Synekism - A New City Simulation Game

[moeom 1]

Hey guys, i have decided to give it a neat test. So i started using Montreal map as a base and this is what i have so far. The simplicity makes it addictive. In my first city, i was just getting massive high rises which i didn't want. I know you guys are working on that matter, but i think building the Governmental Zoning has a huge effect on the buildings and i believe it should be lowered. So in this try, i tried to make it more realistic and make sure i dont place too many High Density Commercial and Residential Zoning near them.

Overview

North Shore looking at the West Side of the city

West Side: The residential area of the city with a few Governmental and Commercial Zoning.

A view of the City's Harbor

Downtown Skyline... Work in progress

Overall, as stated earlier, addicting as hell even without the insane details. Its just the fact that its simple to use. One thing i have an issue with is the zoning. So many times i get the angle too small and on other instances its not an issue. But i learn to work around it. Good program though, i would tell people to give it a go and join in on the "alpha" testing.

[Yelmond 19]

Overall, as stated earlier, addicting as hell even without the insane details. Its just the fact that its simple to use. One thing i have an issue with is the zoning. So many times i get the angle too small and on other instances its not an issue. But i learn to work around it. Good program though, i would tell people to give it a go and join in on the "alpha" testing.

Oh my, we REALLY need to fix those crazy highrises. Anti-aliasing would also be nice. Except for the highrises, which are our fault, the city looks amazing so far. As a note, government buildings are required for high density buildings to develop at all (but med or low density buildings will still develop on high density lots). Furthermore, you can see the affect of the government buildings by turning on the "Land Value" data view under options (the gear button at the top-right corner). High density gov buildings have a larger area of effect than lower density. I would actually be curious to see the "Density" data view of your city.

Some questions:

1. How come you didn't use a finer detail map of Montreal with all the smaller streets?

2. Besides the bad-road-angle-false-alarms were there other annoyances?

3. We're about to change our save file format drastically. Would you say backwards compatibility is important to you? (this is more of a confirmation than a question)

4. Did you find the new (road-perpendicular-lots) zoning layout more or less realistic or natural than the old one. If you never played Synekism pre-0.4.5 the old layout looked like this:

PS: Thanks for putting the "" around "alpha" testing.

[moeom 1]

Overall, as stated earlier, addicting as hell even without the insane details. Its just the fact that its simple to use. One thing i have an issue with is the zoning. So many times i get the angle too small and on other instances its not an issue. But i learn to work around it. Good program though, i would tell people to give it a go and join in on the "alpha" testing.

Oh my, we REALLY need to fix those crazy highrises. Anti-aliasing would also be nice. Except for the highrises, which are our fault, the city looks amazing so far. As a note, government buildings are required for high density buildings to develop at all (but med or low density buildings will still develop on high density lots). Furthermore, you can see the affect of the government buildings by turning on the "Land Value" data view under options (the gear button at the top-right corner). High density gov buildings have a larger area of effect than lower density. I would actually be curious to see the "Density" data view of your city.

Some questions:

1. How come you didn't use a finer detail map of Montreal with all the smaller streets?

2. Besides the bad-road-angle-false-alarms were there other annoyances?

3. We're about to change our save file format drastically. Would you say backwards compatibility is important to you? (this is more of a confirmation than a question)

4. Did you find the new (road-perpendicular-lots) zoning layout more or less realistic or natural than the old one. If you never played Synekism pre-0.4.5 the old layout looked like this:

PS: Thanks for putting the "" around "alpha" testing.

1. I wasn't going for a direct replica, it was more of an idea on how the island was shaped and i was more interested with the major roads. And to add to that, i couldnt find a more detailed one. If i get to work on another city, i will try to find one that is more detailed and try to replicate it. But i like it the way it is now.

2. For now, the only annoyance for me is really the angle of the road. But its not only the angle of the road. Its more to do with the way the game handles the zoning mechanic. I will give you a more detailed review on my annoyance when i get back from work with a few pics to show you what i mean.

3. I dont really know. Not sure what backwards compatibility does to a saved game file. But if a new version of the game comes out, dont really mind starting over with a new city. If losing the saved file is what you mean.

