Characters, are they "alive"?

[gandamula]

Do the people in the game have a function or are they just decorative? I mean, do the workers go from home to work, and do the firefighters and guards actually patrol? I noticed that as soon as I built the theater it was full, people are always there, doesn't it get empty? The same with the forum and the markets.

[Winter's Embers]

People move about the city but they are not 'alive' in the sense that you describe. That's more settlement-survival than city-builder. Forum, market, and entertainment venues always remain full.

[BEEGLIST]

It is a shame they are not real, just for looks. No real citizens just a spreadsheet running in the back ground. Build an arena in a small town it is instantly full. Gives me second thoughts about this. Workers and Resources Soviet Republic and Cities Skylines both have real citizens that go to work and such, and both are City Builders. It is 2025 it is not unheard of for City builders to have actual citizens. Pretty big let down when I looked into this.

[gandamula]

Originally posted by BEEGLIST:

It is a shame they are not real, just for looks. No real citizens just a spreadsheet running in the back ground. Build an arena in a small town it is instantly full. Gives me second thoughts about this. Workers and Resources Soviet Republic and Cities Skylines both have real citizens that go to work and such, and both are City Builders. It is 2025 it is not unheard of for City builders to have actual citizens. Pretty big let down when I looked into this.

It's really weird, I have a city with 70 inhabitants, and after building a theater it becomes full with 500 or more, I also remember Caesar 3 having patrols around the city, firefighters and guards with direct influence in cases of fire or crime, but it's an indie game and low priced, maybe with time and if there are mods the city will come to life.

[BEEGLIST]

Originally posted by gandamula:

Originally posted by BEEGLIST:

It is a shame they are not real, just for looks. No real citizens just a spreadsheet running in the back ground. Build an arena in a small town it is instantly full. Gives me second thoughts about this. Workers and Resources Soviet Republic and Cities Skylines both have real citizens that go to work and such, and both are City Builders. It is 2025 it is not unheard of for City builders to have actual citizens. Pretty big let down when I looked into this.

It's really weird, I have a city with 70 inhabitants, and after building a theater it becomes full with 500 or more, I also remember Caesar 3 having patrols around the city, firefighters and guards with direct influence in cases of fire or crime, but it's an indie game and low priced, maybe with time and if there are mods the city will come to life.

Yeah I still might buy this but I am no longer excited for it. It is good for one guy making it but that alone does not make a good game. Will be like playing a better graphic Caesar 2 or Sim City 2000. Funny thing is with all the citizens that are just for looks everywhere it actually just reminds me how lifeless the game is.

[Winter's Embers]

Originally posted by BEEGLIST:

It is a shame they are not real, just for looks. No real citizens just a spreadsheet running in the back ground. Build an arena in a small town it is instantly full. Gives me second thoughts about this. Workers and Resources Soviet Republic and Cities Skylines both have real citizens that go to work and such, and both are City Builders. It is 2025 it is not unheard of for City builders to have actual citizens. Pretty big let down when I looked into this.

Funny you mention a game with 19 developers and a 2nd studio and another with dozens of developers and studios working together.
Pax Augusta development team: Roger.
Who not only designed and produced the game from scratch but did it while learning how to use 3-D animation and coding in Unity, for which he had zero experience when starting this project.
Is everything up to snuff when compared to such high-level, larger developer titles? Of course not. It's his first game. And, it may be 2025 but the amount of shovelware ♥♥♥♥ that comes out on Steam every day makes me glad at least *someone* took the time to make a decent attempt at a game instead of a bunch of crap lines on a screen and a overused set of coding that turns everything into a homogenized pile of steaming cow dung... figuratively and literally speaking.
Sure, it won't be for everyone. There are aspects from other games that would work exceedingly well in this title. But for a single person learning a new craft and putting out something so rich and well thought out, it's a refreshing change from looking at the Steam's "Newest" listings.

