Hi there,
today I have pubished a smaller maintenance release (Version 0.6.2.5) after the major multiplayer update last week. New Features: - The console becomes more colorful and will display player commands in blue, error message in red and everything else in a drab grey :) You also can now fetch previous commands with the up arrow key in oder to correct typos etc. - You can now switch to god mode via (F5 or any other key you have configured via Options->Input) and while in god mode make yourself invisible to zombies (F6 by default) - The new and larger (and therefore also more efficient in terms of weight reduction) backpack has arrived. Look out for zombies carrying one (see screenshot above) Bug Fixes: - When a player character dies the watch, compass and map icons (if in possession of one of those items) were not properly removed from the player UI - When a player loses a map item (drops it or otherwise) while having two ore more maps in the inventory, the map icon in the upper right corner also disappeared - Various fixes to zombie pathfinding logic (with respect to garage doors, supermarket checkouts, cars) Ben

[ 2025-04-16 19:00:58 CET ] [ Original post ]

Yes, we are live. The second major update after the initial release of Sandbox Apocalypse in November 2024 has just been published. I apologize for the long pause in updates but the refactoring had to be done in "one piece" and took roughly 4 months. No part of the engine has been left untouched by this and testing wasn't exactly easy. You are able to let up to 3 of your Steam friends join a game of yours or join one of their games. Give it a try! More updates will follow soon. Cheers, Ben

[ 2025-04-12 18:13:34 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hello everyone,
After many delays the multiplayer extension of Sandbox Apocalypse is finally going to be released this week if no dramatic last minute bugs turn out to be show-stoppers. It has been a 4-month long endeavour and therefore took me almost 50% of the time needed to develop the initial single player version published in November 2024 (from March till November 2024). The complexities of state management and networking in general were slightly underestimated by me. I had to write many special "tools" so facilitate the testing process, otherwise it turned out to be almost impossible to pin down desync errors etc. But it was worth it. Because switching the game to a Client-Server architecture later would only have increased the difficulties. So I'm happy I did it it now. This also is the reason why I decided against any releases based on the old version in order to focus 100% on this major update which is not backwards compatible. So please do NOT update if you wish to continue your single-player campaign. You will soon be able to play Sandbox Apocalypse with up to 3 friends (4 players in total) by opening up your local game to your Steam friends. You can continue to play your game in single-player mode and then switch on/off multiplayer at any time as you wish. A player who joins (Join Multiplayer) a friend's game will always keep her/his single-player campaign (Start New Campaign, Continue Campaign) which can be played/continued independently from any multiplayer game played on a friend's computer. The downside is that there is not much new content because I solely focused on the multiplayer engine. A few things have been added to the game though, for example a new and larger backpack (with better properties), a nice green beret and most imporantly a totally new Zombie phenotype system. Before the zombies were basically randomly equipped each time they were spawned. That is no longer possible in a distributed game, so there needs to be a certain "phenotype" that always looks the same and by which the Host and all Clients can spawn the same Zombie. Ah, and by the way: Zombies now have names! I like this feature a lot (you can switch it off though in the options). Maybe you want to let Chad live for another day while he is walking slightly desoriented across the parking lot... ? In order to make up for the lack of new content I promise to focus now for the next 2-3 months on new POIs, features and visual improvements. Besides bug fixing of course. So game updates will now become more frequent again. The screenshot above shows me testing with 3 clients. Also many thanks to all my friends who helped me with multiplayer testing. I could not have done this without you! Ben

[ 2025-04-08 15:05:58 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hi there,
since we are making good progress on the multiplayer update I have decided that we should fully focus on it right now instead of releasing any content updates in-between. Many aspects of the game have already been refactored (inventory management, player actions, map interactions, vehicle management, environment sync). We are currently putting finishing touches on the NPC handling and this also needs to be tested thoroughly - and that is no trivial task in a distributed environment (clients and host). So the next update will feature the Host and Client multiplayer mechanics which will allow you to play with up to 3 friends (4 players) hosted by one of them. My best guess at the moment is that it will be ready at the beginning of March. In a second phase we will then provide the means to setup a dedicated server but that probably won't happen before summer time (in the northern hemisphere that is :) After the initial multiplayer release we want to massively increase the map size (4x bigger than it is right now) and do some long awaited content updates (items etc.) Cheers, Ben

