VR Level Builder for Creative Players: Design Your Own Arena
A VR level builder lets creative players design battlefields around their own furniture. Here is what Tank Avenger's Level Builder offers and how to start.
Some players are never happier than when they stop playing and start making. If that is you, a VR level builder that uses your real room as the canvas is a rare treat. Tank Avenger: Mixed Reality includes a Level Builder designed around your real-world play space. This guide is for the designers: what it lets you do, how to think about a good arena and how to avoid common mistakes.
What the Level Builder does
According to the game's page, you create custom levels with the Level Builder, designed around your real play space. In practice, that means:
- Blocks on your coffee table.
- Walls along your sofa.
- Spawn points by the door.
Then you fight in the arena you designed. Your custom levels are saved locally on your headset, belong to you under the game's terms and aren't uploaded to the developer.
I'd rather not invent details about the builder's menus or limits, since the published description doesn't cover them. Treat the following as design thinking, not a feature list.
Design principles for a good tank arena
Use the weapons as design constraints
The Normal Gun's bullets bounce once and the Fast Gun's twice, so wall placement defines which shots are possible. A wall at an angle can open a bank shot. A long open stretch favours bouncing shells and the tracking Heat Gun's homing bullets. Think about how each weapon behaves before you place a block.
Borrow from the four worlds
The built-in worlds are good teachers:
- City: ruins and varied cover.
- Desert: open ground and long sightlines.
- Jungle: dense cover and tight corridors where ambushes happen.
- Ice: slick floors, where sliding tanks and persistent shots reward careful spacing.
Try recreating one feel in your room, then break the rules on purpose.
Respect your real furniture
Because your room is the canvas, the furniture is a design element. A sofa is a long wall. A table is a plateau. Decide what is "inside" the arena and what is boundary. Keep walkways clear for you, and remember you still need to move safely.
A step-by-step first build
- Clear the floor. About 2 × 2 metres of free space works well, or use the table.
- Make sure the room setup is current. If you moved furniture, redo the headset's room setup and restart the game.
- Start with one idea. For instance: a central block cluster with two corridors.
- Place spawn points far apart, perhaps one by the door and one across the room.
- Playtest immediately. Fight in it. Does one side have an unfair advantage? Move blocks.
- Iterate three times before calling it done.
Make levels with a story
The game's own fiction is a ruined city and one hero standing. Give your level a narrative: "the last crossroads", "the sofa fortress". Naming things changes how you design them, even if the name lives only in your head.
Share the fun with others
Make a level for a friend and watch them try it, as the game lets you share screenshots and videos of your play, including for streaming and reviews, according to its terms. Note that the published information doesn't describe uploading levels online, and the privacy policy says builder creations are stored locally, so sharing means showing, not sending.
Safety while building
Building often means kneeling and reaching. Take extra care: clear the floor of cables and objects, play in a well-lit room and stop if you feel dizzy or uncomfortable. Virtual blocks don't protect you from real furniture.
When you want more than building
The builder sits inside a full game: 200 levels, six upgradeable weapons, four modes (Deathmatch, Capture the Flag, Juggernaut, Survival) and abilities. Play the built-in levels for inspiration, then return to your own. See the Tank Avenger page for more or the store listing for the current price.
FAQ
What can I place in the Level Builder?
The game describes placing blocks on your coffee table, walls along your sofa and spawn points by the door.
Are my custom levels saved online?
No. The privacy policy says battlefields created in the Level Builder are stored locally on your headset and are not uploaded.
Do I need a lot of space to build?
No. A clear area of roughly 2 × 2 metres works well and a table can serve as the arena.
Who owns the levels I create?
According to the terms, levels you create are stored on your device and belong to you.
