Why Use Sandbox?
Platinum Arts Sandbox is an open source easy to use standalone 3D Game Maker and 3D Game Design program currently based on the cube 2 engine being used in many schools throughout the world that allows kids and adults to create their own video games, worlds, levels, adventures and quests, even cooperatively! The goal is to make it accessible to kids but also powerful enough for full game projects. With a simple click and roll of a mouse wheel users can modify the world however they want. In the words of Margaret, a nine year old Sandbox whiz I babysit for, “Press Edit and go fulfill your dreams!”. Now features new game modes such as sidescroller, machinima, kartmode, RPG, and more!
If you prefer video check out our tutorial video :)
The Mission: The mission of Sandbox is to make it as easy as possible for kids and adults to make their own games and worlds. The idea is that if we make it easy enough for kids to use, hopefully it will be easy enough for adults as well.
Awards/Press:
* Voted one of the top 100 projects of 08 at moddb.com out of over five thousand.
* Total PC Gaming Magazine February 2009
* PCFormat Magazine (Feb 2009?)
* Featured/Presented at: Ableconf, LinuxConf, Vienna Game Conference
* Featured in a software package that went out to 500 German Schools
* Scheduled for inclusion into Debian, Edubuntu, and Ubuntu
* Used by many teachers throughout the world in their classrooms
Platinum Arts Sandbox Main Features:
* Kid Friendly, Free and Open Source.
* Editing is done in game, including cooperatively over the Internet or LAN.
* Easy enough for kids to use but powerful enough for full game projects.
* Several different modes, including cart, sidescroller, movie (machinima) and RPG
* Several custom maps that feature saving a princess, mazes, houses, quests, etc
* The pursuit of making it as easy as possible to add map features and content.
Why Should Kids And Schools Use Sandbox?
* Kids are free to express their creativity in creating 3D worlds, quests, characters, and more.
* Lots of content already available such as animals, trees, characters, and objects that can easily placed.
* Many school subjects are covered such as Art, Math, English, Earth Science, Physics, CAD, Programming C++, etc.
* Through Moviecube kids are able to create their own movies and stories.
*Teamwork is promoted through cooperative editing and map creation.
Why Should Designers Use Sandbox?
* More user friendly and stable than typical game design software. Everything is done in game, no compiling required.
* Being open source means full access to the engine code. The sky is the limit as far as new features that can be added.
* Lots of content and code already included to save time and effort on the creation process.
* Very supportive and friendly community.
Additional Features:
* Powerful scripting language
* Height map mode to create in game mountains and caves.
* The ability to import md2, md3, md5 and obj model formats.
* Supports popular sound formats.
* Contains code project files for VS, Codeblocks, Linux makefile and Xcode.
