By Jim Rossignol on July 8th, 2011 at 3:15 pm.
The news-horn of VG247 has sounded: Ubisoft will be releasing Eric Chahi’s quirky terraforming God-sim From Dust on PC on 27th of July. We still don’t know all that much about this game, but a little more is revealed in the latest developer diary which is, conveniently, posted below. We seem to lack God-sims of late, so I am looking forward to seeing how my insane whims and weird omnipotence might threaten the lives of tiny hat-wearing people.
And. In. The. Game.
08/07/2011 at 15:24 Coins says:
Ooh. This looks amazing! Will need to get this. Though I do hope this contains some form of sandbox.
08/07/2011 at 15:27 Psico_Payaso says:
I’m not sure. I think it can be a cool game, but maybe this will become too monotonous. You know, fire, floods, lava, sand. Maybe sickness? Or hunger? Still can count it on two hands. Dunno.
But i still do like the idea of this innovative sandbox game.
08/07/2011 at 15:28 ArcaneSaint says:
I never heard of this game before, but after seeing that I can only say this: “Me Wants!”.
This game reminds me of populous, with the whole God-powered lead-your-tribe-to-greatness theme.
08/07/2011 at 15:29 Crimsoneer says:
Not hat related tags?
I am disappoint.
08/07/2011 at 15:30 Scatterbrainpaul says:
Why have I only just heard of this???
Looks colourful
08/07/2011 at 15:43 Bhazor says:
Well for me it was because it’s only recently been announced for PC.
08/07/2011 at 16:05 Edawan says:
You’ve not been paying attention !
The first post about this game on RPS was on October 4th, 2010.
08/07/2011 at 16:08 Chris D says:
“Why have I only just heard of this???”
Is it because you don’t read enough RPS?
08/07/2011 at 15:30 Kandon Arc says:
I think this is the first time I’ve actually understood what you do in this game. Looks pretty fun now that I understand it.
08/07/2011 at 16:15 Rich says:
Looks like what Black & White could have been. Glad there’s no bloody creatures to look after.
08/07/2011 at 17:03 skorpeyon says:
I’m with Rich, all I ever did in Black & White was beat the pets black and blue ‘cuz I thought the noises they made were funny. That, and you could get them to eat their own feces. My pets grew up to be assholes.
08/07/2011 at 17:21 Tacroy says:
Not only could you get them to eat their own poop, you could train them to never poop in the first place. There were no downsides to this.
08/07/2011 at 15:33 skinlo says:
I can’t wait for this, looks pretty awesome :D
08/07/2011 at 15:36 Turin Turambar says:
Uhh so cool!. Here i move a bit of ground. Here a bit of water to douse a fire. Here i move rocks to change a river. Here i make this mountain higher to protect the tribe. Here i join two isles so the tiny people can move.
ZzzzzzZzz.
08/07/2011 at 15:48 Napalm Sushi says:
“Here I shoot men.
Forever.
ZzzzzzZzz.”
Yes, after nearly two decades of mostly that, I find that games like this feel like being saved from drowning.
08/07/2011 at 15:57 Wilson says:
Yeah, there’s really no reason why doing this stuff repeatedly is necessarily any less fun than shooting men in the face repeatedly (which is is), and plenty of reasons why it could potentially be more fun.
08/07/2011 at 16:20 Jeremy says:
Strangely, your description got me excited to play the game, then I realized you were being facetious and sarcastic. Interesting how people have different ideas on what constitutes fun :)
08/07/2011 at 18:03 fenriz says:
Wilson:
personally i don’t like either. I like being in a hanging cage and discovering that if i push left and right i can make it fall upon an alien. That doesn’t have neither shooting nor populous nonsense, it wasn’t even repetitive since it was a one-time action. I’d like games with a good story, a main character, a normal adventure(make it scifi, ftw), not crazy savages and gods. Cmon!
