If you tell me that a person has single-handedly made a cooperative online first person adventure game, I would not expect very much. However, Eskil Steenberg has done just that. LOVE is indeed a single man effort, and happens to be a good game.

{ Disclaimer: since the title of the game discussed in this article is 'LOVE', many sentences might be unintentionally funny.}

I first heard about LOVE in an article about indie games under development, back in 2008. Back then LOVE was mostly an idea for the public to read about, but it seemed to speak to some of us. There was raw talent and creativity there, and while no one could know which direction it would go, everyone had some fantasy. There was a single screenshot in that article, I still have it lying around.

The procedurally created world of LOVE

Looking at it today, I can't really say what I found most intriguing. The graphics were different, the world looked cool, and the creature was interesting. Also, at this time I was just starting to realize the potential of indie games. I was already following games like Braid and Minecraft. I immediatly tried searching for LOVE. The problem was that a Google search for “LOVE” doesn't really give you the not-yet-released game on the first page. There is 1.25·10⁹ hits, and somewhere in there was a game I wanted. However, a search for “Eskil LOVE” will give you the homepage at once.

“This is a game to play with your friends, and for them to play with their friends. Never enough to be crowded; never so few to be alone.”- Eskil Steenberg

Giving the fans what they want

At his web site, Quel SolaarQuel Solaar, Steenberg hosts the game files, and (amongst many other things) a personal blog. The blog was very interesting to follow while the game was in its pre-alpha stage, and Steenberg still writes interesting posts there. I still remember when the video below was released, and we could finally see the game run. I thought it looked awesome.

When the game was released for testing, Steenberg started to twitter updatesTwitter - Eskil Steenberg. This way all the users can follow the development processes. Steenberg also releases most of the tools (include source) that he has created to make the game. Since he is alone on the project he was forced to come up with smart solutions that would allow for a more efficient development. He doesn't have time to spend on lots of textures, or level design, so he creates a good engine to deal with those things for him.

The technique is known as procedural generationWikipedia - Procedural generation, and it means that content is generated algorithmically (by a set of written rules) rather than manually. By using this technique, the game environment will never look the same. The tools that Steenberg designed has brought him quite a bit of attention. He wants to show that one does not need a large team of programmers and artists to create a game, you just have to be smarter than everyone else.

“The world is worth changing, so get on with it. Take your mates and make your planet whatever you want it to be.”- Eskil Steenberg

The game itself

I showed you an old trailer above, and I'm guessing you're still not sure what this game is all about. You play it like a first-person shooter. You run around this environment and, together with other online players, you try to defeat the computer (AI).

The earth you're on is in fact a rounded globe. It's not very large, but you will never have seen all of it. I really think the size is perfect; large enough to seem vast, but not so large that it's impossible to go everywhere. The terrain is generated, and will change with time. The earth is eroded by forces, and the environment changes. There is a natural day/night cycle, wind that can run wind mills, and rain that will create floods.

Both the human players and the computer builds settlements. In these settlements they can place tools that you find. These tools can be weapons, tools for building, or something else like a map or dive gear. Inside your settlement you can manipulate the terrain, by raising or lowering the ground. This way the player can build a fortress or an underground cave.

When the player ventures out into the wild, he can risk meeting hostile computers. A fire-fight is inevitable, and rockets, grenades, and many more weapons come in handy against the computer (AI) players. While you are out, the AI can easily attack your settlement, and unless you have a defense up, it can take out the entire settlement. Your can defend your settlement with force fields and turrets, but these things need power.

Now the game gets interesting. Throughout the world there are power sources, such as reactors, wind mills and power wells. You can route this power back to your settlement, using power reflectors. Once you get power to your settlement it can be used to produce bombs, or power the force field.

I could talk a while about the mechanics of the game, but it could get really boring. If you are interested you can check out this film, where the creator of LOVE, Eskil Steenberg, talks us through a gameplay demo. It shows some more advanced features of the game, but keep in mind that it is rather old, so there is much more content today.

“I think people should make their own stories. That’s always been my goal. It’s not about me telling them something. ”- Eskil Steenberg

The community

Usually, an alpha release is a test version of a game, that the developers will play. Since LOVE is a not-so-massive muliplayer online game, it was hard for a one man developer team to test it properly. So Steenberg opened up the alpha for all to try. During those first days a community was formed around Gaming Love. This web site was a forum, where most LOVE related issues were discussed. Today this forum has over a thousand members, and together with a wiki most things related to LOVE can be found there. Another cool website is LoveInVers.es

There is also an official LOVE TeamSpeak channel, where players can talk while playing. I think this greatly enhances the experience. The people playing LOVE are very friendly, and it feels like one of the smarter gaming communities. Steenberg often visits the TeamSpeak channel, either to tell us some news, or to just hear if everything is working like it's supposed to.

Now what?

LOVE has been released, but it's still very much in development. Steenberg is spending all his time on this project, and many new updates and fixes are planned. I've told you a little about the game, and what you can do in it. Though I don't have much time for playing these days, I really think it's a fun game when there is a group of players communicating over TeamSpeak.

I hope you have appreciated this short introduction to a cool game. I want to write about another great game soon: OpenTransportTycoonDeluxe, or as it is better known: OpenTTD.