Hello all, if you would be so kind as to take a moment to read my feedback on the game, I greatly appreciate it and thank you in advance.
I'll start with some background info.
I have been looking for a game like this for almost the past 5 years. I've been gaming for the past 20 years.
So you can imagine my excitement when, upon discovering this game in January of this year.
I first learned about it after just randomly browsing the Steam store. I wasn't sure exactly what to expect at first, but when I loaded it up and it had that familiar Minecraft feel, I knew I was in for a treat.
The reason I love this game, I'll be honest, is because this is what I kinda always wished for back when I first started playing Minecraft 5 years ago. I always wanted more, better graphics, more realism, but without sacrificing the game mechanics and freedom that make a sandbox building game truly great.
So, the obligatory TLDR is: "I love Rising World because it's like Minecraft on crack." Ok, now that that's out of the way...
This game really is special. Every time I load up a new world I can just sit there relaxed and smiling before I even do anything. It has a sort of calming-like effect on me.
One of my favorite things about this game is that the building blocks are epic. Red, you have done a fantastic job in creating a universal block palette that can pretty much be used to build anything from ancient Greek/Roman, medieval, Victorian, all the way up to contemporary and modern styles. The possibilities are like literally endless. And this actually solves a problem for me as well. Because one of the things I don't like about Minecraft is not having a universal texture pack that can do it all. Well, Rising World can do it all! And I am so thankful that all the blocks have all different types like stairs, slabs etc..
The worlds are beautiful and they look very realistic. They are very fun to explore and sometimes I find some really scenic places for building. It's like going on a virtual nature walk. I never have to leave my house in real life again! Haha, just kidding.
I love that the building is simple and easy like Minecraft and that there's no limits on it.
I'm so glad that you have EPIC lakes and oceans in the game because some sandbox games these days don't have water, so I am extremely grateful for that, as I am obsessed with lakes. In fact, just because the maps have water is one of the main reasons I play this. I have found some really cool mind-blowing lakes, (don't have any screen shots though, sorry).
You've done a great job on the caves and dungeons too.
Ok, now I'd like to humbly offer some of my game content suggestions. I'll start with what I feel is the most reasonable/easiest and work my way down. (Keep in mind that I am not a game developer so I don't know how hard it is, so please forgive me if any of my suggestions seem unreasonable to you).
Firstly, a simple change that i'd like to suggest is a higher reward rate in stone mining. I think it's just a little bit annoying when you only get like 1 or 2 stone per dig, as when building even a medium size building that uses a lot of stone, it takes awhile and hurts my mouse finger after digging like 1000 stone or more, lol . I would suggest like 3,5,7 or even 5,7,10 instead of 1,2,3 on the stone. I think wood chopping is fine though since we get a higher amount for making wood blocks. Although I also completely understand why you have it this way if you want it to feel more realistic.
Secondly, even though there is a lot of building blocks in the game already, I would love to see even more. Perhaps even more variants of cobblestone, stonebricks, and perhaps also a half-timber style block. Google "half-timbering", "tudor house", or "medieval building" if you don't know what I mean. Basically like a block that is white like plaster but with two wooden beams on each edge to look like a medieval building. It would be much, much easier than placing wooden beams manually. In fact if you added a medieval/tudor style block, I would be over the moon happy.
Blocks with roof shingle textures of different types would be really useful.
Thirdly, I know it's been discussed before in one of my recent posts, but I think that the worlds should have a larger playable area. I know that they're infinite and I've heard that currently it's about like 10,000x10,000 before it starts getting laggy or whatever (personally I've gone 20,000 blocks out with no problems, but I have a beast computer), and I know that you said it's a low priority, but in my opinion that should be a higher priority. I mean this in the best possible way.
Also, it would be one of the greatest games ever made if you could implement technology like train building tools, cars, planes, boats, airplanes etc. OMG that would be the coolest thing ever.
One thing I forgot to mention earlier is that the actual main reason I love this game is because it has a seed system for the maps, and that they are infinite in number, randomly generated and procedural/infinite in size. Most games these days don't have that, aside from Minecraft. Infinite randomly procedurally generated maps are my absolute favorite thing in modern gaming because every time you start up a world it won't be the same as the last and I love love love that. It makes it feel like a true adventure exploring a new world, and to me, that is more entertaining than almost anything else in gaming. So for the seed world system you have created one of the best things ever in gaming history in my opinion.
Ok, another suggestion I have, and this is the one I want the most, is rivers. Please, I beg you, we need rivers! The lakes are epic, but having rivers as well would make the world's even better and more realistic.
Another suggestion I have is to add more decoration blocks for different styles. For example, there's a pretty good variety of decorating blocks like the medieval drawbridge, modern sofas and electric lights etc., but i'd love to see this expanded into having more rustic stuff like old European medieval and renaissance style furniture and decorative blocks and items.
Also rideable horses would be epic.
And lastly, will there ever be real time shadows in the game? Hopefully that wouldn't be too hard on the graphics.
That's about all I can think of for right now, i'm sure i'm forgetting to add stuff, but I don't want this post to get too long.
In summary, thank you so very much for reading this Red and to the community as well. I love and appreciate this game so much because it's basically the closest thing possible to my "dream game". Know that I support you and this game, Red. I don't usually write long forum posts with my feedback and opinions as i'm a bit shy to say too much/certain things. Please keep up the fantastic work and please please please finish this lovely game.
Sincerely,
Alpha_Wolf777 aka "Kevin" in real life, from California, USA