[HN Gopher] Egregoria: 3D City Builder without a grid
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       Egregoria: 3D City Builder without a grid
        
       Author : dosshell
       Score  : 97 points
       Date   : 2023-07-22 20:07 UTC (2 hours ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (github.com)
 (TXT) w3m dump (github.com)
        
       | digdugdirk wrote:
       | Are there any examples of sim games like this being used by real
       | cities? I could imagine it'd be a useful visualization for where
       | tax revenues are generated/utilized at the very least.
        
         | samstave wrote:
         | I have brought this up a few times, we need a ux on top of open
         | city data so we can run simulations, and compare that with ai
         | outcomes as also compared to actually municipal policy outcomes
        
         | riidom wrote:
         | I remember a software, where you could take real world streets,
         | run traffic simulations on it, and also make changes to the
         | street layout. Basically, fix the crossing that costs time on
         | your commute every day.
         | 
         | I read about it many years ago, sadly forgot its name and a bit
         | of searching didn't make it show up. So leaving this here in
         | hope someone knows what I am talking about and drops a link.
         | I'd like to read up on what happened to the project as well.
        
           | dabreegster wrote:
           | Hi! https://a-b-
           | street.github.io/docs/project/history/retrospect... has a
           | summary of where the project went. The original scope of the
           | traffic simulation was too grandiose, and it was hard to
           | influence real decision-making with something so complex and
           | buggy. A/B Street morphed into several simpler tools focused
           | on specific problems (removing through-traffic through an
           | area, estimating uptake of new cycle lanes). I'm focused more
           | on web-based tools for gov use these days, but will get back
           | to simulation someday!
        
           | adjagu wrote:
           | A/B Street seems like a good candidate.
           | 
           | https://github.com/a-b-street/abstreet
        
             | riidom wrote:
             | Exactly that! Thank you :)
        
         | crooked-v wrote:
         | One problem with that idea: sim games almost all
         | (intentionally) model only a tiny fraction of the insane
         | parking requirements in most US cities.
        
         | jazzyjackson wrote:
         | Not sure who the client would have been but i've seen traffic
         | simulations that would be useful to city planners
         | 
         | https://www.tracc.anl.gov/joomla/index.php/transims-visualiz...
        
       | tempodox wrote:
       | On macOS:
       | 
       | > Unable to open libEGL
       | 
       | No idea where to get that.
       | 
       | And,
       | 
       | > thread 'main' panicked at 'texture not found at path:
       | assets/sprites/blue_noise_512.png
        
         | NegativeLatency wrote:
         | cd to the dir of the binary first
        
           | tempodox wrote:
           | Yep, that works. Thanks!
        
       | buildbot wrote:
       | I wonder what happens if you add an LLM behind each person,
       | reading the readme, apparently individuals are simmed and can
       | have impact. Hmmm
        
       | LargeTomato wrote:
       | This is awesome. I like cities skylines but I prefer the
       | simulation aspect to the gamified aspect.
        
         | Pannoniae wrote:
         | Yeah. Cities: Skylines just feels so soulless to me. It's like
         | me looking at a model railway - it might look cute but it's
         | just dead. The game is effectively a traffic simulator, with
         | citizens not really having agency (beyond the Chirper which
         | most people are annoyed by), and next to zero economic
         | management. No mixed zoning or organic growth, you effectively
         | run a completely planned economy. There's not much external
         | trade or a real economy which needs all sorts of skills to
         | function. It feels really eery and creepy to me.
        
       | barbazoo wrote:
       | This looks really good, congrats.
       | 
       | > in Rust
       | 
       | > Egregoria is an indie city builder, mostly inspired by
       | Cities:Skylines.
       | 
       | I tried to find out what techbuilt with and it seems like it's
       | Unity and C# which surprised me a bit, but it's cool to hear.
        
         | solardev wrote:
         | Why is that surprising? Isn't a typical engine for games?
        
       | thih9 wrote:
       | I'm curious if a 2d renderer could work too, in theory.
       | 
       | Is 3d camera an important factor in a modern, complex city
       | building game?
        
       | swayvil wrote:
       | In submenu 66.3.105.44.9.2 you get to select the fasteners used
       | to affix 12 mil vinyl barn siding. This game is deep!
        
         | dmvdoug wrote:
         | Those are the best kind!
        
       | YesBox wrote:
       | I wish the dev could work on this full time! What he has
       | accomplished so far is amazing. (Hi Uriopass, if you see this!)
       | 
       | Im working on a game in the same vein: Metropolis 1998, a city
       | builder with real time traffic and interior building views, which
       | you can design yourself if you want. Aesthetically, it's a
       | beautiful throwback to the games I grew up playing as a kid.
       | 
       | https://store.steampowered.com/app/2287430/Metropolis_1998/
        
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       (page generated 2023-07-22 23:00 UTC)