Your World: Innovative World-Building Tool

Steve Fielding introduced Pantera Entertainment‘s impressive world-building tool: Your World has lots of awesome features and should allow players to build beautiful networked worlds with exciting gameplay features. A must-read for World Creators!

Introduction

My name is Steve Fielding. I am the owner of Pantera Entertainment. We have been developing games for 22 years. We have developed 15 titles throughout our history and self-published both in the digital and retail spaces. We have developed 4 roller coaster/theme park related titles, multiple sports titles, and created an arsenal of tools used for internal development which we integrated into our latest world building projects. Your World is a new project that introduces some great technology and a brand new editor. We have also developed an amazing plugin which integrates our previous theme park title. We wanted to expand on the previous title, as we had a fan-base that would really appreciate the power of Unreal. We also wanted to create a new editor and platform that would go beyond anything we’ve ever done while developing unique utilities not seen in any other tool. There was one goal in mind, to create a platform, editor, and toolset that would allow all skill levels and age groups to create amazing networked worlds they could publish online and experience with their friends in a friendly multiplayer environment.

What is Your World?

Your World is a sandbox title that allows players to build beautiful networked worlds, attractions, simulators, and theme parks with exciting gameplay features. Worlds can be shared online for the community to enjoy as a multi-player social environment, or as a competitive gameplay experience. It contains easy-to-use construction tools with extensive in-game libraries. With Your World players can easily build amazing worlds that feature fun gameplay, then open their world for the community to enjoy!

Instead of a passive experience watching AI driven NPC’s walk around your park, Your World focuses on an interactive network experience. You can walk around your park in first or third person mode, chat with other guests on the network, ride coasters and flat rides with them, play paintball with your friends, rock climb, hang glide, race go-karts, and jet-ski, with more activities coming!

Make sure to check our facebook page where we will upload new videos, screenshots and news. Feel free to follow us to stay updated! 

Your World Vision

Your World allows players of all ages and skill levels to create online worlds that feature great graphics, dynamic gameplay, and a fun community.

One of our goals was to not only provide artists with advanced tools, but to also provide beginning artists with tools that are intuitive, easy to use, and require a small learning curve. Your World was designed to be accessible to all audiences and age groups.

Your World’s easy-to-use editor, extensive libraries, and multiplayer environment will have players quickly creating breathtaking worlds they can share online with their friends and our growing community. 

Your World’s Features

• Intuitive and easy-to-use editor:  Your World editor allows both beginner and advanced sandbox players to easily create beautiful worlds.
• Unreal Blueprint Integration:  Using our simple point and click construction process, Unreal blueprints can be added to any world. Blueprints may contain complex scenery, particles, effects, or custom functionality like vehicles or gameplay events.
• Voxel Terrain Generator:  Your World‘s voxel terrain allows 3D terrain editing and sculpting. This allows players to create landscapes which can be carved in all 3 dimensions, creating cliffs, caverns, tunnels, overhangs, etc.
• Terrain Painting:  Players can further customize their terrains by painting paths through editable brush sizes.
• Easy, powerful, and unique path system:  Players can build complex path systems using a simple click and drag path construction scheme.  Our advanced and unique path tools include:

1. Innovative path stencil fill tool.
2. Driveable steamroller path creation tool
3. Spline-based path inlay decorative elements
4. Automatic creation and placement of path objects (trees, street lamps, etc.)
5. Automatic intersection clipping
6. Curved paths with adjustable splines curves.
7. Straight paths with smooth curved transitions
8. Adjustable path width with smooth blends

• Foliage painting:  Players can quickly fill their world with vegetation using our easy to use foliage painting tools.  Whether you are placing a single tree, or painting a vast array of trees with a single brush stroke, adding foliage to your scene with our easy to use tools is a breeze.
• Theme Park Studio plugin:  Theme Park Studio roller coasters, flat rides, and scenery can be added to any park or an Unreal world with a single click.  Each flat ride/coaster is fully ride-able and offers a nail-biting VR experience.
• On the fly path construction:  Your World features our unique on the fly construction tools which allow players to drive a construction vehicle and easily create paths, go-kart tracks, and ride tracks in a fun interactive experience.
• Fully networked worlds with social atmosphere:  Your World‘s network manager allows players to open their worlds to the community, play interactive games with friends, socialize using our in-game chat tools, acquire feedback from the community, and compete for leaderboard status.
• Custom asset selection:  Your World launcher allows players to assemble a custom palette of Materials, Scenery, and Foliage in a custom environment.  Players are no longer bound to specific asset libraries but can easily mix and match assets to match their specific design goals.
• Movie Maker video recorder with built-in auto camera position and tracking:  Beginner and Advanced players will love our in-game Movie Maker.  Once the player has completed their world, our built-in camera AI captures and records amazing video footage, allowing the player to show off their new world to their friends or market as an upcoming Live Park.
• Targets most age groups:  Easy to use tools, cutting-edge graphics, and fun gameplay will appeal to a wide target audience.  Teens/Adults will enjoy the advanced tools and fun gameplay, while younger crowds will be able to create stunning worlds through simple painting and drag-and-drop editing. 

Voxel-Based Tech

Most of the code for the voxel-based tech was developed in C++.  The voxels are converted to triangles and placed into a procedural mesh.  We have added some great sculpting tools to the editor, to help the player craft and shape the terrain in 3D space.  Our editor includes height maps for quick creation of mountains, which are then converted to voxel space. You can also drag paths right through mountains, or drop a mountain on top of an existing path system. The editor will automatically carve out tunnels around the path with no additional work required. The Lakeside Park – How It Was Made video shows an example of dropping a small mountain on top of an existing go-kart track. With a single click, an elaborate underground raceway is created.

