What do you want in a Sandbox game?

[Alpha Centauri]

Hmmm...
Sandbox game

1) Customizable Character
2) Kitten... that can attack
3) Suits
4) Recuritble thugs that help your know more that just 4 guys busting in and takening on like 40 others
5) Nudity
6) Violecne
7) Exspolens
8) Kittens
9) Ablitly to start bissnuess
10) did i mentions kittens

 

[SMILEYkyle21]

i) sand
ii) a box

my thoughts exactly, not enough sand

 

[Nicos Amblecrown]

1) Being able to go into the buildings is huge. I don't care if you can knock them down, I just want to be able to get into them.

2) A story that justifies having a sandbox setting. Doing it because it's cool is ridiculous, it should serve a point.

3) One of those points is that it should allow multiple solutions to any of the plot points. Don't give me a huge environment to explore then narrow the game down to a rail shooter when the actual missions start.

4) An apartment or base that you actually want and need to return to, preferably within the limits of a day/night cycle.

5) If there is plenty of water around, don't make the character be made of potassium!

6) Make it easier to not commit vehicular manslaughter every .43 seconds.

7) The character is a good guy and ONLY a good guy. There are plenty of games that offer the chance to be bad. There are even more games with the opportunity to be slightly douchey or slightly recognizable as a functional human being (albeit with a ubiquitous gravelly voice). I want the character to be good. To do good. To be able to exercise choice between good options to meet his/her agenda.

That's a little rambling, but ah well. I'm really looking forward to L.A. Noire this fall. It seems like it'll have at least a few of my wishlist items, especially #7 from what I can tell.

 

[Sakurazaki1023]

Mercenaries 2
-Destructible Scenery and Buildings
-Airstrikes
-Collection and Merchant System

Saints Row 2
-Driving Mechanics

Just Cause 2
-Stunt Positions
-Parachute
-Grapple Hook
-Jets
-Varied Terrain

Crackdown
-Movement Speed
-Ledge Grab and Ledge Jump
-Precision Aim System

Ghost In The Shell SAC
-Wall Kicks
-Acrobatics

Throw all of that into the Havok engine and I think we may have the best sandbox ever.
(I'm aware some of the movement types are redundant, but that's what freedom of movement is all about)

 

[jtr477]

I would really love for one to to actually include a damn sandbox.

But that won't happen.

 

[Moonmover]

I would really love for one to to actually include a damn sandbox.

But that won't happen.

Doesn't Grand Theft Auto IV have sandboxes?

 

[Ironic Pirate]

RPG mechanics.
Physics engine set to slightly unrealistic.
Destructible environments.
Fun weapons.
Lots of weak enemies that go flying when killed.
Large world with multiple kinds of terrain (city, water, military base, etc)
Stat tracking for how many people killed, etc.
Footage recorded.
Humor.
Side missions.
Cheats.
Regnerating health.
Every building has an interior.
Ability to turn off helicopters if I just want to shoot regular bad guys.
No penalty for killing Civies.
No time limits.
Melee weapons in addition to guns.
AND really crazy jumping mechanics.

 

[Dexiro]

I think the main problem with open world and sandbox games is easing players into the world.
And the problem a lot of the time is also having everything in the world be exactly the same.

First off Sandbox games should ease you into your god-like abilities. Give the player a chance to get a satisfying amount of playtime out of the game before it inevitably becomes boring, god mode is basically a fast track to boredom.

There should be layers to the environments too. There should be small areas like buildings, your own base, underground tunnels, tombs, whatever.
Cities should have a distinct layout, have a good use of both vertical and horizontal space and have landmarks. Oh and they should have plenty of secret areas too.
Then you have open aired environments like jungles and whatever that you should be able to travel across really quickly, should again have interesting landmarks and should be littered with secrets for exploration.

I think they should give room for roleplaying too. Enough flexibility to have the player create his own little events instead of always conforming to the games rules.
Things like vantage points, potential stealth features, vague sidequests, and completly random things that have absolutely nothing to do with anything!
I think GTA SA did some of the roleplay'y bit quite well.

 

[Sakurazaki1023]

Physics engine set to slightly unrealistic.

So essentially the Havok engine?

 

[DustyDrB]

I don't know. Sandbox games need to do something to keep fresh, but I don't know what. Red Dead Redemption is the only one I'm looking forward to this year because of its different scenery (as opposed to a big New Yorkesque city, which has been done, done, and done again).

One thing you don't see much is a community (even within a city) that actually feels close-knit. It's always random people walking and wondering who is the random guy shooting the other random guy! We must call a random cop we've never seen before!

 

[Shanecooper]

A fun way to explore my new sandbox.

 

[Generator]

My favorite sandbox game is InFamous for the good story-telling and just overall fun of the whole game. The upgradeable abilities were a nice touch, no fall damage automatically makes things better, the collecting aspect was awesome, and the city felt truly inspired and interesting to explore. I also liked the way that they gave a unique purpose to the side missions (securing parts of the city until it was entirely under your control) that left you feeling satisfied every time you completed one. Another neat thing was that, because you were essentially a superhero, you had all of your abilities at your disposal at all times, whereas in most sandbox games, if you want a cool weapon, you have to go look for it.

So, basically, that's what I like in a sandbox game.

 

[Enigmers]

I want the freedom to explore, and stuff to find from exploring.

For example, you could explore around San Van in Skate 2 and find spots that you could later use in multi-player games, so I'm doing some exploring for those now because it's a tangible reward, not just for me, but for my friends when they come over to play together.

 

[Super Toast]

The Elder Scrolls V. Everything I could possibly want in a sandbox game will be fulfilled the moment I get my hands on that baby.

 

[Avatar Roku]

A few main points:

1)It has to have a fun way of getting around. Think pre-IV GTA, Prototype, and Assassin's Creed.

2)Densely packed map. I don't care how big the map it, so long as there's stuff to do, I'd prefer a small map with lots to do to a large, empty map. Far Cry 2 is a prime offender.

 

[biggles1]

one with a massive open world, like fallout 3 but much bigger, from ciyscapes to a millitary base, tropical area, basically give me florida, fill it with thousands of weapons, vehicles and random things and make it so that every building and room are enterable and unique, wanna go destroy a city block? take it out a room at a time. wanna blow up a power-station? demo it with carefully placed c4 charges. a game of unlimited destruction on a massive scale, and maybe a nuke too if the graphics are good enough. planes and ships too, from rubber dinghy's and cessna's to carriers, jet planes and b-52's all of which can be hijacked and all containing thousands of interactable objects and people. THAT is a game I would buy.

 

[Samcanuck]

Side quest's, exciting/funny story, unique weapon's/skill's and or characters, unique enemies, general story being effected by results of subquest.

Thats what I want. Anything less than one of these things and I don't even bother.

 

[DragonChi]

To be able to make really cool Sand Castles in that Sand Box.