Platinum Arts Sandbox - Free 3D Game Maker Forum

Hey, I noticed that more and more focus seems to be going away from PA Sandbox and more towards D's sandbox and that other game. Is Sandbox still going to be worked on at one point? Cause right now I'm not so sure if Sandbox is going to keep updating if it keeps getting neglected like this.

My goal is to see if I can get the Sandbox editing into D.'s Sandbox. It will have a different name than that. But even though the game is a minecraft clone, the engine actually fully supports 3D blocks and models including weapons. Also it already has Lua scripting and Co-op, so the super hard features that I'd want in put in Sandbox are already done in D.'s Sandbox and it is much easier to just put the Sandbox like editing into D.'s Sandbox. Modding for D.'s Sandbox is also much easier so that is why I am exploring that route. If there are features of Sandbox you think that D.'s Sandbox is missing please let me know. Thanks for your feedback!

Hi Mike,

While I and I'm sure everyone appreciates the work put into D's Sandbox, I would just like to express my disappointment with the lack of attention to PA Sandbox. I know D's Sandbox is in it's very early stages, but when I tried it I didn't really like it. To be completely honest, it's way too much like a pre-alpha version of Minecraft, and if I wanted to play something like that, I would play Minecraft. Just some food for thought.

Personally, I use PA Sandbox to make random maps and stuff just for fun, not really to do any RPG making or scripting, and I like the texture, water, and lighting details that PA Sandbox provides that D's just doesn't have (at least the last time I tried in March or so). I understand that you want to eventually get all of these features into D's, but they are already in PA now.

I agree with buggy715, and I'm sure there are others that would like to see PA Sandbox updated. Although, to be honest, I've been using 2.7.1 and not 2.8.2. I know I did not like 2.8.2 when I tried it, but I can't remember why (it was back in 2014 I tried it lol). I guess as long as the superior textures, water, and lighting capabilities can be put into D's, along with a better interface, I would be willing to reconsider. Otherwise, I will be sticking with PA Sandbox 2.7.1.

I don't want to come off as being whiny about this, but I just wanted to express my opinion. Thanks for reading, Mike!

Thanks for your opinions and also I of course like working on tools that people find useful. You aren't the first to be upset about this, but also just keep in mind that my personal goal isn't to make a minecraft game, and that minetest is a minecraft clone, so yes, especially at first, it is going to resemble minecraft but once I can get in the shaders (for the lightning and water as you mentioned) and the editing tools of Sandbox into there then that's a huge deal. And if you like using 2.7.1 to make maps there is no reason to stop using it. What kind of updates would you even want for Sandbox? The only real places to go in my opinion are to add the scripting and co-op support which are super difficult.

I would be very interested in knowing too why you liked 2.7.1 vs 2.8.2 if you don't mind testing them out again. I imagine it could be because of the menu. I do have a 2.8.3 that I've made for my students with using waterballoons to battle in ctf which I could potentially release.

Also keep in mind that I'm just one man and that I'm also a Computer Science Teacher so for me I test my software directly with my students. They seem to prefer my modifications to D.'s Sandbox over using Sandbox, though I haven't posted the many updates I've made on the main site which I probably should.

Please keep the thoughts coming though, I super appreciate hearing all of it! I rarely get any feedback so usually I just got off of what is the most interesting and useful to me and my students. Thanks again and take care!
-Mike

Also I have been meaning do a youtube video talking about all this. When I do it I hope to have feedback from both of you. Maybe we could do a big IRC meeting sometime too with the community

I think D's Sandbox sounds good, which is coming from a hardcore Sauerbraten player.

Thanks!! I really hope it proves useful to people I'll be posting a lot more about it soon!