Comment by keerthiko | Hacker News Reader

Comment by keerthiko | Hacker News Reader

Parent Full thread

The complexity and existing implementations of traffic AI in these kinds of games makes me wonder whether it's possible to get Google to make a generalizable Google maps engine for any 2D map, with a well-defined addressing system and multiple transit options with stops and routes.

- networked simultaneous agent navigation for real-time traffic reporting etc

- rerouting after mistakes

- comparing multiple transit options from flexible (walking/driving) to fixed-line (public transit, flights, waterways)

- handling updates to the routes, addresses, and the map in general

It would be especially cool if it could handle any kinds of transit determined by general traits (ground/air/water, speed, flex/fixed-stop, fuel type, passenger count) so you could even use it for a fantasy town with a dragon-drawn carriage and a catbus.

Unrelated, I find it depressingly amusing that the simulation was built with automotive traffic being the default and only way people can live their lives, and public transit and pedestrianism is a "TODO", much like many major cities in the world (esp. outside EU/east Asia). Once those are implemented, I'd love a fork of this project that straight up doesn't have cars. I would like to see the emergent effects (or failures) of a city that is forced to grow around pedestrians and trains.

Believe me, it is just as depressingly amusing for me, coming from Europe. Cars were simply the most important to have first, since they offer both short and long distance travel for simulated citizens. I very much want it to be possible to have pedestrian/transit only cities and everything in between.

Probably something far down on your potential TODO list, but in the Netherlands, one interesting factor is the canals. This allows e.g. many parts of a city centre to be mostly car-free, without preventing shops from getting restocked - which can happen via water.

Relatively niche, but could be a fun gameplay element. Of course, speaking of the Netherlands, bicycle transportation is enormously interesting already.

A kind of metric for Citybound for me is "can some of the world's most interesting/unique cities happen organically in it" - so canals would be an example of that.

Which cities have their stores supplied via water & have car-free city centres? You make it sound like its a common thing and I’ve never heard or seen shops being supplied by canals

Oh sorry, I did not meant to imply that it was a common thing, merely that it was an option that happened in some places. Where I live is one (but I'd rather not disclose that), and I'd thing most of the larger cities with many canals do so, as they tend to be more resistant to cars in their centres.

I definitely agree with your statement about how vehicle-centric cities are; I wish it was different in real life!

It would be cool for Google to do that, if they open sourced it and didn't put any tracking software in...

Honestly as a game developer I would use it even if it was closed source and full of tracking as long as it was performant and flexible and easy to use, things which google is good at.

Unless I was making a game focused on protecting the privacy of my virtual citizens...

Reply on news.ycombinator.com