[BEEGLIST]

Originally posted by Winter's Embers:

Originally posted by BEEGLIST:

It is a shame they are not real, just for looks. No real citizens just a spreadsheet running in the back ground. Build an arena in a small town it is instantly full. Gives me second thoughts about this. Workers and Resources Soviet Republic and Cities Skylines both have real citizens that go to work and such, and both are City Builders. It is 2025 it is not unheard of for City builders to have actual citizens. Pretty big let down when I looked into this.

Funny you mention a game with 19 developers and a 2nd studio and another with dozens of developers and studios working together.
Pax Augusta development team: Roger.
Who not only designed and produced the game from scratch but did it while learning how to use 3-D animation and coding in Unity, for which he had zero experience when starting this project.
Is everything up to snuff when compared to such high-level, larger developer titles? Of course not. It's his first game. And, it may be 2025 but the amount of shovelware ♥♥♥♥ that comes out on Steam every day makes me glad at least *someone* took the time to make a decent attempt at a game instead of a bunch of crap lines on a screen and a overused set of coding that turns everything into a homogenized pile of steaming cow dung... figuratively and literally speaking.
Sure, it won't be for everyone. There are aspects from other games that would work exceedingly well in this title. But for a single person learning a new craft and putting out something so rich and well thought out, it's a refreshing change from looking at the Steam's "Newest" listings.

Ok, than buy it because it has one developer. I guess that is a reason. I mean it's good for a game with one developer.

[Roger]

Originally posted by BEEGLIST:

Originally posted by Winter's Embers:

Funny you mention a game with 19 developers and a 2nd studio and another with dozens of developers and studios working together.
Pax Augusta development team: Roger.
Who not only designed and produced the game from scratch but did it while learning how to use 3-D animation and coding in Unity, for which he had zero experience when starting this project.
Is everything up to snuff when compared to such high-level, larger developer titles? Of course not. It's his first game. And, it may be 2025 but the amount of shovelware ♥♥♥♥ that comes out on Steam every day makes me glad at least *someone* took the time to make a decent attempt at a game instead of a bunch of crap lines on a screen and a overused set of coding that turns everything into a homogenized pile of steaming cow dung... figuratively and literally speaking.
Sure, it won't be for everyone. There are aspects from other games that would work exceedingly well in this title. But for a single person learning a new craft and putting out something so rich and well thought out, it's a refreshing change from looking at the Steam's "Newest" listings.

Ok, than buy it because it has one developer. I guess that is a reason. I mean it's good for a game with one developer.

Thanks for your feedback. I probably have the same desires as you. A fully simulated city. As Winter's Embers wrote, I'm doing it alone in my free time. Unfortunately, I don't have the skills of an experienced programmer. Plus, I don't have the time. Since I have to do everything myself, I have to forgo many things I would have liked to have in the game. If I tried to do everything perfectly, it would probably take me another 10 years because I don't have a team. This isn't meant as an excuse; it's simply to demonstrate the limits of what's possible.

[FynniTheCat]

Nah, the dude haven't te fun we got, not just while playing. Sad about that I wrote Roger not earlier. But everything got it's right time and how Roger wrote, "He's totally into such ideas". I think v1.0 is the best "start" what such a project could show, especially with the (sorry) crap of the so called (public gone) AAA studios in the last years.

The technical structures I saw give a lot of possibilities for "living" inhabitants. Think about traffic system, it will going totally insane if just the things going real what we talked about.

I would love to see any inhabitant of a house with individual ways, favourite market stalls, entertainment etc. especially with detailed consumer goods.

But every good line is changing the whole numerous impact to the game, so it's not a change what you doing "by the way".

I really like the foundation path system of the inhabitants to simulate "real" movements, but it is just one of endless technical solutions.

