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Serious question: Would anyone be interested in a version of SimCity Classic that ran in the browser? (Playable offline, of course!) In what ways do you think

Serious question: Would anyone be interested in a version of SimCity Classic that ran in the browser? (Playable offline, of course!) In what ways do you think it could be brought up to date with modern technology, without spoiling the fun of the original game? What do you like about the original SimCity Classic? And what do you think should be changed or added? What I'd really appreciate is advice on how to fund the development. Kickstarter is out because I'm not in the United States, but I'm considering Indiegogo, but open to alternatives, especially ones focused on open source and educational software.

DanBC 13y ago
I used to play simcity classic on a hercules monitor. I would like to play it in the browser. Things I'd like to see: Nice graphics. Doesn't have to be high res or anything, just nice. Perhaps allow tilesets to be used so the community could easily create and share tiles. Easy laying of road and track. I remember the odd rubber banding of classic being a bit frustrating. Some nice easy to use terrain editor. Some social features? Allow more than one person to work on a terrain map at a time? (I understand this raises complexity significantly). Or Allow people to passively view the terrain and sent chat suggestions? Have a free play version, and a well tested challenges version with a wide variety of challenges. Eg "last X years", "grow to Y size", "survive these disasters", "earn Z money" etc. Have a way for me to pay you. I much prefer a single payment for full access rather than a freemium model. (Wait x hours to collect enough coins to build this road, or unlock coins for $x now!!" Would not be pleasant. Hope these are some use!
- SimHacker 13y ago
  Definitely it needs user editable tile sets, for 2D mode. And nice info visualizations of the simulator state and data layers. And I think it would be great to create buildings with digital bricks (Legos), and render them in 3D -- that would make it fun and easy to create your own buildings with existing tools. And integrating browser based building editing tools into the game would be even better! See my other post with details and links: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7052399 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7052399
- SimHacker 13y ago
  I think the easiest way to lay road and track is to drive a road laying vehicle around: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jkVBg_-OviI http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jkVBg_-OviI Definitely a terrain editor, plus more tweakable procedural terrain generation. There are many interesting ways to support multiple players, beyond the "cooperative committee with god mode limited by unanimous voting on expensive things" approach I implemented with the X11/TCL/Tk version: http://www.donhopkins.com/home/movies/SimCityNetDemo.mov http://www.donhopkins.com/home/movies/SimCityNetDemo.mov Your friends could fly helicopters around your city, reporting on problems, or just chatting with you as you drive your brick laying machine around to make roads. Your enemies could fly drones around and turn your citizens into terrorists by bombing their wedding parties. Your governor could conspire to cause terrible traffic jams by closing lanes on your bridges. Deconstruct the god mode tool pallet into something more like Magic the Gathering cards, that have particular tailored zones, purposes and budgets that multiple players can win, trade and play. The code must be open source, and the basic game free down download and play (online or off), but I'd like to think of a revenue model that will support the development of the game, as well as educational courseware (for free educational use). I don't think many people would pay to download other people's cities, but maybe artists/architects could sell their buildings in an online real-estate (virtual-estate?) market like eBay. I'm seeking advice and suggestions about how to fund the development and support running it! It's futile to pitch an educational game to a big publisher like EA, but Indiegogo may be a good route. Are there other alternatives focused on open source or educational software? I would really appreciate some mentoring and guidance from people experienced with that.
BlackDeath3 13y ago
Why would it run in a browser?
- SimHacker 13y ago
  Because I rewrote it in JavaScript! ;)
  - BlackDeath3 13y ago
    Fair enough, I suppose. Why JavaScript?
    - SimHacker 13y ago
      So it will run in the the browser? Or node.js, if you like.
      - BlackDeath3 13y ago
        It runs in the browser, because you wrote it in JavaScript, so that it will run in the browser...? I was curious as to why you would target the browser at all, but whatever roasts your toast, man. Enjoy game development!
        SimHacker 13y ago
        Haven't you heard? Lots of people use browsers. Google it, you'll be amazed.
        BlackDeath3 13y ago
        So availability of the platform dominated other facets of the technical design? OK, sounds like the typical "JS for everything!" philosophy to me, but again, whatever works for you. Don't get your nuts in a twist, I was really just curious about your decision.

