General Info

Is there a release date? What about early access?

No release date has been announced.

How do I get access?

See here for further information about The Developer Preview.

What platforms will be supported?

s&box is windows first. Support for Mac is currently in progress and Linux runs perfectly through Proton. And dedicated servers will be able to run natively on Linux but no official game client will be available.

How much will the game cost?

s&box's price has not yet been announced.

Game Info

What engine does the game use?

s&box uses a heavily modified version of Half-Life: Alyx's Source 2 branch. Early development was done on Unreal Engine 4, but this has since been discontinued.

How many players can the game handle? What about map sizes?

Theoretically, the map size in s&box is infinite. But realistically, most things break in some way beyond a certain point.

The built-in networking system supports a maximum of 64 players - however, you can write your own networking code in order to go above this through the use of WebSockets.

Is level streaming possible?

Level streaming is a work in progress feature.

Will s&box support VR?

s&box currently has basic VR support, but it's up to each individual game in terms of the actual implementation for this.

How will the multiplayer work? Can we connect via P2P?

s&box has rudimentary networking where one player hosts the p2p server, and ownership is transferred when they leave the game. A more advanced system is in the works.

Will we be able to mount games like we can in Garry's Mod?

Mounting other games is neither possible nor planned, and no assets from any game not made by Facepunch will ever be added officially.

Content Creation

Don't forget to check out the ModelDoc FAQ.

Will there be monetization?

There's no limitations on how you can monetize your game. While there's no official way implemented yet, you can use your own server to manage payments. It's a long term goal to be able to export s&box games and upload them on any platform, with no revenue share.

How do I open the editor?

Launch the game on Steam and you will have the "Launch Game Editor" option. More info on the editor is available here.

What language is being used to make games?

Game interaction is done using C#, supporting .NET 9 with Language Features 11

Find out more

How does UI work?

We use Razor, UI styling is done through CSS and its layouts through HTML. Alternatively, UI can be coded entirely in C#

Find out more

What tools will ship with the game?

The list of tools available is constantly changing, but to put it simply, most Source 2 tools will be remade in some way for s&box.

Is the game going to ship with some kind of database adapter for MySQL or the like?

You can use WebSockets to interface with whatever server you want - having a WebSocket layer over your SQL server helps for various reasons. There isn't and won't be a direct SQL layer included within the s&box API.

Where do I upload my games and maps?

You can upload content to sbox.game in-game using the editor.

Can we port over Source 1 content?

There are third-party tools you can use to port over Source 1 content, but no first-party support. Remember that you should only port over content that you have permission for.

What am I not allowed to upload?

Facepunch's terms of service can be found here.

Can I use Garry's Mod addons in s&box?

Garry's mod addons are not compatible with s&box. Assets will have to be converted to the Source 2 format and any code will need to be re-written in C# as there is no official GLua support planned.