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[Messofanego]

Yeah you just search parkour in the custom map section of the launcher and there are a bunch of parkour maps, this one and others

Edit: this one is more recent and has an even bigger map
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GDqgGxSa3QY

SO EPIC! Love the little waddle left-to-right.

Might have to buy this game now and give that a spin.

Maybe when indie developers end their love affair with 2d platformers, we might get some 3d open-world ones.

Why not demand it from developers who have bigger budgets to do 3D open world games rather than squaring the blame on those with tighter purse-strings.

 

[Jagsrock]

*sigh*​

 

[fredrancour]

Why not demand it from developers who have bigger budgets to do 3D open world games rather than squaring the blame on those with tighter purse-strings.

Cause publicly traded companies have the tightest purse strings of all in some ways. No one wants to gamble on being the trendsetter. A low-budget labor of love blowing up and getting ripped off may be the most likely way for a game like this to get made.

 

[Messofanego]

Cause publicly traded companies have the tightest purse strings of all in some ways. No one wants to gamble on being the trendsetter. A low-budget labor of love blowing up and getting ripped off may be the most likely way for a game like this to get made.

You also need the resources and budget, and a 3D open world platformer sounds minimum in the $5-10 million range. It's a bit ridiculous to think indie developers just love 2D because it's a nostalgia thing, it's also a budget thing.

 

[Blizzard]

I kept seeing all these recommendations for Crackdown and was like huh, I've never played it.

Searching for it found this which is apparently not the right game.
http://store.steampowered.com/app/34273/

It looks like there were actually three Crackdown games. Is one of them particularly good and the others bad?

 

[MomoPufflet]

Yep. Not to take anything away from 3DLand/World because they are good games, but I long for another 64/Sunshine style Mario game.

 

[hokagespit]

SO EPIC! Love the little waddle left-to-right.

Might have to buy this game now and give that a spin.



Why not demand it from developers who have bigger budgets to do 3D open world games rather than squaring the blame on those with tighter purse-strings.

wow. im buying that game tmrw. no tonight. fuck. the weight of those blades hitting together in the newest video they posted. are there levels i dont entirely understand. is it all user created content?

 

[Messofanego]

wow. im buying that game tmrw. no tonight. fuck. the weight of those blades hitting together in the newest video they posted. are there levels i dont entirely understand. is it all user created content?

These parkour ones are user-generated, pretty sure.

 

[Dead Man]

Damn, some of the replies in here are gold. 'Nope, don't want that, it's not exactly this narrow type of thing I think a platformer should be, so therefore nobody should make one'.

Oh, as I was saying before, this is platforming in Overgrowth. Kind of what you're looking for
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HLeb-NWOrsQ

Right now only self-contained maps, but the full game will have a greater scope, But as of now, it's 3D, you have great freedom of movement, and the maps are not flat but multi-tiered with buildings and abstact structures to climb and fight on

This looks fucking awesome.

 

[More_Badass]

wow. im buying that game tmrw. no tonight. fuck. the weight of those blades hitting together in the newest video they posted. are there levels i dont entirely understand. is it all user created content?

Right now it's still in alpha. So there's Iike one campaign mission, a nice chunk of smaller challenges, a bunch of sandbox-y areas, a randomized arena that gets more difficult as you play, and the user content (a mix of combat, missions, and parkour areas)

Beta is planned for mid 2014, but I've having tons of fun and the physics and animations are top notch and there are so many cool little details (blood is affected by gravity and stains your cloths and drips down your body)

The devs do monthly updates. And yes the combat is awesome

 

[Gartooth]

Totally down for more "open" 3D platformers like Banjo-Kazooie and Jak & Daxter. Always sick of hearing comments about how platformers are meant to be 2D / work best in linear 3D. When has genre diversity ever been a bad thing? Heaven forbid the platforming genre advance in new directions.

 

[Salmonax]

Rare was so cruel with that Banjo teaser.

 

[watershed]

Its an interesting idea but the open world would have to be exquisitely designed. Basically it would have to be the most interesting open world environment you have ever seen in a game because the fun of it is supposed to come from just running and jumping in it.

But if it fails to be awesome then the whole thing becomes a bore. I think you could very easily get to a point where you hate traveling thru this open world just to reach the next level/area for progression.

 

[Dead Man]

Its an interesting idea but the open world would have to be exquisitely designed. Basically it would have to be the most interesting open world environment you have ever seen in a game because the fun of it is supposed to come from just running and jumping in it.

But if it fails to be awesome then the whole thing becomes a bore. I think you could very easily get to a point where you hate traveling thru this open world just to reach the next level/area for progression.

Why?

 

[watershed]

Why?

Why what? Platformers are largely about two actions: running and jumping. If we are imagining a 3d open world platformer that open world would have to be amazing so that the act of running and jumping around in it doesn't get dull.

So it can't be like walking around in Skyrim or sailing in Windwaker.

 

[VideoMan]

Lego City Undercover was as close to an open world platformer that I've seen. The mission levels were the same linear formula used in all the other Lego games but the overworld had some surprisingly fun platforming challenges scattered throughout. I'd just be walking down the street, notice a drainpipe that I could climb and discover a whole crazy Mirror's Edge like parkour course that has you jumping/ziplining/springboarding from building to building. The world is covered with them and most of them can't been seen from street level so they're easy to miss at first.

 

[Log4Girlz]

Open world JUMPING FLASH

 

[Dead Man]

Why what? Platformers are largely about two actions: running and jumping. If we are imagining a 3d open world platformer that open world would have to be amazing so that the act of running and jumping around in it doesn't get dull.

So it can't be like walking around in Skyrim or sailing in Windwaker.

Why is the fun supposed to be from JUST running and jumping?