4. Never played the old version before, so i can't answer that question. For now, im comfortable with the way the game handles the zoning, with slight issues that i will explain later tonight when i get the time.

[moeom 1]

Any updates lads?

[Yelmond 19]

Any updates lads?

We should have an updated at least once a month (always on the 1st of every month). Sometimes we have updates mid-month. Right now, nothing to report. Work is moving along.

[Synekism 19]

March 2012 update is up. Not much new just some bug fixes and project updates.

[Evillions 552]

I have a question, when you guys actually start creating the actual buildings, will use you procedural models (like those in City Engine) or unique, different models?

[Yelmond 19]

I have a question, when you guys actually start creating the actual buildings, will use you procedural models (like those in City Engine) or unique, different models?

Yes, we're designing the game to generate the majority of buildings procedurally (similar to City Engine). We also plan to support ploppable landmark buildings on the side.

[Ocram's Razr 964]

Procedural buildings would only need to have a couple of textures and some variation to the shapes (such as stepped skyscrapers like Empire State Building and Sears Tower) in order to look half way decent.

[Synekism 19]

No monthly update today. Here's why: http://www.synekism.com/?update=40

[§haÅ--Ñ€ §hÅŽo 370]

It's sad to see SimCity got in the way. But I hope to play both games in 2013.

[knighthawk75 56]

I'd say don't let SimCity get in your way guys, some of us aren't all that thrilled with what we're hearing from EA\Maxis.

[Yelmond 19]

I'd say don't let SimCity get in your way guys, some of us aren't all that thrilled with what we're hearing from EA\Maxis.

Remember, we're just going to work on a more significant release. Nobody got in our way, they just influenced it (could even say they accelerated it). We needed a kick in the behinds anyway.

An no need to wait until 2013. We'll be back this September.

[knighthawk75 56]

An no need to wait until 2013. We'll be back this September.

Sounds like someone isn't going to see much of the sun this summer.

[simcity4deluxe 95]

Here's my attempt at realistic roads in Synekism:

Ok, the game fracked me over with this problem and now lost my city, you mind fixing it next update?

  Edited July 10, 2012 by simcity4deluxe  

[Synekism 19]

Synekism 0.5 released today. Not as major as the version number implies but enough improvements to warrant a look.

Update: http://www.synekism.com/index.php?update=45

Download: http://www.synekism.com/downloads.php

[catty-cb 4,412]

Thank you for continuing to work on this, especially now its just down to yourself.

-catty

[rweather5 22]

The installer for 0.5 will not work. I run it, but nothing happens.

[Yelmond 19]

Please email support@synekism.com and we'll try to figure this out. Also include which version of Windows you're using (XP, Vista, 7?).

[Molybdane 0]

I had no problems installing Synekism this time on my Windows XP (SP3) machine.

That being said, I did encounter a couple of problems/bugs/interesting things. Here we go:

1. Some of the custom buildings well exceed the plot size. It seems that this is the case mostly with multi-corner buildings. Buildings that follow the old square/rectangle floorplan seem to be ok.

2. When you pause the game, you do stop earning/losing money, but the date continues to progress.

3. The RCI demand indicator is waaaaay too sensitive. I had the demand for commerce buildings at max one time, but after the construction of a single (max sized) commercial tower, the max demand (blue slider to the right) turned into a max supply situation. (blue slider all the way to the left). Since the indicator is too sensitive at the moment, it becomes all but useless on bigger cities.

I have two observations with regards to the economic engine:

4. At the moment, Synekism seems all about "expand or die" , meaning that if your city runs poorly and/or loses cash, the best way to solve it is by building new stuff. For the moment this isn't a problem, but it could mean that the best way to deal with a poorly run city isn't to take a look at the city itself, but to continue expanding instead.

5. Tying into the previous obvervation is the fact that it is quite hard to break even. My 100,000 + inhabitant city often loses 2k per whatever, but if it makes money, it often makes no more than 100. Remarkably, I have had the same city make 500+ even though it was a lot smaller at the time. What is good about this is that Synekism is challenging enough. If more features are added to the game that cost the player money, the income cities generate can be raised safely without making the game too easy.