08/07/2011 at 15:42 Kadayi says:
Day 1 purchase
08/07/2011 at 16:44 Ross Angus says:
“… and God is summoned to the Diary Room.”
08/07/2011 at 15:43 Super Bladesman says:
Just to confirm – are these tiny people wearing hats or standard sized bods wearing tiny hats?
I want to know who I’m bossing around.
08/07/2011 at 15:51 RagingLion says:
I will play this game.
08/07/2011 at 15:53 Unaco says:
Ubisoft? So… packed full of all that DRM goodness we legitimate customers love so much? No thanks. It’s a shame, looks like a fantastic game, but if they’re going to treat the people who legitimately buy their games like potential thieves, they can take a hike.
08/07/2011 at 15:58 Wilson says:
One day they will take the DRM off The Settlers 7 and I can buy it…
08/07/2011 at 16:00 Vinraith says:
@Unaco
While you’re certainly right to be cautious/skeptical considering Ubi’s recent track record on this, let’s wait and see what they actually saddle it with before jumping to conclusions, eh?
08/07/2011 at 16:07 Wilson says:
@Vinraith – A good point.
Yeah, if there’s no/minimal/bearable DRM on a particular game I have no problem buying it, generally regardless of a publisher’s behaviour with their other games. In theory it may even go a small way towards demonstrating that people prefer games with reasonable DRM and are willing to pay for them.
08/07/2011 at 16:16 Unaco says:
I’ll wait until UBI do something to change my mind… Like maybe apologise to PC Gamers, admit their Draconian DRM was wrong, and promise it’ll never be in another of their games… before I do change my mind. Until then, they aren’t getting the benefit of the doubt.
08/07/2011 at 16:27 Wanoah says:
@Vinraith
You are generous to give them the benefit of the doubt, but I prefer to expect the worst and hope for the best.
08/07/2011 at 16:32 Vinraith says:
I’m not giving them the benefit of the doubt, I fully expect them to screw this up, I’m just saying that perhaps we should actually wait to find out how they’re going to screw it up before launching into tirades about not buying the game. :)
08/07/2011 at 16:38 John Connor says:
AC:Brotherhood was either DRM free or had authentication on launch. Either way, it didn’t have their draconian bullshit and it was a really good port.
08/07/2011 at 16:40 Unaco says:
Tirade? Really? I think that’s a little heavy. I said with UBI’s DRM I’m not going to buy this. Hardly a tirade now is it? I’m just saying UBI DRM == No Sale. Is there something wrong with letting people know that’s how I feel about this situation?
08/07/2011 at 16:42 ArcaneSaint says:
If the DRM is locking you out of the game, then get a working version from, say, the piratebay.
…
After you’ve bought a legit version, ofcourse, is it really still piracy if it’s the only way left to play the game you’ve bought?
08/07/2011 at 16:50 Vinraith says:
@Unaco
It was my intention neither to insult you (“tirade” probably was too strong, though it’s difficult to read tone over the inernet) nor even to really disagree with you (I share your concern over the likely inclusion of problematic DRM with the game), I meant only to say that that protesting the DRM would probably best wait until we know what the DRM is. I apologize if it came off as though I were trying to keep you from speaking your mind, that most certainly was not (and is never) my intention.
09/07/2011 at 12:29 Kadayi says:
Like Vinraith says, maybe let’s see before passing off our assumptions as hard fact here.
09/07/2011 at 12:56 Unaco says:
Who is passing assumptions as fact here? Seriously… Show me where someone is passing assumption as hard fact in this discussion!
