounds like a choir singing. The closer you are, the louder it gets, and the stereo sound effects let you hear where the cube is in relation to the direction you're facing. Headphones can emphasize this difference, making the game easier.
Also, if you're rather just wander around the city, there's nothing to stop you. Finding the cube is pretty much the only bit of "gaming" here, but it can be fun seeing how far you can climb or just looking around at the buildings that have been created for you.
All in all, this is a neat timewaster; it's not fancy, but it can still be fun. Also, since there's no time limit or dangers of any sort, this might be a good way to introduce someone to first person controls -- just wander about and search for the cubes until you're familiar with using WASD and the mouse.
Points of Interest
Explore a new city every try
Each time you start the game, catch the cube or request a restart, the entire map regenerates with new buildings. While there's only so many variations of buildings to see, you can be assured that every street you wander through is entirely unique to that iteration of the game's world.
That said, sometimes the cube will spawn someplace where you're not going to be able to reach it. To start a new round immediately, all you need to do is press the N key and the game will start over.
That said, sometimes the cube will spawn someplace where you're not going to be able to reach it. To start a new round immediately, all you need to do is press the N key and the game will start over.
Building spawning is a bit fickle
Buildings are often created so close together that they merge and form strange designs that no sane architect would think possible. This can keep things from getting too boring, but it comes at a small price. Sometimes when buildings overlap, the game can't really tell where the player is standing, and this causes the player to fall through what looks like a solid roof. Fortunately, you'll end up standing on the roof that was underneath it, but clipping errors like this are usually not considered to be a good thing in games.
Not every map is solvable
One of the downsides of the simple map generation is that when the cube is dropped into the city, the game doesn't check that the player can actually reach it. This means there will be plenty of times where you can't win and have no choice but to start over by using the N key.
Concerns and Issues
Mostly harmless
Wandering around an empty city with nothing aside from you and your footsteps can be a bit creepy, but there's really nothing here to worry about. You can't get hurt by falling too far, and there isn't anything you can do to damage anything in the city. This game's environment is incredibly sterile and harmless.
On the other hand, the game's readme file contains a number of swear words.
On the other hand, the game's readme file contains a number of swear words.