In Nuts & Bolts, a plump, latter-day Banjo is plucked out of retirement to take on a rejuvenated Gruntilda by the Lord of Games, who claims to have created all videogames, and who has built each. Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts had a divisive reception when it launched a decade ago, but the past decade has shown it as the series' greatest.

A few months ago I finished playing Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts, and I loved it to bits. Now, I know that many people didn't like the game because it wasn't a platformer in the vein of previous Banjo titles - that's fair enough, but please try to understand that this is not a thread for debating whether Nuts & Bolts was a good continuation of the Banjo franchise. Instead, this is a place for those of us who've enjoyed its gameplay, and are now looking for something similar to play.So let's talk about physics-based games that focus on assembling your own vehicles and controllable machinery from basic parts in order to overcome various challenges. I'm primarily interested in games where vehicle building is thorough and freeform, so just slotting parts into predetermined functional places, like what ModNation Racers and many mech sims offer, is not really what I'm after. The challenges should ideally be varied, but it's not a strict requirement, so games that focus on one type of activity (like racing or combat) are also welcome. Games should allow for direct control of vehicles, and while titles where vehicle building is just a minor activity (for instance, Kingdom Hearts) can be discussed, I'm hoping to find more dedicated experiences. There are a few older games like Lego Racers and various Robot Wars titles that are not available on modern platforms, so I won't list them here, but feel free to discuss your old favorites.Here are the games that I've found so far.

- by Keen Software House. I'm not sure if I should put it here because vehicle building might be just a small part of the overall experience, but what the hell. Available on PC, and announced for Xbox One three and a half years ago, though that version is still nowhere to be seen.And there you have it. Do you know of any others?

And if you've played any, feel free to share your impressions. I was also wondering whether the recent surge in popularity of games of this type can be attributed to Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts. Do you think it served as an inspiration for some of them? After all, as a Rare game and a first party Microsoft release it had pretty good visibility at the time, which was only amplified by the controversy. You build flying fortresses in a hex grid out of various buildings including power plants, cannons, thrusters, walls, shields and so on.

The fortresses fly at a fixed height so gameplay is 2D in many ways but there are also ground based structures. Since the fortresses are open to the sky instead of a 2D abstraction of a 3D object you can arc shots right into the middle of them, if you get close enough and use arcing weapons (which you also need to hit ground targets). Directional shield emitters, ramming with spikes and walls and so on make combat fairly involved for a game about steering a fortress with a dozen guns while you can still target specific structures on enemy fortresses easily.Dunno if it's sold online anywhere, I bought it on CD-ROM back in the day.From The Depths is hardcore. If you think your vehicle building games need more detail, like designing the bullets fired from your guns detail, this is the right address.

Jalopy definition. Repair each aspect of your scrappy little car and install unique upgrades to deal with the changing world. Keep close attention to everything from the state of your tyres, the condition of your engine and even the space in your trunk. Scavenge for scraps to make a small return of investment, or become a baron of the open road and smuggle contraband under the eyes of border patrols to make a sizable profit.Developer Greg Pryjmachuk worked on the Formula 1 franchise from 2009 through to 2014. Everything from cargo weight to the condition of your carburettor will determine how your car performs on the open road.The rise of capitalism brings an economical conundrum.

To be fair it's mostly played as a strategy game with AIs operating the vehicles and turrets but even the AIs are physical computers in the game world. P2p downloader. Operating these vehicles manually is possible but really, you'd need a crew to effectively use something like a battleship and I have no idea how developed multiplayer is.The game focuses on ships but also does airplanes, spaceships, buildings and lately land vehicles too. It also has multiple campaign modes including a WW2 replica one where, well, everything is a detailed WW2 vessel with real armaments. The game also gets a lot of use as a model builder as a look on the Steam Workshop will tell you.

You build flying fortresses in a hex grid out of various buildings including power plants, cannons, thrusters, walls, shields and so on. The fortresses fly at a fixed height so gameplay is 2D in many ways but there are also ground based structures.

Since the fortresses are open to the sky instead of a 2D abstraction of a 3D object you can arc shots right into the middle of them, if you get close enough and use arcing weapons (which you also need to hit ground targets). Directional shield emitters, ramming with spikes and walls and so on make combat fairly involved for a game about steering a fortress with a dozen guns while you can still target specific structures on enemy fortresses easily.Dunno if it's sold online anywhere, I bought it on CD-ROM back in the day. Oh, wow, this thread is finally seeing some life! Thanks for resurrecting it, hotcyder, and to others for their contributions.I actually remember Project Nomads, although I've never played it myself. I might have it in a box somewhere, though, I distinctly remember a budget re-release. Ah, yes, Sold Out Software.Anyway, another game emerged recently, TerraTech.

It's out on Steam, PS4, and Xbox One. I haven't played it yet, but it seems to be focused on building machines with more and more firepower? If anyone's played it, I'd really like to know if that's what it boils down to, because it looks interesting otherwise. I've never advanced past the early game (mostly tried it in Early access and that had frequent wipes) but it was mostly just slapping together as many hull blocks as possible and covering every available surface in guns. But I didn't even get properly into the crafting system so I used the stuff I scavenged from enemies. In that regard it's of course fairly slapdash because you're using limited blocks and have to work with what you can find. Also shooting was limited to holding space and hoping the guns would do the right thing automatically.

I've never advanced past the early game (mostly tried it in Early access and that had frequent wipes) but it was mostly just slapping together as many hull blocks as possible and covering every available surface in guns. But I didn't even get properly into the crafting system so I used the stuff I scavenged from enemies. In that regard it's of course fairly slapdash because you're using limited blocks and have to work with what you can find. Also shooting was limited to holding space and hoping the guns would do the right thing automatically. Yeah, basic ground vehicles don't have internals, while some advanced stuff needs power or fuel that's not the case for things like wheels or guns. So you have a blob of hull blocks that do nothing except provide more connectors to which you just stick wheels and guns until you run out of space.

Nothing like, say, ammo supplies or engine power that would require some internal structures to support those guns or wheels.FTD is kinda the opposite there, since guns are built from lots of different blocks you often have a lot of the gun assembly inside the hull with the turret on the deck being just the tip of the iceberg (especially in the case of lasers where you get a tiny bulb sticking out that shoots down missiles but the inside of the hull is lined with laser cavities and chargers to provide a potent beam).