Have I said “I’m not buying this because it’s filled with UBI DRM!” ? No, I haven’t… I am not passing my assumption that this will have uncomfortable DRM as fact that it will have DRM. What I have said is “IF this this is filled with UBI DRM, as UBI are wont to do with their PC games, I won’t be buying this”. Notice the questions mark in the second sentence of my OP, and the statement “but if they’re going to treat the people….” (my emphasis) – the use of ‘if’ in this situation is to introduce a conditional clause or sentence. A conditional sentence contains two clauses, the protasis (or condition), and the apodosis (or consequence). In the event the condition is met, the consequence will occur. In this situation, the protasis is that this game will be shackled with UBI DRM, and the apodosis is that I will not be buying this. That is, IF the game has DRM, I will not buy it. That is, I am discussing a hypothetical.
So please, do tell, where is assumption presented as hard fact here?
09/07/2011 at 14:43 Saul says:
Children, please!
09/07/2011 at 16:56 Wisq says:
Never been sure what the correct approach to the UbiDRM is.
Some people say “buy it and then play the pirate version”, but buying it encourages them to keep DRMing.
Some people say “just pirate it”, but that seems too much like looking for an excuse to commit piracy, and it may encourage them to DRM harder, or give up on the PC platform.
I’ve personally been sticking with “don’t play their DRMed games at all”, which is the only 100% morally correct approach to all this, but may still convince them to give up on PC (and means I don’t get to play stuff).
I wonder if there’s a fourth option, one that’s more productive than the above. Send them an angry letter with a reduced sum of money (price of game minus “DRM penalty”)? Buy a price-equivalent quantity of their non-DRMed titles, so you still pay them and also boost sales of their non-DRMed stuff?
Meh. Hopefully this isn’t an issue for From Dust, because this is looking like one of the only post-DRM-fiasco Ubisoft games I’m actually interested in.
08/07/2011 at 16:08 Gnoupi says:
Great news, it was speculated at first that the release date for PC would be much later, like end of summer.
08/07/2011 at 16:09 McDan says:
Good to see someone still uses and in the game, this is probably going to be around a week 1 purchase for me, looks excellent.
08/07/2011 at 16:10 BrightCandle says:
Ubisoft has burnt me too many times. Love the premise of the game, hate the publishers DRM. Its a no buy unless they finally give up on screwing me as a customer.
08/07/2011 at 16:15 Sp4rkR4t says:
It’s a shame it’s single player only perhaps a multiplayer mode where you have to kill off the other tribes people will surface as DLC, you know the version of populous I have been waiting MY ENTIRE BLOODY LIFE.
08/07/2011 at 16:20 DarkFarmer says:
Anybody else want the game Sp4rkR4t just described? sounds interesting. you’d like build up your people, then use the worship-power from their celebrations of how great you have been treating them to unleash disasters upon your opponents tribes, who would in turn do the same to you.
08/07/2011 at 17:07 skorpeyon says:
Pick up Black & White. Should be cheap by now. They had multiplayer. Though, honestly, this game looks far more fun what with the ability to actually mess with the terrain and all.
08/07/2011 at 16:15 tsmike says:
After watching that, I’ve got an urge to uncover my copy of Black and White.
Been a while since I played a proper God game so I might get it. Depends on the price (and the DRM).
08/07/2011 at 16:20 Rich says:
I’m glad you don’t seem to build anything, unlike B&W. Those bloody scaffolds!
08/07/2011 at 16:18 DarkFarmer says:
Yes. Get Game. Put Game into Bag. Get game.
08/07/2011 at 16:18 The Hammer says:
Wonder how much it costs! Can’t see myself being able to pay full whack right now, but geeez. Looks absolutely fascinating. I’ve been keeping an eye out on this game since it was first announced last year, but seeing the gameplay footage… wow. Edge weren’t exaggerating when they called it “primal”.
08/07/2011 at 16:22 Sp4rkR4t says:
It will be £14.99
08/07/2011 at 16:23 The Hammer says:
Hmm. Probably not Day 1 sale for me, then, but I’ll definitely pick it up once it falls in price (or I’ve got more money to hand!).
08/07/2011 at 16:24 Lewie Procter says:
They are actually charging more for the PC verison than the console version..
