<cat>Play.Intro</cat> <title>General FAQ</title> # General Info ## What is S&box? [https://sbox.facepunch.com/about/](https://sbox.facepunch.com/about/) ## When is the next blog post? The monthly blog posts are usually published somewhere in or around the last week of the month though the actual time and day of the week can vary. If you want to be notified when one goes live you can use the [RSS feed](https://sbox.facepunch.com/rss/news) available on the website. ## Is there a release date? What about early access? A developer preview is currently available through a queue system. For more information, visit the [s&dev site.](https://sbox.facepunch.com/dev/.login/) ## What platforms will be supported? The game will not be available on Mac at all. Dedicated servers will be able to run on Linux but no game client will be available for it.   ## How much will the game cost? We don't know and probably won't know until the game is made available to the public. # Game Info ## What engine does the game use? A version of Source 2 based on the Half-Life: Alyx branch of the engine. 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? Map sizes have been lifted and are much larger than they were in Source 1. The game supports a maximum of 32 players - however, you can go above this through the use of bespoke networking.    ## Is level streaming possible? Maybe? The world itself isn't as immutable as it was in source 1 and while Half-Life: Alyx did contain a (albeit unfinished) system for loading/unloading levels at runtime there hasn't been any word on it being a feature included by default. ## Will sandbox 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? There is currently a lobby system in place in which one person hosts a session and multiple users connect to them (through Steam Networking / P2P). ## Will we be able to mount games like we can in Garry's Mod?    ## What style will the game use? There are likely going to be multiple styles shipped with the game, including at least one 'realistic' and one cartoonish. Not including any other styles added by people through the workshop.  ## Will we get dedicated servers? Currently, the only official way to find a match is through the lobby system - you click on a game and are given a list of lobbies you can join. In future, however, games will be able to have servers. # Content Creation ## What tools will ship with the game? The game includes Hammer, SFM, ModelDoc and a bunch of other tools that are meant to be used alongside it. ## 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 is currently available for porting. Remember that you should only port over content that you have permission for. ## Will the game use the Steam workshop? Yes but the game will support multiple hosting methods. On top of using the workshop you'll be able to host them using Github or [Facepunch's own hosting service](https://files.facepunch.com/garry/c926c6cb-f146-4b7b-8cb4-a954155c7c75.png). The game will automatically determine where to download your game from. ## Where do I upload my games and maps? Games and maps will be able to be registered using Facepunch's own backend which the game uses to show what maps / games exist in-game. Groups of content creators will be able to create/edit content under a single [organization](https://files.facepunch.com/garry/e11165c7-94a5-47b3-8b20-1b2a25ac72bb.png) and [configure](https://files.facepunch.com/garry/4368a512-4af6-4e46-8af3-3bdcb74f1707.png) various options like the type of release, summary/description and artwork. ## What language is being used to make games? Game creation will done using C#, with UI styling done through CSS and layouting done through HTML. Game creation is done using C#, with UI styling done through CSS and layouting done through HTML. ## I want to keep my game's source private, is this possible with the new backend? Since code is always downloaded directly from the server instead of an external source you'll be able to just omit the code from your upload and keep it in a separate private repository. This won't stop people from decompiling the code that gets sent to them by the server though, nothing will really.  ## Can I move over existing Garry's Mod addons to S&Box? Not directly. Assets may be ported but code will have to be re-written entirely. There is no official glua support planned and wouldn't be possible anyways because of differences in how almost everything is handled. ## 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.  ## Will we be able to monetize our servers/games? [People will be allowed to monetise their content however they want](https://forum.facepunch.com/t/paywall-for-servers/239905/3?u=tanknut). ## How do I make addons? Is there an addon system? There is no addon system - s&box focuses on game creation rather than addon creation. A viable alternative to an addon system would be to use git submodules, or to copy the code in directly. A toybox-like system is planned for the sandbox game. The following diagrams should help outline the differences between gmod's addon system and s&box's game system. <upload src="aa125/8d99d59ceb712d9.png" size="65083" name="image.png" /> <upload src="aa125/8d99d59d0c06c04.png" size="74546" name="image.png" /> <upload src="aa125/8d99d59cb0883a1.png" size="42962" name="image.png" /> ## How will X work? For info on various systems you can check out the [official wiki](https://wiki.facepunch.com/sbox/) and the [monthly blog posts](https://sbox.facepunch.com/news). If it's not listed there then we probably don't know in detail yet.