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Everywhere, simply put, wants you to come and make stuff. While games like Fortnite and Roblox have had their own user-generated content (UGC) tools added after-the-fact (and have seen massive success off the back of them) Everywhere is a game that looks to build itself from the ground-up with those tools in mind—making it the lifeblood of its interlocking systems.
Last year, I got to visit Build a Rocket Boy to take a look at it myself, and while I think it’s facing an uphill battle in a market with similar offerings, I’ve still got hope that Everywhere is going to find its niche.
From what I’ve been shown, said UGC tools are suitably powerful for that task, letting players kitbash custom assets, code, and sound effects together to create some really complex stuff—while allowing them to save “Stamps”, clumps of asset and code they’ll be able to publish and share with others. These stamps can then be cobbled together by less technically-minded players to create levels, or picked apart to see how their guts work.
Everywhere’s going to be letting prospective players get their hands on these tools soon with an Official Builders Beta, which’ll give people a chance to get their mitts on the UGC suite (dubbed “Arcadia”) starting June 18, though you can sign up on the official website now provided you’re over the age of 16.
Build a Rocket boy has also uploaded a detailed, 15-minute explainer video for the tools, which see content designer Liam Shannon mucking about kitbashing together an aquatic obstacle course from prefabricated stamps in less time than it’ll take to cook my dinner tonight.
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For the most part, I’m just excited to see what happens with this kit when it’s released to the general public. Obviously the studio’s developers have already put some cool stuff together themselves—but you can never underestimate your average joe’s ability to make castles out of cardboard.
Alas, that also puts Everywhere under a considerable pressure, since it’s a game that’ll live and die by its community—Build a Rocket Boy appears to be making inroads into sorting that out, though, as it’ll be providing a “series of tutorials and educational workshops”, partnering with some of the studios developing games entirely in tools like Fortnite creative, and reaching out to YouTubers in the Sims and Roblox communities to help spark that ever-important word of mouth.
It’s rough out there right now, but I’m going to be watching Everywhere with interest—at the very least to see who can faithfully recreate a legally-distinct Malenia from Elden Ring the fastest with scrap parts and code blocks.