Q.U.B.E. Create Build v1.0 just deployed these changes to Steam Q.U.B.E. Create is now fully featured and has reached v1.0 release! ːsteamhappyː Future updates will mostly be minor fixes, with an occasional new feature thrown in. We're still happy to take requests for further fea
Q.U.B.E. Create
Build v1.0 just deployed these changes to Steam
Q.U.B.E. Create is now fully featured and has reached v1.0 release! ːsteamhappyː Future updates will mostly be minor fixes, with an occasional new feature thrown in. We're still happy to take requests for further features - join our Discord for more info!
Here is the list of latest changes:
NEW FEATURE: - Added Physics Robot. NEW FEATURE: - Undo function. Users can now Undo an action, or property setting by hitting Z. NEW FEATURE: - Publish menu: Added in game screenshot feature for preview image selection.
- Fixed collision issue on projectile with turret. - Fixed Magnet (from QUBE 1) displaying debug sphere when in play mode. - Fixed World Magnet Manager still being hit by weapon when in Play mode. - Fixed Kill Fence's sound box always being selectable, causing blocking issues when trying to select anything else within it's radius. Also made sure it's hidden during Play. - Fixed deleting a magnet (QUBE 1) would not remove the connection line. - Optimized Forcefield. - Placeable Surface scaling optimizations. - Added Editor Controls pause/main menu screen. - Added new end of level UI. - Fixed exit door not working after being used once in an editor session. - Fixed exit teleporter not working after being used once in an editor session, added delays between some effects. - Fixed made entire length of cable connector selectable with mouse click. - Fixed main/pause menu overlaying issues with submenus.
No need for a closed beta sign up key! Everyone who owns Q.U.B.E. 10th Anniversary can now access Q.U.B.E. Create! Q.U.B.E. 10th Anniversary is currently 50% off in the Steam Summer Sale! So go grab it now and enjoy the remaster which includes a load of extras such as the soundtr
No need for a closed beta sign up key! Everyone who owns Q.U.B.E. 10th Anniversary can now access Q.U.B.E. Create!
Q.U.B.E. 10th Anniversary is currently 50% off in the Steam Summer Sale! So go grab it now and enjoy the remaster which includes a load of extras such as the soundtrack playable from within game, an essay on the story, additional levels, and access to the level editor, Q.U.B.E. Create!
This is still a early access build of the level editor and will contain bugs and even crash at times. There is an auto save functionality implemented which you can configure in the Settings menu. Please save your levels regularly to avoid loss. Please report any bugs/crashes to us. Details below.
Bug/Crash Reporting
There is a dedicated Q.U.B.E. Create Bug Reporting channel in Discord and on the Steam Community Hub discussion board. Please post any issues in either of those channels.
General Feedback
You can post general feedback and suggestions to the Create Feedback channels in either Discord or the Community Hub.
Sharing Content
You are completely free to share screenshots and videos of your custom levels online, in the Community Hub, and on Discord. Tag #qubegame on socials!
We are excited to announce that we have been quietly working on a level editor for Q.U.B.E. dubbed Q.U.B.E. Create ! We are preparing to get a stable-enough build together for a limited closed BETA and we want to invite all of you to sign up for the chance to receive a Steam key.
We are excited to announce that we have been quietly working on a level editor for Q.U.B.E. dubbed Q.U.B.E. Create!
We are preparing to get a stable-enough build together for a limited closed BETA and we want to invite all of you to sign up for the chance to receive a Steam key. We will be releasing the build in the coming weeks to everyone that has a key so they can begin creating!
Well everybody, it’s the day we’ve all been waiting for! Prepare to experience Q.U.B.E. in a whole new way, re-built from the ground up. Q.U.B.E. 10th Anniversary will include Q.U.B.E. - The original - The 2012 version of the game with improved visuals, new puzzles and gameplay t
Well everybody, it’s the day we’ve all been waiting for!
