The team over at The Sandbox has released update 0.11 for both their Game Maker and Game Client, allowing creators on this voxel-based UGC platform to utilize new features in their metaverse games and experiences while enhancing the overall gameplay and customization for players with a variety of improvements and additions.

Let’s check out some of the biggest new enhancements added to the no-coding game engine before diving into the upgrades that make it even better to spend time in this open metaverse than before.

What’s New in The Sandbox Game Maker 0.11?

For Game Maker 0.11, The Sandbox has introduced new multiplayer features that allow developers to create better competitive gameplay. Specifically, it’s now possible to deliver team vs. team games and track their scores and timers using a new type of variable used specifically for teams. This also means that the Victory Component has been improved to give you new options in choosing how a game should end. If you’ve been wanting to develop a team-based metaverse experience, you can now certainly do that.

Next to this significant new addition that will add much more variety to gameplay, there has also been a multiplayer NPC overhaul, with characters now able to respond “intelligently within multiplayer experiences” and interact with players smoothly. As a result, Prey, Citizen, Healer, and Farmer behaviors have been merged into a unique new behavior that enables the creation of multiplayer-friendly NPCs in a highly customizable and modular manner.

Creators can make use of new Asset Kits to quickly start developing new experiences using assets from various brands. These are templates already set up for you to further build on. The addition of these new Asset Kits comes with a streamlined layout that lets you easily browse through the Asset Library by themes and new Partner Assets, so you can quickly find what you need. Partner Assets consist of varied branded content based on The Smurfs, Care Bears, Atari, and so on. You can look forward to seeing more added over time, included branded assets related to Rabbids, Terminator 2042, Madballs, and more.

There are also 5 new Game Templates you can now make use of: Tag, Trivia, Idle Clicker, Crash Game, and Social Platforming.

Check out the detailed Medium post dedicated to Game Maker 0.11 to learn more.

What Improvements Are There in The Sandbox Game Client 0.11?

Game Client 0.11 comes with a variety of improvements that give players a more personalized experience alongside smoother gameplay, advanced multiplayer, easier discovery of new experiences, and various platform upgrade features.

New avatar animations have been added to upgrade movement and make it feel more responsive than ever before. The camera system is now also better, auto-correcting accordingly even in tight spaces so you can properly see what you’re doing. There is also camera occlusion now, so when you’re moving behind objects you can now actually see a rendered silhouette of your avatar.

Alongside more lifelike movements and an enhanced camera system, there are also new features that make platforming and racing even better. Your avatar has new drop shadows that help you precisely determine where you’ll land. If you narrowly miss out on your landing though, good news: with the introduction of Edge Recovery, your avatar will now grab onto the edge of a platform, making it easier to make certain jumps. Further improving platforming is the addition of Coyote Time, which makes platforming gameplay feel more responsive by giving you a brief moment to jump after you step off a ledge. So even if you don’t jump while your avatar is physically still on a platform, Coyote Time will give you a helping hand and let you jump anyways instead of falling straight down and getting annoyed at a mistimed jump.

Of course, you can now also look forward to playing team-based games as well as the ability to interact with multiplayer-friendly NPCs. Anti-cheat measures have been taken in regards to quests, which now make use of a “secure multiplayer Objective System” that make it harder for cheaters to abuse quests.

Finding new web3 gaming experiences to enjoy in this metaverse is now also easier, as the Map Carousel now shows up to 20 featured experiences, with each experience now having Game Cards that give you useful info to help you decide in choosing the next experience you’d like to enjoy.

Learn more about the 0.11 update for the Game Client in this separate Medium post, and experience all of this for yourself by downloading The Sandbox on PC for free.

Recently, Ubisoft brought Champions Tactics avatars to The Sandbox.