I hope Synekism keeps on going, it already is somewhat addicting!

[Yelmond 19]

1. Some of the custom buildings well exceed the plot size. It seems that this is the case mostly with multi-corner buildings. Buildings that follow the old square/rectangle floorplan seem to be ok.

This is one of those bugs that makes me regret choosing gridless. Very frustrating. I might give a fix another go with a patch. That said, I'm not sure what you mean by multi-corner buildings. All buildings in Synekism have 4 corners right now.

2. When you pause the game, you do stop earning/losing money, but the date continues to progress.

This is a new one. I can't seem to reproduce it. Can you send me your city (support@synekism.com)? I'll look into it nevertheless. Thanks.

3. The RCI demand indicator is waaaaay too sensitive. I had the demand for commerce buildings at max one time, but after the construction of a single (max sized) commercial tower, the max demand (blue slider to the right) turned into a max supply situation. (blue slider all the way to the left). Since the indicator is too sensitive at the moment, it becomes all but useless on bigger cities.

Another well known problem. The actual problem is that demand calculations never cared they were actually displayed so the demand values go way beyond -100 to 100. The internal demand values are actually population numbers (number of people that wish to come to or leave the city). The displayed bars do cap between -100 and 100. That's why the demand bar seems so crazy for larger cities. This will be fixed.

4. At the moment, Synekism seems all about "expand or die" , meaning that if your city runs poorly and/or loses cash, the best way to solve it is by building new stuff. For the moment this isn't a problem, but it could mean that the best way to deal with a poorly run city isn't to take a look at the city itself, but to continue expanding instead.

Seems this way for me as well. The problem is that Synekism currently lacks deletion or conversion tools. You can easily create huge areas of houses and factories but good luck removing them or converting them to a different lot type/density. In other words, this observation is true but it was not intentional as a game design decision.

5. Tying into the previous obvervation is the fact that it is quite hard to break even. My 100,000 + inhabitant city often loses 2k per whatever, but if it makes money, it often makes no more than 100. Remarkably, I have had the same city make 500+ even though it was a lot smaller at the time. What is good about this is that Synekism is challenging enough. If more features are added to the game that cost the player money, the income cities generate can be raised safely without making the game too easy.

Are these numbers with the most recent update? I found it way to easy to make too much money but didn't have a chance to fully balance the new economic model introduced. I'm going to guess you build a lot of government (gray) buildings as that's the only thing you can build to reduce your income so much. Note that you only need them for high density buildings and you can see government area of affect if you go to options and turn on the Land Value data map.

[Molybdane 0]

1. Some of the custom buildings well exceed the plot size. It seems that this is the case mostly with multi-corner buildings. Buildings that follow the old square/rectangle floorplan seem to be ok.

This is one of those bugs that makes me regret choosing gridless. Very frustrating. I might give a fix another go with a patch. That said, I'm not sure what you mean by multi-corner buildings. All buildings in Synekism have 4 corners right now.

I should rephrase that. Buildings that exceed plotsize almost always have a sharp corner sticking out, say a 45 degree or less corner. I don't think I have ever seen a building that has 90 degree corners around exceed plotsize.

2. When you pause the game, you do stop earning/losing money, but the date continues to progress.

This is a new one. I can't seem to reproduce it. Can you send me your city (support@synekism.com)? I'll look into it nevertheless. Thanks.

I noticed just now that this only happens when you go from normal speed to pause. It doesn't happen when you go from fast speed to pause.

3. The RCI demand indicator is waaaaay too sensitive. I had the demand for commerce buildings at max one time, but after the construction of a single (max sized) commercial tower, the max demand (blue slider to the right) turned into a max supply situation. (blue slider all the way to the left). Since the indicator is too sensitive at the moment, it becomes all but useless on bigger cities.

Another well known problem. The actual problem is that demand calculations never cared they were actually displayed so the demand values go way beyond -100 to 100. The internal demand values are actually population numbers (number of people that wish to come to or leave the city). The displayed bars do cap between -100 and 100. That's why the demand bar seems so crazy for larger cities. This will be fixed.

