SmuggleCraft

Overall SmuggleCraft is a nice little game, it has a simple objective and kept the scope of what it was trying to achieve small, so that it could do what it wanted to do effectively. Often indie games fall into the trap of trying to do too much with too little, but this game really benefits by doing a few things and doing them well. I think it's a really fun game and worthy of being in anyone's Steam library. Pleas check here for the full review - https://youtu.be/SXrMOJW0gFg

[h1]Intro[/h1] Recently, I have been playing Smugglecraft, a racing video game released on May 24, 2017, by Happy Badger Studio, based out of St. Louis, MO. The game was successfully funded on Kickstarter, a common trend in the Indie game arena. The game is available on PS4 and all three flavors of PC (Windows, Mac, and Linux). [h1]Premise[/h1] You play as a smuggler, Ferre Astraea, working to pay down a debt to a Garmuk Exto by completing various missions or smuggling contracts. This involves piloting your hovercraft through the Sideways and making critical decisions. The storyline follows two castes: the Auros and the Laborers. It takes place in the world of Dirahl, led by the controversial Auros leader, Tovan Kadmar. This post-modern societal order closely resembles medieval feudalism. [h1]Gameplay[/h1] The mission selection screen presents the player with a variety of missions, each with varying difficulties and degrees of legality. There are also NPCs that will provide you with some background into the Smugglecraft world from both the Auros’ and Laborer’s sides. The following different types of missions keep the player on their toes: scavenge, delivery, towing, race, pick up, and chase. Each of the missions types are somewhat self-explanatory. The actual driving mechanics feel great. You can drive the hovercraft forward, backward, left, and right. Pretty typical, right? Additionally, you have a strafe-left and strafe-right control to quickly jump side-to-side. This is convenient for avoiding road hazards and other chaotic features of the course. Each player will have a unique experience playing Smugglecraft. The game uses procedurally generated tracks to create each mission’s track on-the-fly. Pre-made segments of the track are combined in a random order with a random time of day and weather to create a custom feel for each mission. You only have a limited amount of fuel, so you will need to collect white orbs along the way in order to refuel. This is reminiscent of older arcade style checkpoint games — think Wave Rider and 18 Wheeler: American Pro Trucker — where you must reach the checkpoint before time runs out. Upon completion of some missions, you will have a choice between two options once you arrive at your destination: to fulfill the mission or to betray the mission. Choices you make will directly influence how the story unfolds. Between missions, the player can craft new components from the credits and parts earned. This allows the player to upgrade different areas of performance for their hovercraft. I appreciate the different game modes the game has to offer. These include Campaign, Quick Race, Multiplayer (both local and online), and Track Creator if you would like to create your own track or play tracks others have created. Making tracks is a joy; being able to publish and share with others with such ease is great. I made a track I titled Rainy Rampage and proceeded to publish it so others can try it out. There were some challenges with the editor which I will delve into later. [h1]Praiseworthy Points[/h1] [b]The Premise[/b] The story is captivating and keeps me playing to find out the next major plot point. I really enjoy the fact that the choices I make directly affect the Auros and the Laborers. The controls are quite responsive, creating an enjoyable and engaging experience while piloting my hovercraft. Cornering does at first feel a bit floaty, reminiscent of the ships in the F-Zero series, although upgrades to my craft enhance every aspect of piloting. I enjoyed upgrading my hovercraft throughout the campaign. The crafting mechanic is easy to grasp with the UI displaying how each piece of equipment affects the overall performance of the hovercraft. The schematics I found during missions allowed me to unlock new equipment to craft allowing even more options for customization. I appreciate Linux support as well. I dream of a gaming world where Linux support is not a noteworthy comment to make. [b]The Style[/b] The game looks so clean and minimalistic. The low-poly art style is one of my favorite things about Smugglecraft. It just looks so good and the world is quite a sight to take in. Each time of day provides a distinct color palette ranging from the morning’s golden yellows to the night’s cool blues. I noticed the solid EDM style game music right off the bat. It is easy on the ears and provides a nice flow. While piloting your hovercraft, faster-paced music with a noticeable beat plays to instill a sense of urgency. In the menu, a chill, reflective tune plays as you select your next mission. And the last thing is a small one, but I always get a smile on my face when the ship’s light automatically switches on with a charming, electronic sound effect in dark caves and tunnels. [h1]Areas for Improvement[/h1] [b]The Polish[/b] Significantly more often than I would like to admit, there were issues with the game that pulled me out of an immersive experience. These ranged from bugged tutorials to distracting voice-overs that differed from the displayed text. The controls were quite simple, only requiring the use of one hand. I felt that adding some control over the camera with the mouse or the second joystick when playing with a controller would be a nice addition. As it stands, the lack of camera control diminished my visibility on the track and my ability to enjoy the beautiful world. While the UI looks great, it can be frustrating at times. One example is on the mission selection screen. While looking through available missions, you are unable to select a mission overlapping the one you currently have selected. You will need to first click away before selecting it. Navigating to the inventory from the mission selection screen and then back generates all new missions. I could do this a few times to farm for easy missions with high payouts. I enjoy a certain amount of randomness in games, but I desire more consistency here as it seems unjustifiably random. [b]The Execution[/b] I started off playing on roguelike difficulty where you must start over when you die. I quickly switched this mode off when I realized how easy it was to fall off the edge of the track and end my playthrough. This alone makes roguelike mode — something I am very inclined to play with — something that I would advise against. A clearer indicator where the edge of the track is or simply less punishment for falling off would suffice. Missions can become repetitive and monotonous. Even tracks with the hardest difficulty did not prove much of a challenge. The pacing feels too slow considering you play as a hired hand smuggler in a world on the verge of revolution. The Track Creator is a great idea but feels like a clunky developer tool in its current state. I would like to see the interface streamlined with more straight-forward controls. Perhaps more feedback on published tracks would incentivize players to build new tracks as well. I enjoy the competitive time trial mode and could see myself spending hours trying to outperform a previous best. A quick restart shortcut would enhance the experience. Lastly, the name of the game sounds like an off-brand mobile clone of Minecraft trying to capitalize on its popularity. Game studios should be trying to make their games stand out, and that starts with the name. [h1]Final Thoughts[/h1] Smugglecraft seems like an incredible game on the surface, but once you dive in it feels a bit like an early access game. I want to like Smugglecraft with all of its low-poly goodness — I really do! But the game is a bit rough around the edges.