Prepare to experience Q.U.B.E. in a whole new way, re-built from the ground up.
Q.U.B.E. 10th Anniversary will include
Q.U.B.E. - The original - The 2012 version of the game with improved visuals, new puzzles and gameplay tweaks from player feedback.
Q.U.B.E. Director’s Cut - The 2014 version of the game with a voice-over narrative and revised soundtrack.
Sector 8 - A whole new chapter to the game, unlocked after completing the campaign. This provides 4-6 hours of brand new puzzle gameplay.
Fresh visuals - With the game entirely rebuilt from the ground up and embrace new technologies such as Raytracing and DLSS.
Brand New Developer Commentary - The dev team reminisces about how they made the game, all of those years ago.
Assorted Extras - Screenshots, concept art, fully playable soundtracks in the menus, and other trinkets from the making of the game.
Join the developer steam live stream at 4pm GMT+00!
Join the live launch event at 4pm GMT on the Q.U.B.E. 10th Anniversary Steam page where the development team will be here to hang out, answer your questions and celebrate the release of Q.U.B.E. 10th Anniversary!
After many many months of passion, persistence & drive, we’re now less than 24 hours away from the release of our new title - Q.U.B.E. 10th Anniversary. Q.U.B.E. is a series that holds a special place in our hearts, as the title that birthed our Game Development careers all t
After many many months of passion, persistence & drive, we’re now less than 24 hours away from the release of our new title - Q.U.B.E. 10th Anniversary.
Q.U.B.E. is a series that holds a special place in our hearts, as the title that birthed our Game Development careers all those years ago, we could only think of one way to celebrate the epic adventure that has been the last 10 years.
This title is more than a game for us. It is an experience that has taken us around the world, spawned friendships to last a lifetime, taught us invaluable lessons and we owe it all to you. The fans. The community.
We hope you are ready to embark on this next chapter with us and we look forward to hearing your feedback.
What would you like to see next? As we get ever closer to the release date of Q.U.B.E. 10th Anniversary, we wanted to give you the fans an opportunity to shape and influence this exciting release! We're a small team behind the Q.U.B.E. games and this has been a project of pure pa
What would you like to see next?
As we get ever closer to the release date of Q.U.B.E. 10th Anniversary, we wanted to give you the fans an opportunity to shape and influence this exciting release!
We're a small team behind the Q.U.B.E. games and this has been a project of pure passion and love for a game that means a lot to all of us, as well as to many of you! We've been overwhelmed at the outpouring of support, nostalgia and hype from the community so far, as well welcoming some lovely new faces who are just finding the games for the first time.
Now we wanted to give you all the opportunity to have your say on how the celebrate this amazing milestone release.
It really would mean so much to us if you wouldn't mind taking a minute or two to fill out the survey below for us. This will help guide what we do for the next coming phases, behind the scenes!
Your comments and feedback have had and continue to have a direct impact on us shaping the game & we try to make sure every message gets read by the team.
Thanks again for all of the support & we can't wait for you to get your hands on the game.
Until next time!
- Toxic Games
Check out the announcement trailer below for a preview of Q.U.B.E. 10th Anniversary! Q.U.B.E. 10th Anniversary will feature: Q.U.B.E. - The original - The 2012 version of the game with improved visuals, new puzzles and gameplay tweaks from player feedback. Q.U.B.E. Director’s Cut
Check out the announcement trailer below for a preview of Q.U.B.E. 10th Anniversary!
Q.U.B.E. - The original - The 2012 version of the game with improved visuals, new puzzles and gameplay tweaks from player feedback.
Q.U.B.E. Director’s Cut - The 2014 version of the game with a voice-over narrative and revised soundtrack.
Sector 8 - A whole new chapter to the game, unlocked after completing the campaign. This provides 4-6 hours of brand new puzzle gameplay.
Fresh visuals - With the game entirely rebuilt from the ground up and embrace new technologies such as Raytracing and DLSS.