 

[Ranger X]

I really really don't see why ton of people think "open world" goes against platforming. It can go hand in hand. It not because all the open world games you've seen so far has been designed on a "realistic" mindset and design style that a platformer needs to be like that. But I can't blame you people, it seems no designer in this industry wanted to tackle "open world" and "platformer" at the same time as a design challenge.

Best suit for this reality to happen anyways would be Mario. There are TONS of power ups in Mario's world and they could serve as easy obstacle breakers in order to create progress in an open world. Also, stop thinking "real world", Mushroom Kingdom doesn't need to be realistic or cohesive in the same way the real world is. It could be all about navigation, platforming, etc.

The only reason why we don't have those games is this industry lack of creativity and balls. That's all there is to it really.

 

[watershed]

Why is the fun supposed to be from JUST running and jumping?

Are we really arguing semantics or do you not see my point? The post you just posted doesn't contain the word "just" but it does contain my meaning.

But if you really care about where I place the word "just" then let me re-phrase. In an open world platformer the mere act of running and jumping in said open world should be fun. Not meaning that only running and jumping should be fun and nothing else, but rather that running and jumping in the open world should be fun or else the whole traversing an open world would get boring really fast.

 

[fredrancour]

Why is the fun supposed to be from JUST running and jumping?

i thiiiink he's saying something like this:

"skyrim distracts you with quests so large empty spaces are forgivable. In zelda, you're sailing just to get to the next island. An open world platformer might be hard because there's pressure to make every square inch of real estate interesting, since movement itself is the main gameplay. "

It's a valid concern but I still think the idea is doable and hope to eventually see one.

 

[Dead Man]

Are we really arguing semantics or do you not see my point? The post you just posted doesn't contain the word "just" but it does contain my meaning.

But if you really care about where I place the word "just" then let me re-phrase. In an open world platformer the mere act of running and jumping in said open world should be fun. Not meaning that only running and jumping should be fun and nothing else, but rather that running and jumping in the open world should be fun or else the whole traversing an open world would get boring really fast.

It's not semantics mate, the two statements are totally different. One says the enjoyment should come from running and jumping alone, the other says running and jumping should be fun and be part of the enjoyment. And no, the post I just quoted didn't contain 'just', but the original post I quoted did.

I agree with what you posted in this post, thanks for clarifying.

 

[watershed]

It's not semantics mate, the two statements are totally different. One says the enjoyment should come from running and jumping alone, the other says running and jumping should be fun and be part of the enjoyment. And no, the post I just quoted didn't contain 'just', but the original post I quoted did.

I agree with what you posted in this post, thanks for clarifying.

I'm happy to clarify but you didn't think my point was clear reading either the rest of my first post or my second post which you also quoted?

Anyways, I'd love to see someone tackle a 3d open world platfomer, ideally Nintendo because they know how to do platfomers like no one else. But I think the very nature of an open world platformer runs the risk of being boring.

 

[Musolf815]

Really excited to see what next gen (or current gen now I guess) Sly Cooper can be like, hopefully massive with a lot of platforming.

 

[Messofanego]

The target demographic has changed from what was the mainstay of 3D platformers in the PS1/PS2 days of younger kids to now shooters and adolescents. I agree with fredrancour that Naughty Dog are too big of a company now to make a next-gen 3D platformer. Stockholders must be breathing down their neck. No matter how many sales there were of a Jak or Crash, they wouldn't fund a 3D platformer. Fund a $20-30 million platformer with possibly 500,000 copies being sold? Not enough of a return of investment imo. The Last of Us was a zombie shooter, an easy sell by comparison.

The whole myopic management of these big publishers needs to change before we get back some daring ventures in the mainstream. Maybe Sony, like with Rime or Jouney but a full on AA 3D platformer with more meaty mechanics.

And a new Conker or Banjo from Rare?

Well, you've seen the quite depressing but accurate joke.

Meanwhile, just bought Overgrowth!

 

[The Technomancer]

As others have pointed out, action density becomes a problem

 

[EveChristine]

I wholeheartedly agree with all those lamenting the absence of 3D platformers....

It seems like we are all united in our love for N64-era classics though - for me it's Super Mario 64/Banjo series/DK 64.........I wouldn't necessarily classify these games as "platformers" however, moreso 3D adventure games.

When I try to pinpoint why I love them, what springs to mind is the sense of wonder I felt exploring each "world," not knowing what I might encounter. Yes, my feelings are influenced by a heavy dose of nostalgia, but there is so much more variation in level design in these games then the simple beat the clock/find the collectables factor of most platformers.

The tasks in each stage were varied - of course the goal was collecting stars/bananas/jiggys but the means of obtaining them differed greatly. You had to win a cart race, or a soccer game (Banjo Tooie aztec level)...unfreeze a caveman, beat a boss...............

You don't see that variation in a standard platformer. The goal of each level is generally rather black and white.

 

[Mista Koo]

I agree that a pure open world platformer wouldn't work unless it adds elements from other genres.
In a way that's what Nuts and Bolts did. It kept the mission mode element, pushed it to the max and added driving. If only they added non-vehicle elements it could've been to platformers what GTA is to action adventure games. Its biggest crime is that it wasn't Banjo-Threeie.

As for an open world Mario game, the best way I see it is to make it an RPG. Both Paper Mario and Mario & Luigi series have few platforming elements, why not make a new series that goes all the way hybrid RPG platformer? Heck if they don't want RPG elements they can make it a Zelda-like platformer.
Sure it will probably be hard to pull of. The closest they ever got was Super Paper Mario, but the balance of both genres wasn't quite right in that game (even though I enjoyed it). I think Tomba is the best in whatever genre is that (non-linear quest based platformer?).