Universe Sandbox 2008

[Krysta Cirilo]

UniverseSandbox is a series of interactive space sandbox gravity simulator educational software video games. Using Universe Sandbox, users can see the effects of gravity on objects in the universe and run scale simulations of the Solar System, various galaxies or other simulations, while at the same time interacting and maintaining control over gravity, time, and other objects in the universe, such as moons, planets, asteroids, comets, and black holes. The original Universe Sandbox was only available for Windows-based PCs, but an updated version was released for Windows, macOS, and Linux in 2015.

Universe Sandbox was designed by Dan Dixon, who released the first version in May 2008. Dixon worked full-time on the project since 2010, founding the company Giant Army the following year.[1] Since then, he has hired eight additional designers for the company.[2] Work on a new version of the game, originally called Universe Sandbox, began in 2014. In November 2018, the original Universe Sandbox was renamed to Universe Sandbox Legacy,[3] and the new version was then renamed to Universe Sandbox in December.

Both realistic and fictional simulations appear in Universe Sandbox, with each area of outer space being placed by default or according to the player's preference.[4][5][6] Real simulations include the Solar System, which includes the eight planets, five minor planets, 160+ moons, and hundreds of asteroids; and predictions of future events such as the Andromeda and Milky Way galaxy collision which will occur in 3.8 to 4.5 billion years. During gameplay, the player may be introduced to the regions that include the 100 largest bodies in the Solar System, the nearest 1000 stars to the Sun or the nearest 70 galaxies to the Milky Way. A visual size comparison of the largest known stars and planets can be explored, and real time animations of events like the Apophis asteroid passing near Earth in the year 2029 can be watched. Comets can be observed colliding into planets, such as the Shoemaker Levy 9's collision with Jupiter. The trans-Neptunian object 2008 KV42 with a retrograde motion orbit can be seen in a simulation. Moons are able to be converged into planets, and may be able to affect the planet's atmosphere or minerals. Players are able to view the Rho Cancri (55 Cancri) star in the constellation of Cancer; they can see the five known planets in the system. The Pioneer and Voyager spacecraft can be seen in its encounters with Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune. Visual Lagrange points of the Earth and Moon can be seen, along with the galaxy and star system. The gamma-ray burst locations, found in distant galaxies, can be found. Supernovas are shown in real time.

Duncan Geere of PC Gamer UK gave it an 84/100 and spoke positively of the game, "Universe Sandbox is not going to change your life. It is not going to make you cry, and it won't sit in the top of your most-played list in Steam for weeks. But if you like the idea of an interactive orrery that you can rip apart and put back together in whatever way you like, and you're happy to feed it with a bit of imagination, it's hard to find a better way to spend 6."[8] Jules of Wired said in their review, "I've seen some pretty wonderful interactive programs that allow you and your family to explore the vast regions of the universe, but nothing nearly as enthralling as Universe Sandbox. [...] Unlike most astronomy software that just shows you what the sky looks like or where the planets are, Universe Sandbox is a powerful gravity simulator."[9]

The team began working on a complete rewrite of Universe Sandbox, originally titled Universe Sandbox, in 2014. Some of the new features include atmospheres being shown on planets, dynamic and procedurally generated textures on stars and gas giants, a more realistic and graphic collision system, 3D charts in chart mode, simulation of stellar evolution, procedural detail in rings/particles, visualization of black holes, simulation of fluid-like objects (such as gas clouds, nebulae and protoplanetary disks, and planetary collisions) and much more.[6] The team demonstrated many of these features at the Unite 2012 conference.[6] On November 15, 2018, the feature to share simulations through Steam Workshop was added.[11] Such simulations like Planet X crashing into Earth, Venus and Mars as the planets were billions of years ago are possible. In December 2018, the game was renamed from Universe Sandbox to Universe Sandbox, citing disputes over the game's pronunciation.[12]

Judging Universe Sandbox as a game seems a little unfair. There are no bosses, no buffs or power-ups, no levelling-up system, and no objective. It's simply a physics sandbox that focuses on doing one thing right: gravity.