Brand New Developer Commentary - The dev team reminisces about how they made the game, all of those years ago.
Assorted Extras - Screenshots, concept art, fully playable soundtracks in the menus, and other trinkets from the making of the game.
Starting from scratch!
Serving as the ultimate celebration of a decade’s worth of brain-twisting first-person action, Q.U.B.E. 10th Anniversary adds refined visuals, completely redesigned and revised gameplay sections, and a whole new chapter to a fresh take on the classic puzzler entirely.
We've rebuilt the game from the ground up, in Unreal Engine 4! This has given us an opportunity to create a more fluid gameplay experience & build a stronger, more reliable game foundation.
Keeping up with what’s to come!
We’re so excited to finally be able to share what the team has been hard at work on behind the scenes and absolutely love hearing your amazing feedback & suggestions and are excited to begin this new chapter with you all.
It's been 10 years since the first Q.U.B.E. game was released to the public, and before we go any further we have a little sneak preview of something to share with the community - something a little nostalgic. 2022 vs 2012. Join the Discord, Twitter and Facebook to keep up to dat
It's been 10 years since the first Q.U.B.E. game was released to the public, and before we go any further we have a little sneak preview of something to share with the community - something a little nostalgic.
2022 vs 2012.
Join the Discord, Twitter and Facebook to keep up to date. More info will come shortly.
Even this early in development, Gun Jam looks ace. It’s Thumper with guns. It’s Doom Eternal played to the beat of its soundtrack. A metronome deathmatch. After a brief tease on Twitter lead to a collective response of “hell yeah!”, Gun Jam has made the leap from concept to real,
Even this early in development, Gun Jam looks ace. It’s Thumper with guns. It’s Doom Eternal played to the beat of its soundtrack. A metronome deathmatch. After a brief tease on Twitter lead to a collective response of “hell yeah!”, Gun Jam has made the leap from concept to real, actual game – with devs Jaw Drop Games announcing their beat-blasting shooter earlier this week.
Have You Played? is an endless stream of game retrospectives. One a day, every day, perhaps for all time… Q.U.B.E is what Portal might have been if it was about different coloured blocks instead of different coloured interdimensional doorways. Both take place in sterile test cham
Have You Played? is an endless stream of game retrospectives. One a day, every day, perhaps for all time…
Q.U.B.E is what Portal might have been if it was about different coloured blocks instead of different coloured interdimensional doorways. Both take place in sterile test chambers lined with gleaming white tiles, and both involve solving lots of increasingly clever puzzles so you can eventually make a bid for freedom. The only real difference is that one gives you a giant gun to get the job done, while the other has a super cool pair of gloves.
Step aboard the space station for pure puzzler action in our new DLC Puzzle Pack, Lost Orbit, for Q.U.B.E. 2 There's 10 new puzzle rooms, collectibles in hidden areas and the challenges are substantially more difficult than the main game so we hope you enjoy this new variety of b
Step aboard the space station for pure puzzler action in our new DLC Puzzle Pack, Lost Orbit, for Q.U.B.E. 2
There's 10 new puzzle rooms, collectibles in hidden areas and the challenges are substantially more difficult than the main game so we hope you enjoy this new variety of brain-teasing puzzles.
Find the full details here: https://store.steampowered.com/app/822094/QUBE_2__Season_Pass/?snr=1_5_1100__1100
The full trailer can also be viewed here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g5vcidXs11w
Let us know what you think as we value your feedback and please leave a review on the Season Pass page! All feedback is beneficial and your suggestions and ideas can influence the second puzzle pack.
Thanks for your ongoing support and the great comments. Enjoy the new content!
Get nostalgic and play with the classic Q.U.B.E. gloves equipped in Q.U.B.E. 2! We’re pleased to announce that the classic Q.U.B.E. glove skin will be available today at 5PM GMT with the Season Pass. Fans of the first game will recognise the iconic gloves and be able to play with
Get nostalgic and play with the classic Q.U.B.E. gloves equipped in Q.U.B.E. 2!
