Create 3D Worlds Without Coding: My VIVERSE Experience

By: Rrrr魚 — Edited by the VIVERSE Team

Creating an immersive 3D World isn’t an easy feat, but what if there was a tool that gives you the power to create 3D experiences without coding, 3D design, or even drawing experience?

As a writer for VIVERSE, I recently challenged myself to create my own World to see just how easy it is. So how was I — a writer with absolutely no background in digital creation — supposed to create a whole VIVERSE World?

To my surprise, it took little to no time to figure out VIVERSE’s intuitive drag-and-drop mechanics. The process turned out to be very therapeutic and reminded me of Zen and hands-on hobbies like pottery or metalwork.

Read on for the four key takeaways I discovered after creating my own World on VIVERSE. But first, here’s a quick look at the 3D World creator, VIVERSE Create, and the cute, adorable 3D World I created.

VIVERSE Create: The 3D Creation Tool for All

VIVERSE is a browser-based platform where you can create 3D worlds without coding, no extra downloads required. It comes with its own creation tool, VIVERSE Create, which has built-in templates and 3D objects. From Japanese-style houses to exhibition halls and swimming pools, they are all free to use and customize.

The sky is the limit for these templates and 3D spaces.

If that’s not enough and you want more creative freedom, you can install an extension to connect with the open-source 3D engine PlayCanvas, adding interactive features. In my case, I wanted to build an island, add food-pushing mechanics, display a mission progress bar, and have the game World play sound effects when the food hits the ground — all made possible through PlayCanvas.

➡️ Related Tip: Once you’ve finished creating your world, you can publish it instantly with VIVERSE Studio. It’s one of the simplest ways to create 3D worlds without coding and make them accessible on any device with just a browser.

My 3D World: Panda Fu Bao’s Island of Junk Food

Using the PlayCanvas extension, I created Fu Bao and the Island of Junk Food. The island is piled high with sugary and greasy temptations: strawberry cakes, donuts, chocolate popsicles, hot dogs, burgers, and fries. Cute? Yes. Healthy? Not so much. Visitors to this World become Fu Bao’s caretakers, with a simple mission: push all the junk food into the ocean. Once the island is cleared, the fluffy and adorable Fu Bao comes out to say hi.

And after you’ve taken care of the food… It’s time for quality panda time.

So, now you’ve seen my creation, it’s time to check out the four key takeaways from my time creating this culinary panda paradise!

1. Dream big but also dream realistically.

As a beginner, your goal isn’t to make something ultra-fancy, but to create something amazing, which can be two different things. My initial plan was to have an opening cutscene, complex interaction systems, and more.

In the end, I scaled back and focused on the core gameplay: push the food off the platform to make the panda appear. This straightforward mechanic was the foundation of the whole idea.

This concept originated from emotions at my previous job, where there were times when I wanted to flip a table in frustration. So, the only thing left to do was to create a therapeutic way to do that in the virtual world. The choice of junk food was a symbolic design made to showcase the temptations of high-calorie foods. And Fu Bao? Well, that’s because I’m a fan of Fu Bao, the first giant panda born through natural breeding in Korea in 2020.

2. Sketchfab has all this amazing stuff… for free?

Since I have no 3D modeling or design skills, I relied entirely on ready-made 3D models. Conveniently, PlayCanvas is integrated with Sketchfab, so I could browse its Asset Store to window shop for models right away.

It made me reminisce about the online games I played as a child, browsing the item shop and dreaming about spending my pocket money on a pet or a fancy outfit. But here, though, I didn’t have to worry about price, because many creators share their work under Creative Commons licenses on Sketchfab. Simply credit them, and you can download and use their models for free.

➡️ Pro tip: If you’re importing detailed 3D models, learning the basics of retopology ensures they run smoothly in real time. That way, when you create 3D worlds without coding, your environments remain performant and accessible.

3. Simply adjust sliders and numbers for instant interactions.

Once you’ve downloaded all your models, you now need to define their physical properties. It sounds technical, but once you understand the basics, it’s just clicking through menus.

In layperson’s terms, think of a 3D model as a visible ghost. You can see it, but you can’t interact with it. You need to add physical properties to the model.

For example, if you want the model to be pushed, you set it as a dynamic rigid body and adjust its restitution (bounciness) and friction, so it feels realistically bouncy and springy. Static objects like islands, trees, and signboards are set as static rigid bodies, so they stay put and don’t fall due to gravity.

So far, that’s the basic setup. To make a 3D world truly interactive and explorable, you need thoughtful level design. PlayCanvas is still a professional tool, so advanced features require coding — not ideal for someone like me who’s “allergic” to programming. That’s where VIVERSE’s extension tool really shines. Once your account is linked to PlayCanvas, you can use its built-in mission system.

Adding game mechanics to your World is very intuitive. You just have to select options and define their objectives. For example, I set it so that if a player falls off the island, they’re teleported back to the start. If a player pushes food into the ocean, the progress bar goes up, and a sound effect plays.

4. Your prototype and final World are just a URL away.

Ease and convenience define most of today’s tech tools, and VIVERSE nails that with its sharing system. In the past, updating a client or teammate on your latest progress meant re-exporting, renaming files, and sending new links — tedious and repetitive.

In VIVERSE Worlds, once you publish your virtual world, you get a permanent URL. Any changes saved in PlayCanvas instantly appear when someone refreshes the page. This streamlines progress sharing, especially when you’re making small version changes, without the hassle of file management. Of course, you should still back up important milestones, but for real-time updates and constant tweaking, this is a huge time-saver.

Final thoughts

After building Fu Bao’s Junk Food Island, I hope I’ve shown that to create 3D worlds without coding is not as far-fetched as it seems. Creating big (or small) 3D projects isn’t simply a task for programmers or expert game devs anymore.

With the VIVERSE Creator Program, you can now become a game dev with funding to turn your amazing ideas into 3D experiences for the world to enjoy. Whatever theme you have in mind, now’s the perfect time to start!

➡️ Next step: Join the VIVERSE Creator Program to create 3D worlds without coding, monetize your projects, and share your immersive art, games, and spaces with a global audience.

The VIVERSE Creator Program reviews submissions on a rolling basis, so you can set your own timeline without being bound by fixed deadlines. You can enjoy building your World and even have a chance to earn rewards.

Here are some amazing VIVERSE Worlds that I really enjoyed exploring. Some of them were so ridiculous that I literally choked on my drink laughing. Maybe you’ll find inspiration in them and start bringing your ideas to life.

In a Hurry? Here’s the Quick Version 📝

Building in and for VIVERSE is easier than you think. If you want the highlights, here are the essentials of how to create 3D worlds without coding:

• Anyone can build: VIVERSE Create lets you design immersive spaces with drag-and-drop tools — no coding skills needed.
• Start simple: Dream big, but focus on achievable core mechanics first.
• Use free assets: Sketchfab’s library has countless ready-made 3D models.
• Add interactivity easily: PlayCanvas sliders and menus bring worlds to life without code.
• Publish instantly: With VIVERSE Studio, your world has a permanent URL that updates in real time.
• Go further: The VIVERSE Creator Program helps you share, monetize, and grow globally.