[table]
[tr]
[th]GOAL[/th]
[td]Create and explore user-created worlds that use Pixabay images, while in a first person point of view and the ability to jump.[/td]
[/tr]
[th]EXPERIENCE[/th]
[td]One-of-a-kind, being able to make art installations with existing images from Pixabay, since never played anything like this.[/td]
[tr]
[th]SETUP[/th]
[td]Played it in fullscreen borderless window.[/td]
[/tr]
[tr]
[th]CONTENT[/th]
[td]Dependent on user-made worlds to explore (s of this Steam user review, there's around 1,182 worlds to explore, from 197 paginations that have 6 entries per page), and intrinsic value of exploring and creating worlds to upload.[/td]
[/tr]
[tr]
[th]BOUGHT[/th]
[td]Got indirectly through donating money for the 2022 Yogscast Jingle Jam collection.[/td]
[/tr]
[tr]
[th]ENDGAME[/th]
[td]Besides uploading a world to get the 'Sharing is caring' Steam achievement, making new worlds to upload and giving 'Likes' to worlds that deserve more recognition and appreciation.[/td]
[/tr]
[tr]
[th]PLAYTIME[/th]
[td]4 hours overall on getting all of the Steam achievements, with 1 hour on getting the 'Cool', 'Librarian', and 'I like it!' Steam achievement, and 3 hours on making a world, uploading it, and earning the 'Sharing is caring' Steam achievement.[/td]
[/tr]
[/table]
[h3]MY POSITIVES[/h3]
[list]
[*] [u][b]Creating an account to be able to explore worlds, give 'Likes' to user-created worlds, and upload worlds doesn't require a separate account to create.[/b][/u][/list]
[h3]MY NEGATIVES[/h3]
[list]
[*] [u][b]Created accounts are per computer separately;[/b][/u] I made an account 2 years ago on my main computer, and when I played the game on my gaming laptop, I had to make another account instead of my existing account, thus I have two accounts because otherwise I couldn't browse or create worlds, which might explain the lack of Steam Cloud support.
[*] [u][b]Searching Pixabay images only shows up to 20 images per keyword search result;[/b][/u] although the store page description says there's "1.8 million images" to pick, and currently, as of this Steam user review, there's over 5 million images according to the Pixabay website, there's no way to go through additional paginations with the same search keywords, limiting to a fraction available. Over time, the same keyword searches will give different results as more images get added to Pixabay.
[*] [u][b]Certain images when selected when putting into the world just stay 'Loading...', with no way to delete them at all;[/b][/u] I had to hide the image by boarding up with existing images instead as a workaround. The broken image I found was [url=https://pixabay.com/illustrations/egg-cracks-eggshell-fragile-easter-4642473/]a kinda rainbowy egg with some light and dark contrast textures[/url] from typing up 'dragon egg', and I wanted it for my first world. This can be a setback and adds additional unnecessary friction to the world-making process. As a workaround for aspiring world creators, spawn images in a location where they shouldn't be seen at all before uploading the world.
[*] [u][b]When uploading a new or updated world, there's no progress upload bar;[/b][/u] there's no way to tell how much time is left to upload it. I thought that reusing most of the images wouldn't incur a large world upload.
[*] [u][b]It's possible to upload broken worlds where it lacks a thumbnail;[/b][/u] relating to the world upload issues, at one point, so after waiting for a minute, assuming that the world filesize on uploading was small, I backed out of the 'Create' section and re-entering it, the words 'Uploading...' reverted back to 'Upload', making me think I canceled the upload, and pressed the 'Upload' button to restart. I checked the list of worlds after waiting, I see both the world I made with the thumbnail, and one without it, and the world without the thumbnail is broken, which when selecting the broken world, it just softlocks through endless loading. I'm unsure if deleting my first world I made also deletes both of them, or only one of them, but I rather not throw away my 3 hours spent making that world.
[*] [u][b]There's no way to jump to a specific pagination number when browsing through list of uploaded worlds;[/b][/u] for me, when wanting to check all of the uploaded worlds, not just the most popular worlds, I wanted to experience worlds that didn't get even a single 'Like', and determine whether if they're overlooked and deserve giving a 'Like' to get out of the 0 likes range.
[/list]
[h3]MY MIXED FEELINGS[/h3]
[list]
[*] [u][b]Pixabay has AI generated images made by users since April 2023;[/b][/u] I seriously rather not use them if possible, and sadly the game doesn't really label them whether if it is AI generated, since this game was released on February 21, 2020. I have mixed feelings because I couldn't find cute dragons back in 2022 when making a dragon world, and when [url=https://pixabay.com/forum/news-and-general-discussions-2/new-terms-of-service-15126/]AI generated content was allowed on April 2023 with limitations[/url], most of the cute dragon images I found were possible because of AI generated art. I didn't really realize it until after checking on the Pixabay website, as the only hint during world making was the fire breathing cute dragon that has their lips fwooshed out.
[*] [u][b]When loading a world, while seeing 'Loading...' images and moving at the same time, it may be possible to phase through the images that were supposed to be solid;[/b][/u] on one side, this will likely ruin the intended experience when first entering worlds, but on another side, it increases replayability of checking the world outside of what's intended, which would more likely to work in enclosed areas at the start, which could be a way to hide secret messages or images through this glitch.
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3333624477[/list]
sok-worlds is a platform for usermade first person art installations to be possible to be shared and explored, something that I appreciate because of I enjoy the process and result of creativity, and that limitations breed creativity from using image assets from Pixabay. Here's my first world that I made, called "Cute dragons!!!" by Ryzzy:
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3332522649
While I had fun making my first world, and that for the foreseeable future, I will probably make more worlds from time to time, and explore worlds that are worth giving a 'Like', my overall experience on creating worlds has been mixed, leaning towards negative. There were some issues listed above that are out of my control and a bit much, it's not something I would want other players to experience. I haven't experienced the bug or error on when [url=https://steamcommunity.com/app/1263820/discussions/0/3719440044269827259/]a user-created world is too big to upload[/url], which would be terrible for people putting a lot of time in their worlds.
I'm not sure how confident I am to fully recommend this despite the small price tag, and also because incase the sok-worlds servers disappears, or Pixabay might disappear; the former because [url=https://steamcommunity.com/profiles/76561198314500125/recommended/1212170/]my Steam user review on Sokobots[/url] pointing out the servers for that game don't exist anymore, and the latter because Pixabay is a dependency, which means the game is pointless when Pixabay disappears. When I came back to the game, I was anticipating this game to be dead like Sokobots, and was fortunate that it isn't.