Pretty great game if you enjoy going fast and dismantling the oppressive government

操作感は意外と曲がりやすく好印象 ミッション受注形式でランダム生成されるコースを走るみたいなので飽きはこなさそうな印象 だけどランダム生成が仇になって何処が正解のコースだよ！！ ってなってコースアウト＝ゲームオーバー＝最初からというのはちょっといただけない それとオンラインが5/24日現在機能してないのが気になった こまけえところは今後に期待してます

Smooth, almost relaxing game to play at first. I began to wonder if it was too easy, then it seems to start asking you to make interesting moral choices. At one point, I made the wrong choice and the game ended. I'll be spending more time with it, there seems to be more to this world. It did feel like it was sometimes too easy to lose track of your road and fall over the edge of the map. This isn't due to challenges controlling the vehicle at high speeds so much as just not being able to see what's over a hill, so it feels unfair/random. The punishment for losing a race hasn't been so harsh yet for it to be overly frustrating. Runs really nicely on Linux (Ubuntu LTS, GeForce GTX1070 8GB).

Didn't like the brutish graphics. Too many lines and not enough round edges.

Fast and fun, I just got it, but it's really smooth, even on my laptop!

CORRI ASTRONAVINA LAGGIU', VOLA TRA I LAMPI DI BLU (SmuggleCraft) SmuggleCraft, che non c'entra nulla con Minecraft, è un gioco con dei problemi grossi come una casa. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qm8zl7CEzmE

Definitely had a good time with it already. You can read my review here: https://bigbossbattle.com/review-smugglecraft/

A Lovely Racing Game With Smooth Controls And A Branching Story Path With Six Possible Endings, Each Of Which Have Depth No I Don't Know Why I'm Typing Like This It Just Sort Of Happened.