Below is a copy of the message sent today to all developers registered in the studio, for reference in case some e-boxes can't be reached! 
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Dear BGA studio developers,
Did you hear about "BGA sandbox"? We discussed this wonderful tool on the BGA forums a long time ago. Then stuff happened... But we made some progress, and now it's available on the studio!
So what is it? Sandbox is a graphical tool to create your game interface by selecting your material from a library and setting it up on a virtual table. It's a kind of "Powerpoint for Board Games". Then once the interface is created, it is possible to play with it directly (in that case, players have to enforce the rules themselves) or to implement the rules (through a simple scripting language).
In games already published on Board Game Arena, "Tiki" is a game created with Sandbox and fully scripted. "Go" and "Nine men's morris" were originally published as Sandbox games without rules implementation, then replaced by other versions developped on the studio with full rules.
We realized with this experience that players are not really interested in playing pure Sandbox games (without rules enforcement). Very few games of "Go" and "Nine men's morris" were played before the rules were implemented.
So we decided to take an intermediary step before opening BGA sandbox to everyone: giving it first to you studio developers!
The goals are:
1. to get feedback and polish the editor (please post suggestions and bugs here: http://en.studio.boardgamearena.com/#!bugs )
2. to create fully scripted games and publish them! (please note that BGA sandbox is better suited for games with a simple interface such as abstracts; we advise you to start simple!)
An the cherry on top is that... BGA sandbox is itself a game available on the studio! Which means that we can give access to the developers who want to help improve it! (contact us if you are interested)
The home page of the studio has been updated to reflect this new possibility: you can now use the classic Studio or the (new and experimental) Sandbox.
We hope that you'll continue to have fun building games for the community to enjoy!
Cheers and dougnuts,
The admins.
--------------------------
Dear BGA studio developers,
Did you hear about "BGA sandbox"? We discussed this wonderful tool on the BGA forums a long time ago. Then stuff happened... But we made some progress, and now it's available on the studio!
So what is it? Sandbox is a graphical tool to create your game interface by selecting your material from a library and setting it up on a virtual table. It's a kind of "Powerpoint for Board Games". Then once the interface is created, it is possible to play with it directly (in that case, players have to enforce the rules themselves) or to implement the rules (through a simple scripting language).
In games already published on Board Game Arena, "Tiki" is a game created with Sandbox and fully scripted. "Go" and "Nine men's morris" were originally published as Sandbox games without rules implementation, then replaced by other versions developped on the studio with full rules.
We realized with this experience that players are not really interested in playing pure Sandbox games (without rules enforcement). Very few games of "Go" and "Nine men's morris" were played before the rules were implemented.
So we decided to take an intermediary step before opening BGA sandbox to everyone: giving it first to you studio developers!
The goals are:
1. to get feedback and polish the editor (please post suggestions and bugs here: http://en.studio.boardgamearena.com/#!bugs )
2. to create fully scripted games and publish them! (please note that BGA sandbox is better suited for games with a simple interface such as abstracts; we advise you to start simple!)
An the cherry on top is that... BGA sandbox is itself a game available on the studio! Which means that we can give access to the developers who want to help improve it! (contact us if you are interested)
The home page of the studio has been updated to reflect this new possibility: you can now use the classic Studio or the (new and experimental) Sandbox.
We hope that you'll continue to have fun building games for the community to enjoy!
Cheers and dougnuts,
The admins.