We’re pleased to announce that the classic Q.U.B.E. glove skin will be available today at 5PM GMT with the Season Pass. Fans of the first game will recognise the iconic gloves and be able to play with them in Q.U.B.E. 2 - you’ll also be able to switch between the old and new style during gameplay.
The classic glove skin is currently only for PC at this time and will be available in the Season Pass on Steam. Grab the season pass here: http://store.steampowered.com/app/822094/QUBE_2_Season_Pass/ Thanks!
Get nostalgic and play with the classic Q.U.B.E. gloves equipped in Q.U.B.E. 2! We’re pleased to announce that the classic Q.U.B.E. glove skin will be available today at 5PM GMT with the Season Pass. Fans of the first game will recognise the iconic gloves and be able to play with
Get nostalgic and play with the classic Q.U.B.E. gloves equipped in Q.U.B.E. 2!
We’re pleased to announce that the classic Q.U.B.E. glove skin will be available today at 5PM GMT with the Season Pass. Fans of the first game will recognise the iconic gloves and be able to play with them in Q.U.B.E. 2 - you’ll also be able to switch between the old and new style during gameplay.
The classic glove skin is currently only for PC at this time and will be available in the Season Pass on Steam. Grab the season pass here: http://store.steampowered.com/app/822094/QUBE_2_Season_Pass/ Thanks!
In 2009, three games design students at Newport University were thrown together and given six weeks to create their final project. But none of them knew how to code. "We learnt everything from scratch," says Dan Da Rocha, one of the trio. "It was always going to be a student proj
In 2009, three games design students at Newport University were thrown together and given six weeks to create their final project. But none of them knew how to code. "We learnt everything from scratch," says Dan Da Rocha, one of the trio. "It was always going to be a student project—a portfolio piece to go and get a job at a large studio." Soon it was something much bigger, and two years later the group released the game on Steam, where it would go on to reach more than 200,000 players.
What they created in those six weeks was an early version of Q.U.B.E., a first-person puzzle game about manipulating blocks in a 3D environment. They showed it off at their graduation, and their lecturers and the assortment of gathered developers were impressed. Mike Bithell, creator of Thomas Was Alone and Volume, was one of the faces among the crowd. "He told us we should go indie, and we were like, 'Indie, what's that?'"
They'd soon find out. After a couple of rounds of funding, and lots of iteration, the trio had a fully-formed game ready to go. It was smart puzzler with lots of potential, but as PC Gamer's review said at the time, it had too few ideas to be a classic. Its plain white walls felt sterile, devoid of personality—a world away from Portal, which it was inevitably compared to.
This month the group—now called Toxic Games—released a sequel that improves on the original in nearly every way. It's one of the most accomplished puzzlers this year, and a very pretty game too. So how did the team go from humble student project to tight, polished puzzler? I spoke to Da Rocha, now the developer’s managing director, to find out.
Toxic Games made the original Q.U.B.E. without an art team, and opted to "play to its strengths" with minimalist visuals that would let the puzzles shine. In Q.U.B.E. 2, they've gone all out. The game is split into district areas—one an overgrown forest where you jump over the gnarly roots of thick trees, the next built from cavernous laboratory chambers with rotating walls. It's all full of color and shiny surfaces that amplify the stylish lighting.
The art team initially pictured the player being stranded in the desert, but were inspired to add more varied environments by The Crystal Maze, a cult-classic British game show in which teams travel through themed sectors completing puzzles and obstacle courses. "The same white, sterile environment can get a bit tiring on your eyes, a bit intense," Da Rocha says. "So we wanted to make it much more colorful and go for some different themes: a jungle theme, a sand theme."
