The Grid
Welcome to The Grid — the infinite universe of A New World: Grids.
What is The Grid?
The Grid is the game world. It's not a single map — it's an endlessly expanding universe made up of Zones, each owned and customized by players. Every texture, object, sound, and script in a zone is defined by its owner and streamed from the cloud at runtime.
Think of it as an infinite canvas. Some zones are bustling public spaces — malls, arenas, art galleries. Others are private creative workshops or invite-only hangouts. The only limit is what you can imagine.
The Nexus
Every player starts in The Nexus — the origin point of The Grid at coordinates (0, 0). The Nexus is the central hub maintained by the development team. It serves as:
- Spawn point — where all new players begin
- Social hub — meet other players, form groups, find friends
- Marketplace — browse and purchase assets, textures, scripts, and models
- Directory — discover and teleport to public zones
- Tutorial — learn how to build, script, and customize
- Event space — seasonal events, competitions, and announcements
The Nexus is always public and cannot be owned or modified by players.
Zones
A Zone is a discrete region of The Grid owned by a player. When you purchase a zone, you get a volume of space at specific coordinates within The Grid. You control everything inside it:
- Build — place blocks, ramps, cylinders, and custom models
- Texture — apply custom or AI-generated textures to any surface
- Script — attach JavaScript/TypeScript behaviors to objects
- Sound — add ambient audio, sound effects, and music
- Rules — enable/disable PvP, flight, gravity, weather, and more
- Access — set your zone to public, friends-only, invite-only, or private
Zone Sizes
Zones come in four tiers:
| Tier | Dimensions | Best For |
|---|---|---|
| Plot | 64 × 64 × 64 | Personal builds, small shops, homes |
| District | 256 × 256 × 128 | Malls, arenas, galleries, clubs |
| Region | 1024 × 1024 × 256 | Cities, open worlds, adventure maps |
| Realm | 4096 × 4096 × 512 | Massive shared worlds |
Zones are purchased with Grid Credits — the in-game currency. See Credits & Purchasing for details.
Zone Visibility
Every zone has a visibility setting:
- Public — anyone can enter, appears in search and the directory
- Friends Only — only your friends list can enter
- Invite Only — requires an explicit invite from the zone owner
- Private — only the owner can enter (great for work-in-progress builds)
Getting Around
Portals
Zone owners can place portals that link to other zones. Walk into a portal and you'll be transported to the destination zone. The Nexus has a directory of portals to featured and popular zones.
Teleporting
Open the zone browser overlay and teleport directly to any zone you have access to. Teleporting to non-adjacent zones costs a small amount of credits.
Walking
Zones that share a border can enable seamless traversal — walk right from one zone into the next without any loading screen.
Zone Discovery
Find new zones to explore:
- Directory — searchable catalog in The Nexus and the overlay UI
- Featured — hand-picked by the dev team, rotating weekly
- Trending — sorted by visitor count and recent activity
- Categories — shopping, gaming, social, creative, education, and more
- Friends — see which zones your friends are visiting
What's Next?
- Sub-Zones & Renting — subdivide your zone and rent space to other players
- Credits & Purchasing — how the in-game economy works
- Zone Permissions — roles, access control, and moderation
- Zone API — developer API endpoints for zones