Competition Idea: Skyscraper templates

[jayman38]

Based on the idea presented below, who would be interested in building templates of "building parts" that could be donated to the game to dynamically build cities, to fulfill such needs as AI faction bases, improved abandoned cities, city biomes for planets, and generally helping players build their own bases?

I call it a competition, but there really wouldn't be a prize, except maybe that the templates hopefully make it as components into some future version of the game for the above improvements, and to be very good.

Subways, streets, rooms, halls, trains, and all the little things you need to essentially make "Starmade SimCity".

Interiors with RP-friendly features, along with fake lighted windows (but regular windows seeing into a real, lighted interior would be best.) I think it should generally tend toward a tall skyscraper city. The reason: small planets. If people don't have room to build "out", they will be inclined to build "up", so the Starmade universe would tend to have more skyscrapers than normal.

That's right man. So while we are all sitting on our thumbs lets get building...buildings. Whats that? Buildings? With monorails? Madness!

I mean it, some folks are making kick-ass city-scapes and hi-rises. These are easily templated for 'populating' empty planets now and later when planets are more impressive. Pitter-patter, let's get at 'er.

I am envisioning city parts, similar to these three template donations to Community Content.

I would like to see some sort of algorithm that can auto-generate cities that pop up all over the universe, kind of like this (with maybe more color).

 

[Lukwan]

Since MC did not have 'working' spaceships I spent two and half years making city in single-player with a friend. From the center of it you cant see past the outskirts. It has a working monorail transit system, subterranean areas and oodles of details. Quite epic to explore. I hope planets get big enough to allow for some grandeur in scale.

 

[Zekester81]

I like this idea. I also spent time building whole cities and kingdoms in MC.

 

[DrTarDIS]

Uhm, AFAIK starmade does have a city generation system (green planets, rare), a "ruins/pyramids" system (desert planets, rare), and one other type that escapes me. All have a storage box/loot crate somewhere in them.
Unless that got broken recently?

 

[Valck]

starmade does have a city generation system

True, but it is really basic and has been kind of broken, or rather seriously lacking, from the beginning. The generated "buildings" float, aren't connected or even missing walls, and in general don't make much sense other than provide a rudimentary impression of "structure". I don't blame schema for not improving on it, as I see it as an early proof of concept that can be expanded upon as development progresses; Schine are still a tiny studio, and resources are limited; also planets themselves may not have seen their final iteration either.

A modular approach using templates can be put to use by players immediately, and maybe even get incorporated into the city generation routines by Schine in the future, or at least serve as inspiration.
Of course, using templates always has the inherent danger of creating CookieCutterCloneCities, but the current generated cities all look basically the same as well, so you can't go that wrong anyway.

I seem to remember a few template collections or blueprints/exports with some planet/city related content, but expanding the palette of templates to select from can only be a Good Thing™.

 

[jayman38]

Uhm, AFAIK starmade does have a city generation system (green planets, rare), a "ruins/pyramids" system (desert planets, rare), and one other type that escapes me. All have a storage box/loot crate somewhere in them.
Unless that got broken recently?

Yeah, the existing planets are alright.

But they could be so much bigger and more colorful. and... and... MORE!

I think Schine would appreciate help from the community to take initiative to make cities "more". If nothing else, players who want some help would appreciate it, since such templates could be used on any entity, including ships, not just planets.

Personally, I think the templates should focus on "vertical" buildings, including multi-level streets, more than existing templates and cities. As cities grow taller, they can grow "out" to the sides as they rise up above a planet plate, without interfering with another city that happens to spawn on an adjacent plate. So you end up with a relatively vertical "undercity" with maybe a more spread-out "overcity" above it, leading to truly huge metropolises, even on relatively small planetoids. (If this were to make it into the default game as a new city generation system, Schine will of course limit the size of generated cities, to keep small planets from being as challenging-to-render as big planets.)

The exploration factor of improved cities would make this kind of content so much more fun than existing content.

 

[Madman198237]

So, Coruscants, Coruscants everywhere?

 

[jayman38]

So, Coruscants, Coruscants everywhere?

If I had my way, yes. However, to keep the game from slowing for lesser computers, I expect that Schine would firmly limit city sizes if they were to use this stuff.

 

[Sachys]

You mean like this by Tech?!

Z16-ColonyPack

 

[jayman38]

You mean like this by Tech?!

Z16-ColonyPack

Exactly!

 

[Sachys]

Exactly!

Then you must wake him! O____o

 

[Top 4ce]

Then you must wake him! O____o

I'll get the cyborg goat.... prepare the ritual!

(I have no idea how to contact this person...)

 

[Sachys]

I'll get the cyborg goat.... prepare the ritual!

(I have no idea how to contact this person...)

coffee is a good start.