The Xbox version is 1,200 MS Points ($15/£10), and the PC version is $20/£14.99.
08/07/2011 at 16:27 Unaco says:
The disparity in price reflects the extra effort that has to go into the DRM for the PC version.
08/07/2011 at 16:31 Schaulustiger says:
Please let this be good. Please let this be good. Please let this be good. Please let this be good. Please let this be good. Please let this be good. Please let this be good. Please let this be good. Please let this be good. Please let this be good. Please let this not have shitty DRM.
08/07/2011 at 16:34 Pinkables says:
We need more civic buildings!
08/07/2011 at 16:45 Rich says:
We need food!
08/07/2011 at 16:59 Jerricho says:
*Deeeeeaaaaath*
08/07/2011 at 19:44 ArcaneSaint says:
We need offspring!
09/07/2011 at 00:19 StuffedCabbage says:
And thus God made such creations
08/07/2011 at 16:42 MonkeyMonster says:
Looking really rather tasty! Replay value for the later levels with mixed skills is likely to be entertaining too… Coop/PVP mwahahaha
08/07/2011 at 16:53 Dakia says:
Awesome! I was sorely disappointed when I saw that this was going to be 360 only. I mean, I have one, but I rarely play on it. It gets more use as a DVD player than anything else.
08/07/2011 at 17:10 Vandelay says:
I’m confused by the DRM talk; hasn’t Ubi ditched it for all of their new games and most of their old ones? Don’t really see any reason why they would do any different for this one game.
08/07/2011 at 17:14 Jim Rossignol says:
Yes, Ubi DRM is dead. People are not following the news.
08/07/2011 at 17:33 MonkeyMonster says:
Wiki for settlers 7 says… “In response to the above (always on DRM issue) it appear that Ubisoft have disabled the requirement for all players to be permanently connected throughout game play. They still need though an internet connection to launch the game”
and so i may well buy it now :D
08/07/2011 at 17:36 Vinraith says:
@Jim Rossignol
I don’t think it’s necessarily that people aren’t following the news. Ubi has backed off of the “always-on” stance but still requires an internet connection to launch the game, and some people simply aren’t satisfied that they’ve backed off enough as a result.
08/07/2011 at 17:38 Jim Rossignol says:
That’s fair enough, I suppose.
08/07/2011 at 17:39 Unaco says:
Really? Completely dead? No DRM at all? It’s dead you say, removed from Settlers 7 and Silent Hunter 5? I’ll be able to install, and happily play those games or this game without an internet connection at all? I won’t need to say, activate on install or activate on launch?
I know the always-online DRM was removed (quietly) from several games, and at least 1 other was released without it… but I can’t find any big announcements from UBI saying sorry and stating that they won’t have any DRM like this in the future, or that games will release with it, but it’ll be removed in a patch. It isn’t my fault if they do something that everyone reports about and remembers, and then, when they rectify the situation, don’t scream about it and let us all know.
If there is no DRM, and the game is as good as we’re all hoping… then fine, I’ll pick it up and be happy. But, until I see that there’s no DRM on it, or until UBI come out and tell me the DRM is gone, dead and buried never to return, I’m going to remain sceptical.
08/07/2011 at 17:42 TillEulenspiegel says:
It’s classic Overton window pushing. We’ll do something really horrible, then back off slightly so everyone will feel appeased. Fuck that.
08/07/2011 at 17:41 Vinraith says:
For me, “always on” DRM meant I wouldn’t buy at any price, “connect-on-start” DRM means I won’t buy above “rental” price (~$5, depending on the game, certainly no more than $10).
Really, connect-on-start is still pretty crappy, it only looks good because of how incredibly bad its predecessor was. Another case of bastardry creep, I’m afraid.
Edit: And apparently I failed to hit the “reply” button there. Ah well.
08/07/2011 at 17:56 skinlo says:
Good thing I have a internet connection eh!
