- danielg wrote:
- Hello there. I would like to know if the aware stage will have included aquatic "stage" and terrestrial "stage". By the way, will the game be a simulator like Minecraft?
As for the first question, yes, there will be free choice between being a primarily aquatic or primarily land-borne organism, or being amphibious. Case in point, you could be like a whale or ichthyosaur and go to land, then go back to the sea if you want to. If you want to progress beyond Stone Tools and have any chance of going to space, however, I suggest you become a land-faring intelligent race, although you can spend as much time swimming around as you please beforehand.
As for the second question, Minecraft isn't primarily a simulator. It focuses more on adventure and creativity than the appliance and simulation of something from the real world.
To put this into perspective, let's define a game. Now, a game is, basically, a form of entertainment that incorporates participation of those involved. A video game is a game that's bound to its own reality, rather than ours, with its own rules.
Now onto a simulator. A simulator is an emulation of something from the real world (ranging from a single person, to a city, to an entire universe). These can have entertainment value, like a game, but they are primarily meant to give a feeling of how their subject works, what it does, etc.
Now, numerous games can be described as a simulator. Super Mario Bros., one may say, is a parkour simulator, Angry Birds is a gravity simulator, Call of Duty is a war simulator (from the viewpoint of a soldier). And that brings us to Minecraft.
Minecraft is not meant to emulate something from the real world. There are numerous ways it could be described as a simulator, but it's primarily meant to be a game, especially because it doesn't seem to be simulating anything in particular, apart from the life of a blocky man stuck in a cruel, blocky world. Universe Sandbox is the opposite; it could be considered a game due to its entertainment value, but it's primarily a simulator.
So, now that we've decided on whether or not Minecraft is primarily a simulator, it's time to decide whether Thrive could be considered in the same vein. Thing is, there's an area where games and simulators overlap. Simulation games, of course, like Surgeon Simulator and, of course, Spore. They are meant to provide entertainment, all the while emulating one or more real-world things as its key point. Key word, "meant"; Even if it simulates something about as well as Minecraft or any other game does, it's meant to do so AND entertain, so it gets placed in the middle of the venn diagram of games vs. simulators.
Since Thrive's supposed to emulate one or more things from reality, but at the same time provide entertainment for the user, I call it a simulation game, as opposed to Minecraft, a game. That doesn't make either any more or less better; it's just that they have different objectives.
So... No, Thrive's not going to be like Minecraft. You could compare the two in numerous ways, but it comes down to what they're meant to do, and that's what makes both of them great.
Home 
by 
