Atocity Project

[Doofenshmirtz 0]

Atocity is a city simulation game project i have been working on since late 2005. Please note before i continue that (1) this is not an advertisement, (2) the game is not profit driven and is free to download and that (3) i originally posted this in the 'Off Topic' board but, seeing a similar thread here, thought perhaps this was a better board (i was originally unsure of whether this was only limited to video games made by the companies... but seeing Neotrezz's thread i felt i should post this here as it seems to be the correct board)

http://atomius.110MB.com/atocity.htm

^ the link to the official project site.

Neotrezz has mentioned an idea i'd had for some years on starting a team for such a project, and i have a proboards forum linked to the site which would allow for infrastructure for such a operation- And of course if anyone here wishes to join i'd be happy, but also this thread can serve to discuss the project and the idea behind it.

The idea behind my project was the same as that other one, the name of which i forget, Simcity Societies. Like many fellow Simcity fans i was hoping expectantly for 5 to be what we'd all dreamed of, a great city sim game with all the features we'd expect. And then in late 07 we got Societies, which in not just my opinion was a bit less than what we'd expected.

The project had technically begun in late 2005 as a simple Game Maker experiment, as i had recently downloaded GM and Simcity being my favorite game i felt city simulation was the path i should go down with this hobby of mine. But when Societies came and seeing projects like the one i before mentioned, i decided to in earnest attempt, if not to make something as good as Simcity, to make something with the same gameplay and general style and purpose.

The ultimate aim of the project is like Heaven to a religious person. It's something to aim for, but one shouldn't be too preoccupied concentrating on Heaven when there are issues down here to solve. (Not saying anything against religion mind you, just using an analogy) The ultimate aim is to create a fully 3d city sim with all the features we wanted in 5, that is a full 3d view capability, more options etc etc... and My own personal goal of making a sort of mixture of Streets of Simcity, The Sims and Simcity in one mega-game.

Yes it's not very likely, but we can always try. As a matter of principle at the very least. And also before i go on please don't think i'm trying to draw attention from Neotrezz's project. Competition is healthy for this sort of thing, as all such projects have a common cause, and can be symbiotic i'm sure. I commend his graphics which are far more advanced than my own isometric dimetric ones inspired by Simcity 2000.

But in the meanwhile i'd love to hear your thoughts on the project, the cause of city simulation games not made by the big companies, and on the vague notion of setting up a team in general. This would be the site after all to recruit.

A few stats on the present project status to give you a general indication of it's progress:

version 7.0 completed, version 7.1 in the works

100 by 100 isometric dimetric tile (limited by speed considerations and only speed considerations mind you)

isometric dimetric graphics, one view (i.e no turning of city map)

city data map primitive but workable (script written by Evilish and posted at Yoyo Games website forums)

four zoom levels using view altering code

no automata i.e cars, people etc for speed consideration reasons

basic MIDI music i made, pretty weak stuff but we're not all Beethoven

graphics below 2000 par mostly because someone very rightly suggested i concentrate on game engine and gameplay and not on 'bells and whistles'

primitive menu system with a few bugs

Most tools found in Simcity, i.e bulldoze, landscape etc. terrain forming primitive and isometric, edges (slopes) nonexistent thus gives landscape blocky feel

Simple but usable query tool system

basic game engine based on global variables of various elements such as demand etc

Simple demand system

Simple newspaper (incomplete and highly offtopic)

etc

you get the general idea.

Ideas, suggestions, feedback (if you decide to download it), and discussion of the project and it's aim in general  and the possibility of setting up a team would be great