Steam Workshop and Creative Gameplay

[BabyPotatoes]

Steam Workshop and Creative Gameplay

I am sure you have heard more than enough about a "Creative Mode" that should be added to Slime Rancher. A mode that gives you unlimited supplies for the ultimate adventures in this cute and wobbly world, but I am talking about a different type of creativity.

THE STEAM WORKSHOP
Slime Rancher seems like a perfect game to incorporate the Steam Workshop into your adventures. Not only can players have new, fan-made slimes added into their own worlds, they can experience entirely new worlds in general. Unfamiliar places to explore, new gameplay mechanics, and a playground for the dedicated fans, The Steam Workshop seems like an addition to Slime Rancher that many would find use of.

Creative Gameplay Additions

The Steam Workshop is only the beginning of what is possible in Slime Rancher. The infamous BetterBuild Mod has made sure of this. Incorporating an actual “Creative Mode” that gives players a blank slate and graphic assets or simply enabling them to add their own extensions to the existing Far, Far Range would mean infinite possibilities among the Slime Rancher Fanbase, and Steam Workshop would be the platform for sharing their creations.
Let’s just say Monomi Park adds this concept to their game. Being a game developer myself, I would see it like incorporating a level builder into the game. It could work a lot like Minecraft does. Currently in the game you have the two game modes, Adventure and 5 Day Rush. Starting the level editor would be like selecting your preferred gamemode.


Once you have selected the level editor (let’s just call it Creative Mode) and confirmed you want to enter the world, a simplistic dialog box will pop up before you enter your world.

In this box, you have the options that will change your world building experience such as whether you will start with a blank slate, the original Far, Far Range, or with a small randomly generated plot. You can also change this worlds gamemode for those that play it out of the level editor, enable or disable slime science, switch between slime sea or sand sea, enable or disable tar outbreaks, enable or disable time cycle, change world size to small, medium, or large, and a more advanced feature, a seed box to accommodate the randomly generated worlds.

Click confirm and you will be loaded into the level editor. You can go back later and change any feature besides your seed and world selection by clicking the gear icon on your world in your load selection.

Once loaded into your world you will be greeted by a new HUD.

Notice your vacpack, inventory, health, energy, currency, day and time, and 7Z Rewards Club level are gone. They have been replaced by a gear icon in the left-hand corner, and a constantly updated mini-map of your world. The mini-map feature will not be available to other users playing your world, but will be available to you while testing your world.
The gear icon shows you are in Editing Mode. This icon will change to a slime when you are testing the world.
Press E (Up Arrow On XBOX) to open the World Settings Menu. Not all settings are available for in game change. These settings include changing world size and changing the worlds gamemode. Changing your worlds seed or world type isn’t available on either the in-game settings or menu settings.

By pressing T (or down arrow on Xbox), you will be greeted with your assets. Your main categories are landscape, structures, ranch, slimes, and etcetera (etc.). Once selected, your main categories break down into smaller ones to pinpoint the specific items wanted. Instead of searching, you can also use a search function. A favorites system is also available for the items you tend to use a lot and don’t want to go digging for.

The slime section provides you with slime spawners to place wherever you want.

The etc. menu is where things get a bit more complicated. I built this entire concept off simplicity, but there are many things to this game that seriously don’t fit into that category. That is where the etc. Menu comes into play. Here you have things such as treasure pods, slime science gadgets, slime science funtions and custom ways to unlock vacpack upgrades. You can still use all the items in the Slime Science Gadgets category even if you have disabled slime science itself. Now of course you can leave these things alone, but they do add more functionality and more things to do in your world.
Say if you disabled Slime Science in your world, you are going to have to make replacement ways to get the Treasure Crackers. Once you make this new way, it will be added as an achievement, so the player knows how to get the upgrade. An example of functionality is teleportation. If you are building a large world then teleporters would be a nice addition.

After placing treasure pods, select them and an extra option will be available with the treasure pod icon. Selecting this option will allow you to choose what the player will get out of this specific pod.

Complex Features of Creative Gameplay

These are some of the more complex features to this level editor that more advanced users would get into.

Slime Rancher is big on “zones”. The Glass Desert and The Ancient Ruins are the more recent additions to the game. A player should have the ability to make their own zones too. Selecting the “Add Zones” option in the settings menu gives the player a birds-eye view of their land and allows them to highlight a specific area they want to be an independent zone. After pressing confirm, they are greeted by a settings menu for their new zone. This menu allows them to name their zone, set its weather, and give it its own icon (for the teleporters). The advanced panel allows them to slow down, speed up, or just stop the time cycle in that zone only, enable slime sea or sand sea, enable or disable slime science in that area (Slime Science must be already enabled in the world settings), or make the zone invisible until zone (x) is discovered, achievement (x) is achieved, or vackpack upgrade (x) has been gained.

