One of the most delightful VR trailers we’ve seen in awhile arrived on Steam Greenlight recently, and though the project isn’t in a state where the developers could let us try it, we found Anyland to look like so much fun we reached out to find out more.
If you haven’t already, be sure to check the trailer for Anyland above showing how you could create a character using the software, along with the seemingly limitless worlds you could occupy and shape. The project was posted by Philipp Lenssen to Steam Greenlight, though it was pointed out to the developer that VR projects don’t have to go through that process to get on the Steam store. The game is a sibling to the indie 2D pixel art project Lenssen worked on called Manyland, which is pitched as “an unthemed, persistent universe where no goals are predefined.” Anyland is aimed toward a similar goal.
“Anyland is one persistent world, split into areas. This means for example you can create an area, ‘Sunny Island’ or ‘Blue Castle,’ and only you have edits there, but everyone can visit and explore, chat there, pick up the things there you set to be holdable, and collect any creation you’ve placed there,” wrote Lenssen in an email. “We also feature creation cloning. If you as creator ticked the “clonable” box on your creation, then others can edit a clone and start anew. This way a thing can evolve into something else. It can also be fascinating to then see the clone history for a thing that went from wooden chair to colorful luxury couch.”
Multiplayer is becoming an increasingly competitive feature when it comes to creative experiences in VR. For example, software like SculptrVR becomes far more compelling when someone is there standing next to you. The problem, at least with the first generation of VR-ready systems, is that a PC meeting the recommended specification for the Rift or Vive is already overworked producing the VR experience itself. As more detail is added to the world by way of your creations, the computer has to work more to display everything. Each additional person shaping the world can dramatically decrease the time it takes reach limits to the detail shown in the world. So while Manyland allows unconstrained creation in a 2D world, how the developers plan to handle it in the VR sibling is still unclear.
“The goal of Anyland is to be a blank canvas for creativity, where nothing’s predefined…we don’t define what age this is set in, what theme there is, what stories will be told…it will be truly invented by all of us together, making the world’s history as we go,” wrote Lenssen. ” We are extremely curious what everyone will make.”
The software is planned to include a “straightforward but flexible scripting language” that could bring these worlds to life with interactivity. It could be as simple as giving a key logic so that it can only unlock a certain door, or a button that turns on a lightbulb.
“We’ve prepared some basic areas to get things started but the spirit is to follow your ideas, follow your heart, have fun with everyone, and explore the world as it grows,” wrote Lenssen.
We’ll keep an eye on Anyland for updates.
