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Work in Progress / YourCity - The City Simulator

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JoeOh
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Posted: 5th Dec 2012 11:47 Edited at: 18th Dec 2012 13:11
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EDIT: 12/18/2012 Roads can snap togeather now, 2 new road types, and you can toggle the network overlay on and off...

EDIT: 12/14/2012 Another update, still no replies....I know this project isn't much now, but come one....no one?

EDIT: 12/9/2012 I added newest version of the program. I added the option to turn the grid on and off, new road graphics, and other minor changes to the appearance of the program. I included the current usage instructions at the top left corner of the screen.

So far no replies from anyone. Either you all don't care about this project, or you all think I am just pulling your legs on doing this game like others have in the past. Perhaps there is another reason I am not thinking of why no one has offered their input on this project.

I guess I'll just keep working on this until I get some input from you all. This is starting to bum me out-

----------------------------------------------

I am currently in the middle of programming a City Simulator to see how far I can go with it. And so far I am cautiously optimistic on producing a quality City-Sim that can be either for the causal user, or hardcore "SimCity" veteran.

Programming the "Simulation" portion of the game is not TOO daunting for me, it's making the graphics work and making them look good E.I. user friendly but pretty.

Is this going to be able to compete with the new SimCity that is coming out next March? Of course not, but I think this can eventually grow into a truly customizable city simulator to sate all tastes.

Here's the newest screenshot of what I have now-



The unit of measurement I am using is that 1 game unit = 1 meter long. Each grid tile you see is 100 squared game units. So 10 grid tiles equals 1km of distance. Of course, the roads are not locked to the grid (as you see), it's there for now as a measuring stick. You can make roads at any length and angle you like.

Let me know what you think of the possibilities, or hinderances as well. Thanks

Home is where my souped-up computer is...

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JoeOh
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Posted: 5th Dec 2012 12:08 Edited at: 9th Dec 2012 07:00
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Here's what I have so far with the source code. I think I uploaded all the images that this program uses so far.

The input commands are as follows:

Left Mouse Button: Places the road nodes to make a road between 2 nodes. This road maker works fine on flat land and slight slopes. On slopes that are more than "slight" it acts finicky.

Middle Mouse Button: Pans the camera up and/or around the central focal point. While pressing the Middle Mouse, Press the shift key for slower skewing.

Arrow Keys (also WASD keys): moves the focal point around the terrain. The closer you zoom in, the slower you move and vice-versa.

EscapeKey: Exits program

This program uses the free version of Blitzwerks. If this project really moves ahead then I'll buy the full 2.0 and 3.0 when it comes out.

Also, let me know what framerate you are getting. I am getting about 40-60 fps on my modest-but moderen Toshiba laptop.

Thanks again!

Home is where my souped-up computer is...
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JoeOh
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Posted: 6th Dec 2012 05:40
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...Has anyone tried this yet? Are there problems running what I posted? Does it look that "Bad"?

Home is where my souped-up computer is...
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Derek Darkly
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Posted: 11th Jan 2013 22:14
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If I start the program and try to zoom all the way out (without making any roads)it gives me this error:

"Object does not exist at line 499. Object number not found: 50000"

Looks pretty good though, I'd like to try future updates.

D.D.
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MrValentine
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Playing: FFVII
Posted: 12th Jan 2013 00:01
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Quote: "Perhaps there is another reason I am not thinking of why no one has offered their input on this project. "


I only just received the RSS feed for this... that bump did the trick...

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Chris Tate
DBPro Master
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Posted: 12th Jan 2013 00:26 Edited at: 12th Jan 2013 00:29
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Quote: "Perhaps there is another reason I am not thinking of why no one has offered their input on this project.

I guess I'll just keep working on this until I get some input from you all. This is starting to bum me out-"


Why don't you provide your own input? Don't wait for people to provide input; just keep going. Input will come when things get more complete.

Be positive
Never persuade people to doubt your abilities. People will not trust that your project is worth looking at when the first few paragraphs in your post gives them a good reason to doubt that anybody else cares about your project. Your pitch is based on providing a logical reason to believe that the project must be terrible since no one replies. Don't say that!

Be realistic

People will more likely read something they take interest in. Try provide just a little more information about your work; so far there isn't much to read. Saying stuff like
Quote: "Is this going to be able to compete with the new SimCity that is coming out next March? Of course not, but I think this can eventually grow into a truly customizable city simulator to sate all tastes."
is not realistically going to excite anybody to read onward; how much time do you spend daily reading comments like that?

