Garry's Mod Devs Release Vive Sandbox Game Chunks
Mod-friendly block 'em up
Garry's Mod gang Facepunch Studios have released their virtual reality sandbox game Chunks [official site] onto Steam Early Access. It looks like Minecraft, obvs, and building with cubes is certainly part of its foundation, but Chunks is built to be mega-moddable so who knows what it could become? Heck, even from a blockbuilding perspective, things like using the HTC Vive controllers to wave rollercoaster tracks into existence within the world looks pretty dang swish. Have a gander:
Not bad that, eh? Who knows what it'll turn into! Even 'core' features of Chunks like sandbox building and rollercoasters are modules on the game's Steam Workshop. Add-ons are written in C#, and source code is included for the core modules for folks to poke at and learn from - from the sandbox to a virtual drumset. Tutorials are over here. The foundations might point additions towards block 'em uping but heck, thing about how players built all sorts of new games around the goofy physics sandbox of Garry's Mod.
It's not a new Garry's Mod, mind. Facepunch say, "Although Chunks can be thought of as Garry’s Mod vs Minecraft in VR – it isn't an attempt to make a sequel to Garry's Mod."
While Chunks does let players share their add-ons and worlds and creations and whatnot through the Steam Workshop, it is important to note it's a singleplayer game.
Chunks is on Steam Early Access. Facepunch expect to launch it properly within 2-4 months, after optimising and polishing it and seeing what sort of tools and support people need. It'll usually be £14.99/$19.99/€19.99, but does have a 25% launch discount right now.
Tilt Brush is the most exciting thing I've seen/touched with the Vive, but waving rollercoasters into the air is pretty cool too. Not £746.60 cool, but... pretty cool. That Minecraft HoloLens concept looks even dafter now.
[Disclosure: Facepunch's Craig Pearson used to write for RPS a fair bit, the traitor.]