Video Game Sandboxing

[KoolHndLuke]

Wiki defines this as a game with a gameplay element that gives the player a great degree of creativity to complete tasks towards a goal within the game. I disagree and think that 'sandboxing' is allowing the player of a game many side activities that might have little (or nothing) to do with any specific objective outlined by the game's story/quests other than to give the game-world a more realistic or interactive feel (such as fishing or turning a thing just to see it turn, lol. And let's not forget an LL fave- fucking). 

 

I mean... personally I've spent hours and hours doing some things in Skyrim/FO4 that have absolutely nothing to do with any of the rest of the game for purely aesthetic, immersive reasons or simply to level up my RL one-handed skill. 

 

But either by their definition of the term or by mine, would you like to see more of this in new games? And what games have you seen that add these elements in well?

[pinky6225]

More inclined to the wiki definition tbh but with the goal being one you set, like in skyrim building a player house has no real effect on whether you manage any of the vanilla quests (civil war, defeating alduin etc) that are the more story driven aspects of the game. Its something you can do for the sake of doing it if you set yourself the goal of having a player home

 

Same with the random exploring you could do in fallout 3, you could head off in any direction and generally find something and the closest that would get to doing a game goal is getting a little bit stronger or acquiring a new weapon to use later

[Gukahn]

I remember playing Fallout 4 shortly after it came out and the only thing i did was sitting at Red Rocket, listening to the radio and just watch Dogmeat run a few laps... Yeah, definitive worth the 60 or so bucks ?

 

15 minutes ago, KoolHndLuke said:

But either by their definition of the term or by mine, would you like to see more of this in new games? And what games have you seen that add these elements in well?

I think sandboxing exists quite a long time now, if we be loose with the therm then Zelda ocarina of time has it too, fishing and the other minigames for example ? just because you got rewarded for it doesn't mean it wasn't just to fill the game world with more then just adventuring and rescuing a princess?‍♂️

And just randomly riding on Eponas Back around Hyrule is Sandboxing by definition (and it was epic?)

[Guest]

I love Horizon Zero Dawn, which does that very well. Very much looking forward to the next installment.

[KoolHndLuke]

Thank you three for your input. So maybe 'sandboxing' is more about immersive ways to work towards either goals you set for yourself or those outlined by the game's story? So I'm curious now as to what personal "goals" ppl set about completing, lol. Sometimes the only 'goal' I have in mind is to be somewhere other than where I am in RL and just looking around at things with no pressure to do anything. 

[Guest]

11 minutes ago, KoolHndLuke said:

Thank you three for your input. So maybe 'sandboxing' is more about immersive ways to work towards either goals you set for yourself or those outlined by the game's story? So I'm curious now as to what personal "goals" ppl set about completing, lol. Sometimes the only 'goal' I have in mind is to be somewhere other than where I am in RL and just looking around at things with no pressure to do anything. 

 

When I RL sandbox, I just try to find humor. Life is too serious, not to laugh through. Life is short and precious. I like poetry, and I write. I'm not great, but it's how I put my soul into the universe, even if it's just for me.

[Gukahn]

Mh, the only personal goal i have while doing sandbox things ingame like venturing with my little Group through skyrim is having a nice and comfortable time while drinking too much coffee and spending way too much time looking at none existing naked flesh ? and ingame.. Apart from Quests and such i am not really that into character roleplay, i enjoy making immersive scenes and working forward a good ending spot for my playthrough ? sometimes the only goal is to finish one specific guild/questline, sometimes it is to finally kill NPC XY in an new way.. I dedecated a whole 30 Hour Playhtrough only to test if my modlist might be stable enough to finally start and finish major Questlines (it is but i never started them.. Freaking mod addiction and god damned shiny syndrome of mine.)

 

Couple of month ago my personal ingame goal was just to make sure every npc got the body they should have and no mod fucks over each other in a bad way.. And now i am looking for stuff to make my human bandits look better without needing to install the Wench Mods. So most if my goals are more in tuning my gameplay then actual playing the game? And big booty bitches of course ?

