Multiplayer Map Editor
You can build stuff. Then you can wonder why there isn't anything else to do. If you like, you can discuss this issue with the other players in the game. ...and that's about it. Sounds fun, right?It's a work-in-progress. There are, at present, some missing features and some known bugs, but it's perfectly useable, and listening to what people complain about most does help to prioritize what should be done next.
Current version is 255 (modified), which includes a back-ported workaround for buggy AMD OpenGL drivers.
Multiplayer Map Editor.zip for Windows
Multiplayer Map Editor.tgz for Linux
For MacOS, follow these instructions to install Wine, then use the Windows version of the game.
Downloadable server software and documentation of the game's network protocol are currently being developed.*
Instructions:
Use arrow keys or WASD to walk around. Hold shift to run. Press B to choose blocks to build with. Pressing Z will toggle fly mode. Holding X will allow noclip. Use click-and-drag to build many blocks at once.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why is the walking speed so slow?
It's not. Both the walk and run speeds are set to speeds measured from an actual walking and running human. If you want to go faster, try using fly mode. Holding shift while flying allows you to go up to one tenth the speed of sound.
Please note that the walking and running speeds aren't simply excessive realism in spite of game enjoyment. I play this game too. I want it to be enjoyable. The reason for the realism is that, if the walking speed were faster, some people would get their sense of map scale from the player's height, while others would get their sense of scale from the player's walking speed. The result is that some people would build houses twice as large as others. You see this happen all the time in another popular building game which makes no attempt to have a consistant game scale. In that game, the player height tells you that blocks are 0.9 meters tall, but the size of red face bricks tells you that they're 0.4 meters tall. The result is that some people assume the player is the height of a toddler and build huge houses, while others assume those bricks are simply much larger than most bricks, and build small houses. I prefer that everyone have the same sense of game scale, and so I've put a lot of effort into making every aspect of the game follow the scale of the map. Even the gravity is realistic, in that you accelerate at 9.8 m/s², and it takes 1.42 seconds to fall 10 meters, just like in real life. The only unrealistic thing about it is that you land on your feet and don't break any bones.
Please note that the walking and running speeds aren't simply excessive realism in spite of game enjoyment. I play this game too. I want it to be enjoyable. The reason for the realism is that, if the walking speed were faster, some people would get their sense of map scale from the player's height, while others would get their sense of scale from the player's walking speed. The result is that some people would build houses twice as large as others. You see this happen all the time in another popular building game which makes no attempt to have a consistant game scale. In that game, the player height tells you that blocks are 0.9 meters tall, but the size of red face bricks tells you that they're 0.4 meters tall. The result is that some people assume the player is the height of a toddler and build huge houses, while others assume those bricks are simply much larger than most bricks, and build small houses. I prefer that everyone have the same sense of game scale, and so I've put a lot of effort into making every aspect of the game follow the scale of the map. Even the gravity is realistic, in that you accelerate at 9.8 m/s², and it takes 1.42 seconds to fall 10 meters, just like in real life. The only unrealistic thing about it is that you land on your feet and don't break any bones.
Why are the mouse buttons backwards?
There's nothing backwards about using left-click to build. However, if you don't like it, just press the "ESC" key and then click "Configure Controls" where you'll find a "reverse mouse buttons" option.
While the default button assignment is the reverse of a popular building game, I think it's worth mentioning that using left-click to create and right-click to erase is incredibly common for computer applications, so much so that despite playing no similar game before, when I began playing the mentioned popular building game, it took me no less than three days before I stopped clicking the wrong button all of the time. When I created this game, learning to use the proper button assignment was trivial by comparison, despite the months spent using the reverse setup. So the default is what makes the most sense. Obviously I could make the reverse the default, but it doesn't seem appropriate to do something wrong just for compatibility with another game that does it wrong. Eventually no one will know what that other game is anyway.
While the default button assignment is the reverse of a popular building game, I think it's worth mentioning that using left-click to create and right-click to erase is incredibly common for computer applications, so much so that despite playing no similar game before, when I began playing the mentioned popular building game, it took me no less than three days before I stopped clicking the wrong button all of the time. When I created this game, learning to use the proper button assignment was trivial by comparison, despite the months spent using the reverse setup. So the default is what makes the most sense. Obviously I could make the reverse the default, but it doesn't seem appropriate to do something wrong just for compatibility with another game that does it wrong. Eventually no one will know what that other game is anyway.