Another zone that should be set is The Ranch itself. Selecting the “Add Ranch” option classifies a specific area as a player’s home. It brings you through a similar process as adding a zone to your world, bringing you into a birds-eye view and letting you highlight the area you want to call a ranch. Once you select confirm you are greeted by a settings panel for this specific Ranch (yes, you can make multiple Ranches on one world). This panel allows you to name this ranch and give it its own icon (for the teleporter). You can also highlight other zones inside this ranch that players can unlock. Once you have highlighted the unlockable area and confirmed it, you will have to place up to five consoles that the player can use to purchase the area. You will also have to give this area its own name, description, and icon.
If you are to have multiple Ranches in one world then the respawn point will be determined by the last ranch slept at.

You thought I would just leave out the 7Z Rewards Club, didn’t you? The 7Z Rewards Club is probably one of my favorite features in Slime Rancher and allowing players to make their own levels in the 7Z Rewards Club is the best little feature for a Slime Rancher Level Editor. Items on the Ranch that you place will upgrade like they do in the normal game. Here is how the 7Z Rewards Club Level Editor would work:

Sharing and Updating Your Worlds
Simply enter the World Setting Menu (E / Up Arrow), and at the bottom you will see the options upload and update. Update will be grayed out if you have not already uploaded your world to the Steam Workshop/Xbox Substitute. After making changes to your world, you can update it by pressing update.

How the Level Editor Would Work
To select objects, you would right click it (or press Y on it for Xbox One) and a tiny menu would appear next to the selected object. You can select multiple objects by holding right click and dragging it across the group of objects you want to highlight. The circular menu would have the options: Delete Object, Move Object, or Replace Object. The Xbox would select items with designated button. The Xbox would have an extra option which would be to exit the menu.


Xbox One Compatibility Problems
Even though I did optimize this addition to Slime Rancher for both Xbox One and PC, there are a few problems with the compatibility on the Xbox Platform. The sharing feature of the level editor runs off the Steam Workshop. Xbox doesn’t have this platform available for the game meaning that Monomi Parks would have to either build their own world sharing service for their Xbox One version or, forfeit the entire concept on the Xbox One or at least the sharing feature. Being someone who plays on both PC and Xbox One, I would at least like the concept to be added onto the platform without sharing compatibility.

CONTROLS

Basic Movement Controls (PC)
W – Move Forward
S – Move Backwards
A – Move Left
D – Move Right
Space Bar – Jump

Basic Movement Controls (Xbox)
Left Stick – Move Around
Right Stick – Look Around
A – Jump

Flying Controls (PC) [Movement Speed Set to Sprinting Speed]
Double Tap Space Bar – Fly / Turn Off Flying
Space Bar – Fly Upwards
Shift – Fly Down
W – Move Forward
S – Move Backwards
A – Move Left
D – Move Right

Flying Controls (PC) [Movement Speed Set to Sprinting Speed]
Double Press A – Fly / Turn Off Flying
A – Fly Upwards
Shift – Fly Downwards
Left Stick – Fly Around
Right Stick – Look Around

Level Editor Controls (PC)
T – Toggle Assets Menu
E – World Settings Menu
Right Mouse Click – Select Objects
Z – Undo
X – Redo
Hold Tab - Test World

Level Editor Controls (Xbox)
Down Arrow – Toggle Assets Menu
Up Arrow – World Settings Menu
Left Arrow – Undo
Right Arrow – Redo
Y – Select Objects
Hold X - Text World

Ending Notes

Wow this took me absolutely forever to actually finish up. I will be uploading another version of this to the Steam Community Page for Slime Rancher with actual pictures of what things would look like and how they would work. These concepts take me a really long time to work out and put on paper, so if you would please leave a comment with suggestions or things for me to add to the post, I would much appreciate it.

[akkamaddi]

I actually posted something that would relate to this idea.

Personally, I would love it. I would love truly new maps accessible from the main game, rather than just an edited save game file that could get overwritten by a game update.

Now, I said before and will say again, this would be a massive undertaking for the developers, and support is an issue. I know that if something like this happens, I would expect six months to a year of development, especially since the next three updates have been described.

I also know that making new slimes would involve a lot of programming and rendering, unless player models are just re-skinned pink slimes.

Some prefer a distinct game that has a clear beginning and end goal. Personally, my opinion on this is that you don't have to add optional content.

My opinion, which I know is not shared by many, is that this game takes place on a planet, and there is a clear indication there are other ranchers. The 1.1 through 1.3 updates indicate there are zones owned by other people, with their own unique ecosystems. If you can travel across the galaxy, why can't you visit your neighbors?

I really hope your idea gains traction. :-)

http://forums.monomipark.com/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=4673

[EmeraldPlay]

I don't think devs might ever attempt something of this scale especially if this is going to have randomly generated world parts. They would likely have to rewrite most of the code since the game wasn't made in mind with this feature.

[Dragonslime]

its a good concept but platform restrictions

[SnailsAttack]

Like @akkamaddi said, this would be a colossal undertaking, but it'd also be a really cool update.

[BabyPotatoes]

I don't think devs might ever attempt something of this scale especially if this is going to have randomly generated world parts. They would likely have to rewrite most of the code since the game wasn't made in mind with this feature.

Yes. This idea could probably serve as an entirely independent game.