[Guest]

8 minutes ago, Gukahn said:

Mh, the only personal goal i have while doing sandbox things ingame like venturing with my little Group through skyrim is having a nice and comfortable time while drinking too much coffee and spending way too much time looking at none existing naked flesh ? and ingame.. Apart from Quests and such i am not really that into character roleplay, i enjoy making immersive scenes and working forward a good ending spot for my playthrough ? sometimes the only goal is to finish one specific guild/questline, sometimes it is to finally kill NPC XY in an new way.. I dedecated a whole 30 Hour Playhtrough only to test if my modlist might be stable enough to finally start and finish major Questlines (it is but i never started them.. Freaking mod addiction and god damned shiny syndrome of mine.)

 

Couple of month ago my personal ingame goal was just to make sure every npc got the body they should have and no mod fucks over each other in a bad way.. And now i am looking for stuff to make my human bandits look better without needing to install the Wench Mods. So most if my goals are more in tuning my gameplay then actual playing the game? And big booty bitches of course ?

 

Yeah I had a decent build, and the I got shiny mod syndrome too and jacked it up. lol. I couldn't get a mod to show in MCM...had to do a fresh game. I don't really mind though, modding the game and messing with it, is more fun at this point, so I get that.

[KoolHndLuke]

 Okay, so what I should have asked (in the spirit of the topic) is how ppl go about completing personal goals in an 'immersive sandbox' environment? Now I'm just thinking that it is allowing the player to do things as creatively as they possibly can. Also thinking we need a new term for modern sandbox gameplay in games something akin to *splorking*. 

[Gukahn]

12 minutes ago, KoolHndLuke said:

 Okay, so what I should have asked (in the spirit of the topic) is how ppl go about completing personal goals in an 'immersive sandbox' environment? Now I'm just thinking that it is allowing the player to do things as creatively as they possibly can. Also thinking we need a new term for modern sandbox gameplay in games something akin to *splorking*. 

Well trying to explain some goal i came up a while ago but never came to do it was stalking a few Npc´s while doing "normal" stuff in skyrim like helping the farm in Ivarstead, doing the silly mara Quests to get fastreds trust and let her move with "what's his name?" to riften. Wanted to capture her for my Slavering i was building but at the time i could have done it, i was distracted with mod probs i caused myself (as always xD) and i didn't really enjoyed the High Elf anymore and wanted to go back to a nord, perfect timing to tidy up my modlist and start anew.. Maybe i come to that idea later if i play this save long enough ? Muiri needs this treatment more then this innocent girl anyway.

[KoolHndLuke]

10 minutes ago, Gukahn said:

doing "normal" stuff in skyrim like helping the farm in Ivarstead

I've actually thought about just playing several days (weeks?) in game just working around the farm like you mention. Problem is it gets boring a little too fast because there's only so much to do and see. Wonder if there's any mods that enhance the 'farm life' experience, lol?

 

[Gukahn]

Just now, KoolHndLuke said:

I've actually thought about just playing several days (weeks?) in game just working around the farm like you mention. Problem is it gets boring a little too fast because there's only so much to do and see. Wonder if there's any mods that enhance the 'farm life' experience, lol?

good question.. Would be nice having something else to do in some minor villages ? INPC offers some nice dialogues along with citizens of tamriel but the longest conversation i ever listened too was only half a day worth of time ? many living takes time, where time flews by while you do stuff that otherwise stops time like reading, cooking and while you also need ingredients for that, take a day off your "observations" to hunt.. There is really not much to do in skyrims villages other then that ?

[Guest]

4 minutes ago, Gukahn said:

good question.. Would be nice having something else to do in some minor villages ? INPC offers some nice dialogues along with citizens of tamriel but the longest conversation i ever listened too was only half a day worth of time ? many living takes time, where time flews by while you do stuff that otherwise stops time like reading, cooking and while you also need ingredients for that, take a day off your "observations" to hunt.. There is really not much to do in skyrims villages other then that ?

