- Content and Build Mode Update - 25 June 2025
Version 0.6.3.7 adds 2 new POIs and a couple of new props and items. Most importantly I've added a new vehicle class (a medium sized truck) which has quite a different feel to it when driving compared to other vehicles.I have also overhauled the way players can construct buildings with an improved build-cursor and overlay window that informs you whether you can build a particular element of a building here or not. The same game mechanism will be needed while digging, but this will come at a later stage of development.Lights in buildings can now be switched on and off. Just right-click on one of them and toggle its state. The street lights continue to work automatically until I have come up with a systematic approach on how to deal with power supply in built-up areas.Features:New farm POI on map lump 0,1New residental home on map lump 0,0New build-cursor overlay with infos about coordina…
- Driving Has Just Become Better - 25 May 2025
Hello, today's update (Version 0.6.3.4) brings you the vehicle dashboard, shown to you when entering a vehicle. The instrument panel displays 3 analogue components, the speedometer, the RPM gauge and a fuel gauge. With it also comes a fuel economy in the game. Driving is no longer for free! (And it wasn't even back then in the 80's - unlike many people want to tell you :) Each vehicle is configured with a different fuel tank capacity and fuel consumption. If you run low on gas, don't forget to fuel up at the gas station or bring some fuel canisters with you. Watch the depiction under the fuel gauge which tells you which side the tank lid is on. Park in the vicinity of a gas pump and select the action by right-clicking on the vehicle (you have to be outside of the vehicle and close to the fuel pump). If you happen to find a fuel canister, stand besides the fuel pump and select the action…
- New map extension - 19 May 2025
Version 0.6.3.0 features a map twice as big as the previous one. The map size has grown from one square kilometer to two. If you travel on the main road towards the east you will enter the new map part. You will notice that the landscape also has been modulated in a slightly different way and that it is populated by some new plant types and features depending on the height of the terrain. The original map part (where the players start) has also been overhauled. This is just the first extension of many more to come, remember that I'm planning to grow the map up to a size of 10 by 10 kilometers. These are other noteworty features and bugfixes of this release: Features: A second map section has been added to the game, featuring an extensive road, a dirt road and one POI for now New cactus plants populate the desert. Harvest a cactus for a new (and relatively deadly but not very durable) we…
- Let There Be Light (and darkness for that matter) - 26 April 2025
Hello, Another minor update brings a couple of new and improved features. Better day and night cycle with hours of "complete" darkness and those during which the moon provides some ambient light Introduction of a flash light (an essential tool if you dare to walk outside during the night) Vehicles now also have headlights Streetlights in urban areas, spotlights in some houses (crafteable) A new POI (gas station in the South East of the map) Ambient Occlusion effect which gives the whole map a gloomier look (can be disabled in the Options) Next on the list will be more POIs and the first extension of our map (currently 1 square kilometer). I'm planning to double the map size in the near future but don't expect too many new POIs at the beginning. Those will be added one by one until Modding finally arrives and let's you fill-in some blank spots in the map. Cheers, Ben
- Maintenance release 0.6.2.5 - 16 April 2025
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…
- Sandbox Apocalypse has gone Multiplayer - 12 April 2025
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
- Multiplayer release upcoming - 8 April 2025
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…
- Multiplayer development update - 11 February 2025
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…
- Multiplayer mode development - 20 December 2024
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
- Multiplayer mode in the making - 1 December 2024
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 wor…
- Fiona has arrived - 23 November 2024
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
- Sandbox Apocalypse released in Early Access - 13 November 2024
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 wit…
- Early Access Release In Less Than One Week - 8 November 2024
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
- Testing in its final stages - 3 November 2024
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 ːsteamhappyː , 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
- Store Page up and running - 30 October 2024
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