The premise is simple. You put rocks in space, set various physical properties such as velocity, mass and density, then watch them whizz about while cackling with glee at your power over the universe. If you get it right, their orbit carves a graceful arc across the empty darkness of space.

What's more fun is getting it wrong. Accidentally making Earth the same size as the Sun and pinging Mercury and Venus out past Uranus, Neptune and the Kuiper belt into the interstellar medium, for example. Or accidently blowing up Jupiter and watching the debris form into a second asteroid belt.

The options you have for destruction are nearly as diverse as the options for construction. You can simply delete a planet, but it's far more fun to explode it into eight chunks. Or 16. Or 237. Or, best of all, shred the planet and leave it as a dusty space cloud.

After loading up a model of our solar system, I methodically turned every single planet to dust, and sped up time so that each second in the real world was ten days in the simulation. Mercury was the first to smear out into a ring, followed by the remains of Venus, Earth and Mars. A few hundred years later, the solar system was little more than a series of concentric rings of dust. Which, if you think about it, is a bit bleak.

Universe Sandbox's most impressive achievement, however, lies in illustrating how the force of gravity affects every tiny little object in all of existence. One scenario has baseballs, dice, golfballs and footballs orbiting a 20cm-wide bowling ball. After a while, they clump together into little groups like baby planets.

As with most games of this type, you have to be content to make your own fun. Universe Sandbox won't tell you a story, and it's not going to hold your hand beyond a brief tutorial that introduces the interface. After that, you're on your own in the cosmos, albeit with a stack of fansubmitted simulations to play around with. It's far more fun mucking about with those than creating your own universe from scratch.

The camera is a little fiddly at times, but my biggest complaint is that the simulator doesn't come with any sound or music. While I appreciate that's realistic, given the lack of orchestras in the vacuum of space, it would have been nice to have some ambient music quietly twinkling away in the background.

Universe Sandbox isn't going to change your life. It isn't going to make you cry, and it won't sit in the top of your most-played list in Steam for weeks. But if you like the idea of an interactive orrery that you can rip apart and put back together in whatever way you like, and you're happy to feed it with a bit of imagination, it's hard to find a better way to spend 6.

Universe Sandbox (earlier known as Universe Sandbox or Universe Sandbox 2) is a space simulator developed and released by Giant Army in 2011. It is the successful Universe Sandbox Legacy continuation, enabling the creation of various complex scenarios of events that could happen in space. Use it to explore faraway stars, create your own systems and experiment with massive planetary collisions!

The Universe video game is an interactive recommendation for players fascinated by the wonders of space. Simulate gravity and planet collisions, change the climate, experiment with black holes, and modify the mass of various objects on an unimaginable scale! With highly realistic physics, every event looks incredibly satisfying. This title includes 70 creative scenarios, but players can also design their own projects in an intuitive editor.

Change the temperature, spin planets, enjoy space lasers, and build new surfaces to design cosmic events from your craziest dreams. Wonder what will happen when the moon crashes with our beloved Earth? Now you can witness this and many other scenarios with your own eyes! This universe simulator is the ultimate tool for completing any creative idea you can think of. No goals or complicated achievements - just your almighty power and the space immensity for endless fun and creativity.

Universe Sandbox is a space simulation Wide-Open Sandbox game developed by indie dev Giant Army. First released in 2008, the game allows the player to toy with the physics of the universe, from making Pluto a habitable planet to vaporizing Earth by throwing the Sun at it. A player can also create their own planets and star systems, and customize them how they wish.

A sequel, originally called Universe Sandbox 2 was released in 2015. In 2018, it was renamed to simply Universe Sandbox, the classic version being dubbed the Retronym Universe Sandbox Legacy and made unavailable to purchase.

The game is available on Steam here and GOG.com here. The game's official website is also available here. Keep in mind that the game is still in Early Access, as the developers plan on adding much more content to it before it is considered complete.

3a8082e126