 

That's why I like things like Public Whore and MME, creates a "market" for whatever you want to do/sell. I rarely play the story anymore lol.

[landess]

Rats in a maze.

 

That was a lot of gaming once the FPS was born. Then adapted to 3rd person shooters.

 

As 'rooms' got bigger and multiple pathways connecting them grew in size and number - eventually the 'sandbox' was born. No more 'maze'.

 

Regardless of the 'arena' players are now loose to explore, many of the crappy console creations continue to exist in the form of collectibles/etc.   The sandbox was the perfect design to play hide and seek with these useless objects, although they have begun adding rewards in case you don't like jumping thru hoops. Creating a 'story', separating the pages and hiding them . . . . .   Many ways they try to legitimize this 'feature', but I digress:

 

A personal goal in a 'sandbox' game depends on a few things but generally it's based on my understanding of the locations I have available to 'explore', the items and or skills I have access to in these locations, and finally - with most games having a plethora of side activities - What do I 'feel' like doing RIGHT NOW with the time available during this play session. If before work, I may run around collecting things instead of lock myself into a story related set of activities.    <--- Yeah, this kind of shit.

 

Been Playing Immortals: Fenyx Rising and yeah - that's another big fuckin sandbox with a ton of stuff - Yet the design is very clever.

[KoolHndLuke]

See now... being a sexy carriage driver that just fucks anything that moves and is cool as fuck is more what I mean. 

 

[KoolHndLuke]

8 minutes ago, landess said:

 The sandbox was the perfect design to play hide and seek with these useless objects

 

[Guest]

Skyrim for me has become, which followers do I want to be slaves, milk maids, wives, and which house do I want to decorate with Jax Pos. Also love anything like Glevs stuff that adds new imagery into the game. Immersion be damned. lol.

[Gukahn]

16 hours ago, zelphador23 said:

do I want to be slaves, milk maids, wives

 

So.. Pokemon with Benefits? ?

[Grey Cloud]

As someone who has played Skyrim for five years and never played the vanilla game, Skyrim has only ever been a sandbox for me. Or put another way, I view Skyrim as a place and not as a game. To me the mods are the game.

 

What would I like to see more of in new games? The ability for the game to be modded as simply as possible.

[Guest]

52 minutes ago, Gukahn said:

 

So.. Pokemon with Benefits? ?

 

"Gotta catch'em all" has all new meaning lol.

[Vyxenne]

20 hours ago, KoolHndLuke said:

And let's not forget an LL fave- fucking).

Be still, my heart... There was this one time, at Band Camp...

 

 

[donttouchmethere]

? http://projection-mapping.org/the-most-awesome-sandbox-ever/

 

 

[Guest]

Very cool, kind of reminds of From Dust. Great game.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/33460/From_Dust/

[KoolHndLuke]

6 hours ago, Vyxenne said:

There was this one time, at Band Camp...

You jest, but the Bards College is sorely lacking and could use a lot more "Band Camp" activities. Would even bet there's a mod somewhere that does exactly that. 

 

As Jimi sang "Are you experienced? Have you ever been experienced?"

 

 

[Guest]

Sandboxing are so essential to playing in an openworld game like Skyrim.

You can do nothing, or anything really. Killing everything all day or just sit on a chair.

 

GTA would be such a great game if there were any mods to it. Shitty company.

I hate Rockstar for other reasons but i could imagine that it would be very suited for just sandboxing there with the appropriate mods.

 

So i am stuck with Bethesda to do that. Doing sex stuff and perhaps explore something i had not thought in the beginning.

Oblivion was kind of the only game, where i actually really made efforts to play the game. I hated the gates to close. But i invested a lot of time observing this one guy in a town. Following him. Do not remember what city that was. 

 

Though today i makes me bored for the most time. Nothing excites me in the game really.

 

I would love to play sandboxing on other titles that would fit more the world i like to play. Like the viking game like Valheim.

But i think this just me dreaming.

 

So i think Sandboxing is really great. Wasting hours doing nothing.