"We brought in an art director and took a chance on a graduate environment artist, and he knocked it out of the park with the assets. Our producer and writer Ben Hill had a clear vision of what the environment would look like, so they all liaised together to create this beautiful world." The key was attention to detail. Art director Harry Corr knew the game’s environment so well by the end that at one point in development he spotted a single light shaft out of place.
Switching the magnet's polarity lets you surf that block over the airflow of a fan, which nudges your trajectory just enough for you to make it onto a high ledge and exit the level.
It's not just a better-looking game—it's more complex, and its puzzles are more satisfying to solve. In the original you could only place a block of a certain color on a predefined surface, marked by the corresponding color. In Q.U.B.E. 2, you can place any block in any available spot, which requires a little more thought. The number of cubes goes down from five to three—Da Rocha says that was "cutting the fat"—but to make up for the change it introduces magnets, oil slicks, fans that make you float, and doors that have to be burned to open.
Individually, these mechanics are hardly ground-breaking, but Q.U.B.E. 2 does an excellent job making you feel like you're mastering its toolset by gradually ramping up the complexity. "We wanted to keep it very simple and build complexity into the puzzles themselves. We wanted to make it easier to understand," Da Rocha says. The team wanted each mechanic, introduced one-by-one as you progress, to feel like a "new toy to play with." That means you're given three or four easy puzzles when you first encounter each one, and then pushed onto trickier tasks.
The best thing about them is how they interact, and how the game creates challenges by layering them on top of each other. When you first come across the magnets, for example, you'll simply be bouncing cubes into their range, rotating them so they face a door, and then switching them to 'repel', which makes them fire the block out and smash the door down.
Soon you're using them in conjunction with previously introduced mechanics. In one memorable puzzle you use the attract/repel switches to fling a block across the map and then, eventually, you end up standing on top of that block while a magnet holds it in place. Switching the magnet's polarity lets you surf that block over the airflow of a fan, which nudges your trajectory just enough for you to make it onto a high ledge and exit the level. Sticking that landing made me grin for a good few minutes.
By the end you're playing with four or five different systems at a time. One of the final puzzles requires you to continuously rotate a wall using the magnet that's sticking to it to catch a block that you've bounced from on high. Meanwhile, you're coating a different block in oil so that you can skid it across the level, timing a switch for a flamethrower to set that block on fire at just the right moment so that you can then nudge it into a flammable door. It all gets pretty complex, and some of the later puzzles might require a full half hour of head-scratching before you crack them.
Another part of what makes Q.U.B.E. 2 a better game is Toxic Games' growth behind the scenes. The initial team of three is now eight-strong, and unfilled positions were taken up by contractors, including a producer to keep everything on schedule. That means that Da Rocha and the core team could spend more time on the game itself. "In Q.U.B.E. 1 it was us wearing many hats, which is probably good for us in the long-term, but in the short-term it's a killer. If you’re doing the design of the game then the business development will suffer, so with this we've got key people involved in every aspect. That's freed up time to work on the development and the fun stuff."
At the moment, we're looking at other stuff. We've done some other prototypes, and we're taking a little mental break.
Dan Da Rocha
The team all worked remotely, but the end result is coherent. Its one weakness is the story, which is muddled, takes itself too seriously, and involves a few too many logical leaps. The basic premise is that you're archaeologist Amelia Cross, and you wake up in an alien landscape with no idea how you got there. It's set up to be a personal tale about her family, which you find out about through inner monologue, but then goes off-track and ends up being about the relationship between humans and a strange race of machines.
You're given zero reason to care about these machines other than the fact that they (mild spoiler alert) are in control of the landscape that you're puzzling through. The game doesn't devote enough time to dialogue to explain this properly, and as a result tries to pack too much into each encounter with another character, which just left me confused.
It does provide breaks in pace, and some of the dialogue happens when you're confronted with the game's most dramatic vistas so you can admire the view while you listen in. It's unobtrusive enough that it never stopped me from enjoying Q.U.B.E. 2's puzzles, which is where the meat of the game lies, just like in the first game—which barely had a story at all until they added one in a Director's Cut edition.
