CityMania

[JoeST]

I found a few bits and bobs from UrbsUrbis yesterday, am trying to upload them to github but its not working...<http://github.com/FallingBullets/CityMania-UUstuff>

EDIT: Its all up now

[Atomius]

Whilst i am working on my own city sim project Atocity (at http://atomius.110mb.com/atocity.htm) but wouldn't mind doing something for yours as well. However i am not good at scripting so i doubt i could do much for your project (mine is made using Game Maker). However i wish you the best of luck with your project. I did TRY to learn C++ mind you, i just wasn't good at it. Same with maths.

However i'll keep an eye on your project. Croxis at Simtropolis says it would be good if all the city sim projects joined forces, and i reckon if all sc4 fans helped, or all those who had skills and time on their hands did, we could build a great game worthy of what 5 would have been if not better. However limited OpenCity, LinCity etc are they prove that such a project CAN work, if done right, and prove you don't need to be a company to make a good game. Simutrans is a great game and is entirely non commercial.

However as i stink at scripting C (i understand an element of it i just have a terrible working memory... same with maths) i doubt i could be of much use except as bug tester, idea suggester etc... and i'm sure you already have plenty of eager non scripting individuals brimming with ideas already... So quite frankly i can't think of much i can contribute to your project, although Croxis suggested i visit this site anyway.

Good luck with your project.

[croxis]

I have some questions for ye.  What parts were the hardest to code for?  What, code wise, structure do you have?  If you could go back and start over with a full rewrite what would you do differently?  Keep the same?

[townscape]

Hey look at this : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Urban_planning
If you have some time to read it shows just what a city simulator should be.

[Atomius]

What parts were the hardest to code for?

Well much of the more simpler stuff was done using drag and drop actions. The elements i used GML for that got the most complex were those associated with things like land value, creating diagonal roads, menus etc I imagine that when i get to having AI in the game that will definitely be the most complex part to script.


What, code wise, structure do you have?

Well since i use GM the whole project is structured by folders and subfolders.

If you could go back and start over with a full rewrite what would you do differently?  Keep the same?

Well atm i'm still working on expanding the project, and i doubt i'll rewrite it till i make it 3D some time in the future, but i imagine i wouldn't change much if i did rewrite it. The game has been rewritten completely nine times (it's in it's eighth version now) and this version is going well.

Also to townscape- yes i reckon we should, or anyone working on a similar project should, do some proper actual research for it. I reckon the internets got plenty of info on subjects as broad as urban planning or as more concentrated as say speed limits around the globe, and with this info we could make a really realistic game.

Not to go off topic but i remember one of the main reasons i enjoyed Simcity so much was i always was interested in town planning when i was younger.

[Nique]

It's good to see that you people are getting more and more involved with the project. This was my first goal. With this topic i've shown you guys that anything is possible. There is no limit because you create your own limit by saying for example: "This won't work as we have no studio / money". If we really want to create the SC5 sequel.. it will be created!

Even if it takes 10 years, so be it. Before i started this project, i knew nothing about C# and Visual Studio for example... The only baggage i had, was the knowledge of PHP (a object oriented language) and semi-pro photoshop usage.

I hope that the 'real' pro .. programmers are inspired and take the hard job on their shoulders as i have only some base knowledge about C# for now. In the next 4 years i am doing a Game / Multimedia Design college. This will help me in the future, but for sure: not now.  I have faith this project will go somewhere and wont die and i hope that when this game it's first release has been out, i will be remembered as the person who was the glue between the team members (and inspired them to work on it). For now i say, i do whatever i can, as far as my knowledge goes. If you guys have any questions, please ask me.

On github, there is a very very base / kick-off project/framework written using mogre to start/play with.

[Atomius]

Well i am fully behind the idea of a successor to Simcity 4 and i agree that as long as it takes and how much effort it takes it's a worthwhile venture, so i'll do the best i can for it. I may as well list my strengths and weaknesses to help you get a feel of what i can contribute to the project.

My main weakness is mathematics, unfortunate considering i like making video games, and other languages, also rather unfortunate (i have been learning C++ in my spare time for about half a month  but still am not that good with it to make anything beyond a simple calculation program/hello world type program) However i will try to develop my knowledge of C++

My main strength is english, and writing. Arts i am not terribly creative with, i am allright at basic 2D sprite design but of course this is a 3d project. I have a small amount of experience using the BAT for Simcity, and a meagre understanding of 3D graphics/design. Musically i am learning to make MIDI music but didn't study music theory so my creations, whilst not abominable (at least to me) are not fully orthodox.

GML and GM i am getting better at but of course i doubt that'll be of much use beyond the fact GML shares some similarities with C++

Urban planning i have always been interested in, i remember when i was really young (five to ten) i loved maps and street directories and atlases... That's what got me into Simcity actually. I have a general knowledge of the basic patterns of urban development and having played Simcity i have that experience too, and am a fan of the Simcity series, it is my favorite video game(s).

Being a fan of simulation versus rpg/fps games i am also dedicated to this project idea because i see so much effort put into rpg/fps style games and barely any releases of good sim games lately.