It's everything but every neuron of this code is full of real and digital life. 👀 BTW the grafical basement an the hand crafted detailed model's could also be a source of a POV mode or even a seperated RPG. But it's just my opinion and yes, call me a "fanboy". 😋😊🌹

But thanks for your feedback, also this helping a lot to bring some old and new ideas on the list. ☀️

[Roger]

Currently, people go to the theater during festivals. But they also have different goals, like going to the market or a tavern, etc. They also visit friends or go to the forum. It's just that they don't have their own lives, which are simulated.

[City Builder]

Originally posted by BEEGLIST:

It is a shame they are not real, just for looks. No real citizens just a spreadsheet running in the back ground. Build an arena in a small town it is instantly full. Gives me second thoughts about this. Workers and Resources Soviet Republic and Cities Skylines both have real citizens that go to work and such, and both are City Builders. It is 2025 it is not unheard of for City builders to have actual citizens. Pretty big let down when I looked into this.

I wish the developer the best but this is also what I got out of the demo, it feels to me like somebody has built a somewhat pretty front end to a spreadsheet in the background, it definitely feels lifeless to me, I see people walking the roads seemingly lifeless zombies and every seat taken in the theater where they are captured audience never to be released.

Unfortunately this doesn't fit as city building game at all *to me*, it might develop it's own genre but it doesn't come across as a city building game just because I place houses (which seemingly are a pain to do in itself)

Also a suggestion to Winter's Embers: You need not continue to push the knowledge that it is a one man development team, I mean look at Banished, it too was a one man development team and turned out a solid, fun village building game that many games are measured by. Continuing to push the whole "one person developer" only reinforces that it is a project with ideas beyond the skill set of the developer (admittedly by Roger himself) and comes across as using it as an excuse for a game that well... seemingly isn't quite up to being a true city building game but rather feeling like as said, a pretty front end to a spreadsheet game running everything..

I wish his project well and those that like this new hybrid city building genre, more power to them that they enjoy it.

it's not for me, it makes me feel like I'm doing work instead of playing a game and having fun.

[Winter's Embers]

Not too sure what city builder means to you but this is the very definition of one to me. Sim City is the ultimate of what people know of the game. And there, all you do is place blocks and let the game do what it will. The Anno city is quite literally a spreadsheet running behind pretty graphics. Sure, there's combat to distract the player but not much else.
Everyone will have their own ideas and yours is just as valid as everyone else's. Including mine.

[gandamula]

I hope the game has initial success, so that the author can get a team that brings the life it needs to the game, and if he opens the doors to Moders they will certainly do everything to help.

[reicou]

First of all, I congratulate both the hard work and the honesty of the developer. I can't even imagine how hard it is to develop a game like this alone, from scratch, learning as you go. I really wish this game to be a real success (and it looks like it's going to be).

Secondly, I agree with some of the comments. I understand the desire for citizens to have simulated lives, because that is also my desire for a game like this.

That's also the reason I'm not going to buy this game yet (maybe in a future sale). I understand that it is a very difficult task for a single developer who is learning, and as I said, I appreciate his effort and merit, but I am one of those gamers who doesn't enjoy this kind of game as much if there is no convincing life simulation.

[gandamula]

Originally posted by reicou:

First of all, I congratulate both the hard work and the honesty of the developer. I can't even imagine how hard it is to develop a game like this alone, from scratch, learning as you go. I really wish this game to be a real success (and it looks like it's going to be).

Secondly, I agree with some of the comments. I understand the desire for citizens to have simulated lives, because that is also my desire for a game like this.

That's also the reason I'm not going to buy this game yet (maybe in a future sale). I understand that it is a very difficult task for a single developer who is learning, and as I said, I appreciate his effort and merit, but I am one of those gamers who doesn't enjoy this kind of game as much if there is no convincing life simulation.

At least arenas and other public places should have different types of capacity and even be empty sometimes. It's surreal and breaks the immersive feeling to have amphitheaters always full. And since all the citizens aren't "alive", at least there should be some city officials making plausible rounds and having influence over the area they physically cover, just like in Caesars 3.