Whether the overall improved sequel hits its mark with players as well as the original remains to be seen, but regardless, it might well be the last Q.U.B.E. game the studio makes. When I ask Da Rocha whether he's working on a third, he chuckles. "We've joked about it. At the moment, we're looking at other stuff. We've done some other prototypes, and we're taking a little mental break." He mentions that some of the team, during development of Q.U.B.E. 2, worked on Thorn, an experimental sci-fi job simulator that came out exclusively in a Humble Bundle. "We want to explore that further."
The fact there may not be another Q.U.B.E. game makes this one feel even more special. Despite its narrative flaws, it's a game that any puzzle fan should play, and the fact that nine years ago it was just an idea by three undergraduate students is testament to the power of the indie scene to reward original ideas.
For those of you with Nvidia graphics cards, Ansel is fully integrated in Q.U.B.E. 2 so you can capture stunning HD shots like this: You can view the full HD versions here: Thanks!
For those of you with Nvidia graphics cards, Ansel is fully integrated in Q.U.B.E. 2 so you can capture stunning HD shots like this:
You can view the full HD versions here: https://images.nvidia.com/geforce-com/international/images/geforce-experience/gdc-2018/qube-2-nvidia-ansel-003-3840x2160.jpg
For those of you with Nvidia graphics cards, Ansel is fully integrated in Q.U.B.E. 2 so you can capture stunning HD shots like this: You can view the full HD versions here: Thanks!
For those of you with Nvidia graphics cards, Ansel is fully integrated in Q.U.B.E. 2 so you can capture stunning HD shots like this:
You can view the full HD versions here: https://images.nvidia.com/geforce-com/international/images/geforce-experience/gdc-2018/qube-2-nvidia-ansel-003-3840x2160.jpg
We're proud to release our accolades trailer for Q.U.B.E. 2 which includes recent review scores and quotes from publications such as Destructoid, Gamespot and IGN. The game has been praised by both press and players so thank you all for your support! Watch the full version here:
We're proud to release our accolades trailer for Q.U.B.E. 2 which includes recent review scores and quotes from publications such as Destructoid, Gamespot and IGN.
The game has been praised by both press and players so thank you all for your support! Watch the full version here: https://youtu.be/mttDXi8T6Hs
We hope you enjoy watching it and feel free to check out the game yourself if you haven't already! http://store.steampowered.com/app/359100/QUBE_2/ Thanks!
We're proud to release our accolades trailer for Q.U.B.E. 2 which includes recent review scores and quotes from publications such as Destructoid, Gamespot and IGN. The game has been praised by both press and players so thank you all for your support! Watch the full version here:
We're proud to release our accolades trailer for Q.U.B.E. 2 which includes recent review scores and quotes from publications such as Destructoid, Gamespot and IGN.
The game has been praised by both press and players so thank you all for your support! Watch the full version here: https://youtu.be/mttDXi8T6Hs
We hope you enjoy watching it and feel free to check out the game yourself if you haven't already! http://store.steampowered.com/app/359100/QUBE_2/ Thanks!
It's now less than 24 hours for you to pick up Q.U.B.E. 2 with the 20% launch discount on Steam. It ends tomorrow at 5PM GMT so grab it while you can! Thanks!
It's now less than 24 hours for you to pick up Q.U.B.E. 2 with the 20% launch discount on Steam. It ends tomorrow at 5PM GMT so grab it while you can!
It's now less than 24 hours for you to pick up Q.U.B.E. 2 with the 20% launch discount on Steam. It ends tomorrow at 5PM GMT so grab it while you can! Thanks!
It's now less than 24 hours for you to pick up Q.U.B.E. 2 with the 20% launch discount on Steam. It ends tomorrow at 5PM GMT so grab it while you can!