08/07/2011 at 21:13 Jason Moyer says:
Don’t mean this as criticism of vinraith, but I always get a chuckle out of people going online and posting “omg I refuse to play this game that requires an internet connection!” I don’t really like the “must be online to launch the game” aspect, either, but people were doing that when the SecureROM one-time activation thing first came out as well (and that’s probably the least invasive form of copy protection ever, including CD checks which are awful).
08/07/2011 at 21:27 TillEulenspiegel says:
“The internet” is not one giant pulsating blob. Have fun when Ubisoft goes out of business, or simply decides that it’s no longer economical to keep their activation servers for older games running*. Oops, your legitimate copy is now entirely worthless.
Yes yes, pirates are our archivists, blah blah blah. It’s still a shitty principle to support. If I buy a book, I own a copy of a book, not a “license”. I can do whatever I want with that book, regardless of external factors; copyright merely restricts my right to make a copy. Not so with DRM’d computer games.
* UBISOFT MAY CANCEL ACCESS TO ONE OR MORE SPECIFIC ONLINE FEATURES UPON A 30-DAY PRIOR NOTICE PUBLISHED
08/07/2011 at 17:51 Quilty says:
Oh, so it’s Ubisoft? Shame. Would have payed for it, but I guess I’ll torrent this like the rest of Ubisoft stuff.
08/07/2011 at 17:57 skinlo says:
Grow up.
Boycotting a company is childish, boycott the product if it has the always on DRM which it won’t because they dropped it, but look at each product that you want individually.
08/07/2011 at 18:04 CMaster says:
A boycott is only effective if you boycott the company. Its why I find so many of these game “boycotts” quite bizarre.
Of course, in a case like UbiDRM, what you actually want to do is send the message that it reduces sales, so you should not purchase silly-DRM games, and buy the ones from ubi without it (that you actually want to play of course)
08/07/2011 at 18:42 Malawi Frontier Guard says:
“Developer Diary” is a very generous term for this video.
Also a gameplay trailer without any interface is not a real gameplay trailer.
It’s all wrong!
08/07/2011 at 20:12 Turkey says:
I normally can’t stand playing strategy games, but there’s just something about herding a bunch of dumb AI creatures indirectly through the environment that instantly appeals to me.I can imagine these types of games are infuriating to people who play real strategy games, tho.
08/07/2011 at 20:38 apa says:
Lemmings!!! That’s what this is!
08/07/2011 at 21:14 googoogjoob says:
“I am looking forward to seeing how my insane whims and weird omnipotence might threaten the lives of tiny hat-wearing people.”
wait so this is a gabe newell sim
08/07/2011 at 22:00 Davie says:
Well done, sir.
08/07/2011 at 23:58 RyuRanX says:
It looks like a spiritual sequel to Populous: The Beginning. Day one buy for me.
09/07/2011 at 00:27 sonicblastoise says:
looks like a puzzle version of B&W. cool!
though this will probably inspire me to kill all my followers out of frustration. i am that kind of a god.
just ask my dead azaleas
09/07/2011 at 12:49 Andrige says:
From what this video have shown, it seems like a (very) pretty terrain deformation tool with very few gameplay features and hardly any interaction with your followers. It does have appeal as a modern kind of sandbox I suppose but if taken as a game it doesn’t seem that exciting, Black & White is probably better in that regard.
Price however seems more than fair so might get it anyway.
10/07/2011 at 05:40 Araxiel says:
A game that involves being an omnipotent god that is directing the lives of tiny hat wearing people? My social live will come to an halt on July the 28th.
Just kiddin’…I’ve got no social live
This game seems to be what Black & White (2) and a Populus 2 should have been.
10/07/2011 at 14:35 MichaelPalin says:
I only need to know one thing: Will it be a Steam exclusive yes or no? Well, even if it’s not, I guess there won’t be anyway to get it DRM-free. Oh!, well, I can wait.