Full project description · System inventory · Architecture map
World Explorer 3D is a browser-based world sandbox built around real places. Choose a location, step into the world, and explore by land, water, air, or space.
Play World Explorer 3D · Controls · What’s new · Roadmap
Explore real places—and help make them your own. September's update brings manual building-photo contributions, richer ground and building detail, and restored BMW chase and driver-seat views.
Read A world worth making your own for the latest changes, or the full project description for how travel, discovery, property, building, community and space fit together.
Select a city, landmark, airport, harbor, or coordinates and enter a bounded 3D world shaped by available terrain, roads, buildings, water, land cover, and places. Walk the streets, cross bridges and rooftops, enter mapped or eligible generated interiors, drive, fly, sail, fish, survey habitats, build, or meet other players in a room tied to that location.
The same Explorer connects your Backpack, quick slots, Journal, Field Guide, activities, Expeditions, specialties, companions, property, and seasonal surveys. Quick Build places persistent Blocks directly in the current world, including shared builds inside multiplayer rooms.
| Water and shore | Flight |
|---|---|
 |
 |
| Fish from shore, pilot boats, dive, and explore ports | Use a personal aircraft or board aircraft at mapped airports |
| Deep space | Explorer progression |
|---|---|
 |
 |
| Fly manually or use optional Wayfinder assistance | Choose an activity and carry the result into one Explorer record |
A playable cargo ship underway near Rotterdam, with the shoreline kept in the active world.
- Explore on foot, by car, drone, plane, helicopter, boat, ship, rover, astronaut on solid planetary surfaces, or spacecraft; or use optional Live GPS play while walking.
- Drive vehicle families with distinct vehicle handling, visible condition, and enterable responder vehicles.
- Visit supported mapped airports to board aircraft, choose pilot or passenger travel, search for destinations, or take a local sightseeing flight.
- Search for places by familiar names, including cities, landmarks, airports, and other expected location searches.
- Use configurable Backpack quick slots for field tools, fishing gear, equipment, and ranged actions.
- Photograph, inspect, survey, identify, fish, follow tracks and signs, and record finds in the Journal and Field Guide.
- Explore eleven regional Field Guide packs with 180 attainable entries across the built-in Earth destinations.
- Care for companions, build trust and levels, and travel with eligible domestic, bird, and livestock companions.
- Enter persistent multiplayer rooms with presence, chat, activities, shared Blocks, and room vehicles.
- Use Quick Build to place persistent Blocks in local play or a multiplayer room.
- Leave Earth for the Moon, planets, the solar system, and selected deep-space destinations, with manual flight always available.
- Try Interstellar Expeditions in Alpha: live aboard Solis Reach, work with its crew, respond to voyage events, and fly Pathfinder to supported planetary sites and back.
- Claim a first virtual property, list or purchase available properties with Explorer Credits, and connect planetary samples to the same Backpack, cargo, and mapped-business exchange loop.
Version 5.2 makes the sandbox feel more alive and more connected. The current Explorer and companion travel together, roads carry denser traffic and pedestrians, mapped businesses connect to useful supplies and services, and one wallet follows the player through property, fieldwork, vehicle upgrades, and space. A shorter optional First Journey, configurable controls, calmer nearby prompts, and rebuilt touch and accessibility settings make it easier to start playing without covering the screen in instructions.
Beyond Earth, Interstellar Expeditions Alpha now connects shipboard life, planetary fieldwork, Pathfinder travel, and a surprise pirate interception in one continuing voyage. The established Earth, Ocean, vehicle, flight, Backpack, Journal, multiplayer, and free-exploration paths remain available.
Interstellar Expeditions are intentionally labeled Alpha. They provide a connected playable journey and saved progression, while ship art, crew motion, mission variety, audio, and planetary detail continue to grow.
Read the full 5.2 release notes and the current known issues.
Multiplayer uses bounded rooms rather than one continuous MMO world. A room shares one location, player presence, chat, activities, persistent vehicles, and player-built Blocks. Private rooms use invite codes; public rooms can be found by city.
Quick Build is the single player-facing Blocks workspace. Existing supported local and room Blocks remain on the same persistence path, with one owner for placement, permissions, saving, and recovery.
Earth scenes use OpenStreetMap-derived geometry and other attributed public or licensed sources. Coverage, freshness, height information, and provider availability vary by location. Mapped, observed, modeled, reference, and game-created content stay visibly distinct.
World Explorer 3D is a game. It is not a navigation, appraisal, surveying, wildlife-presence, or safety service.
Required map attribution: © OpenStreetMap contributors
Requirements: Node.js 22+, Java 21, and a browser with WebGL support.
git clone https://github.com/RRG314/WorldExplorer3D.git
cd WorldExplorer3D
npm install
npm run build:hosting -- --firebase-env staging
python3 -m http.server --directory dist 4173Open http://127.0.0.1:4173/app/.
Keyboard and touch controls support browser zoom, visible focus, higher contrast, larger text, and reduced motion.
Core exploration can run without production credentials. Accounts, multiplayer, moderation, and other online features require an authorized environment. Secrets are not included in the repository.
Copyright © 2026 Steven Reid / World Explorer 3D. All Rights Reserved.
This repository is publicly viewable under the custom source-available terms in LICENSE. It is not licensed as OSI open-source software, and attribution alone does not grant permission to copy, redistribute, publish, host, or create derivative works. Third-party data, software, and assets remain subject to their respective terms in ATTRIBUTION.md and ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS.md.