[ 2025-02-11 16:50:34 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hi there,
Multiplayer development is making progress. We can already join 2 or more players in one game session and it looks smooth! Not all actions are properly synced yet though. Means, that for example opening a door will only happen on the computer that has issued the command. There is still lots of work to do. Therefore I'm in the midst of phase one (as mentioned in my previous post). There will be - as promised - one or more in-between releases containing fixes and minor improvements. I'm planning for the first of those releases over the next 10 days. Merry Christmas to everyone! Ben

[ 2024-12-20 16:21:13 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hi there!
Development of multiplayer mode has begun. It'll be rolled out in three phases:

• First, the single player mode will run under the hood in "host" mode - but no one will be able to join yet
• As a second step one player will be able to host his/her local game and friends can join in
• The third phase consists of providing a dedicated server (most likely Linux in the beginning) that will allow you to host a persistent world

Doing the refactoring of the code base like this gives me the chance of testing the core aspects of multiplayer while still technically running a single-player game as a first step. Then with the second and most crucial phase the Network code will be activated and Sandbox Apocalypse can be experienced in Multiplayer for the first time. My plan is to be able to let a player seamlessly switch Multiplayer on and off and by this either playing on his/her own in the world or sharing it with other people. When developing the dedicated server I will primarily focus on performance and server/world management. There is no fixed timetable for the 3 phases but I'm already in the midst of phase-one-development. All that being said, content and world updates will go along with these releases. Ben

[ 2024-12-01 20:00:02 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hello,
The first Update of Sandbox Apocalypse brings a couple of improvements, notably the addition of "Fiona" (internal codename for the female character). When starting a new campaign you can now choose between the female or the male version of your hero. Fiona also introduces new clothing (dresses in different colors).
This also means that Zombies will either have a male or female phenotype and sound slightly different accordingly. Other changes in this update:

• - A new small POI in the mountains
• - A bunch of new Steam Achievements

Ben

[ 2024-11-23 13:14:55 CET ] [ Original post ]

It's been a long ride, but finally I'm able to release the Early Access version of Sandbox Apocalypse to the public. Thanks a lot to all the people who supported me in testing and who provided me with valuable feedback. All bugs are of course only my fault :)
As mentioned in the store page description: The game is not complete. You can already play the single player campaign on a small map (1 by 1 kilometer). Combat mechanics, looting, salvaging and crafting are available. You can pretty much salvage and/or craft most of the things you encounter in the world - provided your skill level is sufficient to do so. Currently 3 skills have been implemented (Woodworking, Metalworking and Construction). Others will follow. You can also experience driving one of the vehicles to travel a bit faster over the map. But be aware that a sports car might not be suited for offroad travel ... Equipped with a shovel and/or pickaxe you might also want to change the landscape to your liking. What is missing from the game in its current state? A female player character and character customization in general, multi-player, day and night and weather simulation, a bigger map (I'm aiming for 10 x 10 kilometers) with many more POIs, more vehicles, weapons, loot, the possibility to mod the game. I would love it if you could support the further development of Sandbox Apocalypse by purchasing the Early Access version of the game and by providing me with feedback (positive or negative). My roadmap will prioritize the multi-player expansion because this will fundamentally change the engine and needs to be done as early as possible. And also because I personally love playing a game like Sandbox Apocalypse with my friends. Ben

[ 2024-11-13 12:02:36 CET ] [ Original post ]

Just went for a pizza when this happened...
Not even a week is left till the Early Access release of Sandbox Apocalypse. Besides testing, testing and even more testing - I'm also adding more POIs to the 1 by 1 kilometer map that should make looting so much more rewarding. Ben

[ 2024-11-08 15:16:31 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hi there, with less than 2 weeks till the Early Access release I'm currently busy with testing the performance of the game when lots of Zombies have been spawned and also when there are many dead zombies lying around. A Zombie can exist in 3 states: As a living being (if you can say so steamhappy , as a Ragdoll (for example when hit by a car or when dying) and a lootable container (just like any other object you can loot). When the Zombie is in this 3rd and last state I preserve the pose and clothing at the moment of death. And of course this needs to be re-instantiated every time this part of the map is reloaded. Besides that I've also increased the number of sounds a Zombie makes while approaching or when dying to improve on the overall atmosphere of the game.
Ben

[ 2024-11-03 18:35:22 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hi! I'm excited! The store page has been approved by Steam. Sandbox Apocalypse is now in "Coming Soon" state. After what feels like an eternity I have spent on developing the initial Alpha version of the game, it will be available for your to play as an Early-Access version in roughly 2 weeks from now. Looking forward to your comments and expectations! Ben

[ 2024-10-30 12:42:54 CET ] [ Original post ]