‘Modbox’ 2.0 Overhaul Brings Powerful Tools to the VR Game Creation Sandbox

It’s been a while since we heard about Modbox, the Early Access game creation suite for AR and VR headsets. Now the long wait is over, as the Modbox 2.0 update is here, which arrives free to all owners of the original version.

One of the biggest additions to Modbox is the new desktop editor, which allows you to build from outside of the VR headset, making it more of a comfortable experience for longer building sessions. A visual scripting system is also there for anyone who doesn’t want to delve deeper into the creation suite’s visual code text box.

Modbox also includes online multiplayer editing, multiplayer VR vs PC, and split screen local multiplayer. All things considered, in terms of usability it fits somewhere between Unity and Dreams (2020) for PSVR.

“The reason this has taken years to develop is because we needed to be able to create our own unique game experiences with it before it was worth releasing,” Alientrap’s Lee Vermeulen explains. “Developing the scripting language and VR tools took 4-5 rewrites to make them accessible for non-coders and powerful for creating multiplayer co-op experiences.”

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Alientrap says a free version of Modbox will be released at some point in the future, which will allow anyone to play community creations. It’s also slated to arrive with limited creation tools, which ought to hook new users. Notably, there aren’t any plans for micro-transactions here, the studio reassures us.

If you own Modbox already, you should have the 2.0 update queued for download. If not, the Early Access game is priced at $12.74 on Steam, an absolute steal for anyone looking for a set of powerful VR-native creation tools.

The post ‘Modbox’ 2.0 Overhaul Brings Powerful Tools to the VR Game Creation Sandbox appeared first on Road to VR.

ModBox Introduces Unity-Like Visual Scripting

At its launch, the HTC Vive became a popular platform for those who wishes to explore their creativity. One such arena for this was ModBox, a physics sandbox videogame. The developers behind ModBox have now announced the introduction of a new visual scripting system.

While much was possible with ModBox right from launch, the new visual scripting system will bring a simple sandbox system towards something much more like the Unity videogame engine, only specifically focussed on virtual reality (VR) creation.

The new ModBox visual scripting system has been designed by the developers to resemble Unity, only much simplified, and always online. An upcoming update will also allow one user to edit or update within the Desktop environment whilst another player is within VR.

The entire ModBox experience has been rewritten in the past few months, according to developer Vermulen. This was in order to make everything more accessible for the visual scripting system and make it powerful enough to allow for any game modes.

The developer has been keen to receive feedback on ModBox as a whole and the visual scripting feature specifically, especially with regards to technical language that will not always be obvious to non-programmers. The main developer has also said that modders are welcome to add in new features that have not yet been implemented using ModboxSDK and C#.

ModBox was reviewed by VRFocus when it was initially launched, where it received a mostly favourable review, saying: “With its mix of creative building options, engaging control options and a mixture of gameplay styles ModBox has a bit of something for everyone. Being able to spend hours creating mini-games or just playing what everyone else has thought of, there’s just so many ways to engage with Alientrap’s videogame.”

Further information can be found on the ModBox Steam store page. ModBox is still in Early Access, and is available to buy for £10.99 (GBP). VRFocus will continue to inform you on new upgrades and features for VR titles.