We’ve also created an additional, and very unique, terra-forming feature using an avatar equipped with a laser cannon that can sculpt terrains, and place assets, from an over the shoulder view.  Not only does this introduce a little bit of a gaming element, but it makes it much easier to walk through underground tunnels and sculpt out caverns, which is much easier than trying to navigate through a network of underground tunnels using a camera/mouse/keyboard combination.  You can even use the cannon for placing objects quickly, like stalactites, torches, rocks etc.  It just adds a fun element, while making it much easier to navigate.  Another great feature is the way we have integrated out real-time path building steamroller.  You can drive the steamroller right through a mountain and it will build paths, fences, and rivers while excavating tunnels.  Or, raise the pitch of the steamroller and it will create paths/roads uphill while building up the terrain underneath. The editor is designed to be a fun and easy way to create beautiful environments. 

Uniting Voxels & Polygons

The voxels are converted to triangles and smoothed in real-time. Collision generation is optimized for maximum performance. We use a custom material that procedurally blends 3 different layers based on the terrain, for example, grass, dirt, and cliff.  You can also directly paint 4 different texture layers directly on the first layer, allowing players to paint dirt roads, leafy areas, etc.

Content Used in the Project

We have a nice library of content which includes the best of the best from UE Marketplace, in addition to our own in-house created assets.  We have separated the assets into 4 categories: Environment, Nature, Scenery, and Materials. You can select 1 environment and 1 nature pack. Next, you select from a library of scenery and material packs.  There is no limit on the number of scenery/material packs you can include per project, so it is up to the player not to overload their machine by selecting too many libraries. Many of the meshes have LODs.  If they do not, sometimes we try to create them on behalf of the original author before packaging. Our own meshes contain LODs and we are working to introduce them into the runtime mesh generation.

Materials

We use a combination of our own materials, along with Marketplace material packs.  Besides our built-in default materials, players are allowed to select multiple library packs they want to use for their project.  For example, they could select Epic’s Auto Paint, their favorite ground texture pack, architectural packs, etc. After the editor loads, all the materials are available for the Designer. Simply select the thumbnail of the material you want, and touch the mesh in your project. The material will instantly update. It is designed to be both easy to use and fun for all audiences while allowing players to express their creativity.

Path Tools

Your World features a very powerful path system. It allows click-n-drag paths with smooth turns, dynamic pads, natural paths, spline curves, fences, rivers, and our unique stencil system. Elaborate entrances with decorative inlays, curved walkways, custom sidewalks, and organic cutouts for garden sections are all possible with our tools.

An example of some the fantastic paths that can be created is seen in Lakeside Park Tour video. All the paths, sidewalks, asphalt cutouts for grass, inlays, fences, and rivers were procedurally created using our tools.

Since the video was created, we introduced new stencil templates that make custom pads as easy to create as 2 mouse clicks. The objective was to allow beginning players to recreate the amazing detailed paths found in the Lakeside Park video, but with much fewer steps. Advanced players will still have all the powerful tools seen in the original Lakeside Park video, for extended handcrafted customization, but beginning users will now be able to create similar worlds with much fewer steps using the built-in templates.

River & Rollercoaster Tools

Rivers, Paths, and Coasters all share the same spline based lofting technology.  Lofts are created along splines, with meshes built at runtime. The steamroller builds the lofts in real-time, as seen in the Lakeside Park – How It Was Made video (check above).

Coasters are integrated through a plugin ported from our previous title. Simply select the plugin as one of the libraries you would like to include in your project and you have access to all the scenery, rides, and coasters templates. To add a coaster, simply select the coaster thumbnail and drop it into your scene.  A procedurally generated fully functional rideable coaster is instantly created with LODs. There are multiple coaster types including steel, wooden, wing, hyper, and more! 

Working with Content Creators

The items we purchased on Marketplace are cooked and packaged and only work with our editor.  They are not used with other titles, so there are no license issues. Content creators will be able to upload their creations directly from the editor to the server.  Any custom assets are automatically packaged and uploaded. Paid content creators basically sign up for our program, upload their projects, set the price, and receive 70 percent royalty for every item sold. Content creators retain ownership of all their work.

The Launch of the Project

Your World Editor will be released in Early Access during the first half of 2019.  Your World Player will be released the 4th quarter of this year. Also, Your World Launcher and the website will be released this year.  Using the website, or launcher, players simply select the world they want to visit. The project is automatically downloaded, including any needed assets packs, and the player is launched into the world where they can interact with other players, ride coaster and flat rides, race for leaderboard status, hang glide, rock climb, jet ski, play paintball (with some seriously fun platforming) and much more!  There is even an amazing 1979 recreation of Tomorrowland at Disney World created by Disney Parks Earchives available as a free download where you can ride the Skyway, RocketJets, Mission To Mars, and People Mover, all in a multiplayer social environment.

We will be continuously updating our facebook page with videos and screenshots, so feel free to like and follow us to stay updated! Our new facebook page is growing very fast, and we enjoy seeing our fans’ excitement. It makes us stay pretty pumped!  Thank you very much for staying with us.

Steve Fielding, Owner of Pantera Entertainment

Interview conducted by Kirill Tokarev