Swedish Cubes for Unity is my attempt to create a competent and powerful tool for the creation of "Cube-Based Games" which have remained popular throughout this decade. It is my intention to develop Swedish Cubes for Unity alongside a game that uses it.

What is a Cube-Based Games? You know what it is. Originally invented in Sweden, they are games that use Cubes, which remind the experiencer of voxels but are far superior. The Cubes of a Cube-Based Games are like a tile sprite, but 3D. They're popular, really popular. Understand? If not, there is a manifesto.

I am focusing on tech features that I believe will enhance the quality of presentation of Cube-Based Games without requiring sacrifices in terms of gameplay cleanliness and depth. Here are some of my goals (not promises):

  • Very large game worlds (> 2000 cubits tall) with very fast movement speeds (> 100 cubits per second)
  • Average-case optimizations such as Occlusion Culling and terrain LOD
  • Lights with a large radius of effect
  • Fancier lighting in indoor environments
  • 3D sound
  • Pathfinding
  • Good tools for game/level creation.
  • One top secret feature which I have prototyped, but which won't come to SC4U for quite some time.

Conversely, there are some features which Swedish Cubes is unlikely to have for some time:

  • Multiplayer
  • Very small cubes or "smooth" terrain
  • "Science sandbox" features like planets, infinite generation, erosion simulation, etc.

Finally, I believe that Cube-Based Games should have an art style embraces the restricted canvas that their cubes represents, and doesn't try to give a realistic presentation to fundamentally unreal worlds. Therefore, Swedish Cubes for Unity will make it easy for developers to use confidently lo-fi graphics.

I believe this set of goals distinguishes SC4U from the other cube game projects out there. Cubes have a incredibly wide range of gameplay applications, so I believe there's enough room out there for a few more Cube-Based Games out there.

This blog will not be the most active one, as I am prone to become addicted to social media. I am also a bit too camera shy to stream very often. But I'll try to keep this place steadily supplied with interesting reads about the tech I am working on.