The main things i could contribute atm to the project beyond giving ideas and suggestions (and i'm sure theres enough people who could do that haha) would be beta testing (keep in mind my pc isn't top of the range so if the game was too slow...) and researching, i.e i could do online research on urban planning, to help the games realism (i.e looking up the average costs of power plant maintenance or somesuch thing, which could save you time i suppose)

I will however try my hardest for the project in all areas i can do any good in.

[croxis]

Never underestimate the need for a good writer.  Someone has to write all the internal content strings and game documentation.

[townscape]

Hmm now that your game is more and more separating itself from Simcity 4, wouldn't the "simcity 4 clone" phrase seem a little radical?
maybe change it to "greatly inspired by Simcity 4"?

[croxis]

Yes

[Atomius]

Actually one of the things i found i was good at in Atocity was making the newspaper strings. I was inspired by Simcity 2000's system. Hmm yes i'm fairly good with writing game guides and such.

[Nique]

The game summary is rewritable by the mods. If you want to change it, please, i insist.  (croxis you can add your (and if other) name(s) to the dev list. I'm really sorry for not being here for a while, but i had a lot of work to do with school-projects lately.

I do not forget, and read most of the posts but i cannot reply because i have not enough.. i sleep only 5 hours per night at the moment for example ) .. ciao!


And.. i really want to thank tomkeus and croxis for their support and their hard work so far, really i'm really excited about this! thanks allot guys!

[Gringamuyloca]

OK.. enough lurking ...

I so love what you want to do! And for me ,Dirk  has it right!. For me SC4 (RH and Mods,etc) is a toy!.... that never wears out... and gets better with age... (where would this toy be without the contributions of our Modders, Lotters and Batters  ) (and let us not forget the Goddess that ensures we never lose our way!)

Nique et al.: I don`t have much to offer other than encouragement and hope! If there is some way I can contribute, CALL ME!... well PM me..

Wishing you Blessings in disguise...

       

[powerpill-pacman]

Great project going on here. I'd really like to help, but my programming skills equal zero.
I'm pretty sure, there's a lot of work to do until there even is an alpha-version and many tasks will pop up out of nowhere.
So if there's any 'stupid' work that needs to be done, just pm and i'll try to help.
Also, i'd really like to contribute to this project by adding sound and music.
Keep up the great work and thanks very much so far.

[Atomius]

Ok well i see things are slowing a bit here... But i will continue checking this forum every day anyway... I really am committed to the cause of making a community built 'simcity 5'... My own project (lately renamed Virtucity) is going slow... i've decided that because:

1. we're all pretty much in agreement all these community built city sim game projects should join for one united effort

and

2. my programming skills are so weak i'd have trouble making a 'hello world' program without looking up some stuff/my math skills are envied by only snails, mice and invertebrates

that Virtucity will aim to make a great DIMETRIC city sim game (like simcity 2000), whereas the others are mostly making 3d ones. i still might turn it 3d in the future, but lots of people still like simcity 2000... so making a dimetric one can't be that insane an idea

As for this project... well i'll try to do as much as i can for it but i've recently been doing some writing work and i have little programming skills... but as always i'll try my best

[townscape]

In the roadmap and design document I haven't noticed any point including how industries and offices work.

[Nique]

In the roadmap and design document I haven't noticed any point including how industries and offices work.

Because it isn't finished

[townscape]

What point should it be in? Or what new point should be included?

I was thinking about it and thought that warehouses that would grow on industrial zones would have a demand of their own which would depend on monthly production.
Production would be of different types and influence demand of different industrial types. It would balance itself by export and would not influence budget, only through tax generation of the industries that produce.

This leads to the idea of freight which is passed through warehouses before going to rail stations, aerial or naval freight.
The warehouse would be a point of distribution. From there it would go to the commercial services or to the freight stations to export.
This will have only a small impact on traffic.

[dragonshardz]

What about places to produce goods for the warehouses to store? Perhaps warehouses could be a subset of industrial zoning. As in, you could zone for industrial (agriculture), industrial (production), industrial (storage), and industrial (consumption).

Industrial (agriculture): rather self-explanatory.
Industrial (production): Industries that produce raw materials.
Industrial (storage): Warehousing. 'Nuff said.
Industrial (consumption): Industries that consume raw materials and send finished products back to Industrial (Storage) to be distributed to Commercial Services.

[townscape]

How about rename them to

Agriculture

Industrial (Primary Producers);
Industrial (Secondary Producers);
Industrial (Storage);

Also the ideas above will make offices make sence because they would be the ones distributing production (on paper) to the commercial services sector.
Office demand would be regulated by the needs of all the other types of businesses like accounting and paperwork. All this is to give a purpose to the offices and industry more than a generator of job places and traffic volume that disappears into nowhere. Production would be a value that balances itself through the whole region.

The products would not dissapear but go to places where they are needed or create an overproduction crisis. Another good reason a building would dilapidate and get abandoned besides the "no-workers".

I don't quite well remember why did demand fall and buildings would delapitate in simcity 4? Because the buildings built on high demand lowered it?