It shows a lack of belief in your own work; even though you probably are interested in it.

You just have to look at it as if it was someone elses project; what you want to read about?

Tell us what you have done since December? Why you are making this simulator? What features will it have? What tecniques will you use? Why?

More, more, more

Some more screenshots should also help; it takes about 3 seconds to look at your one image before changing the page, so it makes it even more difficult to talk about your work. Make it easier.

You will also get more downloads if you add more interesting features.

Talk!
As stated by Valentine; the only reason I've seen this project is because of that bump. Keep posting to make your project accessible; edits do not bump the thread, posts do.

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thenerd
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Posted: 15th Jan 2013 02:56
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Hey, don't get discouraged because people don't immediately reply. If anyone on the forum is like me, I browse threads that I see have new posts so like Chris said, keep posting! I believe I downloaded an older version and never had a chance to comment on it.

I've just downloaded your newest code, and I have a few comments.
First of all, it feels very fun to place roads in my opinion. I think you did a good job with that, the placement and connections work well.
That being said, I'm curious to see how you'll improve the system. One of the biggest areas for improvement would be a better system for creating intersections. A simple spline system could work, but most real-life roads don't curve into intersections. Another method would be to have an intersection be a flat block, with a different road texture. The connecting roads would deform to connect to the intersection's corner vertexes. On the note of vertex deforming, I'm sure you're already thinking about how to properly deform the road to the terrain
Overall, this is a great start. I like the road system you have set up, and the camera system was comfortable for me. Good luck with this project! I'll keep watching this thread, and don't get discouraged by lack of posts.

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JoeOh
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Posted: 15th Jan 2013 17:24
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I suppose I'm just spoiled by the usually "quick" responses provided by this forum in general. Don't worry, I'm not getting discouraged at all. I'm also showing this on the Simtropolis "Boomtown" forum and getting some good interest there. Apparently a person named Buggi has been working on the plans and details for a game like this but lacked the programming and graphics know-how to proceed.

Glad you all are liking what you are seeing. And yea, I fixed the issue that Derek brought up.

Now it's a matter of actually linking the road networks together in the code so cars can "drive" in the lanes and go to there destinations. After that I can start working on the buildings and zones.

Home is where my souped-up computer is...
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Nabz_32x
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Posted: 19th Jan 2013 17:12
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Hello, This is looking very promising,

glad to hear that you are working on the simulation aspect of your game first and then going to cosmetical changes.
I really like the look and feel of the terrain.

To handle road snapping on terrain, I would split the single plain you used for the roads into more smaller ones and snap their vertices y position to the according terrain height.

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JoeOh
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Posted: 19th Jan 2013 23:08
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the nerd, could you point me in the direction of some good methods of vertex deforming? I can figure out the "terrain snapping" part like Nabz mentioned, but it's joining up the vertex seams when 2 roads connect. The next step would be how to make the different types of intersections and intersection sizes using a reliable and reusable method.

Right now I better work on some of the road connection and intersection visuals before I go any further on the road transit network system. No use making a good RTS if the visuals and polygons dont match up right.

I'll post the full code and project if someone wants me to. It'll give a better idea on what methods I'm using to ensure idea compatibility.

Home is where my souped-up computer is...
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Nabz_32x
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Posted: 20th Jan 2013 00:32 Edited at: 20th Jan 2013 01:31
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Hi again, altering vertices is donw in dbpro with
lock vertexdata for limb
then use set vertexdata position to alter positions after that unlock your object using unlock vertexdata
for a plain you only have to position six vertices


Dividing the road plain into more subplains also helps
the road connections to look better.

Edit:corrected commands

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JoeOh
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Posted: 20th Jan 2013 03:27
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Nabz, I'm using enlongated boxes for my roads, if I used planes, they'd have spaces under them.

Also, how do I know I'm moving the correct vertex to the proper position? is there a display order for the vertexes on a box?

Home is where my souped-up computer is...
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Nabz_32x
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Posted: 20th Jan 2013 12:21
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I used trial and error, for six verteces thats no problem but for 36 it is quite a task, you could ease things up by using 3 plains for a subpart of your road, using one for the top and two for the sides. If you use a 3d modelling tool for such a subpiece you could just select every vertex and notice its number for the coding part.

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