UP TO CODE
How a university research project turned sandboxphysics-
game will teach you the magic of coding
In their formative years, Stephen Foster,
Adrian Lopez-Mobilia, and Jason Rosenstock
were archetypal fantasy enthusiasts, with a
penchant for wizardry. Yet the portrayal of
spellcasting in videogames fell short of their
expectations. It was, and still is, too restrictive in
their eyes. Too many practical considerations block
player creativity. CodeSpells, the trio’s debut project,
aims to change this by letting you code your own
infinite number of spells within the game’s openworld
sandbox.
“When it comes to spells, most RPGs nowadays either
give you something that shields you in a radius, or a
projectile,” says Lopez-Mobilia. “It doesn’t really feel
like you’re gaining anything particularly creative with it.
Our main goal is to create a world that incorporates
systems that you want to play with, that are not static,
and contain all of this stuff that feels like it exists
without you.”
In 2012, Foster co-founded ThoughtSTEM – a
tutoring service that aimed to teach kids about
computer science. CodeSpells, the team’s debut venture,
formed part of Foster’s doctorate research which was
eventually showcased to local elementary schools,
demonstrating the virtues and basic principles of coding
to eager and impressionable audiences. While it worked
well in this capacity, Foster had grander plans.
Fast forward three years and CodeSpells has evolved
into a much larger beast. It’s been re-written from
scratch by Lopez-Mobilia and Rosenstock – both former
university peers of Foster – and aims to capture a far
wider audience. By teaching players how to code their
own spells, by giving them the means to manipulate
their world around them, Foster and co aim to
revolutionise videogame spellcasting entirely.
the art of magic
“Wizards tend to just have this list of spells,” says
Rosenstock. “My reaction to this has always been: man,
I want to make up my own fireball spell, I don’t want to
use the generic fireball anymore, you know? ...we want
the wizard to feel like more of an artist, not just
someone who memorises spells. There’s this idea of
seeing a wizard as a scientist – as someone who learns
about the world in order to influence it, instead of
someone who can make something – like a fireball, for
example – out of his hands.”
Using a piece of software called Blockly, CodeSpells
invites you to create code by dropping and dragging
little tiles. The software can generate JavaScript, Python,
PHP or Dart code and includes step-by-step execution
for tracing and debugging. Using it, players can craft an
effectively infinite number of possible spells.
In its current state, CodeSpells offers players Creative
Mode – an expansive space wherein you can juggle the
elements of earth, air, fire and water in pursuit of
compiling the perfect personal spellbook. Earth spells,
for example, enable you to adjust the world as you see
fit, growing mountains and valleys at will, sculpting the
landscape to suit your imagination.
Water spells enable you to submerge entire plains or
shift otherwise unmovable objects such as rocks or
fallen trees. To break from the ‘generic fireball’, as
Rosenstock suggests, you may wish to use fire spells to
rain an inferno over an area you wish cleared, or, even
better, run a river of molten lava through it. Trial and
error via the coding interface is
the best way to discover just how
much you can do.
Next May will bring
cooperative and competitive
game modes, as well as wildlife,
to the sandbox. By then,
text-based input via JavaScript
will also be offered to prospective
programmers, adding an extra
educational layer.
gaming the system
What sets CodeSpells apart from other games that allow
players to implement their own code is choice and scale.
It’s not a directed experience, thus trial and error plays a
key part in understanding how it all works. With
multiplayer implementation around the corner, one
development which has surprised and pleased the team
in equal measure is the growing number of players who
have begun to shoehorn sports into the open world.
“We want to spark the players’ imagination by
placing things that mess with the preconceived systems
a little bit,” says Foster. “Enough to get you thinking
within the world. I spend hours just trying to make the
perfect thing to pick up and throw exactly where I want
it, because I’m trying to play golf in the game.”
He adds, “we don’t necessarily want to make
CodeSpells a game where people are constantly
throwing fireballs at each other, we want people to
actually have fun. I think sports will be a part of that.
...that’s part of the beauty of the idea, that it’s impossible
to think of all the possibilities.”
The latter is something that
has adversely affected CodeSpells’
development behind the scenes,
yet it’s still a welcomed
phenomenon. In a world of
indefinite properties, it seems
fitting that the entire process –
for both players and the
development team – is foreign
ground.
“There’s been a few times where we’ve had to
rethink things within the world,” says Foster. “The hope
has always been that this would happen but it’s
surprising that it’s happening so early.”
“Anything that feels like it breaks the systems of the
world doesn’t feel like a bug, but like a natural
occurrence,” adds Lopez-Mobilia. “The ideal scenario is
that it gets to the point where anything you can do to
break the game becomes a part of the game.”
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