We’ve got a lot planned for 2024, including a massive graphics upgrade, collision and cratering improvements, getting Universe Sandbox on mobile devices (iOS & Android), and more! We’ll go into more exciting details in our upcoming 2024 Roadmap post, but first, let’s reflect on some achievements from 2023.
1
[h5]Spherical cow[/h5] We added one new human-scale object last year - a [url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spherical_cow]spherical cow[/url]. A spherical cow refers to a joke that when physicists want to make a problem easier to handle, they sometimes simplify it so much it’s no longer realistic.
4
[h5]Significant updates to Universe Sandbox[/h5]- A Comet, an Asteroid, and a Planet Walk into the Solar System | [url=https://universesandbox.com/blog/2023/03/comet-asteroid-planet-solar-system/]Update 32.2[/url] | March 2023 [list]
- Added a spherical cow and many simulations including the [url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C/2022_E3_(ZTF)]green comet C/2022 E3 (ZTF)[/url] passing by Earth.
- Combined our two previous collision models for more realistic shockwaves, heating, and overall destruction.
- Overhauled our gravity simulation to increase accuracy, stability, and performance to run simulations even faster.
- Added 8 new materials (for a total of 12), including oxygen and carbon dioxide, to realistically simulate, construct, and terraform planets and atmospheres.
- Finally simulating the lakes of liquid methane on Titan.
8
[h5]New materials[/h5] We added- Helium
- Carbon dioxide
- Oxygen
- Sulfur dioxide
- Methane
- Nitrogen
- Argon
- Ammonia
36
[h5]New simulations and guides added to Universe Sandbox[/h5] Check out the 31 new simulations, including the Bombard Moon with Materials (below), and 5 new guides, including Terraforming Mars and Searching for Supermassive Black Holes, under [b]Home > Open[/b] and [b]Home > Guides[/b]
727
[h5]Highest number of concurrent users in Universe Sandbox[/h5] Easily surpassing the previous highest number of 648 on December 24, 2021. January 30, 2023 must have been a great day to cause celestial havoc.2,336
[h5]Positive Steam reviews in 2023[/h5] We’re truly amazed and humbled that we are rated “Overwhelmingly Positive,” both recently and all-time on Steam. Over 96% of all reviews we’ve received are positive.
2,405
[h5]New code commits, or changes, made to Universe Sandbox through [url=https://github.com/]GitHub[/url], the platform we use to maintain and manage our code[/h5] The most code commits occurred during the week of December 3, right before [url=https://universesandbox.com/blog/2023/12/terraforming-update-34/]Terraforming | Update 34[/url] was released, with 87 commits. A single commit can be a simple typo correction or a whole new feature
9,757
[h5]Discord users on our server[/h5] It’s great to see your constructive discussion and creations on our server, which has grown by almost 20% in the last year. 10,000 is so close, let’s hit 12,000 this year! [url=https://discord.gg/us]Join us on Discord[/url].15,747
[h5]Simulations shared in the [url=https://steamcommunity.com/app/230290/workshop/]Universe Sandbox Steam Workshop[/url] in 2023[/h5] That's more than 43 simulations shared every single day! There are over 50,000 total simulations shared on the Steam Workshop for you to explore and be inspired by.
25,326
[h5]Files uploaded on our team messaging app, [url=https://slack.com/]Slack[/url], in 2023[/h5] That’s more than 3 times as many as last year, including screenshots and videos of features in progress, log files for resolving issues, and images of bugs, like those below.
[i]A moon bounces off a planet instead of colliding with it while testing new collision physics (new collision physics are work in progress).[/i]
[i]Experimenting with new graphics rendering technology made Earth a bit lumpy (don’t worry, it’s a sphere again).[/i]
56,466
[h5]Messages sent on Slack in 2023[/h5] Giant Army has been entirely remote since its founding in 2011, and with 13 team members across 4 continents and 6 time zones, messaging on Slack is how we get most of our work done.592,638*
[h5]Times the ‘Welcome to Universe Sandbox’ guide was played in 2023[/h5] Whether you’re a new player or just wanted a refresher, we hope you enjoyed learning about the beauty of our universe. And how to destroy it.
1,005,262*
[h5]Times the Planetscaping tool was used in 2023[/h5] The Planetscaping tool became even more powerful with the ability to add individual materials. Seeing the passion and attention to detail you all put into customizing planets is fantastic.
1,380,778*
[h5]Times supernovas went off in Universe Sandbox in 2023[/h5] Astronomers estimate there will be 1 supernova in the Milky Way every 100 years. They also think there are about 100 billion galaxies in the universe. Assuming all galaxies have a similar number of supernovas, about a billion occur each year. We got about 1% of the way there in 2023. Turns out that even with everybody working together, recreating everything happening in the universe is hard.
6,265,426*
[h5]New simulations created in Universe Sandbox in 2023[/h5] That’s about one new simulation created every 5 seconds.
31,394,000+
[h5]Views of Universe Sandbox videos and shorts on YouTube[/h5] Getting an exact view count of every YouTube video that featured Universe Sandbox in 2023 is almost impossible, but we think this is a reasonable estimate (the actual number is larger). We appreciate every video posted and are glad so many people enjoy them! Check out two of our most prolific YouTubers, [url=https://www.youtube.com/@Space_Chip/featured]Space Chip[/url] and [url=https://www.youtube.com/@Neptunian-Guy/featured]Neptunian Guy[/url].
[b]*[/b] Due to a change in our analytics system, we have extrapolated 2023’s numbers based on the total increase in player activity on Steam.