DanBC 13y ago

I used to play simcity classic on a hercules monitor. I would like to play it in the browser. Things I'd like to see: Nice graphics. Doesn't have to be high res or anything, just nice. Perhaps allow tilesets to be used so the community could easily create and share tiles. Easy laying of road and track. I remember the odd rubber banding of classic being a bit frustrating. Some nice easy to use terrain editor. Some social features? Allow more than one person to work on a terrain map at a time? (I understand this raises complexity significantly). Or Allow people to passively view the terrain and sent chat suggestions? Have a free play version, and a well tested challenges version with a wide variety of challenges. Eg "last X years", "grow to Y size", "survive these disasters", "earn Z money" etc. Have a way for me to pay you. I much prefer a single payment for full access rather than a freemium model. (Wait x hours to collect enough coins to build this road, or unlock coins for $x now!!" Would not be pleasant. Hope these are some use!

SimHacker 13y ago
Definitely it needs user editable tile sets, for 2D mode. And nice info visualizations of the simulator state and data layers. And I think it would be great to create buildings with digital bricks (Legos), and render them in 3D -- that would make it fun and easy to create your own buildings with existing tools. And integrating browser based building editing tools into the game would be even better! See my other post with details and links: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7052399 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7052399
SimHacker 13y ago
I think the easiest way to lay road and track is to drive a road laying vehicle around: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jkVBg_-OviI http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jkVBg_-OviI Definitely a terrain editor, plus more tweakable procedural terrain generation. There are many interesting ways to support multiple players, beyond the "cooperative committee with god mode limited by unanimous voting on expensive things" approach I implemented with the X11/TCL/Tk version: http://www.donhopkins.com/home/movies/SimCityNetDemo.mov http://www.donhopkins.com/home/movies/SimCityNetDemo.mov Your friends could fly helicopters around your city, reporting on problems, or just chatting with you as you drive your brick laying machine around to make roads. Your enemies could fly drones around and turn your citizens into terrorists by bombing their wedding parties. Your governor could conspire to cause terrible traffic jams by closing lanes on your bridges. Deconstruct the god mode tool pallet into something more like Magic the Gathering cards, that have particular tailored zones, purposes and budgets that multiple players can win, trade and play. The code must be open source, and the basic game free down download and play (online or off), but I'd like to think of a revenue model that will support the development of the game, as well as educational courseware (for free educational use). I don't think many people would pay to download other people's cities, but maybe artists/architects could sell their buildings in an online real-estate (virtual-estate?) market like eBay. I'm seeking advice and suggestions about how to fund the development and support running it! It's futile to pitch an educational game to a big publisher like EA, but Indiegogo may be a good route. Are there other alternatives focused on open source or educational software? I would really appreciate some mentoring and guidance from people experienced with that.

BlackDeath3 13y ago

Why would it run in a browser?

SimHacker 13y ago
Because I rewrote it in JavaScript! ;)
- BlackDeath3 13y ago
  Fair enough, I suppose. Why JavaScript?
  - SimHacker 13y ago
    So it will run in the the browser? Or node.js, if you like.
    - BlackDeath3 13y ago
      It runs in the browser, because you wrote it in JavaScript, so that it will run in the browser...? I was curious as to why you would target the browser at all, but whatever roasts your toast, man. Enjoy game development!
      - SimHacker 13y ago
        Haven't you heard? Lots of people use browsers. Google it, you'll be amazed.
        BlackDeath3 13y ago
        So availability of the platform dominated other facets of the technical design? OK, sounds like the typical "JS for everything!" philosophy to me, but again, whatever works for you. Don't get your nuts in a twist, I was really just curious about your decision.