After spending many years in development and testing in early access, game creation tool Modbox is finally launching for VR and desktop PCs on September 9.
This year, there’s been a recurring trend in VR apps recently that allow you to take control and create your own fun and games. We saw it first with Dreams receiving PSVR support, and then again just a few days ago with details on the upcoming Facebook Horizon beta. Modbox is a similar release that provides the same make-your-own-fun concept, but perhaps with more depth and complexity than other tools we’ve tried so far.
Developed by Alientrap Games, Modbox is a VR game creation sandbox, but the biggest point of difference here is that it supports online live collaboration multiplayer — while one person is actively playing the game, another can be manipulating and adding to the world around them in real time. The possibilities are endless, and if you take a look at the video embedded in the tweet below, you’ll see that the creation tools are amazingly in-depth.
After many years in dev we're releasing our multiplayer game creation sandbox Modbox September 9th on Steam!
– Create games on Desktop + VR. Online/local multiplayer
– AR version out now on MagicLeap
Wishlist on Steam: https://t.co/dBOX1xJovE pic.twitter.com/BT0JuOo9ZS— Lee Vermeulen (@Alientrap) August 27, 2020
We first tried Modbox back on the HTC Vive in 2016, but back then it was a VR-only app. A lot has changed — now the game lets you not only create single player, multiplayer, and co-op games but also switch easily between the VR and desktop apps as you do so. There’s even support for AR devices, if you have one. Most importantly, everything is synced in real time with multiple users — if you change something, it changes for everyone else instantly as well.
Multiple creators can be editing a level while another person plays through it, all at the same time. While Dreams and Horizon offer similar styles of creation tools, Modbox’s multiplayer capabilities — both for creation and playing, or both at the same time — are what sets it apart. You can even create games using local multiplayer via splitscreen, or with one player using a desktop PC and the other in VR.
Creations can be shared via Steam Workshop or on Mod.io, and there are varying levels to the complexity of the creation tools. You can shape entire environments in a similar manner to Dreams, use prefabricated models or even go deeper with the in-game scripting system, as seen in this trailer. The game will support a C# Compiler mod soon as well, so you can create your own code to implement in creations.
There’s a truly huge amount of content on offer — just take a look at the Modbox documentation site to see all the different ways to create and play your own games. The release is being dubbed as Modbox 2.0 now that it’s out of early access, and will be available for free for those who owned the previous early access version.
Modbox launches for PC and PC VR through Steam on September 9.