Good to know!

4. At the moment, Synekism seems all about "expand or die" , meaning that if your city runs poorly and/or loses cash, the best way to solve it is by building new stuff. For the moment this isn't a problem, but it could mean that the best way to deal with a poorly run city isn't to take a look at the city itself, but to continue expanding instead.

Seems this way for me as well. The problem is that Synekism currently lacks deletion or conversion tools. You can easily create huge areas of houses and factories but good luck removing them or converting them to a different lot type/density. In other words, this observation is true but it was not intentional as a game design decision.

It seems that it's all about the difference between the amounts that can be earned by building new stuff, compared to the amount that can be earned by restructuring. But that's just a guess at this stage.

5. Tying into the previous obvervation is the fact that it is quite hard to break even. My 100,000 + inhabitant city often loses 2k per whatever, but if it makes money, it often makes no more than 100. Remarkably, I have had the same city make 500+ even though it was a lot smaller at the time. What is good about this is that Synekism is challenging enough. If more features are added to the game that cost the player money, the income cities generate can be raised safely without making the game too easy.

Are these numbers with the most recent update? I found it way to easy to make too much money but didn't have a chance to fully balance the new economic model introduced. I'm going to guess you build a lot of government (gray) buildings as that's the only thing you can build to reduce your income so much. Note that you only need them for high density buildings and you can see government area of affect if you go to options and turn on the Land Value data map.

It's seems my city is fine again. False alarm, probably.

[Yelmond 19]

I noticed just now that this only happens when you go from normal speed to pause. It doesn't happen when you go from fast speed to pause.

Ya, got it now. I will fix this and release a patch in a few weeks. Might give those fat buildings yet another go as well by then. Thanks for finding this!

[Wiecher 192]

Great to see this back and to see it has come this far.

When I started playing it some time ago, I never imagined it would become as good as it is now.

At that time the building height was still related to the lot size, the smaller the lot, the higher the building!

[The Pennsylvania Turnpike 252]

very good job. Not realistic but nice. I feel like a city planner planning a city on a computer. WHICH I AM!

[heat33330 26]

Game looks very interesting. I'll definitely be playing this instead of that Simcity 5 crap. It's also nice to have the option of multiplayer that is not forced too!

EDIT: Will this be available for Macs soon too?

  Edited October 6, 2012 by heat33330  

[Tramwhet 53]

hey nice game

it would be better if someone adds textures on it

[JoeOh 20]

Synekism, Yelmond. I've been watching this game for a while and I like the freedom to build at all angles as well as the free range camera to view the city from any POV. I have just recently discovered this thread on simtropolis and am glad to see such a large interest in your project.

I do have a question on how you make your road network system. I am thinking about a link-and-connector system for my project, but it's a matter of connecting them together in a stable but efficient manner. I'm just wondering how you guys did that exactly. If you guys don't want to give away the techniques you use then that's ok as I am just exploring options at this time.

if you are interested in seeing what I have so far, PM me, or let me know it's ok to post the forum link in this thread.

[Yelmond 19]

I do have a question on how you make your road network system. I am thinking about a link-and-connector system for my project, but it's a matter of connecting them together in a stable but efficient manner. I'm just wondering how you guys did that exactly. If you guys don't want to give away the techniques you use then that's ok as I am just exploring options at this time.

I don't do anything fancy. I just check for intersections and lock the new road onto the intersecting existing road - so rectangle (road segment) and circle (road endpoint) intersection checks. I use a grid data structure to check possible intersecting existing roads by proximity without checking ALL existing roads in the city. That's about it.

if you are interested in seeing what I have so far, PM me, or let me know it's ok to post the forum link in this thread.

I have nothing against you posting your link.

[JoeOh 20]

Sweet thanks for the info. I seem to over complicate things sometimes. I'll probably need to know more as coding is a picky thing. Strangely enough, I started my own thread under the Boomtown section of the simtropolis forums. here's the direct link to that topic:

It's a new project I started a few weeks ago so it isn't much for now. Let me know what you think.

Thanks again