Organic Minecraft: Lords of Uberdark
Oh. Oh, wow. Lords of Uberdark is to terraforming what Minecraft is to construction. You'd be ten types of idiot not to see the huge similarities between the two, but this one is focused on organically reshaping the world rather than stacking and demolishing. Freed from the angular, block-bound restrictions of Minecraft, it allows for an untold variety of land-shaping - creating environments that look natural, created, shaped and reshaped by centuries of exposure to the elements, rather than assiduously constructed on the spot. Better still, the interface looks pick'n'up and go, suggesting a paintbrush approach to designing worlds. And it's all thanks to our old, long-lost love, the voxel.
Aaron Bishop's game is in private alpha at the moment, and this video appears to be all there is of it on show so far. It's more than enough, of course. Oh, technology. The wonders you give us.
You may be relieved to hear that Minecraft's Notch is nothing but excited about this project. I suspect the cream of the Minecraft-inspired crop, as opposed to simply the quick'n'cynical clones, are a few years off yet, but Uberdark looks to me like a big fat hint to what the near-future might offer digital world-building.
