An Open Letter to Garry from the s&box Mappers
Garry,
This video is an open letter from mappers and former mappers who have been part of s&box for years, most of us since before there was any money involved. We’re asking you not to remove maps from the playfund.
The map playfund is a solid system. It let map makers put work out there and actually get something back when a game used it. Game makers who didn’t have the time or skill to make a proper level could still put out something that looked decent. RP games especially need good maps to even function. Without that incentive, there’s not much reason left to release maps publicly. People will either keep them private, stop mapping, or teams just throw together whatever they can internally. The quality will drop. Look at Roblox if you want an example of what happens when level design isn’t treated like a real part of the product.
A main reason you seem to have for this playfund change is AI. Mapping is about as far from AI as you can still get. Every map that makes it onto the platform is someone spending real time and care on something they made for the game. Some of us built maps for no game at all, just because we liked working in the tools. Some of those ended up getting used for a real project later and turned into a collaboration. That kind of thing only happens when maps are out there and usable. If people have no hope of their game being used on a playfund enabled game they will keep the content private and make deals with teams for them to use it. This will lower the amount of open content that will be on the platform, and since you are heavily narrowing what can be put in the playfund we find it hard to justify taking maps out. Game authors have to consciously choose to use a map that can take their playfund, there is nobody getting the short end of a stick.
People have put years into this. A lot of us came to s&box specifically because of the mapping tools and stuck around even when things got rough. Removing the playfund for maps feels like the final push that tells us the work doesn’t matter. Not to mention how bad of a state the mapping tools have been for people the last two+ years. Hammer is getting neglected while it breaks more and more while the scene tools are not ready to replace it yet. Just makes it really hard to justify doing any level design in s&box at this point when it was supposed to be one of its pillar features that made it stand out from other engines and platforms.
We’re not asking you to leave everything how it is. There are other options. Maps could apply the same way games will. There could be a whitelist system so deals can still happen on the platform. Something that keeps the incentive without whatever problems you’re trying to solve.
We’re hoping you’ll take another look at this before the mapper side of the community gets pushed out completely.
This video is signed by the following mappers
Tov and Bapedandit - Authors of Aesthetic Mall, Marine Base, Dolls, Whitehouse, Community Pool, Community Bowling, Rooftops Classic, Cluedo, Dreamjacked, Skyscraper, Whitehouse, Innocent Hotel, Waste, Deep, Reactor, Flatgrass Classic, Air Grid, Aesthetic Beach & Game Hall, Boxing Ring, Basketball Court, Wetwork Levels, House, Large Backrooms
Mi.ke - Author of Downtown, Downtown Compact, Clue, JoeCity, Basalt, Casino, Dam, Nick's Desk, 67th way
Skate - Author of RP Newport, Peaceful Village, Medieval Tavern Rats, PRL Podwoko, Medevial Castle Rats, Western City, Tropical Island, Red House Farmstead, PRL House, Skate's Shed, PRL Bar Mleczny, Amazing World Of Skates, Old Gothic Castle
youmenow - Author of Rooftops 2026 & OG Rooftops maps from Gmod
Grafis - Auth OverDOSe Office, Strange Apartments, Manor, Sonnertag, Fishmarket
Doug - Author of Wasserkanal, Nick's House, Apartment, Assault, Basement
Ice - Author of Terminal, Ski Resort, Suburbia
Andiq - Author of Shipment, Highrise
Gambleking - Author of Q-ZAR
Trende - Author of MTT Resort
Additional Signees after video release:
jaccurate
Scaros
Yours truly,
The s&box mappers
PS: Thumbnail was not made with AI